Week 5: How I Got My Name

Day 29: Side Quest

Today I got lost and ended up doing 20.1 miles, and here’s how it happened. I love Steve but when we talk with him on the phone it kinda goes on a little long and with us having to get up at 6 I wasn’t thrilled when the call ended 10 till 11pm. We never seem to get enough sleep in town to recover, and I sleep in longer than these guys! So I got like no sleep last night and I shared the bed with Joey and he fell asleep before I did so he was snoring a little bit. I woke knowing I didn’t sleep as long as I should’ve. We scarfed down breakfast and I don’t do coffee or tea really so I drank water to wake up. Out the window is a beautiful sunrise without a cloud in sight but a low fog over the hills. A long car ride later and we’re up at Newfound gap. I hope the door and a cold blast of wind hits all of us and some snow flurries as well. We all groan in response and go to use the bathrooms. I look at all the snow and ice surrounding the parking lot and the icicles coming out of the gutter drains. We take a group picture and hug Flash goodbye and thank her for her help, I can’t thank her enough.  We get to hiking and it’s an uphill battle for a few miles so I fall back to stretch my calves that are burning. Walking around town for so long without a pack was nice and I forgot the pain. I keep moving and eventually take my puffy off but keep everything else on including gloves. I see the guys coming back from a view and catch up with them for a little before falling back into my rhythm again. Eventually I see a crossroad with snow on the sign so I take a quick picture and move on. After taking my pack off to go under a giant tree, I run into a couple from Colorado coming back from their hike and we talk about the trail and how they went to see Mt. LeConte. I keep on walking and some of the views are incredible. There’s a big rock slide with cable wire and bolts to help you cross. After a while I check my phone to make sure I’m going the right way because it’s been a while since I’ve seen a sign or blaze and I should’ve been close to the shelter. My gps looks like it’s acting funny so I keep walking and try to warm up my phone thinking that’s the problem. After a few hours I reach a sign that says Appalachian trail so I’m like thank goodness and keep walking. Then I look for a blaze and after a few minutes I think “wait… what did that sign actually say.” So I turn around and look at it. It says Mt. LeConte trail 0.6 -> and <- Appalachian Trail 4.6 Mi. Then it hit me, I took a side trail and I’m standing 4.6 miles off the trail and would have to walk 4.6 back and it’s already 1pm. So I walked 3 miles on the AT then 4.6 off so I’d have to do another 4.6 back and were trying to get to the shelter that’s 15.6 from where we started. I haven’t had lunch yet and with the snow I’m probably averaging 2-2.5 miles an hour so it’ll be another 2hrs just to get back on trail so theres no way I could do another 12 miles after that. I turn off my headphones so I can really dwell on my situation while I start hauling ass back the way I came. I’m just in such disbelief that I made this mistake and how it’ll set me way off schedule for the day and the next few days. I’m quietly cursing as I try to call Joey but realize they probably have their phones off too so I send them a text. While I’m half running down this trail which isn’t flat by any means. I tell them what happened and there’s no way I can make it to the shelter we planned but could make the one a few miles before it. They respond a bit later saying they’re just a few miles away from that one and they’ll stay there too. While I’m trying to rush out I get stopped by a Boy Scout troop or something and they keep asking me how far it is and I say “just around the corner.” One of the old guys starts asking me questions about my gear and hike and I tell them what happened and they say “ah but you’re living the dream we all wish to live.” Or something along those lines and I just can’t help but think that I’m not even on the trail he’s dreaming of just let me go. So I say something nice and go on my way and then get passed by trail runners and I tell them what happened and I say something about how dumb I am and they say “you’re not the first and you won’t be the last” as they bounce along out of sight. I make it back in an hour and a half and go to the closer shelter to eat a snickers and keep moving. I’m trying to hike as quick as I can and my feet are getting wetter and wetter. All the snow and ice has melted and turned to slush and in some parts little streams have formed in the middle of the trail making it impossible to avoid. So after a very long day I got to the shelter which was another 0.5 miles off the trail which made today my first 20 mile day. The guys even saved me a spot in the shelter. The whole time I was mentally preparing myself to sleep alone and hike alone thinking they’d keep going but they didn’t. I truly thank them for that. I eat as much food as I can muster but leave some knowing we might be out here a day longer than we planned. Get all my stuff together and get inside the shelter where a fire is slowly dying. With expected temperatures to drop below freezing I put on all my clothes and into my bag. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and I’m sure this won’t be my last. After the frustration passed I think of my mom telling me to do the next right thing, so I kept walking.

Day 30: Salamanders

I forgot what sleeping in the shelter was like and I was reminded last night. Around 9 o clock we call it hikers midnight for good reason. Once the sun is down, sometimes long before, we’re bundled in our sleeping bags trying to get as much sleep as possible. So at 9 o clock last night we’re all about to sleep or started sleeping when someone bursts in saying “ is someone changing? I don’t have a tent! I don’t have a tent! Is there a spot for me??” We have room on the second floor so we scoot over and we’re like well if we have to pee then might as well go now since we’re awake. I finally get to sleep and I’m awoken by what sounds like a motorcycle/jackhammer of a snore and even with earplugs in it’s hard to get back to sleep until it stops briefly. Regardless I got a decent amount of sleep and fueled up before we hit what would be another 20 mile day for me. We got five miles in to the tri-corner shelter and had a b snack and water break before going another 3 miles to an old helicopter pad with a great view. We stopped and reassessed our plans so we could book our rooms at the hostel in hot springs. It felt really nice to sit there for a while and soak in the sun but we probably spent too much time there because it was nearly 2 and we still had 12 miles to go. It really didn’t feel bad until that last 5 miles, and ache in the bottom of my foot came out of nowhere and didn’t quit until I got to the shelter. There wasn’t anymore room when I got to the shelter just after 7 so I setup my hammock next to Nathan. I made my dinner and ate my lunch while my dinner cooked and Spence brought me some boiled wild leaks. After the sun went behind the mountains Spence came over while I brushed my teeth and we talked about clear cuts and logging and when Joey came over to share his chocolate we saw something scurry on the ground. It was a [insert species name] salamander! I told them to take a pic so I could identify it later before it wiggled under a log so we gently rolled it and saw more! Different sizes and colors we made sure they weren’t under the log when we put it back as not to crush them. I was excited and rolled over the log I was sitting on earlier and saw more and even one teeny tiny one. They were mostly dark black and brown some had black spots others strange patterns of those with a tinge of yellow. I was just thinking earlier how much I wanted to see salamanders in the smokies but haven’t had time to look. Then we spotted a mouse bolt up the shelter wall and into the roof. Unfortunately there’s so place to hang a bag so the shelter actually has a chain link fence and a door across it so you can store food inside, I’m praying that mouse doesn’t chew a hole in my food bag. Sometimes, if you leave toilet paper out it’ll take that instead to build its nest.

Day 31: Eclipse

It’s a little bittersweet to be out of the smokies. It’s a big milestone and relief not having to worry about them anymore. It was cool to experience walking through the snow and ice but I’m also happy to leave the cold behind. The walk down was probably my favorite part just before exiting the park. There was a beautiful path covered in multiple types of flowers with a beautiful stream right along side the path. I can only think if I were hiking the smokies at a later time in the year how beautiful it would be with the wild flowers. I didn’t feel pain waking up but I felt rain drops into my hammock which was a surprise to me and Nathan. So we quickly got up and packed even though the drops were small — you never know when it’ll stop of start pouring. It stopped just after we finished. I didn’t wake up with any more pain or stiffness than usual. We also realized that our mileage estimation was wrong and we’d have to do more miles than expected the next couple days to get to hot springs. Today was no easy hike by any means. I talked to James about this once we got to camp but we had this false expectation that once we’d get out of the smokies it wouldn’t be as hard but I’ll tell you that climb out from standing bear to snowbird it’s nearly 3,000ft over 4 miles and I was exhausted. Just before the top Joey and I saw a 15lb dumbbell on the side of the trail and I realized it was one id been seeing on instagram so I picked it up and carried it a little while and then Joey carried it the rest of the way up. It was a beautiful view up there 360 degrees but overhead was 100% cloud cover so there was no way we’d even get a glimpse of the eclipse. It started sprinkling after we had a lunch so we left just after the other guys arrived. It honestly hurt more going down especially with all the downhill coming out of the smokies already wearing on my knee. So we got to the groundhog shelter and decided to stay here and rest to prepare for the next big days into hot springs. I met flint who started February 27th and Duck and the other badger is here too. More people came rolling in as we got here pretty early. I had second lunch and diner before using an app on my phone to discover two new bird species I hadn’t seen or heard before. I went down to James and Nicks tents to have a chat with them about the trail and life. Nick said he’s getting off in hot springs on Wednesday as well, but he’ll then be catching a bus and flight back to the UK. It’ll be sad to see him go but I’m glad I did go down there, initially to tell them about the birds, but then we had a good conversation. His son James will keep going until his 3 month visa runs out so maybe I’ll see him again. This shelter is small but the area is nice the water isn’t very far and there’s a brand new bear box to put food in. All three of us our sleeping in here to avoid the rain. I think this is the 5th shelter I’ve slept in and I’ve only dug 4 cat holes (if you don’t know what that is you can google it). Tomorrow we’ll cross the 250 mile marker! I think I’ve accepted the trail name sidequest.

P.S. I walked under I-40 today and thought of the song my friend Emily sent me ‘Heads Carolina, Tails California’, so thank you for that.

Day 32: Are You Afraid of the Dark?

We woke up more or less with the crowd today and I got up first so i decided to grab our bear bags from the bear box. Right after I got back it started raining. We looked at the map while we made breakfast thinking about where we should end up by the end of today and decided to just walk and see how we feel. Probably another 17 mile day or so. I ate my pop tart breakfast in the shelter while it kept drizzling and rain stopping and starting gave us false hope of it quieting down… it did not. So as usual once everyone got up and left and we all used the smallest pivy I’ve ever seen, you can’t even close the door while you’re sitting. We started walking and saw the 15lb weight that we found yesterday and carried up the trail a few miles. We got up hill and it was so hot we took our rain jackets off and kept going. After a few miles I’m thinking about how I don’t have a ton of food left and we still have a lot of miles to cover before town and if that old scale at the bed and breakfast was right then I lost 10 pounds and I need to eat more. I came around a bend and I saw a blue pop up tent! I know what that means… trail magic! So I started walking faster, and I saw Joey and Spence were already there munching on food. I get there and drop my pack and he hands me a couple snacks and a cup of Gatorade. Once we got comfortable it started to get cold so I put my rain jacket back on to help insulate and keep warm. Cartoon pot and nowhere man soon caught up with us and we all decided to pay the 10 dollars for 2 hot dogs, chips, a soda and dessert. Colors the guy doing the trail magic tried to fit all those hotdogs on his camp Colman stove. I started shivering while scarfing down food to give me energy for the long day ahead. Pushing on up the mountain it started to rain harder and my feet starting slipping in the mud, and at this point I still cared enough to try and keep my feet clean and dry. After some time and a couple of slips into the mud I came an across a sign, not a typical trail sign, that said “trail magic this way ->.” I’m just thinking “no way this is happening right now.” So I pick up my pace a little bit and soon enough I see those tents again and a bunch of people under them making food for hikers. Joey and Spence must’ve just gotten there because their packs are off under a tree but they don’t have food yet. So one chili dog and walking taco later we’re still hanging out under the tent talking amongst the trail angels and discussing our hiking plans. We find a hostel that isn’t too far and figure if they’re open it wouldn’t be a bad spot to sleep out of the rain. Joey gives them a text when he gets service and we keep hiking to get in our miles. We make it up to max patch and the wind hits us right in the face since there’s no trees up there. It was cool to finally be at this spot having heard about it so much. It was still a cloudy day, obviously because it was raining, but someplace I’d like to revisit on a sunny day. I walked the thin muddy trail up to the top took one quick spin around to take in the view and then descended down the other side. One we got into the trees the wind died down and it wasn’t as cold. It was somewhere around this time where we lost our care for how dry and clean we were. The rain wasn’t quitting and the trail started turning into a small stream filled with muck and debris. My legs were turning black from mud, but I was having so much fun! It was like jumping in puddles as a kid. It was warm enough for me to not be cold so I just embraced it and tried to make the most of it. Around 3 we noticed the rain had stopped and we regrouped to see how far we could go. We’d reached the shelter after max patch around 9 miles from our start. The decision was made to just keep pushing to the next shelter 4 miles up. So we reach the top of this bald and had service and Spence was saying he heard Steve was driving down tonight in order to meet us tomorrow so we thought that maybe if we just pushed to hot springs tonight then he could pick us up and takes us to his hotel room and we could shower and have a warm place to sleep… but we’d be hiking until 10pm and have gone 26 miles. Of course Joey and Spence were all for it and excited and I was hesitant already having done a couple twenty mile days way before I expected to be doing so much. However, underneath my words of doubt i was a little excited to do something so crazy and ambitious. So we got to the next shelter and changed our socks, ate some snacks and pushed on. This point was about 14 miles in and we had just over 12 more miles to go. I put my headphones back on and just got enveloped into the world of dune to distract me a little bit. We had one last big climb and then went down over 3,000ft to hot springs. The sun slowly went to rest behind the mountains and the green tunnel surrounded me. This is the first time I’m hiking at night, and I was only cool with it because I knew we didn’t have to worry about setting up in the dark. We turned our headlamps on and kept winding down the mountain only seeing the small area lit infront of us. Near the end we saw the city lights spread out across the valley and Spence and I stopped to turn our lights off to  admire it for a moment. It wasn’t much longer before we reached the end of the trail and it ended right at the hostel we were staying at. One of the guys who works here, Buddha, said he already saw a guy in a boot walking around look for 3 hikers but he left. Then sure enough we saw a car pull up around the back and I heard Steve’s voice. It was really good to see him again. We put our packs in the back and drove off to the nearest restaurant on the way to the hotel. Apparently Steve booked a night at the super 8 in gatlinburg so he could see what all the fun was about. We got $50 some dollars worth of Burger King to eat on the hour long drive ( they forgot my fries). I showered and it was like the scene from the movie Wild where it was nothing but brown water spilling into the shower drain. You would think that we would’ve been so tired that we would just fall asleep but no we didn’t. We talked and goofed around until way past 2.

Day 33: Gatlinburg Again

Then we got up to make the continental breakfast and figure out what to do. First on the agenda was to go back to pepper palace and eat some hot sauce. Granny was there to greet us as we tried several more hot sauces and ended up getting some salsa for chips. Then we walked back up to try and eat at the restaurant known for sarcasm, Dicks. The food was really expensive so we just got nachos and they were so bad that we didn’t even finish them… that’s saying something if hikers won’t even finish your food. So we went to try the Chinese restaurant and I didn’t think my meal was that bad but they other guys weren’t so lucky so that was a bust. I almost forgot that we stopped at the friar donut shop too, so freakin good. House sparrows and robins eyed us and the food we dropped on the floor waiting for a chance to get their share. On our way out we stopped at the hillbilly mini golf and played a “quick” round. Even with a couple hole in ones on my part Steve still came under all of us and even under par. Then Steve let me drive his fancy sport model Subaru forester all the way back to the hostel while we listened to blink-182, R.E.M, smash mouth and other bands. After checking in we got distracted by all the chores we had to do and eventually made it to the nearby ingles to resupply thanks to Steve. We got our salads like old times but I made sure to only get as much as I could eat. I like to think each time I do this I get a little bit better about what I need and don’t need, but it was still chaos trying to get the food I wanted and trying to find whoever had the cart. In the midst of trying to resupply for the trail we had to plan for food at the hostel as well. We got it all sorted out in the end and Steve drove hastily back to the hostel. It was a long day and with the lack of sleep catching up to us we all needed a rest.

Day 34: Laughing Heart Hostel

I didn’t want to wake up before 9 because I wanted to at least lay in bed for 8 hours even if I don’t that much sleep. Of course by then most people are awake and moving, new people are arriving and others are leaving. There wasn’t an open spot for laundry so we had to wait for the moment to grab an open washer when we had the chance. I made my best attempt at scrambled eggs with what I could find in the fridge and it didn’t turn out that bad. Most of today was just lounging around and finally taking some rest we deserved — though we did make it down to the outfitters store later in the afternoon. I always feel like there’s something I should buy when I walk around in these gear stores but I know I don’t really need anything. I did want to get a pack cover to help shield my pack so I did buy that. Meanwhile, Spence tried on various topo shoes but just didn’t seem to get a good fit out of them for his feet. Afterwards we saw James and Nick again having an afternoon lunch so we sprung up a conversation with them then Sunny came walking down out of nowhere and we all caught up. We were about to leave but decided to have a beer with them because today was the day Nick was leaving to catch a bus up north before eventually heading home overseas. I’m glad we did because we always have very insightful conversations and it’s always fun to learn about cultural differences. Before we knew it, our drinks were finished and we said our goodbyes. I still think about that day we first met and how nice they both were as iwe talked about birds while I tried to stretch my pain away, goodbyes are never easy. Back at the hostel it was just so much going on, neon and other workers trying to take care of guests and clean while hikers paraded around constantly. It is hard to remember the order of events because of just the randomness of people coming in and out of conversation while I tried to finished the previous days blog. I couldn’t find any quiet space so I just went back to my room to write. It’s funny because while I was writing I was telling my friend Izzy how hard it is to enjoy all the moments and people while also trying to journal and document it all. The writing takes so much focus and attention that I can’t give when I want to experience it all. I want to soak up as much detail too but by the end of the day I get so tired I start factoring in the time it’s taking away from my sleep (like right now it’s already past midnight and I’m only halfway through this day). Somehow it’s nearly dinner time already and we look at the weather because we want to grill. It just finished down pouring and it looks like we have a break in the weather so we clean up the grill and Joey slices up pinapple and Spence slices up beets and we get burgers on the grill. Steve is nowhere to be found so we send Joey to look for him and ask if he wants his vegan sausage cooked. Joey doesn’t come back so then I start looking around and find them in the lodge sitting in chairs looking over the lawn. Everything is done and prepared and just before Joey finishes the pineapples it starts raining again. We rush inside and find space in the tiny kitchen bar meant only for two people. Through the screened door we hear the rain slamming down harder than before. It’s only when we’re full from the burgers and fruit when we remember the salsa and chips we bought. The whole time I’m sitting here trying to relax and rest I can only think about the trail and how I just want to be out there making progress.

Day 35: See You Later

11.3 miles today

286.2 miles total

I still don’t think I’ve learned how to fully live in the moment. Life on trail is deceivingly busy when you factor in our late starts: hike hike hike, setup camp, eat, go to bed, repeat. When I get into town it’s supposed to be a time to relax but there’s nothing but chores to do: buy food, repack food, layout gear to dry, shower, make food, spend time with friends, talk to friends/family back home, blog, and by then it’s midnight. I got my morning routine done and packed all my things into my bag and set it outside so they could clean our room for the next people. Unfortunately for Joey his strap broke on his pack so he had to spent a considerable amount of time repairing it. So I took the time to call a couple friends and I’m really glad I did; it’s comforting to hear a familiar voice.

There’s always a flipside to everything and even out on trail you can’t escape that. When I set out to hike this trail alone I knew I’d eventually find people to hike with. I’m hiking my own hike to a certain degree but I’ve also invested into these friendships and we look out for each other more. Some people hike and plan everything on their own and I just couldn’t fathom doing that now. But I still want to get out and talk to other people and explore and do my own things and it’s hard to do that and maintain the relationships with your trail family, especially when one of them isn’t on trail anymore. It takes work and I’m still working on the communication aspect of it all, I think we all are to a degree.

As far as pain goes I feel pretty good. It was a lot of big mile days this week but with the rest in town I feel good. I should’ve stretched more than I did. Luckily no new blisters have popped up or given me any pain. My knee only aches a little bit on the long downhills but the brace seems to help with that. My left ankle will sometimes throb later in the evening after a big 13+ mile day but with rest at night it’s fine in the morning.

Out of nowhere, this lady from Maine starts cooking burgers and hotdogs on the grill and is giving them out to hikers so that delayed us a little more but totally worth it. We finally said our goodbyes and hugs to Steve, Joey always hugs twice. The second time wasn’t any easier than the first but in my mind it’s a see you later not a goodbye. The walk through town was windy, a foreshadowing of the hike to come. Steve surprised us in his car jokingly calling us homeless trash among other things with Tiffany in the passenger. We crossed the railroad tracks and crossed over the French broad river and started up the mountain. Just as we crested the first peak I saw a flash in my peripheral vision and then a huge crack of thunder echoed in the mountains and spread in every direction for several seconds before fading out. Then the scattered showers of rain would make us damp. This repeated for a while and then it was like it never happened. The sun came out with blue skies and it was quite warm, but It didn’t last long as it went back to cloudy and gray with random spits of rain or hail. Along the way we passed a dammed pond, grassy meadows (with a bird in a birdhouse), and crossed lots of gravel roads. It was only 4.5 to get 11 miles to the campsite which was fairly quick. I ate what I planned for lunch and dinner today before hanging my bear bag on the provide cables, that someone else seemed to mess up. Now I’m bundled up in my hammock hoping the forecast of up to 40mph winds isn’t accurate. I’m also thinking about crossing the 300 mile mark tomorrow!