Today i got the heck out of dodge... or should i say the smokies. I did 15.6 miles to Newfound gap where i met my grandmothers friends Vicky and Steve who offered to take me in. It is a blessing from God that they were around to help me because otherwise I would have been in life threatening conditions. We had this arrangement planned for about a month it just so happened to work out with this storm. God sure does have a plan and if you put your faith and trust in him it is amazing how things will work out. Vicky and Steve live about an hour from Newfound gap at a much, much lower elevation than the smokies. They were kind enough to drive me to a local outfitter where i purchased some nano spikes to put on my shoes and a pair of heavy duty merino wool socks which i will need for sleeping. They also took me to the grocery store for resupply. Here is the reason i purchased spikes: there is rain coming before the snow hits. That rain is gonna pool up on the AT like it does (aka the Appalachian River) and is gonna freeze solid then get a ton of snow on top of it. Hopefully they pay off because they weren't cheap and there will only be a couple days i actually use them. I cannot emphasize how grateful i am to Vicky and Steve for taking me in. This really is a lifesaver and having a bed to sleep in and hot food to eat is soooooo much nicer than risking hypothermia at 6000 ft. I will never forget Vicky and Steve helping me and this is the number one trail magic i have ever heard of. It looks like i will be zeroing here tomorrow and hitting the trail if the road is open on Sunday. I still have a goal of finishing the 9th but i will admit it will be a challenge because i will have to average 26 miles per day if i am able to hit the trail Sunday. Here's one cool thing is i will get some awesome pictures of the Appalachian "Winter Wonderland" trail. Also, i got some cool pictures at Charlies bunion today so check those out on my photo account.
Friday, October 31, 2014
The weather forecast: 14 inches of snow
That's right folks, 14 inches of snow predicted between the night of 10/31 and the afternoon of 11/1 on the ridge in the smokies. I don't know about what you are thinking right as you are reading this but that's a lot of snow. Did somebody tell mother nature its only November 1st! I mean what the heck this is gonna be a dad gum blizzard on the trail. Can you imagine temperatures at night with that wind in the smokies? Thats gonna be some insane conditions and i will be praying for all hikers trapped in the smokies during this storm. I got to give a big shout out to Vicky and Steve for taking me in y'all are the ultimate trail Angels. Here is another figure for you: the low on Sunday for Cherokee, NC is 18 degrees. If you ever want to know the low for 5000+ ft on the trail drop that temperature 10 degrees from the nearest town. That means single digit lows for the trail in the smokies. In the smoky mountains the AT traverses about 70 miles of ridge line all from approximately 5000 ft to 6600 ft. To be honest i do not have the equipment to tackle hiking or sleeping in the conditions that will be present for a few days.
Day 99: Da Smokies Part 1
First things first, this morning, before i entered the smokies, i saw the biggest buck of my life. It was a 12-14 point buck maybe even 16 point. I have never ever seen anything like it the rack was so broad and massive. I was able to sneak so close to it i could have shot it with a bow. Uhhhhhh the torture the AT is putting me through. Today was a fantastic day for hiking after that cold front passed through last night. Last night got down to about 35 degrees and there were two others in the shelter. To be honest that was one of the best nights sleep i have had on the trail. It is hard sleeping on a pad every night in the open air but that 35 degrees and dry air was perfect. It was a good day and i did 25 miles. At mile 7 i hit I-40 which is a very low point at 1500 ft. From there its a 16 mile climb to 6330 ft! Holy cow thats a long uphill! 2 miles into the climb i hit Davenport gap which is the north end of the smoky mountain national park. To be honest i kinda disdain the smokies because what started this year is they charge 20 bucks for thru hikers to hike through the park and i do not feel like the AT was designed to be a pay to hike system. Its almost like the AT has its own personality that i have come to know (lets face it, its a love/hate relationship) and i do not feel like thru hikers should have to pay. On the other hand i understand that the park needs to make money and you figure 20 bucks x 2000 thru hikers (est) = 40,000 bucks. Thats a good chunk of change for the National Park Service. My other issue with the GSMNP is you have to sleep in the shelters unless its completely full and if a section hiker shows up to a full shelter they take priority and can kick out a thru hiker. I shouldn't have an issue because i am a SOBO and there aren't as many people out but that definitely affects NOBO's; many of which dont carry a shelter of their own. Can you imagine getting kicked out of a shelter right around sunset and being told to sleep in the dirt or have to night hike to the next shelter? That would stink. What i do like about the smokies is the incredible scenery, impeccably well maintained trails, and good smelling forests that i think are spruce trees but i am not sure. To be honest i could bust 40s no problem every day if the entire AT were as well built/maintained as the section in the smokies. I was doing 4mph without even trying to go fast in the park today. All shelters in the smokies are rated for 12 people but could easily hold 16+. There are 4 others here tonight. Its gonna be cold tonight with temps in the 20s.
Day 98: 10/29/14
It was hard to leave the hostel when its raining but that's kinda life on the AT. I did 26 miles. The only noteworthy thing to mention was Max Patch which is a grassy bald that was cleared a long time ago of trees for cattle grazing. Right as i was climbing to the summit the cold front passed, the clouds lifted a little, and the views opened up. It was spectacular to see and my 4th favorite spot on the AT. I felt like i was scuba diving with the solid gray cloud layer up top as the ocean surface, the mountains were like the reef sticking up from the ocean floor, and the little poof ball cotton ball looking clouds were trapped between it all kinda like schools of baitfish. The picture here on the blog is that view.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Day 97: Hot Springs, NC
I guess i never mentioned it but i have been straddling TN/NC since roan mtn. Hot springs is a cool little town that the trail goes through. I stopped at the outfitter where they let SOBO's use a computer to print out their smokies permit. I ate at the smoky mtn diner a huge dinner. I also stopped by the P.O. to get my 2nd mail magic from the Larkin family. The last one they sent was in Fort Montgomery, NY. I appreciate their support greatly and everybody that writes comments on the letters inside the package. I did 20 miles today. I promised myself from before i started that the one town i would stay in was hot springs so i am staying at the hostel at laughing heart lodge. I am the only one at the hostel yet again. Its nice not having a ton of other smelly thru hikers running around but it sure is a total different experience doing a sobo thru compared to a nobo thru. There just is nobody ever around for the most part going south. Its almost absolute isolation unless you are hiking with somebody. One thing i would like to mention is that TN/NC is very tough. The climbs are very steep and long with no switchbacks south of Erwin. My black shirt is covered in soooo much sweat. I haven't done laundry since kincora hostel. Everybody south of there charges 5+ dollars just to do laundry which i dont want to pay. Also, since i brought up the "mental challenge" of an AT thru hike everybody i talk to on the phone has been worried about me. I said in that post that this is normal and unless you absolutely love living in the woods and hiking with a pack every day this is probably tough for you. Yes, for me it is tough getting up every day and doing this because i dont have to be here i am choosing to put my body through this. Yes, it has been mentally tough for majority of the hike and no i am not going to quit. I never have been remotely close to the point of convincing myself that it i am going to quit. I have hiked 1911.4 miles... 273.9 left to go. That 2000 mile mark will be a sweet moment.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Day 96: 10/27/14
I slept under a blanket of stars last night. The air wasn't all that cold but the wind was howling. This morning i woke up with first light at 7:15 am and watched the sunrise at 7:45am. That was a cool experience indeed cowboy camping up there. Today was hot with a high of 78 degrees but it felt hotter. My black shirt is turning white from all the sweat buildup. It was a very tough day physically with hard terrain and i did 30.4 miles. I had to night hike until 8:30pm to get to the shelter and when i got here nobody else was here which is nice. I dont like being rude and waking others up by coming in late. It just happened that i was on a very rocky exposed ridge that is 1 mile long when the sun was setting so i got an awesome sunset again. The first picture below is the sunrise and second is sunset from the ridge. Hot springs tomorrow!
Day 95: Life is short so live it to the fullest
I only made it 18 miles i think. The town shuttle wasn't until 9am so by the time i got situated it was really late. It was all uphills today and i got to the top of Big bald at 6:00pm. I was gonna keep going and night hike but i decided to cowboy camp it up here. I am on a huge grassy bald with 360 degree views at over 5500 ft. How cool is that? I dont want any regrets that i should feel the need to do something over and sleeping on top of this mountain was something i felt like i would regret if i passed up. Its gonna be really cold though with this insane wind blowing. I wrapped a trash bag around the foot of my sleeping bag as a wind blocker and set my pack and food bag up to block the wind at my head. If it gets too cold i can always pack up. The sunset was stunning and as good as it gets. Im sure the stars will be cool tonight and the sunrise will be sweet to wake up to. I changed plans and am going to finish on the 9th of November.
