Tom's Appalachian Trail Journal

Reflections of 2018 AT section hike:

Before too many memories fade from this trip I wanted to share a few experiences, lessons, and friendships the 2018 section of the Appalachian trail afforded me. Some of this will also serve as a personal reminder for improvements for my 2019 section hike. I would also like to touch on Lessons learned , and learned lessons that failed on the trail. Of the personal growth I hope to carry with me going forward, and larger than life people that have contributed to this growth. Lastly, reflections on the cathartic effect one can derive from solitude, deprivation of creature comforts, and tapping a well of will power every person carries with him or her on a daily basis.

Weather on the Appalachian Trail. As usual, nothing goes as planned in my life. The weather in the month of May was wet to say the least. It literally rained 8 out of 10 days throughout this trip. Some days intermittently throughout the day, and on other days, all day long. At the end of the day updating a blog was the last thing on my mind. Work was a much easier task. There are pros and cons with wet weather. The biggest pro was comfort while moving. According to my Fitbit a person averages 6,000 to 7,000 calories burned on a 10 mile mountainous trek. My biggest day was a 17 mile day and towards the end of the day I was amazed my Fitbit was registering 46,000 steps. That's a ton of body heat generated while moving, albeit at a slow pace in my case. You also have to remember I normally wear the same shirt, and pants, for days and days at a time. Yeah, gross, but you get used to it after awhile. Besides, once I realized I wasn't going to die from smelling bad I was good to go. All this, coupled with the fact your body has built up salt deposits, and who knows what else, the rain serves as a pseudo shower and washing machine. Rain during the day made life so much more comfortable. And there was different types of rain. When a person walks in the rain for hours and hours and hours he starts to observe the subtle nuances of nature. There are different types of rain. Theres the misty cooling rain that you barely feel, but drenches everything. Not really too much of a nuisance. Great for hiking, but a pain for putting up and tearing down camp. There's the short lived micro burst that is intense, but short in duration. Not so bad. Unfortunately, as life has proven over and over, there is always the BUT to everything under the sun. As great as it was to have the rain serve as an outdoor air conditioner it also caused me to second, third, and fourth guess why the heck I was even out there. I'm talking about your soul sucking Chinese water torture rain. The rain that goes on, and on, and never seems to end. You start the day in a pelting rain and you think to yourself sometime during the day you'll see the sun, but it never happens. By time the day ends, you've hiked miles over god knows what terrain, your energy stores depleted, and all you want to do is set up your tent, eat, read a little, go to sleep, and it's STILL raining. Well it sucks your motivation and a little of your willpower to move on to say the least. Yes, this a soul sucking rain, but its not the worst. The worst rain is is the damn, why am I out here rain. The everything looks like night, until the lightening flashes, rain. The pelting rain coupled with thunderclaps that don't sound so far off, but as if God put you right in the center. Where it seems to come from below, on top, and all around you. This type of rain makes one to keep reminding one of oneself of the Google searches of what to do in a lightening storm. Yes, this is the worst rain. Only thing to top it is location. God must have a sense of humor, because I experienced a situation like this north of Hot Springs, NC. On an exposed mountain top with nothing but rocky out cropping a lightening storm hit. Only thing missing was the ozone smell before being put out of my misery. Scared? I was scared for a few minutes then it was a sense of you got to be kidding me. So for about 30 minutes as i navigated the wet boulders as to not and slip and break my neck, I cringed at every thunder clap, thinking goodbye world. Yes, there is rain. All types of rain, but it's the vampire like rain, and jokes from God that sucks the life out of you makes you want to toss your backpack and run for home.

Physical ability to hike the AT. There's nothing special about putting weight on your back and walking a few miles on a well worn path. The Appalachian Trail is more a test of personal will power than an exhibition of physical prowess. Don't get me wrong there are numerous locations along the trail that pose a life ending risk, but the minimal physical attributes needed to navigate these risks are possessed by the average person walking to the neighborhood Starbucks. And yes, there are those backpackers that speed along at rates of speed that leave you in the dust. Not to mention the ultra light backpackers who put in 2 times the miles. In the end every mile hiked is the same mile hiked whoever hikes it, regardless the pace or grace. I want to be an ambassador and spread the word that anybody, regardless the age, body type, or experience, can enjoy the same experience I have. That being said there are a few things I plan on doing different for next year. Thankfully I worked with Adrian, my personal trainer, for a few months before heading out. She was a great help. That made it a little easier. Unfortunately, I was still not in the best hiking shape to put in the miles i had planned for on paper.. It's all about goals and what you want to accomplish the first couple of weeks. on the trail. I'm fairly confident in saying that anyone who has hiked the AT for at least 3 to 4 weeks will develop "trail legs". Trail legs is when your body seems to remember the days of roaming the tundra for food 10,000 years ago. It's the strangest thing. Your legs seem to not get fatigued after significant miles put in for the day. It makes backpacking a true joy. Too bad it happens weeks into the hike. For all my friends even contemplating doing something like this keep in mind your body will change into a machine after a few weeks of leaving the real world behind. Just get past the first couple of weeks. For next year I think I'll put in a couple of days a week hiking the local state park with my pack. My hope is to develop "trail legs" before i hit the trail. Plus, i'm getting older and need to work harder just to stand still it seems. I think between this, and keeping Adrian around, it will give me a little bettert of a start.

An Appalachian Trail ghost story. Never thought I would ever be one to succumb to the notion of believing in ghosts, but for a few minutes on the AT I absolutely, and wholeheartedly, believed with every fiber of my being. There have been very few times in my life I've been dumbfounded as to a situation. There's always been obvious cause and effects to any given situation, but not in this case it seemed at the time. Anyway, I digress. As usual it was a rainy day on the the trail right before getting to Damascus, VA. Problem was it was starting to get later in the day and I was starting to exhibit plantar fasciitis. I was in a ton of pain. On top of this the rain started to turn into a thunder storm instead of discipating. It was litterally turning into a "dark and rainy night" and I was still on the trail with a few miles to go before I planned to stop. The pain due to the plantar fasciitis dictated events ultimately. Along this portion of the trail there is a log shelter called Queen's Knob Shelter. It was built in 1934. I guess it was intended more as a reminder of a bygone era than a usuable shelter, because all of the AT Guides, including Guthook warned hikers to not use the shelter and to set up camp elsewhere. So do I listen to sound advice? Let's see, it was storming, I'm drenched, my feet are on fire, and its getting dark. Hell no. It looked sound enough. Something Daniel Boone would build. In fact it looked kinda cool. It was very small as shelters go and only had room for 2 people and that was being generous. I didn't care at that point how structually sound it was. I took out my tent, ground cloth, and rain fly to drape it across the front in an effort to keep the wind from blowing rain into the shelter and drenching my down sleeping bag. All this time the only thing i heard was the rain against the shelter and wind. No big deal, until that is I started to hear storm muffled voices. At first I was at a loss. Not scared, just confused and dumbfounded. Couldn't quite make out what was being said, but enough to recognize it as humen voices. I was questioning whether I was exhausted and just experiencing auditory hallucinations or really hearing weird voices. Once I get settled and my immediate concerns were taken care of, i.e. dry clothes, tent across the front of the shelter, taking care of my feet, and food, I started to hear voices again. This time I started to become a little, ok a lot, more unsettled. These were voices, not wind. Very hard to hear, but voices nevertheless. It was still storming outside, but I actually contemplated after a few minutes to pack everything up and run down the trail storm, darkness, and foot pain be damned. I finally decided I would pack everything up and move on in the dark, but would check around first. I got out of my Western Mountaineering down sleeping bag and put on my wet clothhes and wet boots. Grabbed my head lamp, and headed into the "dark and stormy night". Unreal i was thinking to mystelf. Real ghost experience. Nobody is going to believe this (expletive) I actually said to nobody. I bet if it's a ghost it's a civil war soldier, because very few Appalachian Trail deaths have occurred on this leg of the trail. Now, truth be told, I was scared, but true to my nature I was more curious, and put fear on the back burner. I hadn't seen anyone all day. How in the hell was I hearing voices. I was excited in a way to actually experience a paranormal event. I started walking around the shelter counter clock wise moving farther and farther out as I went. I didn't hear anything for a minute or two and then I heard. "do you think he needs to go out?". Because I was outside of the shelter I could actually make out what was being said and in what direction. Next thing I know a guy and a shepard popped out from behing some bushes onto the trail. I watched his head lamp bob along the trail taking his dog for a pit stop so to speak. I had mixed emotions for a second. In that instant I was disappointed I lost my ghost story, but relieved I didn't lose bowel control should I have run across a real ghost.

Queen"s Knob Shelter

(not my picture. Got it off the internet. Besides it was storming)

The update to the blog is a little behind schedule, but thankfully I can finally focus on it. This is day 7. Miles hiked total is 68.2. I'm in Erwin, Tennessee taking a day off. at Uncle Johnny's Hiker Hostel.

A word to describe this quixotic endeavor would have to be humbling. Not what i expected, but memorable nevertheless. All the planning, the talk, and the purchasing of top of the line gear cannot take the place of experiencing the act of doing something. The first couple of days it rained intermittantly. Even sleeted on the first at higer elevations. Couldn't figure out what was hitting me on the head until i looked at the ground and saw little balls of ice. There's quite a bit to tell, but id rather share a few pictures to illustrate the last 68,2 miles. All in all im miserable and incredibly satisfied at the same time. Strange. Oh, i've met some fascinating people too. Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Clik on the links below to see video and get an idea what some of the trail was like. I apologize for the breathing. I was holding the phone in my mouth and was rather stressed. I would mute it to make it more watchable.

CLIK LINKS BELOW

Interesting part of the trial

On Top of Bald Mountain 5500 Feet

On top of Bald Mountain. Picture doesn't do the view justice. Unreal view after a 5500 climb, or crawl in my case. Another hiker took the picture, I was too exhausted to pose for anything. I was just glad I was still breathing.

Getting the postage for all the food I'm sending myself on tht trail. I go into town and pick it up at hostels, hotels, USPO, and B&Bs. Yes, i get a shower every 5 days or so.

A big thanks to my friend Mike Hemmerich for taking care of the logistical side of the house. Mailing the packages out on a timely basis.