April 30, Back on the Trail

Mile 328.6, Whistling Gap campground

I had a wonderful 4 days at home. It was nice to see Theresa. It was also nice to see our farm as the trees are beginning to leaf and the flowers blooming. As a bonus, Laura and her fiancé were there. We had a great visit.

I changed some items I'm carrying. I left my bulky, heavy fleece. It is, after all, April 30th in the South...right!? I also exchanged my thick thermal underwear for thinner thermals. I exchanged my thick convertible pants for my thinner pair. I added a pair of light running shorts to wear while I'm doing laundry along the way. My biggest change was with my shoes. I left a pair of hiking shoes at home and took someone's advice to wear trail running shoes on the trail. When I got home, I wore my hiking shoes around and realized my feet were happier and my ankles had support. So I decided to ditch the trail runners and go with my hikers. After a 10 mile day today, my feet and ankles seem happier. If they stay happy I will go with hikers for the rest of my journey.

Many people asked me if I had trouble leaving home and getting back on the trail. The answer is No. I love my wife and I love my farm. This trek has been on my mind for a long time. This is the perfect time for me to do it.

Pictures!

I'm home for the weekend.  I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some pictures since I have a good internet connection. 

My cell signal on the trail is spotty at best.  I did not have a good signal all the way through the Smoky Mountains.  That's why I did not update my blog for quite a few days. 

April 25, First night hike

Mile 317.4, Sam's Gap

I did my first night hike last night. I started at 3am and hiked until 8am. The rain was supposed to have stopped last night but I broke camp and hiked most of the night in mist and drizzle. I was hoping for a moonlit night but I had no such luck. It was a nice change of pace, though.

Theresa will be picking me up today and taking me home for a long weekend off the trail. Laura and her fiancé will be there, too. I look forward to a break, and a steak, eggs every morning, and coffee.



Curtis
Sent from my iPhone

April 24, Over 300 miles behind me

Mile 307.6, just beyond Flint Gap Shelter

It's hard to believe that I've hiked over 300 miles. That's another exciting milestone I've completed.

It's interesting to me the variety of people on the trail. Many are young, probably in their early 20s. Few are in the 30s and 40s. And many are in their late 50s and early 60s. They are here for their own reasons. I run across some of them very often. Sometimes I won't see someone for a week or so and then I run into them somewhere randomly on the trail. The social aspect of hiking the AT is fun and interesting.



Curtis
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April 23, 19 mile day

Mile 293.5, Little Laurel Shelter

Campsites were hard to come by today. Fortunately the shelter I'm staying near has campsites. As a consequence, I hiked a 19 mile day. I didn't really want to hike another long day even though I had a day of rest yesterday. I continue to see people with overuse injuries and I'm determined not to let that happen to me. I have about a 13 mile hike planned for tomorrow. I feel more comfortable with that distance although I felt fine on the long hike today.



Curtis
Sent from my iPhone

April 22, Zero Day

I took a day off after hiking 8 days and about 110 miles. After a nice night at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, a hiker hostel, Elmer fixed a fantastic breakfast of waffles, granola, strawberry syrup, and melons. After that I hooked up again with the Warrior Hikers, ate lunch, and re-supplied for 3 days on the trail. After checking into our cabin, which I'm sharing with 2 other guys, I went down to the hot springs and spent an hour relaxing in the hot mineral waters. That was a nice luxury at a cheap price of $15.

I planned my week of hiking. I have to start off with a 19 mile day due to the distance between campsites. Then I'll do a 13 mile day followed by an 11 mile day. At that point Theresa will pick me up and bring me home for a few days. I'm really looking forward to that.

Warrior Hikers

I finally caught up with them at Hot Springs. One of the Warriors Hikers served with me in Kabul, Afghanistan. He's the one standing at my right side. The gentleman with the Labrador Retriever service dog is sitting under my left arm. They are a nice bunch of people and I enjoyed hanging out with them at the pub.

They will take off on Monday while I take a zero day. I hope to catch up with them in the future.

April 21, Into Hot Springs

Mile 273.9, Hot Springs

I had a "short" 11 mile hike into Hot Springs today. My body felt every 22 miles of yesterday's hike. My knees were sore and I was physically tired. It was nice to get into the town and get a room for the night. I'm staying at Elmer's Sunny Ann Inn, a hostel for thru-hikers. The house was built in the 1840s. It's a beautiful old house. I'm rooming with my German friend.

It was nice to get into a town and eat a hamburger! That seems to be what I crave the most. I ate pizza for dinner. I'm looking forward to a big juicy steak when I go home next weekend.

April 20, Longest hike so far

Mile 262.9

The trail was good to me today. It had few steep climbs and descents. I plan on a zero day in Hot Springs NC so I wanted to do a long hike today and then a "short" hike tomorrow into Hot Springs. I hiked 22.1 miles! I felt good for the first 20 but the last 2 were difficult. Once I got my camp set up, I was able to relax and I felt good.

I hooked up with a German young man about half way through the Smokies. He is faster than me but we've been camping at the same spots for a few days. Once we leave Hot Springs we'll go our separate ways, hopefully to meet up again down the trail.

April 19, Out of the Smokeys

Mile 240.8, Standing Bear Hostel

As much as I was excited to enter the Smokeys, I was excited to leave them. The weather was uncooperative and I did not get the spectacular views I was hoping for. It started raining as soon as I started hiking that morning and got heavier as the day went on. I didn't mid it. In fact I enjoyed it.

Once I exited the Smokeys, the vegetation popped green and the trail followed a beautiful stream.

I stayed at the Standing Bear hostel. I was not impressed with their facilities. The bunkhouse was full of hikers due to the weather. Three snorers kept me awake most of the night. However, I was able to take a shower, my first in 5 days. They did have a small kitchen so I had a hot microwave meal. But I was glad to leave there the next day.

April 18, Nothing but mist

Mile 230.1, Cosby Knob Shelter

Day 4 in the Smokeys was another bust. During the morning and into the early afternoon, the wind howled and the mist blew. I had no view until about 2:30. Everything was wet including the rocks, roots, dirt, trees, and me.

I hiked my first 20+ day today. I wanted to set myself up for a "short" 11 mile hike the next day to the Standing Bear hostel.

April 17, 200+ Milestone and High Point

Today I broke through the 200 mile mark. That's another significant milestone to reach. I also reached the highest point on the AT at 6,643'. That point is Clingman's Dome and it is located in the Smokeys. The hike up wasn't extremely hard. Unfortunately, appropriate to the Smokeys namesake, the Dome was cloaked in mist and I couldn't see anything. On top of that the wind was blowing and it was chilly. I waited for about 30 minutes for it to clear but finally gave up and hiked on.

April 15, into the Smokies

Mile 179.6, Russell Field Shelter

Yay, I'm in the Smokies! I'm very excited about that.

As I reached Doe Knob, elevation 4,520', I walked into a field of flowers. The flowers lined the trail for miles. It was a nice sight to see.

The little biting flies have been horrible for the past few days. I hope they go away soon. They sworn around your head and bite at every opportunity.




Curtis
Sent from my iPhone

April16, Extreme ups and downs

Mile 194.3, Silars Bald Shelter

Today was a day of extremes. We yoyo'd from 4,000' to 5,500'. It was rough going. Tomorrow I climb Clingman's Dome. The highest point on the AT. I will probably hang out there for a while and admire the view...and rest.



Curtis
Sent from my iPhone

Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Little Bird)

Dad's previous post explains the challenges of the Trail really well.
Yeah, it's physically difficult, but physical challenges are nothing
compared to the mental ones.
Most of you know that I got engaged in December. Eric is my best
friend and I waited for a love like we have for years and years. It
was so worth waiting for. We're now looking forward to starting our
lives together and have two imminent moves and along with them come
new houses, new cultures, and spending time with the family members we
will live near. And, of course, doing it all together. On the Trail, I
woke up every morning thinking, Why am I here when my own life is
happening somewhere else? So, I've decided to get off the Trail to
live my life.
For me, the mental challenges could not be overcome by any amount of
persuading. I'm really glad that Dad is sticking with it and I'll do
everything I can to help him along the way.
Thank you everyone for your support!

Physical and Mental Challenges of the AT

I suppose it is obvious that hiking the Appalachian Trail presents some physical challenges.  Merely hiking the mountains is challenging, but adding a 30-40 pound pack multiplies that challenge significantly.  During the first few days, my hip flexers were extremely sore and stiff.  After a few days, that pain went away only to be replaced by sore and stiff calf muscles.  I also realized I needed to constantly adjust my pack's straps to keep it fitting my body correctly.  The straps seem to slip over time and readjustments have to be made several times a day.  Feet probably present the biggest concern.  Going up and down mountains causes your feet to sweat and to slip around in your shoes.  That causes blisters.  Between sore and injured knees and ankles, blisters are one of the major complaints of thru-hikers.  Fortunately for me, I formed only one blister.  I'm hoping that soon it will turn into a callous.

The mental war is more significant than the physical.  I'm convinced that anyone can overcome the physical challenges of the trail if the phyiscal ailments are taking care of promptly.  The mental challenge is more significant.  For one thing, you are physically tired and exhausted at the end of every day.  For another, you wonder why in the world you are doing what you are doing.  Life is happening while you are hiking the trail.  For me, I left my wife and a brand new farm to hike the trail.  It was less than a year ago that I came back from Afghanistan after being gone for a year.  Why in the world would I leave my wife alone again?  I also want to see my farm as the Spring and Summer comes.  I will miss that.  For both of those reasons, I'm really challenged.  What purpose does hiking the trail accomplish?  Why put myself through this physical challenge just to say that I did it?  I don't have good answers to any those questions.  All I know is that I'm committed to doing this.  Now that I've been on the trail for over 3 weeks, I realize that every morning I strike out on the trail, I'm happy!

April 14, At the Lodge in Fontana Village

Mile 164.5, Fontana Crossing

I'm at the southern end of the Smokies!  I'm really excited to be here.  My family has vacationed in the Smokies many times, staying in or near Gatlinburg, TN.  We always enjoyed those times.  Now, I'm going to hike through the park with nothing but my backpack and the things inside it.

I'm staying at the resort in Fontana Village.  I had a short hike yesterday of about 5.4 miles.  During the rest of the day, I did laundry and bought 5 days of food to get me through the Smokies and to the next food supply stop.  Five days of food is heavy but carrying that much food will allow me to skip a trip into Gatlinburg, about 15 miles off the trail, to resupply.  Today, I will rest and let my body recuperate. 

April12, I survived the storm

Mile 159.2, Cable Gap Shelter

I hiked hard yesterday to get to the campsite and get set up before the rain came. I was all set by about 3:30. The rain finally came at about 8:00 and then the lightning and thunder and then the wind. The light show was quite impressive. The rain fell in buckets. The wind blew limbs out of trees. But my tent stayed true and kept me dry. It was good to get that first storm under my belt. It wasn't so bad after all. 

Today's hike was nice. Flowers were blooming. Trees were budding. The ruffed grouse continued their mating rituals. Spring seems to be coming to the Appalachian Mountains. 

Tomorrow I have a short hike of about 6 miles to Fontana Dam. I will take Sunday as a zero day, and then I start into the Smokies. I don't know why but the Smokies to me are a big milestone. 

I saw only three people on the trail today. That was a nice change. I suppose all of us hikers are starting to spread out a bit. 

Curtis

Sent from my iPhone

April 11, Anticipating the Storm

Mile 147.6, Locust Cove Gap

I was thinking about skipping today but I'm anxious to get to the Smokies. A storm system is coming through tonight so my goal was to get to a camp site and set up before the rain came...mission success.

I ditched my cook stove and pot. It was just too heavy and bulky. I probably lost about 3lbs. From now on I will be eating cold. I found these thin slices of bread at the grocery store so making sandwiches is easy with PB&J, potted meat, and reviled ham.

Some of you asked how you can help with food. Click on the "Food" tab above. If you don't have our address contact me or Theresa via email and we'll send you our address if we know you. :)

Grouse-beat (Little Bird)

(Male Ruffed Grouse - Pennsylvania Game Commission)

A few mornings ago, when Dad wasn't feeling well, he started off hiking ahead of me because he thought he might be a little slower. I eventually set off on my own. It was the first time I'd really hiked on the Trail all by myself. It was a nice morning, but a little eerie with fog. I was cresting the top of a mountain, out of breath, and feeling my heart pounding in my chest. And then my heartbeat did something eerie: "thump--thump--thump-thum-thu-thuthuthu...," like when you drop a ball that bounces itself out. Great, I thought, I'm out here all alone with some kind of weird heart murmur. But I kept on hiking and was fine.

A couple days later, I was catching up to Dad at the top of a hill when it happened again. "Did you hear that?" he asked. "What? You mean, you heard it too? I thought..." And he told me that what we'd heard, or felt more-like, was a grouse's mating call. I'd never experienced anything like that before. It was less of a sound and more of a feeling. It penetrated my body to the point that I felt like it was inside of me.

Apparently, male grouse use a wing-beating pattern that gives of a low frequency sound to attract a mate. This is called drumming, which Wikipedia describes as a "non-vocal acoustic display."

After that, we started feeling that sound all the time. Guess it's mating season.

10 April, HOT! (Elwood)

Mile 137.3, Nantahala Outdoor Center

The weather seemed to go from cold to HOT! There was NO transition. Today's hike seemed very hard, mainly due to the heat. Another reason it was difficult was because I went down a wrong trail. That added about 2 miles to my day. I was not happy about that.

I'm currently at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in NC. It's a pretty little spot with a river running through it which is used for kayaking. They have an outfitter and several restaurants. I'm bunking with 4 other people. It's comfortable enough. All it is is a large room with several bunkbeds. The shower and bathroom are in a separate building. I ate a BBQ hogie and drank a beer.

April 9th, Franklin and Nero (Elwood)

Mile 125.6, Cold Spring Shelter

We hitched a ride into Franklin, NC, yesterday from a nice lady and her teenage daughter from Atlanta. They offered us some fruit and provided good conversation for the 11 mile drive into town. We took the rest of the day off: short 3.6 mile hike = not quite a zero day = near zero day = nero! Get it?

After that rest, my legs were feeling really good so I made a 15+ mile hike Today. My goal was to make it to Fontana Dam by Saturday but now I'm thinking I can make it there by Friday. The sooner I get there the sooner I can get into the Smokies. For some reason, the Smokies is a big milestone for me. I can hardly wait to get there. I will take a zero day at Fontana Dam and then hike through the Smokeys. That should take me about 5 days.

Today I was wishing for a cool breeze. That's right, a cool breeze. After being so cold for so long the temperature today was near 80. It felt great! I sweated a lot but it felt great.

100 Mile View, 7 April (Elwood)

Mile 106.0, Rock Gap Shelter

We reached another milestone today. We broke through the 100 mile point. The picture in this post is from a fire tower at mile 100.1. The climb to the tower was the hardest portion so far in terms of steepness.

We sometimes stop at shelters just for convenience. Since Laura and I are introverts and the shelters tend to be a location for much socializing, we choose to set up our tents a ways away. The shelter area usually has a privy and a water source.

Magic, April 6th (Elwood)

Mile 93.9, Carter Gap

The morning started off cool but not too bad. Using the AT Guide, we are able to identify landmarks such as springs, roads, shelters, etc. This morning the Guide did not identify a parking lot so I was quite annoyed to see a bunch of cars parked in the woods. As we approached we started seeing signs for thru-hikers. They pointed us to a canopy. WOW! Trail Magic. This father and son team hiked the AT in 2002 and have, every year since then, given trail magic to thru-hikers. They had scrambled eggs, kilbosa, sausage, bacon, hash browns, biscuits, bananas, oranges, apples, coffee, orange juice, cookies, Gatorade, and more. It was quite a spread. That was very generous of them and we could tell they really enjoyed doing it.

Milestones, 5 March (Elwood)

Mile 82.2, Whiteoak Stamp

I had a really nice hike today. Yesterday's zero day helped tremendously with letting our muscles recover, and several hikers that braved the storm told stories of icicles on their tents and backpacks, strong winds, and cold temps. Laura and I are so glad to have missed that storm. Lots and lots of hikers did what we did and stayed in town. Good call!

Milestones are important to the psyche when you're doing something extreme like this for so long. It gives us something to look forward to. Today we hit a big milestone of reaching the border of North Carolina. That felt so good. The next milestone is getting to the Smokies and hiking through that section. About a week after that, Theresa (my wife) and Eric (Laura's fiancé) are picking us up and taking us home to West Virginia for a few days. We are both looking very much forward to that. Ooh, I can't wait!

Warrior Hike, 4 April (Elwood)

One of my inspirations for raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project is a website I came across about real wounded warriors "walking off the war" (warriorhike.com).  Having served in combat on three occasions and surviving the 9/11 attacks while in the Pentagon, I understand the need to do "something" to overcome the trauma and drama of war. I had some real problems coming home from Iraq in 2008. The danger from rockets and mortars was constant and although I did well while I was in the situation, coming home was a real struggle.

For me, rockets and mortars merely exploded close to me. For wounded warriors, enemy attacks tore through their flesh and bones leaving not only physical scars but also mental and emotional scars. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude. Please help me raise money for this worthy cause by contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project through our blog at 
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7450967039282356904#editor/target=page;pageID=7595329302761581056.

Curtis

Sent from my iPhone

Rain Check (Little Bird)

View from a mountain top.

We're taking a zero day today at a hotel in Hiawassee because of rain. I've been sitting here just thinking how much I'd like to quit and how, believe it or not, I get no time alone to myself. But when I'm actually putting in the miles, it's really fun. The nights are super cold. I probably haven't been getting enough sleep, even though I go to bed around 8pm and get up around 7am. I just lay there all night willing myself to be warm. But spring is coming on slowly.

The first few days were really tough. We only went about 7 miles a day
and I was really hurting at the end of each. Now, we do 7 miles before
lunch. Our max mileage day so far was 13.5. For now, that kind of mileage hurts, but I bet next week it will be a breeze. And tomorrow? Tomorrow we will enter North Carolina, our first big milestone. 

I got my trail name today: Little Bird. I told one of my friends last week that I wouldn't mind having a bird name. I hadn't seen him since then, until this morning, but apparently he'd been calling me Big Bird, lol. The six of us at breakfast talked about it and decided Little Bird was a little more fitting.

Hopefully my feet and legs won't be sore anymore tomorrow. Each day it seems like a new muscle group gets worked to the max, but it always makes me stronger. Our next resupply stop will be Franklin, NC, in 3 days. Our plan is to just pop into town for food and maybe a shower and get back on the Trail.

Storm's a coming, 3 April (Curtis)

Mile 69.6, Dicks Creek Gap

With the rain and cold forecasted for Thursday, Laura and I hightailed it to Dicks Creek Gap to catch a ride to Hiawassee where we booked a room for 2 nights. The 13 mile hike wore us out but we made it and are looking forward to a day of rest.

I felt sick since 12:30am and didn't get much sleep. I pushed myself through a severe stomach ache. At about noon, a nice lady from Wisconsin gave me 2 electrolyte tablets. I drank about a liter and a half of electrolytes. In about an hour I was feeling back to normal. It was truly miraculous. I will ALWAYS carry some sort of electrolytes with me from now on.

It was still cold and windy today. The forecast for tomorrow is rain and cold. After that the weather geeks are saying highs near 70 and lows near 40. Surely they can get it right this time. Laura and I are way over the cold already.

Some of our trail buddies are here at the hotel waiting out the storm, too. It was nice to see them.

2 April (Curtis)

Mile 56.6, Cheese Factory site

We woke up to another cold morning of around 32. It stayed cold most of the day with wind. The forecast was for warmer and sunnier weather. That did not turn out to be true. Now it looks like a rain system is coming our way. Laura and I had planned to come off the trail on Thursday for a food restock but we will now move that up a day and get into town on Wednesday night and into a hotel to wait out the storm. My goal is to hike the AT, not survive it, so we're going to stay as comfortable as we can within reason.

We hiked 13.2 miles today, longer than we expected. We planned to camp on a mountaintop but with the cold and wind we decided to press on to the next campsite. We also anticipated the bad weather coming and positioned ourselves to get into town early.

HURRY UP, SPRING! Dang!

Back on the Trail, 1 April (Curtis)

Mile 43.2, Low Gap Shelter

The day of rest did my body a world of good. I felt really good today. We hiked about 12 miles.

For some reason, the trail seemed very busy. And for some reason that irritated me, especially the ones that talked constantly and loudly. That kind of takes away from my wilderness experience.

The picture in this post is a typical view from the trail.