My Trails

5/4/12 – 335 miles.
We are camped 6 miles south of Erwin, TN. It’s a good thing I will be in town tomorrow, I only have two Rice Krispy treats left in my food bag. What I thought was was enough food for seven days was gone in four. My appetite is getting stronger all the time.

I have been hiking with the same guy for the last week. He has more or less made me his partner. I guess it will be okay for now, he’s a pretty good guy. One thing he has done before is hitchhike into town, something we will have to do tomorrow, and I will be glad to have a partner for this new experience. He says it is easy and we shouldn’t have any problems.

5/3/12 – 321 miles
It is my one month anniversary today and to celebrate I hiked 21 miles. It was not easy. I am really tired and sore. We have been planning the days so that the resupply into Erwin, TN will come with a few easy miles in the morning. That gives us the best advantage for food, groceries, laundry, and finding a motel before the end of the day.

I think I mentioned the two Eagle Scouts I met before the Smokys. I came across one of them yesterday.

“Pocahontas, where is your friend Wrench?” I enquired.
“He broke his foot.”
“Oh no! How did it happen? ”
“He stepped wrong and rolled it on a stone. We had to carry him down the mountain. He is going to meet me up the trail in a month.”

And just that quick your hike is over. Those two kids were some of the nicest people I’ve met out here. Chicken Feathers and I have been hiking off and on with Pocahontas the last couple of days, but understandably, he seems sad.

5/2/12 – 300 miles.
I have a blister on my heal. It feels like a tack in my shoe every time I step. Everyone says to puncture it with a needle but I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do. I don’t want to get it infected.

Today was another hot one. My thermometer said it was 85 degrees and I know the humidity was way up there. Some of the trail ran high on mountain tops for part of the day, exposing me to relentless sunshine, baking the back of my neck, drawing the moisture from my body. It always seem that when it gets this hot there is never a breeze to cool you down.

I hiked over a particularly interesting and difficult section of the AT called Big Firescald Knob – I say hiked but it was more of a rock scramble – and had beautiful 360 degree views from the cliff tops.

For part of the day I hiked with a man with the trailname “Chicken Feathers.” He is 68 and a super strong walker. On the hills he leaves me behind. I’m trying to take it easy but Erwin is still 40 miles away and I only have enough food for three days, so I have to keep up a certain pace. None of my friends from before Hot Springs have caught up. They are probably suffering with the heat as well.

I’m tenting near a shelter again tonight. I get the best sleep in my tent so its worth the hassle of sometimes packing it wet. Last night we had a heavy dew. Hopefully tonight will be dryer.

5/1/12 – 285 miles
I left Hot Springs with 7 days of food. The next supply town, Erwin TN, is almost 70 miles by trail, and I wanted to have a little surplus in case it took me longer than I expected.

With the extra weight and scorching heat of the day, I felt exhausted for most of the day. This was the first real taste of what it will be like to hike when the hot weather of summer hits full force in a few weeks. I stopped quite a few times while climbing hills to mop my face with my bandana. Thank goodness the leaves are now providing shade for the trail and water sources are still abundant.

I reached Spring Mountain Shelter about 5 pm and set up my new tent. It’s going to be an adjustment going from a tent with all kinds of room down to a little one person tent, but I will get used to it. I think I will pick up a footprint for it – the floor seems very thin.

I’m camped with three other guys that I’ve never met before. Most of the group I’ve been traveling with are still stuck in town. I have no doubt that they will catch me down the trail, though, most of the young people are getting their trail legs and can really move.

4/29 – 270 miles
I hiked 17 miles to Deer Park Mountain Shelter, 3 miles from Hot Springs, NC. It was a long day. Much of the trail ran through beautiful mature woods, filled with tall poplar and massive oaks, laced now and then with streams and tunnels of rhododendron, on all fairly level walking. Sometimes it’s nice to walk through woods like this. The trail wouldn’t have to go to the top of every mountain.

After a rather challenging climb over Bluff Mountain, the trail descended 2300 feet to the shelter. Once again, several of my trail friends were already there cooking dinner. They said that someone had seen a copperhead snake in the shelter so everyone was tenting. It was a beautiful night and my tent was first choice for me anyway.

After dinner I brought out a treat for everyone – a bag of marshmallows I had been carrying since Gatlinburg. We roasted marshmallows around the campfire and talked until dark. I went to bed with a full stomach and slept the best I have in days.

I forgot to mention that I weighed myself at the hostel two nights before and found that I’ve lost 22 lbs. already. I need to start eating more because my body is devouring itself.