Pictures Posted on Facebook

For those of you that are interested, I have posted some pictures on my Facebook page...as I look at them, it looks like everything is black & white!

Is This Really Backpacking?

Ok, so I suspect many of you might be wondering whether I am really truly "roughing it" considering all my discussions of staying at hiker hostels, etc.

It's a question I've been thinking about as well. My traditional way of backpacking is to pack for a 7-8 day backpacking trip where access to the real world is very limited. You need to prepare and pack food for that type of timeframe. It seems like on the A/T you can count on dropping in for an overnight (believe me, know one that I know would normally stay at these places!) and get resupplied with food and fuel. Is this approach really backpacking?

I think not; it's more of an endurance test than anything else. I DO believe that it is much, much harder than taking a week long backpacking trip - and it's already the hardest think I will ever do; backpacking is tough, but it perhaps more joy in it - especially in the Rockies.

What do you guys think? Are you surprised at how many nights I have access to a bed?

Dropped into Hot Springs for my First Zero

After a big rain the other night, trucked down the mountain with a heavy and wet tent to drop into Hot Springs for my first zero. Staying at Stonybank B&B, an establishment that goes back to 1947 for hikers. It's in an old historic Victorian mansion owned by Elmer. The rate is $20.00 a night and you can join Elmer and friends for dinner for $10.00 - which is vegetarian and absolutely fantastic! Had dinner with ten people (four thru hikers). Supper consisted of squash soup, a huge salad (two helpings of both), vegetarian shepard's pie and terrific pie. Breakfast ($8.00), terrific waffles, fruit and granola.

Got my resupply from Carolyn today which included my new boots! Hope they work out ok!

Going to take advantage of the Hot Springs this afternoon before heading back into the mountains tomorrow.

Max Patch Spectacular!

Seems like I don't talk much about the trail itself. Maybe that's because it's mostly foggy, rainy, muddy, rocky, etc. However, got to the top of a bald called "Max Patch". What's interesting about Max Patch is that not only it's bald, but the countryside changed substantially - agricultural like. Views were spectacular across the countryside and it was quite striking to be on top of this mountain of all prarie grass for miles around.

P.S. Saw a snake on the trail again - not sure what type.

Standing Bear - Classic TN Character

If you ever want to get a real taste of backwoods TN, then Standing Bear is the place to be. This is the place I stayed overnight in as I bailed out of the Smokies. It's known for a good place to overnight and resupply on your way to Hot Springs.

The facilities are what you might envision seeing in the woods of the Appalachia, weathered quite nicely. There was an outbuilding for everything: even had a computer room in what appeared to be an old privy; the "kitchen" was an old beatup shed and the laundry consisted of an old washboard. I upgraded from the bunkhouse to a cabin which had two beds with four blankets on each bed that was considered the "heat". I can assure you that this is not a place that Carolyn and I would have had a romantic get away at.

The most interesting part of the experience was the people. Several of the folks seemed to come right out of the woods and seemed to be there because it was a discreet place to lay low. These folks could have used some serious dental work! Anyway, it was quite and experience and one that I am pleased that I came out of it alive!

Too Amazing to Be True?

Ok, so we have heard about the blind guy that did the whole A/T (except Katadyn(sp), but we sheltered with a guy by the name of Zero-Zero a few nights ago and had a great conversation with him. He seemed to know the trail inside and out and told us what we had ahead of us (we were still in the Smokies). His information was very helpful. He did the A/T a few years back and was doing a section hike with Just Dave.

Fast forward a couple of days to find out that Zero-Zero is blind! You wouldn't know it as you speak with him and he didn't say anything about it. Turns out that he is traveling with a filming crew that is doing a documentary on him and his effort. I have know idea how he did/does it but it's apparently true. Have to do more research, but everyone seems to think that he is blind.

Amazing!

Came Across U-Haul on the Trail

On my way to Davenport Gap out of Gatlinburg ran into a thru-hiker called U-Haul. He started on the trail on Feb 5th with an Army surplus pack loaded up with 90lbs of gear! He has like a four man tent, a sleeping bag for two and all sorts of food. His gear was strapped all over the pack, reaching down to his ankles. Moving very slow, and as such, even though he had all this gear and food, he had no fuel. So at the shelter (Tri Corner Nnob) he was trying to start a fire to cook his meal (very wet). Finn was kind enough to share his fuel so he could cook up a meal. Obviously, U-Haul was not completely together but have to hand it to him for being persistent!

Old Man in Tough Shape on Trail

On our way out of Gatlinburg at New Found Gap I ran into a man in his 60s that was wearing a poncho and carrying and space blanket coming down the mountain. I said good morning to him and he completely ignored me. Up the path I noticed a daypack on the side of the trail and then further up an umbrella. About a mile later, bumped into a Ridge Runner (Ranger) that was tearing down the hill. Turns out this old man was lost on the trail and spent the night in the horrific rain and was suffering badly from hypothermia. Explains his response to me - and some of the other thru-hikers that tried to strike up a conversation with him. Hope he made it off the mountain okay!

My trip up the mountain was uneventful...very rocky and realized that I was over due for my new boots. Should have them delivered to me in Hot Springs.

Days 17-20 - Not Sure What's Current Anymore

Hi everyone,
Landed in Hot Springs, NC (Day 20)yesterday, treking through snow, sleet, rain and ice over the past several days. Got dumped on pretty bad the night before last and soaked my tent pretty good. The good news is that my mileage has really picked up over the past four days. Did 15, 18, 18 and 15 miles without too much damage. Have hooked up with a new pack for the moment, consisting of Fire Fly, Finn, Hellian and Proof and No Cello.

Will give a few more specifics on other posts and am trying to download some pictures on Facebook.

Meals and appetite

Thought it might be interesting for those of you that have not done much hiking or backpacking in the past to get a feel for how we go about eating every day. The main meal, obviously, is dinner. Dinner is typically comprised of either one or two types of meals, either food that is instant in nature, or food that is freeze dried. Seems like most people on the trail like the instant kind of meals, heavy in carbohydrates, typically some kind of pasta. Knorrs pasta sides seem to be very, very popular on the trail and often they'll boil water, put the water directly into the pasta side packet and then seal it again, wait four or five minutes for it basically to cook right in the pack, and then maybe add some salmon or tuna from packets. What you end up with then is a great meal in a bag. Another option that -- and I do this as well -- is basically get some smaller freezer bags and then put within them either stovetop stuffing or instant mashed potatoes or couscous and again boil water, add a cup of water into the freezer bag, let it set, stir it up, and what you've got is instant mashed potatoes in a freezer bag. What I'll do is add tuna fish to that and I've got a great meal. I think my favorite meal on the trail so far has actually been stovetop stuffing with tuna added to it. It's like having Thanksgiving, again, all in a freezer bag. What you try to do is not have any dirty dishes, so you're just boiling water and then adding that water to the container that the instant food is in. That also holds true with instant oatmeal. You can take the instant oatmeal packets and just tear them lengthwise and add a little bit of water, and you've got your instant oatmeal in a bag and you don't have to dirty one of your little cups or pots. The other way to go is freeze dried. Right now, since I'm not doing very well with resupplying, I'm doing a lot of freeze dried meals. Again, the same kind of concept, but it's much more expensive. Those are about $5 each. Boil water, put the water in the pouch, let it sit for five minutes and you've got a meal, beef stroganoff or what have you. So the dinner is the main course. Ramen is probably one of the most popular meals on the trail, and it's oftentimes supplementing one of these pasta sides. In terms of the drinks, typically at night, it might be coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, again all instant. And I'll just drink that right out of the pot.

Day 16

Date 16 is pretty straight forward. Got up very very early and then again at 6:15 after sleeping in the shelter. Same regulars in the shelter - Dave,survivor man, Muggles and Malarky and two new people. One called Stretch and a guy by the name of Dean. A Ridge Runner (kind of an AT maintenance volunteer) was also there for awhile. Was again very cold, but we had a fire and I got a great nights sleep - overall very pleasant evening. Got an early start so I could get to Clingaman's Dome (highest spot on the AT) and Gaitlinberg by midday so I can do some resupplies. It had rained and snowed last night, so the trail was quite slippery and it was very foggy, cloudy, overcast and somewhat rainy. So unfortunately by the time I got to Cingaman's Dome at about 8:00am there was really nothing to see. Elevation is about 6,500 feet so it was too bad I couldn't see much. Then just took a long long hike down -not bad, about an 11 mile day. Got onto the street at about quarter to twelve and stuck my thumb out and was able to get a ride very quickly with a group of college students escorted by some teachers from a small state college that were going into Gatlinberg for the day. It was nice to talking to them for the 15 mile drive into town. So here I am checked into the hotel and resupplied marginally, not a whole lot of options here. And depending on the weather I'm planning on moving on, but the weather is supposed to be pretty shaky so we'll see how things go.

Dictation made on 3/26/2011 7:41 PM EST.

Day 15

Day 15 is the second day in the Smokies. Got going at 7:45 with a desire to get through as much of the Smokies as possible. Probably in the mid-20s. There was snow on the ground, and my first night in a shelter was put in the category of just okay, because of all of the snowing. I'd have to say that I could measure my sleep time in minutes rather than hours. Just a very, very restless night for me. But even so, once the day got started, the beauty of the whole Smoky Mountains became clear to me. It was very foggy last night and this morning when we got underway. When I got above the fog though up to a place called Rocky Top, it was sunny and just absolutely spectacular. Down below, you could see all the clouds hugging the mountains, and then the mountains that were exposed were all white because the trees had been laced with icicles from the fog. As soon as the sun warmed the trees to a point, all of the ice that had built up on the trees just started collapsing and while I was coming off Rocky Top, it was like walking through a a rainforest of frozen slushy stuff and it was really quite amazing. I have to tell you, the beauty of the Smokies I've come to understand now That morning, on day 15, was probably the most beautiful experience I've ever had out in the wilderness- certainly during this whole trip and perhaps ever, including my experiences in the Rockies. So it was just a really spectacular day. Decided to go a little farther as usual - a 16.4 mile day, and ended up at Devil Spring Creek Shelter, which is an interesting thing because on one side of the trail is Tennessee, and the other side is North Carolina, and I happened to be sleeping in a shelter that's on the Tennessee side, so I can now lay claim that I have hiked through three states, including Tennessee. Dictation made on 3/26/2011 7:37 PM EST.

Appetite

What I'm finding is that my appetite is increasing dramatically, so I'm having to supplement that as I resupply knowing that I just really have to take in a lot more calories. If I have breakfast, it is just oatmeal. Lunch is just snicker bars and trail mix along the way. If I really need to re-energize I'll stop along the way, pick up my pot, and boil up some water and have some Ramen. When I'm off trail and in town resupplying, not only am I resupplying my fuel and food, I'm also resupplying my body and consuming great quantities of food. Today, for instance, in Gaitlanburg I stopped at a barbeque place and had a large rack of ribs with a 32 ounce jug of beer and probably in a little while I'll go out again and get a hamburger. So, it's just what happens when you get off the trail. You just consume a ton of food, kind of build back up because your appetite is just unbelievable. So, anyway, that's just a real short snippet on eating along the AT.

Dictation made on 3/26/2011 7:55 PM EST.

Day 14

Just wanted to give you an update in terms of how my climb into the Smokie Mountains turned out. It actually turned out surprisingly pleasant. Again, like I'd mentioned before, I had been concerned about what I would find in the Smokies. It was a very long climb up out of Fontana Dam, but I actually felt pretty good about it and decided to go beyond the original shelter that was scheduled, and ended up at the Russell shelter for the evening. In the Smokies they require you to stay in the shelters, unless there is not enough room, then you can camp. Day 14, first day into the Smokies was the first time that I had the opportunity to spend a night in a shelter. Actually the shelters in the Smokies are pretty good. It was my understanding that they had actually caged the shelters in, but they've taken those fences down since I read about them. They each have three sides, a little fireplace, and shelves, for you to bunk in. They generally hold about 12 people. Because of the cold weather they've put a big tarp in front of the open side of the shelter, which makes it relatively cozy. Hiked out with most of the gang, which would include Shoe Fly, Nero, OTT, and Battle Cat. I also met Muggles and Survivor Man and Super Chef and Speedy Gonzalez. When I was getting ready to fix dinner this evening on day 14, I realized that darnit I'd left my fuel canister, one of my fuel canisters back at the hotel, so I've got to be very careful in terms of how to manage it. It's kind of funny because as soon as we got into the Smokies, it's like a switch turned on in terms of the cold, cold, cold, bitter weather. It got very cold day 14 and it was nice to have a fire, but it really didn't heat up the shelter at all and it probably got down into the lower 20s. In fact it was snowing and sleeting and when we got up in the morning it was certainly very very cold. I'll tell you about day 15 in a second.

Dictation made on 3/26/2011 7:34 PM EST.

Milestones

I have to say the last couple of days have been pretty significant for a number of reasons. The first one is that I've gone through the 200 mile mark which when I think about - g hiking 200 miles through mountains with 40 pounds on my back - that is pretty remarkable. So, I think I can at the very least consider myself a well-qualified section hiker of the AT. So, that's the first milestone. The second milestone is that I'm now alternating between North Carolina and Tennessee. So, I've covered three states now - the AT basically represents a boarder of much of the stretch of the way here from Tennessee to North Carolina. So, if I misstep to the left, I'm in Tennessee. If I misstep to the right, I'm in North Carolina. The third milestone is that I did make it to Clingaman's Dome, which is the highest point of the AT. I think the fourth milestone I could probably say is that I've got less than 2,000 miles to go.

Out of SMNP...Headed to Hot Springs

Am now officially through the SMNP and headed up toward Hot Springs.  Hanging out at the Standing Bear Hiker Hostel in TN - just off the trail.  Classic TN place with shacks, etc.  Rustic to say the least!

Carolyn will provide more updates soon...did 18 miles today so I am starting to get my hiking legs (though it was mostly downhill).  Lots of rain last night that turned into snow in the morning.  Hiking all today was either in snow, rain or fog...but that's the Smokies for you!

Met a man on the trail named "U-Haul" because he is caring 90lbs of gear!  Has been hiking since February 5th...wouldn't believe what his pack looks like!  Goes down to his ankles.  He says he needs everything...kind of crazy!

Can't wait for Hot Springs and my first official "zero"!

All for now...wouldn't believe this computer I am on...can't believe it's working!

Crankdaddy

Thanks everyone for comments!

Just wanted to thank everyone for your comments via blog and email. Helps tremendously but very hard for me to reply due to limited access to the blog as I trek thru the woods. But I do get the comments...just can't reply!

More random updates forthcoming via copy talk and Csrolyn. Half way thru the snowy and rainy Smokies...hoping to make Hot Springs for a zero day and a little soak in the springs.

Crank (otherwise known as Crankdaddy)

Days 12-13 Update

Not sure where I left off...but here goes...

Left NOC on March 22nd at 9:30 am after a huge breakfast. I ended up having 4 meals there...pretty good considering it was a "nero" day there.  The climb up - 8 miles with 3,000 foot elevation was suppose to be very tough but turned out not to be so bad.  So Nero, Shoe Fly, Jake, Battle Cat, Shepard and I decided to continue on down to Brown Fork Gap Shelter.  Big mistake.  The trail was much harder the last 8 miles vs. the first 8 miles...it ended with Jacob's Ladder which was almost hand over foot.  Very difficult...kept saying "what were we thinking?!". Then when we got to the shelter there was no room in the shelter and no campsites around the shelter (they didn't exist).  Moved on down the path and found a campsite in a saddle and set up my tent on the edge of the trail.  VERY windy that night...tent held up but I did not sleep much since the wind was howling and the trees were creaking.  Also, at 12:30 I remembered that I had an orange in my pack and I debated what I should do about it.  Do bears like oranges?  Do they smell oranges unpeeled?  Should I take a chance?  I decided to get up, walk down the path and heave it into a deep valley (since it's natural).  Didn't want to take my bear bag down from the tree in the middle of the night just for an orange - regardless of how special it was to have it.  Also should add that I saw my first snake today - just a 2 foot garder snake.

Day 13 - Up at 8:15 - sleepless night so thought I should have a hot breakfast given the long hard hike the day before and no sleep.  Good news:  we are going to make Fontana Dam today!  Budgeted two to three nights during this section and it only took us one night!  Got to Fontana Dam at 2:30 pm....fairly easy down hill climb.  Decided to check into the lodge here to recoop a bit and get a good nights sleep - rate is $59.00 so not too bad.  Most others are at the Fontana Hilton Shelter - a shelter with restrooms and showers.  Met up with Skid - a 55 year old writer that has down about 10,000 miles on the trail.  Had dinner with him - chicken wings and chicken fried steak with mash potatoes.

Day 14 - today - have to get more food today - slim pickens so I am a little nervous about what's available.  Headed into the Smokies at about 11:00 am this morning - another big climb up.  Smokies are a huge psychological hurdle for me for some reason.  Feel like yesterday was a HUGE milestone to get to Fontana Dam and the Smokies will be the next big hurdle.  Pack is sure thinning out right now and it appears that what remains are the serious hikers.  On a bell curve, it seems like my pace is now in the bottom quartile whereas a week ago I was in the top quartile.  I am fine with this, just interesting to see the change in the nature of the trail.  Speaking of which, it was really cool to see plant life!  As we were coming down to Fontana Dam you could see the beginnings of some small plant life leafing out...small at first, then as we got down to lower elevations, beginning to bloom.  Also saw much more evidence of poison ivy!

I missed a huge thurderstorm yesterday afternoon (got in before it) but Sky, Tree Frog and a few others got hit as they were coming down.  Forecast is for more of the same in the coming days.  We have been most fortunate thus far so I guess it's payback time!

All is well generally.  Legs are very tired.  Right leg is generally non-functional and old bisters continue to heal while new hot spots continue.  I can see that I might beable to grow a beard...pretty scary looking right now, but it has potential.  Can tie my hair up yet, but am combing (with fingers) my hair back.  Weight?  Would have to guess I have lost about 5lbs.  Mental state:  generally positive on the trail...great conversations in the evening help but sleeplness nights make it lonely.

Thanks for your continued support...will need encouragement along the way, so keep it up!  This is the toughest thing I have every done - and it's only begun!

Crank (formerly known as Crankdaddy)

Wildlife

Also thought I'd mention something about wildlife which has been non-existent thus far.  I would suspect that once I get into the Smokies, we'll probably be seeing at least a fair amount of bear activity, but thus far, there's only been one bear sighting by Brett of the Mark and Brett team and that's been actually unconfirmed.  I have not seen anything.  All I've seen is a few birds, saw a mouse scurry across my tent, and no mammals to speak of, so it's kind of been lame in that regard at this point, which is probably okay.  Don't really care to have a raccoon or porcupine chewing on my pack or my tent at this point.  There's going to be plenty of opportunity along the way for that to happen.  I was in fact hoping that I was going to be able to see a bear or two along the way.  I think once I get into the Smokies, which is in the next couple days, we'll probably see a lot of that.  I'm not looking forward to the Smokies in one respect because you're required to stay in the shelters if there's space available, and the shelters are caged to protect you from the bears.  So that seems kind of weird, but in terms of wildlife, not much there.  I have been talking and whistling to the the birds but that's about it.  Actually some pretty interesting owls in the morning.

Dictation made on 3/22/2011 7:58 AM EST.

What I was talking about before was Malarkey on Saint Pat's Day.  He got ahead of me so I could not meet up with him on st. pats. day  but as it turns out, he bailed out at Franklin and he showed up here at NOC yesterday and it was like a big reunion.  Anyway,  going back to trail news, it's interesting because what happens is people get ahead or they fall back and in between everybody picks up bits and pieces of trail news.  Another bit of trail news that's interesting is something that they call pink (?) placing. I had noticed alittle spark between Sam and Rasberry probably about three or four days ago.  They very quickly hooked up and are now an item on the trial and everybody's kind of talking about it.  So it's kind of funny to see how these younger kids hook up along the way.  It's my understanding that actually Raspberry was going to bail out on the trial but since he found love on the trail, seems like he's going to continue on for a while anyway. That's about it for now.  Dictation made on 3/22/2011 7:56 AM EST.

Misc. thoughts

1. The first one is kind of the status of my blisters. Again, I've never had blisters before, but unfortunately I got them in the first couple of days of the trip and they're on the inside of my ankles, which is kind of an odd spot. They ended up growing to about a silver dollar size, so they're very very large and kind of gross looking, but they didn't hurt at all. Thought it was okay to kind of continue on and I think that that has worked out pretty well. They are healing and getting better, but I think one of the marvels of the world is duct tape. Duct tape can solve, I think, most of the world's problems. What I've been able to do is simply duct tape my feet, so put a little bit of moleskin on the blisters and then I've duct taped, wrapped around a couple of times around my feet to keep the moleskin in place and it's worked fantastic. The last day has given me the opportunity to kind of air them out and they're looking pretty good, so that's kind of the status of my blisters. I know that's kind of a gross topic, but thought I'd give you an update on that. I don't think they will be slowing me down at this point.

2. Another topic is trail news. Kind of interesting to see how news goes up and down the trail.   For example, we would hear bits and pieces about the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan from people as they hopped on and off the trail. Obviously very tragic, but it's also in a way so disconnected from our focus here on the trail. I'm kind of taking one step at a time in the wilderness. It's hard to connect with it, but it is also interesting to hear what's going on, and of course very very sad.

3. The other topic that's been along the trail, in terms of spreading information about, is state of Wisconsin. Now that's kind of waned a little bit, but at the beginning of the trail it was kind of interesting to hear everybody talking about it without them knowing I'm from Wisconsin. Of course everybody seemed to have very strong views of it. Most are probably on the more liberal side, and didn't really have a great affinity to Scott Walker and what he was trying to accomplish. Those were kind of the topics on the trail in terms of trail news. The other news that goes back and forth on the trail is just who's doing what on the trail and who to avoid and who to try to connect with. I've mentioned Irish Andy before. He started with Andy, he became Irish Andy, and now his trail name seems to be settling into Malarky. He's a guy that everybody was trying to stay with for St. Patt's day so they could partake of his wonderful Whiskey that he hauled on the trail with him. Unfortunately he got ahead of me and I <Lost Signal>

Dictation made on 3/22/2011 7:51 AM EST.

Anyway, I was saying that I think the people are probably the most interesting thing about the trip.  And like I said, I think most of them are in their early 20's and maybe early 30's.  And all have different backgrounds, but it seems like everybody for the most part gets along very, very well.  I'm kind of, like I mentioned before, an outsider in the sense that I'm the age of their parents, if not older.  But they're very accepting and engaging with me. It's fun to visit with them in the shelters and around the campfires.  It's interesting to be able to engage with that generation almost on a peer to peer level, because we're kind of all in this together.  So I think that's probably all I've got right now.  Might think of something and get back, but I think that's probably it.  Thanks a lot.  And please continue to reply and comment on my blog, I really appreciate that and that helps tremendously for me along the way, particularly in this stretch coming up.  Thanks.

more reflections

Just wanted to also add to the blog about some of my feelings about this trip so far. In many respects it's about what I expected from a physical standpoint. It's very difficult every day trying to average 12 miles during this part and then thinking about Virginia and wrapping that up to about 15 miles a day or so. My highest mileage so far has been 19 miles and that wasn't bad, it actually felt pretty good. So I feel like in a way I'm getting my legs. From a physical standpoint in terms of hiking the trail, it's not too bad. I know my pack is way too heavy. Most people are carrying probably between 25 and 30 pounds and I'm carrying about 35 pounds. Actually there was a guy I met on the trail that had a nine pound pack if you can believe that. From the standpoint of the physical aspect, not too bad. The day goes pretty long and what I'm trying to do right now is it's obviously if you're hiking all day you've got a lot of time to be thinking, and I'm trying to find a way to think about something other than the trail, how many miles I've gone and what my pace is and what my goal is. Trying to figure out how to avoid that kind of thinking and just get into more wide open thinking over the course of the day and worry less about the mileage and more about enjoying what's out there and making sure I feel comfortable stopping and enjoying the scenery. I am trying to take more breaks now and trying to avoid looking at my watch and trying to figure out how much mileage I've done and how much mileage I've got to go. That's actually becoming a bit of a challenge for me. In terms of high points and low points, I think my high points are mostly at the shelters during the time of making dinner and chatting with people, but the low points are probably also at the shelters, I kind of get tucked into my tent and my sleeping bag and start missing home. I've mentioned this to Carolyn, I'm surprised and I didn't want her to take it out of context and I'm surprised at how much I miss Carolyn and how much I miss certainly Ben and my ability to touch base with him some way or another, either text or by phone, and I certainly miss all the social aspects of Shorewood. I'm kind of surprised at how much I miss all of that. Of course I knew I was going to miss it but I think that's the thing that's probably the most difficult for me at this point. I've been fortunate to have very few weather issues, though coming up we've got two or three days of rain and a very difficult stretch, so I'll be certainly tested at that point. The people probably have been the most interesting aspect of the trip. I am in this group that I'm in right now, I'm the oldest <Lost Signal>

more update from 12 day

Anyway, after I was able to connect with Carolyn on Siler Bald, I bumped into Cayenne who is an interesting African American woman probably in her mid-30's, and is making her second journey on the trail. Orininally from California now living in Pennsylvania. We hiked a little bit together and climbed up to a fire tower which was really interesting. When I got to my next planned overnight stop, I decided to push on as it was not very inviting.  It was a log cabin, not stone, shelter, which was mostly taken over by a large and rather odd family.  So I decided to press on to Wesser Bald Shelter (making for a 19 mile day) and was very happy I did because I bumped into a lot of old friends there and had a great evening around a campfire, even if I did feel kind of like a fifth wheel around the young folks.  The next morning I got up early before the sun rose and headed down to the Nantahala outdoor center (NOC) and was able to have a big breakfast there by 9:30.  Had pancakes, sausage and eggs. Had a big lunch with a big huge cheese burger and fries and then split a pizza last night, so just consumed a tremendous amount of food here in preparation for the long climb ahead this morning. That big family from the Cold Springs Shelter has come to town now so I'm glad I'm moving on.  All I'm looking to do today is get about six miles in, so I'll have a good breakfast here at the center and then begin my hike at about 10:00 this morning and then shoot for Fontana Dam in about three days which is really the beginning of the Smokies, kind of an intimidating prospect for me. Had some huge milestones this week.

update on morning of day 12

It's going to be a big day for me because I am heading out around 10:00 this morning to cover a 3,000 elevation gain over an eight mile period. So this will be by far and away the toughest climb of the trip, but that follows a very relaxing zero day at the Nantahala Outdoor Center at Mile 135 which I took to relax my legs and get re supplied with food and fuel. Just a few more thoughts about the Siler Bald Shelter from a few days ago.  That shelter was like a quintessential southern shack that you would see in the woods and as I came across it (about a half a mile off the main trail), I was wondering what I was in for because it just looked like a beat up old shack in a little valley in a  prairie field.  I was thinking why did I hike a half a mile in for this shelter. As it turns out though it was a real nice evening because, as I mentioned before, I met up with Charlie Brown and the father daugher hikers there as well as the guy with the bike. We could see him coming down the trail from a distance, pushing a bicycle and trying to figure out what this was all about. Well as he came up he said that he's planning on taking the trail all the way to Maine on his bicycle. Of course all he's been able to do thus far is push the darn thing with his sleeping back strapped to the back of it.

On the way to my next stop, Cold Springs Shelter, I encoundered my first bald, which is what they call certain mountain peaks in north carolina which are just kind of prairie on top - no trees.

Dictation made on 3/22/2011 7:03 AM EST.

Day 9 and 10

Stayed at Siler Bald Shelter last night in the company of through-hiker Charlie Brown (a graduate of University of Alabama trying to decide between graduate schools for mechanical engineering),  a father and daughter doing some section hiking and a guy who was pushing his bike along the trail on his way to Maine.  Weather cloudy yesterday so didn't get to see the "super moon".  Hiked about 13 miles - plan on about 12 today with goal of staying at Cold Spring Shelter tonight.  Hiked to the top of Cyler Bald this morning. (elevation about 4700 feet).  Hope to get to the Nantahala Outdoor Center by tomorrow and take a zero day Tuesday.

Days 7 and 8

Stayed at Standing Indian Shelter in North Carolina last night. (84.2 miles from Springer Mountain).  Weather still good.  Couldn't catch up with Irish Andy last night so no partying for St. Patricks Day.  Had a last sip from flask instead.  Very windy last night but tent held up well.  Fewer people on trail now.  Saw no one on trail yesterday and only 4 at the shelter.  Carolyn said to mention that I have only tented every night so far - no sleeping in the shelters yet.

Reflections

These are just some reflections on the trail, particularly as it relates to some of the interesting people that I have found so far. What I'm finding is that one of the most interesting things on the trail is visiting with the amazingly diverse people. On my first day, as I got off at Marta <sp?> in Atlanta to get picked up on the shuttle, I bumped into a woman by the name of Gypsy Girl. This was a 62-year-old Australian that had started the AT last year. And about two weeks into her hike, ended up breaking her leg. She stayed I think in Franklin, North Carolina for six weeks to have her leg recover, and then she went on the trail again and made it all the way to Mount Washington, but her Visa ran out. So she's back again this year to start all over, because she didn't get it done last year. So that was my first introduction to someone that was planning on doing the hike this year. My second introduction was a New Zealand woman named Karen, who seemed to be an avid hiker, has hiked all around New Zealand and ended up wanting to do the AT, so she's here to do the AT. My third introduction was with a guy by the name of Freefall, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and he has done the AT and the PCT, and the continental divide hike, and he's planning on just knocking out a quick three weeks because he's headed back to Sacramento and hoping that he can get a job with the PCT organization. So that was a really first great experience meeting those three people. We went to the hiker hostel and met some additional AT wannabes. There's a huge washout of rain the night before. There was three inches of rain on the trail, so there's a lot of people that ended up at the hiker hostel off the trail drying out. There's two individuals, two characters let's say that I would not want to meet on the side of the street that were from Louisiana and had all sorts of piercings and had barely enough teeth to take down a meal. And I've seen them a couple times off the trail. They're kind of working their way slowly through it. But they are a real mess and a real interesting group. Met Comanche on the trail first day, same age as I am. And just something that he has aspired to do for a long time. So we hiked together for a while. Hooked up with Luke. I've mentioned Luke in my trail blog already. But Luke and I bumped into a mother/daughter team and you could tell they definitely were not experienced hikers, had way too much gear, and had packed it the exact opposite way you should. As Luke started talking to them and giving them a little advice, discovered that they had been on the trail for one and a half weeks. Now this was day two for me, and they had been on the trail for one and a half weeks working their way. I've got say perseverance I guess. But they keep working at it. And then the last interesting character <Lost Signal>. I think that's -- I'll have to tell you about it later because I'm running out of space.

Dictation made on 3/16/2011 10:00 AM EST.

New blogging technology.

This is Don just trying a new technology that I think might work while I'm on the AT and I want to just try to experiment with it. It's called Copytalk and the idea came up when I was visiting with Max Schneider from Northwestern Mutual on day zero of my hike. I am now in day six at the Holiday Inn Express taking a nero <?> day, somewhere between a zero and one day off, and I think I'm going to hit the trail this afternoon, but just wanted to test this out and see if it works. If it does work, then Carolyn will be able to kind of simply cut and paste the message onto my blog. Hope things are going well with everybody. I'm having a great time and we'll see if this gets on the blog. Thanks a lot.

Dictation made on 3/16/2011 9:57 AM EST.

Day 5 - Gang Bails at Hiawassee - Thank God!

We decided last night that it might be good to do an overnight in town...a 11 mile hike on the trail.  This was fine with me, making for an easier day.

Night before (last night) started to rain at about 3:30 am...very steady and hard.  Tent remained in tact - no collapse - and got about 3 tablespoons of water in...not bad!  Hoping rain would stop...but didn't so got up at about 8:00 am, scrambled to keep everything dry...collapsed the tent - very soggy, rolled it up, strapped it on my pack...put my rain gear on and was on my way in the rain at about 9:05.  Was not the first one out this time...and I took my time in the rain...even stopped at a shelter midway to have lunch (my summer sausage and Starbucks coffee!).  That really charged me up!  Hooked up with Dave along the way and we kept trading places.  A great and quiet guy from Portland, OR.

Ended up making pretty good time considering the rain - fell on my butt for the first time.  Got to the highway at about 3:00 pm with Dave, stuck out our thumbs and a guy in a pickup truck pulled over.  We threw our packs in the back and jumped in the back with him and he drove us to Blueberry Patch - a hiker hostel.  Caught up with the gang - but was full.  Owner drove Dave and I into town - I checked in at the Holiday Inn - best place in town for $79.00.  Had dinner with the group at Dave's Steakhous - a pretty bad all you can eat place but it tasted great.  Later tonight went to a BBQ place to get a sandwich and Fosters.

Plan to play it by ear tomorrow depending on weather and blisters.

All for now...have to get off the computer.

Thanks for comments, etc...and THANKS CAROLYN for keeping track of me as I call in!

Day 3 - Longest Day So Far - A Tough One!

Had a great time at Low Gap Shelter Last Night - very nice shelter and interesting people.  Got to bed pretty early - probably around 8:00 pm.  Slept great - best night so far for me.  Started to get up shortly after 7:00 am and was off on the trail - first one out again at about 8:00 am.  I knew this was going to be a long day and wanted to make the best of it.

Weather was great and some spectacular views as a result.  Before I knew it I was at Unicoi Gap (sp), having blasted 9.7 miles with 5.4 miles to go.  Luke had passed me along the way (reminds me of my son, Ben - lanky and can move on the trail) but ended up catching up with him at Unicoi Gap as he was chowing down on a stash of trail magic.  I helped myself to a Snickers bar and a P&G sandwich (my lunch!).  Everything was going great until I had about 2.7 miles left and absolutely hit the wall...straight up the hill.  Promised myself I could have the Snickers bar at 3:00 pm but never got around to eating it until the next morning for breakfast.

[This internet connection in this town is not working well...lost most of this entry - have to shorten]

First into the shelter, got my tent set up and made dinner - Ramen (yum) and Pizza Pasta.  Made me feel much better.  Met a young boy and his father doing a section hike and a new thru hiker called Tater.  Tater weighs in at least 300 lbs and is packing about as much, including tons of food and a laptop.  I think he has been on the trail for about two weeks!  Quite a character.

Big surprise to see Raspberry because he was going to bail at Unicoi Gap (sp) with Sam and her girlfriend.  He decided to keep going.  Luke came in next.  I have learned much from Luke and will apply the lesson tomorrow - slow down and enjoy the scenary along the way.  I would move out ahead of him...he would pass me...and then I him - when he was resting.  More breaks!  Dave came rolling in as well as Charlie Brown.  Rumor had it that Andy had bailed at U Gap but big surprise - he showed up.  This is critically important because he is from Ireland and is packing some great whiskey for St. Pats day.  So everyone is trying to stay close to him.  Jake and his girlfriend showed up as well.  Ended up having a nice campfire that night.

Inspected my feet and got depressed.  I have never had blisters before but have developed one on each side of my ankle - wierd.  Frustrating and bit worrisome.

Anyway, got to bed at about 9:00 pm happy with the great weather we have had - great company and lots of fun overall.  I love my sleeping bag and sleeping pad and seem to be getting a good night sleep.

One last thing - the group decided that I should change my trail name to "Crank" - been giving me a hard time about getting going so early and thought short and sweet is better.  So I am now Crank, formerly known as Crankdaddy in the shelter journals.

Thanks everyone for tracking progress - thanks CAROLYN for helping me with the updates when I call!

Day three and morning of day four.

Travelled uphill and hiked into Low Gap Shelter last night.  Long but productive day - about 14 miles.  Weather still holding out.  Great group at shelter.  In addition to Luke and Andy, who I had met before, I met Rasberry from Wells College, Jake and Snail, Rainbow, Dave, Sam and Turnaround.  I'm now 9.6 miles into my hike today at Unicoi Gap near Helen, Georgia - shooting for 15 so that tomorrow I can end up at a hostel in Hiawassee.  Tom, I'm enjoyng the flask you loaned me and am taking good care of it.  Thanks to Carolyn and Ben for your texts.

Day two and morning of day three.

St:arted out from Justus Creek at 8: 30.   Got to Woods Shelter around 4:00 - a 13 mile day.  Much hillier, up and down all the way - more typical of what was expecting.  Weather great.  Got trail magic at Woody Gap - grilled hot dog and an apple from Donny, a middle school principal.  Got more trail magic (snicker bar and apple) from Bill along the way.  Met Luke (student from University of Vermont), Swift (on his third AT hike), Darken, Andy from Ireland and two guys who have been hiking sections for the last 15 years.  One of them just celebrated his 67th birthday.  Had a camplfire last night.  The Steripen water system sucks - failed on the first try.  Thank you for your advice Bird on getting the Sawyer. Got up in the dark at 6:30 this morning and broke up camp at 7 in the dark.  Hiked 1 and 1/2 miles to top of Blood Mountain and watched the beautiful sunrise.  Now am at Neals Gap and plan to hike 6 or 7 more miles before I set up camp again near the trail.    Weather still great and sunny but rain expected.

Great day one on the trail.

Saturday, March 12th at 10:13 a.m., 23 degrees, snow on the ground.  Hiked 14.3 miles yesterday and camped near Justus Creek. 

Day Zero - wow!

Made it to Hiker Hostel....great stories...great people already and haven't even started.  Met up with Gypsy Girl, Free Fall and Kerin and the train stop.  Gypsy Girl is from Australia, 62 years old and is starting the AT again after breaking her leg last year...and making it to Mt. Washington.  Said she had to come back to start over.  free fall did the AT in 2003, the PCT and the CDT and is here to do a quick 3 week hike.  Everyone is great...lots of thoughts about today - fear, excitement, wierd about leaving Carolyn, leaving home without keys to the house, getting a great text message from my son...seeing the Chatahoochee (sp) river on the train - whizing right by where I use to catch snakes and crawfish in Sandy Springs (it all started there!).  It was wierd walking through a fancy shopping mall in Buckhead to see a friend from Northwestern Mutual...obviously got quite a few stares.

Everything is good to go for tomorrow...Day One...rained 2 inches yesterday so I hope to have that behind us.  Am typing this at the Hiker Hostel...very nice place with about 10 hikers here tonight.  We ordered chinese food for dinner.

all for now...

Ah, Oh......

Had a great strength building workout yesterday and thought I would try the treadmill, walking at a 15 degree angle to get a feel for the trail at a 3 MPH pace....harder than I thought!  What am I getting myself into?

Do Kindles Survive 2,180 Miles of Mountain Hiking?

That's the $189.00 question!  I purchased a Kindle last week based on the rationalization that it weighs 8.4 ounces vs. a book that typically weighs 10 ounces.  That's 1.6 ounces less I have to crate around through the mountains for the next six months...and I get easy access to hundreds, if not thousands, of books.  I crafted a protective sleeve for it out of the cover of one of those cool half-size notebooks we got at the NM Forum last year...works great!  Question is whether it will stand the test of time, rain, raccoons, mice, snakes and bears...stay tuned...

A Challenge to My Friends for Two Great Causes

Carolyn and I have committed to make incremental contributions to two organizations we are pleased to support.  For every mile I walk on the A/T Carolyn and I will be making an incremental contribution of $1.00 to Repairers of the Breach (a very progressive and critical homeless support center) and to our wonderful Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.  If I hike the full 2,180 miles and receive matches from friends and supporters of one cent, one nickel, a dime, two bits or a buck it can really add up and make make a big difference.  Of course, it would keep me motived as well!

The MSO website is:  www.mso.org
Repairers of the Breach website is: www.repairers.org

Please don't feel like you must support this little challenge, but I you are so inclined that would be terrific.  We'll keep track along the way.  Just let us know!

Thanks for the Great Send Off!

On the trail in five days...great send off party last night - Carolyn (as always) did herself proud, keeping with the theme, serving up great chili, corn bread, trail mix, etc. - and of course decorated the place in "campfire style".  It was great to see all our friends turnout in an effort to better understand: one, what this AT thing is, and why on worth would I want to do it, and second, why would Carolyn if think of letting me do it.

The good news is that I brought in reinforcements to help address these topics!  Jay Tews and his wife Debbie and Tina Holan and her husband Scott were "keynote speakers" and shared their enthusiasm for the journey, having experienced it firsthand.  Jay brought pictures that told the tale and Tina sat around the fire and told the stories of what it was really like to do the AT back in the old days when plastic hadn't even been invented.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful evening!  I will miss everyone much along the way and hope that you all remember me and maybe give a little encouragement along the way!  I'll surely need it on the rainy days.  I will do my best to keep the blog up-to-date when I drop into towns along the way.

Am I nervous?  Yes, like crazy!  I have done some interesting things in my life, but this is clearly out of my comfort zone!  I have come to realize that this is the one most significant challenge I have placed before me in my life.  I would have to say that the ten things that will challenge me the most (of course, outside of missing my family and all of you), in rank order from most to least are:

1. Rain
2. More rain
3. Even more cold rain
4. Snow and wind
5. The state of Virgina
6. Oh yeah, the trail up the mountains
7. And yes, the trail down the mountains
8. Missing good food
9. Sleeping on the ground
10. Mean-spirited animals like mice and raccoons

Bears, rattle snakes, wild boars, hillbillies cause me pause but they don't seem get in the way.

Thanks everyone...stay tuned...

Some of the good friends to see me off...

Nothing like a little PBG and whiskey!

Note the decor and get ups!

Sandie committing to meet me on the AT

Don

On the A/T One Week from Today!

Pretty much all set to go!  Pack remains at about 38lbs (darn it) and gear seems to all check out.  I have had to terrific visits with two thru-hikers...Tina whom went solo back in 1988 when it was for real, and Jay, the husband of a woman who works with Bill Brody at SCJ.  Both visits with these icons were very beneficial in my planning!  Tina's big learning on the trail began three days in as she was trying to pack 65lbs heading up north (as her name implies, she's tiny!)!  The very kind Georgia Appalachian Club found her exhausted on the trail, sat down with her, helped her repack and she was on her way to Maine...with much less weight.  It's quite a remarkable feat given the technology and remoteness of the A/T back in 1988.  Jay blasted through the A/T, packing little but tons of miles every day...up to 35 miles in one day!  Being able to spend time with both of these great hikers made me both humbled and excited to hit the trail.  I keep hearing about all of the terrific people you meet on the trail and if they are like these two folks, it will be a blast.

All for now...