Location: Beech Mountain, NC I took yesterday off to spend with family. I said goodbye to Chris, Sarah, Liza, and Winn this morning. They had come to Beech for the weekend, and they would return to Durham while I slack-packed today. Mom drove me to Carver’s Gap where I started my slack-pack towards 19E. I […]
Relaxing at Beech Mountain Before the Last Sprint to Springer – Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Day 144
Location: Beech Mountain, NC I left the hostel this morning after paying the caretaker five dollars for letting me stay. It was every bit of 18̊F outside. I said goodbye to the brother and headed out on the trail. The morning was clear, but the forest and trail were frozen. I can feel the frozen […]
Thirty Miles Hiking to Kincora Hostel – Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Day 143
Location: Kincora Hostel (Dennis Cove Rd, TN) When I woke up this cold morning, all of the clothes I had hung in the shelter to dry last night had frozen. My shirts and pants were stiff and my socks had ice crystals on them. I was wearing dry clothes inside my sleeping bag, but I […]
Backpacking into Tennessee – Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Day 142
Location: Double Springs Shelter, Tennessee I left Damascus today in the hot morning. I was dragging all day. Having slack-packed for two days, I felt that I wasn’t going to reach the top of the first mountain with a full pack pulling down on my shoulders. Shortly after leaving town, I met Cold Feet slack-packing […]
Hiking into Damascus VA – Appalachian Trail Thru Hike Day 141
Location: Damascus, VA (Mount Rogers Hostel) I have new boots. Mom brought three pairs from REI in Raleigh, and one pair fits me. I decided I needed to switch from trail runners to boots because of the winter weeks ahead. My shoes no longer kept water off my socks and they poorly insulated my feet, […]
Finding Ponies in the Grayson Highlands – AT Thru-Hike Day 140
Location: Old Mill Inn, Damascus, Virginia After spending the night in Marion, VA, mom drove me back to the trail crossing where we had met. I left all of my overnight gear with her, and I only carried snacks and water for a twenty mile day hike over the Grayson Highlands. I enjoyed walking with […]
Sleeping Bag Fails in Icy Temperatures – AT Thru-Hike Day 139
Location: Francis Marion Hotel Last night was the most sleepless night I’ve had on the trail. I may actually have slept less on other night, like the night in Pennsylvania that the rain overcame my tent and I woke to rushing water in the pitch black, but last night certainly was an uncomfortable sleep. The […]
Quick Stop at the Relax Inn – AT Thru-Hike Day 138
Location: Unnamed Shelter Finally I woke up early with Druid and Rising Sun, who got his name because he wakes with the sun. I ate bacon for breakfast and hit the trail running in the damp morning. Unfortunately I was running down the wrong trail and soon I found myself at a campsite and a […]
Hiking Twenty Miles in the Cold Rain – AT Thru-Hike Day 137
Nasty weather today. I didn’t feel much like writing in my journal when I arrived at the shelter, so I’m writing this entry on the night of the 28th. Often I write about two or three days at one sitting since most evenings I have very little energy to write, so excuse the verb tense […]
Blazing through Virginia – AT Thru-Hike Day 136
Location: Jenkins Shelter Today was a fairly boring 24-mile day. I left the shelter after hiding in my sleeping bag from the cold all morning. I left two hours after Druid and an hour after Rising Sun, who was up with the sun but didn’t get ready to hike for hours. I meet mom in […]
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