A bite of the Appalachian by Dave

Day 8 - Wednesday, April 23

So many good things happened today, I hardly know where to start. First, Mike and I crossed into North Carolina. Getting into a new state is a big accomplishment for a thru-hiker so we celebrated. We drank water, took pictures, and cheered a little. Crossing the border made me feel like a long-distance backpacker. With a whole state behind me, I think I am good for 13 more.

Second, I felt great all day, so we covered 16 miles, by far my best effort to date. Sadly, I'll be losing my partner soon. I think I indicated in a previous entry that Mike is thru-hiking. That isn't true. Turns out Mike is only going to Franklin then is returning to his life. I misunderstood his plans before. More on Mike later.

Third, Mike showed me what wild leeks look like so I was able to spice up my chicken noodles with some leeks. They are very strong and add lots of flavor. I'll be using them all through the South. This also makes me feel like a real distance hiker.

In the middle of all this goodness, I had one bad event. My tent suffered a catastrophic failure. Actually, I was the catastrophe. I'm embarrassed and furious with myself for what I did and I'm not ready to share my mistake with the general public. Let me just say that my tent will never stand again. I have it rigged with rope between two trees now. I'll spend tomorrow night in a shelter.

This is where Mike comes into the story again. After I got done cussing myself, we discussed my options. I could have my parents 2-day mail my extra tent to Franklin. It is bigger and heavier, but certainly serviceable. I could buy a new lightweight tent in Franklin. Franklin is big enough and close enough to the Smokies to rate an outdoors store. We mulled it over for a while then Mike reminded me that he was leaving the trail in Franklin and wouldn't need his tent anymore. He asked if I wanted to use it after he left. Its a good one-man tent. Its a few ounces heavier than mine but it looks like it would be better in the rain.

As always, when someone does something truly generous, I don't know what to say. Particularly, when my own incompetence caused the problem. I'm not sure if I should offer money for it, promise to send it back with all pieces intact and accounted for, or accept it as a gift. I'm sure I'll screw it up. One thing I will do is give Mike the URL to my blog. That way he can read this post and know that I am humbled and grateful for his gift, however inadequately I might have expressed it.

The owls are calling each other outside. This is a bad place to be a mouse. I hope my tent doesn't fall in one me.

All's well.

Deep Gap, NC Day 8 - 15.7 miles, Total - 83.2 miles

Day 9 - Thursday, April 24

We did over 15 miles again today but I am paying for it. We went over 5,000 elevation for the first time on the AT also. My feet and legs are sore through. I might have to reduce mileage tomorrow to recover. We'll see. The big climb today was up Albert Mountain, a steep, rocky scramble over 5,000 feet. From the top, we had the best views from the trail so far.

I've had two wildlife sightings that I keep forgetting to write about. The first was a Golden Eagle who circled over me a couple of times on my first day. He was very majestic even though I know he was probably just looking for carrion. Or he thought the Oriole logo on my hat was prey.

Second, I surprised a few wild pigs as I rounded a bend a few days ago. I have heard they can be aggressive so I pulled up, ready to jump behind a tree for cover. They ran away as soon as they saw me though and I didn't even have time to take a picture.

All's well

Big Spring Shelter, NC Day 9 - 15.3 miles, Total - 98.5 miles

Day 10 - Friday, April 25

I had a booming day today. My mileage was motivated by Mike's desire to get to an 11:00 am shuttle from the trail to Franklin. We made it, striding off nine miles by 10:45. Even at a slower pace in the afternoon, I made camp by 5:30 with a 20 mile day.

Wayah Shelter is way too crowded. Maybe eight kids packed up some wine and booze and they are having quite a party. I ate dinner with a group of section hikers from Texas. They started hiking today and are going to Fontana Dam, about five days from here. One of them, Colonel Mustard, doesn't trust himself to hang a bear bag well. He plans on sleeping with his food bag. He says if a bear messes with it, "Bear steaks for breakfast!" The Texans gave me a piece of Sad Pie, kind of like a butterscotch brownie with coconut. Excellent!

The kids are breaking up more firewood. I guess they are going late. I'll keep writing.

I hiked for a while with a small-college cross country coach named Animal. She has run competitively for years, but managed to injure her knee after just two days on the trail. She is getting lots of attention by the fire. She's the only woman for miles around.

Another character I have met is an older fellow named Washed Up. He is a slow hiker, but he starts at the crack of dawn and goes until dark or a little later. He carries a guitar with him. One night someone suggested that he would hike faster if he shipped his guitar home. Washed Up replied, "I'll send my food home first." I'm told that he sometimes plays his guitar as he hikes but I haven't seen that myself.

I'm pretty close to settling on "Vegas" as a trail name. Colorful and it means "meadow" in Spanish.

If I manage 17 miles tomorrow it's cheeseburgers for dinner. All's well.

Wayah Shelter, NC. Day 10 - 20.1 miles, Total - 118.6 miles

Day 11 - Saturday, April 26

I managed my miles and I get to spend the night indoors. I am in the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), not too far from Bryson City. My dinner was a plate of nachos, a burger with fries, and four beers chased with two glasses of water. There will be a big breakfast in the morning too. If it isn't clear from my writing, food is occupying more of my thoughts.

Big news from the NOC. I have caught up to Phil and Matt who I had to let go when I took the day off at Neel's Gap. They say I am a half-day ahead of Gnormal and Jefe who jumped off trail at Franklin to get a mail drop.

Outside of that, there isn't much to report. In the morning, I'm going to the NOC outfitter to get new pants. My favorite pair got a hole in the seat somehow. Tomorrow, Phil, Matt and I will do a half-day (7 miles)to rest our legs for the Smokies. I saw some great scenery from the Wesser Bald observation tower.

All's well.

NOC, NC. Day 11 - 16.3 miles, Total - 134.9 miles.

Day 12 - Sunday, April 27

The trouble with writing a journal and then sending it away is that I forget what I wrote. I think I wrote that today was going to be a short day, and it was. We spent the morning at the NOC watching rain come down in sheets. Around 1:45 pm, the rain slowed to a sprinkle and 15 thru-hikers took off like somebody fired a starter's pistol. With full bellies and a good nights rest, most of us handled the six-mile, 3,000 foot climb very well. I pity those who didn't. They have a hard road ahead of them.

Since I keep mentioning food, I guess I should explain why. The average man my size, with an average activity level needs about 2,500 calories per day to maintain his weight and health. I am burning an additional 125 calories per mile hiked. Doing the math, that means on a 15 mile day I require 4,375 calories. Since there is no way to carry that much food for days worth of hiking, backpackers are almost always hungry. When we talk to each other, conversation always comes around to food. When we go into town, we eat like bears headed toward hibernation.

I think I mentioned an AYCE steakhouse in Hiawassee. Mile and I did go there. I made three trips then went for dessert. Mike did about the same, probably polishing off a whole fried chicken in the process. At NOC, in less than 24 hours, I polished off two 1/2 pound cheeseburgers, both with fries, and a big plate of nachos, plus whatever calories I drank in beer and soda. I don't drink soda in the real world, but I'm getting wild cravings. Somewhere around midway on the trail there is a restaurant that offers the "thru-hikers challenge." You have to eat a half-gallon of ice cream in a sitting. Bet I can do it.

The kids are going late by the campfire again. I was down there being sociable earlier and they had four 8 foot long logs leaning over the fire pit. There is so much smoke around the shelter from the wet wood that I fully expect firemen to try and rescue us.

All the boys are trying to subtly work their way nearer to Animal by the campfire. She has complained to me a couple of times that their attention is a little much. On the other hand, I don't see her walking away from the fire.

I would guess that AT hikers are 80 or 90 percent male. Of the few women, maybe half have a boyfriend or husband with them. An attractive, single woman like Animal has her pick out here.

It has come to my attention that I have some readers who are not backpackers. Welcome! and Sorry! for throwing around terms you may not know. I'll try to do better about explanations. For now I want to write about bear bags, which I remember dropping into a post recently with no explanation.

Bears have good senses of smell and will come into camp at night and gorge themselves on trail mix and peanut butter. Quite a catastrophe for an already hungry backpacker. To prevent this, we put all our food in a nylon bag and hang it from a high tree branch. I put my toothbrush and toothpaste in there also as beers sometimes mistake them for food. There is a bit of an art to it. Bears are good climbers so we have to get the bag well out on the branch or the bear will just shimmy up the trunk and get it. The branch needs to be thick enough so that it supports the weight of the bag, but not so strong that a bear can climb out on it. You want a high branch but you need it low enough that you can throw your rope over it. I'm pretty good at that. I tie one end of my rope to a rock and toss the rock over my target branch with my bag tied to the other end of my rope. The rock goes over the branch, I retrieve that end of the rope and hoist by bag up to the branch. Then I tie the rope off to keep it up. I did that chore tonight for Phil, Matt, and I. As I was doing it, another backpacker was watching my technique. He tried to duplicate it, but used a one liter water bottle instead of a small rock. He missed his branch, bounced the bottle off the tree truck and missed Phil and I by two feet or so. We hurried off to a safe distance.

They are still going at the campfire, so here is a related Hot Trail Rumor. Recently a thru-hiker in the Smokies stepped off the trail to conduct some personal business. As we sometimes do, he left his pack sitting on the trail. When he came out of the bushes, no pack. He thought his buddies were playing a joke on him so he looked around for his pack. He couldn't find it and was getting really mad. When he found it, the bear that took it had ripped it open and was feasting on the hiker's Snicker's bars. Might be a story.

Equipment Notes:
Sent home one book that I finished, one pair of shorts that dried too slowly and one mosquito head net I'll never use. Threw out one pair of pants with a hole in the seat. Added one light pair of shorts and one wool hat. It's cold in the morning! All's well

Sassafras Shelter Day 12 - 6.9 miles, Total - 141.8 miles

Day 13 - Monday, April 28

The word for today is COLD. A front blew through last night and it rained from midnight on. My (Mike's) tent did great. Nothing but a little condensation. I didn't sleep much so when the rain slowed at 7:45 am, I was ready. I struck camp quickly and ate a cold breakfast. Matt and Phil hadn't moved yet so I got hiking because it was too cold to wait around. I hiked with a Texan named Texas and we made good time because we got cold as soon as we stopped. We covered over 15 miles by 4:00 and set up camp around the shelter. We ate at 5:00. I had a big meal because I resupply tomorrow and I hoped the extra calories would warm me up. No luck. I retreated to my sleeping bag at 6:00 to warm up. That is where I am now, wearing every layer I have including my gloves and hat. I'm still cold.

Animal just drifted in and said Phil and Matt were still in their tents when she left at 9:00am. It stopped raining around 10:00am. Surely they go going by then.

Here are a few more trail names for you. Raccoon fell on Springer Mountain and had two black eyes. Campfire smokes cigarettes as he hikes. Jake has a resemblance to Belushi's Jake Blues from the Blues Brothers. Peanut Butter and Jelly are a husband and wife hiking team. I've introduced myself to a couple of people as Vegas but I'm not sure I like it.

The college kids made it in and it sounds like they have a fire going. Maybe if I go over and be sociable, they let me sit by it. All's well. Cold but well.

Matt and Phil came in at 7:30 with a story worth recording. Remember the guy who almost hit Phil and I trying to hand his bag? He managed to tangle his rope around the branch getting it down so Phil spent an hour this morning lashing hiking sticks together in order to untangle the mess around the branch.

Our man has a hi-tech electric water purifier for cleaning stream water. he forgot to charge it at NOC so he borrowed Phil's pump filter. Phil's is just like mine. I pump stream water through a charcoal filter and into my water bottle. Our man couldn't figure the pump out so Phil had to stop and help him. The funny thing is that I can see this guy making it. He is the kind of good-natured screwup that people like to help. If this were a 90s movie, his character would be played by Chris Farley. I'm sure to get ahead of him quickly but I hope to keep track of him through trail rumors.

I got warmer by the fire. College kids have there uses. Now all's well.

Cable Gap Shelter: Day 13 - 15.2 miles, Total - 157.0 miles

Day 14 - Tuesday, April 29

Short day to resupply. Temperatures dropped below freezing and it rained last night. It is supposed to be colder tomorrow. I'm spending tonight in a motel and attacking the Smokies tomorrow.

All's well

Fontana Gap, NC: Day 14 - 5.5 miles, Total - 162.5 miles.