39.7 Miles on the Appalachian Trail

What a wonderful learning experience and an opportunity to test my gear and mettle. I was really nervous before leaving to begin the hike wondering if I could go the distance with the pack on my back. We were a small group (6 women and 3 men) from various parts of the United States and I enjoyed spending the week with them. Wasn't surprised to be the oldest and hoped that I could keep up. Some had prior backpacking experience and for the rest of us, it was our first time backpacking. The weather was incredible -- sunshine, mild temperatures and no rain. God's glory was abundant in the beautiful fall colors and blue sky. 

Day 1 - We started at the top of Amicalola Falls parking lot on the A.T. Approach Trail and stopped the first night at Black Gap Shelter. First time for me to set up my tent other than in my own yard. First time to get water from a little trickle of a stream and to purify it. First time to put my food bag up on a bear cable. First time to use my little home made alcohol stove (check out the video tab to see it in action in my kitchen during a test) to cook at a shelter. Wore my Salomon trail runners for the day but realized at the end of the day, my Teva Hurricane XLT's would have been better. So I hiked the rest of the week in my Tevas and my feet thanked me. Thanks, again, to Mouse, Class of 2012, who thru-hiked entirely in Tevas and her system with socks. Works for me.

Day 2 - Next morning up and over Springer Mountain; we spent the night at Hawk Mountain Shelter. At the shelter were two women from Florida who were hiking part of the A.T. and just before bed two SOBO's (started in Maine and came south to Georgia), trail names, Boot Stomper, I think, and Chesty -- stopped for the night. They were from Kentucky and would finish their thru-hike the next day. Boot Stomper could bend his boot at the ball of the foot and bring his insole through the opening. They were nice young men. Again, spent the night in my tent. Never realized how loud leaves falling on my tent could sound.

Day 3 - Onward to Gooch Gap Shelter. Spent my first night in a shelter. There were five women on the bottom floor (3 from our group and the 2 women from Florida we'd met the day before). I slept on the outside next to the ladder (but stayed away from the edge and corner cause I'd heard that's where the mice like to run); Micki was next and her friend, Nancy, then Martha and Nancy from our group on the other outside side (kind of a like a grown up slumber party). Our heads were at the shelter front (again, to stay away from mice). The two young policemen from Florida were on the second floor. No mice -- nice !

Day 4 - To a campsite not far from Dockery Lake Trail. No shelter, no privy (first day for digging a cat hole--probably too much info), no bear cables. We cooked our dinner meal a distance from our tents. Jeff, one of the fitpacking guides, hung our food bags some distance from where we cooked dinner. He chose several trees hoping that if a bear got some of them, he wouldn't get all of them. Bear activity was reported in the area. I was exhausted this night and kept very quiet but for the most part sleep evaded me. The next morning I was ready to go. On the trail I met a man who is a Triple Crowner; he has hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail -- over 7,000 miles & 22 States -- FANTASTIC !! When I asked to take his pic he posed with Mary and Alex from our group. He lives in the north Georgia area. His trail name is Flatfoot but he doesn't have a journal online; said he might post highlights from his hikes at some point. I hope he does one day. The last 800 miles of the Continental Divide Trail he hiked solo because all the others had dropped out. He said his voice remains permanently raspy to this day because he had to shout at every curve in the trail "HEY BEAR !"  in order not to surprise a grizzly and risk being attacked. He does not recommend solo hiking that trail. I wore my brown/black smart wool t-shirt for 4 days; nose-wise it fared much better than the green polyester I changed into for the last two days. I'm sold on smart wool for that reason.

Day 5 - Destination Woods Hole Shelter. We'd met a hiker a couple of days before who told us a bear had tried to get his entire backpack which he'd hung from the bear cables there (pic below has our food bags hanging). He showed us the claw marks on the bottom of the his pack. He scared the bear away about 11 PM and it came back a couple of hours later for a 2nd go but to no avail. It was a beautiful evening and we had a fire. Woods Hole Shelter has resident mice. You could see parts of their nests up high near the roof on both sides. I felt sleep deprived and was determined to get a good night's rest. Went to my tent (pic above), took 2 benadryl, inserted ear plugs, and fell asleep as Bruce, one of our guides, played his recorder while laying in his hammock. I only heard two songs and I think he played 4 songs that night and I was in lala land.

I slept through the bear visitation around 11 PM. I'm a light sleeper - even leaves dropping on my tent kept me awake - so I was amazed to learn the next morning that our guide, Bruce, had acquired a new trail name, "Bear Ninja", because of his fearless confrontation as the bear went for our food bags. The two Florida policemen (remained in their tent with heads peeking out - they were closest to the bear). Every one else was out of their tents/shelter and yelling at the bear to leave. As I was told the next morning, Bruce (dressed in black long johns, boots, head lamp) and white hair shining in the moonlight emerged from his hammock, "striding powerfully" toward the bear. He approached close enough, picked up and threw a good sized branch and hit the bear on its leg. It left. Jeff suggested I not take 2 benadryl at night and sleep with ear plugs on my thru-hike. I was happy not to see the bear. They said it was possibly 20 years old and standing on its hind legs about 8 feet tall ! That's my bear story and I slept through it !!

Day 6 - The trail seemed to climb up, and up, and up for miles to Blood Mountain and the view was worth every gasp of breath. I had my one and only fall almost at the bottom of Blood Mountain. One of my trekking poles collapsed (both sections at once) when I put my weight on it as I stepped down; I fell to that side and my right foot slipped on leaves and mud and I was on my bum. A young couple got to witness the spectacle. My guardian angel came to my rescue; I was OK. Just a little roughened skin on my left knee. The young man asked if he could help me but I figured I'd bring him down with me so I said I just needed a minute to figure out how to get up. Probably should have removed my pack but I thought it might roll off the mountain. I maneuvered my left leg and swung my back to the right and got both feet in front of me and used my powerful thigh muscles (haha) to stand up. Figured I was filthy but there were so many leaves on the rocks that I didn't even get dirty. I need to tighten the locks on my poles. We walked on to Neels Gap and finished the fitpacking.com trip.

Weighed my pack at Neels Gap -- 34 lbs ! That's minus some of the food I carried for the week.  I have work to do on reducing pack weight before beginning my thru-hike. I hope to leave with not more than 25 lbs. total including food (for 4 days) and water. Asked one of the guys at Neels Gap to assess my pack and told him my left shoulder seemed to be carrying more weight. I learned that the load lifter attachments on my shoulder straps were off - one higher than the other - and both should be at the lowest possible adjustment. I didn't even know those rings were on the front of my shoulder straps but it sure felt more comfortable when he made that adjustment. Everything else was fine and it is the right size for me. I'm grateful for that.

It's good to be home. My bed sure feels good and I'm enjoying the comforts of a bathroom. I don't think my feet have ever been so dirty. I had to scrub them before I took my bath.
Fitpacking measurement results: 1 lb. of fat gone in 5 days (think about 4 sticks of butter); decrease of 2.2% body fat (I like that) and a gain of 3.4 lbs. of lean body mass (muscle - nice).

The physical therapy over the course of the last six weeks really strengthened my ankle; I had sprained it in May but didn't seek treatment until August. I rocked it and rolled it and it held up. On Monday, Cheryl, my physical therapist said it was better than before I left. A big thank you to Physical Therapy Centers of Georgia and everyone there.

During the week I came to know Micki and Nancy from Florida. What special women! Micki was attacked by a shark while diving; it is a miracle she lived through it. Her story is in the book "Surviving Survival." She is one of the most joy-filled and peaceful women I have ever met and her friend, Nancy, is a friend and jewel extraordinare, for sure.
This is a link to an article about Micki.

Micki's story

They have expressed a desire to meet me and hike a part of the AT with me; I would be blessed to have their company.

                                      Nancy on the left and Micki on the right

Thank you, Lord, for establishing my steps on this hike.

Fitpacking Hike

 The phone rang yesterday about 5:45 PM. I'd left my phone on the kitchen counter and was upstairs in my little office area. I dashed down the steps and it was a number I didn't recognize but since it was a local number, I answered. It was Jeff, one of the guides of the fitpacking trip I'll be going on in a few days.

What the heck is fitpacking ? "Fitpacking is weight loss backpacking" so it says on the website. Now I could stand to remove fat from this old body of mine, but I'm most interested in learning about hiking the Appalachian Trail and putting some backpacking miles on my feet and under my belt. At the end of the trip if the backpack waist belt needs to be tightened because I'm a half inch smaller, than thanks be to God. This trip is called the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Primer and we'll spend 5 nights and 6 days on the trail. We'll cover about 40 miles during that time and my husband keeps asking me what I'm going to be doing all the rest of the hours in each day since we're only going to cover about 40 miles total !  In general my husband and I walk about 50 miles each week usually in the morning. I hadn't really stopped to think about that because I'm focused on whether I'll be able to pick up and carry my backpack for 5 days in a row. We won't be twiddling our thumbs.

Had a great conversation with Jeff who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2008. His trail name was Jukebox and I've read his journal on trailjournals.com. It's comforting to know that he has hiked the hike (kind of like walking the talk). I think there will be 6 fitpackers on the trip (2 from Minnesota, 2 from Georgia, 1 from Virginia and 1 from South Carolina).  Another guilde will accompany us, Bruce, who has wilderness medicine training. Nice to know but I hope we don't need his expertise on a personal level. I'll bet he will teach us what we need to know ... just in case. 

With the thought of having to carry enough on my back to live in the woods for 5 days, I may have become what's know in hiker lingo as a "gram weenie" -- one who knows the weight of everything in the pack because it has been weighed. I hope to keep my pack weight as low as possible - say 17 lbs. or less (not counting water and food) because Jeff says I'll need to carry 10 LBS. OF FOOD -- WHEW !  They are providing the food and I have no idea what 10 lbs. of hiker food looks like.

I packed my clothes in ZipLock bags this morning. Then knelt on them (while praying -- just kidding) and squeezed out all the air. (I hope he doesn't want me to open the bags). Then I weighed the bags. Next I put them in the waterproof stuff sack above and then I repacked them in a compression sack and that's what I took.

One change of hiking clothes          10 3/4    oz.
Windjacket/fleece                              9          oz.
Nano Puff Jacket                              10         oz.
Rain Jacket                                      11 3/4   oz.
Rain Pants                                        11        oz.
Sleeping clothes (sleep socks,
lightweight thermal shirt and
tights, running shorts if I don't 
need thermals)                               1 lb. l oz. 


May leave the rain jacket and pants at home and go with a sil-nylon poncho for rain (if weather is predicted to be nice). May take a trekking umbrella. I sweat ALOT when I hike and putting on rain gear makes the situation worse .... decisions.decisions.

What things look like at camp. I would like to be better organized; guess it takes some practice.

The Will

 This is an interesting article from Backpackinglight.com

Completing a Thru-Hike 

 

What sets successful thru-hikers apart from the rest of the pack? Superfitnessawesomesauce? A trust fund? The best gear? The answer may surprise you.     By Francis Tapon 9/13/2011

 

Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, or Continental Divide Trail has a tendency to kick your butt. Most fail. I met many successful pilgrims on these trails, and I tried to look for a common thread. Here are some characteristics I thought they would share:

Wealth: I figured you probably need the financial wherewithal to support the multi-month journey.

Wrong: One guy (Cheapo) hiked from Georgia to New York on $20. His secret? Live off the freebies in hiker-boxes.

Good Gear: Those who travel with shoddy equipment are surely at a disadvantage.

Wrong: A man named Spider thru-hiked the AT with the same old, decrepit gear he'd had for 35 years.

Superior Nutrition: Poor nutrition would certainly catch up to you during the hike and hamper your ability to finish it.

Wrong: A few thru-hikers survived mainly on Snickers and other junk food.

Excellent Cardiovascular Conditioning: Thru-hiking is the ultimate endurance sport, so surely cardiovascular fitness is paramount.

Wrong: In Virginia I met George Ziegenfuss who blew that theory - he was in his sixties and hiked the AT with only one lung. He was huffing and puffing when he was sitting down, but he overcame that “inconvenience.”

Disease-Free: Your body should be healthy and free of debilitating diseases.

Wrong: Sticks and Stones, two ex-military men, thru-hiked together to raise money for Leukodystrophy, which Sticks battled. Although Leukodystrophy is a progressive disorder that affects the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves, it did not stop Sticks from thru-hiking the AT.

Youth: I initially thought that being young and strong was a common denominator.

Wrong: I recalled the first female thru-hiker I met on the AT - she was in her sixties. Others have completed it in their seventies. In 2004, Lee “The Easy One” Barry became the oldest person to ever thru-hike the AT: he was 81. The fastest thru-hiker our year was Linsey, a man who biked from California to Georgia, hiked up to Maine in about 72 days, and then biked back to California. He averaged about 30 miles a day on the AT and never took a day off. He was 63.

Sight: OK, at the very least, you should be able to see the darn trail! Right?

Wrong: a blind man, Bill Irwin, hiked the whole trail with his trusty seeing-eye dog named Orient. It took him nine months (50% longer than average), and he fell hundreds of times, but he made it.

I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t seem to find a common denominator among all the successful thru-hikers. Yes, the majority were young, strong, ate healthy food, carried lightweight gear, and could actually see the trail, but there were so many exceptions. It wasn’t until I finished a thru-hike that I figured it out.

The only common thread that separated the successful thru-hikers from those who weren’t successful was their will. Those who complete a thru-hike in one season have an unbreakable will. They want to complete the trail so badly that nothing will stop them. Their rock-solid courage triumphs over the fear and adversity that confronts them throughout their arduous journey.

Therefore, if you’re planning to thru-hike, it certainly helps to follow the valuable tips at Backpackinglight.com and lighten your load. However, don’t forget get to load up on the most important ingredient: the WILL.

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” — Muhammad Ali

Francis Tapon is the first person to yo-yo the Continental Divide Trail. He is the author of Hike Your Own Hike and, most recently, The Hidden Europe. Both books and his 77-minute CDT Yo-Yo Video are available at his website.