Route: Pinhoti Trail (AL, GA)

Location
Alabama, US
Georgia, US
Distance
335 mi
Vertical Gain
50,000 ft
Description

The Pinhoti Trail is a 335-mile long National Recreation trail through Alabama and Georgia. The northern terminus is in north west Georgia, near the town of Blue Ridge, where it intersects with the Benton MacKaye Trail. The southern terminus is in east central Alabama at Flagg Mountain, near the town of Weogulfga, which is known for being the southernmost Appalachian mountain that rises above 1000 feet.

The Pinhoti Trail is the venue for the Pinhoti 100 mile Trail Run.

GPX track from traildino.com

GPS Track
Images

Comments

I’m trying to go after the self supported record starting in two days, in a potentially ill advised but nevertheless fun jaunt. Tracking here: https://us0-share.inreach.garmin.com/whereswillie

also updates on my Instagram @wamoth.

Congrats Willie!  That was truly amazing!  I had plans to go after this one self supported next November but after the massive miles you put up I think I will look elsewhere!  

Starting Thursday, April 30th, 2020 I will be attempting to set a new supported FKT for the Pinhoti. I will begin at Flagg and proceed to the Northern Terminus at the BMT. My wife, Mallory Yawn, and my in-laws, Todd and Jamie Henderson will be providing support during my effort.

Live tracking will be provided at the link provided below. I will also use my watch to record a .gpx track. Upon successful completion, I will provide the gpx track for verification.

https://share.garmin.com/Pinhoti

Hi there. I will be attempting to set a new supported FKT on the Pinhoti starting Sunday, October 18. I will be traveling northbound. Live tracking can be found here https://share.garmin.com/X9DEC. I will also wear my Coros watch to record the trip, and will provide the file if I am successful, along with a full race report, photos, etc. 

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I will be attempting a self-supported FKT starting Friday, Oct 23 2020. I will begin at Flagg Mountain and head north from there. I will have a gps watch going and a garmin mini inreach but am choosing for personal safety to keep the garmin track private for friends and family until completion. I will share photos, both gpx inreach and gps watch tracks, and a race report upon completion. 

I will be making a supported attempt in the southbound direction starting on October 30 at 8:00am EDT. Live tracking will be available at https://share.garmin.com/houghcanty

Howdy! Tomorrow morning I will begin an attempt to set the self-supported FKT. Live tracking can be found here: share.garmin.com/WahooPinhotiTrail . I will likely be posting some form of updates on my Instagram (@billymeredith_ ) as well. Cheers! 

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Tomorrow (11/5/2021) at 11 am, I'll begin my Supported FKT attempt heading Southbound. My Live Tracking can be found here: https://live.enabledtracking.com/pinhoti2021/ . I'll also be posting a lot of updates and going live multiple times a day over on my Instagram @Hunter_Leininger . Huge thanks to this incredible community for the support and all the previous record holders for paving the way, I'm looking forward to having a special experience out there!

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I will be attempting a supported nobo FKT starting Sunday, Nov 21 2021. I will begin at the northern terminus and head south from there. I will have a gps watch going and a garmin mini inreach but am choosing for personal safety to keep the garmin track private for friends and family until completion. I will share photos, both gpx inreach and gps watch tracks, and a race report upon completion. 

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Route Question: The trail continues, with blazes, southeast from the Flagg Mt. lookout tower for about 1.5 miles. At the end, there is signage noting the southern terminus as well. Some athletes have started/ended at Flagg Mt. and some have started/ended at the signage marking southern terminus. These points are about a mile and a half apart as well as 300ish feet of elevation. Which should be considered the start/end for FKTs? Here is a link showing the signage as well as location in regards to Flagg Mt. lookout tower: https://imgur.com/a/v9wzFp9

According to the guide on the Pinhoti Trail Alliance website, the southern terminus is at the trailhead and is mile 0.0. If the blazes continue down to the trailhead and there's nothing distinguishing them to be different from the official trail (for example, trails connecting to the AT are blue blazes instead of white blazes), plus there's a sign that marks it as the southern terminus, it seems that should be considered the official start/end. There are some sources like Wikipedia and Google Maps that show Flagg Mt. as the southern terminus, but maybe it's just easier to say the southern terminus is on Flagg Mt. versus "Trailhead to Flagg Mt." I'm not personally familiar with the trail, however, so I'm sure there are many people out there with better insight than me. Anyone else want to chime in on this?

To follow up on this: it looks like originally the southern terminus was the top of Flagg Mountain, but in 2015 a new southern terminus was established at the base of Flagg Mt. So that explains why Rob Youngren started on Flagg Mountain in 2010, whereas the other six people on the board all started or ended their hikes at the base of Flagg Mountain in more recent years.

I am starting tomorrow at the southern terminus in a self supported style attempting the record. I am tracking with my gps watch and will be taking an abundance of pictures with location data. Tracks will be on strava and there might be an update or two on my instagram @bensupron 

Going for redemption tomorrow! Starting a self supported NOBO effort around 5am CST hoping to average 54-60 miles/day and bring the record down to 6.5 days (or less).

You can find my InReach tracking link here https://share.garmin.com/billymeredithPinhotiTrail or I'll try to post a daily recap on my instagram ( billymeredith_) 

See ya on the other side!Â