Updates and Endings

I have been out of the hospital for over a week at this point and generally feeling much better.

The let me go home Friday at noon and I first went by the heart doctors office and they put a heart rate monitor on me. This thing is no fun at all. Always getting in the way or tangled, or pulled off. They want me to wear it for 30 days. Not happening.

When they took me off the iv antibiotic they put me on a pill called doxycyclene, which is a weaker antibiotic but still fairly strong. It is actually the treatment for Lyme disease (I don't have it - they tested me!) and anthrax. However, the side effects are sometimes interesting. Mostly headaches, but you can be photosensitive while on it too. I have 2 more days of it to go and I will be done with it.

The surgery incision seems to have stopped closing up at the rate it was to start. Now it seems to be the same size every day. Still having to pack it with gauze each morning. However it is not deep enough to hold much so it mainly just falls back out during the day. Hopeful that it will close up soon and make my life easier...

The leg bite is still open and a little black looking underneath. Not sure that it is healing very well but it is also not getting worse. Basically just putting some gauze over it with some kind of absorbent pad right over the bite.

I'm slowly getting back my strength and gaining some weight back. I lost 23 pounds between hiking and the hospital. Not sure of the exact numbers but I think it was 8 pounds on the trail and the rest in the hospital.

I went back to work Monday for about 3 hours and then worked almost my regular hours Tuesday. The rest of the week I was there full time. It was tiring but not too bad or to the point of exhausting me. I am actually glad to have something to do after 2 weeks of boredom.

As I said previously, my trip is officially over. Highly disappointing, but life happened. I started thinking about what I could do instead and have come up with a few things.

Later in the summer I will be taking a railfanning trip up to North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Planning on stopping in at Spencer, Horseshoe Curve, and Roanoke. As part of that trip I want to at least do trail magic in the area that my hiking friends will be in. That will probably be northern Virginia to southern Pennsylvania. So basically the same area I will be in already.

The other new thing I will be doing is going back to school to get my master's degree. I have already started the applications process for Middle Georgia State University for the Master's in Information Technology program they will be starting this fall. I will be the very first class to go through this program. How cool will that be?

Anyways, that ends the story of my 2015 Appalachian Trail thru hike attempt. Needless to say I would rather be out on the trail still, but I am looking at it like it was just not meant to be this year. Who knows, 2017 is looking pretty empty on my calendar...

Out of the hospital

My last update had me upbeat about going home soon. Well, that didn't happen...

Saturday night I got way worse and Sunday was terrible. The new antibiotic they put me on for the MRSA really messed me up. Kidney levels went back up, white blood cell count went back up, my resting heart rate dropped into the low 40s constantly and even down into the 30s once. I felt terrible and the little appetite I had recovered went away again.

This lasted for 2 days and then I started getting a little better but nothing changed until they took me off the antibiotic, called cubicin. As soon as it flushed from my system I immediately got better.

The numbers dropped and my heart rate came back up within 48 hours of stopping the iv. They were still worried about my heart rate so they ordered me a heart monitor for when I left the hospital. Great...

Thursday night they told me I could go home the next day so I was very excited about that news. They got me out by noon on Friday.

I ended up spending 13 days in the hospital. Not what I expected when I got off the trail two weeks earlier to say the least. I still thought I would be getting back on and continuing my adventure.

That all changed. My trip is officially over for this year for several reasons. It is mainly due to time. It will take me 6 weeks to recover to where I can get back on. That would put me 2 full months behind and finishing in Maine in late October, which is past the deadline to finish. I do not want to go southbound as I feel that the only acceptable conclusion to the journey would be to finish on top of Katahdin and not some random spot.

The 6 week recovery is for the surgery incision and leg to fully heal. The doctors say that if I try to go hiking before it is fully healed I will most likely get staph again. Yeah, I'll wait!

So like I said not according to plan but such is life. It was simply not meant to be this year. I WILL be returning to the trail for another thru hike attempt at some point. Not this year and not the next, but I will be back!

Still at the Hospital

Well it's been over a week and I am still in the hospital. Lots of things went wrong all stemming from either 1 or 2 infections.

While hiking I thought I was getting some chafing. No big deal. It's hiking. Chafing happens. This went on for most of the first 2 weeks on the trail. It was noticeable but bearable. By the time I got to the NOC it was slightly swollen but not something I felt I should worry about. I had gotten new compression shorts so o thought that would take care of it.

About the same time, near the NOC, I got a bug bite on the back of my right knee. Didn't think anything if it other than it was in an annoying spot. It looked like any other of the numerous bites I already had.

The bite kept getting worse after I left the NOC however. It got redder and had a dark spot under the skin after a few days.
By the time I got to Fontana, the bite looked pretty bad and I had some decent swelling going on, again what I thought was chafing. Walking was not pain free, but I expected it to hurt a little.

The first night in the Smokys was when I knew something was up. I had uncontrollable shakes and chills and both problems became painful.

The next day hiking was very slow to keep the pain down. The ridgerunner advised me to go to Cade's Cove but I wanted to try and make it to Gatlinburg.

Three miles later I saw that Gatlinburg was out of the question. The leg looked really bad and the chafing was really getting to me.

The day hiker who helped me out was a doctor and 100% convinced me to get off the trail and get help for the leg. I figured while the leg healed the chafing would go away.

The med stop in Tennessee gave me a ten day antibiotic treatment plus a shot for the leg. Sounded good. I would stay off the trail until after Mel's graduation. Plenty of time to rest up and heal.

That night sucked. The swelling was terrible and painful. I decided to go back to the med stop when I got home and have the chafing checked out. Good thing I did.

The med stop on Zebulon immediately sent me to the ER. The ER doc had some theories but wanted an ultrasound first. The blood tests came back with some really bad numbers for white blood cell count, indicating an infection.

I was admitted and immediately placed on no food or water in prep for probable surgery. Lots of different docs came by and finally they decided to wait until they had more info before surgery.

The ultrasound on Sunday confirmed fluid but also something else, what they thought was a hydrocele. They wanted to see if the antibiotics would reduce the swelling first so we waited.

On Monday they took me back to ultrasound for my kidneys and they looked at my bladder as well.

Then the kidney doc showed up with some bad results from the kidneys, so they modified the antibiotics trying to reduce those numbers. By Wednesday, when I had the surgery, all the numbers were heading in the right direction.

In surgery they removed the fluid and the hydrocele. They drained something over 350+ ml or cc whatever the measurement is. Like I said: swelling. Lots of swelling.

After I got back from recovery they said I would have to have to wound packed with gauze twice a day until it healed from the inside out. However, Thursday morning when the NP changed it she said it would only have to be once a day. That was good news. The bad news is that I found out that morphine takes longer than 30 seconds to work. She changed the packing literally as soon as she gave me the iv injection. That was not fun. Longest 5 minutes of my life I think. Took over 2 hours to recover from that torture.

Friday she changed it again (correctly with the pain meds!) and it had already healed more than expected. Saturday even more. Looking very good so they tell me.

As for the infections nobody can tell me for sure what happened. The bite was probably just a bite that got infected. The hydrocele was infected with MRSA and they have no clue what happened there. No evidence of any bite, cut, scrape, etc. They think that it was 2 different infections at separate times.

As of Saturday night, over a week in, everything seems to be healing nicely. The white blood cell count is almost back to normal from 20,000. My kidney numbers are looking good as well.

The kidney doc and surgery doc have said Monday for release, depending on what the infectious disease doc says. That will depend on when I can come off the IVs. The antibiotics I need are apparently iv based.

Hopefully I will be out of here Monday!

Hospital Visits

Well I got back home Saturday afternoon. I went to the med stop on Zebulon to see about another issue that was bothering me. Ended up in the ER and then admitted to the Med Center. Yay!

Basically I have 2 different infections right now, the bite being the lesser of the 2. My white blood count was almost 20,000 which is apparently very high. Been on 4 different antibiotic IVs all night with lots more to come.

They still are not sure what exactly is going on with either infection but the swelling on the non bite being the biggest issue. Trying to get that to go down without surgery. Let's hope so...

Hopefully labs will be back soon so we might better know what I am dealing with. More to come.

Day 18

Friday April 24

Spence Field shelter

Mile 182.7

Last night was rough. I had uncontrollable chills and shaking for a long time. I wore my jacket to bed and finally got warm after a few hours. Getting in and out of the sleeping bag was painful. No easy way to do it in a shelter and my leg just made it worse.

Finally got up around 8 and packed up my stuff. It was still cold and my down jacket was very nice to have. Glad I didn't send it home.

Started hiking about 8:30 and was moving so slow. It took me almost 2 hours to cover less than 3 miles. Very easy trail yet I just couldn't go fast.

Met the ridegrunner right after leaving the next shelter. Asked me where I stayed and hour my hike was going. I told him about my leg and he recommended going down to cades cove to the ranger station. He drew me a map in the dirt if I wanted to do that. I decided to try and make it to Gatlinburg.

Moved on and right around noon made it to the next shelter. I was hurting bad and trying to decide what to do. A British hiker stopped by and also thought I should have it checked out. Finally a day hiker came up to the shelter and immediately told me to get it looked at. He was a doctor and that decided it for me. I was looking at the trails trying to figure out which way to go to get to cades cove. Nobody had a park map and the at guidebook doesn't show where side trails lead to.

Luckily for me the day hiker had come up from near cades cove and for me the way back. I would have taken the completely wrong trail and gone the wrong direction, away from help. Right before I set out another hiker showed up and he had a map. Confirmed the other trail was the right way to go. I would have been so lost if they had not shown up.

The day hiker, Andy offered to drive me to the nearest med stop. He walked down with me and drove me into Maryville, tn. We finally found somewhere to go after 3 places didn't work out. They looked at my leg and said that it was infected and needed 10 days of antibiotics and to stay off it for a while. Got a shot as well to speed things up.

After that Andy took me back to his house and him and his wife cooked dinner for me and let me stay the night. Very nice people and I have been truly blessed today.

Will be getting picked up tomorrow and going home for a while. I will have to see what the future holds for me at this point.

Day 17

Thursday April 23

Mile 177.0

Mollies Ridge Shelter

Today started off good. We woke up and lazily packed up. Got breakfast at the restaurant of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. The service was as bad as last night.

Blazer showed us his custom book he made from his thru hike blog. Very cool. If I somehow manage to finish this thing I will have to do something similar.

Blazer was kind enough to give us a ride back to the trailhead, saving us some money. We packed into his car for the short ride.

We were on the trail about 10 for the short hike to the Fontana Hilton shelter. It was a nice hike with great views of the lake. The Hilton was cool, but basically just another shelter.

Viking took a break there and we moved on to the dam. Looked around the visitors center for a minute then headed on. We had to detour around some construction at the start of the dam.

Walked across and headed up the road to the park. Not well marked and left us wondering most of the time if we were on the right path. Finally found the sign and dropped off our permits. The box was full of permits. Looks like they haven't picked them up in a while. So glad we had to register if they don't even check...

The first climb was hard with all the extra food we had. My pack was well over 30 pounds which is overloaded big time. It loses all comfort when that heavy. My back is killing me tonight.

The throne rock was disappointing but still kinda neat. Got some at the next creek and headed up to the fire tower. Very sketchy. Missing a handrail on the way up and the floor of the tower looks rotten. Great views but a hard climb up to it.

The next 6 miles were torture. The trail was not hard but it about broke me. My legs were sore and hurting. My right knee has a sore on the back of it right in a crease of the skin. It makes bending it painful. Very painful. I was crawling all afternoon. Everything passed in a blur. Which was very disappointing since there were tons of flowers all along the trail and we had some nice areas we walked through. It was rough for sure.

When I got to the last climb I put my headphones in which was awesome. It helped so much to be able to listen to music and be distracted. The trail got easier as well but was still uphill. Took it slow and finally got to the shelter to see Blue Kazoo and Go Away Bear leaving for the next shelter 3 miles away. Viking stayed with me. There was no way I was moving on. I was exhausted.

Barely ate anything for dinner even through I know it is a mistake. It has been getting colder all afternoon and dropping fast. Had both jackets on and was glad I didn't send the down jacket home yesterday.

I crawled into my bag by 7. Going to be about 32 tonight so the coldest so far on the hike. Hopefully the mice leave us alone tonight. We already killed one in broad daylight.

I am hoping that tomorrow will be better then today was.

Day 16

Wednesday April 22

Mile 164.7

Fontana Village, NC

Today was a short 5.5 miles down to Fontana. Woke up to a light drizzle of rain so i rolled back over for a few more minutes of sleep. It soon stopped so I got up and ready to go by 8:30. Most everyone was heading to the Hilton shelter so they were getting an early start to grab a spot.

The first mile out of camp was a long uphill but it wasn't too bad. Only had to stop a few times. Blazer and Sherpa flew up it as usual. Blue Turtle (Nicole) and I stopped near the top to talk to some section hikers.

I caught up to blazer on the ridge line and we hiked the rest of the way down together. It was a decent downhill and we flew down making great time.

We talked for most of the way about his thru hike. A lot about the mental part and adjusting to the trail. Good info from a successful thru hiker.

Got to the road and tried to hitch but no luck in 15 minutes so we called for the shuttle. It was supposed to be $3 each but nobody took our money.

Got our room and immediately took showers and cleaned and dried gear. After showers we walked to the general store with our laundry only to find out that the power was about to be cut off. So we walked down further to the pit stop and got roller food. 2 hot dogs, a sprite, and an ice cream sandwich was a great meal. Relaxed there for a while and headed back up to the store.

The power was back on so we did laundry and looked around. Ended up sending a box back home with extra food and gear. Almost sent my down jacket back but decided to keep it through the smokies.

After another ice cream we went back to the room with our clean laundry. Turned the TV on and watched Maury and Steve Wilcos. Wow. I forgot how bad those shows were yet so entertaining.

Went to eat around 6 at the restaurant. Had bacon wrapped buffalo meatloaf. Very good, once I had waited 20 minutes for ketchup. Very slow service. We are pretty sure they hated us. Many of the hikers had the same problem.

After about 2 hours there we printed our smokies permits. Waited until the last minute to get it but oh well. I'm still not happy with the fact that you can drive anywhere in the park for free but you have to pay $20 to walk through.

Blazer was looking for somewhere to sleep so we offered him the floor in our room so we are now 5 in the hotel room.

More TV when we got back to the room and I finished cleaning up my gear and everything seems to have dried out enough.

Hope for a good nights sleep and ready for a big day tomorrow entering the smokies.

Today was much better than yesterday. Feet were nowhere near as sore and did very well on the downhill. It was sunny and warm and just a very good day. Almost wished we had gone further just to take advantage of it. But the rest is very nice and for me very needed. I was thinking about taking a zero tomorrow but I think I will feel good enough in the morning to start the smokies.

I have 5+ days of food so my pack will be heavy and stuffed full. I had to send some of my food home since I couldn't carry it all. I will be able to get it when I go home in 2 weeks.

Can't wait to see the Smokies in the morning!

Day 15

Tuesday April 21

Mile 159.2

Cable Gap Shelter

Today was tough. Both mentally and physically. After a cold night I got a late and lazy start. I slept on a bad slope all night. Ended up having to put my shoes under me in the downhill side to keep me from sliding.

Started hiking right after 9, with an immediate uphill to Cheoah Bald. Not terrible, but my feet were sore. Amazing views from the bald. I sat there for a few minutes just looking.

After that it was downhill and harder going my feet kept getting more and more sore. Had to take the downs very slow. Met Viking again at the next campsite. Glad to have caught up to him.

Got to Stecoah Gap and found trail magic of apples and bananas. Ate lunch there and rested. Then it was more painful feet walking.

Jacob's ladder was the next climb. On the map it looks really steep. Everyone was talking about how bad it is. We got to the bottom and I was trying to figure out if we were there yet as it wasn't as bad as I feared. Ended up being very steep but not as bad as expected. Took a while to get up but no real bad sections.

Stopped at the shelter for water and a break. Then it was more rolling hills. Something about today just wore me out. I was just slow. My feet were killing me the entire day. Didn't make sense since I only hiked 7 miles yesterday.

The last 3 hours drug by. I was hiking by myself and I was just barely moving it felt like. Almost bailed at a gap with other people tenting there but I decided to get it over with today so I only have 6 tomorrow.

Was super happy to finally get to camp but it was packed. Lots of people means I got the bad tent site. I'm on a slope again...  Oh well at least I can rest.

Ate dinner of spaghetti and relaxed until about 9. Had a campfire going and lots of people talking around it.

It has just been an exhausting day. Sore feet make for bad hiking. It was mentally draining even more then the entire day of rain.

Day 14

Monday April 20

Mile 144

Sassafras Gap Shelter

Today was a short day. In hiker terms it is called a Nero, or near zero day. We only went 6.9 miles, but it was 6 miles uphill.

Heard storms roll in early this morning. Very glad to be inside instead of out in the rain again. Got up around 7:30 about the time it was clearing up. Slowly got ready, had another shower, and packed up my now mostly dry stuff.

Had pancakes, eggs and bacon at the restaurant with Blazer. Everyone else chose to eat hiker food. Not happening when I'm in a town.

Hung around for a while until everyone else started hiking. They were doing 15 miles today so they had to get an earlier start. After they left I got resupplied and Nicole made it into the noc from wesser shelter. Robert joined us for lunch, grilled cheese and a salad, and then we just relaxed until about 12:30. Got everything packed back up and started hiking about 12:50.

The first part of the climb was easy, with the sun shining and a breeze blowing. Good hiking weather. After about an hour and a half it got steeper and harder. We took more breaks and stopped at views longer.

The Jumpup view was awesome, but after that it got even harder. 900 feet elevation gain in less than a mile. It drizzled a little after that but soon cleared up. Didn't even get wet.

Made it to the shelter about 5 and set up. Lots of people here which is not a surprise as it is the first spot after the noc. Ate my dinner of snacks and relaxed for a while. Showed Nicole how to hang her bear bag PCT style.

In the tent about 8:15 only to find that my seemingly flat ground is very sloped so that I roll downhill. Great. Too late to move and too lazy. Oh well.

Overall good day with a better day planned tomorrow with the weather. Going to do about 15 miles. Should have a good view from the bald first thing in the morning. Forecast still calls for sunny all day. Yay!

Feet are decently happy and dry which is nice. Hoping that the right foot stops being sore in the morning. It is not bad just annoying.

And very surprisingly 420 was not celebrated anywhere near me today.

Day 13

Sunday April 19

Mile 137.4

Nantahala outdoor center

Today was a trying day. It started raining about ten last night and continued all night long. And most of the morning. And most of the afternoon. So basically, it rained. A lot.

Woke up to rain and found my sleeping bag was wet again. Not near as bad as last time but still wet. It probably didn't help that I kept sliding to the foot of the tent all night.

Very slowly got packed this morning. Ended up taking most of my stuff to the shelter to finish packing. The tent was absolutely soaked. Felt like it added 10 pounds to my pack.

Started hiking (in the rain) about 9:30. The first couple of miles weren't too bad, just slow since I was hiking through a swamp. The trail was basically a river of mud. I tried for about 5 minutes to keep my feet dry then just gave up. And walked straight through everything. My legs up to my knees were covered by the end of the day. I was splashing through it. After a while I didn't even notice it.

The rain was playing games with us all morning. It would rain, then stop for just long enough for you to think it was over. Then it went right back to raining.

It was actually fairly decent around lunch time, it slacked off for about an hour. Gave me enough time to get over the highest ridge of the day.

However, when I got down to the gap to start the climb up to the best view on the section, it started raining again. The tower was in a cloud when I got there. Didn't even bother going over to it.

There were some really interesting clouds today. They would form a line right over the gap like there was a barrier there and eventually would cross it. Must have been warmer air out something on that side of the gap.

Got down to the shelter and Blazer was coming out. He said the others were up ahead and would be making a decision on staying at the outdoor center when they got to the next shelter. I was planning on staying there the whole time, but everyone else had said they would stay at the shelter.

I figured that the plans would include me since they have up to this point. So I called and booked the last room for $100. Split 3-4 ways it was very reasonable. So I head on down the mountain.

It really started to rain on the ridge line approaching what is called the jumpoff. It's a great view (when it's not raining!) but when it is wet it is very slippery. I took my time on the bigger rocks so I didn't slip off and hurt myself.

It rained until I was about half way down then stopped. I was soaking wet by this point. A rain jacket on the AT is only there to keep you warm while it is raining. You so get wet. Whether from sweating inside the jacket or the jacket wetting out (at some point all jackets become saturated and start leaking), you will be wet, but warm. I took the jacket off at the shelter and ended up drying out just a little  Met a guy from Israel who I think said his trail name is Macgyver.

Got to the shelter and none of my group was there. Someone said they had just left. Great. I hurried down to the noc just in time to see them leaving the store where you tent the rooms. Of course all 4 had gotten rooms at the bunkhouse, leaving me in the room by myself. Let me repeat that the room cost $100. A nonrefundable $100 room.

There were some more people coming in behind me so I wasn't too worried just yet and the others promised to look for people to share the room with me. Unfortunately, everyone I talked to already had a room or already had their own reservations. Crap.

So I am still sitting by the store right where the trail comes into town. Still wet, still in desperate need of a shower. So I go into the store and try to talk them into letting me out of the room and switch to the $20 bunkhouse. Guy at the desk was like sure, I can do that, but you will still have to pay for the room. Dude must be an idiot if he thinks I am paying $100 to sleep in a bunkhouse.

I finally give up and take the room. It ends up being a room with 2 full size beds and a loft. It could have easily fit my entire group. Instead I have it all to myself. Wonderful.

Take a shower and head back to the main area. The BBQ place that I wanted to eat at is closed so I join everyone else at the other restaurant and get a burger. We sat and talked for a while and then moved into the parking lot and talked to some more people for a while. We finally went back to the rooms around 8:30.

My tent still isn't dry so I hung it up on the ladder to the loft since it started raining again outside. The foot of my sleeping bag is better but still damp. Everything else is mostly dry now.

Still need to resupply for the next 2 or 2.5 days to Fontana. Not sure how long I am doing to take. I just have to be there by the night of the 22nd. It's 28 miles, so it can be done in 2 days but I am thinking about doing a Nero (near zero) day tomorrow and only go 7 miles to the next shelter. Then 15 the next day and then the last few miles the next morning. We will see.

It's thundering a little outside now. Very glad that I am not in a tent. Hopefully the weather isn't bad tomorrow. Only 50% chance of storms then 3-4 nicer days after that. I would love to go through the smokies in nice weather but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. But with this weather you never know.

Anyways, late start tomorrow. I'm going to get every last bit of use out of this room that I can. Might even use both beds tonight.

Day 12

Saturday April 18

Mile 120.8

Wayah Bald Shelter

Got a late start this morning from the motel. Took the 11 am shuttle back to the trail and was hiking right after 11:30.

The shuttle is apparently hiker famous. There is a sticker over the door that says "I rode the short bus" and hikers have taken those stickers everywhere.

I already knew my shins were hurting before I hit the trail. I had stretched earlier but it didn't help. All day they were slowing me down and hurting. By the end of the day my legs were burning.

I was extremely slow today and wore completely out. The uphills took forever and the downs were painful.

Regardless, we had good hiking weather all day. Sunny for part of the time, then the clouds started rolling in but didn't rain. It was breezy at times which was nice.

There were decent views at both Siler and Wayah. I didn't go up Siler because of my legs. Besides, I had seen it before in much better weather.

I hiked by myself most of the day since everyone was in front of me except for a few people, and they caught up quickly.

When I got to wayah bald I actually started going decently fast on the downhill. Maybe I just couldn't feel it anymore...

Got to camp and set up, preparing for the rain tonight and tomorrow. Probably going to get wet but oh well. The only level tent pad was taken so I am on a slope.

At some point during the day I somehow acquired the trail name Better Call Paul. Whatever, I can deal with that one for now.

After dinner that was constantly interrupted by gnats, we were talking and just relaxing. Got into a debate on gun control. Interesting mix of views. Had me, a 911 operator/law school student from Raleigh, two guys from Cincinnati, Dakota from Boston and Mariah from Michigan. It got a little heated for a while. Very entertaining.

In the tent by 8:30, waiting on the rain to come. Planning on trying to get to the noc tomorrow. 17 miles, long day but doable. Lots of downhill though... The shins need to get in the game!

Hopefully it will be a good night.

Day 11

Friday April 17

Mile 109.8

Franklin, NC

After a long night of rain, we woke up around 7:15 and started packing up. I was on the trail by 8. Everything was wet, including the foot of my sleeping bag (down, not good) and around the hood.

Made good time to the foot of Albert Mountain and began the super steep climb. On wet, slick rocks. It was fun enough when it was dry. The top was in a cloud but we celebrated the 100 mile marker anyways.

We stopped for a quick break at Long Branch Shelter where I had to look at my left foot. Got a blister forming under a crease. Should be interesting to see how that one plays out. Taped it up and kept going.

The weather was mainly cloudy all morning. Except for one spot with an amazing view, everything was in clouds until right after lunch. Then it cleared up a bit, but was still mostly cloudy.

Met Catman again as he had turned around at Franklin and headed back south. Cool guy, interesting to talk to.

Short lunch break at rock gap before the final climb, which was tiring. After 17 miles yesterday and a fast 13 today, we were all wore out. Finally made it to winding stair gap at 1:30.

We were greeted by trail magic by 2 guys from Virginia who were playing tonight at a place in town. They had beers, Pepsi, and oranges. Very popular people with the hikers!

We all had a laugh when one of them remarked that they brought a chair for hikers to sit in but every single one of us just plopped down in the dirt. What can we say, we got used to the woods...

After a rest while eating and drinking, we started trying to hitch a ride into town. First car stopped, which was surprising, and let us all pile into her SUV. Turns out she lived in Warner Robins for a while working at the base as a physician. How cool is that. She was on vacation in Franklin for a wedding and randomly decided to go driving up in the mountains. She dropped us off at the motel, which was very nice.

After showers and laundry, we walked (in the rain, of course) up to Outdoor 76 where Dakota got her mail drop and I looked for camp shoes. No luck there as they didn't have my size.

Rob and the other owner were awesome as always. They remembered me from last time which is very cool. I would rather spend my money there, but if you don't have it in stock, oh well. They said the number of hikers has been crazy this year.

Called the other outfitter, Three Eagles, and they had them in stock. But they are 2 miles away... The guidebook says they will pick you up, but that is apparently only in the morning. Was calling around to see how to get there and the grocery store when a lady just walked up and asked if we needed a ride. People are awesome!

She had heard me talking on the phone and decided to help out. She dropped us off at the outfitter and I got my camp shoes! So happy now that I don't have to wear wet shoes around camp.

The motel's shuttle, which we missed earlier, picked us up and took us to Walmart for resupply. I can say for sure that hikers qualify for the People of Walmart webpage.

Got enough food to get me 2 days to the NOC and got back to the motel. Ate dinner at the motor city grill. Excellent hamburgers. Had a chocolate shake as well.

Most everybody else decided to go hear the band play. I decided to pass so I could finish cleaning up and getting my gear back in order.

We will be getting the late (11am) shuttle back to the trail so it will be a lazy morning. Got a box of krispy kreme donuts waiting for breakfast. Hopefully I will sleep good tonight and be well rested for tomorrow.

Day 10

Thursday April 16

Mile 97.6

Betty Creek Gap

Today was the longest day so far. 17 miles, over Standing Indian Mountain, the tallest in this section at 5500 feet.

It dripped all night, keeping everything wet or at least damp. The tent got packed wet, and I carried my first pair of socks that were soaked.

I slept all night I think, which was very nice. What I missed was the mouse chewing through the mesh of my pack and into my water filter bag. Not sure what he was after, but luckily very little damage was done.

We were out of camp by 8:30 and on our way. The trail was still muddy, but nowhere near as bad as the day before. I managed to keep my shoes decently dry all day. Feet still looked like prunes at the end of the day, but they were not completely soaked all day long.

Made excellent time all day long. Stopped for breaks at deep gap and standing Indian shelter. Met Robert, the German, again at the shelter.

Took a decent break at the top of standing Indian. Bugs were bad so I didn't stay as long as I wanted to. The clouds blocked most of the view, but we could see a few peaks.

The downhill from there was easy and quick. It is over 4 miles of rolling downhill.

We got to the shelter and stopped in to rest. We were there by 2:15, so very good time. Left there and headed on to the campsite. It was easy uphill and rolling downhill all the way and we were finished by 4:30.

The sun broke out a few times today, but never stayed out. A cloud was rolling in to the campsite when we got there but luckily held off raining until after we had set up our tents and gotten water.

Most of the other people from the last shelter showed up quickly after we arrived. The rain started about the time we got done eating about 5. We quickly hung the bear bags in the rain and bailed into the tents.

The rain quickly stopped but the trees were still dripping. A girl from New York led a yoga class. I can hear them from the tent and most everyone in the other group is doing it. Dakota, Mariah and I stayed in the tents.

Today turned out very good. We made good miles and the weather held out until camp. My feet feel ok and everything else as well. I managed to keep up with the girls much better today, although the terrain was much easier as well. Regardless, hopefully I am getting into trail shape.

We are planning a quick 13 miles into Franklin tomorrow. We have a room reserved at the Budget Inn and I hope to be there by 2.

I will pick up my warm clothes again after sending them ahead, and I need to get camp shoes. So the pack will be getting heavier, but oh well. I may also grab another pair of toe sock liners if they have them.

I will be getting up by 7 in the morning to get an early start. I am hoping for another good nights sleep, but this time without the mouse!

Day 9

Wednesday April 15

Muskrat Creek Shelter

Mile 81.4

NORTH CAROLINA!!!

We made it into North Carolina today, leaving Georgia behind. One state down, 13 more to go.

After a restless nights sleep, we woke at 7 to get ready to head back to the trail. We ate in the room and took the 9 am shuttle from the motel.

After an interesting ride in the clunker van up to the gap, we started off about 9:30. My calves were extremely tight to start off, but finally loosened up after a few miles.

Made decent time to Blue Ridge Gap where I snacked a little before heading on to Bly Gap. Crossed into NC about 1:20 and wanted to stop and take a break but the weather has been raining all day or misting, so I kept pushing on.

The climb out of Bly was as hard as usual, but made worse by the mud. It took forever to get to the shelter. I finally gave up caring about the mud and just got dirty. My shoes were soaked and caked in mud and my socks were squishing.

The shelter was full as we expected since everyone was kinda grouped together. Set up the tent and tried to dry out. Ended up washing my shoes, socks, feet and legs in the creek just to get the mud off. I am seriously regretting the lack of camp shoes right now.

After a snack in the shelter with the hordes I bailed to my tent to dry off some more. We are still in a cloud and it keeps drizzling and dripping, keeping everything wet. I kept moving most of the day just to stay warm in this weather.

Met some new people and caught up with some old groups today. One girl is from Australia. One guy passed us on the trail talking about how humans evolved from apes but that they ate magic mushrooms brought to earth by aliens. Wow.

The shelter is crammed, with people sleeping on the dirt floor and on the table. There is no way I would sleep on that nasty floor. People spill food and drinks all over it. No thank you. I will take my wet tent any day.

We are planning on going past the next 2 shelters tomorrow, so hopefully we will leave most of this group behind. Kate and Nicole know our plans and will be going to the same campsite.

Everyone has bailed into the tents by 6. Still off and on drizzling. Someone got a weather forecast that said it would be drying up tonight and tomorrow. Sounds good to me.

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Today was the first "bad" day. I think it is a mix of the weather and the fact that I am still not hiking at my usual strength. I'm still dragging on even the slightest uphill sections. Not used to that and I thought that I would have got at least some form of trail legs by now.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day. Big miles planned to try and get info Franklin on Friday. Looking at about 17 miles, but over fairly easy terrain. It is more than I wanted to do to start out, but plans are always changing on the AT. 

Day 8

Zero Day #1

Mile 69.6

Hiawassee, GA

Today was a good day of resting. Took it easy all day, laying around the motel room, eating, and cleaning/drying gear.

Everything is now mostly dry, which is basically as good as it gets on the AT. The main thing is I have clean clothes, and have had at least one shower. There is at least one more in the immediate future. Even if the bathroom is blue (thank you 1970s).

I sent my cold weather clothes ahead to Franklin, NC to the Budget Inn there so that saves me 2 pounds for the next 3 days. In my world, that is cause for celebration. I will pick them back up for the smokies and then they go home until the Whites in New Hampshire.

Everything is laid out in the room ready to pack up in the morning for our 9 am shuttle back to the trail. I have plenty of food for 3 days and I will be getting 2 new bottles of Gatorade before we leave.

I love using Gatorade bottles for water bottles. You don't have to wash them. When they get dirty just buy new ones. They even throw in free Gatorade with the new bottle!

The shin is rested up after being iced twice today. I will be watching it carefully tomorrow just in case. The blister on the toe feels better but has not gone down any. That may have to get popped if it starts bothering me. Other than that, I am in great shape to keep hiking. Very blessed so far as many others have had some serious issues. One guy had blisters so bad he had to go to a walk in clinic and all they could say was "dang! " so I am doing good.

Tomorrow we will leave Georgia and into NC. One state down, 13 to go. I'm excited to make some more progress. We still have a LONG way to go but every little step and every milestone adds up.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

The first week

Wow. I can't believe that it's been a week already. I am at mile 69.6 officially, but have actually hiked over 78.

We have had a variety of days so far. Rain today, yesterday was OK, and one really nice day. I have hiked between 8-14 miles each day.

It had been both harder and easier that I expected. Physically harder, but mentally easier. Most of the climbs up mountains have left me sweating and breathing hard, but the days have been good so far.

I have met some awesome people on the trail and a couple not so cool people, but they all make up this unique experience.

The weather has been better than expected, but the rain today did dampen my mood a bit. Regardless, it has been fun and challenging, exactly what I was expecting.

I am looking forward to the next week as we leave Georgia and into North Carolina. What I am most looking forward to is the arrival of my trail legs. It generally takes about 2 weeks to get your body into shape to walk 12-16 miles a day without issues. Right now 10 miles is wearing me out but it will soon get better.

Tomorrow we will be taking a zero, a day where we hike zero miles. I will be resting, resupplying, and replacing some of my gear that is not performing like it should.

I already had to replace my water filter since it was clogged from day 1. A tent stake broke this morning, but Viking gave me one of his spares. My rain pants are worthless and have ripped twice already.

Overall however, everything is going great.

Day 7

Monday April 13

Mile 69.6

Dick's Creek Gap, Hiawassee, GA

It rained most of the night and soaked the tent. I stayed dry but it made packing up fun.

I was up and packed and on the trail by 8, eager for town. It was very lightly drizzling and very foggy all morning.

We made great time all day, with the thought of real food driving us on. Took a few breaks and a couple of the climbs were hard but we made it ten miles right at 1 PM.

We spent 20 minutes trying to hitchhike before a lady from Robbinsville NC stopped and picked us up. A friend had done the trail and she was all excited to do some trail magic. She dropped us off right at the motel so we were very thankful.

Viking rode in with us and is staying one night in our room. We are zeroing tomorrow but he is pushing on.

By 4 we were showered and had clean clothes on and we are about to go look for food. All you can eat buffet here we come!

Day 6

Sunday April 12

Mile 58.6

Tray Mountain Shelter

Long day today. Woke up after a pretty sleepless night. I was either sweating or freezing and the whole time I was tossing and turning.

On the trail around 8 and had to immediately find water as we didn't have water at the campsite. About 1/2 mile down the trail we got some at a small creek.

We made great time along the logging road. Once we hit real trail again I slowed down. I was dragging all day long.

It seemed like I was always behind the others. I would only catch them at breaks and they would immediately get ahead once we started hiking again.

We took a good break at red clay gap and again at blue mtn shelter. On the way down to unicoi gap I started having pain in my shins which is not good. I took it real slow downhill and Ashlee showed me a stretch to try and ease the tightness.

It worked a little but not completely. We took a long break in the gap and tried to decide what to do tomorrow.

We all originally tried to get a motel room in hiawassee but they only allowed 4 in a room. Our group was 5.

Aaron and Ashlee ended up going into town today from the gap so we called back and Dakota, miriah and I got a room tomorrow night.

We finally moved on towards tray mountain and again I was slowly making it. Today was rough for some reason. I really need to get my trail legs soon!

The downhill still had pains in my shins and I kept going slow. Dakota showed me another stretch that I tried. Still can't tell the difference.

The climb up tray took forever as I kept having to stop for breaks. I finally made it about 4:30.

Since it was Sunday I stopped for a while at the top and read the sermon on the mount again.

Heard down to the shelter after a few minutes and set up. Dakota and miriah are in the shelter but a group that is partying is here tonight so it is noisy. They are drinking and smoking weed. Nice people but not my scene.

Nicole showed up with the younger German hiker. He told us his name but pronounced Robert as robot. So we were all a little confused about that until he clarified. We tried to give him robot as a trail name but he refused and said that others had done the same.

Miriah is going with flamethrower for now and Dakota is possibly artichoke boots. Flamethrower because her stove shot out huge flames day one and artichoke boots because she said okie dokie artichokie and had to get new boots at Neels gap. May not stick but they will work for now.

Aaron took pistachio before he went into town. Ashlee and I still don't have one. We will get one soon enough though.

It's getting cold and windy up here on the ridge about 8. Going to head into the tent soon.

Got my first blister today! Found it after getting into the shelter. Didn't feel it all day but it was on my middle toe on the side. I popped it and taped it up but of course it hurts a little now. I may have to switch back to the toe socks tomorrow but I will start with the regular ones and see.

I am most likely going to zero on Tuesday either in hiawassee if I can find someone else staying so we can share a room and if not I will stay at top of GA hostel to save money. I need to rest my shins as best I can and also look after my feet. I have a cut between the toe webbing that while not painful has me concerned about long term healing. I would also like to let this blister heal.

I have been fairly happy so far with my progress. I did not stick exactly to my 2 week plan but have been close. The second night I stopped short and today I went further than planned.

I'm going to start trying to stay more at campsites rather than shelters. I guessed that most of the partiers would be at the shelters and so far have been right. The last 2 nights at tent sites were much better with a small group that just hung out.

I am hoping that Aaron and Ashlee catch back up soon as I enjoyed their company. Our group so far has worked very well but I am sure we will split soon. That is just the way it works this early on.

Dakota and miriah are stronger hikers that I am and will probably pull ahead soon. The good thing is there is always another group to join.

Day 5

Saturday April 11

Mile 45

Today was a great day. We had a clear but windy night with lots of dew. Woke up and was on trail by 8:15. I left before everyone else knowing that they would catch up soon.

Met a some people from North Carolina and Michigan on the way and talked to them for a minute. Dakota and Mariah caught up quickly as I descended from an overlook. They passed me when I stopped to get water.

Aaron and Ashlee quickly caught up as well. We passed a guy who told us about trail magic at tesnatee gap so that got us moving.

We all caught up at wolf Laurel top and the view there. Headed down but I forgot about cowrock mtn before we got to the gap. So we had a little more uphill than I expected. The thought of oranges kept us going though.

We stopped on cowrock for a break and headed down where we met the church group with surprise trail magic of snack bags. Slim Jim's, Reece's eggs, and peanuts were in mine. That was very appreciated.

Finally got to the gap and the oranges. They were ice cold and AMAZING. A cold orange on a hot hike is simply magical. I ate some snacks as well and some water.

After a short break we set off up wildcat mtn. It was hard but luckily it is a short climb. Came down the other side and got water before setting off for low gap.

It was warm and the uphill was tiring. I dropped back for a couple of miles before I caught back up to Aaron and Ashlee right before the shelter. Dakota and Mariah were already at the shelter. We all decided to take a couple hour break before heading on to a campsite about 1.5 miles further.

While at low shelter, we heard about trail magic we missed at hogpen gap of sodas and bananas. Oh well. At least we got something.

There were lots of people coming into the shelter by the time we left. Low gap is the next stop for most after Neels gap, which was full last night, so we knew everyone would be heading there.

It was going to get loud with the people that were staying and we wanted quiet.

We headed on up the trail and the first campsite was full but it wasn't the one I was thinking about anyways. The guide book wasn't very clear on which one was which site but we finally got to the one I planned on staying at.

We set up and pretty soon two others from the shelter joined us - catman and his friend. We got a fire going to keep the bugs away (lots of bugs again) and talked for a long time.

Most of us stayed up talking until about 845 and then we headed for the tents.

Going to be another good day tomorrow and we are planning a longer one so we can get into town earlier because of the rain that is coming Monday.

Great day overall, first trail magic, and making progress on the AT.

Day 4

Friday April 10

Mile 32.8

Well it didn't storm last night like we thought. It waited until 8am to start. Oh well. We packed up after a sleepless night in the hostel.

Got some breakfast pizza, which was awesome from the store and waited around until 9 for the shuttle. That didn't show up...

It was a cluster. Nobody knew what was going on and who was doing the shuttle back to the trail. We ended up hitch hiking and using a jeep to take 2 at a time back up. There was about 12 of us so it took a while. Finally got back on the trail about 10:05.

It was raining when we started but not bad. Headed up to preacher rock which was cloudy. Made great time until woohoo sprained his ankle. Sounded real bad as he fell and he said he felt a crunch. He managed to hobble on for a while then got stronger as he went.

Blood mountain was as hard as usual and wore me out and the top was cloudy but clearing as we were up there. But the bugs drove us off.

The downhill was rough on my knees but had no issues that lasted. Made it to Neels after 4 which is still great time for starting after 10.

Hung around the hostel for a while as we decided to hike a mile further up to stay the night since it was going to be a nice night.

We originally wanted to stay at the cabins but they were full. The free tent sites at Neels sucked.

Ate another pizza for dinner and resupplied to get me to hiawassee. Also picked up a new sawyer since mine was clogged and I couldn't get it to clear out.

We stayed sitting around the patio until after 6. Met Baltimore Jack, which was awesome. Very funny guy. Has some interesting stories.

Dakota, her friend, woohoo and I are headed up to the campsite in a few minutes.

We left Neels after 630 and headed up to bull gap. Woohoo had gone up earlier and picked the wrong spot to set up so we passed him and went on.

Ashley and Aaron were already there when we arrived and even flow and pockets arrived at the same time we did. Plenty of campsites and great level places to tent.

Another hiker showed up about twenty minutes later and joined us. We built a campfire and talked until after 945. Very glad I didn't stay at the hostel, as it was full and this is a much better place to sleep.

Should be good weather tonight and the next few days so we will be enjoying that. After ten now and going to sleep after a good day.