48 Hours After Finishing...

I wasn't gonna do any more posts but since the last one was immediately after finishing this will be more aftermath related.  To be honest there is a void in me now.  The trail, my home for 111 days is gone.  I long for the pitter patter of rain drops falling on a shelter roof, for the sweet smell of Christmas trees in Maine's alpine environment, for the daily routine of gathering water from cold mountain springs, for the sound of coyote's howling in the night, for the taste of wild succulent blueberries and apples, for the comradery and friendships among fellow hikers, for the freedom to take a leak wherever and whenever, for the rustling of leaves in a gentle mountain breeze, for the feeling of self sufficiency when surviving on so little, for the reward of an incredible view from a mountain top after working so hard to get there, for being able to eat 3 meals a day in different locations with different scenery, for the cozy warmth of my sleeping bag on a cool fall night, for the chance to go swimming in the frigid waters of Maine's back country, for the isolation from most of the bad stuff going on in the world today, and for the feeling of living on "trail time" by not having a clue what day of the week or month it is.

These things i all miss.  With time the void will fill as i readjust to my home off the trail.  The trail may be a love/hate relationship but it became a part of me.  I see why there are people that get sucked into trail life and just hike it year after year after year.  Even though i have hiked the entire AT and can identify every view in every picture i feel as though i have barely scratched the surface.  I very well might do another AT thru hike eventually; however if i did another it would be a NOBO so i could see it from a different perspective.  Right now everyone that sees me asks all these questions about my hike and i really enjoy telling stories about both the good and bad times.  But with every story the longing to get back out on the trail increases; it's one of the top things i think about.  Eventually this will pass as people will have heard the stories and this thru hike will become a thing of the past.  Its a long road of recovery but i will succeed and turn out just fine.

What I Have Taken From The Appalachian Trail

There is a saying "Leave No Trace." Part of that is, "take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footsteps." Or something like that. Well I think I took more than just memories. The trail gave me many things I believe. Number one, I am more confident than ever before. Number two, I was constantly reminded to always put everything before God first. Whether it is a blessing and you need to thank him; or a tough situation you are facing. An example with the tough situations were my foot problems up north. At first I worried about it and how I would deal with it. No sirrrryyyy that's not the way to approach problems. I remembered while on the trail that I shouldn't worry about problems just give it to God and ask for his guidance/help. When I fell and busted my knees up towards the end of my hike I was crying out as I was writhing on the ground in pain asking God to let me be able to finish my hike and not be incapacitated. I knew he would provide a way for me to finish if it was his will and guess what? I finished thanks to God who gave me the strength to get up off the ground, continue to put one foot in front of the other, and hike until I reached my destination. Another thing I took from the trail is being more comfortable in the woods at night. Let's face it the woods at night can be scary and you hear things that are spooky sounding. After having slept and especially hiked in the night so much I am very comfortable with the dark. It helps though that I have been shark fishing on the beach at night for 7 years and hog hunting at night for 3 years also. I am sure there are other things I have taken and maybe I will come back if I can think of any others and update this page. But at the point I am writing this my hunger is kicking in and I want to eat. I cannot think any more except about food so at that I am going to sign out for the last time. It has been a pleasure sharing my 2014 Southbound Appalachian Trail thru hike experience with you and thank you for sticking with it. If you continue to comment I will read them and I would enjoy hearing back from those that have read this blog. Goodnight

What's Next for Sharkbait

I have had a lot of time to think about future "bucket list" items I want to accomplish. My next BIG adventure, although not quite as crazy as an AT thru hike, will be to hike the El Camino in France, Spain, and Portugal (I think those are the countries it goes through). It is 500 miles long I believe and is a pilgrimmage sort of hike. There are different paths to take but I think the French way is the one I would do. I haven't done much research at this point I have just met a lot of people on the trail that have done it and it is right up my alley. I am not going to push it like I did on the AT and I will not do it solo. I will find a friend to hike with before I go. What I like about the Camino is you can essentially carry just a day pack with a sleeping bag, a few bottles of water, and that day's worth of food. Thats it. You hostel hop, I think they are called barista's over there, and get stamps for each place you go in a passport thingy for the trail. Being able to eat fine cheeses and fresh bread every day sounds really good after coming off an AT thru hike where i have eaten junk for the whole trip and I have to carry day's worth at a time. The Camino is not "woodsy" like the AT it is mostly road walks from what I understand and you go through a ton of small villages every day where you can see first hand the local culture over there in a different way than the normal "touristy" way. That sounds like a cool adventure to me. Other things I want to do is go out west and hike some out there. I don't have a desire to do a thru hike of the PCT or CDT at this time but there are some areas I would section hike for sure. I also want to complete the Bartram Trail in GA/NC. I hit a portion of that back in June on a shakedown and that is one gorgeous trail. I will be back to the AT for section hikes but not in the push it fashion I did on this thru hike. It will be way more kicked back and I will actually camp rather than eat/sleep/hike.

Post Hike Thoughts

I'm back in Florida and boy does it feel strange. Traveling in a car at 70mph was a total different sensation than having maxed out at 4mph hiking over the past few months. I want to give a big thank you to Courtney for coming and picking me up and putting up with my smell in a small car. It was great to have somebody to talk to for the ride home rather than being stuck on a bus. While I am thanking people I would like to thank everybody that sent me Mail Magic and also my Uncle Ford who sent me Mail Magic but the P.O. lost it or it was stolen who knows. To all of you who encouraged me, prayed for me, and commented on the blog or photo's I really appreciate it. Mark and Brandon thank you once again for stopping by the house last year and giving me pre-hike advice. My biggest thanks goes to our Lord and Savior for never forsaking me, always getting me through tough times, and for providing me the opportunity to do this hike. My parents need some help around their houses for a while so that will give me something to do for the remainder of the year and I will stay with them until January. Taking a shower felt great and to be honest I cannot sleep right now. It's gonna be strange adjusting to a life other than the trail. The Appalachian Trail was not just a hike, but a journey, and was my home for 111 days. I literally was living in the outdoors 24/7 breathing the fresh mountain air for majority of the hike... that's a crazy concept to fathom. I heard on the radio that the high is 79 and low of 56. That is sooo different than a low around freezing every night and a high in the 60s. One thing I have been thinking about recently is I have been wearing the same shirt and shorts every day of this hike. When I got to my folks house I put on some shorts and nothing fits at all. What do I do when I am so skinny. I dont want to go shopping and spend a ton of money when there are no sales going on right now you know what I mean? So I guess a belt cinched very tight will have to suffice for now. One of my biggest concerns is how my weight will change after this hike. I will no longer be hiking 20+ miles a day 7 days a week in the mountains. I want to maintain this physique but build up the upper body mass that I lost during the hike. So I guess I will start doing some running if my knees can handle it, maybe bike a bunch, get some bands to do muscle workouts, or whatever else I can think of. I'm not sure but I don't want to become a lazy bum and lose all this leg muscle that I have just worked so hard to build. I am 147 lbs at the end and I started at 159 lbs if I remember right. Another thing I hope will get fixed on its own is my bladder. Problem number 1 is it has shrunk because I have had my pack hip belt cinched down tight on it for a long time and that has reduced its size. Problem number 2 is I don't have much in the way of bladder control. You see whenever I had to take a leak i could go and I just went wherever it doesn't matter. Sometimes there would be a cool looking tree, or a sign post, or a cliff, uhhh maybe I should stop there. Haha. So learning to actually have to hold it and not being able to go whenever and wherever will be interesting. Hopefully I don't need my mommy to teach me potty training lessons like when i was a toddler. Getting used to being around people will be a challenge I forsee when in areas that are very crowded. To be honest though I am not concerned and should adjust fine with time. Loud music like at church will be tough too but with time I will be able to handle it again.

Day 111: The End of A Journey

I woke up this morning feeling great and ready to pump out some miles.  It was a crisp, cool morning with a slight breeze blowing... perfect for hiking.  When the sun came up there was blue skies and not a cloud in sight.  It was only 15.8 miles to the finish.  I did 14.8 miles to big stamp gap which is where i planned on meeting my friend Courtney.  She volunteered to come pick me up so i wouldn't have to get a bus ride back and i appreciated that a lot.  We met at big stamp at 12:30pm and hiked to the top of springer mtn together.  There were some other thru hikers up there that i have never met before but i had heard of via shelter logs.  Amazingly i didn't cry at all at the top i figured i would.  Courtney and i hit the road and went over to Amicalola Falls State Park at the base of Springer Mtn.  where i register as a successful thru hiker.  I am number 13 successful SOBO thru hiker for 2014.  To put that in perspective i was the 75th thru hiker to reach Harpers Ferry, WV.  I didn't get a number at Katahdin but they had 242 sobo thru hikers register there total this year.  Since i started late in the season i would estimate i was approximately number 215 to start at Katahdin.  Thank you for following this blog i have enjoyed sharing this experience with you and i hope this has inspired you in some sort of way.

Day 110: The Georgia Cakewalk

Today i did 26 miles.  I only have 15.8 left to do tomorrow!  I crossed over blood mountain today and went through neels gap which is a cool place.  There is an outfitter there called mountain crossings and the trail passes through an overhanging between two buildings.  So Georgia is really easy hiking and i highly recommend hiking the AT here in GA to anybody back in FL.  To be honest GA is one of the easiest states on the whole AT.  NC, TN, VA, NH, and ME are way way tougher.  Especially ME (Maine).  There is only one other person at Gooch Mountain shelter which is where i am staying tonight.  It will be a bittersweet end tomorrow but i am ready to be done with hiking 20+ miles a day 7 days a week.  Doing an AT thru hike aint easy and is something i am going to be glad to say ive accomplished.  I will be doing some more posts after i finish about things ive learned while out here or how ive changed.  Things like that.  It may take me a couple days but i will do them.  Tomorrows destination: Springer Mountain, Georgia

Day 109: 11/9/14

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better.  I slept great due to being on a comfy bed, i had 4 soft pillows, and sheets.  If you didn't know i dont carry any sort of pillow while on the trail.  Sometimes i use my fleece pullover or my clothes bag but not too often.  Its usually more tolerable to not use them.  My knees are still hurting some but are way better after resting and icing.  Any time i stop for 30 seconds or more they stiffen up but walking again helps them loosen up.  I did 26.4 miles and had to night hike 1.75 hours.  I didn't hit the trail until 9 am which hurt timing but at least i got a huge breakfast.  The holiday inn had top notch staff and probably the best continental breakfast ive ever seen.  They even had a lady making hot items like biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and cinnamon rolls.  Hitching out went better than expected it took about 20 mins.  Sunday mornings are tough because everyone is going into town for church not out of town.  Everyone else just sleeps in so not many people on the road.  But hey, this was the last time i had to hitch on this adventure.  Tomorrow is my last big day on the trail wooohooo!  Tuesday will be an easy stroll to the finish.

Day 107-108: The Longest Stretch

It snowed during movie night.  It was only a tiny bit and didn't affect hiking.  I hit the trail at 6:30 am from Wesser Bald Shelter.  I saw a total of 3 fire towers between days 107-108  which is a lot... but then again i did a lot of miles.  Sometime this afternoon i got to a road to hitch into Franklin, NC.  I went to the post office and got a mail drop from my grandmother.  Thank you granny!!!  I then ate Bojangles and hit the trail again around 4:30pm.  I had done 21-22 miles at this point but had to keep going.  I hiked through the entire night to get to Hiawassee, GA which i got here at 8:30am.  That is 61.8 miles of hiking total.  The reason i did that was to get to the post office on Saturday during the few hours they are open to get a package from a family friend named Patty.  It should have been here already and if i had waited to get here i would have to have done 56 miles between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon and thats not how i want to finish pushing it like that.  This package has been sent previously to 2 other post offices and each time it arrives late... like up to 6 days late.  So i got to the P.O. and guess what it aint here and wont be here until Tuesday.  Grrrrr i just killed myself for nothing.  But the postmaster said she would mail it to an address i gave her so hopefully i get it back in FL. 

Now back to last night.  I had a really bad fall around 11:30pm.  Both my ankles got caught on a fallen tree limb and i hit the ground hard.  I landed on my knees and both of them hit a big tree root simultaneously.  I was screaming in agony as i was writhing on the ground.  I thought my knees were broken they hurt so bad.  The mental challenge kicked in and i was concerned i couldn't hike any more. The left one was bleeding a lot with surface bruising and both were swelling up.  But the right one was hurting the most.  It took me 5 minutes before i could get up and barely hobble down the trail.  My knees were stiff as boards at first or any time i stopped moving the rest of the night.  But i still had 22 miles to do and i needed rest.  I decided not to stop at a shelter because i needed to use RICE and thats not available out here... at least the ice part.  Hiking the remainder of the night was agonizing and really cold but i made it.  Last night is the first time i have ever hiked in layers which worked great its just usually not that windy/cold i guess.  I crossed into Georgia last night also so thats cool, last state.  After going to the P.O. and getting breakfast i paid for a room at the Holiday Inn Express.  I haven't paid for a single nice place this whole trip so why not.  Plus they have tv's for college football, an actual bed with pillows, ice machines to ice my knees, as well as easy access to the grocery store for resupply.  I sat around most of the day sleeping and icing my knees which hurt bad.  It stinks i was finally in my prime feeling great with no issues and moving great and now i am injured with 69 miles left.  I aint giving up i have to finish even if its hard to walk i will make it to Springer on Tuesday.  I should take a zero and keep resting my knees but i want to finish and i have arrangements all made to go back to FL Tuesday.  Moving on is going to be hard mentally this trail is fighting me all the way to the end.  I have come so far, if i were to quit now even though i am injured i couldn't live with myself.  Its not easy doing this every day and i am looking forward to finishing.  There are aspects of the trail i will miss but i am ready for this thru hike to be completed.  If you read this before i finish please pray for my knees to cooperate.

I haven't been taking any pics recently i dont feel the need to.  There are no leaves on the trees and its very dull.  At least the snow pics were cool.

Day 106: 11/6/14

It rained last night and this morning for the first hour of hiking.  But i made it to the Nantahala Outdoor Center where i got a huge late lunch and packed out a sandwich to go.  The general store was closed for the season so i couldn't resupply.  I bought 4 cliff bars at the outfitter which i hate cliff bars but food is food and hopefully i will make it to Franklin, NC tomorrow without starving.  I wanted to go 26 miles but only made it 21 miles today with the restaurant stop.  The time change is really hurting me.  There were two section hikers that got to the shelter at the same time as me.  Well ive seen it all now here on the AT because we watched the new Godzilla movie on one guys iphone 6!  He had portable speakers to so sound quality was incredible.  He has a huge battery charger and extra batteries so they can watch a movie every night.  Pretty awesome if you ask me... movie night on the AT. 

Day 105: Da Smokies Part 5

I made it out of the smokies today, past fontana dam, and back up in more mountains.  It was a 26 mile day.  I am low on food so i will have to ration to get to the N.O.C. tomorrow.  There were only a handful of spots with snow today and eventually it disappeared.  I am glad to have survived it and i didn't get frostbite in my toes from the Appalachian slush puddle trail.  Boy that water under the snow is cold (it never turned to ice like i thought it would).  I killed my 4th mouse of the trail.  I stabbed it with my trekking pole.  The mice in the smokies shelters were insane!  They were everywhere and dont sleep at night.

Day 103: Da Smokies Part 3

The roads opened around 10 am and by the time i got back to the trail it was 11:15am.  Sunny and blue skies were the weather today.  I went to hike out of Newfound and holy cow the snow was deep.  Within 3 steps i was already waist deep!  I had been told by a trail maintainer before the storm hit that this section from newfound to clingmans dome holds the most snow due to elevation, the side of the mountain its on, and the sun doesn't shine there.  Well that snow was only going to get deeper so i decided to road walk to clingmans.  I normally wouldn't skip a section of trail but i felt this was a good reason to.  Plus the road walk is over 7 miles so its comparable to what the trail would have been mileage wise.  At clingmans dome i got some cool pics and set off into a winter wonderland.  By the way clingmans dome is the highest point on the AT at over 6600 ft!  No tracks were left in the snow before me so i had to posthole it.  I had no clue what was underneath where i was stepping.  Most steps were knee deep with some waist deep areas and my feet never hit the ground i was just compacting snow until it stopped me.  I wore my spikes but they didn't do anything in this mess i needed snow shoes.  I only made it 4 miles and i stopped at a shelter.  My feet were soaked and cold so i quickly got changed.  I was only able to do about 1.5 mph in the snow but i had a lot of fun hiking in fairyland.  Right before dark 3 overnighters showed up that had parked at clingmans.  They were from Wisconsin and had good cold weather gear but no snow shoes.  They had a hatchet and chopped wood and got a fire going in the chimney (all smokies shelters have chimneys) which really warmed the place up.  I killed my 3rd mouse of the trip.  I intentionally left an empty gallon Ziploc that had had food in it open so a mouse would crawl in it.  When one did i slammed my arm over it and zipped it shut.  I then threw the bag with mouse in the fire.  I reeeeaaally dont like mice. 

Day 104: Da Smokies Part 4

I hiked as hard as i could all day and only made it 16 miles.  Snow was deep and it aint melting.  But the last 3 miles it started to thin out and i felt solid ground for first time since clingmans dome.  Solid ground hurts and i had to regain my balance and how to use my feet.  My toes were cold and soaking wet today again.  As long as i kept hiking they were warm though.  You would think i would be wearing snow pants and a jacket and stuff but i still cant wear more than just shorts and a t shirt its too hot i push it so hard i sweat a lot.  I ate a ton of snow today.  There has been no water since i left newfound gap so snow will have to do but around 2pm i finally found water.  I have been expecting to find a dead body somewhere because of how cold it got but never did.  I met a guy tonight at the shelter that said i was the first person he had seen since Friday.  He got trapped in a shelter for 2 days then had only been shelter hopping since then.  He was only section hiking the smokies and didn't believe the weather forecast which is why he stayed up.  He was rationing food so i gave him a couple granola bars even though i am very low on food myself.  I had noticed a SOS stomped into the snow today at a shelter which had a clearing visible from the air and he said he did it.  That day he thought he was gonna freeze that night and had no cell service so he couldn't call 911. 

Quick update

Data and cell reception have been nonexistent until the point i am at now.  I am still hiking, its 3:15pm on 11/5/14.  The roads opened up on Monday and i hit the trail.  There was a ton of snow i was constantly hiking in 8" to waist deep snow for 2 days.  It was hard going but God gave me the strength i needed to get through it.  I am out of the smokies.  Rain is coming and i still have lots of miles to do so i will update when i get a chance.

Day 102: Zero day again

Today the temps warmed up but we can still see lots of snow up in the national park.  Newfound gap road is still closed on the TN side where we are and isn't expected to open until tomorrow due to snow, ice, and tons of downed trees.  My father taught me this saying as a kid, "adapt, improvise, overcome."  Well that is what i am doing and praise the Lord that Steve and Vicky were here to take me in.  I got to go to church today for the first time since being on the trail.  It felt great to be there but i will admit i was uncomfortable with worship music playing and lots of people.  If you think about it i have been listening to nature for the past few months and surrounded by trees.  Getting adjusted back to society will take a while so please bear with me those of you that i am around a lot during my readjustment period.  My end date wont be the 9th of November.  With this setback it will probably be the 11th but who knows until i hit the trail again.  Newfound gap crews that were clearing it said there are 4-5ft deep snow drifts up there.  Tomorrow it will warm up a lot more and rapid snow melt is predicted for the park.

Day 101: Zeroing in a Winter Storm

Wow what a day.  Thank God for Steve and Vicky's hospitality because they truly are lifesavers and the best trail Angel's ever.  I am not sure how much snow we had here but it was at least 4" but in the nearby town of Gatlinburg there was 7.5" of snow.  Make sure to check out  my picture account for cool pics.  I did get to have some fun today by chopping firewood (yes, i really enjoy that sort of manual labor a lot).  We also watched the UF game which was great to see UF win big time.  I sat around the fireplace and stayed warm most of the day.

Snowfall Update

I will update this probably a few times periodically throughout the day.

As of 10am Newfound gap in the smokies is reporting 17" of snow.  Where i am at we have 4" so far at the same point in time. 

3:00pm update.  22" of snow at 6000+ ft elevation!!!!!!!!!  Waist deep snow drifts in some areas.  Ummm isn't it November 1st?

Update at 6:30pm.  It snowed here until about 11:30am.  It was still snowing up on the ridge (where the AT is) until well into the afternoon.  It is expected to snow more tonight.  The weather forecast for Gatlinburg is a low of 26 tonight with wind chill at 13 degrees!  That means wind chill temps below zero on the ridge tonight because it is way colder and windyer up there.  All roads in the smokies are still closed except the ones just going to the visitor centers in Cherokee and Gatlinburg.

 To be honest we are playing it by ear and who knows what will happen.  My goal is to get on the trail tomorrow but if the roads dont open that wont happen.  The reason the roads are closed is snow, ice, and downed trees.  All the trees still have their leaves so the weather report said they accumulated so much snow there are tons of downed trees over the roads in the smokies.  

I appreciate those of y'all praying for me and please continue because if i do get out i will be hiking in some seriously deep snow which isn't exactly safe.