You know what stinks? Getting to the trailhead and realizing you've forgotten your hiking boots. "Ridiculous!" you say? Well, I know a guy who did that once. No, not me. A friend. Whether it's boots, water, money for parking fees, or notifying that special someone of where you'll be, there are things we should remember to check before ...

On the way up to Woody Gap to do a little hiking, I decided to stop by Dockery Lake to eat my sandwich before getting on the trail. I was surprised at how many people were camping: it was a Wednesday in the middle of June. Perhaps the unusually cool nights and low humidity brought them out? Even with people around, it was so quiet! As ...

My recent interest in grackles reminded me of this (low quality) video I got last year from my trail cam. I can't tell if the grackle it being aggressive, or just curiously waiting to see if ol' snapper will turn up some tasty morsel.

On a recent trip to the Florida Panhandle, we encountered this grackle and hawk having an... um... conversation. The cool resolve of the hawk was just impressive.

April 4/2. There's been so much rain lately, I knew the AT would be a messy slush of mud, so when we decided to take the day off to go for a hike, I decided to give a new section of the Benton MacKaye a try. We started at the parking lot near at Big Stamp Gap and did a ~4.1 mile loop, including a short section of the AT near Springer M...

This map shows how rare and precious U.S. Wilderness Areas are in Georgia (the too-tiny dark green areas in the north and south). US Wilderness Areas are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System meaning, according to the US Wilderness Act of 1964, that it is “an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by m...

Patterns. I love them. Patterns are great because once you figure it out, the comprehension of new samples is dramatically accelerated. A common pattern in data visualization is [small multiples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_multiple). In the case of trail maps, here are "teach once, use often" principles I implemented: • Consis...

For those who want more than what "simple" maps offer, I included more details: Elevation profiles: I learned that the elevation profiles needed consistent bounds (top and bottom elevations) for people to understand how much elevation change a section had compared to the other sections. I decided on 2000' to 5000' since all sections in...

The actual Appalachian Trail -- Looking at maps is great, but being there is better (and makes me feel less like a poser.) So, I hiked the entirety of the AT in GA, one day hike at a time (all but one section I hiked both ways, 140 miles total -- Hogpen to Chattahoochee Gap and back was the exception: 18 miles!! -- ). These hikes teste...

I didn't have a clear idea of the final design for my maps when I started, so I created a number of mockups to verify usability and readability. Some of the data that I wanted to make sure was included were: • Index of the difficulty of the section -- spoiler alert: it's a combination of length and elevation changes • Elevation profile...

There's no shortage of information out there about the Appalachian Trail, but to understand how to access all of the AT in GA in day-sized chunks required a fair amount of research. Some sources I considered: • The National Park Service's NPS Appalachian Trail Map -- The NPS, in conjunction with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy levera...

In this case, my audience are folks who: • Like to spend time outside, including occasional easy-access hikes; • Are up for more than a stroll around the neighborhood; • Have only a day at a time to hike (as opposed to a long weekend or week to do a longer backpacking event); • Aren't very familiar with the AT, but want to be. Based on...

It starts in Georgia and goes all the way to Maine. Over 2000 miles. I've been working on a personal side project to document how to access all 75 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. If you're a thru hiker, all you need to know is "Which way to Springer Mountain?" Ok, that's really not very true at all. But nonetheless, I wanted...

https://www.instagram.com/steppingstoneshiking/

And so, it begins... For now, this is the blog to support my book, Day Hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, my website steppingstoneshiking.com, and my instagram account @steppingstoneshiking.