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