Thanks for the info. I actually left the morning after my last post and got home last night. I don't post on social media when I won't be home. The closest thing to a weapon I carried was a 7" KaBar. I figured it would fit in with the camping gear. We intended to camp about 1/2 the nights, but weather and other logistics issues put us in motels all but one night. My wife is pretty good at navigating and finding deals at motels as we travel.
There were only 2 nights when I was uncomfortable not having a firearm. The 1st night in a motel in West Virginia and the last night in Virginia on the way home. We booked online and those motels were a little rougher than I'd have liked, but it turned out OK. We ended up in Massachusetts and Maryland briefly on the way home. I had ZERO interactions with LE in just over 3800 miles driven. But it just wasn't worth the risk to bring any gun. A shotgun might have been legal, but not practical IMO. Had we been camping more nights, in remote locations maybe.
Just for information, we left GA, ate lunch at Damascus VA and visited the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. Hiked several miles before getting a room farther north for the night.
VISIT DAMASCUS, VA - Damascus, Virginia
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Drove north into western Pennsylvania and into New York following Lake Erie to Niagra Falls. Which exceeded my expectations. Spent the next night in eastern NY, which is beautiful. As was Vermont and New Hampshire. Ate lunch in Montpelier, then crossed into New Hampshire where we camped night #3.
We drove up Mount Washington the next day. I've done Pikes Peak several times. The starting altitude at the base of Pikes Peak is higher than the summit of Mount Washington, but the view is similar. And the road up Mount Washington is a LOT narrower and is probably more dangerous.
NH State Parks : Welcome
Made it to Millinocket Maine just before dark and drove into Baxter State Park the next day. Kicked our butts hiking 3 different trails before heading back to the motel.
Baxter State Park – Welcome to a Magnificent Obsession.
Arrived in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park late the next afternoon. Stayed 2 nights there and did several hikes exploring the park. We wanted to camp there, but few campsites were available, and they were not much cheaper than the cabin we found.
Acadia National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Bar Harbor, ME - Official Website | Official Website (barharbormaine.gov)
Stopped the next day at the LL Bean main store in Freeport before heading into eastern NY. Which was beautiful. Probably did drive very close to you Troy Fairweather. Made it into Water Gap PA after dark. There were LOTS of AT through hikers staying in our motel that night. Something I've always wanted to do, but at my age will never through hike. I've been to both ends, and many parts of the middle though.
We thought about doing Boston, NYC, or possibly DC, but decided to detour west of there and go to Gettysburg instead. To be honest, I was disappointed. It was OK, but I was just expecting better. Every little town in GA between Chattanooga and Atlanta was the scene of Civil war battles. And every town has their own story and museum with some pretty big ones at Chickamauga, Kennesaw and Atlanta. While Gettysburg was somewhat nicer and bigger, I didn't see much that I'd not seen before.
Last night was in Virginia before heading to Grayson Highlands State Park. We did 2 shorter hikes before my wife got word that the wild horses in the park were on the top of one of the peaks. It was another 2.5 mile one way walk up a steep rocky trail to the summit, but the horses and young foals were worth it. Then home just before midnight.
grayson highlands state park - Search (bing.com)
Meet the Wild Ponies of Grayson Highlands State Park (treehugger.com)
