Today was, again, cold. We woke up in snow and chilly temperatures, the caravan and I: Mac, Ace, Jess, Frankie, Tank, and Listener. It is a great group, and we got quite close last night. Literally.

My clothes and sleeping bag kept me warm enough, despite the 40mph gusts of snowy wind into the shelter. After struggling out of bags and making breakfast, we hit the road. Most days out here, I have been feeling great, rockin and Rollin. This morning, I wasn’t really feeling it. Instead of cooking, I just grabbed a quick bite to eat. As we started hiking, I turned on my phone and played some music to get me pumped. I normally don’t go in for that sort of thing, but it definitely worked. The combination of Cake (the band) and beautiful sights this morning got me in the zone.

It was a leisurely 6-mile hike to NOC, where we are staying for the night. Hanging out here has been nice, with plenty of great hikers, and it is a small but comfy place.

About 30 miles to go until Fontana Dam, and the Smokies after that. I’m surrounded by awesome people and beautiful places. Bring it on.

Yesterday (Monday), I took a zero, which means I moved zero miles down the AT. Most people do this in town, but I chose to do it at a shelter, in the woods. It was quite an enjoyable day, mostly spent around the campfire, eating. It felt good to rest and rejuvenate, and simply to enjoy being in the woods without rushing to get somewhere. The overall feeling on the trail is to push forward, to make it to the next town or get the few extra miles whenever possible, so it was nice to counteract that with a day of stagnant joy near the fire.

As I mentioned, I have plenty of food this time, and I have time to make it to the Smokies to meet my family, so why not take my time? Hawk and some of the others got ahead of me, but some old friends caught up: Six friends that I had met a few nights back. They are an impressively tightly knit group yet were very welcoming and inclusive toward me. I plan to stick with them for at least the next couple of days. It has been great so far. They were glad to share the warmth of my fire when they arrived, and I was glad for the company. We were also joined later by a few other hikers and stayed up around the fire sharing stories.

The next morning, I felt right at home.

Needless to say, there would not be a morning campfire, nor one tonight (Tuesday night). We hiked 11 miles today, all of it on the snow and some of it through the snow. It was definitely beautiful but not entirely appreciated by all the members of my new gang.

Despite the frustration and sudden change of weather, we survived so far. When we strolled into the shelter this afternoon, the majority jumped into sleeping bags to get warm. The rest of us cooked up some dinner. The hot food and tea got the others out of bed soon, but it continued to snow, and we were all in our sleeping bags by 5:30PM.

When compared to other nights, it is not all that early to be in bed, but none of us were that tired yet, so we horsed around for a while, played 20 questions and talked. As I said, it is a fun group, and I better like them because tonight, we are packed into this tiny shelter, our temporary home. Tomorrow, we plan to hike a Nero (near zero, about 5 miles) into “town,” and split some lodging to avoid more snowy weather and grab some food.

Yes, yes, all of you who told me so can now say, “I told you so!” There is snow here, accumulating snow, but you’ll notice I am not complaining. In fact, I was pretty happy about it. I was in my turtleneck, while everyone else was hiking in their coats and hats. Admittedly, I put mine on when it really started snowing, but I am fully prepared for worse than this. I built a miniature snowman and had a mostly one-sided snowball fight. The snow was not packing particularly well, and as I said, most were not as enthused about it.

As I type, I lie near sweating in my sleeping bag. It is supposed to get cold tonight. Bring it on! I’m loving every minute.

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My Sunday was a fairly simple day. Though I was running on only a few hours of sleep, I had to get up to go to all-you-can-eat pancake and bacon breakfast, which hit the spot. The people were so kind (at a local church), and encouraged us to eat as much as we wanted. Oh yeah.

I am feeling good about food too. Rationing food on the trail is never fun, so I brought plenty of food this time: both food bags full and a bag of mini bagels. Sunday, I took the 11:00 shuttle (so perfect) back to the trail, and hiked a leisurely 11 miles to a shelter. The shelter is right past another tower, which had some pretty great views. Camping there was appealing, but it was too windy.

The talk on the trail is the cold weather. We are supposed to get snow, and temperatures in the teens are intimidating to many. As a Michigander, I’m not too concerned, and this time, I shall be prepared. A lot of hikers are finding buildings and beds, but I plan to tough it out for now.

It was fairly brisk when I got to the shelter, so I ate some food and built a campfire. It helped for a bit, but everyone went to bed early. After chatting a bit with Thomas and Sylvia from Switzerland and Ghengis from Arizona, I bundled up and slept for a while.

Good reception = more pics.

Today was a good day, a beautiful day. Numerous amounts of good hiking – though difficult, it was beautiful. It was also the earliest I got started hiking this far. By 7 AM (I think), I was dressed, had eaten, and was ready to go. There were a couple of people just waking up exiting their tents, but for the most part, the world was still asleep – the human world anyway, which makes for a very peaceful morning. If you’ve never hiked through some of the most beautiful stretches of the United States in the early morning, I highly recommend it.

As I mentioned last post, everyone was pretty low on food today, and they were headed for the next town: Franklin, North Carolina. As to be expected, my breakfast consisted mostly of raisins. Not a bad breakfast, but I was certainly looking forward to some real food. I was sleeping in the shelter, as opposed to tenting it last night, so I was trying to be extra quiet in the morning. I’m assuming that most of you know how shelters work along the Appalachian Trail, but many of you probably do not, so I will try to make a post about that soon.

I felt good this morning, so I started cruising pretty fast. After about 4 miles, I had made it to campsite where quite a few people had camped the night before. Quite a few of them were awake when I arrived, and they were sitting around the campfire. A second breakfast in the morning chat around the fire seemed like a good way to start the day. Before long, I set off again on the trail, and as I was the first one out in the morning, I ended up spotting a deer not too far off the trail. It was my first deer sighting so far. Surprisingly, there have not been to many wildlife sightings thus far. A few birds, few insects, but otherwise not too much. Hope to see more soon.

The climbs started out gentle enough, but that was soon to be remedied. Just before the hundred mile mark, there was a steep, rocky climb, nearly going vertical. Now don’t tell anyone, but it was a fairly difficult climb. I had to set down the trekking polls and use my hands to pull myself up a couple of times. The reward was worth it. Waiting at the top of the climb was a beautiful view and my new friend Hawk. After enjoying the views from the rock and from atop an old fire tower, we congratulated each other on reaching hundred miles in, and continued hiking. We talked about our respective plans for the day, and considered the idea of sticking together for a bit. I hiked with Crazyhorse and Young Gun for a while, and then I hiked with Hawk again for a while. For an old man, he sure had some horsepower. It always feels good to find someone who can hike your pace comfortably.

We decided to hitch in to town, as we arrived at a point crossing the road in the early afternoon. As luck would have it, we successfully hitched a ride within the first five minutes. Southern hospitality.

We secured a motel room, headed to the grocery store for food (which I got a lot of), and caught some dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. A successful and surprisingly efficient trip into town, we were both quite pleased. After business was taken care of, Goat and I headed downtown to play some pool at the bar. It felt good to be a normal person for a bit. The people managing the hotel and associated businesses have been extremely kind, and we feel honored to stay here. I got to meet Ron Haven, the owner, in the parking lot, and he was a very generous man. The all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet starts at 7:15 AM, so I think I better get some sleep. We are considering taking the shuttle back to the trail early in the morning, but we will see if I make it that early. An extra shower and a little bit of lounging time in the hotel room sounds pretty good.

As I said, I really great day for me. I managed to do 12 miles before noon, and a total of around 16 miles. I am hoping to do about the same mileage tomorrow, but I will be flexible, since I will be heading out of town. I really like the people that I have been hanging out with recently, so I hope to keep up with them, for at least a little bit longer. I expect to reach Fontana dam in four or five days, and after that come the Smoky Mountains. It’s going by so fast!

Sweet dreams,

Firewalker.

The general consensus seems to be that everyone wants more food, myself included. I had bought a good amount, but I am nearly out now. I have enough to get to the next town, where most people plan to stop. If more food is of reason enough, there is snow in the future forecast. I can handle snow, but down here cold and wet almost always go together this time of year. I have avoided the worst of the weather so far, especially starting at the time that I did, considering how cold it has been this year.

The big talk is the Smokies coming up quick, now that we are in North Carolina. They are very high in elevation, so they will be coldddd. For me, the Smokies mostly mean meeting up with my family, about which I am pumped up!

Morale here is high, as we have a sweet fire going. There are quite a few people at the shelter here, with some friends from earlier on in the trail (among them Day Tripper, the Rock, Anna, Tatanka, Flinch). It has been a really relaxing night after hiking a pretty route – not a lot of views but overall good looking woods. The past few days have shown me the reasoning behind the name “green tunnel” for the trail. Everything is becoming greener and forms walls and a ceiling along the way. It is an amazing feeling to walk through that, but I can see how it would get monotonous.

I met up with Spirit Hawk, and we had an enlightening talk. It was great to meet him, and I anticipate seeing him again.

Today was a good hike. A good amount of miles in, but the terrain was nothing too rough. The campfire after the hike was definitely the highlight of the day. It is only 8:30 p.m., but I am ready for bed. My plan is to rise early tomorrow and start hiking the 16 miles to get to my destination, just before a spot to hitch into town. We will see if I can get up as early as I hope.

Yesterday was a big mileage day in the mountains, especially after my zero days (zero mileage), but today I still pulled off 13 miles. My legs were tired after today, more so than they have been in a while, and I think it is because of the elevation changes, a lot of ups and downs today.

As I took a slower pace, it helped me reflect on some things. The first of which, a concept that a close friend of mine brings up sometimes, is charitable assumption, assuming that others’ intentions are not to hurt or offend. This can be challenging, as when other hikers decide to toss trash in fire pits. It is definitely one of my pet peeves, but perhaps their bags were fit to burst leaving no room for trash, or perhaps they thought that burning AA batteries was healthy and acceptable. Whatever the intent, I try not to waste energy hating and simply pack it out myself.

Another topic of my reflection was pace. I tend to hike quickly. By quickly, I mean very few people pass me, but I was focusing today on going slowly and really enjoying the hike. I hiked a lot slower than normal, and it was surprisingly difficult when someone passed me not to try to catch back up and pass them. I had to laugh at my competitive or achieving nature and hold my pace.

I had a pretty great time today, seeing. Blueberry Bear again and meeting some new people. Most of the people I met earlier are ahead of me, as they were off the trail for less time. I’d like to catch some of them, especially Truck, but whatever happens will happen.

A noteworthy event today: I passed into North Carolina! The first state of the trail complete, I feel more like an official thruhiker. Sleeping tonight in a shelter. It has become a sort of ritual for me to start a fire. There were quite a few camping at the shelter, and when someone requested I build a fire, I obliged. It worked out well for me, as they collected most of the firewood.

We enjoyed the warmth and the clear sky for a bit (the stars tonight are fantastic!), but all are nearly asleep by 10 tonight. It is feeling chilly, but hopefully it will not be too cold tomorrow.

I am looking at the next place to resupply, as I have been eating my food faster than I anticipated. It is a good thing. I need the energy, but I am going to have to get used to stopping more often or carrying a boatload of food. I am hungry still, but all of my food is hanging from a branch, so I will have to wait until morning. We will see how it goes.

Goodnight all.
-Firewalker

For those of you wondering if I was eaten by a bear, fret not. I am alive and well but had a couple of days off the trail and am still adjusting to finding good reception at the right time.

It is a wonderful thing to visit an old friend. My childhood pal from down the street now lives in Georgia, and we agreed to meet up when I approached his house. I got off at Unicoi Gap, which is a common place to head into town. A lot of hikers catch a shuttle service into town, especially because most hostels and hotels offer them, but I was headed in a different direction. It was rainy and relatively cold when I arrived, and I figured hiking would be better than standing in the rain, so I set off in that direction, hoping I would not have to hike the full fifteen or so miles. As I waded through the knee-deep mounds of wet garbage on the shoulder (ranging from beer cans to televisions to beer bottles), I was passed by gangs of jeeps and modified diesel trucks taking the mountain curves at 70 mph. Not too far down the road, I got picked up by a very generous fellow. Matt said he had a farm near the Appalachian Trail and had hiked it quite a bit. He was happy to give me a ride, but I am pretty sure. I was much happier. Other hikers have had similar luck catching rides, so I must say that I am very impressed with the southern hospitality that I have seen so far.

Speaking of which, the Grace family was super generous in allowing me to stay. It was so wonderful to see them all and catch up. They are wonderful people. I had not seen my old friend Foster in quite a few years, and so I was wondering how it would be, and how different he would be. I knew things were going to go well as soon as he drove me home in his glorious classic car. And I knew things were going to be even better when he asked me. “Do you like the band Cake?”

So we listened to Cake and hung out. Our friendship had easily sustained over the years. Great movie watching, epic games of scrabble, and of course – showers. All in all, it was amazing, and I wanted to just move in, but it was time to hit the trail again.

So I did. Foster gave me a ride back to Unicoi Gap, where I got off, and I spent most of Wednesday hiking. I managed a 17-mile day, ending at Moreland Gap. There were also a few more miles to and from shelters and water sources throughout the day but 17 miles on the actual trail – not too much to report there, as I was mostly just walking, trying to make up for lost time a bit. I am mostly on schedule, but I would rather be a bit ahead, at least starting out. The last few miles I ended up catching up with Hamp and Katherine, with whom I had camped a few nights prior. They are a lot of fun, and I enjoyed camping with them again. I started a campfire, and we stayed up late into the night (relatively late, “hiker midnight” is considered 10:00 or sometimes earlier) chatting and horsing around. It was generally awesome as they, like myself, really enjoy what they are doing but do not take it all too seriously.

Foster and the Grace family: thanks for Cake in my head instead of christmas music, thanks for everything. It was a great time.

-Firewalker