Catching Up

It’s March 11 and I’m in Franklin, North Carolina.  I woke at 4:45 this morning and with my headlamp making a small tunnel through the cold fog I started hiking toward Mt. Albert before 6:00 .  The last bit before the peak was the first “scramble” on the trail, where hands and arms become more useful than poles as you climb rather than hike over boulders.  This was a really small scramble for me and I love them anyway.  But I knew some hikers would look up the trail and say WTF!#@$!  And, some would make the decision this AT thing is not for them.  There are plenty of much bigger scrambles ahead. It’s not for everyone.

   

But whoa, Buddha.  You’re getting way ahead of yourself.  This is your first blog post since you started this thing.  Roll the tape back to March 2 and let everyone catch up. Early in the morning on March 2, I start out on the Approach Trail to the AT, climb stairs along the boisterous Amicolola Falls and have my feet on dirt for the next 8.8 miles to get to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail - the starting line for a thru-hike. 

The first hiker I met, still 7 miles from the top of Springer Mountain, wasn’t gonna make it.  I greeted him and introduced myself as he stopped for a rest on the wall I had dropped my pack on. I was shedding my light rain jacket.  He said his name was Old Crab and this was, he figured, "my last chance to do this thing." He wore a knee length green parka with fur, leather boots and a pack so large enough I could see it above his head as he approached.  It was chilly, but I was in shorts and a lightweight breathable long sleeve shirt and trail runners.  Sadly, I knew he wasn’t gonna make it to Katahdin.  Not to say, you can look at someone and know their future.  But, in this case, it was true.  He explained life’s responsibilities had kept him from trying this thing.  But, with blood clots in both lungs, bad knees and other problems he figured he was running out of time.  I wished him well and climbed to the top of Springer in a couple of hours.  Two hours later when I stopped for lunch at Stover Creek Shelter, I met a ridge runner (folks paid to walk sections of trail to make sure folks are OK, tidy and respectful). I asked her to make sure someone checked on Old Crab. I also met Dao there, as he was making his last stop before finishing his SOBO hike. He was already starting to feel sad and didn't want his hike to end. Buddha on his first day met Dao on his final day. 😄

I ended my first day at Hawk Mountain Shelter after 16.9 miles. I pitched my tent, collected water and bird bathed down at the nearby creek where I met a Quebecois named Ruby and showed her how to backwash her water filter. I heated up my ramen bomb dinner (ramen with stuffing mix) and was off to sleep by 6:30 as others were congregating around the fire circle near the shelter, camp chairs and an ukulele appear.

For the next week, the days were pretty much the same. Up early. Hike ~15 miles. In my sleeping bag by sundown. Hike for 10 hours. Sleep for 12. Repeat. Ahhh, sounds boring and repetitive. But it's actually commands all my attention. One foot in front of the other up the mountain. No stopping on the ups. Shorten steps if you have to but keeping moving. Recover on the downs. Thanks to Littlefoot for teaching me that. Take long deep breaths. Scan the rocks, roots and leaves ahead for any hints of dirt between em. My pack feels heavy but I'm moving well. I'm happy and drenched in sweat on 50 degree days. Wishing it was colder.

But, then there is this blog I've promised everyone. I couldn't get a couple of features to work before I hit trail, so I'm planning to find a computer. I scan my AT Guide for the 💻 symbol. Above the Clouds Hostel in Suches will do the trick. Lucky picks me up at Woody Gap and an hour later I'm clean, in pajamas being squeezed by a shiatsu massage chair, and drinking a Black & Tan from the hiker fridge. Turns out the laptop was broken but Michelle is washing my clothes, Nimrod is chopping vegetables (ahh the comforting aroma of a mirepoix. More massaging, more Yuengling and "dinner will be served in 20" I hear from the kitchen where the chat is light and quick and weaves together the Bolshoi Ballet and trail tales. Nimrod pokes his head from the kitchen and scans the pajama filled room as he advises "I just wanted to see who it was the drank all my beer! .... So, I know whose food to spit in". Yep, I drank almost all (3) of the cook's beer. Another hiker, following my lead had helped out, but his empty was out of site. It's OK, he says, "Just can't find good help", referring to the owner Lucky who had not given me a proper tour of the house when I arrived. I did hear him say there are "sodas, juice and drinks in the fridge. Mark down what you take on the clipboard. We'll settle up when you leave." I just figured beers were drinks. 😆

When I reached Neel’s gap on Friday after 10 miles in the heat I again thought of getting to a computer and made the call to the lovely Your Home in the Woods B&B with Bonnie & Paul Hayward. Lovely in every way. Back at Your Home in the Woods Hostel, I was again clean, napping by 4:00 and waking for dinner at 6:00. Met Billy Goat, a really cool guy who was starting his hike soon. I hope to see him u-p trail. A lovely homemade meal with Bonnie, Paul and Billy Goat was all I had in me, and I was again snoozing in a bed. The blog will have to wait. The next morning Bonnie and Paul awake at 5 to cook me poached eggs with parmesan twists, blueberry pancakes and a buttermilk cornbread while Billy Goat sleeps in. They pray over me and my journey and Paul drops me back at Neel's Gap where Paul took this picture.  

The next computer appeared to await at the Holiday Inn Express in Hiawasee I had hiked 78 miles in six days. Monday, March 7 I hiked 4 miles to Dick’s Creek Gap, caught a shuttle into Hiawassee, Georgia was in bathtub soaking by 9:50AM at the Holiday Inn Express for a NERO (near zero miles day) to rest after hiking 78 miles in 6 days.from camp and hiked ~ 4miles to a road where I was shuttled into town for $20. By 10:00 am I'm checked in, had the buffet breakfast and am soaking in a tub. Laundry gets washed, and I'm off the the computer center where I find a Gateway PC . Are you old enough to remember Gateway Computers? Next morning I wait for the Town County Library to open. I get on a modern computer and learn that my entire site (hikingbuddha.com) is locked, compromised and my situation has been elevated to top-level tech support. Check back in 48 hours. ENOUGH! I gotta go. And, I'm back NOBO after a lovely ride by JC who drove me the 11 miles back to the trailhead.

Looking back on my first week, it's been warmer than expected. I'm sweatin' all day. Sleeping all night. I've heard coyote and helicopters (the trail passes along Camp Merrill: 5th U.S. Army Ranger Training Battalion). It’s been warm - so I priority mailed my mittens, Merino Wool 250 base layers, and microspikes north to Fontana Dam, NC. I don't want to carry the extra couple pounds. I’ll be there in another week and will put my warmest layers back in my pack before I head into the often frigid Smoky Mountains. Looking ahead, I’ll reach North Carolina today and say goodbye to my first (of 14) states. Yay! Only ~2,100 miles to go!

The hike’s been hard but good so far, but the blogging and posting to instagram have been harder!  Since my hikingbuddha.com site has been a disaster, Debbie, my love, has helped me pull this together on Blogger. And, she's created the Google map where you can track my progress. Hope to post again in a week or so when I reach Fontana Dam, NC.