Day 13 - Superfast & Ultralight

May 28 - Spence Field Shelter to Mt. Collins Shelter - 19.8 + 1 (20.8 total)

Saved a thru-hiker's life today. Well, not exactly but we did haul ass to find a hiker who had been passing blood and was headed to Clingman's Dome for help. Samwise and I had found out at Derrick Knob Shelter about Ralph and offered to take off in search of him. There was a Ridge Runner (an experienced hiker who is trained in wilderness survival and does trail maintenance) there but he had just arrived and was a little fatigued from the hike. Samwise and I knew that we would have a much better chance of catching Ralph so we offered to go find him. The Ridge Runner gladly accepted our assistance and radioed in that we were in hot pursuit. Shortly after we hit the trail we overheard the Ridge Runner talk into his radio "Hey, I've got two super fast ultralight thru-hikers who are headed to Clingman's Dome to find Ralph." Yeah, we're pretty awesome.

We did eventually catch up with Ralph at the next shelter, where I treated his water with Aqua Mira and then stayed with him until help arrived. We have received a plethora of trail magic ourselves and were only happy to return the favor.

Day 12 - Entire Jar of PB

May 27 - Fontana Dam Shelter to Spence Field Shelter - 16.6 miles

Pilgrim, 2-cents, Samwise and I polished off an entire jar of Jif PB today for lunch. There was a group of about 5-6 section hikers who brought waaaaay too much food (section hikers tend pack enough food to ration out a third world war) and they started to pawn their excess weight on the thru-hikers. We gladly accepted and devoured all 16oz of PB, along with 10 flour tortillas and honey. It was just under 700 calories per person of PB for lunch.

Only 2000.6 miles to go!

Day 11 - $2.50 Mac N Cheese

May 26 - Brown Fork Gap to Fontana Dam Shelter (the Fontana "Hilton") - 12.7 miles

Woke up at the crack of dawn and hit the trail early as we wanted to hit Fontana Village Center for our resupply. Note for future thru or section hikers: do NOT plan to resupply at Fontana. It is super expensive for anything and everything. We paid $2.50 for a box of Kraft Mac N Cheese...

Snickers - The Hiker Way

Step 1: Find a Snickers

Step 2: Unwrap your Snickers

Step 3: Cut Snickers in half with a Leatherman Micra

Step 4: Liberally spread Peanut Butter over both sides

Step 5: Squeeze a hiker's portion of honey on both sides

Step 6: Re-assemble the Snickers and enjoy!

Day 10 - Brooks Cascadia

May 25 - A Rufus Morgan Shelter to Brown Fork Gap Shelter - 16.8 miles

Did a quick .8 miles in to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) where we grabbed a hiker's breakfast with Papa Nuke and Caboose (thank you Papa Nuke!). After that I picked up a new pair of trail runners - Brooks Cascadia 6. Alpine (a character in Winton Porter's book Just Passin' Thru assisted me with my purchase. Hopefully they won't tear apart my heels like the Inov-8's have been.

Day 9 - Peach Cobbler Muffins

May 24 - Wayah Shelter to A. Rufus Morgan Shelter - 15.5 miles

Made Peach Cobbler Muffins in the bake packer today for breakfast... they were fantastic (for being baked inside of a 2-quart pot, over a cat food can turned into an alcohol stove).

First time having Ramen tonight... yeah I had to do it. AT $0.17 for 1 pack of creamy chicken, it was a necessary purchase to do this trail on a budget. We tossed in a foil packet of Tuna Star Creations (Sweet & Spicy flavor) and it was a little more edible.

Day 8 - Garlic

May 23 - Franklin, NC to Wayah Shelter - 11.0 miles

Caught up to Papa Nuke and Caboose at Wayah shelter, which means wolf in Cherokee if you were wondering. Papa Nuke is the director of a nuclear power plant in Georgia and is hiking the first 200 miles of the AT with his son. He had some great advice for the blisters on my feet and even gave me some moleskin for it. The hiking community is awesome out here.

Back in Franklin Jake and I picked up a whole clove of garlic to eat, thanks to PeachTree's advice of it being an anti-inflammatory. I love my garlic but wow, that stuff is potent when you eat it raw.

Day 7 - 100 miles!

May 22 - Beech Gap to Franklin, NC - 19.1 miles

"The core of man's existence comes from new experiences" - Christopher McCandless

Arrived in Franklin, NC today after a fairly easy 19-miler. Today was a big day for us - we reached the 100 mile mark! Woohoo! Our total mileage thus far is 107.7, with one state down (Georgia) and 13 to go.

We met two older gentlemen on the trail (Pathfinder and Hafphast) who offered to give us a ride in to town, which we gladly accepted. They also gave us their contact information for when we hit Pennsylvania. I'm not sure if it's just Southern hospitality or the generosity towards thru-hikers but everyone we have met has been extremely helpful.

Day 6 - Oh bears

May 21 - Plumorchard Gap to Beech Gap - 16.6 miles

Pretty shitty water source... literally. Our camping neighbors discovered a big pile of bear shit right by the stream, which wasn't really a stream but a slow trickle of water through mud and rocks. Hopefully the aqua mira works like it's supposed to. Oh, hopefully the bear isn't around either. There have been myriad bear spottings, as well as rattle snakes and scorpions. Pretty cool stuff. 19 miles tomorrow, time for bed!

Day 5 - Smoke Rings BBQ

May 20 - Deep Gap Shelter to Plumorchard Gap Shelter - 8.0 miles

"Life is short... dip it in Peanut Butter"

After a quick 3.5 miles we hitched in to Hiawassee and stopped at Smoke Rings BBQ for lunch. Wait. Lunch is an understatement. It was more of a port feast, which consisted of 5 BBQ ribs, 5 wings, 2 chili dogs, a cheese quesadilla, homemade chips and fried pork cracklings, with their respectice dipping sauce, as well as a local Terrapin beer and a slice of pecan pie for dessert. At least 4,000 calories for the entire meal - oh it's great to have a hikers appetite. Upon leaving Hiawasee we found Chopsticks!

What's for dinner tonight? A Granny Smith Apple, another PB twix, rest of the pepperjack cheese with some jerky and a snickers for dessert.

We're currently discussing food with two couples here at the shelter. One girl is carrying a bag of seaweed, cloves of garlic, a ginger root, small bottle of olive oil and nuts. She's pretty legit.

Day 4 - Trail Names

May 19 - Blue Mtn Shelter to Deep Gap Shelter - 15.3 miles

Got our trail names today - Samwise (Jake) and Frodo (Me). Since we are carrying the one ring to Mount Doom, it would only make sense. We're currently hunting down chopsticks - we gave him that name because of the two large walking sticks, which actually look more like small trees. I think we're getting close. Plan to re-supply at Hiawasee tomorrow, probably a BBQ lunch in our near future. Maybe bacon and Ben & Jerry's too.

Day 3 - Cribbage & Whiskey

May 18 - Neels Gap to Blue Mountain Shelter - 18.0 miles

Got my snickers today. Met an old man hiking with his dog, who just happened to be named Charlie... I miss you Sir Charles. After a tough 18 miles Jake and I decided to drink some Scotch Whiskey and play cribbage (thanks for the 3oz board Laura!) at 3,520 feet. Life is good.

Day 2 - Snickers

May 17 - Gooch Mtn Shelter to Neels Gap - 15.6 miles

Jake and I tried to name all 151 Pokemon today - we came pretty close. Hiked up Blood Mountain, the highest mountain in Georgia (4,450 ft). I'm currently sitting at Winton Porter's outfitter at Mountain Crossing, about 30 miles in and I really want one of the snickers that are displayed everywhere. About 30 miles in and only 2,000 some to go!

Day 1 - Red Salamander

May 16 - Spring Mountain to Gooch Mtn Shelter - 15.1 miles

Saw a red salamander today - that was pretty neat. Put some duct tape on my heels as I felt some blisters coming on. Made Annie's Organic Mac N Cheese w/ salmon and dried tomatoes (with a dash of garlic tabasco sauce) - that was 10x more delicious after 15 miles up a mountain. Just heard a mouse in the shelter... great. I hope it gets Jake and not me.

Cheers!

Approach Trail

May 15 - Amicalola Falls State Park to Springer Mountain Shelter - 8.8 miles

Well, I'm still alive. Jake and I started around 2:30pm today and made it to Springer Mountain, the start of the Appalachian Trail. Took a shit in the privy, that went well. I'm cold now so I'm headin' to bed. Cheers!

Appalachian Trail Preparation

Hello World! I am embarking on my Appalachian Trail Thru Hike today (actually starting Monday, the 16th) but I wanted to enlighten you to this new endeavor before I depart.

Since this is my first “real” hike, I am experiencing a plethora of different emotions, ranging from excited, to anxious to nervous and everything in between. Hiking itself is pretty straightforward… it is just walking but to attempt a 2,178 mile hike requires a little bit of planning and preparation. Between the logistics of getting mail drops of food and cold weather clothes, accumulating all of the right gear (lightweight and multi-purpose) and taking care of finances, this trip has been the equivalent of a 4-credit course. Even so, with all of the planning we have done, Jake and I are ready to begin.

Here are a few pics of the Mail Drop boxes and the entire contents of my pack:

Snowcat alcohol stove with a 2-Quart Open Country pot

Cheers