day 20 - 3/30

the hiking today was nice. another bald, like the one on the 27th, max patch. the only problem is i couldn't shoot a video cuz it started raining. i hiked thru a lot of rain and then just had enough around 18:30 and decided to throw up my hammock a little off trail so i could be quasi-dry. as i am writing this i'm starting to get the chills - better put another layer on. hold on . . . that's better. this spot i've chosen for my hammock is quite nice. there is a little stream just to the west and a nice field to the north. hopefully, it will dry up by morning and i can treat my blisters by soaking my feet in the stream. they are getting smaller since my treacherous hike in the smokies, but the daily use is slowing the healing process. tomorrow i hit erwin, tn so i will do a quick food resupply, some hot food, and then hit the trail again hopefully by 15:00ish so i can get in some miles by the end of the day. i don't know exactly where i am right now, but my guess would be right around mile 328.7. so it is 11mi to erwin and then i would like to make it to the curly maple shelter, which is another 5.2. not sure if 16.2 will be doable on a resupply day, bit we shall see. i plan to get up before sunrise, so that should help. 24.6mi from flint mt shelter to a stream. lol. 328.7 total.

day 19 - 3/29

last night was a great night's sleep. there was one little gust of wind and a few raindrops, but otherwise a pleasant night. the hiking today was challenging in some areas and very slow in others. there was a point where i went over an exposed ravine that allowed me to see appalachians to the east and then where they end in the west - in the eastern end of tennessee. they stop so abruptly and the plains start so it is mountains and then abruptly flat as a pancake as far as the eye can see, which was admittedly not very far as it was quite hazy. hence the reason there is no picture of this spectacular view. then the trail changed to some creepy woods with lots of old abandoned dirt roads and random graves in the middle of the trail. very deliverance-esc. i was glad to be out of those woods by the evening. oh, and i passed the 300mi mark today. yay! 21.3mi from spring mt to flint mt shelter. 304.1 total.

day 18 - 3/28

i took a nearo day today, meaning i did so little mileage that it was almost a zero day. when i rolled into town yesterday after hiking 23mi i got a room at a hostel and got to take a shower and sleep in a real bed. i had great food and talked to some awesome thru hikers. this morning i got up late at 8:30 and just had a leisurely day in hot springs. i got some much needed supplies and of course more food. i had lunch with some other hikers and then set off around 15:30. i ended up going 11.4mi to the next shelter. it is kind of scary when i start to consider an 11mi day as a nearly zero day of hiking. i also realized that a bed isn't all it's cracked up to be, meaning that i sleep just as well if not better outside in my hammock. the laundry is definitely overrated, too. it is hard to describe to someone who is in everyday life just how stinky you are to someone who has been on the trail. with all the perfumes in all the different products i can now smell a day hiker almost half mile up the trail. of course i realize that i am just as stinky in a less pleasant way. so, to go from smelling dirty and woodsy, aka blending in with your surroundings, to wearing clothes that have been washed in very smelly detergent is a little shocking to the olfactory cavity. it also is making me itch quite a bit for some reason. so taking a shower ends up having the same effect. i never thought i would say this, but i prefer just rinsing off in a stream because then i don't stink and scratch. lol. i've become such a dirty boy. lol. oh well, all thru hikers tend to have their own biosphere of stench - kind of like linus from the peanuts cartoons. i think he is the one who always has the cloud of dust and fumes around him. whichever peanut is the dirty one is a fitting visual. i am feeling a little pooped and run down today so we shall see what tomorrow brings. my plan is 21.3mi to flint mt, but there are some frickin hard climbs tomorrow so my feet and knees will do the deciding. 11.4mi from hot springs to spring mt shelter. 282.8mi total.

day 17 - 3/27

i again met some great people at brown gap last night. they invited me to their fire and it was great. nice night as it was dry. just some coyotas yipping and howling as they passed by. the hike up out of brown gap was tough. i crested max patch hill around 10:30 and recorded the 360degree video above of the view for all to enjoy. all i can say is that there is no where in the world i would rather have been than on that hill top to see that view. i actually cried on my way down it was so awe-inspiring. mid day i caught up with these three bros from atl, which was awesome cuz we have lots in common and had some great meaningful spiritual conversations. i hiked with them thru mid afternoon and we did some rockin speed hiking up some tough climbs. it was great. they stopped around 14:30 and i decided to push on to hot springs, nc for some food and a little r&r. i'm gonna meet them for an $8 breakfast buffet tomorrow am. had lots of food in hot springs, did laundry, and had an awesome hot shower at the hostel i'm sleeping at. 23mi from brown gap to hot springs. 271.4mi total.

day 16 - 3/26

it started to clear last night before i went to bed and we all woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning. again, i met some great people at cosby shelter. everyone i have met so far is so great. just really awesome people. there are some strange ones, but for the most part everyone rocks. i was dreading the hike a little today because of my blisters. turns out, though, that they are more like scrapes. all i can figure is that they are scrapes from the friction of the top of my water logged shoes rubbing against the top of my feet. i started my hike today with moleskin on, but ended up taking it off about 2mi in because it was falling off. i hiked about 13mi in the beautiful sun and then found this awesome spot where a stream split in two and formed this little island. i took off my boots and socks and soaked my feet. that felt sooooo good. i also took a little sponge bath, since i haven't showered since my first and only shower on day 10. it felt awesome. then i just laid in the sun for about an hour and half. blissful. i ended up hiking past my planned 18mi at groundhog shelter to a campsite in brown gap. again, met some really cool people. i am debating whether or not to do 18ish tomorrow with a nearo of 5mi into hot springs with an overnight, or to pull out the full 23mi into hot springs and then nearo the next with a noondayish (possible new word) start. we shall see. 20.4mi from cosby shelter to brown gap. 248.4 total.

day 15 - 3/25

so it rained last night and the wind howled and the temp dropped to right around freezing. the pic below is of the snow along the trail. the air smelled amazingly fresh this morning. today's hike was really tough. starting with having to put on cold, wet socks. brrrr. the hike was pretty treacherous at places. i love hiking ridgelines where either side is a drop of hundreds of feet. it is a little scary, however, when there is a steady wind of about 30mph with gusts up to 50mph, where at moments the only thing keeping you from getting knocked off the ridge is your best friend - your trekking poles. i really love my poles. they have already saved my butt more times than i would like to admit. a bummer about today is that i got a bunch of blisters. i'll have to assess the damage tomorrow and make use of my moleskin to get me through my planned 18mi tomorrow. 20.3mi from icewater spring to cosby gap shelter. 228mi total.

day 14 - 3/24

wow! i was so glad i was in the shelter last night. in the middle of the night a thunderstorm rolled right overhead and dropped about 2in of rain in 2 hours. i was so nice and warm and dry. it was cold out too. probably in the mid 30s. there was ice everywhere when i started from the hail thru the night.
the picture below is of me on the observation tower of the highest point on the appalachian trail, clingman's dome at 6,643ft. i also hit my 200th mile today, which felt great. to be honest, today was a challenging day of hiking. the best way to describe the trail is sloggy. just really wet and muddy the whole way. at the end of my 21mi day, with rain for the last 2mi, my feet looked like the feet of a 90yo man. it was rather grotesque. i also fell today for the first time. it wasn't anything big, but i was glad i was ok. 21mi from derrick knob to icewater spring. 207.7 total.

day 13 - 3/23

last night was wet as predicted, but i was dry in my hammock. today was foggy, wet, and very windy. temp feels like it's in the low 40s. of course i hiked the 17mi. i can't believe i hiked the whole day in shorts and a tee shirt, cuz when i got to the shelter and sat down outside to make dinner it was frickin cold. i had almost all my layers on and i was still cold. there were times at the top of some peaks today where i was literally in the clouds. at one point my trekking poles were keeping me from being blown over. but i am snug in my sleeping bag as i write this, so i am happy as always. maybe i am just so happy to be out here in this beautiful nature that i don't notice things, but people have lots of complaints about backpack weight, the weather, their pains, etc. me, i just put on my backpack and hike. i just love it all. everything is an experience. sure i get sore and cold, but i still love it. don't tell anyone, but i must be wierd! 17mi from birch gap to derrick knob shelter. 186.7 total.

day 12 - 3/22

last night was interesting. i didn't quite get my hammock straight, so kept sliding down towards my feet. i actually woke up at one point lying idian style. lol. oh well, it's a learning curve with a hammock. the hike today was great. i started out with sean again, but the pace was just too slow so i took off cuz i had to just my own hike today. just an easy 12.5 to the road to get to fontana village. no one was in a giving mood today so i walked the extra 2mi into the village to resupply for the smokies. my goal is to make it thru the smokies and possibly to hot springs on the food i got today. we shall see. so after resupplying, i decided that i just wasn't done for the day and i went on to birch spring gap. it's the only campsite in the smokies, as you have to stay at a shelter when you go thru the park. it was only another 7.2mi from the road, but it was a grueling 2000ft climb in only 3.2mi of trail. it was actually fun and i felt really strong having completed it with a total mileage of 21.7mi including the 2mi walk into town. great day and saw a lot of other thru hikers who i have come to know while in town. oh, and i am finally getting my hiker hunger! just for lunch i ate two hot dogs loaded with stuff, a beer, a snickers bar, a pint of ice cream and a rootbeer! that's not even including breakfast and dinner. crazy. and it's still not enough calories to cover my expenditure. so for tomorrow, because i have to stay at a shelter, it's either a 10 or a 17 mi day. the weather is supposed to be wet, so i think i'll wait and see. 18.7mi from brown fork gap to birch spring gap. 169.7 total.

day 11 - 3/21

so last night i met this hiker named sean. we seem to get along so i decided to hike with him because he admittedly goes slow and it would help me to be more mindful of my body and its needs. today was one frickin hard hike man. we climbed up from 1700ft to over 5000ft and it was just climb after climb man! bit all in all it went well because i matched sean's pace. my leg hurt a little at the end but not nearly like it did yesterday. we made it to brown fork gap shelter after a grueling day's hike and tomorrow on to fontana dam and the start of the smokies! 15.8mi from noc to brown fork gap shelter. 151mi total.