A Trail Angel

The leaves and mud were squishing up around my shoes as I walked down into Brown Gap.  A tremendous rain had fallen overnight that left everything soaked.  As I rounded the final corner of the descent a vision appeared by the road crossing.  There was a large canopy tent with the words "Trail Angel" on the side.  Under the canopy were 6 chairs for weary hikers, sodas, a box of calorie-dense treats, water, and the Trail Angel himself, Bob Appel.  As I pulled in he offered me hot chocolate as well.  Wow, pinch me I must be dreaming.  Appel has been offering trail magic for 10 years along the AT, Florida Trail, and Continental Divide Trail.  These are the kind of folk that make the trail experience unforgettable.  On this day he would only see 4-6 hikers but he told me that around the second week of April he would see 50 thru-hikers a day coming through.  I don't know what all this is costing him in time and money but my heartfelt thanks go out to him.
Energized by the treat and hot chocolate I headed on, convinced I could make it to Hot Springs, NC this day rather than tomorrow.  I only saw 2 other hikers all day on the trail as the crowd has thinned out considerably since we cleared the Smokies.  I strode into town at 5:15 having completed 26.2 miles for the day.  The legs and body feel good, but tired.
Hot Springs is the first place where I catch my bump box as the trail goes right through town.  My bump box contains some of my summer gear, as well as items that I need every few hundred miles such as the recharger for my camera batteries, spare socks, zip-loc's, razor, and the next pages for my AT Trail Guide.  I'll mail it on to Damascus, VA from here.  Next stop will be Erwin, TN. 
I can't believe that one eight of the trail is already behind me.
Mileage to date = 271.8

Finished the Smokies

The decision has been made.  The Smokies have been mis-named.  If they were called "The Rainy's", or "The Misties", or "The Snowies" I would be in complete agreement.  I hear there are actually great views somewhere along the trail but I've never been fortunate enough to see them. 
I started back on the trail at Newfound Gap via a free shuttle from Gatlinburg offered by the Nantahala Outdoor Center.  Thanks NOC for your help!  I spent that night at the Tri-Corner Knob Shelter with another dozen hikers.  That shelter is at 6000', one of the highest on the trail.  In the morning it was well below freezing when I rolled out of the sleeping bag at 6:45.  Brrr.  After breakfast I reached into my ditty bag for toothbrush and toothpaste as my last chore before heading out.  It was still dark so I just squeezed a little paste out and moved discreetly away to brush.  Hmmm, this toothpaste isn't foaming up like I expected it would.  It also tastes a little funny too.  Then I realized I had just brushed my teeth with anti-fungal cream (used for athlete's foot) rather than tooth paste.  Needless to say, I brushed again with the real stuff.  Lesson learned.
My second day out we had a beautiful day for hiking.  I stopped at Davenport Gap at noon to celebrate completion of the Smokies.  What a relief!  There are still lots of big hills to come but the crowded shelters and sloppy trails of the Smokies are now behind me.  I spent that night at Groundhog Creek Shelter with Raspberry, Fuzzy Navel, and Bamboo aka Helga aka Lily aka Third Wheel.  Bamboo made a great fire that we sat and watched until 9:00.  That's the latest I've been up on the trail to date.  What a wild life we lead out here.
Mileage to date = 245.6

The Gatlinburg of Tennessee

Jerky. 
Just how much jerky can any one state produce?
Every second store here sells their own special version of jerky.  Trout, beef, cuthroat, venison, elk.  And what the heck is "all natural jerky"?
There are also wedding chapels and wedding related services on every corner.  In fact, I saw a wedding underway down by the river today.  The bride was glowing in her white satin dress. The groom looked like he was a bit optimistic in sizing his tuxedo as it was "form fitting" to say the least.  Perhaps the grin on his face was a grimace of pain rather than a smile of happiness. 
I should have asked.  Next time I will.
While I'm at it I'll also ask if jerky is a traditional southern wedding gift.
I should have asked.  Next time I will.
Even more intriguing than the jerky question was the "Salt and Pepper Shaker" museum.  Who goes to a museum to see salt and pepper shakers?  Then again, is it a museum about shakers or Shakers? 
I should have asked.  Next time I will.
Southerners really love Gatlinburg and I'm not really sure why.
I should have asked.  Next time I will.

Mileage to date = 204.4

Brrrrr!

Mar. 24
Last night's storm blew any remnant of warm weather far away from here.  It was brrrly cold and windy when I began walking today.  I always hike in my shorts but up top I had on my wool short sleeved shirt, arm warmers, hat, and my rain coat with hood cinched around my chin to keep me warm.  I should have put my gloves on as well as I kept having to tuck my hiking poles under my arm to hide my hands in the sleeves of my coat for warmth.  The trail was strewn with debris today from the storm.  I stopped a hundred times at least to move branches off the treadway to make walking easier for other hikers.  In a few cases there were huge hardwood trees across the trail that I had to detour around.  Glad I wasn't out there last night!
Shortly before noon I reached Fontana Dam and decided to hitch a ride to Gatlinburg, TN for a day's rest to recover from some health issues.  If it's pouring rain tomorrow, as the forecast seems to indicate, they I'll spend another day here in the real Gatlinburg of the south.  I'm not going to break my rule again: "Never walk out of town in the rain."  I'll let you all know what my cultural studies investigations reveal here in the honeymoon capital of the south.
It is very satisfying to have reached the Smokies already and to have the legs feeling good.  There are still lots of challenging hills left in NC/Tennessee but I feel I can make the climbs and descents without too much trouble. 

Mileage to date : 164.4

Pancakes!

Mar. 23
The advantage of staying last night at the Rufus Morgan shelter was that we were only 0.8 miles from the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in Wesser, NC.  At NOC there is a diner right on the trail that opens for breakfast at 8:00am.   The whole evening before Sam, Tyler, Man Cub and I had been talking about going for pancakes in the morning.  Much to my great delight a heap of blueberry pancakes was sitting in front of me at 8:15 this morning.  Life is good!  I wonder if I could arrange to have someone prepare me a breakfast like this every day out on the trail.
After breakfast I had to buy some new socks at the NOC Outfitter store as the pair I began with had developed multiple holes.  New socks were just the thing I needed to keep my feet comfortable as the next 7 miles of trail was uphill.  This was the longest continuous climb I have experienced in the southern Appalachians.  The day included a couple of other hard climbs up Stecoah Gap and Jacob's Ladder so I called it quits at 2:30 having covered 16.8 miles on an "easy" day.  The shelter was full that night as we experienced a wild storm with high winds, rain and hail.  Turns out there were even tornado's in the western part of Tennessee.  A young woman thru-hiker arrived at the shelter just before dark, 7:30, very proud to have completed her longest trail day to date.  She had departed NOC at 9:00am, just moments after I left.

Trail miles to date : 151.0

A Marathon Day

Mar. 22
At 6:50 am it was still completely dark when I was met in the lobby of the Microtel in Franklin, NC by a member of the local hiking club who had kindly offered to shuttle me up to the trailhead at Winding Stair Gap.  I came out expecting to see a sturdy hiking type but was surprised to find that my driver was a spry, white-haired 86 year old woman.  She said we had to hurry as she had to be back in town for 8:30 to be at school where she volunteers in the kindergarten.  She had actually been a kindergarten teaching assistant and then teacher for years before she retired.  Just like my mother!  At the trailhead pull off she swung her car around to illuminate the AT sign as a background for the photo she takes of everyone that she shuttles.  As she was leaving I thought I heard voices next to the road.  As my eyes adjusted I saw that Snail and Blue were there cowboy camping next to the road, cuddled up in their sleeping bags, waiting for the shuttle down into town for resupply.
It seems that the big meals the previous day gave lots of pep to my step as I simply motored along all day.  As I was making the two mile climb up to Cold Spring Shelter I passed 4 people that I assumed were day hikers as they were walking without packs.  I stopped at the shelter to cool my feet and have a little snack.  After a few minutes the four appeared and simultaneously asked: "Are you some kind of marathon man?"  It turns out that they were thru-hikers who were taking advantage of a slack pack opportunity.  Slack packing is when someone offers to drive your pack further up the trail while you hike along un-encumbered by all the stuff you need to survive.  I'm all for slack packing but haven't had much chance in my career.
"How", they asked, "can you be beating us up this mountain carrying your pack when we're struggling just carrying a water bottle?  We were going to name you 'The Energizer' if you didn't already have a trail name."
"I guess it must have been because I knew I was planning to have a snack at the top.  That's all."
"Ha, like we believe that", said Sam and Tyler, two young hikers who were already in the shelter for a rest when I arrived.  "Each day on the trail our goal is to try to keep up with you and we haven't succeeded yet.  We're 25 years younger than you and yet you beat us up every hill.  It's not fair."
"It's not that I'm that fast", I said, "it's just that when I see a hill I feel driven to go up as fast as I can to get it over with.  I'll blame that on my friend John who says to attack every hill."
"You're full of it.  We can't catch you going uphill, downhill, or on the level.  It doesn't make any difference."
"Actually, the reason I go so fast is because I'm lazy.  I just want to get the day's walk over with so I can sit around and goof off."
That logic seemed to satisfy them so we all set off to finish the day's hiking.  At around 3:00 I rolled into the Rufus Morgan Shelter near Wesser, having completed my longest day to date, a distance of 26.5 miles. 
Turns out I actually was a marathon man on this day.

Trail miles to date : 134.2

Franklin, NC

Gipc Girl's headlamp flickered from side to side as we left the shelter in the dark at 7:15am, bundled up against the light mist that was falling.  I was following as I don't carry a headlamp, only a small squeeze light to read by. Soon the light of day was enough to illuminate the trail so Gipc suggested that I move on by and go at my own pace.  The trail was very nice until we reach Mt. Albert.  I recalled that I thought this was my toughest climb in 2000 and it didn't disappoint me today.  The first 1000' or so were a steady climb along the face of the mountain, with the 2' trail all that separated me from a fall of 2000' to the valley below.  The last 500' of the climb were almost straight up, such that I had to put my poles on my pack and lean my hands into the mountain face as I climbed to keep my balance.  Phew, that was a challenge.  At the top was a fire tower that gave an extended view of the mountains of southwestern NC.  Spectacular!
I made it out to Winding Staircase Gap at 12:00 and hitched a ride into Franklin, NC to get cleaned up and re-supply for my next left to Fontana Dam, NC.

Trail miles to date: 107.7

Why are you out here again?

On Sunday Mar. 20 I left the Plumorchard Gap Shelter in much cooler temperatures.  At 8:30 I crossed the Georgia/North Carolina border and celebrated with a whoop and a small tear of joy.  One state down and only thirteen more to go.  As a welcome to NC the climb out of Bly Gap near the border was a real kicker.  I even had to stop a few times to catch my breath.  The rest of the day was surprisingly easy with only a few ups and downs, despite the fact that I was now well above 4000' elevation all the time.  At 2:30 I reached the Carter Gap Shelter, a distance of 20 miles from Plumorchard, and decided to call it quits for the day.  Already in the shelter were Enzed, a woman from New Zealand, and her hiking friend Forest Gimp.  They had just taken a zero day in the shelter and were spending the time watching movies on his iPod.  Also in the shelter was Gipc Girl (you read that right) from Australia.  She tried to thru-hike the AT last year but broke her leg at Unicoi Gap and spent 6 weeks in a motel in Franklin, NC while it healed.  She then re-commenced the hike but could only get to Mt. Washington in NH before here visa expired.  So, she came back here again this year to re-do the whole hike again.  She is a 62 year old interior designer who just loves to be outdoors hiking.  The final two occupants of the shelter were a woman who thru-hiked the trail last year and her hiking partner.
At one point Gipc Girl asked last year's thru-hiker : "When did you decide to hike the AT again this year?"
"Well," she said , "I went home to New Mexico last fall after summiting Katahdin on Oct. 3.  I was only home a few weeks when my daughter called and asked if I could come help her look after my new granddaughter.  So, I went and found I was spending all my time looking after the granddaughter while my daughter was out working and socializing.  It felt like I was married again.  I did all the cooking and cleaning and child care but wasn't getting anything in return.  She wouldn't even let me drive her car.  So, after a month of that I just said I was leaving.  At that point I decided to hike the AT again this year.  It seemed the only way to get away from them.  When I was married I was a truck driver for 6 years as well.  That and the AT just seem to satisfy a craving I have to be on the move."

Trail Magic

After a zero day in Helen I was full of vim and vigour and ready to tackle the trail again.  The proprietor of Woody's bicycle shop in Helen gave me a shuttle back to Unicoi Gap where I began walking at 7:30 am, hoping to take advantage of the cool of the morning as the day's high was forecast to be 82 degrees.  Those kind of temperatures might be a godsend to the southerner's on the trail but they are a real nuisance for someone who trained for a couple of months at temperatures well below the freezing mark.  By the afternoon I was stopping at every stream and spring to soak my shirt to keep cool.  I even soaked my bandana and tucked it under my hat, draping it over my neck, to keep the sun off and cool my neck.  Around mid-day I went through Addis Gap and began the climb of Kelly's Knob.  The climb wasn't ridiculously steep, but it just kept going and going and going!  When will this ever end?  Finally, as I reached the summit, there was a gracious Georgia gentleman with a can of cold Pepsi.  My first instance of trail magic this year, and what a blessing it was after that long climb.  The gentleman's trail name was Tater.  He said he had thru-hiked the AT in 2000 and liked to come out occasionally to provide some trail magic for tired hikers.
As I stood there enjoying the refreshment he asked, "Where are you from?"
"The east coast of Canada"
"Where?"
"The middle part", I said.
"Oh, I hiked with a guy from the northern part in 2000."
"Really?  What was his name?"
"It was Wolfman"
"Wolfman?  Why that's Wolfgang that I race against all the time.  In fact, my wife will be racing against him this Sunday."
"Wolfman was great.  I usually hiked with Sarge, but we joined up with the Wolfman through the Shenandoah's. He sure was fast!"
What a small world!

The Gatlinburg of Georgia

My second day on the trail was a bit longer than I expected.  I arose early and walked to the Walasi-Yi center at Neels Gap, a distance of 15 miles.  This store has everything that a lightweight hiker could ever want or need. They offer a service where they will take everything out of your pack and help you decide what to carry for the rest of the trip.  On this day there were 4 hikers with all their gear spread out on the floor, deciding what to send home and what to replace.  I'm sure it is very traumatic to find that all the carefully selected gear that you acquired is not suitable for the challenges that thru-hikers will face over the next 5-6 months.  Fortunately, I didn't need the service as I have winnowed my load down to the lightest that I am willing to carry when we could still face some winter weather in North Carolina and Tennessee.
My original plan had been to stay at Goose Creek Cabins near Neels Gap to celebrate completing the first 30 miles.  Unfortunately, they were closed so I decided to continue walking for a ways longer.  Finally, at 5:00pm and six more trail miles later, I made my way down a 1.2 mile side trail to the Whitely Gap Shelter for the night.  In contast to the previous night's horde, there were only 4 hikers at this shelter as the beginners were unwilling to walk that far off the trail to spend the night.  In fact, all the hikers there that night were former thru-hikers for whom an extra couple of miles made no difference.
It was very cold and windy when I went to bed but by morning it had warmed up considerably.  "Looks like it will be a hot one Bill."  My goal today was to make it to Unicoi Gap and then hitch a ride into Helen, GA for the night to get cleaned up and enjoy a hot meal.  The skies were perfectly clear and temperature unseasonably warm as the day progressed.  By 1:00pm I had made the road crossing and eventually hitched a ride down to Helen where I am composing this blog entry.  It is 75 degrees here today and forecast to be sunny and in the 80's for the next two days.  Wait a second!  I came down here to start in March so that I could avoid those kind of temperatures.  All the locals say this is very unusual to see this kind of heat early in the season.  Yeah.. right.
The city of Helen is designed along a Bavarian theme with the facade of all the buildings made of timber and stucco.  Very cute!  The city calls itself the "Gatlinburg of Georgia" so I just couldn't miss it as I plan to stop to enjoy the kitsch of Gatlinburg as well.  What a chore it is to be a cultural researcher as well as AT hiker.

Trail miles to date : 50.9

Breaking a Cardinal Rule

"Gainesville, next stop Gainesville"
As I stepped off the train the rain was pelting down, turning the streets into rivers.  This was not how I hoped to start my AT thru-hike.  The shuttle driver, "Hotrock - AT 2004", met me in the station and we headed out for Springer Mt..  Hotrock, who lives out of his van when he isn't hiking, chatted non-stop for the hour's drive to the top of the mountain on US Forestry Service road # 42.  The last six miles were on a single-lane gravel road cut into the side of the mountain.  The drop off was at least a thousand feet down on my right.  Yikes, steer well my friend.  We arrived at the trailhead just as the day was beginning to show its face.  The rain was still pouring down as I donned my rain coat and pants in the back of the van before stepping out.  As Hotrock drove away and I stood there alone in the pouring rain I knew that I was breaking my cardinal rule : "Never leave town in the rain."
I slung my pack on and headed southward for 0.9 miles to the actual terminus of the AT on Springer Mt.  After a few soggy photos I headed north, only 2180 miles to go.
The rain and wind continued until well after noon but since it was reasonably warm I was more than content to continue to walk for 15 miles to Gooch Mt. where I spent the night in the shelter.  This, without a doubt, was the most crowded shelter and area that I have ever experienced on the trail.  There were 14 people sleeping in the double-decker sleeping area, and there must have been 40 more tenting around the shelter.  Never let it be said that one hikes the AT in order to find some time alone.

My Boston Accordion

A smile lit her lined face as I commented, "That's a nice case you have there", to the woman across from me on the Boston subway.  Actually, it wasn't a "nice" case but it was a "good" case.  The pressed cardboard sides had faded to a greyish blue.  The polished brass frame and hardware had acquired a patina of corrosion and rust that no quick rub would set to right.  The leather handle was shiny and warn from years of hand contact. 
"It's not actually a suitcase.  Lift it." 
"Wow, that's heavy," I said as I wondered how this sprite of a senior carried such a heavy case. 
"That's my Boston accordion.  I keep it here at my daughter's place for when I come to visit.  I also have a Philadelphia accordion that I keep at my home.  That way I don't have to carry one between Philly and Boston when I'm up here visiting.  I'm just coming back from Portland, ME where I went to play." 
"Do you give concerts?", I asked. 
"Oh no, I was just up to visit a friend who likes the accordion as well.  We spent the last two days just playing whatever we wanted all day."
"If you do that on a regular basis then it's a good thing you have two accordions."
"I looked at buying a concertina, you know what I mean?  It looks like a small accordion.  I keep thinking that I'll need something lighter if I'm going to be playing when I'm ninety."
I was having a hard time even imagining how this seventy something woman who weighed no more than a hundred pounds could throw an accordion around, let alone whether or not she'd be able to do so when she was ninety.
"Where can you get a concertina?", I asked.
"Oh they make them in Camden, New Jersey, right across the river from Philly.  That's also where I get the service work done on my Philly accordion.  That one cost me $300 so I want to look after it.  This one was only $50 fifteen years ago but I still love its sound.  Well, this is my stop.  It was good to talk to you."
Hmm, all the sudden my pack seems much lighter. 
I'm catching the train to Georgia today and will take my first steps on the trail on Tuesday morning, so my next post will be my first actual trail report.

Weighing In

As a relatively experienced hiker with a few thousand trail miles behind me I've learned how important it is to minimize the weight that I carry.  When I first started hiking along the AT in 2000 I went through extensive preparation, purchasing what I was sure was the lightest equipment around.  How wrong I was!  My pack alone weighed almost 6 lbs and was filled with another 54 lbs of the lightest and greatest gear available. One of the lessons that I quickly learned, and that will re-surface throughout this blog, is: "If you want it then you've got to carry it".  Now as I put each item into my pack I ask: "Do I really want to lug this up and down hill every day for months on end?"  As you'll read in the weight summary that follows, that query has served me well.
When discussing weight there are two different measures used.
Base weight is the weight of the pack plus all the gear inside or attached, not including food and water.  Please note that the base weight should go down by 8-12 oz when summer arrives, though I suspect I'll just end up carrying more food by then.
Carry weight is the base weight plus food for 3 days and 2 liters of water.  I should mention that not everyone carries 2 liters of water with them but I like the security of knowing that I can easily walk the whole day without needing to find a water source.
Today I went through all of my gear again to identify what could or should be changed before I hit the trail.  I also assembled the food I will need to get me from Springer Mountain to my first resupply point.
The numbers are as follows( ' = lb, " = oz):
Base weight = 14' 5"
     - dry clothes = 1'12"
     (Icebreaker wool long sleeve shirt - 8", Icebreaker wool long underwear- 6.5", shorts - 4", socks- 2", toque - 1", gloves - 3", arm warmers- 2", briefs- 1.5")
     - fleece = 15"
     - Marmot Hydrogen down sleeping bag with stuff sack = 1'8"
     - Montbell bivy sac to cover sleeping bag in hostels and shelters = 7.5"
     - Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 tent, fast pitch = 1'6" (only footprint, fly, poles and 4 stakes)
     - Rain gear = 12.5" (Frog Togs coat=6", Montbell pants = 6.5", 2 plastic bags for hands/feet)
     - NeoAir air mattress = 9.5"
     - Ditty bag = 30.5" (TP/soap/sanitizer-5.5", trail guide-3.5", water treatment=3", first aid=4.5", novel & notepad-10.5", rope - 1", towel= 2")
     - Cooking kit = 13" (windscreen-1", titanium pot and lid-4.5", titanium stove - 0.5", Esbit fuel tabs(6)-3.5", lighters/soap-3.5")
     - Clean up kit = 7.5" (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, antifungal, nail clippers, spoon)
     - Camera, Pentax W90 with 2 spare batteries and Gorillapod tripod = 9"
Carry weight = 22'  3"
    - base weight plus 4' of water and 3'14" of food.
As a final note, my weight before starting this excursion is 162 lbs.

An Ode to Snowmen

It was -19C (-2F) with 5' of snow on the ground when I left for my morning walk.  Perfect conditions for training!  With only 10 days left until I leave for the trail I continue to work on my conditioning by spending a few hours each day walking with the pack on, climbing every hill that I can find.  This photo was taken by my friend John as we were making our way up the Holt's Hill near my home.  This hill is just under a mile long with an elevation gain of 700' and I've climbed it more times than I can remember while training for hiking trips.  It's certainly nothing like what I'll face in the southern Appalachians or the White's in NH but it's the best I've got around here and much better than sitting on the couch eating bonbons.  Each day I get to see something interesting going on in the neighbourhood.  Yesterday the folks were digging out from another 20cm of snow so I had a chance to chat with a few people along the way.  A retired teacher who lives nearby told me how she just loves winter, even shoveling.  Her great disappointment was she hadn't been able to make a snowman yet as we aren't getting any wet snow.  "It's too darn cold."  It's a delight to see someone who gets such great pleasure out of weather that most folks dread.  I hope I'll be out making snowmen when I'm 80 years old.