Hot Springs (4-24-10)

I got up pretty early this morning and did the quick hike down to town. It's probably too early to say, but I think my Achilles is working better now. Last night, I finished up most of my remaining food - in anticipation of a re-supply today. I had a quick a breakfast of nutella on a tortilla and headed out or camp ASAP.

Hot Springs in a pretty small town (my book says the population is ~600) which is known for its hot springs (I think I read before my trip that the town was originally named Warm Springs, but was later changed so as to draw more visitors - but don't quote me on that) as well as being located directly on the AT. This year they are doing some sort of hiking-themed festival, and it just so happens to correspond with the time when I'm going through town. Across the street, there's some music playing, but I'm over in the library catching up on my back-logged posts.

Before stopping at the library, I stopped at Elmer's B&B - which is one of the most famous hostels along the AT. It's pretty much what you'd expect of a B&B, except it's very hiker friendly - in fact, I believe the owner hiked the trail back in the 70's. There's a a library on the first floor as well as a music room (with guitars, a piano and a banjo). Upstairs, there are maybe six or seven rooms decorated with antique furniture. The place has character. Everyone's been saying that all of the hotels/hostels in town would be booked-up b/c of the festival - but I stopped in at Elmer's, talked to Elmer (I don't think that's his real name) and he had a few spots open.

From AT 2010

From Elmer's, I crossed the street to visit the Dollar store to pick up some food for the trail as well as some food for immediate consuption. I got a box of vanilla cookies and a half gallon of milk - I'm feeling pretty sick now. I've done this a couple of times now - where I grab too much food - and everytime I swear I'll think twice before committing myself to massive quantities of junk food, but I've yet to learn my lesson.

Dispite this massive intake of deliciousness, I've still managed to loose some weight, apparently. There was a scale at Standing Bear hostel which was pretty generous, but talking to other hikers confirmed that the scale was being generous with everyone. But Elmer's had a scale as well (which is supposedly pretty accurate), and it shows me about ten pounds lighter. I'm waiting for a third opinion, though...

Tonight is supposed to rain as well as tomorrow. That's one of the reasons I'm staying in town tonight - well, that, and I like sleeping in a bed.

Deer Park Mtn Shelter (4-23-10)

Today was a tough day, but not because of distance or climbing or anything like that. It was all going pretty smoothly until I stopped for a break about two hrs into my day. When I got back up to start hiking, I noticed that my left Achilles tendon (??) had stiffened quite a bit.

This wasn't too bad going downhill, but once I started climbing Bluff Mtn (roughly a 1000 ft climb), I was in a good deal of pain. When I got to the top, I figured I was done for the day since it would mostly be downhill from the rest of the day. Instead, my Achilles slowed me quite a bit and forced me to do the "Hiker Hobble" the rest of the way to the shelter (~7 miles). To make matters worse, it had gotten hot again. A few times during the day, I wondered to myself: "why am I doing this again?"

I got to the shelter quicker than I thought and found that I was the first one there. I guess everyone ahead of me went on to Hot Springs for the night (another easy 3 miles). Before getting water or doing any other chores, I set up my hammock and rested for a good hr. Trog came in to camp while I was napping - I think tonight will be pretty quiet.

During the day, I got to talk to a number of trail maintainers with the local trail club. They were out doing their first trail maintenance for the year. I've been curious about how trail maintenance works, so it was cool to see them in action.

Roaring Fork shelter (4-22-10)

For breakfast this morning, I had a microwaved bbq rib sandwich and a sleeve of oreos - and I washed it all down with a Mello Yello. I was delicious and kept me going for the first part of the day.

I started off the day wearing wet pants b/c my clothes had not finished drying from last evening. Thirty minutes after I started hiking, they were dry and I was ready to move on to shorts/tshirt - which were also still wet.

The morning was all uphill and I climbed for about 6 miles, ending at a bald. Once I got up there, I took a nice long break and took advantage of the cell service up there - something that was missing while I was in the Smokies!

Later in the day, it was Max Patch Bald. I've seen a number of balds at this point, but this one blew the rest out of the water. It was incredible - like an entire mountain, but with no trees. Once we got to the summit of the bald, we discovered the remains of some trail magic that someone had left - 4 PBRs and a single peanut butter cookie. Much appreciated.

From AT 2010

I finished the day at Roaring Fork shelter. There, I caught up with Squeeze Cheese and we found out that we were both from ATL - and (not very suprisingly) it turns out that we both did all of our training on Kennessaw Mtn.

Today was an easy day. Tomorrow, I should end up just short of Hot Springs.

Standing Bear Hostel (4-21-10)

The next day after Mt. Collins shelter, I had about a 3 mile hike to Clingman's Dome. As I was hiking south, I passed a number of other hikers I had been hiking with. I tried to convince them that they were all going the wrong way - I don't think it worked.

The tower at Cingmans Dome was pretty cool. It was a nice day, so you could see pretty far in all directions. A ridgerunner I would meet that night at the next shelter told us that we were prety lucky b/c the only people going to Clingmans were other hikers. Normally, when the road to Clingmans is open, the tower is swarming with families.

From AT 2010

In the Smokies, hikers are required to stay at shelters (which are really nice, btw, compared to shelters outside of the park) - no tent/hammock camping unless the shelter is full. That night, I stayed at Icehouse Spring shelter w/ maybe 3 or 4 other thru-hikers and a group of 6 Canadian college students on some sort of leadership retreat.

The next day was supposed to be one of the easiest days in the Smokies as well as one of the most picturesque. Charlie's Bunion was a quick walk from the shelter and I was able to get there in time to get my picture taken. On the horizon, you could see rain clouds moving in - and in not too long, we were surrounded in rain and fog.

From AT 2010

That night I stayed in Tricorner Knob shelter with roughly the same group of hikers - the Canadians were headed south towards Clingmans. Late in the afternoon, the ridgerunner gets a broadcast over his walky-talky: apparently, one of the Canadians had stage I hypothermia on Clingmans. A couple of the Candians were wearing cotton hiking clothes in an an attempt to disprove the "Cotton Kills" expression. The ridgerunner had apparently gotten on their case about that - so when he heard what happened, he wouldn't shut up about it ("I tried to tell those kids, but they wouldn't listen...").

The next day was a long and easy walk - leaving the park. Davenport Gap marks the boundry of the Smokies and I got there around 4 or so. Then, a couple miles further, you cross under I-40, which had zero traffic b/c it's been closed since winter due to a rock slide. Shortly after crossing I-40, I arrived at Standing Bear hostel. I was relieved when I got there b/c I had very little cash and I assumed that that was all they accepted - but apparently they took credit as well (awesome!). I put my pack on a bunk, took a long shower and attempted to wash my clothes. They didn't have a washer, so I had to wash my nasty hiking clothes by hand. After drying them out (sorta), they didn't look too clean, but at least they didn't smell as bad.

The hostel has a store (of sorts), where you can grab the food you want and then when you leave, you total up all of the food/drinks you took and pay the hostel accordingly. I had two bbq rib sandwiches, 1/2 a frozen pizza, a hot pocket and four Mello Yellos. I slept well that night - dispite the excessive levels of caffeine coursing through my veins!

Mt Collins Shelter (4-18-10)

The past few days have been a bit of a blur. I pulled out of Fontana a couple of days ago and entered the Smokies. Going into the Smokies was a big climb, but I was handling it pretty well - passing hikers left and right. When I got to the first shelter, I ran into a ridgerunner who told me that the road to Clingman's Dome was closed. Clingmans Dome was the place where I was supposed to meet Christine. After talking with the guy some more and consulting the map for the park, we figured out that the next best place to get picked up was Cades Cove.

To get to Cades Cove, I would continue along the AT for another 6 miles and then hike down from the ridge on non-AT, park trails. The detour was less than a half-day walk, so when I woke up the next day, I knew there was no rush. That changed everything.

From AT 2010

As much as I've tried to avoid it so far, I've fallen into a bit of a trap where I focus on my next destination for the day and hustle until I get there. But once my plans went out the window, I was free to go as slow as I wanted and enjoy the whole nature thing.

From AT 2010

I had about 4 or 5 hrs to kill while waiting at Cades Cove, so I fired up the audiobook I brought on my phone (The Pillars of the Earth) and listened to that for a while. Around 6 or 7 that evening, out of the corner of my eye, I see Christine sneaking up on me. I was busy showing her some of my interesting tan lines I've picked up so far and out of nowhere, my friend Steve pops into view. Christine had apparently talked Steve into coming up to Gatlinburg for my birthday.

Part of my birthday present was a pizza. I dug into that and then we hopped into Steve's car and rode off to Gatlinburg. While checking into the hotel, some more friends (Dave and Stephanie) appeared and offered a second round of surprise. That night, we would go out to dinner and stop by a couple of the local bars. After we called it a night, Ben and Corel show-up after a slow drive from Knoxville. We wound-down the night with some deliciously trashy Talk Soup.

The next day, we had breakfast at the hotel (delicious!) and walked down the street to find some entertainment. We settled on Ripley's Believe It or Not, which would have been a dud under normal circumstances, but thoroughly rocked my entertainment-starved brain. Afterward, we had lunch at one of the roughly 5000 pancake houses in town and then stopped at the grocery store - so I could re-load on food.

Sometime late that afternoon, they dropped me off at Newfound Gap, which is roughly in the center of the park. I felt a little bad about cutting out the ~16 miles of the AT after Cades Cove, so instead of hiking north out of the gap, I hiked south. Tomorrow, I would hike to Clingman's Dome and then turn around and re-trace my steps back to Newfound Gap.

This was definitely one of my most memorable birthdays. I knew Christine would meet me in Gatlinburg b/c she's obligated. It's quite another thing, though, to convince other people to come along with. Thanks guys!

Fontana (4-15-10)

The past couple days have been tough.  The weather's been great, but I'm starting to run out of steam.

Wed morning, I woke up and had a big bfast at the restaurant next to the river.  I ordered everything they had on the menu and felt a little sick afterward.

The first seven miles that day were uphill and they definitely slowed me down.  I had a quick lunch on cheoah bald and got moving right away.

I saw my first snake that morning and it scared the cuss out of me.  It was a black snake, maybe four ft long.  I would actually go on to see two more snakes yesterday and today.

I did 16 tough miles yesterday and I told myself I would reward myself by doing an easy 12 today, but I still found it tough.  I'm at fontana lake right now which is a pretty low elevation - so, today was a lot of downhill.  My right knee has been hurting on downhills, which means I have to go really slow.

The shelter at fontana lake is really nice and there's even a shower nearby.  I feel much better after the shower.  It was so nasty, but it did the trick. You haven't truly lived unless you've toweled yourself off with a piece of shamwow!

Tomorrow we cross fantana dam and enter the smokies.  The plan is to meet christine near clingmans dome.  I'm just about to run out of food, so tomorrow and sat could be rough.

Noc (4-13-10)

Monday morning christine dropped me off at the franklin trailhead.  It was a late start but I was picking up mileage fast.   Before I knew it, I was at silar bald.

I remember reading about balds, but its a very different thing to see them in person.  Balds are open meadows on the tops of mtns.

I stopped for lunch at silar bald, and I ran into ultra white and his friend. His friend and I bonded over our watches.  When christine came to visit me, she brought my watch.  Now I can know what time it is without having to fire up my phone.

At wayah bald, I caught up with some guys I've been camping with.  I was going to call it a day after wayah bald, but they encouraged me to go further. Man, that was a mistake. I was really feeling it that night. 

Tuesday was all about the noc.  The at crosses the nantahala river at the noc.  Over the course of the day, we probably lost 4000 ft in elevation.  Tomorrow, we pick up another 3 or 4 thousand ft.

I'm staying at a hostel here.  I got a pretty tasty hamburger for dinner, and I plan to get some bfast tomorrow before heading out.

I'm writing this from my phone, so if this post seems like a long txt msg, that's why.  I need to find a library!

Franklin (4/11/10)

Today was an awesome day. Rock Gap shelter (where I camped last night) was about four miles from Winding Stairs gap - the trail-head nearest to Franklin, NC. I got up this morning pretty late (~9:30) and headed down to the trail head where I learned that there was a shuttle going to Franklin at 11:30. I got on that shuttle and got to Franklin sometime a little after noon, where I booked a room at Haven's Budget Inn - where Christine and I would spend the night.

From AT 2010

Christine pulled in not too much later, which gave me a chance to shave off my nascent facial hair. I showered and then we headed over to a Mexican restaurant down the street. Almost everything in town was closed today because it's Sunday, but a few places were still open. After lunch, we hopped in the car and headed to the other end of town so that I could pick up a few things that I'd need for hiking.

While on the trail, I've been using flip flops when walking around camp - so that I can dry out my feet. But the problem with flip-flops is that you can't (comfortably) wear socks with them - which is uncomfortable when it's cold out. So, I picked up some crocs (which a ton of hikers have b/c they're so lite, but also cover all of your feet. I also got a new pair of socks as well as a new winter hat and some gloves which will actually dry out in a reasonable amount of time.

From AT 2010

After that, we went back to our room where I spent some time on Christine's laptop, uploading photos and writing some long-overdue blog entries.

From AT 2010

All in all, it's been an excellent day. I'm more or less re-supplied for the next few days, me and my clothes are somewhat clean and, of course, spending time with Christine has provided some much needed morale.

That's about it for now. Expect some more entries sometime later this week. Thanks for reading!

Rock Gap Shelter (4/10/10)

The past few days, I've really been paranoid about snakes. I talked to at least three complete strangers while I was in Hiawassee who all warned me about snakes. Copperheads (from pictures I've seen and stories I've heard) blend in with the forest pretty well, so I'm nervous that I'm not looking for them hard enough. I was told that they like to hang out near fallen trees (which cross the trail every now and then), so I take extra care when crossing fallen trees. I've started clanking my poles together whenever entering a suspicious area - in the hopes that they'll hear the ruckus I'm making and either leave before I get there or give me some sort of rattle-like sound to let me know that they're there. So far, I haven't seen anything - although, one of the other guys came really close to stepping on one after accidentally flipping over a rock while hiking.

Saturday morning, I awoke to find that almost everyone that packed up and left. For the past week or so, some hiking club for South Carolina had been posting notes about some Trail Magic that they were going to dish out Sat. morning at Mooney Gap (~4 mi from Carter Gap) - so everyone wanted to get there ASAP that morning.

In case I haven't mentioned this before (and I don't think I have), Trail Magic is a term used to describe any kind of situation where non-hikers help out hikers by providing transportation or food or anything that hikers need to stay happy and healthy. Providers of Trail Magic are usually associated with the trail community or they're former thru-hikers or they're just awesome people in general - a lot of times, all three.

Anyway, I packed up as fast as I could and sprinted down the trail - thinking that everyone had finished up all of the grub. I got there to find out that there was plenty more to go around. There was a lady serving up pancakes, they had "country ham" (how have I never had this before?!) and they had sodas, coffee, fruit, candy bars and a bunch of other stuff. They were really nice people and they had a good fire going. Everyone else from the shelter was still there, and we all had a tough time prying ourselves away from the fire and back on to the trail - but, after a couple hrs, we were on our way.

From AT 2010

While we were lounging around the fire, a day hiker came up to the group and announced that he was was with WSB (an AM radio station in Atlanta) and that he was doing a story on thru-hikers and that it would air on some Sunday (NPR-style in his words) show. He quickly interviewed a few of the thru-hikers, asking them why they were hiking - that sort of thing.

Next up for the day was Albert Mtn, another monster of a Mtn. The amt of elevation wasn't that bad; it was the steepness of the climb. After not too long, we got to the top of the mtn and were rewarded with a fire tower. The fire tower had obviously seen better days but we went up anyway.

From AT 2010

The views from the top were amazing. There was a guy there who obviously knew the area better than we did and was able to point out various landmarks along the horizon. He pointed to an area North-West of where we were and said that those were the Great Smokies.

From AT 2010

After coming down from Albert Mtn, I was booking it hardcore. The terrain was super level (fewer roots/rocks compared to previous portions of the trail) and the weather was just right. Since we had spent so much of the day not hiking, I was a little anxious to get to the next shelter before it got too late.

I got to Rock Gap shelter maybe around 5 or so - a while before the rest of the group. I set up my hammock, dried out some stuff and got dinner going. I met a few new guys at the shelter: Long Shanks - a former professional backpacking guide from Montana who was taking the summer off to hike the At before moving to San Francisco in the Fall for grad school. Another guy (Ultra White - b/c he's a really white guy I guess...?) was a rafting guide on the Ocoee river. The last two guys to get to the shelter that night were Jersey Dave and another guy, Chainsaw. Chainsaw is a character, and gets his trailname from the fact that he snores really, really loud - so loud, in fact, that he travels with a few sets of ear plugs, which he lends to those unfortunate people who have to sleep near him. Everyone was really cool that night, and we all sat around for an hr or so sharing hiker gossip and hilarious fart stories (don't ask).

Carter Gap Shelter (4/9/10)

Friday morning started out pretty rough because of the rain/cold that I mentioned in the previous post. My shoe laces were frozen - as were my socks. The only way to dry those out was going to be to just put them on and let my body warm them up - and that's what happened, although it took a couple hrs.

The big mtn for the day was Standing Indian Mtn. This would be the first time above 5000 ft for the trail. Maybe it was because we were already up pretty high, but the climb didn't seem all that bad. Once you get to the top of Standing Indian mtn, it's a pretty nice hike. It's a long mtn and the trail just follows the ridge line and then slowly descends.

The rest of the day was really nice. The inclines were pretty easy and the weather was warm without being too warm. After a few more hours, I got to Carter Gap shelter. It was a little confusing at first, though, because when the trail comes to the shelter sign, you can see a shelter but it's really run-down and if you look inside, you'll see a pretty big hole in the floor. It turns out that that was the old shelter, and that there was a new, better version of the shelter a 100 ft down the trail.

From AT 2010

After I got to the shelter and started settling in, a bunch of familiar faces poured in. Lorod was there when I got there, and then a girl from Maine came in (Mary Ellen/Beth?) along with Funky Monkey and a British guy with a name I can't remember. Then came a couple of guys I had met the day before at Plum Orchard (Legend and Fox?). After everyone had set up their tents and made dinner, Prometheus and a couple other guys built a fire and we all set around talking for the next few hrs. There was a guy going sobo to Hiawassee in a kilt who was a paramedic who was recounting all of the (mostly disgusting, sometimes amusing) scenes he's come upon in the line of duty.

The british guy had run into a ranger earlier that day who told him that the temp that night would get down into the twenties, so I was preparing for another rough night. I would sleep in my hammock that night, so I was a little concerned about cold temps on my back. Maybe an hr or so after the sun set, it started to get cold - so as soon as I summoned the motivation, I made a dash from the warm fire towards my hammock. Once I got inside, everything was pretty good - although I would wake a couple times that time right on the verge of shivering.

Once, I woke up needing to pee really bad and it took me probably 20 minutes before I could work up the resolve to get out of my warm sleeping bag. I'm trying to work on peeing before going to bed now - there's nothing worse that having to wake up in the middle of the night and leave your warm sleeping bag.

Muscrat Creek Shelter (4/8/10)

Last night at the hostel, the only other guy staying there was a guy that went by the name of Mom. He was somewhere in his 70's and hiking pretty slow - I think he said he had started the trail sometime in early/min March. He was definitely taking his time.

We talked for a while about hiking/canoeing. He was from rural North Dakota and we bonding a little over our Midwest origins. He's been retired for the last six years he said, and ever since retiring, he's been something of a vagabond. He told me he spends most of the year traveling around the Midwest in a smaller camper. He's also been on some pretty impressive adventures as well. He told me that he had canoed down the Missouri/Mississippi river down to New Orleans. he had also canoed up the Red River and on up to Hudson Bay in Norther Canada. Some pretty interesting stories.

Thursday morning started out with some rain. By the time we'd gotten a ride to the trailhead, the rain had stopped - so everything was good. I made pretty good time up to Plum Orchard shelter and had some lunch with a group of about 10 or so hikers. The rain was starting to pickup a bit, so some hikers were debating whether to go on for the day. There's a saying out here: "No Rain, No Maine". If you don't hike in the rain, you'll never get anywhere. So, with that in mind, I thought I would head out - just ahead of everyone else (or so I thought).

The rain started to pick up as I went along, but it wasn't much of an issue b/c I had rain gear and a good pack cover. About halfway to the next shelter, though, it started to get pretty bad. I wanted to take a picture as I crossed the GA/NC state line, b/c there's a really mangled-looking tree there which supposedly is the most photographed tree on the AT. But the rain was getting pretty rough, and I didn't want to take my pack off and get my stuff wet - so I kept going. After crossing the state line, the trail just kept going up and up. As I climbed, the wind started getting stronger as well. There were a few minutes where I was legitimately scared that I might get hypothermia if I didn't get the the next shelter soon - what was I thinking leaving the last shelter?!

Anyway, I got to the next shelter after getting pretty wet (esp. my shoes/socks) and found that the shelter was more than full. All of the sleeping spaces were occupied and there was an area on the ground where a family had set a tarps down and were huddled up in their sleeping bags. I was pretty surreal getting to he shelter. Everyone was in their sleeping bags with their headlamps on. When I got there, all I was were everyone's eyes and their headlamps - packed like sardines.

The family moved over and made some space - but it was still pretty nasty. The tarp was pretty muddy, and pretty much all of the spots for hanging wet socks/clothes were occupied. It took me maybe 20 minutes to get all of my stuff spread out in an attempt to dry them out, and then jumping right in my sleeping bag - it was so cold!

A couple of the guys in the shelter built a fire after the rain had died off and everyone stood around the fire drying out their wet clothes. You could see steam rising from everyone's clothes. The fire was very nice, but it was still a pretty miserable night - I was shivering in my bag and didn't sleep much that night. If I had another night like that back to back, I think I might have quit right there - it was that bad.

FWIW, here's a pic someone else took of the GA/NC tree: http://blog.rfhp.net/?p=76

Neels Gap (4/5/10)

Monday night I got to Neels Gap which is the first major milestone of the hike. It's the first major road crossing, and, consequently, one of the first places where aspiring thru-hikers leave the trail. It's also an outfitter (some food and gear), and has a hostel as well.

From AT 2010

I spent Monday huffing and puffing to get to neels gap before 6. The outfitter closes at six, and I had been hearing along the way that the hostel was booked up because of all the thru-hikers starting this time of the year. I got there (aching and exhausted) and learned that there were a number of spaces available. So, I got a spot and was very happy with myself.

Just before Neels gap is Blood Mtn. Blood Mtn is one of the highest Mtns in GA (3rd, I think) and the path down the Mtn to Neels Gap was very trying. I'm learning very quickly that I can handle the uphills just fine, but the downhills are really slowing me down.

So, that night, I stayed at the hostel and I'm very glad I was able to get in. The hostel is run by a lady that goes by Miss Janet. Miss Janet is a pretty famous person in the hiking community. I didn't know what she looked like, so when she introduced herself as Janet, I was like Miss Janet, and then she said "yes." The, I asked: "the famous Miss Janet?" and she thought that was pretty funny.

Miss Janet is a great person. She made dinner for all of us, and told us stories about previous hikers and had a lot of useful advice. The next morning, she did it all over again and made us all breakfast (pancakes and eggs with ham). That made the rest of the day much easier.

The night that I stayed in the hostel, there were a number of other hikers camping in the general vacinity of Neels Gap who had encounters with bears. A bunch of hikers had their food bags taken, and I think one girl had her backpack torn apart. One guy (Low Rod is his name I believe) actually fended off the bear. The guy's in his sixties I think and he stared down the bear until the bear left his food alone. If you look in the dictionary under Badass, you will see this guy's picture.

My time on the computer's about to run out. I've got plenty more to write, but that will have to wait for another time. Thanks for reading!

Hiawassee (4/7/10)

I'm writing this from the public library of Hiawassee, GA. The library closes in about 20 minutes or so - so, I'm going to make this fast.

The trip's been going pretty well so far. Great weather. If anything, it's been too hot out. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so that could change things.

Today was a big day for me. I hitchhiked for the first time. It was awesome. I was waiting for maybe 10 mintutes or so before a truck with a guy and a gal pulled over and picked me up. I thought I would be there forever, but it turned out to be easier than I thought. Apparently, there's an awareness of hikers in this area, so my chance of getting picked up are better here than other places.

I'm staying at a place called the blueberry patch. It's a christian hostel run by a guy that's a former thru-hiker. There's no charge to stay; it's all donations. The guy has a garage behind his house that's set up with about 15 bunk beds and a kitchen. The bathroom/shower is in a separate building out back. The path to the bathroom goes past a garden (where he and his wife grow blueberries) and donkeys and goats. Needless to say, the place is pretty awesome.

From AT 2010

After the library closes, I'm off to the local grocery store to pick up some more food. One of the other guys at the hostel needs a new memory card for his camera, so if I see one I'm going to pick one up for him.

The first thing I did today when I got to the hostel was shower. Oh man, does that feel good. I've never been this dirty before!

It Starts (4/2/10)

It's actually happening. After several months of planning/thinking about this trip, the time has come to actually leave. Yesterday at work was a blitz trying to finish everything I could and passing off the stuff that I couldn't. Today, Christine will be driving me to Springer Mtn trail-head, where we'll both hike up to the top, sign in and probably take some pictures.

This morning I've been scrambling to put all of my stuff together. I shouldn't have waited until the last minute to do this ...but, oh well. I finalized/packed the food I'll need to bring. It should be enough for three days - we'll see how that goes once I get out there.

From AT 2010

I don't know what this hike will be like. It's scary but also exciting at the same time. I may not like it once I get out there; I may have the time of my life. There's no way to know unless I give it a shot. So, here I go.

From AT 2010

Hammock Camping (4/1/10)

One of the decisions I made early on when reading up on doing long-ish hikes and the gear you need to do it, was what sort of shelter I would need. I already have a two-person tent, but when hiking for long periods it's important to try to minimize the amount of weight in your backpack as well as make it easier to fit in there. Since my tent was built for two people instead of just me, I needed to find something smaller.

That's when I came across the idea of using hammocks. Prior to researching the AT, I had never even heard of people using hammocks for camping - those are for lounging in your backyard, right? But the more I read about camping hammocks, the more I knew that's what I wanted to do.

The AT has shelters scattered along the trail at pretty convenient intervals. The problem is that sometimes they are full, and also they are notorious for having mice which will run over you during the night and dig into your stuff. No thanks! A lot of people will find a shelter and then set-up their tents or hammocks nearby - so, at least, that way they get to hang out with the rest of the hikers but without all of the aforementioned mice issues.

The hammock that I chose for my hike is a Hennessey brand hammock. I decided on Hennessey b/c I read a lot of recommendations for it. It sounds like a noob version of the camping hammock in that it has everything already there. More experienced hikers a lot of times will build their own hammocks - to save weight, but also I'd imagine it makes the experience cooler when you actually made your shelter.

Hammocks are still a bit of an oddity to most people. Even during my test hike last weekend, the other hikers at the shelter had never seen a hammock before - so, were pretty interested in how it works.

I can describe the hammock all I want, but nothing beats seeing it in action. I was planning on video recording my first experience with my hammock this past weekend, but b/c of all of the spectators, I felt a bit self-conscious. Instead, here's a (somewhat long) video intro/review that some other guy did. It seems pretty comprehensive. To actually see what it's like to get inside the hammock, fast forward to around 4:10.



As far as why I chose to use a hammock instead of a more traditional one-person tent... mostly, it just seemed cooler. In addition to looking awesome, it's also more light-weight than most tents, and because it doesn't use poles, it can more easily fit into a backpack. If, for some reason, I need to camp in an area without a soft, established tenting site, that's not an issue. All you need to set-up a hammock are two trees. You don't have to worry about what the ground is like.

Should be fun!