Finally Done

I finished my flip flop this morning, 20 OCT 16 at 1130.  It has been a long 7 1/2 months, and I am ready to get home.  It was a good time, and I am glad that I did it.  More to follow. 

Oh, How Things Have Changed

Maine is different than Virginia.  You may have already known that, but I started hiking in Maine as if it were the smooth, well maintained trails that I left down south.  With all the rocks and roots in Maine, that isn't a good idea.  My goal was to get as many miles up north as I was getting in the south, so my feet ended up getting a bit messed up, which has required a lot of rest to get them better.  My progress is still slow, but the recovery is starting to catch up to me, so the feet only hurt for a few hours after hiking instead of a few days.

Maine was beautiful, to say the least, but getting up Katahdin took some doing.  I climbed to just past the tree line on Monday, 13 JUN, but the weather was horrible with 70 mph winds and visibility of about 50 feet.  It was probably a good idea to skip it for that day.  The weather didn't cooperate until the 15th, and the ascent was a fun climb, with only a bit of clouds for the last 200 feet or so. After climbing down, it was time for the 100 mile wilderness.  It took 6 1/2 days for me to get through, and it was an eye opening experience.  Nowhere had I seen so many roots and rocks on the trail, and in places, the trail looked like the floor in the well of souls.

The mileage suffered because of pain and terrain, and I was all alone except for one person I knew from before the AT, and she didn't take long to pass by me as if I were standing still.  It was a miserable time.  I started hating everything about the trail.  The trees, the roots, the rocks, the beautiful scenery, the great people I met.  It was bad.  On 4 JUL, I called my wife to tell her that I was going to get off the trail and head home.  She told me to quit being a pussy.  Not really in those words, but she gave me some words of encouragement and helped me get my head back in the game so that I am back to enjoying being out here.

In addition to my wonderful wife's kind words, I have gained quite a bit of motivation from passing many of the people with whom I hiked down south.  They were anywhere from 400 to 800 miles ahead of me when we crossed paths, but it was awesome seeing all the familiar faces again.  Most have since reached the top of Katahdin and sent me their summit photos.

I am currently sitting at The Notch Hostel after a good couple of days on the trail, waiting for a ride into town for dinner and a frosty beverage made from malted barley and hops.  I'll do some slack packing from here to knock out some miles quickly so that I can hopefully be done with the AT by early October.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Flipping the Flop

Flipping the Flop 

After arriving in Harper's Ferry on 6 June, my hiking partner of 4 weeks, Tetris, and I got a ride into DC from his friend Jesse. Being the Rochesterians...Rochesterites... Rochestinos? that they are, they decided to introduce me to their hometown culinary masterpiece- the Garbage Plate. If you don't know what that is, try getting on the Google machine for some research, and find a recipe. Then, cook yourself a plate of heaven.  

On Tuesday, we took a train into town. Tetris and Jesse got off at the Smithsonian stop, and I continued to my stop in Maryland where I had reserved a hotel room [Editor's note: no surprise here!]. I was looking forward to a hiker dinner of instant mashed potatoes and a packet of tuna, so the obvious choice for dinner was the Buffalo Wild Wings next door. Contrary to my desires, there were no instant potatoes and tuna available. Instead, I had beer, wings, beer, and beer.  

Wednesday was not my favorite day. Being in DC, it was time for me to visit my friends in Arlington. We lost an aircrew to enemy fire on 30 MAY 07, and there is a group headstone at the national cemetery for the crew. This was my first visit, and it wasn't easy. I'm glad that I finally made it to share a shot of Jameson with 4 of the 5 guys. (Jesse was Mormon, so I had a Sprite in his honor later). 

Wednesday afternoon was spent walking around DC until it was time to catch my Amtrak train to Maine. As I mentioned before, this was my first time on a choo choo. The whole experience was a good one, and I highly recommend travel by choo choo.  

My wife's aunt Karen picked me up in Bangor, and because she works all week, I spent a few days in Stonington where she lives. It was pretty awful. Karen cooked fresh blueberry muffins, rhubarb scones, and French toast for me in the mornings. The views of the ocean were only mediocre, and they got really old really quickly. The absolute worst part of living on the island was all the fresh, delicious seafood. I had to put up with fresh crab rolls for lunch and a dinner of fresh scallops, shrimp, and haddock. Island life is rough.  

Karen got me to the base of Katahdin Sunday night (12 June), and my first attempt would be early Monday morning. The weather was less than favorable with high winds and a low layer of clouds. Those factors conspired against me, and I only made it to the tree line before I had to turn back. 70 mph winds with 50 foot visibility don't create favorable conditions for climbing a mountain I have never been on.  

Tuesday's forecast was worse than Monday's, so I stayed in my tent all day, doing crossword puzzles until my brain turned off.  

Wednesday's forecast was much better, and I got up and started the trail at exactly 6:00 in the morning. The winds were not too strong, but they were constantly present.  I got to the point at which I had to turn around on Monday, and it was clear for me to continue. After another 2 hours of climbing over boulders and up vertical walls, I made it to Baxter point, the highest point in the state of Maine, and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Because of my decision to flip flop, this was only the mid point of my hike. That didn't take anything away from the fact that I had just climbed Katahdin.  

After summiting, I spent a couple days in Millinocket, ME [Editor's note: Again...no surprise here!] before heading out south of Katahdin. The first few days should be pretty flat with a few rivers to ford. I'm looking forward to the next 1165 or so miles. [Editor's note: probably 1165 more hotels too] 

It's Time to Flip the Flop

I made it to Harper's Ferry today on the 6th of June, and I am going to alter my original plan of a NOBO thru hike.  In order to shake things up a bit, my plan is now to get a train later this week from DC to Bangor, Maine, then catch a ride to Katahdin. 
Call it the Virginia blues, call it boredom, call it what you want, but a change will be welcome right now.  Also, I get to ride a choo choo, which is something that I have never done.  Wish me luck.

First Video Is Up. Finally!

I finally got a video up after 3 months.  There probably won't be more than just a few updates here and there from the trail until I get done. 

By the way, that was 80 days and 45 pounds ago.  I'm not quite that fat anymore.

It Just Doesn't Matter

No, no.. I'm not giving up, and I'm not losing my mind.  I have just realized that the little setbacks and problems just don't matter.  There are things such as bad weather, low mileage days, and equipment issues that pop up that do nothing more than provide a bit of annoyance for a short time.

When my backpack broke at Chestnut Knob Shelter, there was no point in getting pissed off.  I looked at the problem, looked at what I had on hand, and I fixed the issue well enough to get me into Pearisburg a couple days later.  My left shoulder was a bit sore because of the malfunctioning backpack, but that went away within a day of receiving my new pack.

When my tent got destroyed in a hail storm at Rice Creek Shelter, I slept in the shelter and headed back to Pearisburg the next day to get a new tent sent out to me.  The worst part of this situation was having to pay for a bunk in a hostel for an extra 3 or 4 days, but my body was able to rest and recover during that time.  The bonus for all that was the rotisserie chickens at the Food Lion across the street.  The bird population in Virginia was impacted by my eating habits in those 4 days. 

When the thunderstorms kick up in the afternoons, I just hunker down in a safe place and wait for the storm to pass over.  It is happening on an almost daily basis here in Virginia, so it is becoming my chance to stop, rest my feet, and grab a snack.  The first storm I encountered tried to send lightning bolts through my face, but due to my superior reactions and speed, I dodged everything that mother nature sent my way.  My daily mileage is ending up where I want it to, it just takes a bit longet when I have to wait out a storm.

All of these things would have pissed me off in the past, and put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.  It seems that being out here on the AT is giving me some ability to just not worry about the stuff that doesn't really matter when it's all said and done.  It's just walking, and sometimes it isn't quite as easy as other thimes, but it's all just walking.

Appalachian Trail & Telecommunications

Well, AT&T doesn't stand for Appalachian Trails and Telecommunications because I have almost no reception out on the Trail.  That's why all four of you haven't heard from me in a while.

Today is April 4th, and I just got into Erwin, TN where I'll be staying at Uncle Johnny's Hostel for the night.  Indoor bed, shower, and a Mexican restaurant in town make this an ideal place.

Since my last post, I had my ass kicked by the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, stayed at the Standing Bear Hostel, and spent a couple days in a cabin with my lovely bride.

The GSMNP is the only place on the AT which requires money to hike, so I paid $20 to a government organization that I already pay via taxes so that I could walk on mountains.  Anyway, it was a unique experience up there because of the high elevation and unique weather that occurs up there.  Because of its status, hikers are required to stay in the established shelters, which means easy transfer of norovirus, which happens every year.  I was lucky enough to have been skipped over by this bug.
One day and into the night gave us about 8 to 10 inches of snow to deal with about halfway through the park.  The snow melted then froze again overnight a couple times, which allowed me to use my micro spikes to avoid slipping all over the place like those without them.
When leaving the GSMNP, I stayed at the Standing Bear Hostel overnight while waiting for my wife to pick me up for a couple of days in a cabin.  The Standing Bear is definitely a unique experience.  "Rustic" is probably the best word to describe the accommodations.  There was pizza and there was beer.  Those of us that stayed overnight had a good time by the campfire downing lots of the beers worthy of the blue ribbon they won and the competition where they won the blue ribbon.  Not sure where it was, but, damnit, those beers were good! 

The next day was when Neisha showed up to take me away as if she were Calgon.  My two dogs who hadn't seen me in a while were in the car with her, and apparently wanted to eat my face off when they saw me walking to the car.  One sniff of my dirty hiker hand, and they realized who I was, and they promptly shut the hell up.  Our 2 days in the cabin was definitely a good time.  I got to screw up a couple expensive Harris Teeter steaks, but it beat the hell out of instant mashed potatoes and Clif bars.  Dinner the second night was hamburgers and a pound of bacon for the burgers and baked taters.  A majority of that pound of bacon went into my face hole while I was cooking.  Bacon is good.

The 2 days off from the trail put me behind the people I was hiking with for the previous 2 or 3 weeks, but it also allowed me to start hiking with a new group of people.  At this point (37 days of hiking) I am running into lots of new people who started after me, but hike faster than me, as well as lots of familiar faces from as far back as 5 weeks ago.  Overall, it has been a great experience, and I am looking forward to making some more good miles.

Oh yeah, if you want to stay connected while on the trail, get Verizon.  The only people I see using their phones on a consistent basis all have Verizon.

Second Week on the AT

Week two didn't start out the way that I had hoped. A blister that had formed early on my right pinky toe was turning into a dagger being stabbed into my flesh every step I took. 

After leaving Hiawassee, I hiked just over 13 miles to  Deep Gap shelter. The next morning, my toe caused me to get off the trail and head to see a doctor. The flesh on my toe was red and swollen to the point that it was starting to cover my toenail and I was concerned it was infected.   I walked the 2.4 miles to Dick's Creek Gap and got a ride back into Hiawassee to get checked out. 

As it turned out, there was no infection; just a lot of swelling from being a big wuss with delicate feet. I got some antibiotics in case my toe does become infected later and a tetanus shot just for good measure. My first official zero day was spent icing my knees and my toe. 

Getting out of Hiawassee was good, but the toe still was not healing up adequately.  On March 8th , I made it to the Georgia/North Carolina state line and camped at Bly Gap with about 20 other hikers.  The next morning I got up and made the 12 mile hike to Beech Gap where it was less crowded. 

By the 11th, my feet had almost driven me over the edge, so I caught a shuttle into Franklin, NC to see if the foot experts at Outdoor 76 could help. They could.  Jonathan spent about an hour with me, figuring out what the hell was wrong.   Once he did his magic, he chose a pair of North Face Ultra Fastpack II boots for me, and my pain was instantly gone. To celebrate, I went to the back of the store where they have a bar with 18 different craft brews on tap and I had a beer. 

On the 12th, the shuttle dropped me back off at the trailhead and I hiked to Siler Bald Shelter. Avoid this one if you can. It's a 0.5 mile hike down a steep trail to the shelter. That means the same hike in the morning, but uphill. 

My home for the 13th was the tent area just above Cold Spring shelter. It's a nice area that I would recommend for anyone with a tent or hammock. There are plenty of flat spots for all size tents. 

My plan for the 14th is a shelter just shy of the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which I will check out on the 15th.

First Week on the AT My lovely wife drove me to Gainesville, GA on Friday, 26 February. After a night with almost no sleep, she drove me to Amicalola Falls State Park where I could register with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, then get my fat ass through the archway and on my way up to Springer. When signing in, I ended up being number 174 of the year to start an AT thru hike from Amicalola Falls. Neisha wanted to get a picture of me before I started my hike, so we waited for a couple of kids to get their picture taken before it was my turn. As it turned out, one of the kids was /u/jacob420, and he and I had been talking online for a couple weeks before we started, as well as subscribing to each others' YouTube channels. His channel name is Jacob Downing. Check out his videos. The approach trail which I tackled Saturday is 8.8 miles, and not part of the 2189.1 miles of the 2016 AT. Official mileage starts at the summit of Springer Mountain. Once I got to the summit, I signed the log and continued another 0.2 miles to the Springer Shelter. There were a bunch of AT hikers and a few locals at the campground. I set up my tent in a spot next to an 18 year old hiker that ended up with the trail name Nutella. The next morning, a bunch of us packed up and headed out within 30 minutes of each other. I hiked with Nutella to Hawk Mountain Shelter 7.9 miles away. There were a bunch of new faces, human and canine that we encountered, and Lucy the Schnauzer was the one I liked meeting the most. 29 February was a pretty rough day. I got up expecting to only hike about 8.5 miles, so my breakfast consisted of a bag of peanuts. When I reached my destination, another hiker called AK had caught up to me and convinced me to do another 6.5 miles to Neel Gap. In order to get there, I had to climb over Blood Mountain, which was about 6,000 feet higher in elevation than Everest, or so it seemed. By the time we were just short of the summit, I was walking for about 30 seconds, and resting for about 2 minutes. This was as close to bonking as I have ever been. AK waited for me at the top, and I ate a Clif bar, some Oreos, and as much peanut butter as I could fit on my right index finger. After about 15 minutes, I was good to go, so we headed down the back side of Blood with Neel Gap a couple miles away. When it was all said and done, we had completed 15.8 miles over the biggest mountain so far along the AT. We split a cabin 3 ways with another YouTube friend, Eric Lutz. It beat the hell out of sharing a hostel with 30 other stinky, snoring hikers. If you ever have a chance, stay at the Blood Mountain Cabins. I promise that you won't be disappointed. March 2nd was a pretty uneventful day. We didn't start hiking until after 10, and we only did 11.5 miles to Low Gap Shelter. By the time I arrived, it was getting late and cold. I set up my tent and went to bed early. On the 3rd, I was planning to get in about 15 miles to make it to a shelter, then another 11 the next day to get to the Top of Georgia Hostel, where I would stay overnight and pick up a package of food that Neisha sent out to me. Plans changed. When I got to a shelter 7.5 miles into my trip, I stopped to see who was there. Within 10 minutes, it started snowing. Then, it kept snowing. For 6 hours. Instead of pushing on, I set up my tent and stayed for the night. I love my tent, but I hate the condensation that was collecting inside it and dropping into my ears throughout the night. Today is the 4th. When I woke up, I had the start of a sore throat, so I decided to just walk the 2.4 miles to Unicoi Gap and get a shuttle into Hiawassee, GA. After 6.5 days on the trail as a 45 year old dude, it's a good time to take a break, have some hot food, and heal up for some good miles this next week.

Heading to GA

Goodbye home, goodbye dogs, goodbye indoor plumbing, goodbye shower, goodbye deodorant. I'll see all of you again in a few months.

Tomorrow is the Day

Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving home for my hike. Mostly everything is done and ready except for a few things on my honey-do list and actually packing my backpack. We'll probably leave Raeford around noon and spend 5 or 6 hours driving to Gainesville, GA where we'll be staying at the 6 star Motel 6. It's called that because it has a 6 star rating, right? Saturday morning, we'll head to Amicalola where I'll check in at the visitors' center, then start walking. My plan is to complete the approach trail and pitch my tent near the shelter 0.2 miles past the Springer Mountain trail head. There's a privy there, so I can get rid of Saturday's Waffle House breakfast before I start hiking Sunday. It's hard to plan out exactly how far I'll be hiking each day, but a rough estimate will have me at Neel Gap on about day 4 where I'll pick up my first mail drop. It would be awesome to start out doing 20 mile days, but that isn't going to happen. 8 or so miles per day will keep me happy until I get my trail legs under me. Hopefully, my average miles per day will be up to 15 or so after a couple weeks. My plan is to take a long lunch every day and try to nap for a bit before heading out for the afternoon's miles. Tonight's dinner, being my last here for a long time, is going to be a good one. I got the brisket on the smoker early this morning, and we'll be chowing down at about 7 tonight. I might as well go all out for my last meal at home.

I'm Chomping at the Bit!

I have been looking at YouTube videos from last year's thru hikers to get myself pumped up for my hike, and a bunch of 2016 hikers' pages have popped up. We're getting close. Lots of people are talking about starting in the middle of February, and a few have already started. In order to get with the kids out there, I started a new YouTube channel to document my journey. As of right now, there are only two videos for your viewing pleasure, but there will be plenty more in the future. There is an iPhone app that I downloaded that will allow me to post videos straight to my YouTube channel, and I will give updates whenever there is adequate cell phone or WiFi service. Once I am off the trail, there will be opportunity for me to edit, then upload some good videos to my channel. CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Follow Me

I got myself a SPOT rat tracker, so everybody can see where I am, and how slowly I am going. It'll also help locate my remains after a bear Leo-rapes me and kills me. Here you go.

Happy New Year. I'm 60 Days Out

60 is probably more days than I actually have. Happy new year, and happy trails. I hope to see some or all of you out there.