Appalachian Trail 2006

August 18, 2006

To jump ahead a bit and answer the question that’s on everyone’s mind…I summited Katahdin on Wednesday!!! Now, let me go back and summarize the last week a bit – As I said in my last entry, when we left Monson, we entered the 100 mile wilderness. We soon learned that this wasn’t as daunting as it may sound. After the first two days, the terrain was really quite easy – especially when compared with the rest of Maine. Also, despite the lack of paved roads or nearby towns, the area didn’t feel that much like wilderness because of the unusually large numbers of hikers around. I hadn’t been around so many section hikers on any other part of the trail. The 100 mile wilderness is one of the most popular sections of the trail. I guess b/c the terrain is doable, and it finishes at Katahdin, which is the coolest mountain ever. The highlight of the area is the water – there were a ton of lakes and one afternoon we walked along a beautiful river for miles. The only negative thing about this last week (in addition to the randos taking up shelter space and two bizarre hail storms) was that Bison got giardia and had to go to the hospital. He’s okay now and was able to summitt with us, but it was a little scary for a bit. Because the terrain was so easy, we had a lot more free time than usual during the second half of this last week. This was good timing because it gave all of us the opportunity to hangout and really appreciate our last few days on the trail. I thought a lot about the last five months and how grateful I am to have had this experience and how weird it seems that life as we’ve known it is about to change big time. The night before we summitted Katahdin we (Buttercup, Bison, Snapper, Boogeyman, and I) were like kids on Christmas Eve; we barely slept at all. We got an early start up the mountain, and the climb went by really fast. I think that was for several reasons. First, there was obviously a lot of adrenaline. Second, we all walked the whole way together which was nice and fun. And last, there were ridiculously amazing views the whole time – Quite possibly the best views anywhere on the trail. When we saw the sign from a bit down the mountain, I couldn’t believe that we were almost there; that this was almost over. When we got to the top, Buttercup pulled out a six pack of PBR out of his pack that he’d brought for us. We took a ton of pictures, and kind of just sat there and let it all sink in. For me though, it still seemed unreal, and I couldn’t really grasp the significance of finally being there. We didn’t hangout too long b/c the wind was cold and it looked like a storm might be moving in. The climb down was hellish. I’ve learned that really steep climbs can be a lot more trechearous on the descent. I almost felt more triumphant when I made it back down the mountain than I did at the top, since it was only then that I was actually done hiking.

August 10, 2006

I’ll have to keep this entry short, since I have to meet a guy to get a ride back to the trail in ten minutes. I’m in Monson, ME – the last trail town. Can you believe it?!? We’re heading into the 100 mile widerness today – the longest stretch on the trail without a road crossing or resupply option. We plan to summit Katahdin next Wednesday the 16th. This past week has been so perfect that I don’t want this adventure to end. The weather has been awesome and the scenery is incredibly beautiful. Maine is quickly becoming my favorite state. There are soooo many lakes here; it’s just crazy. I caught back up to Snapper this week, who had to slow down after battling Giardia. It’s nice to have another girl around, and both she, and a guy named Buttercup we just met (who happens to be from Atl) are planning to summit with Bison, Boogeyman and myself on the 16th. It should be a good week. I’ll fill you in on all the details once I get home next Friday. Thanks to everyone for your support along the way.

August 3, 2006

I’m in Andover, ME for the second night in a row. Today I did a 23 mile slack pack north of here. It was tiring, but it was totally worth it to get in such good mileage and to come back to this nice hostel (the Roadhouse), which has the coolest caretaker ever. Her name is Kris, and not only did she drive us 45 minutes up the road to slackpack, but she brought everyone beers when she picked us up this evening. Enough of the good news though…the truth is that southern Maine is freaking insanely tough. Two days ago we went through the infamous Mahousuc Notch – the toughest mile on the trail. I really didn’t know what to expect, but what we got was two and a half hours of climbing up, under, around and over massive boulders. The rocks were wet (it’s rained 6 of the last 7 days), and the climbing was really intense, so it was a little scary. About 8 of us went through there together though, which really helped – both b/c you have to take your pack off at times and hand it up to someone in front of you, and b/c having a big group together helped to keep our morale up. The day, which was my shortest ever at 10 miles, ended with a swim in Speck Pond, the highest lake in Maine. There aren’t any bridges in Maine, and I heard there were a total of 20 rivers we would have to ford throughout the state. I found this a little troubling, but what I didn’t know what that the river running straight down the middle of the trail would turn out to be much more of a nuisance. The weather finally cleared up this evening, and is supposed to be nice for the next few days. I’m still hiking with Bison and Boogey Man, and we’re shooting for an Aug 17th finish date. Hopefully I’ll be able to write again before then.

July 31, 2006

Hi everyone. Things have been pretty eventful since I last wrote. I’ve crossed the White Mountains, which are widely considered both the most scenic section of the trail, as well as the most difficult. I can definitely testify to the difficulty of the terrain – my pace was slowed dramatically and included a 10 mile day and an 11 mile day. I have also managed to days of 15, 17, 19 and 21 miles since I last wrote, but none of it has come easily. As far as the Whites being the most beautiful section of the trail, until yesterday I wasn’t so sure. I had two days of hellish rain, fog and wind that limited visibility to about 10 feet – no exageration. When we crossed over Mount Washington the wind was a steady 59 mph with gusts up to 69 mph. Apparently 70 mph is considered hurricane force. At times I had to stop walking and brace myself to keep from being blown off the mountain. I did see three rainbows during those days, but I was bummed not to get the awesome 360 degree views that the Presidentials are famous for. Yesterday was an amazing day though that completely made up for what the previous days lacked in views. We did a 21 mile slackpack over the Wildcat peaks between Pinkham Notch and Hwy 2 and had amazing views looking back at the Presidentials. The weather could not have been any clearer. I also saw my first moose. I was a little scared b/c the moose (which I have to admit I mistook for a horse at first) was going crazy and running straight at me at one point. When I got a little further up the trail I saw that there was a big group of people up ahead, and the moose had been kind of trapped between us on the trail, which is why it was freaking out. One highlight of the last week was a rainy night when ten of us did a work for stay at Lake of the Clouds Hut. I felt like I was back at Maddy’s, wiping down tables and serving food. We got to wear some crazy costumes and sleep on the tables. We met two Southbounders there that were totally nuts – they are trying to break the record for the slowest thru hike ever, and hope to take exactly one year to complete the trail. I’ve got less than three weeks left out here, which is sad, but also kind of exciting. I’ll be in Maine tonight, and hope to be able to write again sometime soon.

July 22, 2006

I’m writing from the Dartmouth College library in Hannover, NH. We crossed into New Hampshire yesterday after pretty much flying through Vermont – 142 miles in 7 days. People said it wasn’t possible to do twenty mile days through VT, but we did it anyway. I’m not sure how good of an idea that was though, as I was so exhausted when I got in town last night that I was near tears. We spent the night at a fraternity house, which was a fun time, but quite an experience. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that 21 year old frat boys keep slightly different hours that thru hikers. Going back for a minute, one of the highlights of VT was staying at a hostel in Rutland that’s run by a group called the Twelve Tribes, which is basically a Christian hippie commune. Don’t worry, I’m not going to run away and join their group (although the hostel’s motto is “stay one night or stay for eternity”), but I basically agreed with everything they stand for and really enjoyed talking with them. They run a cafe, and we all pitched in and cooked a gormet breakfast in the morning before we headed out. We’ve started running into our first southbound thru hikers, which is cool since they can give us a perspective on what we’re headed up against in New Hampshire and Maine. I learned from one SOBO I met yesterday that there is a rumor going around the trail that I work as a dancer at the Cheetah in Atlanta. Apparently there is a stripper there who goes by the name of Swiss Miss, and since we’re both from Atl, people logically assumed that I must be her. I did my best to correct that rumor immediately and explained that had anyone out here ever seen me dance they would know that no one would EVER pay money to see that. Anyway, I’d planned on doing twenty miles out of here today, but my feet and legs have other ideas, so I’m spending the morning in town and will just hike half a day out this afternoon. I’m pretty excited about being in New Hampshire, but a little intimidated by the huge climbs that we’ll be doing in the White Mountains in a few days. I’ll keep y’all posted on how that goes.

July 17, 2006

I’m in Vermont, my 12th state, and it is TOUGH. The mountains are a lot bigger than we’re used to, and anytime the path is remotely flat we are slogging through ankle deep mud and puddles. I just got new shoes (I went back to the Montrail trail runners that I love) and they already look like they’ve been through hell. Despite the tough terrain, I felt really rejuvenated after my stay with Lindsay in Worcester and have been able to continue to put up pretty big miles. The best thing is that when I came back from Worcester, I met up with a bunch of really cool folks on the trail that are planning to finish around the same time I am, so hopefully we can all hangout for a while. I was feeling kind of lonley recently b/c most of my friends are behind me. Patches, Nifty, Brian, Ghost, Skunk, Daedalus, Boogeyman, Bison, Miss Fortune, Mr. K and Masterplan were all in town with me last night and most plan to head back to the trail today.

July 12, 2006

Hi everyone, I’m in Worcester, Mass visiting my friend Lindsay for a few days. She just moved up here a few weeks ago, which worked out great since the Massachusetts section of the trail is only about 2 hours from her new apt. Things have been going great since I last wrote. On Friday night in Great Barrington, Nifty, Brian and I went out to see a Zydeco band. Zydeco music is a mix of Cajun, Creole and Blues. I’ve really missed live music, and we had a blast. I had called for a cab to come take me back to the trail at 7:30 Saturday morning, which was kind of painful since we’d been up way past typical hiker bedtime. But I managed to get up in time, and put in 27 miles of hiking that day. The next day I did 21 miles into Dalton, MA. The hiking was easy except that I bought some new boots in Great Barrington that were absolutely killing me. Before going into Dalton I’d heard that a guy named Rob let hikers stay at his house, which is called the Birdcage, but I really didn’t know what to expect. Well, Rob and his home exceeded all expectations, and staying with him was one of the most pleasant surprises that I’ve had along the trail. The night that I stayed with him there were seven other people staying at the birdcage – four other current thru hikers, and three thru hikers from last year who just came in town to see Rob. The next day I got to do my first slackpack of the trip. For those that aren’t familar with the term, slackpacking means hiking on the trail without carrying your pack. Rob drove me 17 miles up the trail and then I hiked back to his house. I had no idea how much easier it is to hike without 35 lbs on your back. I felt like I was flying. Typically after a Southbound slackpack like this, Rob will drive the hiker back up to the point where he left them off the previous day, and he or she will continue on Northbound from there. Instead, Lindsay picked me up from Rob’s house, and she’ll just drive me back to the point where I left off of the trail tomorrow.

July 6, 2006

Since I last wrote I’ve finished up New York, walked across Connecticut and started on Massachusetts. I love these small states! They make me feel like I’m making progress, and I am actually making progress – I’m at mile 1507 now. CT was really good- neat views, sunny weather, clean shelters, cute little yuppie towns, etc. Today was my first day in MA, and it featured some really tough climbs, but the scenery made it worthwhile. Yesterday was the first day that we’d gotten above 2,000 feet since PA, so we’re gradually heading into the bigger mountains that will peak in the Whites in New Hampshire. Overall CT and MA are awesome, the only negative thing I can say is that the mosquitos are something fierce. Seriously, we don’t have anything like this in the South. I put deet on my arms, legs, neck and even face, but as soon as I take my pack off, they start biting through my shirt. I counted 25 bites on my back when I got in town today. Supposedly it only gets worse the farther north you go. Things are going well overall, but I was kind of sad on July 4th b/c it was the first time in nearly a decade that I missed out on running the P’tree and celebrating “Santa Sam day” with the swarm. It’s all worth it on a day like today though when it’s 80 degrees with a nice breeze and no humidity, and I’m eating lunch on top of Mt. Everet overlooking the greenest valley you ever saw. So yeah, I can’t complain. Plus this town has a movie theater, so I may get a dose of pop culture before I head back to the woods.

June 30, 2006

Greetings from New York. Since I last wrote, I’ve finished a whole state (New Jersey) and gotten a good start on New York. The trail in New Jersey, and thus far in New York is seriously beautiful. So much better than Pennsylvania in my oppinion. In New Jersey we walked on a one and a half mile boardwalk over a marshy area that could have been something out of the South Carolina coast, and the Harriman State park area of New York is just unreal. This is definetely a section of the trail that I’d do again in a heartbeat. I saw a bear near the NJ, NY border, which was cool. Today when I crossed a road I saw a sign that said, New York City – 34 miles, which was totally crazy b/c it feels like we are a world away from the city. Way more isolated than you could be 34 miles outside of Atlanta. Despite all these positives I’ve mentioned, and I do mean everything I’ve said, my experience this last week has been kind of miserable. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the torrential rains that have caused flooding all over the mid-Atlantic region. Well, that’s right where I am. This has been some serious rain. No kidding, it never stopped raining once the whole time I was in New Jersey, and the rain continued on into New York. I and all my belongings were wet and disgusting for days. My shoes have gotten the worst of it; they are positively rancid. Good thing it’s almost time for new shoes anyway. It seems like the rain is over for now. I hope so b/c bad weather can really get you down out here. Next time I write I’ll probably be in Connecticut, so until then..

June 22, 2006

Hi everyone, I’m in Delaware Water Gap, PA, hanging out with my parents in a hotel room. My dad had a meeting in Washington DC, so they decided to drive up and see me. In a totally random coincidence, my aunt and uncle, Amy and Greg were on their way back from a bike rally in New Hampshire, and they met up with us as well, so it was like a mini family reunion in Pennsylvania of all places. Tomorrow I’ll be crossing into New Jersey, which is very exciting. Pennsylvania has been long, over 200 miles, and somewhat unpleasant. The trail in PA is extremely rocky. There are both big rocks and little rocks, but always rocks. I will try to put up some pictures since I don’t really know how to describe them. A guy named Tater made up a PA version of the old game, “rocks, paper, scissors.” It’s called “rocks, paper, feet,” and it goes like this – Paper covers rock. Feet dirty paper. Rocks stab, bruise, break, twist, cut and mutilate feet. You get the point. I don’t think there has ever been a group of people more excited to go to New Jersey than us thru hikers. PA hasn’t been all bad though. I’ve been able to put in a lot of big mile days, have started to see tons of wild blueberries along the trail, and have met some friendly folks (especially trail angels Fred and Anna in Port Clinton). I got to see my old buddy Woodensticks, and meet his wife in Boiling Springs, and I had some interesting accomodations in two towns along the way. In Port Clinton, hikers are allowed to camp in the town pavillion, and in Palmerton the city has turned the old jail into a free hostel. Check back soon for some new pics b/c they are at Walmart getting developed right now. Talk to y’all again soon.

June 13, 2006

Hi everyone. I had a great time this weekend hanging out with Megan and Erica. After the initial shock of the transition between living in the woods and being in a big city, I really enjoyed my time in DC. It seems like an awesome city. Since then I’ve hiked 45 miles, so not too much, and the terrain has been really fast and easy, all Pennsylvania farmland. I’m in Duncannon, PA now staying at a famous thru hiker stop, the Doyle Hotel. The place is basically a dump, but it’s really cheap (I’m paying $5 to sleep on Hui and Sumo’s floor), and kind of historical (built by Miller brewing Co in the 1800s), as well as it has a bar downstairs that caters to hikers. I’m in a really bizarre internet cafe right now. It’s nighttime, and it’s all dark in here except for the light coming from the monitors. Apparently, that’s what people like for “gaming.” Interesting. I’m heading out to the trail in the morning, but there are way too many towns around here tempting to visit and spend time and money that I don’t have, so I’m sure I’ll write again real soon

June 9, 2006

I’m in Washington, DC right now taking a break from the trail at my friend Erica’s house. I did one short day and three long ones coming out of Harpers Ferry this week – 7 miles, 25 miles, 25 miles and 23 miles. I passed through the entire Maryland portion of the trail, which is only 40 miles, and have made it to Pennsylvania now. Maryland was weird. The terrain was easy, which is always nice, but the area we hiked through was pretty developed. We hiked through some neighborhoods and people’s backyards and stuff, which was different. Again, like I said of the Shenandoahs, not really a wilderness experience. I did have an unpleasant runin with a rattlesnake. I really don’t know what a sane person does when they come across a rattlesnake in the trail, but being rather snake phobic, I engaged in a 30 minute standoff with the snake, until I ultimately gave in, and bushwacked around that section of the trail. Speaking of me being kind of panicky, I’ve been meaning to include an anecdote from a few weeks ago. As most people know I can be a bit panicky at night (we all remember the earthquake incident of ’03). One night I was in a full shelter (6 people total). Gloworm came in after I had gone to sleep, but I woke up briefly when he came in around 10 o’clock. At 4:30am, I awoke to someone screaming. So, naturally I began screaming as well, as did everyone else in the shelter. It was pitchblack dark, so I was convinced that there was either a bear or an ax murderer in the shelter. I was hoping it was a bear b/c I figured that all the yelling would scare it away. I didn’t know if we’d have the same luck with an ax murderer. Luckily Silverback had the sense to grab his headlamp and shine it over toward where the screaming origniated (by this time I had pretty much attempted to jump into Silverback’s sleeping bag with him). Instead of a bear or an ax wielding psycho, all we saw in the light was Gloworm standing outside the shelter with a dazed look on his face. Apparently, he was dreaming that he had decided to camp along the trail somewhere by himself, so when he become aware that there were people right next to him, he freaked out, started screaming and jumped out of the shelter in his sleeping bag. The funniest part was that Junco was all tangled up in his mummy bag and couldn’t see what was going on, so he figured since everyone else had clearly already reacted, “it” was definitely going to get him. Ahhh, another night on the Appalachian Trail. So, like I said I’m in DC now with Erica. I got a ride to Maryland with some section hikers and then took a train to DC. None of this was planned ahead of time, so it was a bit of an adventure. I also had no cash, so I was lucky to meet a nice guy at the train station who bought my ticket. I tried to make an effort to remember that being in the city is a lot differnt than on the trail though, and I shouldn’t run off and leave my pack for any strangers to look after. Anyway, Megan is coming up from Richmond tomorrow to hangout with us, and then I’ll be back on the trail on Sunday. Sorry this is so long. I’ll write again from Duncanon, PA next week.

June 5, 2006

Happy day today…I am in a new state, West Virginia. Plus, I passed the 1,000 mile mark yesterday, pretty big time. Harpers Ferry is considered the “psychological halfway point” along the trail, although I won’t get to the official halfway mark for another couple days. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters are located here. When you get to town they take your picture to put in the thru hiker photo album. I was the 209th thru hiker to pass through so far this year. Most of those who’ve already passed started in Georgia way back in February. The last bit of terrain in VA was kind of tough; there was a 20 mile section that is called “the rollercoaster.” Luckily I broke up this section with a stay in the most awesome hostel ever. The place is called Bears Den, and was only 0.1 miles from the trail. It is an old castleish looking mansion that’s been converted into a place for hikers to stay. For $25 you got a bed, a shower, use of the washing machine and dryer, internet access, free long distance, a pizza, a coke and a pint of Ben and Jerrys. What a deal! Plus, the surroundings were beautiful, and the atmosphere was really chill. I’ll be leaving town today and walking through Maryland tomorrow. By Wednesday, I’ll be crossing the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania. Thanks again to everyone who’s been following this journey and sending me messages. I appreciate it, and hope y’all will continue to enjoy the site for the second half of the trip, as I venture into the foreign territory of the Northeast.

June 2, 2006

I am in Front Royal, VA getting ready to head back out on to the trail. I’m almost finished with Virginia now, thank God. VA ha been good to me, but I’ve been here for 550 miles and over a month, so I’m ready to move on. I spent this last week hiking through Shenandoah National Park, which was different. There were always lots of tourists around (especially last weekend b/c of Memorial Day), and we crossed Skyline Drive numerous times everyday. All of this was a bit overwhelming for someone who is used to living in the woods and seeing only other thru hikers. With tourists though, comes food. Almost everyday there was a restaurant or campstore within walking distance of the trail, and I don’t know many thru hikers that would complain about that. The craziest thing, considering that my time in Shenandoah didn’t feel at all like a wilderness experience, is that I saw my first bear. It ran across the trail about 15 yards in front of me, and it wasn’t very big, but still very cool. Another good thing about Shenandoah is that the terrain was probably the easiest that we’ve seen so far. I hope that continues into Pennsylvania. Brad came up to hike with me for three days last weekend, which was a lot of fun. He even did 21 miles one day and was, for the most part, a really good sport about it, despite the constant complaining about his chaffed butt cheeks. One last thing before I go, I haven’t done as much reading on this trip as I had hoped I would, but I have finished two books that I want to recommend to everyone. The first was “Life of Pi,” which is kind of a philosophical adventure novel that would take me at least a couple of paragraphs to explain even semi adequately. The book, which is just finished is called “Mountains Beyond Mountains” and is the inspirational biography of Paul Farmer, a doctor and social activist who works to cure infectious diseases in developing countries. That’s all for now folks; I’ll write again when I get to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in a few days.

May 25, 2006

I’m in Waynesboro, VA right now, after doing 67 miles in 3 days to get here. I’m pretty tired, but the weather has been awesome, so it was a good opportunity to put in some big miles. Trail Days was a lot of fun, kind of a lot of debauchery. One thing I’ve concluded is that trail towns are also the only place where you can find people out at bars wearing headlamps. Anyway, it was really great to see people back in Damascus that I haven’t seen in a couple weeks or even a month. It’s kind of sad though b/c there really are a lot of people that are far enough back on the trail so that I probably won’t ever see them again. I’m headed into the Shenandoah National Park today, which should be pretty cool. I guess that’s it for now.

May 18, 2006

I’m back in Damascus today for Trail Days, which is a big AT hiker homecoming type event. Actually, I don’t really know what it’s going to be like b/c it’s just now getting started, so I’ll have to let you know after the weekend is over. I do know that Damascus is a town of 500 people, and that they expect 30,000 to show up for Trail Days so that should be quite a crowd. Everybody sets up their tents in this park that’s called tent city for the weekend. I ended up taking two zeros in Daleville. I felt pretty lazy, but it was a nice rest, and there were some really bad storms so I was glad to be out of the rain (and in the Howard Johnson). Sumo, Gloworm, Parkbench, Lunchbox and I all headed out of Daleville on Monday morning and put in three fairly long days – an 18m, a 23m and a 15m before getting off the trail by the James River (which is the widest river I’ve ever seen in the mountains, by the way) to head back down to Damascus. We really didn’t have any plans regarding how we were going to travel the 200+ miles back to Damascus, but it worked out great b/c Silverback’s wife came to pick him up at the trail, and Hui, Sumo and I got to hop in the car with them. We spent last night at a cabin that belonged to one of Hui’s friends and then headed down to Damascus this morning. People are still trickling into town, but I’ve already run into a ton of folks that I met earlier on the trail since getting in town. There are also tons (literally hundreds) of people that are hiking that I haven’t met either b/c they are ahead or behind me. It should be a fun weekend. I’ll fill you in on the details next time.

May 13, 2006

It’s been really good to hear from everybody lately via emails and messages on here. I appreciate it. Things are going really well out here still. After a short day leaving Pearisburg, I put in three long days (26m, 18m and 22m) to make it to this famous restaurant in Catawba, VA called the Homeplace. It’s a family style AYCE country cookin kind of place that has fried chicken and pulled pork and all that good stuff. Everybody on the trail had been talking about it for days. Several people claim to have eaten so much that their vision was affected. In addition to the biscuits and cobbler, the best thing about the Homeplace is that they let hikers camp on their lawn after all the customers have left. A bunch of slept on the porch and had a good old time. Despite getting a late start (12:30pm) leaving the porch at Homeplace, we managed to put in 20 miles yesterday. It was an awesome 20 miles that included McAfees Knob (probably butchered the spelling) and Tinkers Cliffs. We had to do some night hiking (which some people think is most fun when done without headlamps. I disagree) to make it down into town, where we camped near the road. I want to say a few other things about food. I had my first dream about food a few nights ago (this is nightly occurrence for some people). I dreamed that I had made cheese ravioli with marina sauch and this oreo icecream stuff. My house was right by the trail, and I invited everyone from our campsite back to my house for dinner. Second, I’ve had a lot of inquiries about what I eat on the trail, especially from people who know that unlike most folks, I don’t carry a stove. My staple foods are poptarts, beef jerkey, cliff bars, candy, cheese and trail mix. So far I haven’t gotten sick of any of this stuff, but I’ve got a long way to go, so mabye I’ll mix it up at some point. All this talk of food is making me hungry, so I gotta go. Will write again soon.

May 8, 2006

Hi everybody, I’m in Pearisburg, Virginia. The website’s been down for the last few days, but hopefully I can get this entry posted with no further problems. After doing about 25 miles out of Damascus I headed back to to NC and got to hangout with Brad and Mary Brock up at Beech Mountain. Good times, and much needed rest. When I came back to the trail I hiked through Grayson Highlands State Park, which supposedly looks a lot like the grasslands in Montana. It was a pretty neat place. There are awesome views and wild ponies there. The ponies are pretty tame though, and I guess people feed them b/c when I took my pack off to get some pictures, several of them came right up to me. Speaking of pictures, I’ve gotten my first role of film developed, and I think my dad is going to try to get some of them posted up here within the next week or so, so y’all will have to check back for those. Supposedly by the time we reached VA, 50% of the hikers who started the trail have dropped out, and by the time we make it through VA (350 miles from now), half of those who made it to VA will have quit. Our buddy, True Grit decided to quit a few days ago. It was weird to see him leave, and especially unfortunate b/c his mom makes some killer cookies. I’ve heard about a lot of people dropping off the trail, but I really haven’t felt tempted to quit at all. I’m still feeling really good physically and mentally, and am having fun and feeling optimistic about my chances of making it to Maine. I’m at mile 621 now. For the most part, the terrain in Virginia has been considerably easier than that in GA, NC and TN. I’ve been able to put in some long days since I last wrote, a 26 miler and a 27 miler have been my longest. I’ve also done some shorter days, and taken some zeros (days when I don’t hike at all) as well. I’m still lucking out with the weather. I had to do 16 miles in cold rain yesterday, but again it wasn’t so bad b/c I knew a hot shower was waiting for me in Pearisburg. Right now I’m getting ready to head back out to the trail. I spent the night here last night and am getting a late start today, so I’ll probably just do 7 miles up to the first shelter. I guess that’s it for now. I’ll probably post again next weekend.

April 26, 2006

I’m going to do this entry in a bullet style, rather than my normal chronological update, since I have several unrelated subjects to include.

-First, I am in Damascus, VA. I crossed over into Virginia from Tennessee this morning. I thought this was pretty exciting, as VA seems much farther away from Georgia than does TN or NC. I’ve done 459 miles now. It’s going to be a long time before I get to cross into another state though, as VA itself is 500 miles long.

-I’m staying at a hostel called “The Place” here in Damascus. It is pretty cool. It’s a huge house behind the Methodist church that houses hikers for $4 a night; there’s probably about 30 people staying there. -I’ve been meaning to comment that, when I was in Hot Springs a few weeks ago, I ran into a kid named Doug Wright that went to high school with me. He is thru hiking too. How random is that!?!

-The hiking’s been pleasant since I left Boone last weekend. The highlight was probably Lake Watauga. Lake Watauga is a really pretty mountain lake that the trail went all around. We had a “beach party” on one side of the lake, and stayed in a shelter about 2 miles around the lake.

-I’ve also been meaning to mention that I haven’t been hiking with Harley in the last few weeks. It’s totally fine though b/c we’ve both met tons of folks out here. He’s a few days behind, but I’m taking a few days off this weekend though, so I’ll probably be seeing him again soon.

-Last, I bought a new pack in Boone. I felt like I could afford it, b/c I really hadn’t had to buy any expensive equipment since I borrowed some stuff. I love my new pack; it’s 3 lbs lighter than my old one, and fits really well. I also love my sleeping bag. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this on here yet, but my grandparents bought me a new sleeping bag awhile back, and it is awesome. Seriously, I’m in love with it. Allright, I guess that’s it.

April 22, 2006

Hi everyone. I’m in Boone, NC right now chillin at Mary’s house for the weekend. After I left you last time, my plans changed a bit b/c I caught the dreaded virus that everyone’s been passing around and spent most of Tuesday throwing up. So, my departure from Erwin was delayed a day. I took the first two days out of Erwin pretty easy, doing 11 miles the first day and 13 the second. I didn’t want to over exert myself since I’d been sick, and plus I had to allow time in the evenings for important things like intense games of spoons and discussions about whether riding a flying shark over a portion of the trail would disqualify a person from being a legitimate thru hiker. Since I took my time on Wednesday and Thursday, I had to put in a long day yesterday in order for Mary to pick me up in Elk Park last night. Actually, long day would be an understatement; I spent 12 hours walking through torrential downpours and hurricane force winds to cover 21 miles. Within these 21 miles was a climb up Roan Mountain, which I imagine would have been quite scenic if I could have seen more than 10 feet in front of me. Yesterday was really the first day on the trail that I would describe as unpleasant. The day ended with me eating a filet mignon, taking a hot shower and sleeping in a warm bed, so I really have no complaints. I’m enjoying my day off, but am looking forward to heading back to the trail in the morning and will write again soon.

April 18, 2006

I’m in Erwin, TN after spending last night at Uncle Johny’s Hostel. I had a great time this weekend hiking with Brad, Mary, Merritt and Ben. The best part is that they are all still speaking to me despite the torture that I put them through dragging them over various mountains. In a few days I’ll be in Boone staying with Mary (Brock) McMahon, and I’ll write more then.

April 13, 2006

A lot has happened since I last wrote. Ok, not really, mostly I’ve just walked a lot. I’m up to 270 miles, and have really picked up the pace this last week. I guess I’m getting my trail legs. So we left Franklin on 4/2 and put in 16 miles. We saw our first two balds that day, Wayah and Siler. There are balds in GA too (Brasstown Bald, etc); we just didn’t see any. That night we stayed in a shelter and had not one, but two of the worst thunderstorms I have ever experienced, hail and everything. Most of y’all know how I feel about thunderstorms, so it should come as no surprise that I was convinced that we were going to die. Fortunately we didn’t (must’ve been b/c I was having my own all night prayer vigil).

The next day we only did 11 miles and spent the night at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. It’s mostly a rafting center, but they have a bunkhouse for AT hikers. A church group cooked us an awesome spagetti dinner, complete with the best garlic bread I’ve ever had. We met some cool kids that were training to be raft guides, and they took us down the road to where there was a tv so we could watch the NCAA bball finals. Good times. The next 30 miles of the trail were the toughest that we’ve done, in my oppinion, lots of climbing with way too few switchbacks.

On April 7th we headed into the Smokies. I was kind of intimdated by the Smokies since they are the highest elevation that we’ve done so far. Clingmans Dome is even the highest point on the whole AT. The first 5 miles or so going into the Smokies were tough, but after that we stayed along the ridges most of the time, and the hiking was pretty easy.

On the 8th I had my first experience with hiking in major rain (overall we have been blessed with unbelievable weather). I did 17 miles, and it was pouring for at least 14 of them. I fell on my ass three times in the mud. It’s difficult to get up when you have a 40 lb pack on your back. Overall though, the Smokies were great, and I’d love to do that section of the trail again sometime.

I did my first 20 mile day on the 10th and did 23 yesterday. Yesterday was kind of a funny day. I had a pretty bad bloody nose situation during the night (woke up b/c I felt blood running down my face into my hair). I thought I had cleaned myself up pretty well, but when I saw my first people of the day a little while down the trail, they said, “Awww, did you have a bad fall?” I must have been looking rough. An hour or so later I was up on Max Patch, which is a really really cool bald, when I saw a group of older people milling around off in the distance. When they saw me, they all started pointing and I heard a few of them say “Look, it’s a girl!” When I got up to them they asked me a bunch of questions and gave me cookies, kind of like I was an animal in a petting zoo. I wasn’t complaining though.

I’m chillin in Hot Springs today. Brad is coming to see me tonight, and Merritt, Mary (Duvall) and Ben are coming to hike with me for the weekend. Should be good times. Hopefully I’ll be able to write again soon.

April 1, 2006

So we’re still in Franklin. Yesterday was a great birthday. I can’t remember if I mentioned this in my last entry, but there is a hiker party going on all weekend here at one of the hotels. At every meal they have food for hikers, all you can eat for 5 dollars. When I first got in town yesterday I went and met up with everybody there and got some breakfast. I spent the rest of the day going to the post office, doing laundry, etc. My parents came in town and nine of us (including them) piled into the jeep and went out for mexican food and margaritas. Then we came back to the hiker bash and chilled out for a while. They had live music, and Ansley came up here to meet us too. It was a good time and a memorable birthday. Today we’ve pretty much been hanging out and resting up to get back on the trail tomorrow. Some of our friends, including Ork and Bean, a super cool couple from Alaska left this morning, so we’ll have to hustle when we get back out there to catch up. We took it really easy this week to postpone getting into Franklin until the weekend so that the fam could come up here, so we want to increase our mileage this week anyway. I’m looking forward to watching the final four tonight, but I’m also getting restless to get back on the trail. Hope everyone is doing well. I’ll write again as soon as I can.

March 31, 2006

Hi everyone, I’m in Franklin, NC, and things are going great. As most people know, today is my birthday, and it’s been a great one. This week has been awesome. Actually, I felt kind of ill the first few days of the week which was unpleasant, but the last couple of days have totally made up for it. The weather finally warmed up, and it made for some amazing days. Wednesday the weather was perfect…sunny and probably about seventy. At the top of Standing Indian Mountain we were able to just chill out and bask in the sun for a while. I really thought that things couldn’t ever be as good as they were on Wednesday, but Thursday turned out to be equally cool. The weather wasn’t quite as phenomenal (some clouds), but the day was good in other ways. I was walking along by myself about 11am (everyone else had gone ahead when I stopped to get some water from a spring), and as I came to a top of a hill, I saw a sign that said “Trail Magic” to the left. I turned the corner, and literally walked into a party, it was like total sensory overload. There were twenty people, two jeeps, an RV playing some good tunes, and a huge campfire. As soon as I got there some lady came up to me and asked me what kind of quesadilla I wanted and handed me a coke. I sat down in a chair and chilled out by the fire for a while. Trail magic at its best! The people putting on the trail magic were thru hikers from a few years ago, and had been there for three weeks and had supposedly cooked for over 300 hikers. I was a little full when we left there, which was pleasant, but hurt me a little on my climb up Mount Albert. Definitely the steepest climb we’ve had yet, but the view was well worth it. So, both Standing Indian Mountain and Mount Albert are my day hike recommendations for Atlantans this week. We spent a lot of time these last few days hiking with this dude Goldfish from Portland and a girl name Carrie from southern Cal. Basically this means that we spent a lot of time cracking up laughing to the extent that our walking was probably slowed a good deal. We’re chillin out in Franklin all weekend, and I think they’ll be a lot to say about it, but I’m kind of in a hurry right now to figure out some dinner plans so I’ll post more tomorrow. Thanks to everybody for the bday well wishes, emails, cards and packages. I miss y’all so it’s nice to know that y’all are thinking of me too.

March 27, 2006

Greetings from Hiawassee, GA. Things here on the AT are awesome; we’re having a blast. We’ve been out for a week now and have covered 66 miles officially, plus 8 for the approach trail. The weather has been obscenely cold (lows in the 20s every night with two nights of snow). As everyone knows I’m not a fan of cold weather, but I’ve been dealing with it really well. Basically I just start hiking as soon as I wake up and don’t stop until I’m ready to get in my sleeping bag at night. The trail itself is perfect – enough ups and downs to keep it challenging, but nothing unmanageable. Despite a lot of cloudy weather, we’ve had some great views (aided by the fact that the trees’ leaves haven’t come out yet). I’d particularly recommend both Blood Mountain and Tray Mountain as great day hikes for people in Atlanta. There are so many people out here attemping to thru hike; we are meeting some awesome folks. Literally, there are typically eight people in a shelter at night and then ten or more tents set up around the vicinity of each shelter. There are a lot more older people (50 years and up) than I had anticipated, but it’s cool because meeting them has made me realize that I can keep having adventures even when I’m old. The last few nights we’ve camped with a bunch of people closer to our age though, which has been a lot of fun. Seriously everyone we’ve met has been super nice. I don’t know if y’all know this, but everyone out here uses trail names all the time, which is a little cheesy to me. But anyway, my name is now Swiss Miss b/c people think I look like the girl on the Hot Chocolate packets. Not a bad name, but I just don’t see myself going up to anyone and saying, “Hi, I’m Swiss Miss.” We’ll see, mabye it will become part of my identity. Could be worse; Harley’s trail name is Compost b/c he eats everyone’s left over food. I guess that’s it for now. I realize there is no organization to this entry, hopefully I’ll figure out a better method as I go along. We’ll be getting to Franklin on Friday (to meet Ansley and my parents), and I’ll post then. I miss everyone.