Day 32-36

Day 32: Distance hiked: 31.7 miles. The nice owner of Black Bear Lodge dropped me off at the US 321 junction where I had left the trail.  Watauga Lake was beautiful in the morning and within a half hour of hiking I spotted three deer drinking from the lake.  I crossed over Watauga Dam and made my way up Iron Mountain, where I saw another three deer, two together and one by itself near the top of the mountain.  I made it 20 miles before I started feeling a little tired and then just like that, trail magic! The local chuch had a metal container near the side of a tree filled with cold sodas, cookies, and all kinds of goodies.  Before I knew it, I was hyped up on caffeine and cookies and ready to push on another 11.7 miles.  It was a great hiking day and some of the highlights are below in the pictures.










Day 33: Distance hiked: 22 miles. At around 9 AM I crossed the Virginia stateline!  It was glorious and it felt so great to be finished with Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee (very hard States).  I ate lunch in Damascus (pizza and milkshakes again), resupplied, and then headed out around 3 PM to continue the trail.  Leaving Damascus, the AT winds above the Virgina Creeper Trail for a while and after seeing it (it's a bike trail that snakes along rivers and streams for 34 miles [people camp, swim, bike, and hike along it]) I definitely want to come back and ride it one day.  Late in the day I was drenched with sweat and tired so I decided to take a swim in one of the streams to cool off.  The stream was icy cold but felt SO good.  I then hiked up and down another mountain, saw a baby rat snake, and camped at night next to a pond (the entire night was filled with screeching frogs).  I also received trail magic in the form of burritos! (a few section hikers brought too many and did not want to carry them so they said I could either eat them or they'd go to waste.  I ate them!)






Day 34: Distance hiked: 15 miles. I had a tough climb up Buzzard Rock and Whitetop Mountain.  My quad started seizing up on me (it was a huge knot) and made climbing up and down mountains very difficult. Trying to rest my leg while climbing, I called some friends who were relaxing on North Beach, having a cocktail in the Chicago Memorial Day Weekend sunshine. So I was sweaty, bruised, and broken high on some mountain, struggling through another 8 miles, as I was thinking of friends and family in the comforts of home.  It was one of my lowest moments on the trail (mostly because my leg did not work) but I managed to fight through the pain, make it up near Thomas Knob, and then camped in the most beautiful site of my trip so far.  I camped in an open meadow near the top of the knob where wild ponies came out and grazed around sunset.  It was spectacular and lifted my spirits right back up to where they should be. It was a great night.





Day 35: Distance hiked: 22.2 miles, surpassed the 500 mile mark. My quad felt a little better in the morning (I had been massaging it in front of the campfire the night before) so I got up with the meadow completed covered in fog (a cloud), and I started onward.  Within an hour I came across six more wild ponies in the woods, eating near a tree. Three of them were foals.  It was neat to see them in the wild.  The rest of the hike was very nice and over relatively gentle slopes with great vistas. Another crazy thing happened when there were about 20 cows (some of them longhorns) blocking my way on the AT.  I didn't know what to do exactly so I just walked toward them at a steady speed and they eventually moved.  Those longhorns look pretty sharp though...haha. My quad stated acting up again after about 10 miles so I thought about going into town to rest.  My cell phone had no reception, however (sometimes you can call shuttles from road crossings), so I hobbled on another 12 miles to Dickey Gap.  When I arrived, my phone was near dead with still no reception, it was getting late, my left leg was so knotted it hurt to even bend, and if I couldn't get a ride somewhere I'd have to continue on another 5 miles (up the next mountain) to the next shelter.  Then, as usual, trail magic! After ten minutes of waiting at the road crossing an SUV pulled up with man and girlfriend and asked if/where I needed a ride.  When I pretty much said "anywhere," but Marion if possible, they told me to hop in, that Marion is exactly where they were headed. The man had grown up giving rides to hikers so he asked my trail name and after I told him, he said "You need a beer then?"  He wouldn't let me refuse (and I guess it's legal for passengers to drink in cars in Virginia), so we toasted and both drank a beer on the way to Marion.  Just like that I went from total pain and almost desperation to relaxing in an SUV with a beer in my hand on the way to town. Magic.  The couple gave me a brief tour of Marion before dropping me off at the hotel where he said most hikers stay. It was awesome and so nice of them!








Day 36: Zero Day. I'm taking a down day to help my quad recover and to accomplish some Navy related stuff that needs to get done.  Marion is a great town with more amentities than most towns along the AT ( a Walmart, Walgreens, variety of restuarants, etc) so I know I'll get a lot done.  After this day of rest I'll be continuing on tomorrow!  Looking forward to it!

Day 26-31

Day 26: Distance hiked: Zero. Final day of Trail Days. I went and saw Jennifer Pharr Davis (trail name: Odyssa) speak on how she set the speed record for the Appalachian Trail (she completed the AT in just 45 days if I remember correctly).  She was both funny and inspiring.  I then joined in the Hiker Parade midday which involved thousands of current and past thru-hikers parading down the main streets of Damascus while the entire town bombarded them (us) with water balloons, water from hoses, water from squirt guns, water from anywhere (even buckets).  Water came from third story windows, rooftops, senior citizens with SuperSoakers, you name it.  Meanwhile, us hikers were attempting to catch what balloons we could for a counter-attack -- ricocheting balloons off shutters to go into third story windows, drilling little kids and senior citizens, the works. All in all, it was a few miles of good wholesome fun. That day I also caught up with some hikers I knew (Wounded Knee, Kicking Wing, and Camel) and then at night went to "tent city" and played cards and chatted it up with L & L (Dan and Rachel) and Rabbit.  It was a real pleasure to see them all again (L & L were the ones who took the picture of my dad and I on Springer Mountain on Day 1).

2012 Thru-hikers getting ready to parade

Parading

Day 27: Distance hiked: 18.3 miles. Trail magic again.  Dan, Rachel, and Rabbit offered to drive me all the way back to Sam's Gap (to the precise point where I left the trail three days prior).  It was perfect. (If they had not done that, I would have been scrambling all over for rides/shuttles/taxis--you name it--to get there.) After they dropped me off around 11 AM, I immediately set to hiking and summitted Big Bald (a huge mountain with a meadow on top) around 2:30 PM. Big Bald was absolutely beautiful and I ate Doritos and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at the summit as promised (I promised the group that dropped me off that I wouldn't eat my tasty treats until the top). I ended the day late (around 8 PM) at No Business Knob Shelter.  When I arrived, I saw Fire Cup was also there so I got to catch up with him as well. Great day.

Dan, Rachel, and Sarah dropping me off at Sam's Gap

View from Big Bald

Day 28: Distance hiked: 23.3 miles. I got up at 6 AM and Fire Cup and I departed the Shelter headed to Erwin, TN.  We arrived at the Erwin hostel around 9:15 AM and being that I was at a place that had snacks, I felt the need to indulge.  I sat around for an hour and a half drinking Pepsi and eating a bunch of candy before pushing on.  Fire Cup planned on staying the day in Erwin so I said farewell to him and started across the bridge out of Erwin around 10:45 AM. Some highlights of the day included seeing several wild turkeys, a place called Beauty Spot, and Unaka Mountain (the top had a very cool pine forest). This was also the day I did some calculating and figured out that the only way I could meet my family on schedule in Harper's Ferry (on June 23rd) was to average 20.3 miles a day for the next 34 days straight.  The hikers I was with and some others said it would be impossible. Little did they know, that's exactly what I needed to hear.  I hiked 23.3 miles to Cherry Gap Shelter that day...(the naysayers must have forgotten about cruise control).

Coming into Erwin (Erwin way down below)

View from Beauty Spot

Pine Forest atop Unaka Mountain

Day 29: Distance hiked: 23.7 miles. I left Cherry Gap Shelter early in the morning and was doing great (Little Rock Knob was hard, but no problem) until Roan Mountain. Roan Mountain was the last peak over 6000 ft until New Hampshire.  It was a tall, pain-in-the -you-know-what mountain to climb and it did not make it any easier that the second I set foot on it, it began to pour down rain.  I finally summitted the beast and, of course, near the cold, foggy, top, the rain let up just in time for my slippery rock, wet descent (would have been wet either way but a little sunshine on the way up could have given me some hope). The trail after Roan Mountain was absolutely gorgeous -- a few grassy balds and thick rich meadows.  I really enjoyed that part of the trail and made it to Overmountain Shelter, a 20 person capacity barn with upper and lower floors looking over a great vista (really cool place to stay) that night.

View from Little Rock Knob

Fireplace from late 1800s Cloudland Hotel atop Roan Mountain

Pine Forest after Roan Mountain on the way to the Balds



Day 30: Distance hiked: 21.8 miles. Left Overmountain Shelter and really enjoyed Little Hump Mountain and Big Hump Mountain (two Balds). I could see for miles and miles up there.  I also realized that the reason I enjoy balds so much (the mountains, that is) is because as I climb them I can see where I am headed and that undoubtedly makes the long climb easier (It's the same with push-ups.  If you know how many you have to do, no problem.  If someone says "start" and makes you keep doing them until that same person says "stop," the mind seems to fail much sooner than the body would have had it known what exact number to push toward.  Mind tricks, mind tricks).  Contrarily, while climbing some of those other wooded mountains it's like climbing a Penrose Staircase (will it ever end!!! Did Escher create this mountain!!!! That all goes through my head at times). Anyway, it's great to see the summit I am climbing toward and then arrive at it. That's why I like balds.  Midway through the day I arrived at Mountain Harbor Hiker Hostel and spent an amazing three hours there.  I did laundry, showered, ate a pizza, had four Pepsi's, ate a Snickers Bar, and watched the movie Predator with the other hikers.  Does life get any better than that?  I mean come on, TWO Governors in one movie?  Haha. I left the hostel feeling great and with my stomach full, I was ready to charge on another 12 miles or so to the next hostel. As soon as I left the hostel it started to rain but I didn't care.  All was wonderful and my full stomach did me wonders.  I had more energy during the latter half of the day than I had yet to have on the trail. If it weren't for the sun setting, I would have plowed on another 12 miles on top of the 22.  Some more highlights of that day were seeing another turkey, a grouse, and two deer.  The two deer were drinking from a stream only about 20 ft from me. Pretty cool. 







Day 31: Distance hiked: 20.5 miles. May 24th marked my 10th Anniversary as a commissioned Officer in the Navy. What's cool about that is that since I've already been selected for promotion, one day I'll just wake up in the woods and be like, "All right, just got promoted..." Awesome. So anyway, I left the Vango and Abby Memorial Hostel where I stayed the night before (pretty cool place) and trekked about 12 miles through the woods until I got to Black Bear Lodge.  Black Bear Lodge was amazing! Once again, I hit lunch hard (I won't get into all the ice cream sandwiches, Philly cheese Steaks, etc) and left the hostel feeling amazing.  Good thing I had all that energy because Pond Mountain was no joke.  It was about 2000 ft straight up followed by 2000 ft straight down (great way to end a 20 mile day).  Laurel Fork Falls were also cool (right before the ordeal that was Pond Mountain) and I ended up working out a deal with Black Bear Lodge so that they'd have a shuttle waiting for me as I exited the trail at RT 321.  So that's where I sit right now, Black Bear Lodge, belly full, showered, laundered, and on the computer. And guess what?  Tomorrow is the first day of close to level (only plus or minus 400 ft elevation) after the initial climb out of the area (about 2000 ft up).  I'm smelling a new personal distance record in the making....still think I can't average 20.3 miles a day for 34 consecutive days?  Bring It.





 So that's how my last few days went but I want to say a few more things about trail peculiarities:

Number 1: Hikers are always trying to reduce what they have (the less we have, the less weight we have to carry mountain after mountain).  This is in total opposition to the real world. Instead of, "What can I buy to make me happy?", hikers are thinking, "What can I get rid of to make me happy?" It's an interesting and somewhat refreshing way to live.

Number 2: Once again, in total opposition to the real world, hikers are always looking for the food with the MOST calories.  I find myself thinking, "Hmm, for lunch I'll have that bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups draped over that gallon of ice cream.  Oh, and can you stick 12 Snickers Bars in there for me?.  Ok, thanks.  Oh wait, please spread peanut butter and honey all over that as well.  What is that over there?  A glass of lard????  Ok, give me that, I need to wash all this down!" Pure craziness, but starting to be fun.

Number 3: Trail Design.  I'm pretty sure whoever designed the Appalachian Trail favored the path of MOST resistance.  I envision a guy standing at the top of a mountain thinking, "Hmm, I'm on top of a mountain right now and the next place to go is that town over there.  Go directly toward it?  Nah. Let's go over those other three mountains in the distance, circle around, use that valley over there like a half-pipe, and then send them into and out of some gaps just to piss them off.  Perfect." That being said, like any abusive relationship, I'm so whipped at this point I may actually defend the trail design and it's unrelenting perseverance to crush us hikers into total obedience. At this point I might even go up and down the same mountain 10 times so long as a new white blaze showed up in front of my face.

Ok, that's it for now.  I foresee a big day tomorrow....

Day 23-25

Day 23: Distance hiked: 26.4 miles. I remembered how good it feels to walk over dry land, not having to worry about slipping and falling and/or twisting an ankle at every step (I've fallen 4 times so far and believe me, with over 40 pounds on my back, I hit the ground hard! Then I'm like an upside-down turtle trying to right myself. Every time I fall I think, wow, if there had been a stick or something on the ground where I landed I would have impaled myself! When hikers fall, they go down hard...). Anyway, the day was glorious and being that I was well rested and ate a big breakfast in Hot Springs, I decided to attempt my personal longest day and succeeded: 26.4 white blaze miles (actual miles were more like 27+ with a fire tower I went out of my way to climb). I barely made it to Jerry Cabin Shelter before total nightfall and had to use my flashlight for the last 10 minutes of hiking. I wasn't sure how I'd feel the next day but I figured part of the reason I'm out here is to challenge myself and see what I can do. So I went for it. I certainly was sore and it didn't help that the last seven miles sent me over a mountain and scrambling up and down the most intense part of the trail to date (Blackstaff Cliffs and Big Firescald Knob! --how do I keep picking my longest days to be over the worst terrain! [over 6700 ft of incline and 3700 ft of decline that day] Makes no sense!) I was completely exhausted and after all that, realizing there was no room in the shelter for me, I had to set up my hammock and eat dinner in total darkness, by myself.  So Tired.  Highlights of the day included a Garter snake I stepped over, the view of the sunset from Big Firescald Knob, the fire tower on Rich Mountain, and surpassing the 300 mile mark.






Day 24: Distance hiked: 17.1 miles. You would have thought I would have slept like a baby after the marathon day...not the case at all. All the adrenaline it took to finish the previous day stayed with me through the night and I checked the clock every half hour until five in the morning. I was so exhausted but my body felt like if it went to sleep it would die. Not pleasant. I finally dosed on and off sometime after five and got up for good at 8 AM. I made dinner for breakfast, slowly collected my things, did all the morning chores (getting water, getting food bag, taking down camp, etc), and plodded out of camp sore at 9:30 AM. I planned on doing another 20 miles that day but in that first hour just concentrated on walking, not really sure how far I'd get. It's amazing what a little hope and kindness can do for you. When I arrived at Flint Mountain Shelter around noon there was trail magic in the form of a father and son upgrading the shelter. They gave me an ice cold Coca Cola and told me their trail story. It was a good story and the coke was super refreshing. Then I broke out my trail book, found some numbers of hostels in the area, and inquired about a shuttle to Trail Days (an annual festival in Damascus, VA and the biggest trail festival). No shuttles were available but I had a feeling if I could push myself to Sam's Gap near the highway I could figure it out from there. So with that hope in mind (and realizing I would one day regret not going to Trail Days the year I hiked the trail) I pushed through another tough day and made it to Sam's Gap. (Along the way I encountered a six-foot long jet black rat snake that seemed pretty pissed that I almost stepped on it. It uncoiled, bolted at my feet, then slid down the slope away from me. What's with all the snakes lately?) At Sam's Gap, I hobbled up to a truck stop near the highway, stuck out my thumb, and waited (once again, perfectly acceptable behavior in and around the AT). Within ten minutes one of the truckers waved me over and our conversation went something like this: he asked "You a serial killer?" I replied, "No, AT hiker. Are you a serial killer?" He replied "Nope, just a trucker looking for conversation." So after analyzing the guy and determining he was a decent guy (AKA "not a serial killer"), I jumped up in the cab and he drove me to Erwin, TN, as far as he could take me. Now for the real trail magic. After dropping me at a random exit (three exits past where the Erwin hostel was located, I jumped out of the cab, picked up my bag, and started walking. I kid you not, within one minute of walking, a jeep pulls over and the driver yells out, "Hey thru-hiker, you need a ride?" Slightly stunned at this luck, I was even more baffled to see Yoda, another hiker I know, in the passenger seat. Instantly I knew it was a safe ride and not only were they headed to get food and go to the hostel I was trying to get to, but the driver said he was going to Trail Days the next day and would drive me all the way to Damascus. Amazing! So we went to McDonald's (where I put down two Big Macs and a large fry without flinching), went to the hostel, and all was in good in the world. I made it another 17.1 miles and I would make it to Trail Days, the largest festival of the trail.










Day 25: Distance hiked: Zero. Trail magic/my luck continues. When I arrive at Trail Days around 8:30 AM, I quickly walk around to all the hostels and bed and breakfasts, and everything, of course, has been booked solid for months. Even some of the campsites were completely full and the one's that weren't were giant open fields with no trees to hang a hammock (I had not seen tent city at this point and really had my heart set on a bed after the last two days of pushing and sore muscles). So there I was, becoming more and more disappointed as I hiked around town with nowhere to put my pack, when a lady from one of the B & B's called (I left my number with everyone) to inform me that someone had just canceled, that I was an extremely lucky person, and did I still want the room? It would have to be for two nights she said (which happened to be exactly how long I wanted it for!) Trail magic. So just like that, within two hours of arriving at the busiest, most booked up place on the trail, I had a great room with comfy bed, a clean shower, and place to stow my pack as I explored. Perfect. It was a great day of walking around and I especially enjoyed the one hour presentation about the Camino de Santiago (I see that in my future) and the film "Beauty Beneath the Dirt," a documentary made by three Chicago thru-hikers last year. It was excellent, moving, inspiring, and hilarious. I encourage everyone to see it if it makes it to the big screen. Now for the somewhat disgusting part: dinner. I had pizza and it tasted spectacular. However, the quantity of pizza I consumed was borderline appalling. I ordered a personal 8in pizza like I normally would and after eating it, feeling like I just consumed the equivalent of a potato chip, decided I better order another pizza, this time the 12in. After eating the entire 12in, I just sat there amazed at the fact that I did not feel anything after eating a conbined 20in of pizza (Baxter, did you eat the whole wheel of cheese?) I did not feel bloated and I really just felt nothing.  I could have left the table and run five miles not even knowing that I had eaten.  That's where my body is at right now. That said, it's safe to say my appetite is immense and I won't mention it again unless I win an eating contest or something. Want to lose weight and eat everything in sight? Hike the Appalachian Trail. One more awesome thing about Trail Days: I ran into Leon, Le-Dizzle, and Rabbit (actually Dan, Rachel, and Sarah but since I started calling them Leon and Le-Dizzle early in my blog, I stuck with those names for clarity purposes). Anyway, it was great to see them again and hear about their ongoing adventures. They also informed me that my hiking buddy Pacman may be stopping the trail due to back/joint issues. That makes me sad. The AT is tough and relentless and I wish I could go back to where Pacman is to encourage him to fight through it. I know how bad he had wanted to finish.  One more day of trail days then back to Sam's Gap tomorrow to continue the quest.

Day 19-22





Day 19: Distance hiked: 15.6 miles. Hitchhiked back to Newfound Gap (a nice older couple driving a pick-up truck gave Fire Cup, White Ninja, and I a ride after the Smoky Mountain Shuttle passed us by).  I felt great again after a day of rest and made excellent time to Tri-Corner Shelter in the Smokies.  I added a lot more food this time out so my pack was much heavier but it was manageable. One of the highlights along this stretch was Charlie's Bunion, a famous outcropping in the Smokies. When I finally arrived at the Tri-Corner Shelter after a long day of hiking, I lit up a cigar in honor of my last night in the Smokies (last night in the Smokies, smoke 'em if you got 'em!).  Fire Cup, White Ninja, Wounded Knee, Chief Kicking Bird, and Camel (the group I've been hanging with for most of the week) stayed up laughing and talking about trail life and our other lives late into the night.  It was a pleasant way to end our time in the Smokies. 






Day 20: Distance hiked:18.6 miles. Hiked by myself in the rain, all day, but still made amazing time to Standing Bear Farm hostel. The whole group mentioned above all arrived at the hostel a few hours later and we made pizzas, played cards, and lounged around in the hostel kitchen.  We then had some excitement when a copperhead (a very venomous snake) showed up trying to slither its way up the porch.  The owner, a guy named Curtis, killed the snake promptly by smashing its head in before it killed any of us.  Way to go Curtis!  Then, later that night, I was able to live out a childhood nightmare when I decided to use the privy (outhouse) in the middle of the night.  Armed with only a flashflight, I made my way out near the woods (where a bear showed up the night before, mind you) and carefully tiptoed my way along (still thinking of the copperhead from the afternoon) to the privy.  I opened the door, briefly scanned the privy with my flashlight, and then sat down. Everything seemed fine but, being that I had nothing better to do while doing my business, I started scanning the entire privy with my flashlight.  My worst childhood nightmare came true when, there, illuminated on the wall by my small sliver of light, was an enormous, thick, hairy spider about the size of a coffee can lid (bigger than most tarantulas I've seen, believe me!). This thing was ENORMOUS, black, hairy, bulbous, and just two feet from me on the wall.  Being that I'm an adult now, I didn't quite freak out but let's just say my beam of light did not stray from that spot the rest of my time in the privy.  When I got back to the bunk room, I told the other guys to beware of the huge spider in the privy and that's when another guy spoke up and said in a downtrodden matter, "Yeah, I know.  Curtis said there's one in here too. It kills all the other bugs off. He said they are wolf spiders and I hope to god I don't run into into one of them."  (Google "wolf spider" people.  Seriously. Freaky). Needless to say, I zipped my sleeping bag up fully that night.  I never need to see another wolf spider again.





Day 21: Distance hiked: 19.8 miles. Another day of walking in the rain.  I got poured on three different times during this 20 mile day and my shoes still have not recovered from 7 days ago (they didn't even dry out in Gatlinburg!). I left Standing Bear Farm slightly ahead of the group and decided if I felt well enough, I would continue on as far as I could go during daylight.  I passed one of the more spectacular viewpoints in this area, Max Patch, in total fog and could not see more than 50 yards in any direction. Miles later, I finally made it to Walnut Mountain Shelter, a shelter built in 1938 that sleeps six and the guidebook warns: Beware of the bears here; they are not afraid of hikers.  Great.  So I spent the night cramped into this tiny shelter (sleeps 6????) with Batman and Achillies, and we joked around about a lot of stuff before going to bed with the bear warnings fresh in our minds.  Bears did not get us though, the rodents did.  A huge thunderstorm hit and sounded like machine gunfire on the tin roof and sent all the rodents scurrying for cover, right on top of us.  I slept okay through most of it but one of the mice burrowed through Batman's sleeping bag.  That sucked for him...and for all I know, I'm carrying around a few mice in my bag right now....



Day 22: Distance hiked: 13.1 miles. Left Walnut Shelter early enough to get to Hot Springs by 1:30 PM. It was hard getting back into my soaking wet shoes and clothes with the freezing morning temperature, but once again, it had to happen so I did it.  I hiked by myself all day, thinking of a warm shower and doing laundry.  Then, something crazy happened.  I came over a rise and spotted someone sitting on a log up ahead of me.  As I got closer, I realized who it was and was like, huh?  It was good old Meandering Snail sitting on a log, doing what he does.  "You're up here now?" I asked.  He then explained that the Smoky Mountain rangers don't let people do 3 miles a day and camp so he decided to skip the Smokies altogether.  He jumped ahead 120 miles or something and so there he was, and there I was running into him again.  To top it off, he asked to use my cell phone again (Batman later told me Meandering Snail asked to use his cell phone as well, haha). This time I snapped a picture of Meandering Snail with his permission (below). So anyway, I arrived in Hot Springs, NC where the Appalachian Trail becomes mainstreet.  It's the first town that the Appalachian Trail actually passes straight through (the town is built around the trail, very hiker friendly).  So here I am, enjoying the benefits of civilization for a day before heading out again tomorrow.  Next stop: Erwin, TN. Until then...