Week One, 2022

Tuesday 
   March 1 - 05:30 I am getting up to begin my walk. I am doing a final shutdown and lock up of my house. I will leave here at 08:00 for five to six months. It is strange to think that I will not be here for half of 2022 if all goes according to plan. My anxiousness has been replaced this morning with a growing sense of excitement. I am ready to go!
It is now 5:30 p.m. I have walked 11.6 miles today. This morning, David Scott and I got to Amicalola Falls State Park at about 08:45. David and I have hiked together for years. He graciously offered to deliver me to the trailhead. I registered, got my AT through hiker tag, and listened to the orientation talk given by the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club. We then met my sister Julie and her husband Rory. They had come to see me off as well. After a few words of goodbye and good luck, I was on my way. Two years of planning and research had led me to this point. It was now up to me to finish.

Wednesday 
March 2
I walked 12.9 miles today and my feet are tired! I started at Stover Creek shelter and ended at Gooch Mountain shelter. In between I found a quarter and a box of 5.56 NATO blank ammunition. I was walking very close to where the Army Rangers are training this week. I suppose someone dropped them and of course I picked them up! I am going to send them home by someone because I don't they would be welcome in many of the places I plan to go. To be clear, there was no one from the Army around to whom I could return the blanks.
I also met several people today.  
As I was climbing Sassafras mountain and struggling every step, I hear a lady's loud voice say "this climb is hard!" I agreed to myself and looked up to see who it was and where she was. She and her husband were resting on the next switchback above me. When I got up there they said "pull up a log and rest" and I was glad to oblige. Their trail names were Whiskers and Hippie Chick. They live in Colorado. Whiskers is formerly from Oklahoma. I realized I had seen them on YouTube. They have a hiking channel and are very nice.
I also met a trail angel today named Bouncer. Bouncer was helping his daughter slack pack some of the harder climbs and providing trail magic to through hikers. I got a honey bun and a Seven Up. Little kindnesses like those make me see there is still good in people. While I was eating my honey bun, I even heard one man quote a Bible verse to the crowd. 2nd Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith and not by sight." God shows up when you let him.
Finally I met a kid named Eli. Eli passed me on the trail yesterday and we were at the same shelter last night. When we left the shelter this morning, we said hello again and went our own way. I saw him later looking for a water source. We found one and started talking. Eli is eighteen and taking a gap year before he attends college. He hikes with a ukulele. He is a smart kid from Connecticut who wants to study environmental science at a college in Oregon. 
The Gooch Mountain shelter is crowded tonight. The camping spots are all now filled. Eli and I are sharing a tent site and he is sitting in his tent next to mine playing the ukulele and singing "Stairway to Heaven".

Thursday 
March 3
Today was a day that brought me back to reality. I woke up feeling pretty good, and then things began to change. All day long things were just not going the way I had planned. Eli and I got together on the way out of the Gooch Mountain shelter and turned north toward Woody Gap. Those four plus miles went ok, so we decided to expand our day. We tentatively decided to push through to Neels Gap or about a fourteen mile day. "Pride goeth before the fall" is a good phrase to insert at this point. As we started up the mountain, I realized that I did not have the energy to go at my regular pace. As it turned out, I had forgotten to add Gatorade to my water. I did not have enough electrolytes and I was beginning to crash. When we got to the top of the mountain I told Eli that he should keep hiking while I rested and replenished. He said goodbye and started off. I sat there drinking Gatorade thinking about my trip of now 2.5 days. I am still building "trail legs" that will carry me to Maine. I need to start slowly but who wants to do that? 
Later as I was refilling my water bottles I realized I was out of Gatorade. This was a big rookie mistake. I probably have 20 boxes at my house and none here to drink. Not having the Gatorade made me slow down and rest a lot more. I was not going to make the additional miles today. 
I figured Eli would finish hiking way ahead of me but that was not the case either. He developed a large blister on his foot that was giving him trouble. I came off a mountain to find him hiking backwards toward me. I fellow hiker with the Trail name Maui gave Eli some advice and tape to fix his foot. We looked at each other and decided the original plan was the best. We are staying the night with one other hiker at the Woods Hole shelter. We hiked a total of 12 miles today. 

Friday
March 4⁰
Today was a better day. Eli and I have just started hiking together each day because we always leave from, and arrive at the same time. We started at the Woods Hole shelter after a night of being visited by what we think was a bear. At about three a.m. we could hear something banging on the bear box where we put our food. No one ventured out to see. I was in my tent and Eli and another hiker were sleeping in the shelter. After about 20 minutes the creature gave up and moved on. We left in the morning at 07:50 and summited Blood Mountain in 48 minutes. After resting we came down to Neels Gap and restocked on some food and beverage items. I bought two Powerade drinks, a Coke and two Spam slices. Eli and I packed up and continued to Hogpen Gap. As we were setting up our tents, a nice older lady named Betty 
came into camp and asked if she could put up her tent as well. We said sure. Almost immediately Eli realized she did not know how to assemble her tent. In speaking to her, he found she had just bought her new tent the previous day and she needed help. Eli sprang into action and set up both her camp and his. It is good to see eighteen year old kids helping older people. We walked 10.5 miles today.

Saturday
March 5
Eli and I parted ways with Betty this morning at Hogpen Gap. She said she probably would not see us again and wished us luck. We set off with a goal of getting to Blue Mountain Shelter. We wanted to get there for two reasons. The first was due to the large number of hikers all going toward the same place and it fills up quickly. We wanted to make sure we arrived in time to get a tent spot. The second reason is that is the last shelter before you reach Unicoi Gap. The road to Hiawassee is there as well and David Scott is picking us up tomorrow at 09:00 for a resupply trip. I hope we also stop for lunch!
Today we walked 11.9 miles and officially crossed the 50 mile mark! Only 2,144.2 miles left.














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