A springtime wonderland

This morning Tyler and I awoke to about 3 inches of snow and strong winds carting in much more. After some convincing, we got going around 9 making for the hostel at the Natalahala Outdoor Center, 16.5 miles, uphill both ways.

You're probably thinking that hiking in 27 degrees with snow falling is cold, but its not too bad once you get moving. The real killer is the mud. I naively convinced myself that with the cold there would be no mud. Stupid, stupid Kyle. The friction of our tracks and the intrepid hikers before us combined with the incessant flow of mountain springs turned parts of the trail into muddy slip and slides. We spent a lot of time trying to convert frantic flailing into smooth downhill slides, but ended up mostly just waving our poles enough to cover ourselves with tree snow.

The change if scenery was Much appreciated. The entire world became white (a bit of a problem when your following white blazes) and in the valleys everything is entombed in layers of snow. Higher up on the balds the wind still reigns supreme whipping all the snow down except the unfortunate flakes slammed head first into trees, creating thin triangular white tree sides. The only other colors are the occasional brown mud of the trail, the dark green of curled rhododendrons, or the faded brown of old leaves gamely clinging to their branches.

Despite the snow and cold (and thanks to some sweet new gloves) I did try to take plenty of pictures.

100 Miles!

As Tyler noted, we took a zero day in Franklin, North Carolina. A zero day means we hiked 0 miles today: or more accurately, ate more food than normal. Since Hiawassee we have been hiking in some cold conditions. For instance the other night we went to bed and woke up with snow covering the gap we were sleeping in. Getting going when it's that cold is difficult, but a new trail friend helped us out.

We may have mentioned our friend Winn earlier. He is hiking quickly by having his mom meet him at all road crossings with food and shelter. He only hikes with water, lunch, snacks, and a coat. Evenso we have roughly kept pace with him. The night it snowed he and his mom very graciously fed us, provided a morning fire, and offered us a ride into town. We hiked with Winn that day, but had to stop early. Hopefully we will catch up with him and talk more about Mario cart and lord of the rings.

There is little other news. The views remain phenomenal. I did pick up a trail name though, I'm now known as 'Earl Gray' after my favorite type of tea. After a days without it, I broke down and bought a box of tea bags and was named at the blueberry patch hostel back in Hiawassee.

That and we crossed into our second state, North Carolina. We also crossed the 100 miles mark on top of Albert mountain, the steepest climb so far, and the first mountaintop with a tower on it.

Other than that spirits remain high, despite the next few days being cold and wet (snow predicted for a few days). We've met many new friends, and because of taking a day off, seeing a lot of old ones.

Tartans and Gems

Kyle and I have made it to Franklin, NC. You might be thinking that a small town in south west North Carolina wouldn't have much more to offer than the Budget Inn (where we are residing) and an assortment of fast food restaurants. Wrong! Today (during our zero day to avoid some nasty weather) we visited both the Scottish Tartan Museum and the Gem and Mineral museum (located inside a historic jail). Who knew we xould learn more about our mutual Scottish heritage and a little more about the valuable rocks we could be hiking past each day? Thanks Franklin...and also Ron Haven for letting us crash at your Inn.

Thunderstorms and Hiawassee

First off, sorry about the typos in our previous posts. I'm typing on an iPhone keyboard so sometimes autocorrect gets a bit overzealous.

Second, thunderstorms in the mountains are not fun. Yesterday it rained a bit in the morning, after a great night at blue mountain shelter. It was our first night in an actual shelter and it was pretty great: few mice problems and good shelter mates Jeff, a fellow thru hopeful, and Darwin and legs: a couple from NYU hiking for 100 miles or so. We also met Andrew Elinor and their dog Stella. Stella LOVED fetch.

In any event, we left with some drizzle but soon took off our constraining rain gear at Unicoi gap, where Stella and company left ( they were only out for the weekend). Soon enough, as we went over Rocky and Tray mountains, it became clear we were hiking in a thunderstorm. We ate lunch at tray shelter, met another thru hiker couple and a few section hikers and then took off for the next shelter in hopes of a dry spot. Despite hiking like maniacs, there was only 1 free spot at deep gap shelter. Tyler took it (next one is mine) and I set up my now thin looking tent as the wind, rain, and a bit of hail picked up. After a quick meal, I went to bed as the rain lessened somewhat. We woke up early with everyone to race to dicks creek gap where we could hitch into Hiawassee.

We got into the blueberry patch hostel around 11 today, where the owner Gary started our laundry and drove us into town. We are currently shopping for food and pigging out. Showers are in our near future.

The end of great hiking weather is here. The next few nights are supposed to be cold; the few after that are supposed to be wet. We're hoping to make good miles to Franklin before the rain, then jump shelter to shelter (as short as some hikes may be) when the rain comes just to guarantee a dry spot for the night. Tonight though, we're at a dry hostel with cinnamon, camel, and another thru hiker.

Finally, Glenloch baptist church takes the cake for best trail magic: cold cokes, hot dogs, chips, cookies, and any kind of medicine and snack you can imagine and a prayer when we left. Explicitly Christian groups (the hostel were staying at tonight is another example) like this really understand Jesus's command to feed His sheep.

Hiawassee!

Above you can see two equally beautiful sights. The sunset from Blue Mountain shelter...and an all-you-can-eat buffet in Hiawassee specializing in fried chicken. We've made it to our first town visit (Hiawassee) along the trail and will be staying in a hostel called The Blueberry Patch tonight. Actual beds, actual pillows, and hot showers are just a few of the luxuries this seeming palace of a hostel offers. Thanks for all your support and interest kn our journey so far and remember to keep checking for updates and additions to the slideshow!

Big Cedar Mountain

Eating is great

So far the Trail has been challenging, but the rewards are well worth the challenge. We're about a half day ahead of schedule sitting at Neel's Gap right now after having picked up our first mail drop and enjoyed the best hot dog imaginable accompanied by a white chocolate macadamia nut Clif bar and a can of Coke. We've been eating fairly well except Kyle's "turkey tortilla sandwich." 

Trail magic is real

We're at our first waypoint, neels gap which is about 30 miles in. We've got a bit further to go today so here's a quick recap.

1) trail magic exists and it's awesome. Yesterday after lunch some former thru hikers offered us chicken tortilla soup. A bit odd, but we took it. 5 yards later a family relaxing in the shade and reading gave us strawberries. Today on the way down from blood mountain (the highest point in Georgia?) some day hikers gave out apples.
2) our caloric intake has already skyrocketed. I ate two of my dinners last night and was still a bit hungry. I guess walking over 5 mountains will do that. I am currently dreaming of a hamburger and tuna: the best trail food.

3) the people are excellent. We've many many aspiring thru hikers of all makes and models, including strider, who weighs about 335 lbs. he plans on loosing weight on the trail, and the determination he's got makes me believe he'll do it. We've spent most of our time playing cat and mouse with two older guys: rob and Doug, and salad days and Risscuit ( a portmanteau of Marissa and biscuit) these folks match out pace best.

4) we don't have trail names yet. A young girl thru hiking with her family (she's like 7, it's nuts) named me Izzy, since I reminded her of her uncle izzy, it didn't stick though. A lady noticed Tyler's bright yellow shoes and named him twinkletoes, but again, didn't stick (wonder why?).

That's about it. Well next be updating about 3 days from now when we resupply in Hiawassee.

Oh, and the views are in believable.

Springer behind us.

Posting this on top of springer mountain. Already come across about 10 or so hikers.

The Beginning

Like Kyle's post says we're leaving the Latham home now, Georgia bound. We've packed. We've planned. We've bought more food from Family Dollar than anyone has business buying. We went to a barbershop for straight shaves. We've packed again. We've woken up at an hour of the morning that I forgot existed. Now we're finally on our way to Springer Mountain (thank you Lathams for all the delicious food and the transportation!). Look for the next post in 3 days when we get to Neel's Gap or maybe even before that depending on cell reception.

Springer-Bound

We are headed to Springer Mountain in Northwest Georgia to start the Appalachian Trail. We are still full of spaghetti from last night. It is ungodly early. We hope we see bacon again soon.

Books, Blogs, Bears...Battlestar Galactica.

My intent to hike the Appalachian Trail stems from my general enjoyment of hiking and a desire for an adventure. There were, however, many co-conspirators I'd like to acknowledge.

AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller comes to mind first. David Miller decided to leave his job mid-career and thru-hike the trail. While doing so he wrote biweekly newspaper articles for a local paper and, I imagine, took copious notes. He decided to expand on these resources and other thoughts and wrote a book. The articles and notes he wrote while hiking the trail are obvious source material, as the book recounts each day of the AT in detail most people likely don't think about. He remembers concrete thoughts and impressions about daily life on the trail which makes this book almost impossible to put down. His account offers enough personal insight to show the mental and personal rewards of completing the AT without being unduly spiritual or cliched.

After his hike AWOL began to write a trail guide and updates it every year. It seems to be the most popular guide out there and I be using the 2012 version. His website here.

Appalachain Trail Hike 2010
The name is as unimpressive as our own but it conveys the point. Right when the AT bug hit us hard in the spring of our Junior year, these folks had just started the trail.

Buck Track Appalachian Trail
Think about the most robust, rugged, and outdoorsy man you know (hint: Ron Swanson). Now throw out the lumberjack in flannel and think of a wiry 50 something in a t-shirt. That's Buck Nelson, a man who loved the outdoors so much he got paid to jump out of planes into flaming portions of it. Buck has achieved the triple crown of long distance hiking as he has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail (think AT on the west coast), and the Continental Divide Trail (or as the rest of the world calls it, the Rocky Mountains). This website was another fun read as it is just a long page of pictures and short paragraphs describing his days on the trail. His gear list was essential when I sat down and actually started planning my hike. In case Buck wasn't impressive enough, he hiked the trail so fast he used the extra time he had allotted for his hike to canoe down the Mississippi River.

The Good Badger Appalachian Trail
Zach Davis has that rare gift of being a tremendously funny writer. He thru-hiked in 2011, a considerable feat for a guy who picked up West Nile Virus on the trail. If any of the blogs mentioned here deserve a read through, this is the one. It is a rare moment when anyone laughs aloud while reading, but each of Zach's posts is hilarious and penetrating. Most importantly, Zach emphasized that a successful thru-hike is a mental game. Somewhere between 75-90% of aspiring thru-hikers give up for any number of reasons. Most are not physical or related to off-trail emergencies.

Appalachian Trails by Zach Davis.
Zach was so interested in the psychological and emotional aspect of the Appalachian trail he wrote a book about it. I bought the book as soon as it came out and devoured it. He walks readers through the steps he took (or wishes he took) to prepare mentally for the trail. The story of getting West Nile while simultaneously applying for a job at Google (which he did not get) provide a backdrop for the main point: the trail has its ups and downs, and the ability to turn obstacles into opportunities is paramount to completing the trail. Zach has even made himself available to aspiring thru-hikers like me, and I've been in some contact with him.


A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.
This New York Times bestseller is easily the most popular of the sources I'm citing here. Bryson got stuck by the AT bug and hikes large portions of the trail with an old school friend. Bryson is funny in the usual sort of older guy way (read G.K. Chesterton). Bookish, but he'll pull a genuine laugh out of you. The book lacks the rigor of the others, but makes up for it in the portrayal of the trail. Most people, like Bryson, give in and enjoy only portions and wax slightly environmental and philosophic.