My Trails

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.

4/28 – 254 miles
Now that we are past the Smokys the weather has been good. I left Standing Bear Hostel early and faced a long, steady climb of 3000 feet to the top of Snowbird Mountain. There is a VOR navigational aid on top of the mountain and views for many miles. A lot of the mountain tops were cleared years ago for farmers to graze livestock and the Forest Service still maintains them. One of the highest and coolest places is called Max Patch, a grassy bald with panoramic views, and I was determined to stay on top and experience the sunset and sunrise. It is one of those places I had heard about and didn’t want to miss.

We were fortunate to find trail magic at Brown Gap, three miles before Max Patch. Two former thruhikers and there friends had hamburgers for lunch, steak for dinner, and full course breakfast the next morning. A lot of guys pitched there tent and ate all day, but a few of us ate lunch and went on up the mountain.

Max Patch was neat. You could walk barefoot all over the mountain top. We felt like we were on top of the world. Brooke said she felt like Maria in Sound Of Music. Several more hikers joined us and we watched a beautiful sunset.