My Trails

5/11 – 412 miles
I found out that by wrapping my leg tight and landing on my toe going downhill the shin splint felt good during the day. As long as we did short miles each day, it didn’t get much better, but it didn’t get any worse either. And the terrain was cooperating, too. There were long walks through gentle sloping woods and even the mountain paths had recently been rerouted with switchbacks to ease the climbs and descents. Sometimes we could see where the old trail went straight up the mountain and we were glad for all the trail maintainers that donate so much time to work on the trail.

We stelthed camped that night by a spring. It was a nice secluded spot almost hidden from the trail. We found what appeared to be a giant pile of bear poop so we were sure to hang a bag with our food.

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