Rest Day(s)

I spent 2.5 days in Demascus. It was nice to be off of my feet but I was ready to get back on the trail. Everyone thought i was crazy because on the last day in town I borrowed a bike and went for a hour long ride. I guess people aren't use to my craziness :). The bike ride was exactly what I needed. It was amazing to move that fast. After averaging approx 2.5mph for the last month my senses were on overload as I sprinted along the creeper trail laughing like a little kid.

After struggling with my 40lb pack coming out of Hot Springs I elected to send half of my food ahead to another town. This time I left town with only 25lbs on my back. I am going to require huge amounts of personal control so that I don't bust out 25+mile days with such a light pack. I guess time will tell.

Spring is starting to reach the higher elevations now and it is quite interesting to watch the world morph into a new season. The birds are more active and the smells from the blosums are quite strong. Coming into town is also an interesting experience as all of my senses are heightened. The noise from cars and other machinery, the smell of fresh cut grass, and speed at which vehicles rush by are all much more noticable. It is going to be interesting returning to a large city after sending another 4 months living like a nomad in the American woods.

Day 31 April 26

This morning I woke feeling fully rested. It is a rare occurrence for me to wake and be up and ready to take on the world. However, this morning I woke at 6:30 and I had my bag packed, breakfast ate and was on the trail by 6:50. The hiking came easy for me today and I found myself zipping along at 3+mph. The trail followed a "ridge" today with views of watauga lake for the majority of the day. It was quite beautiful. The trail is also quite quiet now. Today I only saw six other people while hiking. I figured this had a lot to do with me starting so early so I took a mid day siesta and then stopped to make a hot lunch and still no one caught up to me. It was actually quite nice to have the trail to myself. That evening I stopped after 25miles at double spring shelter. There six other hikers caught up to me, however, none of them were anyone I knew.

Rain is in the forecast so I think I will try to make my way into Damascus tomorrow.

Day 29 April 24

After drying out our gear we decided to take an easy day. This proved to be an excellent decision. Today the trail took us by three major waterfalls. They were absolutely beautiful and we all took full advantage of mother natures natural shower. It had been almost ten days since any of us had showered so off we went with the camp soap and bandanas in hand. The water took your breath away but man it was extremely refreshing to get some of the grime off and a lot of fun to splash around in the water.
We also crossed another milestone today. We have now hiked 408miles!!! Only 1777 more to go :)

Day 28 April 23

Today we (Nova, Sleeping beauty, puddin, Patty cakes and Eddy) officially crossed into Tennessee for the last time. For the last ~100miles the tail has travelled back and forth between the North Carolina and the Tennessee border. Even though we've been crossing back and forth between the two states for quite some time it was a sense of accomplishment to finally see the official sign.
The trail can run very close to houses and private property. Someone who had a barn .3 of a mile off the trail donated it to the ATC. As a result it was converted into a shelter. The shelter was probably the most unique shelter I've seen yet and very spacious compared to some of the other 6man shelters. It also came with a great view. We attempted to take a group photo of us jumping off of the picnic table. Sadly the force of us all jumping broke the leg off the picnic table but it resulted in the most hilarious photo.
Later in the day we had a major road crossing. Nova and I had been talking about how great it would be to get trail magic today. Well we hit the jackpot. There was a couple there that had planned on hiking the AT and then changed their mind. As a result they were giving away about $800 worth of food and gear. They had dried cranberries, blueberries, pomegranates, cherries, oranges, bananas, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, toilet paper, bandanas, pack covers, cliff bars, mr noddles, cup of soup, stove top stuffing, Mac and cheese, pop tarts, crackers, avocados, melons, cantaloupe, summer sausage, sausage bites, peanut butter, emergen-C, coronation instant breakfasts, the list goes on. BUT the craziest part was.... They were trappers by trade and they had BEAVER. Yes, my fellow Canadians I ate our national animal. It was quite tasty. They prepared it in a similar fashion to pulled pork. Delish. As a result of us gorging ourselves and spending 2hours at the road crossing we only hiked an additional 2miles past the road.
That night we decided to cowboy camp (sleep under the stars). This ended up being a bad decision. come morning we were absolutely soaked. Word of advice do not cowboy camp in a grassy area you will end up covered in dew. The picture is us drying out our stuff the next day. Enjoy!

Day 27 April 22

Yesterday while hiking I passed two day hikers. They weren't moving the swiftest but they weren't overly slow either. Well last night around 9:30pm they stumbled through our campsite. Cold from the wind and near freezing temperatures they stopped for a moment and heated themselves by our fire. One of the other hikers gave them his headlamp as they didn't have one and they went about their way (I was in my tent while all of this was taking place). Then around 11pm I thought we were under attack as two four wheelers came blasting into our campsite. I would like to remind everyone that the appalachian trail is a foot trail only, no motorized vehicles or bikes allowed. So now you should be able to understand how terrifying and confusing it would be to sleepily process the idea of having two loud and aggressively driven machines came raging toward your 2mm thick tent. Needless to say I did not get out of my tent. It turns out the the two day hikers were over due and someone had called search and rescue, hence the four wheelers. One of the thru hikers was still up and told search and rescue that the day hikers hiked by about an hour ago and continued on northbound. With the new information in hand search and rescue was off in a flash, disappearing just as quickly as they had appeared. But the funniest thing of all was that one of the thru hikers slept through the entire thing!
The rest of the day ended up being great. I secretly had a goal of hiking 25miles; however, Sleeping Beauty, Puddin and Patty cakes were feeling quite rough and were struggling (mentally and physically). As a result, we ended up taking a 2.5hr siesta. The siesta was amazing. I laid in the sun, soaked up the heat, dozed off and on, and read my book. Three o'clock rolled around and Nova caught up to us so the group of us set off together toward the next shelter. We reached Roan High Knob shelter by six o'clock but decided to continue on as it was bloody cold there. This shelter is actually the highest shelter on the trail at 6194ft. We finally stopped and camped in a field for the night making our mileage 19miles. It was such a great day filled with such a feeling of contentment.

Day 26 April 21

This morning I had a leisurely start to my day. I got out of my tent around 7:30am but didn't hit the trail until 9:30. It was nice to sleep in and lay around waiting for the sun to dry my tent. Last night was an exciting night as it was my first night in 25days where I didn't have to wake up and blow up my thermarest. There really isn't any other way to describe it except for fantastic!!!!! I had such a great night sleep. One that was much needed. Puddin, Patty cakes and I all started out together. Before we left we all weighed our packs Patty cakes was 37lbs, puddin's was 32 and mine was down to 33. It is amazing how 7 pounds can make such a difference. Shortly after being on the trail we ran into Frenchie (another Canadian) and the Germans who were "stealth" camping in the woods outside of the town limits. Frenchie also fell ill to the virus and as a result has lost 15lbs. Sadly, he is currently contemplating leaving the trail and heading home. I hope he is feeling better and we all gave him air hugs (a hug from afar to avoid contact) before heading down the trail.
On more positive note the terrain was quite relaxed today and we were able to cover ~17.5miles with relative ease. We were even able to enjoy a two hour hiatus on top of a bald called beauty spot gap. Here Sleeping beauty was able to catch up to us after spending the night with his parents. And he told tales of warm showers, hot tub soaks, and scrumptious meals...ah to have a real meal. Unfortunately Nova got a late start and we didn't see her again after leaving the hostel. Hopefully she'll catch up further down the trail.

A week on the trail (sorry just realized it didn't publish...wrong order)

The first day I was set to hike about fifteen miles. The thought process behind this was to beat everyone out of the gate and get to a quieter spot. Well, it turns out that everyone had this preconceived notion that they were going to be able to come out here and hike fifteen miles each day. So needless to say my plan of getting out ahead failed miserably. That night there was eight tents set up. The next day I planned a shorter day and because everyone was hurting (physically and mentally) as their hopes of completing fifteen miles a day came crashing down around them they also competed a shorter day. This resulted in 17 tents being set up that night. Yes my friends, one - seven!!!! It was insane. The third day we reached a place called Neels gap. Here a hiker can restock food, fix any gear (it's like a mini MEC), take a hot shower (for four dollars!), or do laundry. This placed proved to be a saving grace. I stopped here briefly and then continued on for another seven miles. Since leaving Neels gap the amount of hikers has dropped substantially!! Tonight I am sharing my camp site with only one other person! It is nice to have less people on the trail but even nicer to run into a friendly face that you initially met on springer mountain.

So as I feared I am having a hard time taking it slow (I'm a day ahead of schedule). But as time ticks by I am making a conscious effort to enjoy every moment of the trip. And even though I have already put in some big days (longest was sixteen miles) my body is holding up quite well. No issues with my foot, except for blisters from the first day, and no other aches or pains. My gear is also holding up quite well, except for one piece...my thermarest. So all in all I really can't complain and I truly am enjoying it and more importantly I am enjoying the people that I am meeting. So many different reasons why people are out here.

Reasons for hiking the AT:
My wife passed away and I am hiking to honour her
I lost my job
Just finished my college degree
Been planning this trip for the last ten years
Finally quit my job and decided to start living
Wanted some adventure in my life
Reformed alcoholic
Trying to quit smoking
Going through a divorce
Wanted to hike
Couldn't find full time employment
The list goes on and on.... So many different people, so many different stories.

Gear

I've had a lot of questions about what all I have with me as my pack is quite small (osprey 44L) so I thought I would put together a list:

Sleeping bag (stored in a dry compression sack)
Sleeping bag liner (silk/cotton blend)
Neoair thermarest
Hubba tent (with foot print)
Two short sleeve shirts
Pants that zip off into shorts
Shorts
Long John tights
Two pairs of socks
Two sports bras
Two pairs of underwear
OR soft shell jacket
Synthetic insulated small puffy
Buff
Rain jacket
Rain cover for my pack
Food bag
Dry bag liner for my pack
Small pack towel (face cloth size)
iPhone
E reader
Journal
Camera
Chargers for iPhone, camera, e reader
Colour pencils (luxury item)
Spot device
Extra batteries for the spot
Jackknife
Elite headlamp
Hand sanitizer
Toilet paper
Camp soap
Tooth paste and brush (yes, I cut off the handle)
Floss
Sewing needle (floss used for thread)
Leukotape
Duck tape (on tent pole repair kit)
Extra contacts
Contact solution
Baby wipes
Pristine water treatment drops
Nalgene water bottle
Platypus 1L bladder
Gravity mf II stove (able to use all types of fuel)
Soloist pot set from GSI (pot and cup)
Fuel canister
Lighter
Spork

I think that pretty much covers everything. My base weight is only ~18lbs.

Gear changes that I've already experienced:
Replaced a stuff sack as my one for my sleeping bag ripped
Warrantied my thermarest
Replaced my trail runners
Started using canisters of fuel instead of white gas as the quality of the fuel was quite poor
I've gone through three pairs of socks
All of these changes and I'm only 341.5miles in :-)

Day 25 April 20

This morning was an especially hard morning. I woke to find all of my gear frozen solid. Unmotivated to make a warm breakfast I ate two protein bars and slid back down into the warmth of my sleeping bag contemplating the previous day. Yesterday we woke to very dark skies. Around 10am the heavens opened and all hell broke loose. The rain was cold and it came down with a furry. After ~12miles I called it quits and sought refuge in the bald mountain shelter. Upon my arrival I was happy to find puddin and patty cakes also riding out the storm. Votes were polled and the decision was made to stay at the shelter for the night. Shortly after my arrival nova and sleeping beauty arrived. We were also joined by five others including: night rider, quaker, mr rogers, and miami. This was my first night in a shelter and I think it will be my last. My tent is so much warmer! This brings me back to this morning. Unable to get my feet into my shoes as a result of them being frozen solid I was left walking around as if I had high heels on. After much effort, numb toes and the passage of some time I was able to force my feet into my shoes. To avoid breaking into tears I headed out on the trail as soon as my bag was packed and my shoes were on. It took another 30min of hiking to thaw out my shoes so that i was able to tie them. As the day progressed and the sun, combined with the effort of hiking, warmed my body I found my self zipping along the trail and enjoying the scenery. Puddin and Patty Cakes caught up to me and they hurried along, motivated by the thoughts of all you can eat pizza in Erwin, TN and eased with packs empty of food. I took my time and arrived at uncle Johnny's hostel (located right on the trail about 3mi outside of Erwin, TN) by 1:30pm. Here I ran into funnybone (I have been hiking off and on with him since the start of my hike). He spent two days here. There has been a virus going around and sadly he caught it and became very familiar with the washroom facilities over the past two days. Patty cakes, puddin and Nova all needed to resupply so we decided to pitch our tents at the hostel and call it a day. As I didn't need to resupply I was able to enjoy a leisurely afternoon lazing about in the sun and reading my book. Man it was nice to soak up the sun after yesterday and this morning. I was also able to warranty my thermarest as it has had a slow leak since I started the hike and I have been unable to find the hole. I am excited to sleep an entire night without having to blow my thermarest back up in the middle of the night. Hopefully this will help with my inability to get a good nights sleep.

Day 23 April 18

Today we hiked from little laurel shelter to a campsite past lick rock (about 19miles). It was a rough day. The weight of my pack is really zapping my energy on the ups. I went from my usual spot at the front of the pack to the back. We left the shelter this morning with the goal of hiking 21miles, however, my mind and body was not up for the challenge. Today the hiking got to the point where it was no longer fun so I convinced sleeping beauty, Nova and night rider to stop and camp with me. It was nice to get off my feet and put some food in my stomach. Tomorrow I hope to put in another 15miles...time will tell.
The most interesting part of today was a ridge walk that we had to complete. It had great views, but the wind was crazy! At one point my hiking pole was almost blown out of my hand. The wind calmed down as the day progressed and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. An individual I know gave me a new perspective on the wind, since then I actually find it quite comforting to feel the wind against my face or listen to it blow through the trees. I am hoping that the wind will lull me to sleep tonight as I haven't had a great nights rest since the 6th. G'night!

Day 22

I've been on the trail for three weeks now and I have been fortunate enough to stay injury free. For those of you that don't know I was actually in a boot cast for eight weeks prior to the trip. I was a little nervous starting out as I had only been out of the boot for four weeks. However, my body rose to the occasion and I was actually able to hike 28miles (44.8km) a couple days ago without issue. To reward my body I took my first zero day (no hiking) yesterday in Hot Springs, NC. HS is a small town similar to New Germany or about a sixth of the size of Okotoks. I had mailed food here before starting my hike so I was able to restock with 13days of food. As a result my pack weighed 40lbs this morning...yuck! We started hiking around 9:30am and we stopped 19.5 miles later. Today was a little rough as there were lots of hills to climb and I was essentially carrying a toddler on my back. Overall, it was a great day of hiking with my trail buddies: puddin', patty cakes, Nova, Sleeping beauty, and Spanky. Tomorrow we hope to hike another 20miles. Hopefully my pack will feel lighter in the morning after eating a full container of yogurt with granola, two bananas, an apple, three power bars, five cheese strings, two peanut butter sandwiches, and two suppers :-) (what can I say...I have a trail name to live up to...fatty)

Can't run from fear

So I have decided to try and keep a blog. I have been quite hesitant, but I figured I can't run from fear for the rest of my life. So here we go. My goal is to try and write something,.,anything... each night and I will post it once I get wifi access.