This is the story of Paul Goransson's (AKA TARman) Thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail between October 20, 2014 and September, 26 2015. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (https://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/thru-section-hiking) defines a Thru-hike as follows: "A thru-hiker is a hiker or backpacker who has completed or is attempting
to walk the entire Appalachian Trail in a 12-month period (not
necessarily a calendar year)." I have held this as a life-goal for around 40 years. In particular, after my wife Helen and I bicycled across the USA in 1981, I felt certain that Thru-hiking the AT was something she and I would share before long. Life, of course, intervened with careers and two children all forcing postponement of this goal. Between my twenties and mid-fifties, I had managed to fit in over 100 marathons, many ultramarathons including the Leadville 100 trail run, 6 Ironman triathlons and had a mountaineering resume that included many peaks between 15,000-20,000 feet on 5 different continents. By the time life was opening up the free time for a AT Thru-hike in my late fifties, I developed crippling arthritis in my right ankle (caused by a motor scooter accident in Corfu, Greece on 5/1/2008) which brought my decades-long endurance running and triathlon career to a halt. On December 4, 2013, I had an artificial ankle installed.
This procedure is called a TAR - 'Total Ankle Replacement'. Hence, my trail name, TARman. At 60 years of age, I started my hike by hiking the section from the Shenandoah in Northern Virginia to mid-Pennsylvania between October 20,2014 and October 30, 2014 and then hiked a number of sections of the AT in New Hampshire during November and December. I then began heading north from Springer Mountain in Georgia on March 9, 2015. Despite being retired, I have a busy life running two companies from my board seat on each and managing my 131 acre beef and hay farm in Eliot, Maine (www.bondgarden.net). This latter activity would not be possible if it were not for the faithful support of our farm caretaker Bill Curtis, and my wife Helen. Helen always hoped to do the AT with me, but waiting until your life provides the time for such an endeavor carries the risk of your body losing its ability for this kind of grueling day-in and day-out hiking with a heavy pack. So, I have ended up in this situation of solo hiking the trail in bursts of a day, a week or 3 weeks, always in pursuit of the goal of finishing the whole trail in less than a year. I frequently returned to my farm in Maine for R&R and to catch up on my responsibilities there. I hiked fairly fast, averaging over 20 miles per day on a full day of hiking. If you wish to ask me any questions you can email me at paulg@bondgarden.net. Thank you for your interest in following my hike!
2 comments
Jenny Goransson · April 12, 2015 at 4:56 AM
I think you should add a photo of your ankle to this :)
I want to close out this blog with some thoughts and photos about the end of my hike.
Some interesting statistics:
I hiked the entire trail in 122 days of hiking over 11 calendar months. Many of those hiking days were half-days involving getting to or from the trail. I hiked solo except for 1 full winter day with Jenny and Glenn, a partial (6 mile) day with very pregnant Jenny, one mile with Leslie (recovering from knee surgery), one 5 mile winter day with Ray and Kig, about 8 shorter or partial days with Helen (8-11 mile days), and the final day on Mt. Katahdin with Ray. During most of the trail, a full day for me was somewhere between 20 and 25 miles. My longest day was 29 miles and I probably did about 6 days over 25 miles.
I took over 5,000,000 steps in this process.
The most frequently asked question: "Do you have a paving company?".
"How does the ATC define thru-hiking?
We define a thru-hike as a hike of the entire Appalachian Trail in 12 months or less."
I was very disciplined about recording every step I took on the trail on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT. If you have looked at the individual blog entries, you will have seen that each one includes a link to the GPS points of that day's hike. That linked page contains detailed information about the elevation profile, pace, etc. Each of those Garmin web pages allows you to save the GPS points in a GoogleEarth format. I have done so and can view my hike via GoogleEarth. I will show the hike as it was put together, incrementally, month by month, in the following pictures. Due to technical glitches, 3 days of my 122 day hike were not successfully recorded and appears as holes in the final image from September of 2015. I did hike all of those holes :-)
October, 2014:
November, 2014:
December, 2014:
January, 2015: [no progress]
February, 2015: [no progress]
March, 2015:
April, 2015:
May, 2015:
June, 2015:
July, 2015:
August, 2015:
September, 2015:
Or, seen from a global perspective:
I was northbound thru-hiker #748 to come through to Katahdin in 2015:
My granddaughter thought that was awesome:
Finally, thanks to all my friends and family that gave me support through this endeavor. In particular, thanks my daughter Jenny and my sister Leslie who were probably the only close family members that supported my undertaking unconditionally and enthusiastically and for that I am forever grateful. Thanks to my best friend Ray Greenlaw who found a way of joining me on the final day on Mt. Katahdin. And finally, deep thanks to my wife Helen who, while her enthusiasm for my thru-hike was weak at best, made the most sacrifices and provided more concrete help and support to me than anyone else, bar none. Finally, finally - no, I am not contemplating ever doing the PCT or CDT. I think the risks for the artificial ankle are just too great, the difficulty of keeping the farm going just too hard, and the sacrifices on family life too painful.
My walk in the woods is complete. I am awed and humbled by the experience and grateful to God for keeping me healthy, whole, safe and strong.
Thanks to my best friend Ray "WALL" Greenlaw, recent triple crown finisher, for being with me on summit day:
And Helen was there waiting at the trailhead to whisk us back to Millinockett:
This is my ceiling tile at the Appalachian Trail cafe in Millinocket:
It will be near my son Peters best man Mike Scarpa (aka KEEP WALKER):
4 comments
Anonymous · September 28, 2015 at 2:56 PM
I am delighted to have you back, safe and whole and happy. And, based on your description of the Katahdin climb, I am thrilled that I did not attempt that part with you as I would have dragged you down and put a shadow on your triumphant finish. SO glad Ray was there to share that with you. Triple Crown, for those who do not know, means Ray completed the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail (faster than anyone until that time), and the Continental Divide Trail just this summer.
Anonymous · September 28, 2015 at 2:57 PM
To clarify, Ray did not complete all those hikes this summer, just the last one.
Doug K1DG · September 28, 2015 at 8:10 PM
WOW!!!!!
Again I say: WOW!!!!
I recall you telling us about your plan last November when we were en route to Bonaire.
Congrats on both completing the trail and checking one more box on the bucket list.
What's next?
Anonymous · September 30, 2015 at 4:44 AM
Right now, try to address crises with the 2 companies I am involved with, dig myself out of a backlog of stuff at the farm (and yes, sometimes this literally means digging), and starting catching up on the execution of the second edition of "Software Defined Networks: A Comprehensive Approach", the contract for which was signed about 4 months ago and the final manuscript is due in March. Plus Helen and I have a bunch of fun travel planned over the next 5 months.
I drove the Honda 250 to Abol Bridge this morning from my hotel in Millinocket,the Baxter Park Inn. I then hiked 10 easy miles to the Hunt Trail trailhead at Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter. I could have just pushed on and finished the AT at that point but the plan is to summit and finish together with Ray tomorrow (and that would have meant getting down near dark and I am now hiking light without tent and sleeping stuff so I really needed to be wise and wait). So, I was several miles into the park and started to walk out while hoping for a ride. In one hour 3 cars passed me and I had walked 3 miles when the 4th car picked me up. They gave me a ride not only out of the park but also the additional 4 miles to Abol Bridge where the motorcycle awaited. That was pretty good luck all in all. I was back in Millinocket at my hotel by 3:30. Five steep miles to go. I am looking forward to Helen and Ray's arrival around 9pm tonight. We will be leaving here around 5am for summit and finish day. Here are a few shots from today's little hike;
Made it out of the 100 mile wilderness easily today with 15 miles by 1:15. I said goodbye to my little tent-home this morning when I packed everything up for the last time of this odyssey. I have never been so comfortable with such primitive accommodations nor do I expect I ever will be again in my life. So, packing was a tad bittersweet.
I had fantastic views of the terminus of my little walk in the woods from Rainbow Ledges six miles before the end:
And from Abol Bridge itself:
Ten easy miles tomorrow to the summit trailhead and 5 miles up on Saturday (or Sunday) with Ray to the end of my quest. For the moment I am enjoying my hotel in Millinocket while icing both ankles and both knees and a glass of wine!
4 comments
Doug K1DG · September 24, 2015 at 5:20 PM
Wow. Just....wow. On Sunday (or Monday if you don't update until then) you'll get a full-blown "WOW!!!"
Anonymous · September 24, 2015 at 7:27 PM
Love reading how close you are to being done. I will see you tomorrow night and will bring your hiking partner with me (Ray). I plan to merely be your chauffeur on Saturday and just enjoy the area while you work those ankles and knees one last day. Hope they hold out until the end.
Bill · September 24, 2015 at 8:50 PM
I wonder what the Ankle Doc is saying about now... Little chilly in the morning, but great to see the weather is spectacular for the finish!
Mama/Lynne · September 29, 2015 at 8:52 AM
As always, your photos are magnificent. You must get a beautiful feeling so close to the grandeur of the scenery. Keep up the hiking and climbing until the finish, and then we will all shout, "Hurrah, for Paul". Which we did last Saturday.
I was hiking by 7:05 this morning and had made 24 miles by 5:55pm. I am only 15 miles from exiting the 100 mile wilderness so I called it a day earlier than usual.
From the summit of Nesuntabut Mountain today I had an enticing view of Katahdin:
One of the reasons I stopped earlier today is that this was a particularly appealing site for the shelter. You can see that my campsite is beautiful:
There were a few thru hikers all sleeping in the shelter. I am the only tenter. One of them, a 23 year old man from Georgia, was named FOX.
Made 25 miles today!! I can now see the light at the end of the 100 mile tunnel - about 39 easier miles to do in 2 days - piece of cake!
The terrain got easier after crossing over White Cap mountain around 11 this morning. I got up at 5:30 and was hiking by 7. This view of Mt. Katahdin - was afforded by descending from Whitecap:
In order to get the 25 miles today I basically hiked until almost dark and then looked for a place that would accommodate my tent. I was getting a bit desperate when I crossed a logging road and decided to set my tent up here and eat supper by headlamp on the bridge below:
Made 21 miles today. The first 12 were extremely slow. I don't remember it being this rugged in 2007. I'm certain the mountains have changed, not me,
After fording (another ford!) Pleasant Pond Stream the conditions eased up and I started to make better time,
Since last night i have been in a mini bubble with 3 young men and a girl whose trail name is HOLLYWOOD, One of the men is originally from Presque Isle, Maine. His trail name is JAEGER.
I have enjoyed his stories about potato and broccoli farming.
I am near the Gulf Hagas trail. I want to make s point to come back and hike that 5 mile trail- sounds very interesting,
I only made 15 miles of progress today, the trail is not easy but this was primarily due to my late 10:40sm start. This in turn was due to leaving Milliocket at about 6:30 and then dropping my truck off at Abol Bridge (the end of the 100 mile wilderness) and then driving the Honda for 2 mud-splattered hours to Greenville via the Golden Road. This is a mostly dirt private logging road that's cuts a lot of miles off the drive between Katahdin and Mooshead Lake. I had breakfast in Greenville and 15 minutes later I was in Monson at the AT trailhead locking up the bike.
There were two river fords todsy. At the first another hiker arrived right behind me. He had his arm in a sling. It was either broken or otherwise disabled. There were 3 other thru hikers putting their shoes back on on the other side. When one of them saw the one armed guy getting nervous about crossing with only one functioning arm, this young man came BACK over the river, picked the guys pack, and carried it across. Not having a pack to throw off his balance, the injured hiker made it across ok.
I was impressed by this act of generosity from a young person.
Note that when I did this 100 mike wilderness with Ray in 2007 I only recall a single real ford. We did it in August I believe. I think things are a lot wetter this month and the rivers are correspondingly more swollen. Each ford requires a whole operation of taking off boots and socks and tying them to your pack and walking across in something like crocs. I simply cannot get my leather backpacking boots soaking wet- they would take days to dry out.
I have made it to the start of the 100 mile wilderness!! I started very early today and made the 15 miles by 1:30.
This is a shot of me about to ford the West Branch of the Piscataquis River;
I have returned home to Eliot now until Saturday night. I think I must be the only thru-hiker this year that jumps into an intense haying cycle every time I return from the trail for my 'zero' days. They don't feel like zero days when trying to cut, tedd, rake and bale 1000 bales each time. I knew it would be hard to get through this year of the thru-hike and hold the farm together. I am almost there. Just have to keep it going a little longer and things will become manageable again.
On Saturday night I will drive up to Millinocket. Early Sunday I will drop my truck at the base of Katahdin and drive the Honda 250 to Monson and start the 100 mile wilderness.
4 comments
Leslie · September 19, 2015 at 5:35 PM
Best of luck, Paul!
Mama/Lynne · September 20, 2015 at 8:43 AM
Lots of Good luck, with sunshine, food and easy hiking. Love, Mama
Anonymous · September 21, 2015 at 3:09 PM
May God watch over you these last few days on the trail. Godspeed. Finish this thing!
Bill · September 22, 2015 at 3:21 PM
Ha! Looks like Helen is ready for the finish line.
After a hearty breakfast at Northern Outdoors lodge when they opened at 7, I tried hitching the 2 miles south on 201 to the trail. After I had walked one mile I finally got picked up so I saved a mileof extra walking at least. As far as trail miles go today was 21 miles. It started off rainy but the skies cleared midday. The problem was that I had to go over 2 small mountains today and in particular the first (Pleasant Pond Mountain) consisted of an infinite number of steeply sloped smooth stone ledges both on the ascent and descent. With the rock wet from the rain the descents were very difficult to execute without falling. Even though I try so very hard to never fall because of my artificial ankle I did and have the bloody knee to show for it. I also had one fall where I absorbed the brunt of the fall with one of my trekking poles. I bent the thinnest segment of the pole quite badly. I managed to straighten it out between two closely spaced trees but I think it has been compromised and I really should get another pair before starting the 100 mile wilderness.
Here are some shots from the summit of the second mountain, Moxie Bald Mountain. You can see that the skies have cleared by then and the rain has stopped:
Here is a shot of my campsites tonight taken while standing on the trail. The stream in the background is the Bald Mountain stream:
The terrain is getting much easier now. I am back to doing 25 minute miles most of the time. If the elevation profile I am looking at is at real good indicator I should make the start of the 100 mile wilderness by Tuesday afternoon with no problem. I was done with today's 14 miles by 1:30 despite delays getting started due to last night's rain.
Part of today's trail was along the portage route used by Benedict Arnold when he led a 1000 man revolutionary American army to attack Quebec City:
The highlight of the day was reaching and crossing the Kennebec River- the only spot on the trail where there is no bridge but the river cannot be safely forded. So they provide a ferry-canoe service:
4 comments
Anonymous · September 14, 2015 at 6:52 PM
Home stretch. Hard to believe you have made it through all those miles to reach this point.
Mama/Lynne · September 14, 2015 at 9:01 PM
As always, Paul, the photos are magnificent. The write-up sign read, "Small American Army of 1,000 soldiers". I don't think that is a small army of soldiers. You are passing through a great deal of "American History" - fascinating.
pgoransson · September 15, 2015 at 9:22 AM
Very cool. What happens if you get to Kennebec and the canoe decides to have an off day? Or take a 3 hour lunch...
Anonymous · September 15, 2015 at 7:26 PM
Hi Pete, There is actually a very good answer to your question. Right now, I am in 'high season' when the service is at its utmost. At this point, the ranger-guy mans the canoe from 10-12 and from 2-4. You have to arrive within one of these time windows or spend the night camping 1/2 back from the river. I arrived at 1:35 for the 2pm start and he was there right on time. Outside this 'high season' window the service gets thinner and thinner until there is no service at all and basically there is no fully legal way to 'hike' (traverse) over the Kennebec. This would be in the time from October 15 to May, basically (the details of these dates are widely publicized on the trail.
Made 22 miles today, I got up this morning at 5:45 and was hiking by 7:15 thinking that was plenty of time to make this campsite before dark. I was wrong. I ended up walking the last mile to this place with my headlamp the dark. Why? Because the Bigelow range turned out to be much harder than the elevation profile indicated and because there was this awesome trail magic with cheeseburgers at mile 15 which cost me 20 very tasty minutes.
Though the Bigelows slowed me down they were some of the most dramatically beautiful mountains on the AT and I hope to come back to climb them when I have more time.
Here are some views from the top on one of those Bigelow peaks (in the 4 compass directions):
Flagstaff lake:
When I reached the top of Avery peak someone asked if I had seen Katahdin yet. I responded "on this trail or in my life?". They handed me their binoculars and pointed out where I should look and sure enough, about 180 trail miles to the northeast there she was - KATAHDIN!!
I Miscalculated my water today and ran out while high up on the Bigelow ridge. It was getting to be 3 patched hours without a drop of water so I ended up filtering from this lovely spot to relieve my thirst:
Met FINCH today from Kentucky She thinks she may also be finishing on September 26 like me, She said that she is actually sad that this experience is nearing its end. I can understand that feeling.
Made 19 miles today crossing over a number of 4000 foot peaks and also Sugarloaf mountain which I think will be the last ski area on the trail. There have been many starting in Vermont.
There were a lot of steep ascents and descents today in particular coming down off Sugarloaf to the crossing of the Carrabasset River and then up the other side. From what I can see I have another 8 miles of difficult mountains tomorrow morning and then I think I can step on the gas.
Passed again a group of 3 female thru hikers today that I had passed just before Mahoosuc notch. One of them is named CINDERELLA.
Tonight at this campsite I am not alone for a change. There is a group of 5 female friends from Bangor doing a weekend hike together, it was nice having some company while I ate.
I only made 15 miles today mostly due to the late start of 10:50am. This was due to the fact that while I got up at 5;30 in my motel in Skowhegan I had to drive to the start of the 100 mile wilderness and drop my truck and then drive almost 100 miles on rural roads back to Rangeley in order to resume where I left the trail last Friday.
Crossing Saddleback mountain was very pretty though the hiking was often difficult.
It was cloudy but dry until around 5pm when we started to get intermittent drizzle. It never got bad though so it was not that unpleasant. I have gone back to my warmer sleeping bag. I am glad for that tonight. Nice and cozy as I write this.
Today I met a couple of solo female northbounders. The first was BONBON from Florida and the second was HAULIN OATS from Westford, MA. Everyone is getting excited about the prospect of finishing soon.
It's the last hour of the night now and the drizzle has turned into a downpour. Hard to imagine starting to hike in this steep terrain in this rain in the morning.
Along the way at mile 4.4 of the day I passed this beautiful spot overlooking Rangeley Lakes:
My son Peter met his friend Mike at this spot 13 months ago as Peter joined Mike for 2 days of his 2014 thru-hjike.
This is a shot of me when I met up with Helen at the Rte 4 trailhead in Rangeley:
On the drive back to my truck which had been left in Shelburne, NH the previous Monday, we passed this sad site of a freshly killed black bear cub;
4 comments
Doug K1DG · September 5, 2015 at 9:30 AM
Have you done the Katahdin segment yet? I see they have closed at least one of the trails already.
Anonymous · September 5, 2015 at 1:21 PM
Hi Doug. Once I reached the CT/MA border and jumped over my already-completed MA/VT/NH to Franconia Notch, I have been hiking the trail in a continuous fashion, Franconia Notch to Katahdin. The trail that has been closed is the Abol trail and I believe it was closed this entire season. The AT trail to the summit is via the Hunt trail which is open until Nov.1 with restrictions and generally unrestricted until Oct. 15. There are hundreds of Thru-hikers in the NH and ME woods that are counting on this! My scheduled finish day is September 26, which includes two breaks at home. I have built in quite a bit of buffer.
Doug K1DG · September 7, 2015 at 2:09 PM
Cool....looks like you have it all under control. Keep on hiking!
Mama/Lynne · September 5, 2015 at 8:46 PM
I hope the weather stays comfortable the next few weeks. We will have a celebration on your scheduled finish day - champagne and lots of treats- so keep up the good hiking/work. I'll send a pkg. w/Helen to keep in the car until your descent.
Got a ride from Pine Ellis lodge to the trailhead with 2 other older thru hikers, BAZINGA AND PEEPAW. My shorter day yesterday worked in that I felt a lot more energetic today despite the challenges of the first 13 miles of this 19 mile day:
Here is a view looking North towards Rangeley as I descend from the summit of Mt. Bemis.
Water is quite scarce over the past 10 miles and I really had counted on getting water at this shelter when I pulled in at 6:45. The two section hikers from Georgia that were here simply said 'there is none'. After hunting a little more deeply in the woods I found a fetid little pool with bugs swimming on top but I was desperate so I filtered it with my new squeeze pocket filter and then chemically treated it and then made a milkshake 😃
Today I got up at 5:50am and had started hiking by 6:45. Stopped to gather
water and eat my breakfast and resumed at 7:20. Despite this good start I had only made it 10 miles by 1:30. At that point I was at the first of 2 trailheads on roads leading to Andover, ME. My goal had been to get to the second trailhead but there was no way I could be sure of making that additional 10 miles. So, I decided I had no choice but to end my day early so I could get to my reservation at the Pine Ellis Lodge in Andover and more importantly the food drop Helen had overnighted there Monday morning.
I got the food drop and have signed up for the 7am shuttle back to the trailhead. Because of the short 10 mile day today I now need to make almost 37 miles in 2 days to get to Rangeley Friday night. which is going to be hard. If I fail I will just have to tent another night and have Helen pick me up in Rangeley during the day Saturday.
Here are some shots near the summit of Bald Pate mountain (the other bald pate is under the hat):
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · September 2, 2015 at 10:43 PM
Thank heavens, it is not raining. It would be very difficult hiking on sheer rock. Good luck with the hike tomorrow. Hope the good weather holds up. Lots of love from Mama
I passed into Maine at 8:15am this morning after a 7:15 start;
I only made 17 miles today despite 12 straight hours of hiking with no breaks other than to gather and purify water twice. The Mahoosics have been extremely tough and slow for me and not just the infamous Mahoosic Notch, the most difficult single mile of the AT;
I am stealth tenting again tonight, about .1 miles north of route 26 near Grafton Notch, Maine.
Here is my tent site as seen from the trail itself:
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · September 2, 2015 at 10:08 AM
I can't believe how rocky the trail is - as if the AT Commission is trying to make it as difficult as possible.
Anonymous · September 2, 2015 at 1:38 PM
Terrible squeeze through Mahoosuc. But you expected it. Glad you are at the next food drop and able to stay in a cabin tonight. Rest up.
I failed to make it to Maine today as I hoped as I am still 1.7 miles from the border. This was due to a very late 11:40am start which was due to leaving Eliot late due to taking care of farm animals this morning. It was also due to the Mahoosic trail being hard. Not as hard as Wildcat and the Carters the previous day on the trail but hard. My total miles for this short day was 14.
I could not reach the official campsite which had been my goal for the reasons just stated so I found myself hunting for a stealth campsite starting about an hour before dark. I ended iup summiting Mt. Success with very gusty winds and still found no place to stick my little tent. It was essentially dark out when I found this little hole in the trees and pitched the tent by headlamp;
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · August 31, 2015 at 10:27 PM
Sounds like it was a very tough day. I hope things go a little easier. I'm glad it wasn't raining today, at least, I hope not. Sending love and good wishes. Mama
Hiked 22 challenging miles today over 5 official NH 4000 footers (Wildcat D, Wildcat, Carter Dome, South Carter, Middle Carter) , plus some more 4000 footers that aren't on the list due to being too close to those.
The going was particularly steep on the ascents and descents the first 60% of today. These descents provided me with some of my slowest per-mile average times of the 1800+ miles I have done so far. I need to be **so** careful of not having any kind of a fall due to my artificial ankle. If I fell even one meter and landed wrong on that sawed-off tibia the results could be disastrous and the doctors might never be able to fix it right. So, I don't take any chances of a fall, which means I slow to a crawl on these light-weight rock climbing descents. This made for a 12+ hour 22 mile day. A lot more exhausting than 22 miles should feel.
As of right now, under 300 miles to go!
3 comments
Anonymous · August 29, 2015 at 5:08 AM
Praying hard for you to have no falls...
Doug K1DG · August 29, 2015 at 5:22 AM
Paul - have you encountered a nobo from CT trail-named "Right Click" recently? We have visitors here who are friends of his. He is in NH now we think.
Anonymous · August 29, 2015 at 5:57 AM
Hi Doug, no I have not. I will keep my ears perked or that name now, though
Mount Washington did its thing today. When I boarded the stagecoach van at 9 AM for the ride to the summit it was a beautiful summer day down in Pinkham notch. When I exited the van over 4000 feet higher up at the summit I had to run to the visitor center and don my tights and Gore-Tex jacket, just to venture out and start my hike. Here are a couple of shots showing what conditions were like about 10 minutes after starting, a few hundred vertical feet down from the summit (beautiful August day, eh?):
Things got worse from there as it rained pretty hard on me in the elevation zone between 5000 and 6000 feet which I was at for a few hours. Then finally we descended from the clouds and it began to dry out and warm up. This is a view as I descended on the Parapet Trail and broke out of the clouds:
I think the year was 1995 Jenny was about 12 and Peter was about 10 and we did our first backpacking trip together right after I did the Wild man Biathlon the morning of the first day of the 3 day trip. We hiked up the Rocky branch Trail and camps near the Mount Isolation trail.
The next day we hiked over at the summit of Mount Washington and ascended into the great gulf wilderness. Much of the hike on the final day was on the great gulf Trail. I can remember when we reached the intersection of the great gulf Trail and the AT. I. think I said to my children "kids this is the Appalachian Trail this is a big thing it's a trail that goes all the way from Georgia to Maine." This is a photo of me at that very intersection today. Sweet memory for me.
This is the Pinkham Notch Visitors Center, end of today and the start of tomorrow:
I hiked 13 miles today almost all uphill from Crawford Notch to the summit of Mt. Washington.
I started, of course, exactly where Helen and I left off yesterday:
(Note the remaining mileage to Mt. Katahdin.)
Traversing the Webster cliffs overlooking the notch was dramatic:
I then bagged another of my missing NH 4000 footers Mt. Jackson:
And another, Mt. Pierce:
Exactly two years ago today I was in a tuxedo in that white structure (Mt. Washington hotel) in the following picture for the wedding of my son Peter to his lovely bride Rachel.
Last night we were together at our Loon condo and had a nice anniversary celebration dinner at the Common Man restaurant in Lincoln. I can remember that day, two years ago, and I was limping so badly with arthritis in my right ankle I could barely walk my designated bridesmaid up to the front of the ceremony. Two years and one artificial ankle later not one hiker passed me in today's 13 miles and I passed scores. I smiled for many reasons.
Happy Anniversary, Peter and Rachel!!.
This is the Lake of the Clouds hut just before the final push to the summit of Washington and the warning immediately following:
Here are some shots around the summit of Washington:
This is the shot of the sign where I left the trail and will need to resume when I return in 2-3 days:
Note the remaining miles to Katahdin. I guess the 13 miles I hiked today added up to zero. :-)
We had made arrangements for Helen to drive up the auto road and meet me at 4:30 to drive me down. I will return in a couple of days and take the 'stagecoach' (van) up and continue my hike down to Pinkham notch. There was a female southbound section hiker 'Amy' that had just finished her Katahdin to Washington section and needed to get back to civilization so we gave her a ride back to the C&J terminal in Dover, NH and she took a bus from there to Logan. That was a good deed on our part. I have been the recipient of many similar good deeds from others between Georgia and New Hampshire so I was glad to help.
1 comment
Leslie · August 25, 2015 at 5:58 PM
The end of your trek seems within grasp now! Hope your luck and health hold!
Helen and I did the motorcycle/truck self shuttle thing between Crawford notch and Zealand Trail. After leaving the bike at the trailhead for Zealand trail, we hiked 2.5 NON AT miles to rejoin the AT where I left it last Wednesday night. The photo below is a shot of Helen at this spot:
The actual AT miles today were only 7+, but it was a good little section to do with Helen, especially as it had the 2.5 mile pigtail of Zealand Falls that had to be done just to get back onto the AT. The shot below is of Paul at a very visually dramatic section of the hike where the old railroad bed that is the AT here cuts across a tremendous slide plummeting a deep valley:
After leaving that valley, the Wilderness Trail, that Ray, I and Peter have all trail run at different times vectors off to the south heading towards Lincoln Woods about 14 miles distant. In only .1 miles from the intersection of the Ethan Pond Trail (the AT) and the Wilderness trail lies the beautiful Thoreau Falls. So, we decided to walk over there and take a breath:
The shot below is of the end of this day. I will resume the ascent and traverse of Mt. Washington here as soon as the danger of thunderstorms subsides. Note the remaining distance to Katahdin - 332 miles. Getting there!
I hiked 20 miles of the AT starting at the Liberty Springs trailhead near route 93.
This was the precise spot where I left the trail last November 13 after hiking from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch. That required micro-spikes (easy-on crampons) and winter clothing during all the time at higher altitudes. Not sotoday as you can see from these summit shots of
Lincoln:
Lafayette:
Garfield:
South Twin:
I had to hike one mile from my motorcycle to get to the trailhead this morning and 2 1/2 from my AT end
to the truck so today was actually 23 1/2. I realized I had walked by Galehead hut too late and thus missed my water fill up as planned. I ran dry at mile 15 and those last 5 miles to Zealand hit were parched ones.
This was the elevation profile from today:
There was over 7,000 feet of elevation gain.
1 comment
Anonymous · August 20, 2015 at 6:47 PM
Toughest day of them all today for you, with over 7000 feet of elevation gain in one day, right? Glad you survived, even with running out of water 5 miles before the end.
Today's 17 miles started off as a brisk late fall hike in the Whites but inevitably ended up as a bitter winter-conditions slog at higher elevations. The short amount of daylight made it take essentially all the hours of daylight to accomplish those 17 miles, including the summitting of two 4000 footers, South and North Kinsman, with crampons for several hours up high.
Here are some photos of that day:
I reached, this sign, the end of today's hike after about an hour of hiking in the dark with a headlamp.
I will need to pick up my northward progress at this sign at some point within my 12 month Thru hike window. I wonder when it will be....
1 comment
Anonymous · August 20, 2015 at 6:48 PM
That seems so long ago even though it was less than 9 months ago.
Today Jenny, Glenn and I did the Moosilaukee traverse. We ascended from NH 25 to the west, up, over the summit and down the steep Beaver Brook trail down to Kinsman Notch. There was quite a bit of snow even at low elevations but the day was unseasonably warm for December 27 until close to the top where it suddenly and dramatically changed to bitter winter conditions. Well before that transition we had to don our crampons as the trail got too slick and icy for mere plastic boots. Also notable is the fact that today's hike was Glenn's very first foray into the use of plastic boots and crampons for winter climbing. He did very well but the bitter winds and temperatures at the top and the long, steep descent took their toll on everyone.
The 11 miles of the AT we accomplished today does not sound like much but they were tough miles under sometimes tough conditions.
1 comment
Anonymous · August 20, 2015 at 6:49 PM
I read later that this is one of the toughest parts of the AT. Trial by fire for Glenn!
This short 4.6 mile hike I did with Ray and his girlfriend Kig. We were all getting ready to leave for Helen and my 40 anniversary wedding celebration at St. Lucia with 22 friends and family. After celebrating Christmas in Eliot we went up to our Loon condo for some winter sports before leaving for the tropics.
Kig had never seen snow before. So, we thought the most appropriate thing to do with someone who has never *seen* snow before was to do a 6 mile hike in the snow along the AT in NH. It got dark. We had 3 headlamps, 1.5 of which were working.
A grand time was hand by all!
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · August 26, 2015 at 5:56 PM
The weather looks bitter cold, but you are still a happy group.
I left our Loon condo at 5:30am on the Honda rebel and
got myself to the NH 25a trailhead by 6:20am.I was hiking by 6:35am.This 6
mile segment was only memorable for being extremely wet.There were a lot of bogs but even when I was
up on hills the trail seemed unduly muddy.I reached NH 25C at 8:30am and Helen was already waiting for me with the
pickup truck and she took me back to the spot where I left the motorcycle in
the morning.
Did 16 miles today and summited Smarts Mountain and Mt.
Cube.It was raining fairly hard the
first half of the day which made the Smarts Mt. ascent unpleasant.Helen had dropped me off at AT mile 1760.7at 10am (we had spent the night at our Loon
Mt. ski condo) and we had agreed that she would meet me on the Rte. 25B
trailhead 16 AT miles later at 5pm.The
summits of both Smarts Mt. and Mt. Cube consist of huge expanses of smooth
ledge.In particular, Mt. Cube was the
most polished stone I have ever seen outside a jewelry shop.This made the extensive climbing over these
rocks very fall-prone so I had to go quite slowly over those sections.The skies cleared somewhat between Smarts and
Cube but the rocks were still wet as I went over Mt. Cube and I had my 2
slowest miles of the day (34 minutes/mile) going over the top of Cube.I made it to our rendezvous at 4:50 just as
Helen was pulling in 10 minutes early!
This was my first try with my idea of self-shuttling
between trailheads using the pickup truck with my new small Honda Rebel 250 on
a motorcycle carrier on the back.This
is what happened:
We delayed the start of our 9 mile AT hike to try to squeeze
it in between the morning and evening rains.We were largely successful in that endeavor.
This was also the first time ever we were trying out my
scheme of dropping the new small motorcycle and the end of the day and driving
the truck to the beginning of the day and then driving the bike back to the
truck at the end.
The hike went well; one of Helen's knees got a little
sore as the terrain was inevitably rough - this is not VA or NC where Helen
last hiked with me, but nothing one Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) couldn't handle.
When we got to the end of day trailhead I looked in the
distance for the motorcycle and did not see it.I did not panic as I was sure that it was simply a matter of me seeing
from the wrong angle.Wrong.It was gone.
Along with our two helmets with the base of our radio
setup, and our two expensive BMW waterproof suits.Truly gone.I was flabbergasted.We were also
stranded 17 miles from our truck in a very rural area. I had no cell coverage
but Helen thought maybe a 911 call might get through to the police.
It did not.So, we
began the 4 mile walk to Lyme, NH.We
came to a house and Helen suggested that we knock on their door and ask for
help.That turned out to be a brilliant
idea (which I initially discouraged, but boy was I wrong). These people let us
use their phone to call the police to report the theft.It was no theft.Someone had torn off our temporary plates and
when the police saw this motorcycle in the middle of nowhere with
no plates they thought it was abandoned so had it
towed.That was a HUGE
relief as there was a lot of money and trouble invested
in that equipment, which we had not yet insured, BTW.Then we had to deal with the logistical
problem that we were 7 miles from the towing company that had our bike and they
wanted $150 cash to get it out of hock.The nice people who let us use their phone also happened to be the
proprietors of the Lyme General store (and via the store next door neighbors to
the McCutcheons, our former across the street neighbors in Eliot,BTW!!!), then
offered to drive us to towing place.That was a HUGE help.When we got
there, we did not have $150 in cash, but the owner let me leave my license with
him while we drove the bike back to our truck and our money.That all worked out and has turned into a
great story, but.... WOW.
I am attaching a couple of shots of how we looked when we
finally got the bike back to the starting trailhead where we had left the
pickup truck:
Helen and I hiked 11 miles from Norwich, VT, through Hanover. NH and our daughter Jenny's Alma Mater Dartmouth College and several miles beyond to 3 Mile Road. Here are some photos of that day:
Helen originally planned on doing this segment with me
but we had miscalculated. We thought it was only 4.6 miles long but it was
really 6.7 miles long, and we needed to be back at the farm in Maine so I could
bring a steer to the butcher at 3pm, so Helen opted to just shuttle me from the
trailheads. There was a climb for a couple of miles and then just rolling hills
through smooth terrain and I made this 6.7 miles in 2 1/2 hours.
This is a shot looking southbound from the northern end
of this segment in Norwich, VT:
I started my day this morning at 7am putting Helen's
hybrid bike in the back of our pickup truck.I drove all the way to White River Junction, VT and a few miles further
north to West Hartford, VT, and dropped the bicycle at the AT trailhead at the
Rte 89 underpass at mile 1734.Then I
drove over the very rural Pomfret Road to Woodstock, VT and then up VT route 12
to the AT trailhead at mile 1720 where I parked the truck.By the time I started hiking it was 10:50.The 14 miles went fairly quickly.Some of the short climbs were a bit steep but
they were always short and the miles were generally easy.The trail skirted around the back and side of
the Suicide Six ski area.You can see
this ski area from the place that I stopped for my lunch in the photo below:
In keeping with the Vermont theme, there were miles and
miles of maple sap tubing through the woods:
This is a view when you emerge from the woods and descend
to the White River
- you can see Rte 89 in the distance.
I reached the bicycle at about 4:45pm.The 15 mile bike back to the truck
was harder than I had anticipated.The 9 mile climb up to the little hamlet of
Pomfret was hard with the legs tired from the 14 mile hike.All is all, it took me 1 1/2 hours to bike
back to the truck.This is a view of the
truck after I put the bike back in it and before I started the 2 1/2 hour
Today I slack packed from the near the base of the
Killington, VT ski area (VT Route 100) to Woodstock, VT (VT Route 12).The day started early with the drive with
truck and mounted motorcycle from Maine to Woodstock where I dropped the
motorcycle and the end-of-day trailhead.Then I drove the 24 road miles around to Killington and parked the truck
and prepped and started the hike.My
start from Maine was later than I had hoped and the shuttling took longer than
I planned and I had some difficulty locating the AT trailhead near
Killington.That all added up to a
10:50am start.That is really too late
for a 20 mile day, so I really had to rush the whole 20 miles to make sure I
had time to drive the motorcycle back to Killington and
mount it back on the truck before dark.As it turned out I finished the 20
miles at 6:45 so I had plenty of time.I was quite exhausted from the
relentless 20 mile push through some constantly up and
down terrain.It
did not have any big individual elevation gains, it just
was always up and down.It was also
excessively muddy from the heavy thunderstorms of the night before.This slowed me considerably having to
constantly hike around huge wet areas on the trail.
This is a view looking south at Killington a couple of
hours into the hike:
This is a view looking northward at about mile 15 of the
hike into the Vermont mountains:
Finally, this is the first view of VT 12 approaching it
from the south.My bike was parked down
in that valley and awaited my arrival.
Today I hiked a little over 20 miles with a fairly long
and steep ascent over Killington.
I got up at 4:30am today and left Maine at 5am.With the dropping off of the motorcycle at VT
100 in Killington and then driving through Rutland to the starting trailhead at
VT 103 south of Rutland I did not start actually hiking until 8:40am.The miles were harder and slower today.Towards the end of the day the ski slopes of
both Killington and Pico Peak were visible at times.
The AT/Long Trail only gets within .2 miles of the summit
of Killington and I did not want to add .4 miles to my day so this is the
closest I got to the
summit:
The Long Trail has overlapped with the AT since the MA/VT
border but 2 miles before the end of today's hike I arrived at Maine Junction
where the Long Trail vectors off towards Canada.
It is weird and interesting to see two trails heading in
two different directions with the classic AT white blazes.I don't know the history for sure, but the
Long Trail is marked with white blazes just like the AT.
Perhaps it used them before the AT, I will have to
check.In any case, that junction is
clearly marked and once you leave that junction you follow the white blazes
presumably knowing whether you are on the Long Trail or the AT.
I suppose if you had had too many Long Trails before that
decision you might NOT know which trail you were on, though :-)
The end of the day saw a lot of thunder and light rain
but the skies never truly opened until 1/2 way home on my drive home.That was just after seeing a black bear cross
in front of my truck on Interstate 89 in NH.
Hiked a middling-difficult 15 miles today.I got up at 6am in the hotel in Rutland but
By the time I ate breakfast, dropped the motorcycle at the end-of-day trailhead
and drove the truck to the start-of-day trailhead I did not start hiking until 8:07.
I think that a lot of hikers must feel that they have
more time on their hands than I do.This
set of 'fairy towers' is in the middle of absolutely
nowhere:
I won't be building any fairy towers this time around.
This is a shot to the west looking at the Rutland
Southern Vermont Regional Airport and into the mountains of NY in the distance:
Although this is not about the hike in particular, during
my drive from the end-of-day trailhead to the start-of-day trailhead I came
upon this plaque and building commemorating the time that Paul Harris, a
founder of Rotary International, spent in Wallingsford, VT.Since my wife Helen has received the
prestigious 'Paul Harris Fellow' award for her service in Rotary, I thought
this was noteworthy:
I left my home in Maine at 5am and started hiking by
9:45, having dropped my motorcycle off at the end-of-day trailhead near Danby.
After just 3 miles of easy ascent I passed over the
summit of Bromley Mountain Ski Area:
The rest of the day was moderate conditions with some ups
and downs and occasional bad footing but all in all a fairly easy 17 mile day.
As always, it was nice to see my faithful steed waiting
for me at the end of the day:
I met an older gentleman thru-hiker (i.e., someone my
age) on top of Bromley.His trailname is
'SHORT BUS'.He is a retired teacher. A
retired Special Needs teacher...
I also met a blast-from-the-past young thru-hiker who I
think I last me in Tennessee or North Carolina. He is from Lowell, MA and his
trailname is 'LUCKY STRIKE'.I think I
mentioned him in an earlier blog.He
passed me from behind and recognized me without me turning around.I thought that was uncanny. I must have a
unique gait.
Today's 18 miles were much easier than yesterday.There was a nice climb
up to the summit of Stratton Mountain at the beginning of
the day.As I drove to the beginning
trailhead, this is a view of the ski slopes on
Stratton:
At the summit of Stratton is an interesting plaque that
describes how the idea of the Appalachian Trail was first conceived on that
spot in 1921:
My worries about the flooding that I stated in last
night's post were for naught.A
re-routing had been clearly marked around the flooding:
This was good as the water was over one foot deep for a
couple of hundred yards due to beavers having raised the level of their
dam.That would have made the remaining
10 miles after that stretch much more uncomfortable in soaking wet boots.
All in all the terrain was much easier today.I was hiking by 7am and was off the trail by
2:15, back at the truck at 3pm, and back in Eliot, Maine by 7pm.
Today was definitely NOT one of my easier days on the
trail.First, it was
35 road miles between starting and ending trailheads so I
started the day with a 70 mile round trip on secondary roads just to shuttle my
motorcycle to the ending trailhead.The
ending trailhead, on the 'Arlington-Stratton Road' was very remote and there
were a few miles of driving on dirt road to get there.Due to the rainy conditions today and the
long drive between trailheads I knew I needed to get an early start so I got up
at 5 and was on the road by 6am.Even
with that early start I did not start hiking until 8:20.I made it off the trail by 6:10pm by hiking
non-stop all day except for one 5 minute break for some foot care.I then drove the bike back to the truck and
then the truck and bike north to my next destination-town, Manchester Center,
VT, where I am staying tonight.I did
not reach that town until 8:30pm and had to rush to find some supper.
Today's 22 miles hike was made difficult by constant ups
and downs, rocks and roots and worst of all, enormous mud-holes that were
difficult to get around.It rained on me
pretty hard for an hour in the morning but then gradually cleared during the
day and it was actually nice by the time I reached the motorcycle.I was really ready to stop hiking when I
reached it so this scene when I emerged from the woods was a sight for sore
eyes:
There was a somewhat alarming notice posted on the
bulletin board over my bike in that picture.This is the notice:
I don't quite know what to make of this.I don't have a choice to 'not hike in that
area'.Hopefully I find that other
thru-hikers have blazed a trail around the new beaver pond.If not, I will be getting very wet tomorrow.
I hiked 19 miles today through moderate terrain.The highlight was crossing the MA/VT border:
I seem to be ina
kind of 'bubble' with Electric Lizard and Fozzi.I passed them at the state line today even
though they slept north of me last night.I also met a pair of female 'flip-floppers' who had recently started at
the NY/CT state line heading north and were going to Katahdin and then were
going back to the NY/CT border and hike south to Georgia.
When I dropped my motorcycle off at the destination
trailhead early this morning there was a motorhome in that parking lot.A 70 year old British man saw me unloading
the motorcycle from the truck and came over to ask questions.It turns out he is supporting his wife who
has been slackpacking all the way north from Georgia using their motorhome as a
base.What a variety of characters I
have met!
I have begun another string of slackpacking days using
the motorcycle piggyback on truck self-shuttle technique used in Southern
MA.I left Eliot, Maine at 7 am and only
started hiking at 12:20pm due to rush hour traffic around Boston, construction,
plus the logistics of placing the truck at the end of the day (north of Mt.
Greylock) and driving the bike to the beginning of the day (south of Mt.
Greylock).
It was a 14 mile day, a 7 mile ascent to the summit of
Mt. Greylock and then
a 7 mile descent.These shots are from the summit of Mount Greylock.
This is me with a view to the South East:
This is a view to the North of North Adams, MA:
This is the war memorial on the summit:
Late in the day two young thru-hikers caught up to me on
a steep downhill section (I go relatively slower on steep downhills as this is
where my ankles are least stable).It
was 'ELECTRIC LIZARD' and her friend FOZZI.
If you look back at my post from MM/DD/YY you will see
that I hiked with her for a couple of hours in Southern VA. She recognized me
from a distance and I heard this voice coming from above 'Is that
TARMAN?'.It was nice to catch up for 5
minutes.
Helen hiked 8 miles with me today from Gulf Road, Dalton,
MA to US 8 Cheshire MA.
There were heavy rains all last night through 10am this
morning.We stayed late in the hotel and
had a late breakfast in Pittsfield and managed out-wait the rain.However, the streams on the trail were very
swollen and it was impossible for Helen to cross them without getting wet:
This view is looking down at Cheshire, MA, our
destination for this 8 mile slackpacking day:
This is a photo where the AT crosses through downtown
Cheshire, MA:
Slackpacked 20 miles from US Rte 20 in Lee, MA toGulf Road, Dalton, MA today.Got a very late start - 10am!That's what happens when you have your wife
around and a hotel available...
Except for an initial climb and ended descent these 20
miles were nearly flat, very unusual for this part of New England.The terrain was often rocky and muddy,
though, so I could not move super-fast.I still did the 20 miles in 7 hours and 45 minutes which is a good
pace.
Here is a photo mid-way through the day:
The last1 1/2
miles of the day were walking on asphalt through the little town of Dalton, MA:
Talked to 'Happy' again today.He stopped me and wanted to know where the
name 'TARman' came from :-)
Slackpacked 22 miles today from Lake Buel Road to US Rte
20 in Lee, MA.
Helen and I dropped the motorcycle off at my destination
for the day, US Rte
20 at about 8am:
The terrain did not include any major climbs or descents
but it was constantly going up and down with fair poor footing so it was a good
workout.Here is a road crossing in the
middle of the day:
Typical view looking down into a valley with small
Western, MA farms:
The end of the day is in sight!:
In this same area I passed the ruins of an old outdoor
social club whose lands were ultimately donated to the AT:
The AT crosses the MASS PIKE via this footbridge:
Finally, I arrive at my destination for the day, US Rte
20:
This was an emotional milestone for me in that this is
where my Appalachian Trail journey intersects with Helen and my cross-country
bicycle trip from 1981.Here are a
couple of shots of Helen and I in 1981 biking west towards Seattle on US 20 not
too far from where the AT crosses it:
[Photo not preserved in the archive]
I re-met 'Proudfoot', a thru-hiker I met just north of
Roan Mountain in TN (See my post from MM/DD/YY)He and I spoke at length and he remembered me as I did him.He has done well to reach MA in that amount
of time.He was hiking with another
thru-hiker named 'MacGuiver' and seemed to be synching up with 'Happy' at
shelters at night
1 comment
Anonymous · August 19, 2015 at 6:24 AM
How neat that you remembered crossing that stretch during the 1981 bicycle trip. That sure was a loooong time ago! Who would have imagined you would be hiking the AT 34 years later?
Helen and I slack packed 12 miles today from Jug End Road
to Lake Buel Road, all in the vicinity of Great Barrington, MA.We leave our home in Maine at
8:30 AM with the Honda Rebel mounted on the back and were
hiking by 1:10pm.
It was a pleasant day with several miles of easy walking
at the start:
We passed a historical monument marking the last battle
of Shay's rebellion:
This is Helen crossing the Housatonic River:
We startled a porcupine who scrambled up this tree when
he saw us:
While the day had started off with several easy and fast
miles things slowed down considerably in the second half as we had to scrambled
over many abrupt mini-canyons like the one shown here:
We reached the motorcycle at 6:45pm and were back at the
truck by 7.
We said hello to an older gentleman (i.e. our age)
thru-hiker named 'Happy'.
I ended up meeting him each of the two following days!
My father died exactly 25 years ago today. A quarter of a century without him and I still feel the pain of his absence in my life. He missed so much, including most of the raising of his two grandchildren Jennifer and Peter and now during this hike the birth of his first great grandchild, Eleanor. He and I had many hikes around the beautiful Ponkapoag Pond where I grew up with him, my mother, and my sister Leslie. It may seem crazy, but as I now do this bigger hike I like to think that he is enjoying my adventure with me, looking down from heaven.
So, I made it to Massachusetts today!
There were beautiful views when I passed over the summit of Bear Mountain, the highest peak in Connecticut, at about 7:50 this morning:
Also nice views from near the summit of Mt. Everett, the first peak the AT goes over once crossing into Massachusetts:
I had foolishly thought that since I only had to do 12 miles to get back to Jug End Road trailhead where I left my pickup truck 9 days ago that they would be easy. Nope. Seemed like hiking up and down cliffs a lot of the time. I am just so terrified of a bad fall that will hurt my artificial ankle that I slow to a crawl in situations like this and the 12 miles took me 6 1/2 hours. But, I made it out with only one minor slip and fall on my behind with no damage.
As most of you already know, by arriving at Jug End Road trailhead today, I have 'connected the dots' with a 300 mile section I did primarily in June and July of this year between haying cycles at the farm. So, I have now actually completed 1812 miles of the AT in the past 9 months, so I am well on schedule to complete the thru-hike within the requisite 12 months. As far as the blog goes, I have wanted to keep it in geographical (not chronological) order, so I will be posting the updates for the hikes between where I ended today (mile 1512) and Franconia Notch, mile 1812, over the next few days.
Today's 24 miles were easier than yesterday's which is good because my body is telling me it needs a break, now, in addition to the sore feet my back is aching quite a bit. Today I had the additional break of an official Appalachian Trail detour:
It took me on a 3 mile road walk to avoid the Iron Mountain bridge over the Hoodstonic River. The bridge is out. The detour was no shorter but I made better time on the asphalt roads.
I am camped here 2 miles from the Massachusetts border;
After 12 miles tomorrow I reach my truck and get a much needed rest from hiking and camping!!
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · August 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM
Looks like a pretty rocky site for your camp tonight. Hope it is not too rough sleeping on the rocky surface. Just think 12 miles tomorrow. I bet it will seem like a long 12 miles. I hope it goes well and quickly with a nice sky and sunshine, and that your feet and back do well. Love, Mama Love, Mama
CT has started out harder than I hoped. With the exception of some gradual climbs the first hour and a perfectly flat 4 miles along the Housatonic River
All the climbs and descents were uncomfortably steep.
In any event I have managed to stick with my schedule and pulled into my campsite
At 7:40pm and was set up and ate supper on a log in the dark. There are at least two other groups of hikers here, they are talking and making noise and I rather miss the quiet of my last few campsites. Today's total was 24 miles.
Well, not quite all. The rain started this morning around 4 AM and I had to pack up my tent in pouring rain. Needless to say everything was wet and heavy because of that. The rain continued for a few hours but then abated.
In case any of you were wondering no, you cannot take a train the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, despite with this picture implies:
A few miles after that picture I reached the border of Connecticut and I left the trail a half mile after the border where I will resume tomorrow. That makes a total of only 16 miles today but that was my plan all along. I needed to get in to the Dutchess Motel in the town of Wingdale New York to pick up the food package Helen had sent to me. I was very glad to see the package waiting for me and to be able to dry out my wet gear tonight.
Tomorrow I start the final three day push to reach my truck over the border in Massachusetts.
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · August 12, 2015 at 6:47 PM
The package looks, "mighty good", also the chips and a can of beer. Thank you, Helen - it probably was a lot of work getting the package together., You are doing really well keeping up with your schedule., Paul. Sleep well- Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · August 12, 2015 at 6:48 PM
Thanks for the photos. It makes following along so interesting.
Made 24 miles today though I got a slow start this morning. I slept very poorly last night as when I chose my stealth location I was under duress and it was much more slanted than I realized. So, I spent the whole night trying to not slide to the bottom of the tent. Perhaps for this reason as well as rationing my limited camp good when I saw the .25 mile side trail to a NY state park with concession stand I could not resist even though it cost me a half mile of needless traililrs :
This guy seems to have followed me from Virginia;
He was about 3 1/2 feet long,
I am about 14 miles from the Connecticut border. I took this picture around 3pm before I stepped on the gas:
Here is a shot of my campsite just after I pitched the tent at 7:50pm. It is getting dark a little earlier now.
I met female thru hiker from NH today with trail name WOBBLE. She got this name from her stance when she first put her pack on, Think of Reese Witherspoon in on of the first scenes in the movie Wild.
3 comments
Anonymous · August 10, 2015 at 6:56 PM
Glad you found food - am sure you needed it. Nice to be so close to CT. You are closing the gap and soon enough will be where you started last time in southern Massachusetts. Connecting the dots...
Doug K1DG · August 10, 2015 at 8:02 PM
Glad to see you are back on the trail. Guess you were haying on the farm? Carry on.
Anonymous · August 11, 2015 at 12:25 AM
Yes that's right. I was home haying much of June and July but between haying windows I finished MA, VT and half of NH as you will soon see in this geographically-ordered blog.
Made 23 miles today. The terrain was mixed today. The 10 miles before crossing the Hudson were harder like yesterday and I made slow progress. The progress was additionally slowed by the time consuming process of filtering and treating swamp drain off for drinking water. The water situation in August is greatly impacting my joking here.
This is a view from the summit of Bear Mountain just before dropping down and crossing the Hudson.
Speaking of crossing the Hudson it was a real zoo- literally, The low point on the AT 100 feet above sea level is at the bear cage in the Bear Mountain zoo which the trail goes through just before crossing the river.
I was also delayed by the presence of a snack bar just before the zoo:
This is a shot of my stealth campsite tonight:
This today's elevation profile:
I met thru hikers BRAVEHEART, SHEPHERD and WALKMAN today.
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · August 9, 2015 at 10:47 PM
The terrain looks like it is getting more difficult each day. When you were traveling in the south many times you would be crossing through farmlands, but I guess there are no farms where you are now - just rocky paths. Keep on persevering, and I hope that it will get a little easier hiking (wishful thinking).
Today may have been the single most difficult day on the AT so far for me terrain-wise. There seemed to be endless cliffs requiring total reliance on hands to ascend and descend. These were often high enough to make me afraid of losing my balance with the weight of the full pack and the extra caution I use for my artificial ankle. Here are some shots of this terrain:
[Photo not preserved in the archive]
This spot is called Lemon Squeeze:
I honestly barely fit through with my pack!
This is looking ahead on the trail from Lemon Squeeze:
In any case I struggled through 22 miles of this today plus the total absence of running streams. Before reaching my waterless campsite I had to take the runoff from a swamp.l Last time I did this and only chemically treated the water I got diarrhea so I used my new mini filter first and then treated it and carried 3 liters 2 miles morec and stopped and camped at this shelter:
Today I met thru hikers FREESTYLE and COOKIE MONSTER. More on them later when it is easier to type.
1 comment
Anonymous · August 9, 2015 at 5:44 AM
This is just what AWOL wrote about and it sounds awful. Hope the conditions improve today and your ankle holds up...
Today was a long 13 hour day yielding 28 miles of Nobo progress and the crossing from NJ into NY. Woohoo!!
Atop the same painful rocky ridge that trail guru AWOL hated I encountered this American flag:
I am not sure if it can be seen on this picture but you can see the full Manhattan skyline from this viewpoint, This is an informal 9-11 memorial as you used to see the twin towers from this viewpoint, 😢
The 28 miles fried me. Had I found any permitted campsite up on the ridge I would have camped tonight but after the 18 mile point today I would have had to go to about 32 to reach the next camping spot. So I was in a jam as I wanted at least 23 today and was very happy hen I could get a ride to the town of Greenwood Lake, NY where I found an overpriced but comfortable hotel.
2 comments
Anonymous · August 7, 2015 at 8:07 PM
So sorry you couldn't camp. There should not be any bears at the hotel, though. Be safe and careful.
Mama/Lynne · August 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM
Beautiful photo with the American flag. I'm glad you were able to get a ride into the town. Sleep well. 28 miles was a really long hike - a little too long. Love, Mama
Hiked 21 miles today despite a late start at 10:30am.
Yesterday Helen and I drove from Maine to Southeastern MA and dropped my truck at Jug End trailhead which I hope to reach in 9 days of hiking. We then drove to NYC and had a lovely evening going out to dinner and s play. We nearly missed our dinner since we fell asleep after our long drive ...
Thus morning Helen dropped me off where I left off on July 8. - Culver Gap, NJ.
The highlight of the day for me was seeing my first black bear actually during the hike. He was on the trail about 80 feet ahead of me, looked at me for 5 seconds, and then ran off before I could get a picture.
Today I reached the highest point in NJ. It did hold still long enough for a picture:
I camped tonight at the Jim Murray shelter, an unofficial private shelter with running well water - what a blessing as virtually every stream along the AT in this area is either bone dry or disgusting.
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · August 6, 2015 at 7:36 PM
HI, Paul, Thanks for the photos. You found a great place to camp for the night. It is nice to be surrounded by the stone wall. Later on, please tell me the story behind the stone wall.You will probably meet other bears along your route. Sleep well, and have a good day tomorrow. Love, Mama
Anonymous · August 6, 2015 at 8:21 PM
Keep up the great progress and maybe you can get home a day earlier?
NJ finally! Woo hoo! The skies opened up as I crossed the Delaware River around 5 this afternoon. It was almost impossible to get my IPhone to take a picture with all the water. But, at least I have the blurry picture above to memorialize the event. Amazingly, at the beginning of the long bridge it was dry enough to take this picture:
PA did not want to let me go. The 20 miles I made today were tough in PA. Many miles of this:
This is the first view I had of the Delaware River before descending on the PA side. Other side is NJ:
When I finally reached the Delawsre Water Gap I did reward myself, though:
I am camped tonight in the Worthington State Forest about 5 miles into NJ.
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · July 7, 2015 at 10:11 PM
Your photo of the trail looked like pretty harrowing hiking. Glad you make it OK. You are entitled to a dish of Ice cream It sure looks good. Safe hiking tomorrow. Love, M.
Hiked 27 miles today over a lot of Rocksylvania terrain including the ascent to the Superfind trailhead one of the most difficult individual miles on the AT. This cane immediately after crossing the Lehigh River:
This is the view down at the top of the Superfind climb;
Only 15 trail miles from the NJ border tonight. In a hotel in Wind Gap which is good as I hiked in the rain this afternoon as was glad to not set up the tent in the rain.
Hiked 28 miles today through varied terrain that included some of the longest stretches of boulder/hopping I have seen on the trail. There were miles that looked like this:
So I am indeed very satisfied that my biggest mileage day on this thru hike to date (28 miles) was over a lot of that.
Another interesting occurrence today was when I heard a loud crack about 30 feet behind me and then watched this tree fall on the trail where I just walked:
My cellulitis infection seems to be healing nicely. Each day the red color returns s bit more to normal and I feel fine.
I am now about 43 (hard) trail miles from the New Jersey border.
My darling, sweet and beautiful granddaughter Ella Sewell was born Wednesday, July 1, 2015. I left the trail after my night in the ER on June 30. The timing was all perfect as we had planned on leaving the trail at the first signs of my daughter Jenny's labor and that was really Tuesday morning. I would not have hiked anyways for 2-3 days because of the seriousness of the cellulitis. We were there all day long at the hospital on Wednesday through a very trying birth, but everything turned out successful for mother and baby and both are doing well. So, now Morfar TARman returns to the trail. (Morfar is Swedish for 'mother's father').
Today Helen dropped me off where we left off last Monday night and I hiked 21 miles to camp near this shelter. Fue to the drive from DC to the trailhead I did not start hiking until 12 noon and then I hiked without break until 8:30 to make the 21.
The terrain seems to be shifting from the straight and flat ridge lines to up and done rolling hill- ridges. Maybe this is the transition to the Poconos I am not certain.
I crossed the Schuykill River at Port Clinton around 5 pm:
And now I am lying here in my tarp tent listening to the 4th of July fireworks going off in distant towns. Happy birthday America and welcome home Eleanor.
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · July 6, 2015 at 7:15 PM
Hi Morfar, I think you are doing quite well each day. Keep up the good hiking. Looking forward to your return home. Sending love, Mama
Today was a difficult day. The most difficult 20 miles I have done in some time.
It started off easy enough with a crossing of the Swatara Creek over this lovely now-pedestrian only crossing:
The 20 miles were difficult today because this part of the AT in Pennsylvania was really earning its moniker of 'Rocksylvania' today. This photo is the trail (see white blaze in distance):
This, and the previous 2 days' hiking has been almost exclusively on top of well-defined ridges that seem to run parallel with each other. I can spend a whole day moving in a straight line on top of one of these ridges. There were a lot of ridges in NC/TN but they were sharper - sometimes no more than a meter wide, and did not consist of the rubble that is common in this area. Being on the ridge did afford occasional dramatic views of the countryside, though:
These mountains served as a kind of 'early warning system' during the French and Indian wars in the middle of the 1700's. There were a series of forts built at strategic locations (gaps) in the mountains where the English soldiers could detect a major movement of Indians preparing to attach settlements down in the farm country (see previous picture and imagine it 270 years ago). One was in Swatara Gap (where I started today) and another was about 400 meters from the end of the hike today. This monument is deep in the woods and few people not hiking the AT would ever see it:
I also have something weird going on with my left lower calf (not the one over the artificial ankle). Yesterday my right foot kicked up a big branch and threw it against the back of my left calf with considerable force. The branch broke and I felt pain and there was a small amount of bleeding. This, in itself, is not that unusual for me on this hike. I get bruises and scratches all the time. Today, however, I woke up with a strange skin rash over a big bruised area where this blow occurred. Tonight, that is extremely sore and strangely the skin irritation is more painful than the bruise. The skin feels like a second degree burn. We don't know what to make of it. Could the branch have been of some kind of poisonous wood? A simultaneous spider bite coinciding with the blow from the branch? Hopefully it is better in the morning.
Addendum on 6/30/15:
My sister heard about this from
my blog post and told me to be on the lookout for cellulitis (very dangerous,
spreading infection that can kill you if not checked.It is usually from staph or strep).Anyway, it seemed to be spreading with long
thin red lines going up on the back of my calf to my knee.So, we went to the Good Samaritan Hospital
Emergency room in Lebanon, PA.We spent
about 5 hours getting assessed and antibiotic IV and then the prescription of
oral antibiotics that I need to take for 10 days.
These are shots of what my leg looked like in the ER last night:
So the good news is that the few days' break from hiking that this will enforce hopefully coincides with the birth of my daughter's baby. We have now driven to DC and are waiting close by her as her contractions get stronger. Pray for her, the baby, and us.
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · June 30, 2015 at 12:22 AM
It really was rather strange how the branch scratch/cut could cause such a problem. I wonder what could have been on that branch.
Hiked 18 miles today through the mud from yesterday's storms. The terrain was easy, though, so I made slick time. I came upon a young lady Thru-Hiker in the late morning who was standing still in the trail looking at me. Her trail name was "Towanda" and she is a recent college graduate from NC hiking the trail solo. Anyway, she was looking back at me to tell me about the huge rattlesnake next to the trail. I enthusiastically said, 'cool - let me get a photo'. She eventually thought this was a good idea and let me take a picture of her as close to the snake as she dared which resulted in this shot:
Here is a closer view of the rattler:
I ended up hiking with her for a couple of miles and we separated when she wanted to stop for lunch (I don't stop to eat, I just stuff my pockets with more food and eat as I walk). This was near the first of two abandoned coal mining towns I passed today. The second was called Rausch Gap. Here are some shots of a plaque describing the town, tailings from a nearby mine, and a small cemetery left in the woods there:
Just before I reached the take-out trailhead on Route 72, I had to cross a creek on an interesting bridge:
It was raining all day today, and started to rain heavily in the last hour of my 10 mile hike. Today was composed of walking along an exposed ridge line in a straight line for 3 1/2 hours. The winds became quite heavy towards the end and at one point I heard a crack and looked behind me and 2 seconds later a 3 inch thick branch crashed down onto the trail where I had just walked. I don't know if I would have been able to get out of the way in time between the 'crack' and the collision. It would have been a bad injury. The strong winds were breaking branches off the trees all over the place. Helen dropped me off at 9:30am and was waiting when I emerged at the destination trailhead at 12:55. I had to make it a short day today as the next bail-out point is 16 miles north of here and it was really, really heavy rain when I quit and that continued throughout the afternoon. I was very glad I was not sleeping in my tent tonight.
The first thing we did today was check with my daughter Jenny to make sure that she was not about to go into labor before I set off on this days hike. Things seem stable enough so Helen dropped me off at Route 11 in Carlisle, PA this morning at 10:30 AM at the very spot I ended at last October (see previous post). This is what it looked like when she dropped me off:
This is what I wrote to my family after finishing hiking that day last October:
"Despite some last minutes snafus with the flight (now
flights) home I am now in the air flying from Harrisburg to Philly and from
there to Boston. The final 8 miles of hiking this morning were very easy which
made the drizzle of rain not so irritating.
This has been a great experience for me and I am excited
to plan the next phases of this lifetime goal of mine."
So, with this post I have caught the reader up with my contiguous hike from Springer Mountain, GA to Carlisle, PA, a total of 1125 miles. In addition to these miles, in the past months (but since 10/20/14 I have been hiking between southern Massachusetts and Franconia notch, NH. I have covered a lot of that distance now and will have the rest done by the time I reach my Massachusetts starting point in early August. I will post the blog entries for that part of the hike in geographical order, not chronological. When I do reach that starting point in MA, which is Northbound mile 1512, I will be able to continue at Franconia Notch, NH due to the hiking I have done locally here in New England over the past months. My current plan has me reaching that point by August 15. At that point I will proceed in earnest in order, ever northward from Franconia Notch to Mt. Katahdin, with the goal of reaching Mt. Katahdin by the first week in October, completing the Thru-hike in the required period of not more than 12 consecutive months.
Pulled into Boiling Springs PA around 5 today after a 20
mile day. Am lodged in a threadbare but comfortable hotel just outside town.
Note how the AT goes through a couple of miles of farm fields before entering
this town. Just like your days on the AT with Mike this summer, right Peter?
:-)
Downtown Boiling Springs, PA:
About 7 miles tomorrow morning to Carlisle PA and then a
bus to Harrisburg and a flight back to Boston and a longed-for reunion with
Helen. And then to strategize how to fit the rest of the remaining 2000 miles
of the AT in over the next 355 days....:-)
Made it my planned 17 today to a hostel at Pine Grove
State park. It was a shorter day today by plan. Unfortunately when I got to the
hostel the caretaker announced that there had been a car accident so the
building had no heat no showers and no food until the line was repaired which
was not expected until at least 7. At 8:45 the power came on so now I have
showered and eaten a pizza and am warm...and have wifi which is good because
there is no cell phone coverage here
Still feeling good
I am attaching photos of me passing the
mid.-point of thee AT.That means I am
half way done, right? :-)
Did 20.5 today. Am in a shelter in the middle of the
woods in nowhere PA. Glad to be tucked in for the night as the temperature is
dropping fast. Helen has booked me on a flight home from Harrisburg Wednesday
evening. Body holding up well.
Now they are worried about protecting the rattlesnakes from us!!:
The wild rhododendrons grow so thick here that sometimes you are literally walking through a tunnel:
Here are some shots of the Quarry Gap shelter that I stayed at.
There was one other occupant of this shelter and he was scary. He was one of those homeless people that live out on the AT. He had homeless person caliber camping gear and was mentally ill. He was screaming out loud to himself during a lot of the night which made sleep difficult for me. I left in the morning before he got up. I had the additional pleasure of having some kind of rodent scampering over my sleeping back pulled over my head. I just pulled it tighter so they could not get in.
Did 23.7 today from Harpers Ferry to a trailhead on US 40
10 miles east of Hagerstown, MD. Called and waited 40 minutes for a taxi to
take me 10 miles into town and hotel. Was dark and cold waiting. HAd to put on
all my clothes. Taxi picking me up st hotel at 7am to take me back to trail head.
Still feeling good . Feet sore at the end of everyday but recovered by morning
Here are some shots as I passed through Harper's Ferry early this morning:
Just checked in to the Econo lodge 200 yards from the trail.
Glad to be off my feet. Today was about 18 miles. Went through some interesting Civil War earthworks (I think) at Loudoun Heights (well known Civil War defensive position), as I descended to the Shenandoah River before Harper's Ferry:
Unfortunately the restaurants and stores are 1.5 miles
away. I am going to take a taxi and save those miles for the trail. This is a selfie as I cross the bridge over the Shenandoah River into Harper's Ferry:
This will be brief as I am typing inside my sleeping bag
trying to stay warm
It rained most of today and I was going through a hard
section called the roller coasterI only
made 14 miles today. Crossed into West Virginia now..
Hope to sleep in a hotel tomorrow night in Harpers Ferry.
My plans of sleeping in the AT Blackburn center hostel were foiled. I reached the spot and left the trail and walked a short distance to the rock building and went to all the doors and they were all locked. It was raining and I could not justify standing in the rain cold and wet and just waiting. It was warmer to keep walking and look for a stealth tent site. It was warmer until I pitched my tent high on this hill near the comms tower in the wind and the rain. I never got fully warm in my tarp tent this night. It let the wind blow in unfettered.
In my tent tonight just on the other side of the VA/WV
border. Cold And windy. I need to conserve battery so I won't be online much more
tonight
rain the last 3 hours and 45 minutes of trying to follow
the trail in darkness by headlamp. I am now dry and warm enough in the Rob
Hollow shelter. When I arrived there were (eerily) 5 headlamps in the middle of
a dark void. I was lucky to squeeze in as the 6th person in this six person
shelter full of 5 seems like 20 year olds.
I see that the last of them just turned out their
headlamp at 7:50. Not much to do here on the woods.
Tomorrow night in the AT Blackburn center hostel. Bunk,
shower, pizza. Sounds like heaven :-)
This is the day I started the AT at Hogback Outlook on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.
Today I made 16.6 miles, 7 hours out at trailhead.
Now in hotel in nearby town (Front Royal)
These are my first steps on the AT:
This is a late Fall view in Shenandoah National Park:
This is what the AT looks like in SNP in the late Fall (a lot of leaves obscuring the trail! sometimes the cut logs were all that distinguished the trail):
The trails on the AT in the Shenandoah National Park are certainly the easiest and fastest of the trail so far. They are generally very smooth and generally the grades quite gradual. This leads to days like today: an 8am start and the 24 miles to this camp done by 6pm. I'll take that any day.
I am very excited about my lunch rendezvous with Jenny and Glenn followed by my 4pm rendezvous with Lesley and Kennedy. Then it's off to a BNB in Luray and a quick 8 miles Monday morning and them I am done with the AT in the South!!
Made probably my fastest 20 miles on The AT so far today- 7:55 including all stops (there were 2). Am tenting nearby this shelter. Things are filling up in SNP over this Memorial Day Weekend and I could barely find a spot tonight for my tent,
Here is a shot of the view looking west from the trail at about mile 8 today. You can see Skyline Drive winding over the mountain:
I met a nice German couple this morning at breakfast at the Tree Streets Inn. trail names Mr. Clean and Pinnochio. Tonight at this shelter met Blissful, a fifty-ish woman solo hiker and Sponge Bob a recent college graduate thru hiker hiking a pace similar to mine.
1 comment
Anonymous · May 23, 2015 at 9:57 AM
Sounds like you are having a jubilant finale to this part of your hike. Glad for you!
Slack packed 22 miles today through rain and cold. Everything going well. Got a shuttle back to Waynesboro and am spending the night for the second night in a row in The Tree Streets Inn. Tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock I will get a ride back to the Black Rock trailhead and resume my journey northward with a fully resupplied and thus heavy pack. Looking forward to my meeting with Leslie and Kennedy and Jenny and Glenn on Sunday.
1 comment
Anonymous · May 21, 2015 at 9:01 PM
May the sun shine down on you and the wind be on your back.
Sailed through the predominantly downhill 12 miles to Rockfish Gap today:
I then called and was picked up by the owner of the Tree Streets Inn. I got a massage, got my laundry done as well as my food shopping. I then went for supper at the Heritage Bar and met hikers WOLVERINE (who I had met earlier and took my photo shown in an earlier post) and CHESWICK. Interesting stories both. WOLVERINE was an ex-Peace Corps volunteer heading off for his MBA after the hike and CHESWICK was doing not only the AT but the 'extended AT' which I believe starts at the Gulf of Mexico and ends up somewhere on the Atlantic in Canada. He was a fast hiker.
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · May 20, 2015 at 10:17 PM
It will be interesting to listen to your stories when you finally make it home. Love, Mama
Today's total was 22 miles but the 3000' descent down The Priest immediately followed by a steep 3000' ascent knocked me for a loop. Here is today's elevation profile:
I must be weakened from so many long days without a break. Just 5 more to go until Leslie and Kennedy and Jenny and Glenn meet me at Hogback mountain and this big push from Springer will be over.
This note was left on the trail on that big ascent (I did not see any):
This is a view looking back at the 3000' deep valley I just crossed:
This is s view late in the day on the general direction of Waynrsboro, VA,
Where I will be sleeping in a bed tomorrow night!!:
21 miles with a 2000' ascent right at the start with my fully resupplied and therefore heavy pack. Also rained off and on. I was done and setting up my tent by 6:15 which was nice.
Trail anecdote: a perfectly normal intelligent hiker person came up to me today and asked me if I knew what day it was. After thinking for a bit I was able to answer "Monday". He said thank you and departed. There was nothing strange about this conversation or the person in the context of living in the woods. One would think a person odd who asked such a question out in the world.
3 comments
Mama/Lynne · May 19, 2015 at 5:54 PM
Do you think that hiker didn't have a cell phone; otherwise, he could have checked to see what day it was. One would lose track of time and day without a watch or a cell phone. Sending love as always, Mama
Mama/Lynne · May 19, 2015 at 5:56 PM
Helen explained to me that the name of the mountain was, "Priest Mountain".
Anonymous · May 19, 2015 at 6:25 PM
Hope you are where you want to be tonight, i.e. planned to be (I know you really want to be home with me, right???). I love you.
I'm getting tired and sore. Made it through 24 more miles today for a total of 77 miles in the past three days. Crossed over the longest foot-only bridge on the AT early this morning:
Encountered more large snakes but nothing that I think was poisonous:
Here are some videos of some snakes I have seen over the recent days:
When I got to US Route 60 I was very fortunate to encounter an EX-through hiker who was there and his car supporting his son who is through hiking this year. The man I met had a trail name called 5-WAY standing for the five way bypass he had before he did the trail in 2006. I am spending tonight in the budget in motel in Buena Vista and will get a ride up by a taxi service to the trailhead at 8:30 tomorrow morning to resume hiking.
This is the elevation profile from today:
1 comment
Anonymous · May 19, 2015 at 6:25 PM
Roughest part of the week with a full pack. Tough guy.
Today's 26 miles were more difficult than I thought when I left camp at 7:10am. I thought that was plenty early. Well with the heat, humidity and this elevation profile:
It took me until 8 pm to reach this shelter where I am totally alone and have pitched my tent. Maybe the trail is emptying out due to the big "Trail Days" festival occurring in Damascus right now,
Anyway, one of the delays was a few feet from the summit of Apple Orchard mountain (the highest point on today's profile). I was so busy feeling miserable and cursing the trail designers that I had walked right by this fellow and then heard his rattle:
His head was only about 6 inches from my left foot when I had passed him:. His girth was about 2 inches in diameter in the thickest part. That is the first rattlesnake encounter I have ever had on the wild, I have a good video of him rattling which I will post on the www.bondgarden.net site when I get home.
Here is a shot of the descent down to James River.
I have not reached it yet but will cross it tomorrow on the longest foot use only bridge on the AT!!
I met ROCKY as my campsite-mate last night - a young man from Atlanta. Yesterday and today I have been leapfrogging with ROAD RUNNER, a young man from Minnesota,
1 comment
Anonymous · May 17, 2015 at 8:37 AM
Oh, a butterfly. (Private joke.) Remember in the room when I pointed out to you that you would be having an elevation gain of almost 3000 feet in a day or so and you said something like "piece of cake"? Glad you made it safely, and with that heavy pack!
Strode 27 miles today after saying goodbye to Helen when she dropped me off at the trailhead at 7:40am. Today at about mile 11 the AT begins a 100 +- section of weaving around and over the Blue Ridge Parkway. I can remember driving that route in 1994 on a family trip and seeing signs for the AT and being drawn to it even then.
The terrain was mixed today between overly steep short climbs and descents and relatively easy walking. My feet are sore all the time now but once they get loosened up it is not bad.
1 comment
Anonymous · May 17, 2015 at 8:40 AM
Maybe you can sign me up for the lowest point of the hike. More my cup of tea. Stay strong and healthy.
Today was a pleasant 22 miles, the first four of which Helen accompanied me. She then hiked back out making a total of 8 miles for herself. She hiked in those 4 miles to see McAfee knob one of the most photographed places on the Appalachian Trail. This is a shot of Helen and me sitting on McAfee Knob:
2 comments
Unknown · May 27, 2015 at 7:49 PM
Amazingly you and another friend of ours are in the same area!! Godspeed!!
Slack packed 22 miles today. Passed by the memorial to wear Audie Murphy the most decorated US soldier in World War II as well as a famous actor died in a plane crash. This picture is the view from the ridge just before reaching Dragon's tooth a set of rocky cliffs with a very difficult descent:
This involved climbing over very steep rock which sometimes has metal rungs placed but many times without. This shot is an example of what that seven tenths of a mile of rough climbing looked like:
I was very lucky to be slack packing over that difficult section rather than carrying my 30 pound pack.
1 comment
Leslie · May 15, 2015 at 11:35 AM
Yikes! Makes my knees ache. Glad it was not a slick, rainy day.
Helen and I sashayed our way through 11 miles of beautiful Virginia countryside today. This is a shot of the spot where we had lunch:
After lunch we passed a marker denoting the Eastern Continental divide. I actually believe that I have been walking along this divided during a good part of my hike in Tennessee and North Carolina as well:
At the end of the day we encountered some awesome trail magic at the spot where we left our second rental car. We enjoyed talking to the hosts of the magic as well as to a couple of young hiker brothers from North Adams Massachusetts:
Helen hiked the whole day with me today which was a fairly big day for her at 11 miles. I will hike alone tomorrow for 22 miles and Helen will join me for 7 miles of my hike on Thursday. It's great having Helen's company.
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · May 13, 2015 at 6:10 PM
The views are so beautiful - breathtaking. It must be exciting hiking along the Continental Divide. It must be fun meeting so many other hikers. Helen is doing such a great job. I am very proud of her. Enjoy each other's company. Miss you both. Sending love, M-L
Mama/Lynne · May 13, 2015 at 6:15 PM
Hi Paul and Helen, What do you mean by, "trail magic" along the way. M-L
Today was a hot 17 mile day but it ended with my much awaited reunion with Helen at Virginia Route 42 we are happy tonight and comfortable in our hotel in Roanoke.
No new trail names to add tonight as I met not one person either northbound or southbound in my entire 17 miles today.
2 comments
Mama/Lynne · May 11, 2015 at 6:42 PM
Hooray! So happy that you two were able to meet without any problems. Have a great reunion. Lots of love M/L
Ray Masse · May 12, 2015 at 6:30 AM
Paul - Just learned you were section hiking the AT and was led to your blog. Congrats to you! Maybe you could add an RSS feed link to the blog so that when you do updates they come to those interested automatically. Easy thing to do with Blogger.
Gamboled 23 miles to Bailey Gap Shelter but found it empty with no feasible place for a tent and full of mosquitoes, so I kept on hiking a bit further and found this stealth camping spot:
This was today's elevation profile:
And this was the view to the East after that first big climb:
Finally, I did not know that Peter had either a mountain OR a wilderness:
Marched through 25 miles of slack packing today and reached this town at 5:45pm with a 6:50am start. The views from the ridge 2000' before descending to the town were glorious;
I met BEAN COUNTER today. He seems to be in his sixties and is a recently retired accountant from Baton Rouge, LA. He and. I commiserated over the dried up springs in the general lack of water these days.
3 comments
Leslie · May 10, 2015 at 8:51 AM
Warm out there this weekend!
Anonymous · May 10, 2015 at 7:44 PM
Do you need sunscreen when you hike or are you mostly in the woods? See you tomorrow.
Mama/Lynne · May 10, 2015 at 8:01 PM
The views are glorious - such a high elevation. I hope it doesn't get too hot because of the difficulty of getting water.
Got an early start today and made it to my mail drop at Trents grocery by 2:30pm. Had awesome steak and cheese sub and fries and milkshake. Much needed after last night's supper of crackers and peanut butter. AOK.
Met COB "chief of the boat " ex navy guy at last night's shelter. Met Trail Pilgrim late fifties participant in this years WARRIOR HIKE for veterans. Met IRISH a triple crowner tonight (AT PCT CDT) repeating the AT in his sixties. He and I share the dubious fame of both having been evacuated from base camp on Aconcagua with pulmonary edema. Ah, the good times...
When I reached the end of the rainbow, my quest, my Holy Grail today - Trents Grocery:
There I found waiting for me that which I sought- my first mail drop!:
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · May 8, 2015 at 8:49 PM
Great photos and reading your very interesting comments of folks you are meeting on the trail. Sending love and wishes for good hiking.
Very humid and hot again today. Made 24 miles to tent outside this shelter at 7:45pm, there was a cloudburst at about 5pm that forced me to scramble to get my pack cover and my Goretex shell on. I now have just 16 miles to go tomorrow to get to Trents grocery where I have a mail drop waiting. Getting there for tomorrow night aligns me exactly with my schedule. I have decided to get a ride from there to Pearisburg Friday at 4pm and get a hotel. I will leave all my heavy stuff in that hotel and get a ride back to Trents grocery Saturday at 6am and slack pack the 25 miles from the grocery store trail head to Pearisburg. This means I will be in a hotel in Pearisburg Friday and Saturday nights which will be a luxury even though the hiking mileage remains high Saturday.
Crossed I-77 just 2 miles before tonight's camp:
1 comment
Anonymous · May 7, 2015 at 7:46 PM
It looks so dry out there. I'll bet real people were happy to get the rain. Glad you can enjoy some hotel living these next couple of evenings. Take care of those body parts of yours! Looking forward to seeing you soon. I love you.
Tough hilly day today. Tougher than the last two days even though the miles were less. I am camped about 100 yards north of the shelter. It is gorgeous and pleasant here tonight:
I had to scramble over an infinite number of fence styles during the midday hours today:
I am tired but nothing hurting very bad. Things are going well.
3 comments
Anonymous · May 6, 2015 at 8:08 PM
Hope you have a good sleep tonight so you start out fresh in the morning ready to face another long day. Thinking of you. I love you.
Mama/Lynne · May 7, 2015 at 8:13 AM
Your are looking well, Paul. Keep up the good hiking. Love, Mama
pgoransson · May 7, 2015 at 8:16 AM
Did you get written permission from the landowner? :-)
Today was a bit harder for me than yesterday but I still made 26 miles by 7:30pm. I have some hot spots from the new pack and my feet are a bit sore.
I am now 11 miles ahead of my schedule which good because my schedule had me doing 74 miles over the next 3 days which I can now drop to 63. Only doing 21 per day will be better.
Here is a view of Virginia looking west from the trail at about 5:30pm today:
I met BROADWAY, a young man from Lexington,VA at a spring where I was refilling water (emptying my water faster now in this heat). A few minutes later I re-met ELECTRIC LIZARD who I had met way south maybe the Smokies. She is from Tewksbury and is starting Veterinary school at Tufts in August. We actually hiked together for 4 miles at the end of my day which was a record for me hiking with anyone since GA by about 3.9 miles since I never stayed with anyone before for more than a tenth of a mile. I stopped here but she was continuing on to camp about 3 miles north. She was on a mission as she needed to meet a friend at a road in 48 hours to get off the trail for a few days to go a concert with that person. She took this picture of me in front of a historic schoolhouse right on the AT:
1 comment
Mama/Lynne · May 7, 2015 at 8:11 AM
The old schoolhouse photo is very interesting. I imagine the little children of all ages sitting in one classroom. I wonder who maintains the building. Love, Mama
Back on the trail after a 13 day break. Beautiful weather, fresh legs and moderate terrain led to a 25 mile first day back. I am camping close to the trail alone in a bushwhacked-tent site. I am so tired I don't really care.
The tent site looks like this:
Walked through an extensive area today (Highlands State Park) where the park service uses wild ponies to graze the former high pastures to keep them as they have been since these parts were first settled by European settlers:
This shot above is close to the summit of Mt. Rogers, the highest peak in VA (over 5700')
New trailname : TINKERBELL, a young solo female thru hiker from Portland Maine. Our small state has an out-sized representation on the trail
4 comments
Unknown · May 5, 2015 at 5:33 PM
Hey Tarman, hang in there!! We are loving your pics! Maybe you can stop through D.C. and put your nomination for president! We would vote for you!! From your friends in Ohio, Duane, Mari, Brody, and Derek!!!
Leslie · May 5, 2015 at 8:22 PM
Wild ponies!
Mama/Lynne · May 5, 2015 at 10:23 PM
Great photos.
Anonymous · May 6, 2015 at 5:48 AM
Not sure what your last sentence meant. I think the voice recognition on your iPhone has some trouble... Thinking of you...
Last night was truly awful with High winds and rain and both the interior of my tent in my sleeping bag wet. My hiking boots were completely waterlogged squirting water out with every step. It looked like it was going to be another rainy day so I decided to exit the trail at the first opportunity which was at VA route 600 after about only 3 miles of hiking.
This morning after my 3 miles when I came out to the road there was
UNHINGED's husband waiting for her and Eveready again. He was just
trying to make sure they were okay as they slack packed on ahead with
his assistance. I then started a two hour period of attempting to
hitchhike during which approximately six cars passed and no one stopped.
Fortunately UNHINGED's husband after seeing his wife and friend go by
generously drove me back to Damascus and I was able to hook up with my
ride back to the airport. I'm sure I will meet them again.
This made my last day of this stretch only 3 miles instead of the 20 I had hoped for but considering the conditions of the past 24 hours I need to be satisfied. I am now en route home for a 12 day break from hiking I will resume at friction at VA route 600 on May third or fourth. The goal of my next section of hiking will be to connect from where I just left off at Virginia route 600 to where I began in the Shenandoah national Park on October 20, 2014.
1 comment
Anonymous · April 20, 2015 at 2:19 PM
I hope you are snug as a bug in a rug in your hotel room tonight. See you tomorrow!
I left Damascus at 9am in a light rain which turned into a downpour all afternoon and continuing now. I just got a flash flood warning in my tent via an AT&T emergency signal even though my phone says no service. With the roaring wind and the emergency warnings beeping on my phone this is a bit scary! Because I wanted to leave no more than 20 miles for tomorrow for my rendezvous with my shuttle to the airport at 6 I needed to make it 21 miles to this tent site despite the bad weather. Unfortunately here is at 5200 feet and the rain is worse up here and it is colder and windier. Also some of my clothes and sleeping bag got a little wet. I am OK in my tent but we will have to see about tomorrow's weather.
I wanted to make a note of some of the new trail names that I have come across in the past few days one was a man from Pennsylvania called PROUDFOOT. Yesterday I met a pair of women from Ottawa one was called UNHINGED and the other was EVERREADY. Interestingly, late in my day yesterday I came across them again huddling under a tree in the freezing rain and wind. They were waiting for UNHINGED's husband to pick them up as they had been slack packing from Damascus. He was over 1 1/2 hours late. As I was helping them he finally arrived so the day was saved and I continued on the 2000 ' ascent in the driving rain.
1 comment
Anonymous · April 20, 2015 at 11:51 AM
So sorry for the misery. Glad you were able to tough it out. Hope you are someplace dry now.
Smooth sailing for 16 miles today across the border from Tennessee into Virginia and down into Damascus.
This was the view looking out from my tent at 7am today:
Going to push on for another 40 miles into Virginia over tomorrow and Monday and get off the trail for about 12 days for a break home in Maine
4 comments
Mama/Lynne · April 18, 2015 at 4:32 PM
Glad you had a good day. The shower was loads of fun. Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · April 18, 2015 at 5:19 PM
It will be wonderful when you are home again. Love, Mama
Anonymous · April 18, 2015 at 7:31 PM
You have really made so much progress - beyond your expectations? So happy for you. Will you arrange a shuttle to take you back to the airport hotel from the trail? Good luck and safe hiking to you.
After a hard first few hours of climbing I felt quite strong the rest of the day so I made a full 26 miles by 7pm with a 7:20am start. I am only about 16 miles from Damascus, VA and I am very excited about reaching this major AT milestone tomorrow afternoon.
Here is a shot of my campsite tonight:
And here is my dinner table:
And here is the sunset:
3 comments
Mama/Lynne · April 17, 2015 at 6:08 PM
Hi Paul, The campsite looks a little lonely, but then when I saw the photo of the beautiful sunset that changed my feelings about the campsite. The photo of the sunset was truly magnificent. I can't believe how you can take such gorgeous photos. Thank heavens you are having some good weather. I bet it makes all the difference in the world. Sleep well, and have a good day tomorrow. Love, Mama
Anonymous · April 17, 2015 at 7:15 PM
Good thing you will be back in a hotel on Monday night because severe thunderstorms are predicted for then. Otherwise, your weather coming up is manageable - some rain but not always. Enjoy the great outdoors. Sleep well in the woods.
Today was a very pleasant 23 miles of slack packing under mostly sunny and warm skies. The following photo is of looking back southward at the mountains that I crossed during that terribly rainy weather two days ago. You can see that even on a beautiful day those nearly 6000 foot mountains produce weather that can make hiking difficult:
Once again looking westwards into Tennessee farmlands:
Here was a lovely old barn abandoned in the middle of the woods:
I came upon an interesting dilemma along with two other through hikers that were perplexed standing at the intersection you see between the blue and the red trails in the photo that follows. The blue trail was called the high water trail and the main AT trail was called the Laurel Falls Trail. It was not clear which trail was the main Appalachian Trail as there were no white blazes visible at that intersection. Eventually using my iPhone Guthook application I was able to determine that except under conditions of very high water the main AT goes down on the red trail as you can see in the photo. Well with all the rain we've been having these were high water conditions so it was not clear whether or not the main route would be passable:
The following photos are shots of Laurel Falls themselves, as well as a couple of shots of the very very narrow lip of the trail that is the Appalachian Trail as it passes through this gorge. Indeed has the water been a 1 foot higher this would've been impassable;
After this Laurel Falls Gorge the rest of the hike consisted of a 2000' ascent and a corresponding 2000 foot descent down to Watauga lake which is another one of their Tennessee Valley Authority dammed lakes made in the 1930s.
Here is a view of part of that man made lake:
I will conclude this post with a photo of the sign that was stapled to a tree near the trailhead when I finally reached Route 321, my destination. This shows that not everyone is enthused about the existence of the Appalachian Trail:
The land for this last section of trail was apparently taken by eminent domain and it looks like the family is not entirely happy about it.
I am feeling in good health strong and pretty optimistic about reaching Damascus, Virginia by Saturday night and exiting the trail about 40 miles north of Damascus, Virginia Monday night and flying home for a much needed break on Tuesday.
3 comments
Anonymous · April 16, 2015 at 7:18 PM
You are doing very well, thank God. Keep safe and sound. I love you.
Leslie · April 16, 2015 at 7:26 PM
Fascinating!
Mama/Lynne · April 16, 2015 at 7:37 PM
Beautiful photos and very interesting comments about the A. Trail and the surroundings. I was surprised to read that some land was taken by Eminent Domain for the Appalachian Trail. I can understand that the owner of the taken land was very angry. I hope you have a good day tomorrow, Paul.
In order to give myself some rest today and because of the heavy rain forecast for today I decided to do a short day only a little over 10 miles of slack packing. This was a good move as my feet are not feeling too badly tonight and they were very sore last night.I am back in the town of Roan Mountain comfortably ensconced in a bed and breakfast and resting well. One disadvantage of hiking in the rain was the extremely slippery trail conditions the mud made it very difficult to not fall down. One benefit of these conditions is that the waterfalls were particularly spectacular today:
Here is a shot of how I looked when my shuttle picked me up at the end of the day's hike to bring me back to town:
My boots are wet all the time these days. Even dry socks get wet right away from the soaked boots that don't dry overnight.
3 comments
Anonymous · April 15, 2015 at 6:29 PM
Good decision to not do too much today. Looking good. Hoping you have dryer times tomorrow.
Mama/Lynne · April 15, 2015 at 6:31 PM
Although you look rain-soaked, you do look like a happy hiker. I'm sorry there is so much rain these past few days. Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · April 15, 2015 at 6:37 PM
The photo at the top is really beautifully. It would make a lovely framed photo. I'm so glad that you are off the trail tonight. It has been a bit of bad luck with so much rain. Hoping for some, "good old sunshine". Love, Mama
Although today was only 23 miles because of the heavy rains and the big ascents and descents it's felt considerably harder than yesterday. When the rain did clear I had some nice views from the top of a big bald area that I passed through:
I also believe that I may have left North Carolina for good on the Appalachian Trail. This means that all my remaining miles before Virginia are exclusively in Tennessee. This belief is supported by the following photo:
This is the elevation profile for today's 23 soggy miles (walking on the trail at many times was walking in a running stream):
5 comments
Leslie · April 14, 2015 at 6:04 PM
23 miles! doing great! sleep well.
Mama/Lynne · April 14, 2015 at 6:44 PM
Hi Paul, I'm having a problem with my cell phone, so I can't read your phone msg. Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · April 14, 2015 at 9:05 PM
Wow! 23 miles in the soggy rain. Bad luck about the rain. I can't believe the varying elevations. That is some rough hiking. I hope tomorrow will be better weather and easier hiking. Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · April 14, 2015 at 9:06 PM
Have you met my other hikers lately. Love, M.
Anonymous · April 15, 2015 at 3:14 PM
Yes, I meet other hikers every day there are not as many as there were at the beginning but I still see quite a few people. One difference is that the hikers I am meeting now are all moving quite quickly as I am and are much better hikers then the average people
Arrived here after a nearly 27 mile day where I began hiking at 7:25 and hiked until 7:10pm with two 10 minute pit stops for foot maintenance. I eat while moving. Pack was extra heavy due to re-supply of food I got last night in Erwin. I am camped on the flanks of another 6000+ foot mountain. I will summit it first thing tomorrow. I am not sure there is another 6000-footer on the trail before Mt Washington.
Here is a shot of my camp tonight with the shelter in the background:
Helen dropped me off at the Sam's Gap trailhead this morning at 7:15 and I started off on a 24 mile day with a full pack. Everything went well and I made it to Erwin Tennessee by about 6:15.
Here is the view from Big Bald which I crossed this morning;
Here are 2 views descending into Erwin:
6 comments
Anonymous · April 12, 2015 at 7:21 PM
Glad you had a dry day and great views. Stay healthy and happy. I love you.
Mama/Lynne · April 12, 2015 at 7:33 PM
It was an amazing decent into Erwin. Thank goodness it wasn't a rainy day. Keep up the good hiking. - thinking of you everyday. Lots of love M.
Mama/Lynne · April 12, 2015 at 7:35 PM
I meant to say - the photos are magnificent. I'm really enjoying seeing the photos of that part of the country. Do you have a special camera?
Mama/Lynne · April 13, 2015 at 7:29 PM
How is it going?
Mama/Lynne · April 13, 2015 at 7:31 PM
Hello, Paul. Helen has helped me with some password problems but am good now.
Mama/Lynne · April 13, 2015 at 8:38 PM
Have a good day hiking on Tuesday, Paul. I hope we will hear from you tomorrow evening. It is so nice having Helen here, but I know that you miss her. Sending love, M.
Helen hiked with me today and we had a relaxing and easy 8 1/2 mile hike. It was pleasant to have her company and I hope I am recharged to start putting on bigger miles again this week. My goal is to reach Virginia by next Sunday. Here is a shot of Helen on the trail with me today:
5 comments
Anonymous · April 11, 2015 at 7:17 PM
Enjoyed hiking with my husband today! My legs feel stiff now.
Mama/Lynne · April 11, 2015 at 7:47 PM
Congratulations, Helen, for the 81/2 mile hike with your husband. The scenery is beautiful, and you both look so strong and healthy.
Jenny Goransson · April 12, 2015 at 4:52 AM
Looks like it was beautiful weather for you two! Love you.
Mama/Lynne · April 12, 2015 at 10:51 AM
Hope you have a good hike today. The weather is beautiful here in Dover, and I hope it is lovely where you are hiking.
Leslie · April 12, 2015 at 6:14 PM
So glad you were able to hike together in such beautiful weather!
Made about 19 miles today slack packing with Helen dropping me off and picking me up it was a nice day I will add some pictures to this post tomorrow Helen will be hiking with me from Devils Fork gap to Sam's gap tomorrow
Some Tennessee farms from a high ridge on the AT today:
Met again a young lady I first met on day 2 out of Springer. Her trail name is LUNA and her real name is Heather and she is from Portland, ME. I have met a disproportionately high number of Maine thru-hikers
Some shots hiking north out of Hot Springs today:
I passed one guy today who said did you see the black bear around the last corner? Sadly, I did not. Not a single bear sighting for me since starting...
3 comments
Mama/Lynne · April 9, 2015 at 10:22 PM
Great photos - Imagine, meeting so many other hikers from Maine. It must come from the cold winters and the good drinking water.
Jenny Goransson · April 12, 2015 at 4:53 AM
Were there actual hot springs? Did you partake?
Anonymous · April 12, 2015 at 6:05 PM
There were absolutely real hot springs. When the European settlers first arrived they found the Cherokee already using the springs. After mama and I did that hike together we try to get a hot tub at the spa but they were all booked until midnight. Too bad
Relatively easy day today. Left camp at 8:20 and arrived here and checked into Iron Horse Inn at 1:45pm
Here is a shot of the view descending into town:
Walking into town;
The inn;
Elevation profile for today;
2 comments
Jenny Goransson · April 8, 2015 at 6:07 PM
Looks like a cute town! And that inn looks awesome.
Mama/Lynne · April 8, 2015 at 7:29 PM
Hi, Can you find out if Hot Springs is the place where President Roosevelt went for treatment for his polio. I think it was in a southern town. I guess I can Google it. So glad you had a good hiking day. Miss you. Sending love and good wishes for a continued successful hike.
Put in over 21 miles today including an embarrassing situation where I got disoriented and hiked about 15 minutes southbound retracing my steps without realizing it until I met an oncoming girl that I had passed going north about 1/2 hour before. She asked if I was turning around already ...😊
There were several hours of heavy rain and some thunder and lightning that was a bit scary. I ended up just hiking through it as I was not near any shelter anyway. Then it cleared up and I am in a great campsite tonight comfortable in my totally LEVEL tent.
Here is the view from Mack's Patch a huge bald I went over today just after the rain stopped:
I want to write down the trail names of some people I have met before I forget them. I may add more about them in the future.
PA TRAILRUNNER- 62 year old man usually wearing a 2012 Boston marathon shirt. He hails from Pennsylvania and he is going to leave the trail for a bit in June to support his son who is doing the Western States 100.
ROCKOCEAN young man from Tampa whose two loves are hiking and surfing.
CHAMELEON young woman I passed as she tried to catch up with her friend (UKELADY??) who subsequently found me walking in the wrong direction. Apparently this happens to a lot of people- in my defense 😇. They are hiking together sort of with another girl called LEAPFROG.
PACKMAN A guy who did not believe in the Smoky Mountain National Park rules about only tenting near shelters.
DOC (Mark from Macon, GA) a veterinarian that I had a lovely dinner conversation with tonight. He is also A PADI Divemaster so we talked trail, diving and livestock.
3 comments
Leslie · April 8, 2015 at 12:22 PM
I can easily imagine getting turned around on the trail. Glad you didn't lose too much time. I'm curious, what's the longest you've gone with no human sightings?
Mama/Lynne · April 8, 2015 at 1:43 PM
It was interesting reading the names of the other hikers, and who they are. Love, M
Mama/Lynne · April 9, 2015 at 12:09 PM
I think this is the day that you and Helen are going to meet - hope that happens. That will be a joyous occasion. Love, M.
This post is from April 6, 2015. The GPS data from today's hike was unfortunately lost.
I left the great Smoky Mountain national Park behind me when I passed through Davenport gap today around noon time there was some awesome trail magic waiting for me there as you can see from the photo below
After another two miles I reached interstate 40 and left the trail for today. I am immediately got a ride from a nice truck driver named Mickey Who was driving the Peterbilt you see in the following two photos.
Last night was difficult for the reason I mentioned earlier about pitching the tent on the slope but it was even worse when my close neighbor actually fell on my tent during the night half crushing it on me. I was happy in the morning to see that none of it was broken. I only slept about two hours during a very traumatic night. Tonight I am in a hotel in Newport Tennessee and will resume the trail whrere left off today early tomorrow morning. I should reach Hot Springs North Carolina in two days and Helen will join me there on Thursday I am looking forward to that - huge understatement 😍
6 comments
Mama/Lynne · April 6, 2015 at 4:55 PM
What a great looking truck. He needed a lot of brake power to stop to pick you up - nice guy. Hope you have a nice evening/night. Are you in a small town. Love, Mama
Anonymous · April 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM
Newport TN is not really small but I am in a hotel out near the interstate 40 and out here all I see are gas stations and convenience stores. Only 25 minutes from here back up to the trail though
Leslie · April 7, 2015 at 2:16 PM
Looks like you are getting much better weather on this Section. How's the body holding up?
Anonymous · April 8, 2015 at 2:41 PM
Pretty well. 6 ibuprofen per day is getting me through
Mama/Lynne · April 7, 2015 at 7:00 PM
Hope your hiking went well today. Love, Mama
Jenny Goransson · April 8, 2015 at 6:10 PM
Oh my goodness! A man fell on your tent? Talk about a jarring way to wake up!
Today was spent moving quickly along a ridge line at about 6000'. Us and downs were not major so I made about 24 miles today. Cosby knob shelter campground was full so I had to pitch my tent on a slope and I am rolling into the side of the tent. Not comfortable!
Some photos from today:
Me on Charlie's bunion:
One pole in Tennessee the other in North Carolina:
View descending out of the smokies:
Elevation profile from today:
4 comments
Mama/Lynne · April 6, 2015 at 10:43 AM
The scenery is magnificent. You look great, although I think the hiking is rather difficult. Hope you can sleep in the tilted tent. I'm very happy you are making such excellent progress. Love, Mama
Mama/Lynne · April 6, 2015 at 11:16 PM
I sent comment tonight, but some how it didn't go thru. Hope you are sleeping well. Love, Mama
Jenny Goransson · April 8, 2015 at 6:10 PM
Similarly, I hung out with Helen's Bunions on Easter Sunday. :)
This post is from April 4, 2015. The GPS data from today's hike has unfortunately been lost.
Last night high up on the slopes approaching Clingmans Dome was a very cold and violent night weather-wise there were thunderstorms and lightning and tornado warnings in eastern Tennessee. When I awoke my tent was covered in ice from the rain during the night. It was quite cold and was an effort to break camp and to pack up the tent with my hands freezing. I really couldn't wear my gloves doing all the things I needed to do to break camp so my hands got quite cold. I wore almost all my clothes when I started hiking today - three layers on top two layers on the bottom and I did warm up once I started hiking. I was glad that I had my winter hat and gloves with me as I climbed up to Clingmans Dome - the highest point on the AT.
When I reached the top there was almost no view at all as the visibility was about 20 feet as you can see in the picture above. The descent
was still cold but it got warmer as I approached Newfound Gap where I got off the trail today and hitchhiked down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where I am tonight. I got a ride from a lovely family from Ohio vacationing and on their way to Gatlinburg (hope to hear from you on this blog!). There was some awesome trail magic going on in Newfound Gap as you can see from the photos as well.
6 comments
Leslie · April 4, 2015 at 6:30 PM
Love the pictures! What's this? A tailgate party?!
Mama/Lynne · April 4, 2015 at 6:51 PM
Glad you are doing OK - stay warm Love, Mama
pgoransson · April 4, 2015 at 7:21 PM
Interesting clingmans no summit view with the trees
Anonymous · April 4, 2015 at 11:18 PM
That shot was just below summit on a side trail where I found someone to take my picture. I then stuck right on the AT after that shot as there were no views anyways could barely see 20 feet
Unknown · April 5, 2015 at 4:44 PM
Hello from your new Ohio friends!! We were happy to give you a lift to Gatlinburg. Listening to your stories of your travels up to that point inspired us!! I would love to post the pic of you and the boys if that is possible??? Glad to hear you are doing good :)
By the way, we are thinking of naming you 'ironman'... Props to you and your courage!! Let me know where I can send these pics so you can add them.
Darn, one more thing we wanted to tell you, we met a young man up at Clingmans Dome, who is also doing the trail. Nice dude, and we told him if he runs into Tarman to tell him hello, so if you meet a young man in his early 20's with dread locks and an awesome personality, that'd be him ;)
Anonymous · April 6, 2015 at 11:37 AM
Hi Mari, I would be proud to post that photo of me with your sons. Just email it to me at paulg@bondgarden.net!
Reached the Double Spring Gap Shelter at about 6pm tonight and a 19.5 mile day. The weather was good though I was always above 5000 feet the whole day so it is always windy. Tonight I sleep with my feet in North Carolina and my head in Tennessee
3 comments
Leslie · April 4, 2015 at 4:58 AM
Well done! It's all down hill from there then, right? :-)
Made about 13 miles into the Smokies today despite my 1pm start having traveled all the way from Maine today. It is a rainy night and I am glad to have my food hung up on the bear cable system and to be tucked into my bag in my tent. I am set up just outside the Molly Ridge shelter in GSMNP.
Hi everybody, I got off the trail yesterday afternoon at
about 4 o'clock. I have attached some photos of my first views of Fontana dam
which is where I ended yesterday and will resume on April 2. There is also a
sign showing that the boundary and entrance point to the great Smoky Mountain National
Park lies just ahead that will be my next major obstacle when I resume in a
couple of weeks. The other photos are of the exact spot where I stopped
yesterday showing the final blaze of my first part of the hike and also the
little house where I was able to make a call to get the shuttle. There is no
cell phone service at Fontana dam. I feel good and have a good night sleep in a
nice hotel in Asheville North Carolina and I am flying back to Boston in a few
hours.
[Photo not preserved in the archive]
The following photo is the first billboard I saw when I entered the Asheville, NC airport. Kismet?
Hi all sleeping alone on a mountaintop tonight
in a tent in dry warm weather it seems like a nice night to be camping out. I
went through the NOC today which is one of the Appalachian Trail milestones I
think it is so well-known because it is an agglomerationof a few stores and restaurants that is
exactly on the trail so many young hikers tend to hang out at the spot for a
while. I was able to make phone calls there to set up my shuttle tomorrow
afternoon at five from Fontana dam to get me back to a city where there is an
airport for a flight home on Wednesday I'll come back to that same place on
April 2 andresume hikingthe trail.The terrain is getting more rough
as I approach the great Smoky Mountain National Park and the miles are getting a little
bit slower for me there were two very big climbs today one was about 8 miles
long and it took a lot out of me. I walked until almost dark tonight and camped
at this isolated spot in order to make just 19 miles so either I'm getting
tired or the going is getting tougher or probably both. I've added another
couple shots of some scenery that I saw climbing out of the valley that the NOC
is in this afternoon.
Made it 19.7 miles to Tellico Gap tonight.Highlights today were seeing a new hiker
companion for me for the first time today -
my shadow. Another first today was getting lost several times near the summit
of Wylah Bald Mountain where other trails intersected with the Appalachian
Trail and the trails were marked poorly. I probably lost 20 minutes going in
circles. In any case I made it to this gap at about 6 PM and got a ride to this
mountain lodge where I am staying in great comfort tonight. Helen and I are
discussing plans for my return trip onto Maine it looks like I will be flying
home from Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon -.so far so good.
My new hiking companion - he only shows up when it is sunny which has not been happening:
I had the good fortune to stay in the Aquaone Lodge tonight. The owners Steve and Maggie picked me up at Tellico Gap and drove me to the lodge about 15 minutes away and brought me back to the Gap in the morning. Their lodge was a wonderful experience in comfort and luxury buried in the deep woods of NC. This is a photo of me eating the sumptuous breakfast Maggie cooked for me before Steve drove me back to the Gap to start the next day:
Hi all - the reason the two updates are coming so close
together is that there has been no cell phone coverage for two days. When I
reached my destination for tonight - Winding Stair Gap, it was the first time I
really gotcoverage. I got a late start
today because it was raining so hard I did not want to take down the tent in
the rain. As it was, the rain really never stopped and I put away the tent and
everything else in the rain so everything is very wet. I actually started
hiking at 10 minutes before 10 - unbelievably late! Thankfully I made it to Winding Stair Gap and was able to get a ride into Franklin, North Carolina where
I am now in a nice warm hotel room. Today's mileage was 22.5 miles. I was
hiking right up until nightfall another 15 minutes and I would have needed a
headlamp.From what they say today was theand final day of rain and drizzle and tomorrow will finally be the
beginning of the warm sunny stretch.
I believe I am now on schedule for being able to
return to main on the evening of the March 18 as I originally planned
No cell service from here (Standing Indian Mountain Shelter) tonight but I will compose this
message anyways.
Crossed into North Carolina today. Weather was the worst
yet. Rainy cold and high winds. I only could make 16 miles today with the
conditions and feeling a little weaker today. Tucked in for the night I am
attaching also a couple of shots of the tent going up tonight
Easy 17 mile day slack packing to Dicks creek gap.
I am now about 70 miles from Springer Mountain. Today was
the first day with no rain at all it was nice to stay dry it's still a bit on
the cool side though. Tomorrow midday I should cross from Georgia into North
Carolina.
I put in another 20 wet and muddy miles today but I made
my goal of reaching Unicol gap and being able to get a ride to the town of
Hiawassee where I am checked into a cheap but dry and warm motel and having
beer and potato chips in the room. The sky cleared for a few hours this morning
and I was able to get this shot of the mountains about 5 miles after my start
this morning at Neels gap. I am now about 52 miles from the start of the AT
Made it to my goal for the day today: Neel's gap. This is
the first asphalt road crossing on the AT. Today was drizzly and muddy all day
which made it a long 20 miles today. I had hoped to get in a private rental
cabin here but by 6:20 when I got here they were sold out and there was only
one bunk left in the bunk room so I took that. I am also doing a laundry as the
wet and the mud and camping last night messed up several items of clothing.
Tomorrow I hope to reach a real town Hiawassee GA and get into a real hotel.
Body is holding up well so far.
This is the hostel at Neels Gap. The breezeway in the photo is actually THE AT. It is the only place on the AT where the trail actually passes THROUGH a building!
2 comments
Jenny Goransson · April 12, 2015 at 4:56 AM
to this :)
Anonymous · April 12, 2015 at 6:17 PM