Above the clouds for a spectacular view from Cove
Mountain.
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March 16, 2008 Send off party pictures | March/April pictures | May pictures March 26th First day – flew to Atlanta and then driven to a hostel. This is something. I cant believe I’m here. I’m starting tomorrow. A lot of time and planning and here we go. I kind of have vague expectations and at the same time not knowing at all what to expect. I’m questioning myself. Do I have the right gear? Do I have enough/too much? How far will I be able to go tomorrow? How hard with it be? The best thing is knowing I can make adjustments as I go. And there really is no hurry. The next month-month and a half will get me in shape. I will do what I can during that period and get stronger. I will do what my hike needs for me to do. I will hike my hike and we will see where I am in a month or two. March 27th First day on the trail. I walked a total of 8.7 miles leaving from Springer Mountain. It was a gorgeous spring day – couldn’t have been a better first day. I only expected to do 4-6 miles so I am happy with the distance. No major problems. Fell and did ½ turtle. I just love this stuff. I weighed my pack this am and with 4 days of food and 2 litres of water, it was at 42. Must get it lighter. Bad case of diaper rash. March 28th Whooo-more difficult than yesterday. Hiked 7.3 miles to Gooch Mountain. Killer hills today. One was about 1 mile long. Had a mac & cheese casserole with a little chicken in it. It was good. Everything is good when you hike all day. Very tired. The AT is a geological metaphor for life on the trail – for life itself – up and down. March 29th Rain and lightning this am. Diaper rash is now chronic. Must get under control. Hiked exactly 5 miles to Woody Gap. Hitched a ride into town with a guy that had hiked the AT before. Turned me onto Body Glide. Have hope it will work March 30th People who thru hike acquire trail names. Mine is now Sweat Hog for a perspiring razorback. Boots 10; Water system 10; Tent 10; Sleeping bag and mat 9; crotch rot prevention up to now 0. March 31th Long day and very tired. It was cold and windy and wet so I kept walking to keep warm. Made it to Neels Gap and they have a hostel here. I am feeling pretty good even though it was a long day. A little over 10 miles. Most I have ever backpacked. Coming down Blood Mountain was treacherous. Long sheets of wet rock. I just took my time. DR (diaper rash) much better. They are playing Deliverance. Seems like a strange choice of movie. Off day. Did a thorough backpack shake down with the experts here. Shipping lots back. April 2nd Went 10.8 to Low Gap. Body Glide worked great. If I am open to it, I can see with very step what the Creator has given us. How fortunate I am! To even be able to attempt this. I hope I hang on. I hope as I age I have a short list of things I wished I had done but didn’t, rather than a long list of things I wished I had done but didn’t . April 3rd It was about 50 degrees in my tent when I woke up this morning and colder outside. Windy and raining but I felt pretty good. Went 8 miles to Blue Mountain shelter. I have gone 50.9 miles. Doing 16.8 tomorrow “slack packing” and then its 9 miles and I am in North Carolina. April 4th The AT has no mile markers although certain points have signs such as “Low Gap”. It is marked the entire way with white “blazes” white vertical stripes, usually on trees, sometimes on rocks, roads, buildings. You just follow the white blazes. They are pretty regular. There are also blue blazes which mark the way to shelters, water, points of interest, etc. There are unofficial “yellow” blazes for those who do most of their hike catching a ride. Finally, there are “red” blazes which you create yourself when you have a nasty fall. There are shelters up and down the trail. They sleep approx 10, more if it is raining. So far I haven’t stayed in a shelter. They are colder than tents. They have mice, snorers, etc. I will stay in the shelter if it is pouring down rain. I do like camping at the shelter. Its near people and where the “community” congregates. I can say hi yadiyadi and then go be alone. April 5th Ahhh! I’m lying in/on a comfortable bed in the Holiday Inn Express in Hiawassee, Georgia. So nice. April 8th Went about 12 miles. Camped at muskrat. Very hard day. When I left Hiawassee (4/6), I was extremely weak and tired from the lack of sleep. Of course it was raining. It has rained just about every day at least some, if not all. I think this has been the most difficult day I’ve had. I was in “trudge mode” all day. Every step was work and the terrain was not easy. April 9th I made some tracks today. I’m writing this as I lie in bed at the Franklin Motel. Trailwise I have now traveled 107+ miles. Add my intown and other walking and its lots more. I haven’t written much lately. April 10th 3.7 mile day to Silver Bald shelter. Warm and cozy. Easy day. April 11th Made it to Cold Springs. In a shelter right now with several others watching the rain and lightning and listening to the thunder. At M 123.4. Off to NOC tomorrow. April 12th Made it to NOC (Nantahola Outdoor Center). Rocky nasty descent. Didn’t fall once. A good day. Tomorrow starts with a hill that ends 8 miles later. Probably going to top of it at shelter and camp. Today at M 134.8. April 13th Left this am and did a terrible 7 miles, all of it uphill. It was absolutely terrible. A prior thru hiker I have been hiking with for a couple of days says it’s the toughest climb in the south. I am at Sassafras Gap and it is snowing pretty heavy. At M 141.8 April 14th Made it to Brown Gap. Snowed all day. All is well. April 15th It has stopped snowing. As I came out of the mountains and got to lower elevations at Fontana Dam, Spring was happening. In just 24 hours, with better weather and lower elevations, I was seeing wild flowers I had not seen yet. I saw a lizard that you can only see when it moves, it blends so well. And I heard the owls that sound like monkeys. I fell on my way to Fontana Dam. No major damage. Not a difficult spot either. I was just walking along and all of a sudden did a face plant. When I fall or see people injured, I remember that I am only one bad step from this hike being over. I’m in the Smokies! April 16th At M 169.5. Less than 2000 to go. At Birch Spring. April 17th Went to Spence Field – 11 miles. A pretty uneventful day other than long hard miles in the beautiful Smokies. April 18th I am Silver Bald 192.1 Hard day. Water is tough to get here. I found a spring trinkling that took forever to fill my water bags. April 19th A storm came through last night. Winds of 40-50 knots ripping thru. A torrential downpour. It was the coldest rain I can remember. This morning it was absolutely terrible. I went to Clinmans Dome at 6643’, the highest point on the AT. The closer I got to the Dome, the colder it got. I was simply miserable. April 21st Went 4 miles to Icewater Springs at M 207. Had to get a new pair of shorts cause ran out of belt to pull on the first ones. April 23rd I fell again today. Worst fall I’ve had. That makes 4 counting a little turtle at the beginning. That’s one per week. At this rate, I’ll have 23 more or so. God I hope not. Landed on both knees. I didn’t know if I would get up and walk. Ended up walking another 8 miles or so. Went 18 today. I feel it. I am now at 238.2 and thru the Smokies. April 24th Made it to Max Patch Rd at M 251.1. It was a slow day or at least I was. I’ve had so many thoughts the last few days. I will say that the prayer and meditation is awesome in the woods. I have an awesome God! April 25th Got to Hot Springs where they are having a hiker festival tomorrow. Although I got in late, the owner of the Alpine Court, despite several requests for a room, saved the room for me per my reservation – a class act. April 26th Deb arrived today! We went to town and she met a bunch of my hiker friends. Tried to give her the trail name “Miss Piggie” since I am “Sweat Hog”. Didn’t go over too well. April 27th Deb met a bunch more of my hiker friends. Nice to have a couple days off. We had a great day. We went to Asheville and had dinner with Seth and Leah (my kids) and it was just a wonderful day. I have an awesome life! April 29th Went to the outfitter in Hot Springs today. My arches were killing me. I got a new pair of boots and went 6 miles and my heels hurt badly. I’m trying a new pair of shoes which hopefully will work. I have 1900 miles to go. April 30th I am at Little Laurel M 291. Hard day. Feet hurt. Having a ball. Did almost 14 today. The shoes sucked. Hurt everywhere and very unstable. Maybe they will work better later. One thing for such, the ones I started with just didn’t have enough material on the bottom. They were very light but no arch support and I felt every rock and root. I picked up a pair of Keens. They are not perfect but better than the last 2 pairs. Oh I wish I could find the perfect pair of shoes and inserts and socks. On the other hand, I have been very blessed with no blisters. Feet are going to hurt I suppose, no matter what you do, when you are hiking up and down mountains all day, sometimes very steep, over rock and root, for 12-15 miles per day. May 4th I taught a bunch of people a new bear bagging technique and they all love it. Its easier and works better. I was a rock star. I read about it and practiced it a few times and finally got it down. Hehehe. They think I’m Davey Crockett. May 5th Took zero day in Irwin TN. Be in Damascus approx 9.5 days. Not really any towns between here and there to get off trail for a night. At Damascus, they have an annual festival “Trail Days” which starts on the 16th. Lasts thru the 18th. Hikers come from everywhere to be in Damascus for Trail Days. Big big deal for us thru-hikers. May 6th All is well. Beautiful day. Went about 12m today to Deep Gap at M 352. Sure are lots of “Deep Gaps” on this trail Most of it uphill today but wasn’t bad. May 8th I am at this shelter. A bunch of kids from Appalacian State are here. Its like a frat party. My feet are killing me. 1.7 miles to go till days end. I really have to do something or I cant do this anymore. May 11th This is really hard at times. I’m tired of feeling alone. I guess at least right now I am. I feel very very alone. Period. I am very sad. I don’t fit in with a lot of these kids on the trail nor do I want to. I feel like I don’t know, just totally alone. Is it me? Is it the AT? Is it my life in general? Is it my perception? I don’t know. I just know I feel very alone. I guess I will try to “get into” that. To absorb it. To embrace the solitude and my aloneness and my right now, meaningless existence. I don’t know. I just don’t know. Oh well. Signed miserable tonight anyway and sad and lonely in f***ing Kincora Hostel in f***ing Hampton f***ing Tennessee somewhere on the f***ing AT. May 12th I slacked backwards today with an older guy. Nice hike. He stopped to smoke some pot in his pipe. Oh well he was otherwise ok. 40 miles easy walk to Damascus. Shoes feel much better and so do I.
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