Update from Atkins, VA

Just a quick update for those following me on the trail. I got back on the trail at Damascus, VA and met up with JD. I skipped the part from Erwin, TN to here. I'll plan to do that some other time.

My wonderful mother hiked the trail with me for about half a mile and then dropped me off at about 3:30pm to continue on another 15.5 miles to the shelter where JD was staying. I got in about 9 after dark. There was just enough light that I didn't need to put on my head lamp which was nice.

The next day was dark and dreary. The sun didn't come out till late in the day. To top it off we hiked over one of the best views in VA and we couldn't see a thing! On the mountains we were hiking through clouds which always slows things down, so it was a slow 23 miles.

Yesterday we hiked a solid 25 miles in 10 hours, which included stopping for lunch and other breaks during the day. Not much to photograph that day but we did go by lots of cows, wild ponies and steer. We were able to finish the day at the Mount Rogers visitor center where we ordered pasta from Pizza Hut!

Today we are midway through our hike and it's not even 11. We are currently stopped in Atkins, VA enjoying 2 two litter bottles of mountain dew and ice cream.

Enjoy the pictures!  (Chalkboard of an older school closed down in I believe the late 1800s try to find JD & Manalive on there, JD in front of the school,  lunch in Atkins)

Update from Atkins, VA

Just a quick update for those following me on the trail. I got back on the trail at Damascus, VA and met up with JD. I skipped the part from Erwin, TN to here. I'll plan to do that some other time.

My wonderful mother hiked the trail with me for about half a mile and then dropped me off at about 3:30pm to continue on another 15.5 miles to the shelter where JD was staying. I got in about 9 after dark. There was just enough light that I didn't need to put on my head lamp which was nice.

The next day was dark and dreary. The sun didn't come out till late in the day. To top it off we hiked over one of the best views in VA and we couldn't see a thing! On the mountains we were hiking through clouds which always slows things down, so it was a slow 23 miles.

Yesterday we hiked a solid 25 miles in 10 hours, which included stopping for lunch and other breaks during the day. Not much to photograph that day but we did go by lots of cows, wild ponies and steer. We were able to finish the day at the Mount Rogers visitor center where we ordered pasta from Pizza Hut!

Today we are midway through our hike and it's not even 11. We are currently stopped in Atkins, VA enjoying 2 two litter bottles of mountain dew and ice cream.

Enjoy the pictures!  (Chalkboard of an older school closed down in I believe the late 1800s try to find JD & Manalive on there, JD in front of the school,  lunch in Atkins)

Quick update

So it's been a few days since an update as occurred, but this one will be short.  Not too much to say in regards to trail activities.

I left Hot Springs on Friday after a delicious breakfast as the local diner.  JD, Mike and I all hiked a short 11 miles to the closest shelter north of Hot Springs.  We were fortunate to get in around mid afternoon.  The shelter was an older design and fit only 5 people.  Most shelters you can squeeze a few extra people in, this one was so old that there were holes in the flooring and could only fit exactly 5.  Since we caught the bubble entering Hot Springs there were many people forced to tent that night.

The next day we picked up the pace again and put in 20 miles.  The plan moving forward is to hit a minimum of 20 mile days as anything less at this point seems to short. Nothing major to report on this day, it was a pretty bland day.

 Sunday and Monday is when things took an interesting turn on my trip.  Sunday started out pretty cold.  JD, Mike and I all planned to hike a 20 mile day which would put us about 16 miles from Erwin, TN, our next resupply point.  The planned day started with a strenuous uphill climb followed by about 3 short peaks that needed.   Mid way through the hike, as I crossed under I-26 I was blessed to see more trail magic!  A group of Geocachers set up a table with burritos, hard boiled eggs, cokes, beers, and many other delicious items.  Mike was unfortunately too fast in the morning and missed the magic.  JD was right behind me and was able to enjoy some of the amazing food that the people brought.  We both sat, ate and chat with the group for about an hour then took off to our destination.  Unfortunately after such an amazing meal, JD was able to convince me to continue hiking past our planned stop.  We ended up hiking a 25 mile day and camping about 11 miles from Erwin, TN.  Oh yeah and there was the snake (pictured below).

Sunday evening I texted my mother to let her know where I was going to stay for the night.  After I texted her, my phone started blowing up with text messages, a voice mail and emails for a job opportunity that I applied for while in the NOC (yes, I skipped telling you all that part).

Since the plan was to be in town on Monday, I didn't have to change any plans.  Since JD is from Sweden he wanted to be in town early anyway so that he could Skype with his parents.  We got up at 6am, packed, ate and hiked a quick 11 miles into town by around 10:30am.  I returned the phone call for the position.  They wanted me to interview on Thursday this week.  Since this blog is focused on the trail, I'll make this part quick.  My brother Chad picked me up from the trail on Tuesday.  We drove to MS and I cleaned up, shaved, and stayed the night at my parents.  Wednesday I flew out of Memphis to the interview location.  Thursday I interviewed.  Today I met with a rental consultant to tour the area.  Tomorrow I fly back to Memphis.  Sunday I prepare my stuff.  Monday I'm heading back out to the trail.

It'll be another month before they plan to fill the position I applied for, so I won't know anything until later, that's why I'm not mentioning location or company.  I'm debating on going back to Erwin and starting where I left off or going up to Damascus, VA where the group I've been hiking with should be.  If I don't get the job and am able to finish the trail, I will go back and finish the section that I've skipped.  I think the decision I make will be a game day one made on Monday as I get back on the trail.

Enjoy the pictures!

Update from Hot Springs, NC

So sorry everyone for the lack of an update!  3G access with Sprint is limited on the trail so it's hard to post frequently.

So I did decide to stay the night in NOC after having all my troubles going into the center.  Unfortunately all 65 bunks were full, which included their overflow area.  I was luckily able to find a cabin just outside of the NOC that was $20 a person for 4 people.  Turtle and myself got together with a guy trail name Nebraska (named for his home state) and Mike (no trail name).  It was awesome to have a somewhat private place to stay for not much more than the cost to stay at the NOC!  We were also able to purchase and cook Digiorno pizza!  It tasted so good!

The next morning I got a late start.  I met up with a group of about 12 people for breakfast.  Sunshine, Six Slash, Pockets, Turtle, Jake, Sunshine's Mom, Wing It and many others were there.  We all ate and had great company!  The best part came at the end of the meal when Sunshine's Mom told us she had already paid for everyone's food!  It was the best trail magic so far!!  After a late start, I hiked another 15 miles and met Mike at a shelter.

Mike and I started hiking together after that.  We took and easy 12 mile day into the Fontana Dam Shelter, also known as the Fontana Hilton.  It sleeps 24 people with a running bathroom and shower available, LUXURIOUS! 

The Fontana Hilton is about 1 mile before the start of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park (GSMNP).  The next day we entered the park and hiked a strong 16 miles into the park and stayed at Spence Field Shelter.  It was a grueling hike starting out with 7 miles straight up hill for over 3,000 feet elevation change.  To top it off, the first half of the day it was raining!  I made it to the first shelter which was 10 miles in the Smokeys and decided to put on my rain jacket.  After about 5 minutes the rain stopped and I continued on in my hot rain gear...very annoying.  Two other people from the Hilton made it to the Spence Field Shelter.  Animal and Cat both hiked in with Mike and I.  We all decided to continue through the Smokeys together.

The next day we planned a 13 mile day to the Double Gap Shelter.  When everyone arrived by 2PM, we all agreed to push on to the Mount Collins Shelter for a 19.9 mile day, the longest day for any of us!  We arrive by 5:00 and each had a nice dinner.  We also had a "hiker's high" by that point and we were all just laughing so much.  Such a great time!  From Mt. Collins, we hiked on to Tricorner Knob, a 20.1 mile hike, again surpassing our longest day.  Three straight days of increasing mileage!

On Tuesday we all agreed to take an easier day.  Animal, Cat and Mike all stopped at Davenport Gap Shelter for the night for a day that was just shy of 15 miles, also the last shelter in the GSMNP.  I pressed on about 3 miles further to a hostel outside of the park so that I could get some food, as I had planned to stop in Gatlinburg, but was convinced to skip it by my hiking group.  Most of the team had a little too much food and did not mind giving me some of their overage to reduce their pack weight.  I had enough food, but I haven't been getting enough calories lately, so I was hoping to get another pizza!  I weighed myself at the Hostel before dinner and it said that I had lost 30 pounds since I left for the trail barely over 2 weeks ago.  That is too much.  I am working on increasing my calorie intake.  Eating a full pizza that night helped!

From the hostel, I planned to hike a decent 20 miles to Walnut Mountain Shelter.  The day was amazing.  I went over Max Patch in NC which is a mountain top that had been cleared many years ago to allow cattle to graze.  The views from the top of this mountain were breathtaking.  The views of the Smokeys were particularly great.  I arrived at Walnut Mountain about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I was feeling great.  I did the math and found out that if I could hike an additional 5 miles, I will hit on of the best personal milestones on the trail very early.  100 miles in 5 days is a feet most people don't even dream about getting and those who do usually don't hit that kind of mileage until Virginia.  I made a quick dinner for myself and chatted with JD (JD = just Daniel aka Daniel), Archangel (aka Gabriel) and Motown (aka Kris).  They were also considering going on to the next shelter that was 10 miles away.  At that point it was settled, we were hiking on together.  The four of us left Walnut Shelter with the intent to stop 3 miles outside of Hot Springs, making it a 30 mile day for JD and myself and a 24 mile day for Archangel and Motown.  A 30 mile day is also something unheard of for most people before Virginia, but JD and I were feeling pretty good about it.

We neared Deer Park Shelter and realized that the shelter was full.  Additionally with the coming rain we knew it would be miserable to wake up and hike into town the next morning.  Without much thought or discussion we all put on our head lamps and hiked the additional 3 miles into town hoping to stay at the hostel just off the AT at the southern edge of town.  We arrived in town around 9:30PM to find out that every hostel bed in town was full as over 100 hikers were in town.  The four of us hit our first "bubble" of hikers.  After some frantic searching, we were able to find a cabin that sleeps 4 on the other side of town, a full 1 mile down the AT.  The day was finished!  JD and I hiked 34 miles that day, we both left the Fontana Hilton at the same time making our 5 day total 108 miles and a 2 day total of 52 miles.  Archangel and Motown also had a 2 day total of 52 miles and were just shy of the 100 miles in 5 days as well.

Hot Springs is a small town.  It is beautiful, but on a Wednesday night everything is closed by 10PM.  We all had to cook our last hiking meal and then crashed.  Today all of us took a zero day.  No hiking at all!  It has been nice to let our bodies heal.  Breakfast was at a local diner and was probably one of the best, most filling breakfasts I've ever had.  After that we did our laundry and sat in the Hot Springs for which the town is named for.  We plan to finish resupplying and exploring the town for the rest of today.  Later this evening the town offers a free dinner for all Hikers.  It is a potluck thing they do every Thursday rain or shine, such amazing trail magic!

Tomorrow the plan is to have a nice breakfast and take off mid morning to early afternoon for a nero day (nearly zero).  It'll be good to have one last meal before leaving, but also to get a small hike in!

Sorry for the long post today!  It's been such a busy 8 or so days since I updated.  I'll try to update more frequently!  Enjoy the pictures!

Pictures below, 1.  Cheoah Bald, 2.  View in the Smokeys, 3.  Sunrise from the famous Rocky Top Mountain, 4.  Max Patch, 5.  Areal view of Breakfast in Hot Springs!

Day 11 update

So its been a crazy few days here. First, on last week Tuesday I stayed at Tray Mountain Shelter in Georgia.  This is a shelter about 4300 feet on the top of a mountain where winds do not stop at night. I should have known something was up when I saw that the shelter had tarps hanging at the entrance. This was to protect hikers at night from the ever blowing wind. That night it also went below freezing which meant that I had to get my rain gear out and wear it all night to stay warm. I don't think I've ever been so cold.

Sometime after Tray Mountain I crossed the GA/NC line. It was a nice spot in the middle of nowhere.  I sat down and had lunch and relaxed sitting on the border. I had covered about 75 miles by this point!

I planned a zero day in Franklin, NC on Monday. I ended up arriving in Franklin a day later than planned because I was sticking with my hiking buddy Turtle (aka Sam). After getting into town before noon and seeing the hostel I decided against staying for a zero day. I restocked my food, bought some new hiking supplies that I needed, and rested. I decided to not post that day just because of how crazy the day was.

I had a nice 15 mile hike yesterday where I was able to try out my new gear like my new hiking poles. I can't believe how much those help relieve stress on your knees! The poles were probably the best $80 I spent for this trip so far!

Today though has not been my day! I rolled my right ankle twice, left ankle once, slid down a rock and tweaked my knee, and I ran out of water while hiking to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). All of that was in a 12 mile section of the trail. I'm currently eating lunch here at NOC. I'm debating on continuing to the next shelter that is 7 miles away as planned or just staying here for the night. I think my left ankle is telling me to stay, but the rest of my body feel up to continuing.  I'll make up my mind after I finish lunch...probably gonna stay.

~~Manalive~~