Salmon Fishing in Michigan

Oct 8-13, 2008 The drive up was horrific. Somehow we fit 6 guys and all the fishing and camping gear into a vehicle. We didn't leave until 4pm for the 13 hour drive to Cadillac, MI. I finally fell asleep just as we were driving through Cincinnati, OH. Twenty five minutes later they decide to stop for dinner. Waking from a deep sleep, I was totally confused. Taking a good while to remember how to unbuckle a seat belt, I head into the Big Boy to shovel down some pancakes and eggs. Getting back on the road, I couldn't fall asleep for the rest of the trip. Pretty miserable by the point, we show up to my uncle Bruce's Bear Claw Cabin, and I went about setting up my tent. There was no way that I was going to claim the 6th bunk in a tiny room full of snoring and smelly guys. After less than 4 hours of sleep, I hopped in the car to headed to the river. I was expecting it to be pretty cold down at the river in northern Michigan in mid-October. Shortly after showing up and standing in the sun, I was tearing off layers until I was down to my shorts and black thermal underwear top. Of course, I brought a T-shirt with me for the rest of the trip. Every day was upper 70's and beautiful; we couldn't have asked for better weather. One of the nights it got down to the freezing point but my sleeping bag kept me toasty. All the other guys seemed to keep warm all cuddled together in there. The camp food was amazing thanks to Frenchie's bean buritos and deer meat for every meal. So now to the point. If you've never wrestled a 15+lb salmon out of a rushing river, trust me, it's a battle. It was so cool getting one on and see it jumping 4ft clear out of the water as it's taking your line. Everyone out there knew that none of the fish were feeding so we tied yarn to a treble hook just to be legal and then bounce it on the bottom until it snagged one. You'd be lucky to actually get them in the mouth. Oops, I mean... they were all in the mouth. We were pretty consistent bringing in 13 every evening and varying amounts on the morning fish. Overall we brought back 61 fish. We filleted them all ourselves at a park cleaning station that had wonderful piles of maggots below the dumpsters of fish guts. After cleaning the fish we smoked about half of them at camp. The other half will be vacuum packed when we get back. But we're bring back about 300lbs of clean salmon fillets and one whole fish. My dad skinned 5 or 6 to mount this winter. Not like he doesn't already have twenty hanging in the garage. I've saved the best part for the end. So Friday evening we caught a ton of fish and clean them up. Getting back to camp, we couldn't wait to tell the deer hunting Uncle Bruce about all the fish. My cousins had just showed up to hear also. My walk in to camp to find our glory completely stolen by the huge doe hanging from the game pole. After a perfect arrow shot through the shoulder into the vitals, it made only 60yds before dropping. My grandpa was the only one there to help him carry the kill back to camp. That evening we all stayed up late celebrating. After Bruce cut up an onion, I grilled the tenderloins to perfection and all the fisherman at camp lowered their heads in defeat. That was the best tasting piece of deer I've ever had. I couldn't believe that it had been running through the woods two hours earlier. Fish camp was a success, and with deer camp off to an early start, Bear Claw Cabin is seeing a great year. The big deer hunt is the first week of November, so if anyone wants to split gas with me, call ASAP.

Boston

Sept 20-25, 2008 I learned one important fact on the 16 hour drive up to Boston: New Jersey sux! Other than that, the drive was completely uneventful. I guess that's typical when you drive through the night. Leaving Knoxville at 6:30pm put us into Boston at 11:30am. Oh but at 6am after driving for 12 straight hours I was pretty zonked. I pulled over to get gas and this guy starts messing with my car. So I'm freaking out wondering what the heck this guy was doing. Pretty quickly I realize that this was a full service station as were all the rest in New Jersey. Woohoo, my first time at a full service gas station. Getting to the hotel was surprisingly simple considering we were staying at the Langham downtown in the financial district. Having never been to such a nice hotel, I didn't know that you couldn't do anything yourself (just like the gas station before). After leaving the car with the valet, we went inside to check in and get our bags. When we grabbed the cart with our bags we were quickly stopped by the concierge who informed us that they "help with that". So we left the bags and headed up to the room to wait. Half an hour later, our bags arrived and we collapsed on the bed for a much needed nap. My mom came and woke us up after her first day of her medical physics conference was over. We were all pretty hungry so off we walk to the Italian district just a little walk north. We got a table outside with a wonderful view of the fountain filled park with the skyscrapers right behind it. The food was authentic and amazing while being quite reasonably priced. After dinner, we walked the harbor for hours looking at all the boats. I couldn't believe all the beautiful sailboats. There was a sailing school with a whole fleet of Solings and J24's. We all had we pretty worn out and started back to the hotel after the sun set. We relaxed in the hot tub then some tv before bed. Well bed for Mom, air mattresses for me and Melissa. The next morning, Melissa and I met up with Uncle Paul and Aunt Dixie. When Mom got done with her stuff we walked down to the Union Oyster House. They knew right away we were southerners and stuck us up on the top floor all by ourselves. All the seafood was great, but the best part was listening to two of the waitresses' girl talk. I couldn't keep myself from laughing as their lips were moving a million miles an hour changing all the R's into H's. From there we started on the Freedom Trail, first stop for us: Faneuil Hall. So, Boston takes that whole Revolutionary War thing pretty seriously. This place was a controversial open market and served as the town hall. It was here the James Otis proclaimed "taxation without representation is tyranny." Later I got Wayne Cutler's family connection to Benjamin Faneuil and of course, I was blown away by all the history. Anyways, from there we walked to the Old State house and then to the grave sites of what appeared to be aliens. Seriously, the skulls on the tombs had the weird oblong alien shape. That was just beside Boston Commons where we strolled through the park. There was a beautiful pond with swan boats (in the summer) where we fed the ducks. Of course we had to go get a few beahs at Cheehs. Ok fine, beers at Cheers. I spent the whole time attempting to copy everyone's accent. We drove down to the suburbs where Dixie's family had a pahty waiting for us. They were all an absolute blast! It's so much fun getting to know more extended family. So after an amazing meal and plenty of good wine, we were done for the night. The next day, Melissa and I drove back down to Plymouth with Paul and Dixie. I pretended to commandeer the Mayflower, but realized that I would need a breeze the opposite direction to make it out of the harbah. We walked all through the little town and checked out a few antique stores. We drove to a different sister's party where we got some good fantan and 99 going. When it got late, said bye to everyone and headed back to meet Mom at the hotel. The next day, Melissa and I were on our own. We went to the Quincy Market to get some food then caught the subway to the Sam Adams Brewery. We start by tasting the malts and smelling the hops (which smelled exactly like a Boston Lager.) We then moved to the brewery floor. So this spring I had brewed a few batches of beer with Johnathon. The wart that you cook has a very distinctive smell. It was amazing that the Sam Adams brewery smelled exactly like my kitchen! We got to see all those people from the Sam Adams commercials at work picking some hops or mixing some pre-beer mixture. After the tour was over we went into the tasting room. There was four long tables and Melissa and I made our way awkwardly over to the far table where there were three other college kids. To our amazement all the tables were given the same amount of beer. So all the other tables were splitting all the pitchers between twenty people, while only 5 for us. So, we were putting down a lot of beer in a short time. Ah, and we got to try one of their experimentals: Lemmongrass Heffeweisen. So ya, I got a Sam Adams beer that none of yall will ever get! We hopped back on the subway and rode over to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. We spent hours at Cask and Flaggon, the most awesome sports bar I've ever been to. Mom met us there and I went to go grab some tickets. The game was pretty awesome as it was 4-4 for several innings against the Indians until the Sox took the lead and kept it for the win. We walked most the way back to check out the Prudential building but it was closed. The whole way back I was talking with Melissa about which club we wanted to go to. When we got back, she goes in to change and comes out in pajamas. I almost let it go because I was pretty tired too, but still had to give her heck for it. The next day Mom caught her flight home. We took a hike to the other end of the Freedom Trail to the USS Constitution and Breeds Hill where the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. There was a tall monument which I ran up. It seemed fitting that the last thing we did before leaving Boston was to get this beautiful view of the whole city. On the walk back we stopped for a short while at the Old North Church and Paul Revere's monument. While we did just about everything to do in Boston, I definitely wish that we had more time to take it all in. I don't know about Melissa, but I am positive that this was one of the best trips of my life.

Summer 2008: Road Biking

Unfortunately, Knoxville kind of sucks for good road biking. Fortunately, I've found some of the best around and have really enjoyed it. It's amazing different than mountain biking which I've been doing for years. Instead of reflexes and jerky sprints, road biking is all about smooth power and endurance. Almost all of the rides have been short 20-30 milers in the evenings. My usual ride is down Martin Mill and Nubert Springs in South Knoxville. It has great variety of hills and flats with its beautiful East Tennessee scenery. Next is heading down to Loudon from Concord heading through Lenoir City. My new favorite area is up around House Mtn just northeast of Knoxville. There's plenty of miles up there that are great for an evening of pedaling. After my backpacking, I know my cardiac ability has definitely increased and I can't wait to get back into doing some long distance biking. Hopefully I'll get a few Centuries under my belt and feel like I've really accomplished something. I'm still working on the cross-country trip and will let you know more whenever I know anything.

Summer 2008: Mountain Biking

There would be a ton more people out mountain biking if only they knew how much of an addrenaline rush it is once you get into some of the hardcore stuff. Heading as fast as you can dodging trees and boulders just to the point you hit a jump for a moment of airborn, realizing that your breaks don't work while you're in the air. The best part is I've gotten pretty good at it. I can't even remember the last time I crashed. Haw Ridge is still my favorite ride and probably always will be. I've been out there so many times and I still don't think I've ridden every trail. That place seems to get more and more technical with all the erosion. There's one point right off the bat with 12 inches between a tree and the bank down to the water. And of course the Hill of Truth snaking to the top of the ridge under the powerlines will always be on the top of my epics. The next place that I've been getting into is the loop at Racoon Mtn. This is an amazing ride that is just begging to be pounded all the way through. It's about the perfect difficulty for me too. The easy sections I push myself as hard as I can trying to find that edge where I just lose control. The technical sections, I practice hitting the best line or even testing my balance trying a harder one. Another ride that has to be mentioned is IC King park. This place is such a short drive away that it's perfect for getting out for the evening. Mountain biking is all about balance and controling your center of gravity. Ya a little strength and endurance always helps, but most obstacles can be hit much easier with finesse. I ride a 2000 Gary Fisher Tassajara that is absolutely falling apart. At lease every other ride I'm having to replace one part or another. Not too many bikes can take a beating for 8 years and live to tell about it. I haven't been able to break down and buy a new bike because I doubt I'll be using it all that much once medical school starts. I'm definitely ready to travel further and try some other great trails. First Pisgah forest then hopefully Arkansas and Colorado.

Little River trail

June 22, 2008
With nothing better to do, James and I took off to the Smokies. With missing a random turn in Weir's valley and the usual delays of Pigeon Forge, we didn't hit the trail until 6pm. Fortunately, the trail was an old flat road so there was no problem making 6 miles before dark. The white rhodadendrin bloom was absolutely beautiful lining the river. We set up the tent in one of the grass line patches and organized the rest of the gear. After an exhilarating dip to wash off, the fireflies synchronously performed for our turkey tetrazini soup dinner. After a confusing bridge lesson, the moon rose to send us to bed.
The next morning we took our time exploring all the abandoned houses of Cosby. It was definitely weird seeing so many homes so closly packed in all falling apart. Sometime I'll look up to see what the story with all that is. In all, we found another wonderful trail in the Smokies that would be perfect for beginner hikers and backpackers.

New England Trip: New York City

Sept 26-27, 2008 To tell the truth, I was dreading driving to NYC. Not so much being in the city as much as the driving part. Melissa and I tried pretty hard to find information about park and ride programs but found it wasn't good for overnight. So at 9am I'm there circling around the blocks. Spots are opening up and it always seemed to go perfectly to the car just in front of us. But after about 45 minutes, I finally found a spot right by Central Park and only two blocks north of the hotel. We couldn't check in for several hours, so we went exploring. I had been pretty excited about seeing Central Park envisioning beautiful paths with a backdrop of skyscrapers. I was pretty close except that it was pouring down rain all afternoon and the buildings were all in the clouds. It was evidently much more windy than usual judging by the litter of broken umbrellas. Seriously, there were hundreds. Coming out of central park we continued south on Broadway to Times Square. It was a lot like we thought it would be, huge tvs of ads and really random stores. What's the point of a three story m&m store? We got to see the famous naked cowboy performing at one of the intersections, and took pictures for all those wanting to experience this spectacle. After grabbing some pizza we started looking for tickets to Wicked on Broadway. That turned out to be a little difficult because everywhere we went it was sold out. It all ended up working out when we went to the Majestic theatre and bought tickets to The Phantom of the Opera instead. Our seats were great and the performance was absolutely amazing. I've been to tons of plays and other live performances but have definitely never seen anything near this caliber. I was mesmerized the entire show. Afterward, looking for something close, we grabbed some food at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was actually an old theater converted to the restaurant with much better rock memorabilia than any other one I have been to. It was Beatles crazed (in fact that theater is where they were introduced to Bob Dylan). After the overpriced burgers and beer, we headed back to the hotel for the night. That brings us to the hotel...one word...tiny. On the bright side it was less than a block from Central Park. Of course I got sucked into a late night movie on the tv and didn't get much sleep. The continental breakfast served us well as another rainy day began. I insisted on seeing the rest of Central Park so for hours we walked. The lakes, boulders, giant trees, and beautiful flowers were all wonderful, but the weather just sucked. We decided to do some more touristy stuff and searched for a museum to head to. I decided on simplicity so we walked down to the Metropolitan Museum of Art right there in Central Park. Just like the Phantom show, what I found thoroughly exceeded my expectations. We spent hours going through just the first exhibit on Ancient Egypt. After taking a little rest we crossed to the other side of the massive building to start on Ancient Greek and Roman art. I spent pretty much the whole time in disbelief of how old everything was. Most of it looked brand new. Of course the more than two thousand year old Greek statues of goddess Aphrodite were my favorite. After I couldn't take anymore Roman copies of art I saw from Greece centuries before, I strolled over to Modern Art. This section was pretty lame in my opinion so I continued on after only 30min. I spent another half hour on Medieval Art but was bored. Crossing into Medieval Weapons and Armor, I quickly found myself in a whole other world. There was every single piece you could imagine. There were several items that I could still be standing admiring now. One particular set of armor belonging to a French king had every square inch covered with beautifully engraved designs. I'm willing to bet that the entire suit took at least one man's entire lifetime to make. There were entire cases full of jeweled swords and sabers. The jousting helms were ridiculous; imaging wearing a 30lb hat. In the center stood full knights atop armored steeds ready for battle or joust. Continuing on I found an exhibit of weaponry and armor with a level of artistic beauty and practicality that Europe couldn't come close to matching. This was of course the section on the Samurais. Not only were the blades themselves beautifully crafted, but the hilt and scabbard were designed to be absolutely stunning. After this area, I went upstairs to the musical instruments. It was amazing to see both the variety of instruments worldwide and the progression of European and American instruments through time. I then quickly went through the Asian art exhibit before I found myself utterly exhausted. I had been studying through the museum for 8 hours at that point and hadn't even come close to seeing everything. Melissa and I resigned and headed out to find a bar to relax in and catch up on a day full of college football. We found a really nice place close-by with an interesting mix of New York culture. As with most of the places I travel, everyone has a story and these people loved to tell them. The drive out of town was a death wish on a Saturday night. NY drivers have absolutely no sense of respect for the dashed lines in the road. In fact, several stretches of avenues didn't even have lines. The cabs would stop wherever to pick up a passenger, it didn't matter if they were somehow triple parking people on what should have been a three lane road. It now turns into an utter mess as all the drivers continue at 30mph merging four lanes of traffic into one on at moments notice. My heart was racing the whole time. Somehow, I survived and never even got honked at. I can't wait to head back for another vacation in NYC, but next time I will bring much more money and a nice pair of slacks. On the drive back we hit up Gettysburg and my Aunt Ann's house (would be so much cooler is they actually lived in this little place.)

Day 20

Tue. Sept. 16
Abingdon Gap Shelter to Damascus
10 miles
Weather: cloudy
As far as I'm concerned, today is the first day of fall. It was extremely cold last night, but my tiny sleeping bag held up well. Now, getting up to use the bathroom was another story. The hike down was incredibly easy. Three hours was all it took to do ten miles with an empty pack and the knowledge of the priveledges of civilization soon to come. Not really knowing which hostel to head to I picked Dave's place for $10. I found a bottle of laundry detergent, washed a change of clothes in the sink, and let them dry in front of a box fan as I showered. Soon, I was off on a walk down to Pizza Plus for their AYCE buffet. The homemade soup was far better than the pizza, especially on this cold day. I could barely walk back after eating so much. I spent hours analyzing every piece of equipment at the outfitter and was somehow able to walk out without spending a cent. Then off to the library to do some reading and research. I came back feeling that I've been wasting too much time and should be hiking. But getting back I took a look at the book selection here at the hostel. A couple months ago I started listening to an audio book before I went to bed. I was extremely upset when the tapes cut out just before the ending. Out of only 20 books here, that just happened to be one of them! So of course I backed up and read the last quarter of it. I talked to a bunch of people and found all the good mountain biking trails around here for tomorrow. Hopefully my knees will be able to handle it. I'll be off on other adventures until mid-October when I plan on hitting the trail again. How long I stay on all depends on how bad the weather is. Until next time, happy trails.

Day 19

Mon. Sept. 15 Double Springs Shelter to Abingdon Gap Shelter 8 miles Weather: cloudy So after a smooth hike to the next shelter, I'm wondering why I should head into town. I mean its an easy 10 miles, but I kinda feel like it would be cutting my vacation short by a day. I have plenty of food so I think I'll just stay here and head down in the morning. I'm really wondering what section I want to do next. I'm gonna get a good pair of thermal underwear and a new pair of boots and hopefully I'll be ready for some nice fall hiking. We'll see how far I can go before it gets too cold. It's actually pretty chilly right now, but it is incredibly peaceful up here. The owls are kind of going nuts with their calls. I swear these are the weirdest sounds I've ever heard. I'm off to bed early. Night High: finished all my food Low: not feeling like I'm running on all cylinders

Day 18

Sun. Sept 14 Watauga Lake Shelter to Double Spring Shelter 22 miles Weather: hot and clear Man life is good. After worrying most of the day, I'm at a shelter all by myself with a decent spring and a hot dinner. So I got up and out of bed and ready to go pretty quick. I packed a bunch of water because I didn't know when I would be getting some next. It turned out to be a hot sweaty day so I was trying to drink plenty but also conserve as well as I could. After crossing over the Watauga Lake dam, I ran into a group of Boy Scouts just coming off the trail. Man did they get hit hard by a nest of yellow jackets. They all had about 4 stings. They let me know that the nest was about a half mile up. Now the trail goes almost straight up from the dam road up Iron Mountain. So I'm taking it nice and slow up the edge of this ridge knowing that at any second I might have to start sprinting. And the scouts got to run down to get away, I had to climb straight up. Eventually, I hike past this large hole and sure enough it was filled with little yellow and black things. I just continued on normally and not a one even came to buzz by me. Ya, I knew this was going to be a good day. I got a water update from the scouts. All the springs were dry except for at Vandeventer Shelter. They had stopped at the Iron Mountain Shelter where I was planning on spending the night, but didn't check the water source. I had already heard horror stories about the hike to the Vandeventer spring, and nobody was stretching the truth. I had already hiked 7 miles and was pretty tired. Then to get water, I hiked straight down the side of the mountain that I had just climbed. There was a puddle at the bottom with a bunch of critters swimming around in it. It amuses me that you want stuff swimming in your water hole. Its when you don't see them that you start worrying. I lug the water up the never ending slope to the shelter. Behind the shelter were perfect cliffs for relaxing over lunch and looking out to Watauga lake below. From here I knew I had another 7 miles to the next shelter. The problem was that I didn't know if there would be any water there. Carrying another full load of water was a nice workout. I was soaked in sweat. I found two older folks cooking dinner at the next shelter. This of course, is just after I discovered that the "dependable" spring at the shelter is dust. I sit down and help the pair remember how many ounces are in a cup, saving their dinner. They had half a cup of water left and were just going to bail out of their trip in the morning. So I had a big decision to make. Do I stay there and do dinner and breakfast with the quart of water I had left or do I continue on with less than an hour of daylight? The register was extremely outdated, so I had no help from any recent AT hikers. If all of this was dry, why would the next shelter be any different? So I made a plan. I decided to go on another 7.6 miles to the next shelter and if there was no water there, I would meet the couple back 3 miles at the road by 11am the next morning. So I ate a quick Cliff bar and hit the trail. I was making dang good speed because I was carrying so little weight. It started drizzling just before I hit the road so I put on my headlamp and packcover. After the road was beautiful. With the almost full moon just lightly blocked by the clouds, I turned my light off and could see nothing but rolling pastures with mountains rising behind them. I followed the trail in the dark for about half a mile until there was no more trail, just white markings every 100ft and pasture. Another half hour on I came across a bog with a spring running through it. I didn't know whether I could trust it, but I filled up anyway. Another mile up I hit the shelter. I flung off my pack and went to go check the spring. Nothing was coming out of the pipe, but the pool was full. Success! As I cooked dinner the rain steadily picked up and now its a full out downpour. I'm not too worried about how damp my sleeping bag is getting since this puts me only 18 miles out of Damascus. I can't believe this section is almost over. I think the people ask for the loudest tin possible when making shelters. I can barely hear myself think. But its a heck of a lot better than being in the rain. High: beautiful view at Vandeventer Low: 15 miles with no water

Day 17

Sat. Sept. 13 Kincora to Watauga Lake Shelter 10 miles Weather: beautiful and hot I forgot to mention that Shadow was there at the hostel with me last night. He was very helpful, as usual, showing me the ropes of how life at an AT hostel works. I slept so well last night, it was unbelievable. I didn't wake up until about 8:30am. By that point, everyone there was already gone. Bob and another guy were going to work on rerouting the trail and I assume Shadow stayed with them. So I spent forever charging my cell phone, cooking sausage biscuits for breakfast, and finishing off my yogurt. For some reason, my boot laces decided to deteriorate last night and broke twice as I was lacing up. Since Bob had already left, I just tied the broken pieces together and went. Another beautiful morning. I got to Laurel Falls by about noon. I guess I wasn't really thinking about it being noon on a Saturday, but I show up to about 20 people there. I dip my toes into the water and debate whether I should go swimming with the girls. I ate as much as my stomach could handle then hiked up what seemed a pointless mountain. Climbing up several thousand feet to Pond Flats, it was as if the top of the mountain had been sliced off and covered in thick forest. I came down to a park right on the Watauga Lake. I was very pleased to see a water spicket. All the springs in this area are supposedly dried up. Flung off my boots and stripped down to only shorts. I decided to just do dinner here so I cooked up a family sized box of kraft shells and cheese. A wonderful man walked up and gave me a coke. Now how did he know that a ice cold coke is exactly what I was craving? It was spectacular. My body is craving sugar constantly. I just got to the shelter and there's plenty of water. So about water: I hate filtering it, always have. So here's my options: Filtering takes a long time and is the only method that sometimes cleans the taste. Iodine or chlorine takes twenty minutes and tastes bad. There's also other chemical treatments, but I haven't seen them in a long time. UV sterilizing pen is fast and easy. And then of course there's not filtering. I think my next section I'm going to bring chlorine drops and see how that works out. I think if I don't like the taste then I will buy a steripen (UV). So that would drop a pound from my pack and save me at least half an hour each day. The other thing that is nagging me is my rain coat (another pound). When hiking, I sweat so much that I get just as wet inside my jacket as without. Instead of a hardshell, I'd like to find something that is more concerned with wind protection and breathability than waterproofing. Sorry to those that don't care about equipment, but I figure there might be a few reading this that want the advice. I swept the shelter and figure I'll get to bed early. I miss you all! It's at least 75 degrees, way too hot to sleep. I wish I was back on top of Roan Mtn. It was dang cold that night. High: Laurel Falls Low: boots need replacing badly

Day 16

Fri. Sept. 12
Mountaineer Shelter to Dennis Cove Road
15 miles
Weather: beautiful except for one cell
Man was I sore when I woke up. But it was an absolutely beautiful morning with the sun peaking over the ridge. I get on my way through the thick growth of this low elevation. Of course, now that I am completely blocked in a forest, that's when its a beautiful sky. No, not when I'm hiking 10 miles on balds above 5000ft yesterday. I should have been enjoying the wonderful hike more, but my knees were killing me. I made it 9 miles to the next shelter and then had to hike down each side of the ridge to get water and ask a man about a bear. I collapsed on the bench for a good 2 hours. I had only 6 miles to the road so I pushed on. I made it down by 5:20pm and walk across the road to a group of kids unpacking a car. Just after I said hello, one asks me, "are you Jake Smith?" My eyes were quite blurry from the hours of sweat dripping into them. Yes I responded realizing that I was standing in front of Greg Smolen, an engineering classmate at UT. He was going camping with a bunch of his friends from work. But seriously, what are the chances of me coming down off the trail to a road in the middle of nowhere and step right up to someone I know? We had a great time chatting before I headed up to Kincora. This place is absurd. It is extremely expensive, a complete rip-off. All I got was a queen bed, a shower, a kitchen to cook in, laundry facilities, and a ride into town and back. And he expected me to pay $4. I gave a ten and a promise that I will be back to volunteer. Bob Peoples organizes AT work groups for hundreds of miles of the trail. That amazing shelter that I slept in last night, all his doing. Erosion is a horrible problem around here, so he is rerouting the trail to have less of a gradient. This might lengthen the trail, but it does make it easier hiking. He is an absolute wonderful man and I wish I could organize the last item on his bucket list: ride in a hot-air balloon. You wouldn't believe how nice the shower felt. But the coolest part is that I'm sleeping in his treefort. He's got a big queen bed up in the trees, how cool is that? Well, I figure I'll spend 3 or 4 days from here to make it to Damascus, VA. This trip is turning out to be much more of an adventure than I was expecting. Oh, and I'm over 10% done with the trail. Yay!
High: Kincora!!!
Low: got rained on :-(
Oh, and I'm laughing at all of you dealing with the gas prices! "Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time"

Day 15

Sorry these are out of order. Please read in day order not posting order. I promise I'll fix them when I get to a computer. Thurs. Sept 11 Roan High Top Shelter to Wilderness Shelter 25 miles Weather: can't complain too much I'll start from the beginning. I had just fallen asleep last night when I hear all kinds of noise. I crawl downstairs in my boxers to see people lugging tons of stuff inside. I make sure they're okay then head back up to lay back down. There was one older man and three teenagers. I knew that since this shelter was only a few hundred yards from a road, this was bound to happen. They had several large coolers, huge battery powered lanterns, and gigantic trash bags each with a comforter. The girl won't stop about being cold. Then bags being torn open. They seem to settle down and I hope for sleep. Then the beer cans start opening. To get the party going further they start smoking inside. Realize that I am in the attic and am basically sitting in a cloud of alternating tobacco and marijuana smoke. Their party goes on pretty much all night. I was miserable. I woke up at 6:45 and grabbed my gear. Wanting to get going quickly, I skipped cooking breakfast. It had thunderstormed all night and continued to drizzle on me for the first hour. Being up on Roan Mountain, I was of course in the clouds. I started up the other side of Carvers Gap and was just being swallowed by the clouds. For the next 10 miles I was on these huge balds on top of the mountain. That picture of me is from Janes Bald. Imagine beautiful mountains behind me like the picture in the book. So for hours I hiked without being able to see 50ft in front on me. The grass was very wet so of course three hours into it my boots and socks were soaked. To keep the balds bald, the forest service keeps live stalk up on top of this ridge. The goats were pretty cool. At this point I was anxious. I should have been traveling faster but the wet boots slowed me down. I got to the first shelter where I planned to stop and get water. There were two guys there, so we got to talking. I checked my water and still had some left so I decided to just move on and get water at the next shelter only a couple miles away. I was out of water just before reaching that turn off. My book told me water available at spring on path to shelter. What it meant to say was on your left, you will see a dried up spring. I end up walking down the mountain before I could find the water source. The Overmountain Shelter was a converted barn which had plenty of space and two stories. In the register everyone claimed gorgeous views. All I could see was cloud. It was noon by the time I got back to the top and I had only gone 6 miles. At this point I started to climb. On top of Hump Mountain, I literally walk up to the biggest bull horns I had ever seen. I was about 10ft away before I could see the cattle who all jumped up to their feet at that same moment. There were 5 pairs of the huge longhorns glaring at me. I was frozen, I didn't really know what movement or sound would sent them charging at me or leaving me alone. I walked a wide circle around them and they just turned and watched me go. Coming down from there was much faster, but killed my knees. Halfway down I stopped at Doll Flats just as the clouds were clearing up. If I was going to take a longer break, I was going to change my socks. I decided that my boots would still be too wet. I sat down and ended up taking a long break and never motivated myself to get up and change my socks. I was extremely upset with myself. I got up from my rock threw on my pack and went straight on a nice relatively flat trail. I passed a camp site and it started heading down. And it keeps going down. Then I realized that I hadn't seen a white blaze in a while. Evidently that rock I was resting on had the double white blaze indicating a sharp turn. Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe my mood. I had hiked several extra miles, wasted hours of time, and it was getting too late. By the time I was ready to leave Apple House Shelter, it was 5pm. I had hiked all day, 16 miles, and had 9 to go to get back on schedule. I should have just stayed. I called to get a pep-talk to motivate me to keep going, but that failed. But I left. After running across the speeding traffic of 19, I climbed straight up this beautiful valley. It hurt bad, but from the top it was perfect. Blue skies on the left, clouds hovering over the mountains I had just come down on the right, all above this lush deep valley. After spending a few second appreciating what I had just climbed, I started freaking out because I lost the trail. So I had to climb back down to realize that the double white blaze was on the rock where I collapsed half way up. My long day was not the one I should have been screwing up. I continue hiking and came across several of the best views I've had all trip. The sun was setting and everything had an orange glow. I walked up a road a little ways to fill up with water from a church spicket so that I wouldn't have to spent time filtering from a stream. I dawned my headlamp and kept hiking. The Elk River was badly flooding, but fortunately the trail stayed a few feet above. I was dead, hiking through the dark, my headlamp needing new batteries, to a shelter that according to my map, didn't exist. I finally show up to meet Brant just before he went to sleep. This is by far the best shelter I've seen. It's brand new and has three stories of bunks. I'm laying here squirming because my knees are hurting so bad. Hopefully, they'll be better by the morning. In all, no sleep lead to many rookie mistakes but still had a beautiful evening. I definitely want to do some more hiking at Roan Mtn, but only on a very clear day. High: completed my first marathon Low: messing up so often

Day 14

Wed. Sept 10
Clyde Smith Shelter to
miles
Weather: rainy
HossFly and I woke to a beautiful morning. We had some fun trading a few items of food. I gave away two prized packets of gourmet apple cider for two of my favorite flavors of Cliff bars, Blueberry Crisp and Carrot Cake. Quickly reaching the gap, I knew I had a long climb up to Roan Mountain ahead of me. I actually felt pretty good and it took a lot less time than I expected it to. I was quickly above the clouds in the valley which made for some neat views. In the picture you can see the ridge of an adjacent mountain over the clouds below me. Three quarters the way up, I heard the rumbling of distant thunder. I basically ran the rest of the way. The top was completely clouded in and it just started to sprinkle. I kept heading on to Roan High Top Shelter to escape the rain. My mom had told me that this was the coolest shelter she had ever seen because it is two stories. It is by far the worst I have been to yet. In all the others, the bunk is raised from the ground making it clear that it is not to be walked on. Here you sleep on the floor. And of course the floor is filthy from everyone walking with muddy boots and wet gear. Even upstairs is pretty bad. So, I'm pretty glad I didn't hike up here through the rain last night. It's definitely a nice place to wait out the rain though. It stormed for hours while I sat and shoveled food into my belly. I also spent a few hours trying to widdle, but failed miserably. So just to spite me for complaining about the shelter, it ends up thunderstorming all evening. So I decided to just stay and hike a ton tomorrow. Wish me luck.
High: good hiike up the mountain
Low: I hate the rain

Day 13

Tue. Sept 9 Cherry Gap Shelter to Clyde Smith Shelter 9 miles Weather: thunderstorms It thunderstormed all night, which is cool, but I didn't sleep well at all. A German lady showed up at 11pm waking all of us up. She then spent at least an hour cooking dinner and getting ready for bed. It wasn't that big of a deal, just a little annoying. They all woke up at 6:30. The one northbounder cooks by throwing a bunch of twigs in a pot fitted with a fan on the bottom and setting his cook pot on top. It was pretty cool, except that since it was raining, he did this inside the shelter, completely filling it with smoke. I got up after I could no longer breathe. I get on the trail and it turns to beautiful weather. I stopped at this old orchard to talk to the forest service workers cutting the grass. There was a spring just down from where they were working, so I went to get water and eat some food. I get back moving and another thunderstorm rolls through. With four miles till the next shelter, I was stuck hiking on top of a ridge through a downpour. Eventually I made it to this shelter. After 15min of resting the sky decides to open up. It was thundering all over the place and I was under the loudest tin roof I've ever heard. I have another 6.4 miles to the shelter I was planning to stay in, but I'm just going to stay here. I'm not on any schedule so why hike through another thunderstorm? So, a south bounder just showed up with some wonderful news. There's evidently a shelter that's not on my map. I was planning on only 7 miles Friday, but now I can go about 15 between shelters that day. That way I end up not getting behind because of the rain today. Its things like that which can make you feel pretty good out here. All the plans are in order and it doesn't involve a big 20 mile day unless I want it to. Friday I plan to stay at a hostel south of Hampton, TN. I might be able to catch up with Shadow there. I wish I could check the weather to see when the rain is going to hit tomorrow. So a little update on my body. I've never had a huge appetite, but I stuff myself at every meal. For example, on meal I'm carrying is 4-cup packs of tourtillinni and can't finish the whole 900 calories in one sitting. But I try. My pants are sliding off my waist but I still have my beer-belly. It feels like my body is eating my unused muscles like my arms, abs, and chest more than it is my fat. My feet are doing great except that they are noticeably flattening out. I don't feel stronger or like I have more endurance. It's more like you just get used to the burn and ache instead of getting better at hiking. I would love to run 3 miles tomorrow to see what fitness level I'm really at. Sunday, I think I'm gonna try a marathon if the weather is nice. I was pretty close the other day. Eventually I'll figure out how to knock out a big day through the rain, but didn't today. It'll be a cold night up here. I'll stop rambling and go to bed. Night all! High: shelter buddy brought a radio! Low: hiking cold and wet

Day 12

Mon. Sept. 8 Curley Maple Gap Shelter to Cherry Gap Shelter 12 miles Weather: beautiful Today was pretty interesting. I woke up late at 8:30 and took my usual 2 hours to get on the trail. Hiking was great except that with every uphill, I would be drenched in sweat. The first of the landmarks I came to today was the aptly named Beauty Spot. This was a bald on top of the ridge that looked out over quite a view. It was far too hazy to get a good picture. If you focused hard enough you could always see another mountain beyond the one you thought was the furthest. It was definitely hot though. I rolled out my sleeping pad and laid in the sun for at least two hours. Very relaxing, but I think I got my shoulders a little pinked. After that I climbed up the wonderfully unique Unaka Mountain. Right on top of this mountain is an evergreen forest that is mesmerizing. They were so thick and uniform that it was kind of like being in a never ending forest. The pictures I took definitely don't capture the enchantment the place held. I found out later that Shadow waited up there for me, but my siesta at Beauty Spot put me far behind him. I had to push myself to make it to the shelter before dark. There were two men here when I showed up, haven't talked to much yet. I had my first freeze-dried meal of this trip tonight, and it was worth every cent. Beef stew with big chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots and peas. And of course, thick gravy over all of it. It is a beautifully clear sky in the small patch of sky I can see straight above me. I'm tempted to sleep out under the stars if it wasn't for the distant flashes of lightning I can see. It can rain all it wants every single night I'm out here. I need to get up early so that I can have a little flexibility to make it to High Top. Then again, there's a hostel not too far away if it is raining all tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well and having a wonderful time. Night! High: walking through an enchanted forest Low: beard isn't hanging down to my waist yet

Day 11 The Revolution

Sun. Sept. 7 No Business Shelter to Curley Maple Gap Shelter 11 miles Weather: wonderful If yesterday was The Awakening, then today is The Revolution. I finally have my equipmwnt right where I want it. Today, I slept-in and packed slow. I hiked six miles downhill to Erwin to meet Dad and Janet. There was by far one of the most beautiful views from a mile southbound from town looking up a valley with the Nolichucky River and railroad bridge. I met up with my family perfectly and we headed straight to Pizza Hut. I ended up having more of a ravenous hunger for the mountain dew than the pizza. We stopped at Whites to get some honey and bread. Heading back to the trail, I learn that Uncle Jerry's hostel had a very nice outfitting store. I bought a new sleeping bag for what I considered not to bad a price. I hiked a while with Dad and Janet and introduced them to Shadow who now had a full pack. It was still at least 10lbs lighter than mine. My dad was pretty funny though. He spent 20 minutes trying to get me to pack more food. Refusing almost everything, I then let him feel the weight of just my food. He spent the next 10 minutes trying to see what we could take out of my pack. Then 5 trying to put in and so on. If I remember my math correctly, this summation quickly converges to 40 minutes, which was about right. Ya, I'm a dork. So that day of rain, I decided to prove that if the digits of a number add up to a multiple of 3, than that number is a multiple of 3. Two mathematical induction proofs penciled in my head later, I was finished. It took 20 minutes, leaving me thinking about why the hell I was out in the rain. Trust me, there's some crazy things to ponder about while out here. I have my pack refitted with food for each day plus one extra, just in case. I'm keeping my current precautions of filtering water and boots instead of tennis shoes for safety's sake. Later, I might change my mind about these practices. My new sleeping bag is so small that I am having to completely change the system I have for packing. I am anxious to get to Damascus by early next week and come back and do Max Patch to Hot Springs. At that point I will have completed all on the AT through Tennessee, a nice early accomplishment. Thanks a ton Dad and Janet, today was such a great help. High: not carrying a week's worth of extra food Low: pizza was no more amazing than my camp food. I guess this is a good thing too.

Day 10

Sat. Sept. 6 Hogsback Ridge Shelter to No Business Shelter 21 miles Weather: cloudy, clearing late afternoon Never have I learned as much in one day as I did today. Waking up earlier than I have in many years, I knew that this was going to be a difficult day. After finishing my second pack of oatmeal, a stranger walks up to the shelter. This was strange at 7 in the morning. Just as the father finally got his daughter out of bed, I was ready to go. Shadow and I were both heading north so we hiked together. I lead and he kept up fine with both of us chatting the whole time. We soon hit the uphill and he took off straight up. I come to find that his pack weighed less than half of mine. He was pretty hardcore ultralight. I was pushing myself as hard as I could and there was no catching him. So for about four hours straigh I kept my heartrate above 160bpm as I fought my way to the top of Big Bald. There were absolutely no views all morning because I was in the clouds. Hiking up through miles of mountain top meadows and all I could see was white. Finally we make it to the Big Knob Shelter and I collapse. I had finished over 10 miles climbing up from I-26 to the top of a mountain and didn't move for an hour. I was an hour behind schedule getting out of there. The whole way down, I learned everything I could from Shadow as he was the only one I had met that had already completed the trail before. He carried no tent, but instead slept on top of a groundcloth and threw a tarp over if it was raining. He had an slcohol burning stove and what I perceived to be very little food. Oh and I have not met a single thru-hiker that filters their water. I figure I will keep on just to be safe. He wears tennis shoes, but for now I will keep the boots to protect my ankles. After getting down to Spivey Gap, where the father and daughter had started out three days before, my knees were dead. Then I had to climb up, and up, and up. It was only a mile's climb from the gap, but after lugging 45lbs for 16 miles, the rest of my body died. I had no energy at all. And I still had 5 miles to go after the climb. Just after I reached the top, I dawned my headlamp for a dead-tired night hike. Finally I've made it and am sitting down to dinner. In total, 21 miles and 4000ft climbing. For all of you that take the elevator, that is something like 300 flights of stairs. At the end of the day, I feel pretty uplifted. High: learning from an expert Low: pack didn't carry itself

Day 9

Fri. Sept. 5 Flint Mountain Shelter to Hogback Ridge Shelter 10 miles Weather: gorgeous I got up early to learn that hurricane Hanna wasn't really going to be affecting me much this weekend. Regardless, I figured I might go ahead and hike the 20 miles today instead of putting it off. So I get going pretty quick and reach Devil's Gap. I figured I was making pretty good time, so let's take a break. Then I started climbing, and figured I could take another break. Before I knew it, I was realizing that today was not my day to be hiking 20 miles. Maybe with no pack. So I took at least 4 breaks just climbing 3 miles up a mountain. And when I got to the top, I climbed up a tree and sat there for at least an hour with one heck of a view of the valley with I-26 at the bottom and Big Bald on to opposite mountain. I'll be there tomorrow afternoon. I accidentally left my phone on the whole time, so I messed up my battery provisioning schedule pretty bad. I got to camp and met a father and daughter hiking down to the Smokies. Before too long, were deep in conversation over a few shots of vodka. They have been by far the best company on the trail so far. The father is a raft guide and lives down in Gatlinburg, so I'm definitely going to be hitting him up next summer. At some point soon, I'll have to make it on back to Knoxville to invite the daughter on up. Anyways, tomorrow is going to be over 21 miles, so I better get to bed. High: new friends Low: over quarter-mile hike to the water from the shelter

Day 8

Thur. Sept. 4
Little Laurel Shelter to Flint Mountain Shelter
13 miles
Weather: wonderful and windy
Starting out this morning by finishing the climb up the mountain really set up a tiring day. I got to the top and expected a fire tower at the end of fire tower trail. Instead it was about 7 radio tower all ranging from 50 to 150ft tall surrounded by barbed wire. As much as I wanted to climb one, I decided to just move along. Two miles further I stopped at the last spring that I knew would have water. I completely filled up because I wouldn't be getting any more until 8pm. Just past the spring I hiked off the trail to one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen. I was on top of a 100ft white stone cliff at the edge of the ridge looking out down miles of untouched valley. From there the trail followed the very rocky Firescald Knob for a few more miles with beautiful views down both on my right and left. Eventually I made it to Jerry's Cabin shelter where there was no water, so no way to stay the night. I relaxed for an hour the hit the trail for the evening. One mile out, I hit a beautiful meadow on top of the mountain. I soon found out I was living a character from a bad horror movie about getting attacked by grasshoppers. If any of you know a hungry bird, send them up there. From there I came across the Shelton grave site where two union soldiers from this area returned home and were ambushed by confederate soldiers. Finally I get to the shelter later than I had hoped and find another Shelton. First thing, he asks me if I liked corn-on-the-cobb. He came up on his ATV with his 3 month old puppy and had his coleman stove out boiling 3 cobbs. This was some of the sweetest corn I have ever had and deciding it was okay to be a little decadent, I drowned it in butter and salt. He offers me a 'mader but I decline. Of course, he grew this all himself. Knowing I needed to lighten my own load, I passed on the rest of the meal and took some ramen and spam out of my pack. Between the butter, ramen, and spam, I don't think I'll be able to get the layer of grease off my cook wear until I get home. I might be taking a break in a week to take a trip up to Boston. I'll let you know more when I figure it out. I have yet to decide how far I'll be hiking tomorrow so I better get to bed just in case.
High: corn on the cobb
Low: scared of snakes too, just look at the rattle on that thing

Day 7

Wed. Sept 3 Mountain Spring Shelter to Little Laurel Shelter 9 miles Weather: perfect I awoke to the company of a young man who lost his dog bear hunting last Friday. He ran off before I could even get out of my sleeping bag. I seemed a little more worn out than I expected myself to be this morning. Slowly, I hiked on. At Allen Gap, I was in need of water and met "Paul with Bunions." He and I chatted for over an hour before I tore away to find water. The spring that was reported on my map was barely a puddle so I followed the road a quarter mile down to a creek. I knew it was dirty, but I had to have some water to be able to climb 5 miles to the shelter. We talked for another hour before heading in opposite directions. The climb was incredibly slow at less than 2 mph. Paul said he had three people staying with him at this shelter last night. Well, for the last four nights on the trail I have been alone. This shelter I can definitely enjoy by myself though. Through the trees, I got a wonderful sunset, and my heavily spaghetti-saused tortillinni tasted wonderful laying in the grass. Even while being scared about the bears, this place doesn't seem that wild to me. Once I've taken off the pack (and shielded from the rain), I feel absolutely comfortable. I figure tomorrow will be another easy day, but I don't recall ever thinking it was "easy". Either Friday or Saturday I will have to hike a 20, but I don't know when the rain will be hitting here. If it comes later, I will wait so that there will be less food to carry. Otherwise it will have to be Friday. I guess the moon is my cue to head to bed. High: soft grassy patch near shelter to relax on Low: hassle and worry of dried up springs

Day 6

Sept 2 Hot Springs, NC to Spring Mountain Shelter 11 miles Weather: beautiful Taking a break from the trail was definitely a good idea. I spent the first few days discovering the beautiful city of Charlotte, NC. I need to bring someone along who knows the city next time. I then drove down to Atlanta to spend the holiday with the Gaspers. I spent the next three days doing nothing but eating, watching football, and relaxing by the pool. Thanks Paul and Dixie for having all of us. After a scenic drive up to Hot Springs Monday, I got a cheap hotel and watched the Vols suck against UCLA. This morning, I strolled the town and picked up my food package from the post office. For some reason, I decided to keep all of my food from the previous week. Now I had 20L of gear, 40L of food and only a 40L pack. After gritting my teeth to pick up the pack, I realized that I was about 20lbs heavier than I wanted to be. I couldn't just throw the food away, so I figured I would just gorge myself over the next week. Once I got started, everything seemed pretty wonderful. I stopped to get a picture as I crossed the French Broad River. Little did I know that the huge mountain in the side of the shot was the one id be climbing up. My legs were having a rough time under the extra weight. About a third of the way, I stopped by a strangely isolated pond. Hours slipped away as I relaxed in the sun. At this point I needed to fill up on water, but if didn't dare touch the stagnant pond. My map and guide book listed about 5 springs before my shelter, so I wasn't worried. Another mile up, I was greeted to a beautiful meadow at Plum Gap. I sit to enjoy the amazing view with a tart apple from a nearby tree. By the bottom of Rich Mtn, I crossed 3 springs that were dried up and only had a few ounces of water. The hike up to the top was very tiring without water to be able to eat my energy bars with. At the top, I dropped my pack and climbed the fire tower. The 360 degree views were breath-taking. I could see mountains all the way to Camerer in the Smokies. At this point I was thirsty as I passed another spring. I was determined that the next would have water, and sure enough, there was a puddle. I had no clue if my shelter two miles up from here would have water so I completely topped off. This made the final climb all the much worse as my pack dug into my shoulders. An entry in the log book two days ago says there is water at my shelter for the next two nights. It's such a relief knowing this ahead of time. I'm oFf to sleep now. Hopefully the colony of mice don't eat through everything I own tonight. High: knowing I can carry a weeks worth of provisions for two people Low: not having anyone to share it with

Day 5

Aug 27 Groundhog Creek Shelter to Max Patch 6 miles Weather: thunderstorms I'm having some weird dream about getting thrown off a cruise ship at sea when I'm woken up by some horrific sound. This is one of those that could definitely have woken the dead. I should have prefaced this with the fact that upon further inspection of the map, I was sleeping in a bear reserve. Not deer or rabbits, bear. So automatically my heart starts racing to just below 200bpm. It's pitch black and raining. I reach for my light and turn it on... nothing but white. The mist was so thick that my tikka-plus on fresh batteries couldn't penetrate 15ft. I know the noise came from near where my food was hung about 40ft away. So, with no clue what to do, I started yelling. After a few minutes of that and no other sound but rain, I got up and slowly walked over to my food. Right as I shine my flashlight at the bag I see movement and BANG! It was the same sound that woke me. Now after 30 straight hours of rain and wind, quite a few limbs were falling from the trees, especially at this gap. And this particular food hanger was equipped with large aluminum disks around the cables to keep critters from crawling to your food bag. So of course this equated to someone throwing a bowling ball into a metal trash can every time the wind blew too hard. Relieved, I laid back down. I know it's not a wholly exciting outcome, but I was much happier that it didn't include a bear or some critter eating my food. I slept horribly for the rest of the night, chalking it up to how much body fat I had probably burned hiking up the mountain. I wake up at 7 and moan. Getting out of my sleeping bag, I notice a bright red rash about 4 inches high just above my ankles. Grrrr. After using up 6 AAA batteries to get that message sent out the night before, I was going to be pretty upset if I couldn't get my phone working. I had to call to find out if, when, and where I was going to be meeting people at Max Patch. It turns on, but claims it doesn't have enough power to connect. So I plug in 3 fresh batteries and leave it off to charge. Meanwhile, I filter water, stuff myself with as much oatmeal as my stomach can take and lie back down for a minute. One turns into a few more and before I know it, it's 10am. Oops, I'm bad about that kind of thing. Well at least by now my phone should have some juice. Wrong, it said the same problem. I throw on my dripping wet hiking clothes, squeeze as much water out of the cuishoning of my shoes, and threw on my pack. If I trek just faster than 2mph, I can make it to Max Patch by 1pm. This was the arranged time with my mother but an hour late for a few other friends. I keep my phone charging with another set of batteries, sorely disappointed in my charging contraption's performance. As if I should have known by this point, right as I get out of camp, a nice shower rolls through just to put me into my place. The hike was way steeper than I expected for what I knew to be a net elevation change of less than 1000ft up. But of course, that doesn't take into account all the steep downhills that I had to clime right back up just to clock even. My feet were killing me with every step, but I made it up to Max Patch by 1. The place was completely empty. So I laid down to bask in make believe sunshine. I look up to see the peak about 200yards above me disappear into a cloud. Just then, I feel the raindrops. "Does it make a difference?" I ask myself, laying my head back down. It passes just as it came leaving even grayer skies, wet grass, and thunder in the distance. Half an hour later my mom shows up looking pretty stressed. A while back, her and I took a backpacking trip at Shining Rock where if she wasn't wearing an external frame and I wasn't actually the incredible hulk, she would have died. And that was with less rain than I had the previous day. She explained about how much she was worrying about me because of how that trip went and how my sister wrecked her car. I calmed her down and we ate a wonderful lunch and I drank a gallon of apple juice 8-) yum. Nobody can complain about real mountain spring water, but it can't compare to juice. We both weren't feeling great so we relaxed at the base. I decided to fiddle with my maps and books. The sign at my shelter described 8.3 miles to the next northern shelter. Minus about six that I had just done, that's about 2 left. Under the mileage description in my book it said 1.8 from the summit. Then I look at the map. It showed the shelter at least 5 miles away. I look deeper into the book and discover that in a different spot it described the shelter 4 miles away. So I had no clue exactly how far I had to hike to find a place to sleep. At this point it's 4pm so soon I will have to get started. A thunderstorm rolls through so we hop (gingerly, my feet didn't magically heal) in the car to wait it out. I get out my cell phone and fiddle with it as my mom is describing her upcoming trips. Still no charge. During the deluge the day before, I convinced myself that one of the reasons I had to continue this trip was to continue my story. Without the ability to share it each day as it was happening took a lot out of me. As my mom is talking about a family get-together this weekend, I decide I don't want to hike through the rain tonight. I want to get my charger fixed. I want to dry my clothes, shoes, and sleeping bag. I want to make sure this rash isn't something that's going to be a problem. I turn to her and say let's go. By no way is this adventure finished. I am spending tomorrow at radio shack getting my phone charger fixed. Friday driving to Atlanta and spending the weekend with my family. Tuesday I will be back on the trail at Hot Springs, NC (just north of Max Patch). By then my blisters will have healed and I will be ready to rock this trail. Gear swap notice: camp towel unnecessary, replacing with bandanna. Sorry about this hiatus, but it's what I'm doing. High: plenty of water in the spring where a week earlier people had nothing to drink Low: my favorite place turns out to me not so cool this time

Day 4

Aug 26 Davenport Gap Shelter to Groundhog Creek Shelter 11 miles Weather: all day storm I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. At 6:45, nothing sounds like a good idea, especially not getting up and out in the rain. But in order to make it to Max Patch tomorrow morning, I knew I had to get up. At that point I still didn't know if anyone wanted to meet me there tonight which would have been a very long haul. I hung all my clothes to dry last night, but they were all dripping wet from the moisture. By 9:15 I was on the trail, in the rain. The first three miles were decently nice with a beautiful waterfall. Upon crossing over the Pigeon River, I was daydreaming of a couple years back when I kayaked that river. A car coming up behind me broke the thought, and I could have only imagined how miserably soaked I looked. He slowed down and to my surprise, asked if I wanted an apple. I was caught a bit off guard, but quickly recovered. Throwing my raincoat hood back and smiling ear to ear, I responded excitedly. He opened his trunk to expose a large box of natural-looking apples. We get to talking there in the rain, and Appleman explained that he's doing a housing project at a bankrupt orchard. So there hundreds of organic apple trees just begging to be harvested. I tell him of my adventures and troubles of yet and he reaches in then hands me a new lighter. Three apples and a lighter, I was ecstatic. Appleman, I hope karma brings you something truly wonderful. At 11 the climb began, and my apple induced happiness was done by noon. By 1, I was dead tired and all my clothes, even inside the rain jacket, were soaked. My toes were sloshing in my boots. To paint a nice visual here, understand that the trail was so steep that it was almost all steps of logs or rocks. The trail turned into a river so I was graced by a wonderful cascade of hundreds of miniwaterfalls each falling into the next at each view. The climb continued up for over 4000 vertical feet. At 3:20, I reached the top, barely. The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to move against with the pack The rain felt like needles with every gust. The peak is cleared for a large white FAA radar tower. I know the view would have been great because I've taken pictures of this peak from Max Patch. Not only did I discover what the strange structures were on top of the ridge, but I also visited them. I pushed myself down and after getting lost for a half mile, made it to the shelter. I don't expect anyone to be joining me here, but don't mind if they do. Four cups of pasta later, I'm cozy in my sleeping bag. High: Appleman Low: my feet are so blistered, I don't know if I'll be able to hike tomorrow Sorry no pictures, it was too wet for the camera. Also, my battery charger isn't working quite as expected, so I don't think I'll be able to post daily.

Day 3

Aug 25 Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to Davenport Gap Shelter 15miles Weather: rain I woke up to the red glowing eyes of the peacock...just kidding, I haven't gone insane yet. Got up, made the oatmeal, packed the bag, looked like I was in for a wonderful morning. Wrong! As James and I leave the shelter, it begins to downpour. Thank you tropical storm. I don't care how waterproof your hiking boots claim to be, they don't stand up to tromping through the water like this. We start off with a steady uphill which turns into downhill for the rest of the day. By noon the rain lets up, but my boots are sloshing full of water. Continuing for the rest of the day, I was in the clouds, literally. The tops of several trees were hard to make out. There were few views in spite of hiking on top of a ridge all day. I did get a nice spectacle of the clouds rolling up and out over a valley. It looked as thought this big white ghost was climbing the mountains with us. On the way down my knees were ready to blow out at each boulder. As slow as uphill might be, at least it doesn't hurt like downhill. We finally hit Cosby Shelter for lunch at 1:30. James left to hike down to his ride at Cosby so he can make it to school tomorrow. Ha ha, sucker. I tried to dry my shoes out, but it's so muggy I had to make do. There didn't seem much point to wasting a fresh pair of socks on wet boots so I threw nastiness onto my feet and climbed near Mt. Camerer. If you want a view you're going to have to look back a few months, because all I saw was white. The last 6 miles seemed to take forever. Finally I made it to Davenport Gap Shelter. To my surprise, there's nobody here. I've never stayed in a shelter by myself, and this one is kinda spooky. After getting over a tummyache, I got some food and laid down to relax. It's raining again, but it can do that all it wants at night while I'm in here and dry. It too hot and muggy, but I suppose that is what I should expect at this low elevation. Tomorrow morning I'll be out of the Smoky Mountains and crossing north of I-40. I have a funny mental image of me trying to dodge interstate traffic with my pack on. I have spared you all a picture of the blistered feet for fear that google might ban my site for indecency. Thanks James for the great start to this journey. You're definitely welcome to join anytime. High: running into a big buck and a doe on top of the ridge Low: painful pruned feet

Day 2

Aug 24th Icewater Springs Shelter to Tri-corner Shelter 13 miles Weather: mostly cloudy and muggy After having slept badly for about a week now, I was hoping to be able to sleep into the morning. Evidently the other hikers were pretty adamant about me being awake at 6:30am. Wearily, I get up, make breakfast, and realize there is a peacock following me around. After chatting with some new friends, James and I head out to Charlie's Bunion. About a mile down the trail, I hear some noise behind me, looking to find the peacock still following us. We came closer for further inspection when she jumped into the woods never to be seen again. Charlie's Bunion is still my favorite spot in the Smokies, although 50 years later, Charlie claims he never had a bunion. Leaving there we hiked 6miles to the turn-off for Peck's Corner Shelter by 2pm. Deciding we had to fill-up on water, I hiked an extra mile to get to the shelter and back and didn't get started hiking again until 4. The last 5 miles to the next shelter hurt pretty bad. After dinner and clean-up, I'm in bed by 9. Hopefully, I can sleep a little better for the trek awaiting me tomorrow. High: views of never ending peaks and valleys Low: springs being almost dried up

Day 1

Aug 23rd Clingman's Dome to Icewater Springs Shelter 11miles Seeing as James and I didn't get on the trail till 3pm, the exhausting hike put us well into night. For whatever reason, I got the bright idea of starting right where I left off two years ago, Clingman's Dome. The trail started out beautiful and to my surprise, full of blackberries. Many times I stopped to top off a 16oz nalgene with as many of the tart beauties as I could grab. Continuing down from the top, our knees wanted to buckle as we'd head straight down. The uphills were that much worse another 5miles along. It was getting dark as we reached Newfound Gap, and we dawned out head lamps. Three miles later down Sweat Heifer we got pretty spooked by a bear and decided to turn around to the closest shelter, Icewater Springs. And here I lay, listening to the several snoring men. I want to thank everyone who helped me get out on this trip, especially Dad and Janet. I miss everyone already and hope to get the chance to meet up along this adventure. Good: blackberries Bad: forgetting to bring several necessities

Busy packing for the AT

AT Plans

I am planning on section hiking the entire 2,150mile Appalachian Trail in the next year or so. Saturday, I'll leave to complete a 650mile chunk of it. Each name is the shelter I'll be staying at and the ones with the states are the cities I will be picking up food from. If anyone sees any glaring mistakes, please let me know ASAP. I am trying to average about 16miles a day with an easy day each week. Much more info to come.

Aug 23 Start: Newfound Gap 204.6, Pecks Corner shelter 215.0
24 Cosby Knob 227.9
25 Groundhog Creek 245.5
26 Max Patch 251.9
27 Roaring Fork 252.9
28 Deer Park Mtn 268.5
29 Hot Springs, NC 271.7, Spring Mtn 282.7
30 Jerry Cabin 298.1
31 Hogback Ridge 312.8
Sept01 No Buisness Knob 333.5
02 Curley Maple Gap 344.1
03 Cherry Gap 356.2
04 Roan High Knob 371.4
05 Apple House 386.1
06 Roan Mtn,TN 386.6, Mountaineer 395.3
07 Laurel Fork Shelter 412.8
08 Vandeventer 428.4
09 Double Springs 442.8
10 Abingdon Gap 451.1
11 Damascus,VA 461.1
12 Saunders 470.5
13 Thomas Knob 489.1
14 Hurricane Mtn 505.1
15 Trimpi 514.2
16 Chatfield 531.9
17 Atkins,VA 536.4, Davis Path 539.1
18 Knot Maul Branch 550.3
19 Jenkins Shelter 569.4
20 Helveys Mill 583.4
21 Jenny Knob 593.2
22 Wapiti 607.4
23 Doc's Knob Shelter 615.8
24 Pearisburg, VA 624.0
25 Pine Swamp Branch 643.3
26 Laurel Creek 661.8
27 Niday 674.2
28 Pickle Branch 684.3
29 Catawba,VA 696.9, Catawba Mtn 698.9
30 Lamberts Meadow 707.3
Oct01 Fullhardt Knob 721.7
02 Bobblets Gap 735.2
03 Bryant Ridge 748.5
04 Thunder Hill 758.8
05 Matts Creek 771.2
06 Glasglow,VA 773.4, Johns Hollow 775.1
07 Brown Mtn Creek 793.4
08 Seeley-Wookworth 809.2
09 Harpers Creek 823.5
10 Maupin Field 829.7
11 Paul C Wolfe 845.5
12 Waynesboro,VA 850.5