Fragile

April 27

Miles: 17

Complaint of the day: Last night a mouse snuck into the vestibule of my tent and nibbled on the bite valve of my CamelBak. This morning I woke up to find that my bite valve had bite marks. Not cool, mouse. Not cool. My CamelBak still works without the bit valve, but it is now less convenient and I have to be more careful not to waste water.

First, today was probably the least hilly day I have had since leaving Georgia. Sure, there were some large hills early on, but there were also some legitimate flat sections of trail as well. Almost a third of the trail I did today could be considered flat-ish. That is WAY better than usual. I appreciate it and was able to make really good time without exhausting myself.

On a different note, something happened this morning that really made me think about where I am and what it really means. Not long after leaving my campsite this morning I heard a very unexpected sound. The trail looked largely the same as always​, up high near a ridge line in the middle of the mountains, but just off to my right, over the crest of the ridge, just out of view, came the sound of a lawnmower. Apparently someone’s property and house butted right up against the trail, and they were mowing their lawn. Now, the trail still looked the same, but having that sound invade ruined that moment for me. I was no longer walking through a secluded wilderness, I was walking right behind someone’s yard. It is a very different feeling, one that was hard to shake for most of the morning.

The Appalachian Trail, and wild places like it, are very fragile places. It takes very little to totally destroy the wilderness characteristics that make them so special. All it takes is a few incursions by a handful of people, and suddenly a wilderness paradise becomes a string of backyards. 

This realization has extra meaning to me coming on the heels of President Trump’s announcement that he is setting up a committee to look into shrinking the boundaries of several large national monuments. During the campaign he, unlike many others in his party, promised to protect public land and keep it public. It was one of his few redeeming qualities. But now, just a few months in, he is already changing his tune. What could be the harm in trimming off the sides here and there? What difference would it really make? I’m am here to say that it can make a big difference. And once you lose wilderness, you can’t get it back.

Sunny Day

April 26

Miles: 15

Location: Low Gap, TN

Complaint of the day: Uhh… Too much sun? 

Today was the first truly sunny day in what seems like forever. And unlike other sunny days we have had, today wasn’t terrible hot. It was warmer than I would like, but not too uncomfortable. Once I stopped and set my tent up, I was able to let the rain fly dry off completely for the first time since… Friday? It’s been damp for days.

Time to celebrate with some false hellebore! So much fun to photograph

There were a lot of up and downs today. There are a lot of up and downs most everyday, but today I was feeling it more than usual. My quads are sore. Life without trekking poles is  tough. Thankfully I didn’t need to push myself as hard today. By doing 15 miles today and 15 miles tomorrow, I will be in range to walk into Erwin, TN by Friday morning. 

Up​ in the Clouds

April 25

Miles: 19 (307/2189)

Passed the 300 mile marker!

Complaint of the day: Mud. There were several long sections of the trail that were almost nothing but mud. Properly designed trails should not have that much mud. My shoes are not waterproof so this stuff matters.

Pseudo-Complaint of the day: Clouds/fog. I spent most of the day shrouded in dense fog. It made everything feel damp and chilled and made all of the view points pretty much useless. On the other hand, the fog itself did make everything I could see feel ghostly and beautiful. 

The trail was foggy all day today. It didn’t really clear up until after 4:00. The trail was also largely uphill right up to the top of the mountain ridge. Near the top, the trail split. One trail was the official trail that went up to the summit via a very Rocky and strenuous route. The other trail was part of the original trail and skipped the summit via a much easier route. The sign called it the bad weather route, which made sense seeing as how dangerous the summit would be in a storm.
The weather was just fine, but there was still no chance that I would be able to enjoy any view from the summit seeing as the fog was still really thick. I suppose I could have skipped the summit and just taken the bad weather route. I wouldn’t have missed anything important. It still would have been the same distance. And it would have been much easier. But it would not have been the official trail. It would have been a short cut. It would have been a nearly meaningless short cut, but it still would have felt like cheating. I don’t consider myself a purist that has to hike each and every inch of the trail in order to consider myself a thru hiker, but I am not about to take the easy way out just because it is there. If I had wanted to do things the easy way, I would have drove to Maine. 

Back to the Trail

April 24

Miles: 15

Location: Allen Gap, NC

Complaint of the day: Hiking without trekking poles. I lost my poles at the hostel we stayed at in Hotsprings– not sure if misplaced or stolen, but gone regardless. I’ve ordered a new pair that should meet me in Erwin in a few days, but that means hiking a few days without poles. I don’t like it. Hiking without poles is harder and feels weird.

After two days in town it was really good to get back to heading north on the trail. I made good time today too. Erwin, TN is just 4 full days north of here, but I need make sure that I don’t get there too fast because I have several packages being sent there to replace gear that’s been lost or worn out.  If I rushed, I could get to town by Thursday, but if my packages aren’t there yet I would​ be forced to stay in town whether I really wanted to or not. 

Tonight I am stealth camping away from any shelters because there were no shelters anywhere near where I wanted to stop. It is a decent place with flat spots for tents and near a water source, but also very close to a road. Hopefully the traffic noise isn’t too bad tonight. I am sharing this little spot with Space Jam (who shared the cabin last night) and Old Soul, a younger female hiker I met in the trail today. 

Tomorrow I plan to do a big day and hit 19 miles in order to get to a shelter that looks like it is in a convenient spot.

Rest and Frustration

April 22 & 23

Miles: 4 total

Location: Hotsprings, NC

Food: Mostly diner food– good cheap place in town we have eaten at 3 times in 2 days

Complaint of the day: Rain and more rain. Also, how we ended up walking so much and resting so little on our days off

I really needed a day off town. I was tired, sore, and really really smelly. And I was almost completely out of food. I needed a chance to do laundry, get a shower, buy some food, and take a nap. Hotsprings was a great place to do just that. It turns out to also be a great place to meet up with old trail friends. As I was walking into town I found both Organic Trooper and Chewy (aka Matt aka Wild Card). I haven’t seen them in almost a week so it was great to reaquaint with them. But there were also dozens of other hikers in town, people that I had met once or twice on the trail, or people that I had heard about but had never actually met. The Appalachian Trail community has been describes as a very small town on a very long trail. And right now almost all the members of that town are spending a day or two in Hotsprings.

I had every single intention of only being here one day. Yesterday was busy and not nearly as restful as I wanted, but I had a ton of chores to do before getting back on the trail. But then when I woke up in the hostel this morning, the rain was still coming down as strong as ever, and it had gotten colder. I have hiked in worse weather before, but I didn’t feel like doing it again. So Trooper, Chewy, and a fellow hikers named Space Jam all went together and rented out a campground cabin for tonight as well. I’m not thrilled by the prospect of spending another day in town going nowhere and spending money on everything, but the weather just sucks right now. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be much better. And even if it isn’t, I will still be on the trail. I need to be moving North. 

New Phase

April 21

Miles: 17

Location: Just south of Hotsprings NC

Complaint of the day: a glue seam running down the middle of my inflatable sleeping pad came undone and now I have a weird bump running down the middle of the pad when I blow it up all the way. It is not terrible, but I doubt it will be super comfortable to sleep on. I will try to call REI tomorrow to see if I can get a replacement  shipped to me or something.

I got up this morning a little early, hoping for a photogenic sunrise over Max Patch, but wasn’t to be. The clouds moved in over night and the sun just couldn’t compete. Can’t complain though. It was still a really cool place to camp. 

I had hoped that by pushing on to Max Patch last night that I would have a little less hiking to do today, but that isn’t how it worked. I still ended up having to do 17 miles just to get to this shelter area that is still 3 miles from town. I could have stopped earlier, but my food supply is running low. This way I can wake up, eat the last of my cereal, and make it into town in time for brunch if I choose.

And there will be brunch tomorrow. This weekend is Hotsprings’ annual Trailfest, a celebration of the Appalachian Trail and everything who uses it (like me). There will be a pancake breakfast tomorrow and Sunday for only $4. I plan to attend. Supposedly there will be other festivities going on as well, but I’m not sure I will have time to participate seeing as how there is a lot of other things I will​ need to complete while I am in town.

Town. Seriously, a town. Tomorrow will be the first time in just over a week that I will be in a town. The first time in eight days that I will have the ability to take a shower and do laundry. My first chance to get a hamburger or other real food. I am practically giddy. I will be spending tomorrow night in a hostel just to rest up and make sure I am ready before heading back on the trail.

Worth the Effort

April 20 (3 full weeks on the trail!)

Miles: 17 (253/2189)

Location: Summit of Max Patch, NC

Complaint of the day: HUMIDITY! Also, heat. I was sweating like crazy all day. Everything was sticky. And it’s not even May yet. I suspect that this will be a common complaint over the next couple of months.

How far should I go today? I had simple enough plans. I would leave the Smokies, stop for a few supplies at the hostel that was just outside the park, and then head for the first shelter. It would have been a 12 mile day, which is plenty respectable. 

But then this afternoon when I checked my phone, I saw that I had a text from Good Times, a member of my original trail family, asking me how far up the trail I was. I gave him my location and my plan. He strongly suggested that I push on farther and try to camp at the summit of Max Patch– it was a beautiful spot to see the sunset. I decided to go for it, even though it would be another 5 miles to my day and I had gotten back late start. If I pushed it, I could be there before 7:00.

It ended up being a ton of work. There were a bunch of hills over those last few miles. A big part of me wanted to just stop earlier and call it good before making it to Max Patch. I was tired, sore, and really sweaty. How much work​ could this one sunset be worth? 

But I pushed on. My curiosity and my ever-present willingness​ to do crazy things for a good photograph won out. And it turned out to be totally worth it. 

This was easily one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen, and that is saying a lot. My knees are sore and I will be tired tomorrow, but it was totally worth the effort.

Heading Out

April 19th

Miles: 15

Location: Davenport Gap, near northern border of Smokies

Complaint of the day: it was really humid, nothing really dried (but it stopped raining!!!)

It rained again all last night, finally stopping for good around 6:30 AM as most of the rest of the hikers were getting out of bed. It took me a while longer to start moving. After seemingly spending most of the previous 24 hours in my sleeping bag, I had a hard time getting up and getting started. A big part of me just wanted to stay in bed. But eventually I got packed up, had breakfast, and got moving down the trail. 
It took me a while to find my legs again, but once I did I was moving pretty good. The rain was over but it almost didn’t matter; the air was thick with moisture everywhere. But I was able to find a small sunny patch to take an extended lunch break. I felt much better after that.

Tomorrow I will make my way out of the Smokies, and make a brief stop at the local general store to pick up a bit of food. From there I will make a push on my way to Hotsprings, NC. If I time it right, there is supposed to be some sort of Hiking Festival there this weekend.

Going Big, going small

April 17 & 18

Miles: 21 and 5

Food: The usual

Location: Tri-corner Shelter, Smokies

Complaints of the days: my own crazy ambition and dealing with the rain. Lots and lots of rain.

Yesterday started off great. I slept in a bit and had tons of energy once I got going. I went up and over Clingmans Some and past Newfound Gap. I made it to Icebox Shelter, 13 miles from where I started that morning, before 3:00. It was where I planned to stop originally, bit I still had plenty of energy and it was early. Plus, I was tired of merely hiking 13 miles a day. I decided to go crazy and push into the next shelter, 7.5 miles away. Twenty minutes down the trail, it started raining. Hard. But by that point I was committed. I pushed on. Three very wet hours after that, I finally made it to the shelter, just as I was starting to shake from hunger, exhaustion, and cold. I stripped out of my soaking clothes, shoveled a ton of food in my face, put up my tent, and was in bed by 8:30. 

This morning I stayed in bed until almost 8:00. It was still raining. I was the last person out of the shelter area when I started hiking. I didn’t go far today. It was cold and rainy and I had no energy after my big day yesterday. I made it to the first shelter, a mere 5 miles down the trail, and called it a day. It was only 12:30, but the shelter was already half full, but I had a spot inside for the night. I had had lunch and then crawled into my sleeping bag before 1:00. I stayed there, warm, dry, and napping, for the next 3 hours. I’ve done little else all day. It has finally stopped raining, but it is still damp, dreary, and cold. The 12 person shelter currently has at least 15 people in it, with damp clothing and gear hanging everywhere. 

It is worth noting that I pushed on yesterday in part because I was tired of only doing 13 miles a day. But after a big day yesterday and a small day today, I still ended up averaging 13 miles over these two days.

Hopefully it is warmer and drier tomorrow. I might try to make a push out of the park tomorrow.

The same…and different

April 16

Miles: 13.5

Location: Double Spring shelter, SMNP

Food: Granola, tuna and tortilla, Italian sausage and veggie mix with fresh wild leeks

Complaint of the day: None, really.

In some ways, today was very similar to yesterday. In other ways it was very unusual. It was similar in that the weather was pretty nice, there were some sizable hills early, and then I had to quit a little sooner than I wanted simply because the next shelter was farther than I want to go. Also, lots more flowers.

Spring Beauties!

The really interesting things happened once I stopped hiking for the day. Some of my fellow hikers proved themselves to be very notable. First, a hiker named Pipes proved to be a native food expert when brought up a shopping bag full of wild leeks that he had collected along the trail. He ate a bunch himself and passed out some to a few of the rest of us. It was a nice addition to my Italian sausage and marinara mix. 

Later, talking with another hiker, he mentioned how he has already done many thru hikes. He has completed over 12,000 trail miles. He is currently trying to become the 18th person ever to complete the AT, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the North Country Trail. If he  succeeds, he will actually become the first person to ever complete all four big trails over the course of four consecutive years. He is kind of a big deal.

Slightly later, Pipes showed how he got the name Pipes. He went into his backpack and pulled out an actual set of bagpipes. Seriously. Another guy had a set of drumsticks and the two of them put on a short impromptu jam session. 

You can meet some very interesting people on the AT.