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@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 4:11 PM

🧵1/6
July 10, 1983: The trail left the road, went into the woods, and entered West Virginia. The last few miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia drifted back and forth across its state line with West Virginia.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

Walking an old woods road through a forest of mature trees carpeted with ferns in the slanting sunlight of evening. There are long shadows and splashes of golden sunlight, with glimpses of a hazy white and pale blue evening sky.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 1:20 PM

🧵1/6
June 2, 1983: Beyond Carvers Gap, the trees rapidly began to thin out along the ridge crest. Near the top of Round Bald stood a small cluster of red pines.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

Standing atop a large gray rock outcrop with patches of lush green grass and clusters of small bright blue flowers growing out of it in patches. We are hundreds of feet above the countryside below, a region of green mountain chains that are very rugged looking though lower in height than the mountain we are on. Narrow valleys cut through the mountains. A few glimpses of narrow roads and a handful of houses are seen in the valleys. A very few green pastures and a single terraced farm field running up a mountainside are the only visible breaks in the otherwise heavily forested countryside below.

@primetimehiker.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 10:20 PM

Next in the Vermont Appalachian Trail section hike series dropped today! Enjoy the lively view.
#hiking #backpacking #appalachiantrail #mountains #views #adventure #forest #nature

youtu.be/Zop6yRGW6cc?...

@nile11.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 7:00 PM

Blacksburg and New River Valley: Top Hikes, Culture, and Travel Tips
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https://nile1.com/blacksburg-and-new-river-valley-top-hikes-culture-and-travel-tips/
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#appalachianTrail #blacksburg #dragon'sTooth #huckleberryTrail #mcafeeKnob #montgomeryCounty #mossArtsCenter

c8ef2ec5-15f6-4311-a7d0-42b81212ca6c-bit-social-bluesky-2000x2000.jpg

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 4:31 PM

🧵1/7
May 17, 1983: I finally made my way back to the shelter — no rides, so it was another 3-mile walk in Fontana. You would not think this would bother me, with all the walking I am already doing on this trip,

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

Beneath a deep light blue sky with banks of white clouds, we are standing on a long concrete dam beside a lake. Beyond the dam forested green ridges and then mountains rise in the background. A backpacker (my friend Dave) is walking across the dam towards us. A roadway separated by a double yellow line runs across the dam.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 11:08 AM

🧵1/7
August 8, 1983: The first climb was a bear, even compared to the rest of the trail in this park. By the time I reached the ridge crest I was exhausted, and I had only come little more than a mile.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

A large, rather flat brown rock outcrop sits atop a mountain, looking out at a valley hundreds of feet below. A few treetops peek just over the outcrop, but the view is almost unobstructed. A four-lane divided parkway runs through the valley below, though a landscape of green, wooded hills and smaller mountains.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:45 PM

🧵1/6
July 4, 1983: The first half-mile from the hut this morning climbed along the crest of the ridge forming the western rim of the ravine. This led to an interesting summit called Blackrock.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

It is very early in the morning. The clear sky has little color yet and is almost white. There is a lot of mist in the valleys below and mist and haze in the air. We are looking out from atop a mountain over the treetops on the mountainside below us into a maze of deep green mountains and hills and hollows below. With increasing distance, they take on a bluish tint from the haze and mist. The more distant mountains we can see are light blue gray ghosts.

@alexanderstrait.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:57 AM

#HangingRockStatePark #NorthCarolina #hiking #BlueRidgeMountains #nature #forest #woods #appalachiantrail #sky #clouds #blueridge #mountains #photograph #photography #iphone16promax #iphoneographer #iphoneography #alexstrait #usa #man #alexstraitphotos #photo #art #iphone16pm #america #perspective

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 1:38 PM

🧵1/6
June 1, 1983: Monday night on the bank of the Nolichucky River had been a time of gentle breezes and soft starlight, but clouds had begun rolling in yesterday morning. By the time I reached the shelter last night they were looking ominous.

#hiking #AppalachianTrail #backpacking

The sun has broken out on a stormy day and the downward sloping meadow before us is bathed in sunshine. Shreds of dissolving clouds stream past us. In the distance, banks of still substantial clouds reflect the bright sunshine. The lush green grass of the meadow is sprinkled with hundreds of yellow daffodils. Farther down the mountainside, the meadow is broken up with pine trees and hardwoods sporting bright white or yellow blossoms.

@hittinthetrail.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 9:00 PM

4 Great Hiking Trails in the Appalachians
#appalachiantrail #hiking #backpacker #camping
hittinthetrail.com/4-great-hi...

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 6:17 PM

🧵1/7
May 9, 1983: Dave and I are having lunch in Bly Gap, just across the state line into North Carolina. One state down and eleven to go.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

Beneath a deep blue sky with puffy clouds, we are standing atop a mountainside. A large, rather steeply-sloping meadow runs down the side of the ridge from the crest here, bright green grass broken by reddish brown channels where several runoff streams (dry today) exposed the clay soil. The grass is sparse in spots, lush in others. A few smallish trees with bright yellow buds or tiny bright green leaves just emerging sprinkle the meadow. A forest of larger trees, also budding or beginning to sprout leaves surrounds the meadow. We are looking out across rugged foothills partially cloaked in the intense greens of a more advanced spring season. Several parallel ranges stretch out to the horizon. The nearest range is just as lofty as ours. Their crests are also showing some early signs of green, like ours.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 5:37 PM

🧵1/7
October 3, 1983, 43 years ago today: Except for one incident, which was only bad for a few moments, the climb up Hunt spur was fun. It was maniacally steep, it had many tricky parts, and it was strenuous as hell. I rather enjoyed it. It was the last big climb.

#hiking #AppalachianTrail

Beneath a clear pale blue sky, we are standing on a plateau covered with many large gray boulders, a golden brown alpine plant that looks like grass, and a low ground hugging plant with small bright red leaves. Ahead a very rocky steep slope with swaths of gold and green alpine vegetation rises to a summit ridge several hundred feet above the plateau, culminating in a rocky peak.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 4:29 PM

🧵1/14
October 3, 1983, 43 years ago today: The beginning was remarkably easy. The path was wide, relatively rock-free, and climbed at a very gentle grade. It followed a bank of Katahdin Stream up to the base of a set of cascades, where it crossed over to the other bank.

#hiking #AppalachianTrail

We are standing at the bottom of a steeply sloping narrow ridge running up into the clear blue sky. The ridge is covered with light gray rocks and boulders - it almost looks like a pile of rocks. There are swaths of ground-hugging green plants and shrubs - less near the top, more of them near us at the bottom. There are some patches of red and gold among the green swaths.

@nextgreatread.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 4:07 AM

“Going down 6% grades using only a hand brake and low gears wasn’t for sissies and, in retrospect, might have been for idiots.”

#BookSky #Books #LongDistanceHiking #AppalachianTrail #OutdoorAdventure

@hikewithspike.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 3:37 PM

Stayed here a couple of years ago when hiking the #AppalachianTrail

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 3:08 PM

🧵1/7
October 2, 1983, 43 years ago today: A side trail brought me to Big Niagara Falls (no, the other one). The falls were not enormous (no, that’s the other one), but they were impressive enough, and quite scenic.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

The twilight gloom of a rainy day. A roaring stream churns through massive gray and beige rock formations in a lively series of flumes and cascades between forested banks teeming with maples. Red, orange and gold foliage and the bright trunks of white birch trees contrast with the dark green spruce and fir.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 2:18 PM

🧵1/6
October 2, 1983, 43 years ago today: My first three-and-a-half miles took me through the end of the wilderness. The Appalachian Trail wound through an attractive forest, and it was gentle walking.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

We are standing on a hill looking down over the treetops towards a broad river below us. It is raining. The river mirrors the gray sky. The far riverbank is also wooded, but the ridge just beyond is part of an area that was burnt over several years earlier. It is covered with the white charred still-standing trunks of dead trees and some shrub growth. Beyond that ridge are the lower slopes of a mountain that quickly disappear into very low clouds. Some of the trees on our riverbank are turning gold or orange. The trees on the opposite bank are a riot of golds, oranges, reds and greens.

@primetimehiker.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 9:27 PM

Balancing the longish interview with @bustedpretty.bsky.social (check it out!) with a very short video, Day 3 of our Vermont AT section hike in September. We see Little Bear three days in a row. Not typical to see a thru-hiker that many days. #backpacking #hiking #sectionhiking #appalachiantrail

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 2:33 PM

🧵1/8
October 1, 1983, 43 years ago today: After crossing Pollywog Stream on a logging road bridge, the AT proceeded to Rainbow Stream, which it followed for a good distance upstream.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

Beneath a soft light blue sky with a single small cloud in the upper right corner of the photo, we are standing on a shady portion of the shore of a large lake. Our portion of shoreline is covered with tall grasses and a few leafy shrubs. The far shores are low forested ridges, mostly covered with evergreens sprinkled with a few hardwoods showing red, orange or gold autumn foliage. Beyond those ridges, a bit hazy with distance, rises a massive lofty mountain, with extensive alpine regions in its top half.

@gsteffanos.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 1:42 PM

🧵1/7
October 1, 1983, 43 years ago today: The first day of October in the North Maine Woods was a warm one — even warmer than yesterday. It was not even a bit chilly when I awoke. The trail today was rugged for this flat lake country.

#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail

It is very early in the morning. The clear sky has little color yet and is almost white. There is a lot of mist and haze in the air. We are standing several hundred feet above a large lake looking out through a large gap in the trees. Other small mountains like the one we are on rise across the lake. The lakeshore and mountains are covered in a forest predominately of dark green spruce and fir. There are a few autumn reds and golds mixed in.