Manali

We are staying at a hotel called apple view in manali. As the name suggests, it is in front of an apple orchard, up on a hill overlooking the valey, river and mountains. The owner is really friendly and treats us like family. We are constantly getting tea and snacks from him and he gives great advice about things in town. The hotel is a bit away from the main drag which is nice because it is away from the noisy indian roads. The trail getting up to it is quite exhausting though.

Unfortunately Korey starred to get sick shortly after we arrived. We spent sunday exploring the town and walking through the forest. On monday Robson and I did a day hike while Korey rested. The hike was quite epic. After a strenous and steep 2000 m climb out of the valley we were treated with views of 2 different valleys and some peaks exceeding 6000 meters. Along the way we saw some hurders tending to sheep and goats that graze in the alpine meadows.
On tuesday Korey had to go to the doctor to seek medical attention, so tuesday and wednesday were spent pretty much relaxing at the hotel, reading and drinking tea. If you have to get sick, this is a pleasant place to do it. I enjoyed the downtime and Korey recovered quickly. She is mostly better now and we plan to go hiking tomorrow. Our plans have been pushed back 2 days so we changed all of our bus and train tickets back. Everything should work out well. Hopefully next time I write I'll have some good camping pictures to share.

India Begins

After a quick but terrific week in annapolis, it was time to embark on the second half of my adventure. On the flight over to london I stayed up most of the time reading and watching movies and TV. Virgin is an awesome airline. They treat coach like first class with less leg room. I even got some free cabernet! Unfortunately this meant that I arrived in london very tired. But, I had 15 hours to kill so I took the tube into the inner city and explored a bit. I was a bit disapointed that the parliament building was closed for the day but I went and saw westminster abbey instead. Afterwards it started to rain, so I decided to escape to the british museum before grabbing dinner and heading back to the airport. For the flight into delhi, I made sure not to turn on the TV and I slept the whole way.
My first impression of india was awe at how modern it seemed. The airport express into downtown was propabaly the nicest I've ever seen. The metro system is also pretty extensive and nice, although very overcrowded. Sometimes we have to wait 2 or 3 trains before enough space emerges to squeeze on. I had heard that india was very difficult to navigate, so I was pleasantly surprised. That being said, there are no street signs, and without a quality map, it took me about 3 hours to find my hostel where I met my friends Robson and Korey. Actually, a nice young kid who was trying to scam me into going into a knock-off hostel eventually gave up on me and told me where the real one was.
Delhi is intense and chaotic on all senses. There are so many people doing so many different things all at the same time and in close proximity. It also takes about an hour to walk a relatively short distance because of the congestion. And, at the end of the day you can see all the city grime on your skin. Because of all of this, we had to take things slow. We spent most of the day at rooftop restaurants and bars and ventured out to see a tomb that was the precursor to the taj mahal. The second day followed with more rooftop cafes and a trip to the red fort. We then caught a bus into the himalayan city of Malalli. After an exhausting 15 hours of jostling and bouncing we were greated with amazing moutain views, a quaint and relaxing town, and nice cool temperatures. More to come on the town in the next update. For now, check out Robson and koreys blog for cool pictures and stories at www.happinesssisonlyrealwhenshared.wordpress.com

Chilling in Annapolis

After 2 months on the trail, I was happy to relax in town a bit and hang out with Amy.  On Tuesday, I pretty much spent the day sleeping and catching up on Game of Thrones (about 7 hours worth).  Wednesday continued with a lazy streak, but I did manage to do some chores and get Amy's car washed.  On Thursday Spencer came into town, and we went for a run on the B&A trail followed by a quick sailing trip and some crab-eating on the water.  On Friday, we went into DC to explore the monuments, see some Smithsonians, and ate at little Ethiopia.  We also ran on the Obstacle and Endurance courses that the marines use to train on.  Saturday was spent playing frisbee at the park and grilling at Amy's friends' house. Then on Sunday, we went up to Baltimore for brunch with Britany.  Phew, that seem's like a busy weekend now that I write about it.  I have 2 full days to relax and prepare before heading over to India.  I just bought all of our train tickets and Amy and I watched Slumdog Millionaire last night in preparation.

Sailing!

Cargo nets are surprisingly difficult

Good ol' Abe

In Baltimore

Getting some Ethiopian food

1st Half Complete

As you probably already know, I've completed the first half of the AT, and I'm now a Townee again.  Overall, it was an amazing experience.  It is true, that a good portion of the trail is just walking through the woods and you may go days without any spectacular scenery, but when the trees do clear, the view is awesome.  Plus, I find a peaceful walk in the woods to be enjoyable on its own.  However, the people are what make the AT so great.  The most memorable aspects of the trail are all of the cool people you meet (and some of the crazy people you meet).  I hope to finish up the New England portion of the trail before I go back into the workforce, and I've already begun plans in my head to do the John Muir Trail out in California.

Well, I guess I'll write about the last few days on the trail.  After the Shenendohas I met up with Amy in Front Royal.  After a few quick errands and a Chipotle burrito, we set out northward on the AT to camp for the night.  It soon turned dark, and somehow we missed the turnoff for the campsite, so we ended up doing 2 bonus miles and had to backtrack to look for our shelter.  Finally we found a clearing with a destroyed shelter, and assumed we were out of luck and began discussing sleeping in the car for the night.  Luckily, we found a new shelter just down the trail, so it all worked out.

Last Night in the Shenendohas

Cool Waterfall

One of the Bears I saw.

The old shelter that tricked us

The next day Amy's cousins met up with us for a day hike, and we decided to do Old Rag Mountain.  It was a great day hike, although the summer weather had started to kick in.  There are some great views and some good scrambles on the route.  That night we dropped Amy's car off in Harper's Ferry and grabbed some dinner before going to the Bears Den castle for the night.

Scrambling up Old Rag Mountain

After a good night's sleep, a pint of ice cream, and some pancakes for breakfast, Amy and I left the Bear's Den to finish off "the roller coaster", which is a series of short but steep rolling hills.  We had planned to do 10 miles that day, but around mile 7 we say some people playing Settlers of Catan, and I decided that was a clear sign that we were meant to make camp early that day.  What a good decision that turned out to be.  It turns out that a big trail maintenance crew was making that cabin their base camp for the weekend, and they kindly showered us with food and drinks all evening (and breakfast too!).

A good game of Settlers

On Memorial Day, we made our way into Harper's Ferry and concluded my trip.  Harper's ferry, is a cool historic town, and I really enjoyed walking around all of the old buildings.  There were tons of people out in the parks and floating the rivers as well.  I went into the AT headquarters to get my picture taken for their book, and then went across the river to Maryland for a bit.  There is a cool trail called the C&O canal trail that goes from Washington DC to Harper's Ferry and beyond.  Just another thing to add to my to-do list.

The Shenendoahs

After three days in the Shenendoahs I have mixed feelings about the place. Sometimes I get quite annoyed because the trail pretty much stays in the woods along the skyline trail. All of the good stuff (waterfalls, springs, overlooks, etc.) Are on spur trails half a mile or so off the trail. I go to some of them, but it burns time. It would be so easy for them to route the AT to go to these places, especially since the spur trails end up parrallell with the AT anyways. Ok, enough complaining. The good part about the park is that it's great for magic. I've received 2 lunches, 2 beers, and some freeze dried dinners while in the park. The shops along skyline drive also make for a nice break - the blackberry milkshakes are amazing. Oh, and a saw two bears! It only took 900 miles. I met a supper hippie at the shelter tonight. She spends most of her time as a stole-away on trains and boats. She says she's been to several coutries that way. Recently she was arrested for halting a coal train to protest moutaintop removal. Well, hope all is going well in civilization.

Trail days

The past few days since my last post have been beautiful days to be outside. Encouraged by the cool dry air, I decided to put in some big miles to make it to Waynesburo by Friday when Amy came in. But after two days of 30+ miles, I decided to scrap the plan and just relax on friday. It was one of the toughest sections of virginia (including one of the most famous descents called "The Priest") and I was worn out. So, on friday I took a three hour lunch, stopped to talk to several people, and just mozzied along. I met a guy from Annapolis, a girl named tag who got engaged while on a previous thru hike (apparently it didn't last) and a cool guy from Harpers ferry that develops facial recognition software for the FBI. Soon the day was coming to an end and I still had 6 miles to go before meeting Amy so I hurried down the trail trying to make it in time. I turned out that Amy was running about 2 hours late due to DC traffic, so I went back up to an overlook, watched the sunset, and warmed up by the fire a local family had made. Soon after sunset, I met up with Amy (who had arrived a bit early and went hiking to find me, only in the wrong direction) and ate 3 chick-fil-a meals and some homemade cookies that Amy brought me.

We got into Damascus around 1:00 AM for trail days and set up our tent at The Place. I spent most of saturday morning shooing around at the vendors and bought two hammocks and some socks. In the afternoon we participated in the hiker parade, watched the hiker talent show, and listened to some concerts. In the evening we watched a documentary about the first thu hike of the American Discovery Trail, or ADT. The day ended with a stroll through tent city checking out all of the different neighborhoods. Riff raff was a good party scene with a huge fire and good music, but I think billville was my favorite. It's set up by a bunch of old guys who thu hiked in the 90s I think. On their thru hike, one guy (now the billville mayor) went to a yard sale and met a retired man who was selling all of his work clothes from Tractor Resupply. Another guy had torn his shirt, so when he heard about the yard sale he bought one too. On and on it went until it became fashionable to wear Tractor Resuply shirts on the trail, and there was an army of hikers out there with these shirts saying their name is Bill. I heard the original Bill even bumped up the price from 50 cents to $10 due to the demand. Anyways, all of these "Bills" come back to trail days each year.
On sunday we drove back to waynesburro and stopped at Devils Backbone brewery for some tasting. It's a nice area. There were at least three other breweries and several wineries in the area. Then we were going to go hike to a waterfall, but decided to just get dinner due to time constraints. I'm sleeping in my hammock in the city park tonight and will enter the Shenendoahs tomorrow. I ended up skipping about 15 miles of the trail, but I don't really care. There wasn't much to see anyways and I can always come back if I eventually want to hike every blaze.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my presents! Amy bought a new Osprey backpack for me and brought down a fixie bicycle to use at trail days. It was great being able to cruise around damascus on a bike and I'm excited to try out my new pack.

Where's my compass? 5/15/12

The rain finally stopped this morning, but it's effects could still be felt in the several stream crossings that now had to be forded. When I got to the "swimming hole", which now was more suited for white water rafting, I met South Park and Ma'am who were giving out trail magic for breakfast.  I had some AMAZING zuchini bread, apple butter, eggs, and orange juice. They said their neighbor likes to farm, but doesn't want to bother with selling it, so he gives it to them to make stuff for the hikers. I met up with Beacon again who was being dropped off on the trail again after avoiding the rain. The shuttle driver said 9 inches of rain fell over the past 2 days. I also met a day hiker who was stranded on the trail because the high waters had closed the roads and his wife couldnt come pick him up. Later that day I blue-blazed for two miles to see a 300 foot waterfall. Due to the rains, it was a bit of a pain to get down there, but the waterfall was quite impressive. Upon getting back to the AT, I grabbed a snack and was on my way. But, about 30 min later, I had a flash of recognition and I realized I had been walking south! Damn bonus miles. Tonight I'm staying in a shelter with a sociology professor at Marshal university, who wrote her dissertation on thru hiker subculture. I want to check it out when I get the chance. Oh, and my pack started ripping so now all othe weight is on my sholders instead of my hips - no bueno. I hope to get a new one at trail days.

Rain rain go away

Last friday I made it into Daleville fairly early and tried to get a hotel for the night. After a few attempts, I managed to get an overpriced smoking room at the Super 8. It was graduation weekend for all of the universities in the area so almost every room was booked. After a long shower and lunch I decided to go explore town for a bit. I ended up buying a dress shirt from good will, beer and flowers to surprise Amy when she arrived.  On saturday Amy and I did a day hike up to Mcaffees knob and then drove over to Richmond for a wedding. Sunday we grabbed lunch with my high school friend Mark and then drove back to the trail. Shortly after amy dropped me off at the trail it started to downpour and it hasn't stopped since. I won't lie and say I had fun today ... it was miserable. Everything I have is soaked. I even resort to eating soggy bagles for lunch. Luckily I got a shelter space for tonight, but it's so wet nothing will dry out. I only saw 2 people on the trail today (one was trying to get into a town) so I think most people have left the trail. I am envious because I feel like I am hiking in a tropical storm. The trail is basically a river ankle deep. I guess it's all part of the experience though.

A perfect day on the AT

Today was a perfect day to hike. The sun was warm but the air was cool and crisp and all of the views were crystal clear, and everything was DRY. I had a relatively easy day today, so I took the time to enjoy the views, watch the birds, and investigate the insects. The trail went by the dragons tooth which is a big monolith overlooking a valley. There is also a famous all-you-can-eat restaurant on the trail, which I will get to later, so I was planning to partially starve myself during the day in preparation, but around lunch time a came to a store at a road crossing that sold pizza and ice cream, and I couldn't resist. I got into Catawba, VA around 2:00 but the famous restaurant The Homeplace wasn't open yet (they only open from 4 to 8 thursday through sunday) so I spent my time chatting to the ladies behind the counter at the post office, the gas station, and the antique store. Those were the only things in town. Finally 4:00 rolled around and I made my way over to the Homeplace. I can best describe it as an all you can eat Cracker Barrel with lower prices and better food inside of an old ranch house on a 150 acre plot of land in the appalachians. The food was delicous and I soon became uncomfortably full. Oh, the place was packed too. Apparntly it is graduation weekend at virginia tech so a bunch of students and their families were there (the restaurant is one of the VA tech bucketlist things to do before you graduate). One hicker I know even got invited to a graduation party back in blacksburg. Talk about trail magic! I left the homelace with difficulty and left for my campsite. After dropping my stuff off I decided to climb up to Mcaffee's knob for sunset. The views are great from there so I will return there for sunrise tomorrow and on saturdy with Amy. Tomorrow I will meet amy in daleville, VA and take the weekend off.

Waterfall swim and zip line

Sortly after the last post I came across a waterfall off the trail with a nice swimming hole under it so I decided to take a dip. I spent so much time swimming around and drying out that I lost track of time and soon it was getting dark. There was a supposed to be an awesome lookout at the mountain summit ahead, so I hauled ass up the moutain to get there for sunset. Unfortunately I didn't make it and I arrived shortly after dark. I camped there hoping to get in a good sunrise view. It wasn't meant to be ... I woke up in a clound that would persist for the next two days. It has been raining on and off. I find that I actually go quicker and cover more miles when it's raining, probably because I'm not tempted to stop and enjoy a view or rest by the river. So, I put in 60 miles over the past two days. My feet are definitely feeling it though, and I'll be taking it easier for the next two days. A few more things of note, I went to west Virginia, so I've got one more state under my belt. I bought a ticket to Budapest while i was at the pearisburg library, so i will be chilling there for a while after india. I saw the second largest tree on the AT (apparently the largest one is somewhere in NY), and I got a coke from the Captain. The Captain is a supper cool guy who lives accross the river from the AT. He set up a zip line accross the river so hikers could stop by for a drink or camp on his porch. Hopefully the rain will clear tonight because tomorrow is supposed to have several viewpoints.

Strange people

After my last update I hiked through the night for about two miles until I found a good campsite. On my way there I went through a big field with tons of fireflys. It was a cool site to see, and with almost a full moon the hike was fairly easy. The next day I ascended a ridge and pretty much stayed there on top. The mountains in virginia are quite a bit different. They ars not big humps like in NC and TN but rather really long elevated strips of land. Anyways, I camped up there and had some of the best views of the trip. At the shelter, I met a supper strange dude named provisions. He was way out there. In the middle of a normal conversation he would change the topic by saying things like, "did you know puerto ricans come from Russia? Peurt Rico is an island I think." He tried to teach me some breathing techniques to fulfill my true potential and told me if I ever wanted to duel someone with a broadsword I should go to persia because my facial features Indicated I would fight well there. Listening him talk to girls was the best. Upon meeting shenanigans for the first time he asked her, have you ever seen the inside of a police tactical belt? I have. I just did a bunch of upper body workouts." It went on like that all night. I've met a bunch of hillbillys and other strange folk out here but he is the wierdest so far. Anyways, I've entered the green tunnel now and the walking is all in dense forest witout any views. There is supposed to be a good waterfall today though. Just passed the 600 mile mark as well.

Quick update

I'm sitting in a gas station parking lot at 9:40 PM and haven't figured out where to sleep yet, so I'll try to keep this brief. The Grayson highlands were great. Rugged mountains with nice sweeping views, and some wild ponies to boot. I stayed at thomas knob shelter with 3 REI emloyees who were out for a few days. We had a good game of spades that night. Also met a cool southbounder from Houston (the heights actually). He's a captain on a container vessel and is on his 6 month rotation off. The next day I tried bookin it to Partnership shelter because its one of 3 places on the trail you can have pizza delivered to the shelter. Alas, I was not fast enough and abandoned plans when I realized I wouldn't make it in time. So I had a good time with haus, his mom, and long skirt at the timpi shelter instead. Today I made it to partnership shelter and showered (fancy shelter, huh? Pizza and shower!) Then hitched into marion for a resupply and lunch. I met up with southpaw at lunch and chilled with him for a good while before heading north to atkins. Oh, right before atkins there was this cool outdoor museum of an old farm and schoolhouse restored from the 1800s.  The trail meandered through the countryside before emerging at I81 where I got dinner at at restaurant and went the the gas station to update the blog. The cameraon my phone is crappy but here are some more pics.

Damascus

I made it to Damascus today, and entered Virginia where I will stay for the remainder of my trip. Damascus is about the half way point for me. I've hiked about 467 miles so far. Despite the trail going through the town for over a mile, it seems like cycling is the main deal here. There's lots of bike shops and bike trails around. I'm staying at a cool Hostel run by the methodist church in town. They had a little concert tonight that I really enjoyed. I think I'm going to explore the town some more tomorrow and head out in the afternoon. I hope to be back for trail days anyway.

A beautiful day to hike

Clear skies and warm weather made this a great day to hike. The views were amazing today. I saw a waterfall and hiked along a river and a lake.

Mountain weather

My phone wouldn't turn on for a few days, but it's working now so I can provide a long update - unfortunately no pictures though. I guess the cold got to it. When I left the bunkhouse in Erwin tuesday morning I noticed I had bumps all over my head. I think there were bugs in those beds because the bumps have been getting better since leaving. Anyways, the weather on tuesday was a mixture of more snow, sleet, rain, and occational sunshine. It never precipitated hard though and the hike was rather enjoyable. There were several stream crossings and I put in a good 25 miles. I ended up camping a half mile away from a Hostel, and thought about staying there to get out of the rain, but decided to stay in the elements now that I have a nice cozy tent. On wednesday I woke up in the clouds, which didn't go away until later that night. The trail went up Roan mountain, one of the higher peaks on the trail at over 6100 feet. The snow had started to melt and the we were either walking through ankle deep mud or small rivers in the trail. It was very frustrating because every step I took I slid half a step back down the mountain. After Roam mountain summit, there is a bald mountain to traverse. When there are no trees to mark, the AT marks rocks on the ground with white blazes. That does little good when there are a few inches of snow on the ground. So the honeymoon hikers (a couple that I hiked with for a while) and I just followed footprints in the snow. About a mile later the footprints just stoped. A guy aroud us noticed that his altimiter said we were about 500 feet too high by that point. Whoops, we had taken the wrong pass and ended up doing about 2 bonus miles that day. In our defense, I talked to several hikers later on who had done the same thing. That night we stayed in an old barn that was converted for hikers to use. It had a great view overlooking a valley, a nice social cooking area, fire pit, and a huge sleeping area upstairs. A guy named Rampage taught me how to identify ramps (which are like wild onions) so I picked a few of those and cooked dinner with them. They are mighty tastey. That night I hung around the fire and talked with the honeymoon couple, Tyvek, rampage, and a couple from new hamphire. I left the barn thursday morning feeling good with a clear sky in view. I picked a few more ramps, cooked breakfast and went off to summit the Roam highlands. The Roan highlands are a series of bald mountains with some spectacular views - probably some of the best so far. Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy them for long. Just after I summited the first peak, an ominous black wall of sleet and rain engulfed me with huricane force winds. I've never experienced winds like that. Judging by how it feels when you stick your hand out the car window, i'd say it was sustained 50 mph winds with gusts near 100. I actaully got knocked over a few times. One of those times I fell on my pole, but to the manufactures credit, it only bent slightly and I was able to fix it later on. My pack cover was useless since it kept on flying off seconds after i tried to secure it. I ended up putting it away. My stuff would get wet but at least i wouldnt have a parachute behind me all the time. When the lightning started to strike I decided I had to get off the mountain, but the trail stayed along the ridgeline for a few miles. So, I decided to go off trail and decended the mountain a bit and took selter behind some boulders. It wasn't much shelter, but it was lower elevation and I blocked the wind considerably. I huddled there shivering for about half an hour until the lightning stopped and the rain subsided a bit. Then I decided to make a run for it, or a least go as quickly as the wind would allow. I finally made it back into the forrest and took a beak to recouperate. About an hour later the sky cleared and it turned into a wonderfull day, not counted the persistant mud. I stayed that night at a new shelter right next to a waterfall. It was an awesome place. The shelter was huge too. I slept on the third floor penthouse and spent the evening talking with subway, wrong way, hash brown, and guss. Today (friday) was a beautifull warm day. I had a plrsant hike into Hampton, TN where I am staying at the kinkora hostel. Its a nice place. Only $5 for shower and bunk with a ride to the grocery store. Theres a treehouse to play in and a lot of books lying around. The owner Bob Peoples is a legend on the trail for all he does for hikers. He's been maintain the trail for years and always helps out hikers in various ways. I haven't met him yet but I look foreward to it. In two days I should be in Damascus and enter Virginia.

I just realized I never mentioned I am going by Cricket now. I never really liked the name motor and was hoping something else would come along. Nothing came along so I started going by Cricket, which Amy gave me for eating crickets in vietnam. I have been going by Cricket for about 3 weeks now. There was another Cricket on the trail for a while, but he dropped out so now it's just me.

To my parents and Amy, still no phone signal so sorry about not calling. Sometimes I get wifi which allows me to post.

Snow and ice

On friday Tamir and I felt pretty lousey so I only put in around 10 miles. It was raining so I went to bed early - early even for Hiker time - around 6:30. The next day I felt better but more rain dampened my mood. I did run into the wolf pack though. They are an infamous group of about 15 hikers on the trail. They didn't know eachother before hand but really hit it off on the trail. They are famous for their improve guitar songs, but unfortunately I didnt get to hear one. Now that I think about it, I never got to hear Yolder yodel either. Anyways, on sunday the rain turned to sleet and the sleet turned to snow. I'm sure there were a lot of asweome views, but I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. Luckily I got a shelter to wait out the storm. When I woke up this morning there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground. My water was frozen solid and it took a good while to get my frozen shoes on. There were also a lot of fallen branches on the trail from all of the frozen rain.  I was, however, im high spirits. Snow is way better than rain - I was warm and dry on my hike into town and I new a warm shower awaited me. I'm spending the night in a bukhouse in Erwin. I met up with Truckin again and weny to a mexican restaraunt in town. total "white balzed" milage at this point is around 342 miles.

On my way again

I had a terriffic breakfast at Elmers this morning and left town around 11 AM. It was hard to leave the comfort of the town, especially with an 80% chance of rain tomorrow. For dinner a nice couple invited me to their home and gave me some stew and cake. I guess I can't say enough how kind people are out here. They thru hiked about 10 years ago after they retired and bought a house on the trail imediately afterward - they've been feeding hikers ever since. Also I spoke quite a bit of german today with an older man from Hamburg. There are a surprising number of germans on the trail. Most of them are young and don't care to comunicate in german, but the older ones are keen to speek it with me (and Tamir, who also speaks a bit of german).

Rain and rest

It rained for two days coming out of the standing bear and I was misserable. I discovered that my tarp and bivy just can't handle that much rain. All of my stuff got soaked and caked in mud, including my down sleeping bag. I was cold, wet, and had a serious case of hiker blues. Walking into Hot Springs was a huge relief. I'm staying at Elmer's. Elmer is a former thru hiker back in the 70s and a former professor. He bought this huge victorian mansion and now caters to hikers. All of the staff are former thru hikers as welll. The place is packed with antique furniture and appliances, interesting books, and all kinds of musical imstuments available to play. Everyone got their own room with a balcony. Also, they have a garden out back and make organic meals for breakfast and dinner every day. Last night I had a 4 course meal. Eveyone sits around a big dinning table and it feels like a nice big family. After dinner Elmer asked one of the hikers to give a performance so we all went to the music room and listened to Tamer play the piano for a while. Anyways, Elmers is awesome.

I took a zero day yesterday to rest my legs and explore town. Hot Springs is pretty small, but has everything you need. One grocery store, a post office, library, pub, outfittet shop, ice cream shop, and 3 restaurants. I spent the day at the library, picked up my package from Amy, and soaked in the hot spring baths for a bit. At night I went to the pub and met a bunch of hikers I haven't seen for a few days. I also bought a tent ... I don't want to go through another prolonged rainstorm in a tarp again.

The past few days I've been hiking with some interesting folks. Tamer is a former Arabic translator for the army, and as soon as he got out, he got on Jepardy and actually won two games. He's spending some of his winnings doing this trip before going to NYU on the GI bill. Balls and Sunshine are a father daughter team. Sunshine is only 11 and hiked the PCT last year. She is trying to be the youngest person to tripple crown after she hikes the CDT next year. I think I mentioned Beacon earlier. I started with him on April 3 and keep running into him. He's 63 years old but that man can move! He's a retired B52 pilot and has tons of fun stories to tell.

There is a big hiker festival in town starting today, but I think I'm going to head out after brekfast to avoid the crowds leaving town next week.

Out of the smokeys

The last night in the smokeys was packed. We had about 20 people in an 8 man shelter and then 6 more section hikers came in at night. Park regulations require you to stay in the selters but their whole reservation system is messed up. They are changing it next year so that thru hikers have to book shelters in advance, which angers a lot of people around here. Last night I stayed at the standing bear - sort of a commune hostel. Actually, there are two hikers who have been there for years. They hiked in and just never left. Now they work there. There was a barn bunkhouse, outdoor kitchen, mountain man shower setup, etc. Everything was real layed back. There was a storage shed and you could just take whatever and leave money in the box afterward. I had a great nights rest, showered, and hand washed my clothes. In two days I should be resting in Hot Springs.

Its downhill from here.

Made it to clingsman dome today  the highest point on the trail at 6643 feet. Hiked most of the day with a girl from Wisconsin named Lady Forward.

Fontana

I made it to fontana on an empty stomach and bought about 30 pounds of food. Now that I'm full and rational, I think I'll have to give half of it away. Oh well. The view at fontana lake is great and the shelter has showers nearby!

Just south of the smokies

Had a great huge breakfast at the NOC river center and should enter the smokies tomorrow. There's a big 4000 foot climb today so I'm sure that breakfast will go to good use.

Beautiful solitude

I put in a fast 20 miles today to avoid the crowds coming out of franklin and was rewarded with a nice luxurous 8 man shelter all to myself. There is an awesome view from the summit of the mountain here so I think I will climb up tomorrow morning to watch the sun rise.

An easter feast

I felt tired all day on saturday. Luckily as I decended the mountain at the end of the day I saw a huge non fire was people playing guitar and grilling food, so I thought that was a great place to take a break. Turns out that these guys are famous for their trail magic. The guy who runs it even wrote the first guide book about the AT. I suffed myself with pulled pork BBQ that night. Then in the morning, they set up a full out restaurant with a menu, table service and everything. All of this off a dirt road in the middle of the forest. I ate a huge omlet and was on my way. Oh, that was after our easter egg hunt for bandanas. The hike on monday was rewarded with an awesome view from atop a fire tower. That night we sat around the campfire and played childrens games like hoky poky. I stayed in Franklin last night with Justin and Daniel, who is from freiburg germany. This morning I ate a great breakfast courtesy of the first baptist church in town and I'm off to hike towards the smokey
Mountains.

A day of trail magic 4-6-12

It rained all yesterday and today. Yesterday I hiked with barefoot, handbone, and cyote rob. Rob just came off the pct, but he had to leave because there was too much snow in the sierras so he came over to do the AT now, and will finish up the PCT later. I've met a few people getting there tripple crown on this hike (meaning they've hiked the PCT, CDT and the AT), and i'm surprised to hear that they think the AT is physically the most chalenging. There are no switchbacks here. Everything is straight up and straight down. I'm glad I bought some hiking poles at Niels gap or else my knees would probably allready been shot. Back to my hike ... I took shelter from the rain last night in a shelter and they left to go hiking with rob. Barefoot and handbone decided to stay back to meet some friends. Todays hike was the most misserable so far. Visibility was about 20 feet and the rain was really cold. But, a few miles into the the hike there was lady on the trail handing out warm muffins and hot chocolate! Then about three miles later, there was a group of people with shelter, fire, two kegs of beer, wine, eggs, potatoes, and ham to hand out to all of the hikers. What stated as the worst day turned out to be one of the best. Trail legend is that trail magic like that always comes when you need it most. I'm off the road to hiwassee right now, but I think I'll bypass it because I think I have enough food to get to the next town (especially after the feast today).

Over Blood Mountain

Made it over blood mountain yesterday, the largest pass in georgia. I hiked all day with Barefoot and Handbone, both super cool guys. Also ran into a guy making a documentary about thru hikers and said he's pitching a reality TV show about hiking the trail to Discovery and History chanels. Maybe I'll be on TV one day. I spent the night in another cabin. It only cost $15 but it's supper plush with cumfy beds, satalite TV, outdoor kitchen, etc. After some pizza I went down the road to a hiker cabin party. The 9:00 is the hiker midnight so we went crazy partying untill the real midnight. My trail name is Motor because I just motor up the hills. I'm not a big fan of it so I hope something better comes along. Yesterday one guy got upset we didn't get cheese pizza, so his name is now Tantrum. Another guy had a supper wet fart on the trail so his name is now Shart. Maybe I'll actually have to sleep outside today.

First day success

Got in a good 18 miles today up to gooches gap. Saw some waterfalls and weathered a thunderstorm. All of the people at the shelter are really cool and we all played a dice game - gambling with chocolate. I wish I could stay around with these guys but they are only planning on putting in 10 tomorrow and I have to keep the milage high to get to D.C. on time.

The adventure begins

I left the house at 4:45 AM this morning to catch a 6:15 flight from Dallas to Atlanta (thanks Mom for waking up so early). And after leaving Houston less than 24 hours earlier, I was back at Hobby airport for a layover. No one can ever really escape Houston. After a quick lunch with Alex, I went back to his place to relax for a bit, and check out piedmont park. Then off to REI for some fuel and then off to the hostel. The hostel is probably the best one I have ever seen. It's secluded in the woods with two poches and great veiws. Eveything is new, clean and cofortable. The dorms were booked so I had to dish out for a private room, but I don't mind since it will be my last night in a bed for a while. There are about 10 other hikers that will start with me tomorrow. Two guys from germany, a bunch of dudes from around the country, and one girl from canada (I hear this is typical ratio so Amy doesn't have much to worry about). The ages range from 20 to 60 so the group is pretty diverse in that respect. The hostel owner said that about 30 thru-hikers have been starting the trail each day for the past month, so the campsites will likely be crowded. I'm anxious to start the trail tomorrow and I hope I get a trail name soon. I feel like geting a trail name is like getting baptized in AT culture. Well, I'm off to get one last shower in before the trail.

Sold My Stuff

I sold a lot of larger possessions over the weekend.  Now I don't have a dresser, bed, desk, bookshelf, or scooter.  I'm basically living on the floor with clothes in boxes for a while, but it will be nice not to worry about it as I move out.

Informing my work

I told my manager at work about my plans, they they were very supportive.  It feels nice to be committed ... no more second guessing myself.  In about a month I will be living life on the trail.

Phone setup

This is to test the blogger phone app, to see if I will be able to blog on the trail.

The Beginning

Today I bought by tickets to Atlanta.  In a month and a half I will begin the journey!