My Trails

5/10 – 400.7 miles
My leg was still sore in the morning but I took it easy and tried to walk slowly. We only did 8.8 miles to Mountaineer Shelter and spent the afternoon lounging in our tents. There was a waterfall near the shelter and I sat with my leg under the cold water twice in the afternoon.

Chicken Feathers almost had parts of his stove taken. He left his stove at the shelter while we were resting and when we went back to make dinner that night, someone had taken parts of his stove. They said that they thought they were abandoned but they shouldn’t have taken them anyway. We rested well even though there were young people partying over at the shelter.

5/8 5/9 – 392 miles
In the morning my leg was sore but I assumed it would get better as I hiked and warmed up. Little did I know that it would turn into one of the most painful injuries I’ve ever had. We passed by Overmountain Shelter, a famous converted barn, but I was too sore to take any detours. And later in the day the weather turned cold with a rain that blew in sideways like a hurricane. We bent our heads and climbed over Roan Mountain, a beautiful summit for vistas in all directions, but on this day saw only the swirling mist and rain a few feet in front of us. We longed for the protection of treeline but the mountain only went higher and higher, until at last the summit was passed and we started the long decent into the valley below.

We had planned on camping but nothing usable appeared. And we couldn’t muster the courage to set up our tents in the rain, so we hiked on. By the time we reached route 19e, eighteen miles into the day, my leg felt like someone was sticking a knife into it. Chicken Feathers went on ahead at one point and came back to carry my pack for the last mile.

That high-mileage day pretty much did me in, and the next day I spent reclining in a chair at a local bed and breakfast while Chicken Feathers brought me ice, pillows, medicine, and waited on me. After a zero day, I felt well enough to continue on.

5/7/12 – 374 miles
I left camp early in the morning. I like to walk by myself for a while when the woods are just waking up, the air is cool, and I’m fresh with a good nights rest. I walked for about an hour at a slow pace and then Chicken Feathers caught me and we hiked together for the rest of the day. Shortly before midday, we decided to detour .6 miles to a hostel in hopes of a Burger or other type of greasy food. When we got there the owner was just getting ready to give her dog a bath so she couldn’t be bothered with us. We had a soft drink and headed back to the trail, vowing to tell everyone we met what a waste of time the Greasy Creek Hostel is.

On the way to our campsite at Ash Gap, I started to develop a sore shin. It would turn into one of the most painful ordeals I’ve ever undergone.

5/6/12 – 359 miles
It was a nice walk from Erwin to the evening campsite. The mountains were still pretty serious but the trail was graded well and the weather was perfect. We ate lunch on top of a bald (a mountain meadow) called Beauty Spot that had views in all directions.

There are a lot of foreigners doing the trail this year. On top of Beauty Spot we were joined by Metric and Sticks, a guy from Australia and his girlfriend, and Knife, a guy from Switzerland. The biggest group of hikers from another country are the Germans. There was a documentary film about the AT, made by a German company and widely shown all over Europe that pricked the interest of a few hearty souls to come over and try it.
We spent the night at Cherry Gap Shelter after 17.5 miles

5/5/12 – 341 miles
I’ve been wearing the same clothes for five days. When I peal off my socks my feet look like I’ve been walking on mud. And the smell… let’s just say there’s no way to describe it. I’m not sure you could call me a mountain man but I know a little about the depths of squalor the absence of hygiene provides.

We woke early today and took down our tents before it was light. It started to sprinkle just as I was stuffing the rainfly into my pack and I grabbed everything and ran to the protection of the shelter. Chicken Feathers wasn’t so lucky. He decided to eat breakfast, and by the time he took down his tent, it was raining hard. It was 6 miles to town and we covered the distance in 2 hours. I don’t like to walk that fast but we were anxious to get to a motel and out of the rain. As usual, it stopped raining and the sun came out once we reached Erwin.

We walked about a half-mile, trying to hitchhike along the way, until we came to the Holiday Inn. Since we weren’t having any luck getting a ride into town, we decided to get a room and split the cost.

After we showered, did laundry and ate breakfast – they still had the food out for guests – we headed for the grocery store. This time a man stopped and gave us a lift after only a few minutes. All in all, we caught rides two more times, once with a young couple who gave us a ride to the Wallgreens, and the last with the Ford dealer owner that saw us in front of his lot.

We head back to the trail tomorrow.