Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes

by Leonard M. Adkins, Frank Logue, Victoria Logue

Overview

A concise guide to the best day hikes along the entire Appalachian Trail.

Summit the iconic Katahdin in Maine, explore Pennsylvania's Chimney Rocks, splash in Tennessee's Laurel Fork Gorge and Falls, and find out where Blood Mountain got its name in the new edition of Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes by Victoria and Frank Logue and Leonard M. Adkins.

This is the most comprehensive and useful guide to this beloved long trail. The book details hikes in each of the 14 states that the Appalachian Trail passes through; previews the flora, fauna, and history of the A.T.; and offers point-by-point descriptions of each hike with trailhead directions. Hikes range in length from less than 1 mile to 11 miles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634042604
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Leonard M. Adkins has been intimately involved with the Appalachian Trail for several decades. He has hiked its full length five times and lacks just a few hundred miles to complete it for a sixth. He has maintained a section of the Trail near McAfee Knob and was a ridgerunner for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. He has also served as an A.T. Natural Heritage Site Monitor, aiding the conservancy and the National Park Service in overseeing the welfare of rare and endangered plants. In addition, he has served on the boards of directors of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club. Among other long-distance trails Leonard has completed are the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico, the Pacific Northwest Trail from Glacier National Park to the Pacific Ocean, and the Pyrenees High Route along the border of France and Spain. In all, he has walked more than 20,000 miles exploring the backcountry areas of the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and the Caribbean.

Leonard is the author of 20 books on travel and the outdoors. His Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail was presented the National Outdoor Book Award, while The Appalachian Trail: A Visitor’s Companion received the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award. He has also written more than 200 articles for magazines such as Blue Ridge Country, Backpacker, Islands, The Roanoker, and Blue Ridge Outdoors. Along with his thru-hiking wife, Laurie, he lives in Virginia, within easy striking distance of the A.T. You may learn more about his adventures at habitualhiker.com.

Victoria and Frank Logue hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1988 and have returned again and again to hike its many sections on day and overnight hikes. Frank has also served on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Board of Managers. In addition, they have continued to hike out west and abroad, including Israel, Jordan, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and England. They live in Georgia, where Frank works as an Episcopal priest and as an assistant to the bishop of Georgia. Victoria, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, recently published her fourth novel. Currently, they love visiting and hiking with their daughter, Griffin, in Arizona.

Read an Excerpt

Pleasant Pond Mountain
strenuous
3.2 miles round-trip, 2 hours

The climb to the top of Pleasant Pond Mountain gets a strenuous rating because you will rise more than 1,100 feet in only 1.3 miles. Yet what a reward you reap for this effort! Once on top, which is above-tree line, you can wander about the broad plateau, walking across large slabs of slate, marveling at the 360-degree vista.

Look northward and you will see Big Squaw Mountain, the Barren–Chairback Range, Whitecap Mountain, and on very clear days if you have very sharp eyes, you can make out the summit of Katahdin, more than 140 trail miles away. To the east is Moxie Bald Mountain, and to the west are Sugarloaf, Bigelow, and Pierce Pond Mountains. Beyond Pleasant Pond and Moxie Mountain to the south are the flatter lands of Maine receding toward the coast.

There is also the added attraction of being able to take a swim in Pleasant Pond near the beginning and end of the hike.

The Hike

Follow the A.T. northward, coming to Pleasant Pond Lean-to in 0.3 mile. If you want to take a swim, you can follow the side trail at 0.5 mile, which goes to the right about 300 yards to a sandy beach along the shore of Pleasant Pond.

Beyond this point, the hike becomes a steep ascent, first passing through a mixed forest, then one of evergreens, before climbing above-tree line to obtain the open summit at 1.6 miles. You might find remnants of an old fire tower as you walk, but also be looking for the geological history of the mountain etched into the rock. The slate beneath your feet gained its smooth surface as the glacier from the last Ice Age slid across it 25,000 to 14,000 years ago. The small grooves and notches are where rocks and other debris were ground across the slate as the glacier advanced and then receded.

Return the way you came, possibly stopping for a swim to cool off and clean away any trail grime.

Trailhead Directions

From the town of Caratunk, follow Pleasant Pond Road for 3.2 miles and bear left onto a roadway that soon becomes gravel. Come to another intersection about 1.5 miles later, continue straight, and leave you car in the parking area near the north end of Pleasant Pond.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
Massachusetts
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Maryland
West Virginia and Virginia
Tennessee and North Carolina
Georgia
Appendix
Trail Maintenance Clubs
About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

Ideal for those who want to experience the AT’s best in short bursts.”
—David Miller, Library Journal

From the Publisher