The First Week - Day by Day

Friday, April 10th, 5:18pm EDT - "Okay, this is Bob, and it's, uhmm, I'm not quite sure what day this is. I guess it's Friday, (I've got to think about this for a second) the 9th (actually the 10th). Mark and I are sitting in a little motor hotel called the Hiawassee Inn in Hiawassee, Georgia, a tiny little town. We got off the trail today after doing 11 miles from Tray Mountain to Dick's Creek Gap. We used the cell phone to make arrangements to get this hotel, which was fortunate because this was the last room available in town!

The weather forecast yesterday got us good. They were predicting late afternoon and evening thunderstorms for today. So Mark and I got up at 6:45 this morning and were on the trail by 7:25. It started raining 20 minutes later! We had two fairly heavy lines of thunderstorms come through while we were hiking. On and off rain the rest of the time with the odd bit of brightening and 5 seconds worth of sunshine throughout the course of the day. All in all a challenging hike. We did 11 miles. We arranged to be there by 2:00pm and we made it by 1:40pm. Twenty minutes to spare, and we did that by skipping breakfast and skipping lunch. We just grabbed some quick snacks and water on the trail and just kept on plowing down.

If you looked at the weather radar today, you saw that today was the day that Murfreesboro, TN got wiped out by tornadoes. We are expecting that extremely heavy weather here tonight. The little thunderstorms we had this morning and the rain this afternoon are only a precursor to the show we'll have later tonight.

The Hiawassee Inn is a pretty decent deal. We're getting our clothes washed and dried. We're warming up here. We took showers - they were desperately needed. We both stank like goats after you name it. I'll tell you what - I was telling Mark last night that there was something in my tent that really smelled bad. He laughed and said he had the same problem. I'm afraid it was us. I knew that we were going to smell bad as the summer wore on, but I didn't expect to smell this bad this early in the trip.

Today's hike had two significant hills but it wasn't as brutal as the past couple of days. Some of the downhills are really rough. The trails were very muddy and very slick. We were using our poles and taking it easy. Our boots are basically covered with mud. Trying to get down safely is the top priority. We've been here a week, and Georgia has thrown everything it can at us. Steep climbs, steep downhills, extremely high winds, snow, sleet, temperatures ranging from 19 degrees to 80 degrees, heavy rain, thunderstorms - now I understand why so many people never make it out of Georgia! We were expecting a challenge and we certainly got a challenge.

In any case, we are both feeling pretty good. There are a few twinges here and there and a rubbed raw shoulder, but it's ok. We are at mile marker 67. We have one more day in Georgia. We'll cross the line into North Carolina after finishing Georgia in 8 days and that ain't too shabby. We've actually caught some of the people that were trailburners early on. We saw some of them in town today. Mark had to go pick up a box at the post office before it closed, and saw a couple of the people we saw early on that looked like they were going to race up the trail - Rusty, this girl we met, and this British guy with an umbrella who looked like he was out for a Sunday walk - a fairly elderly gent who looked like he knew what he was doing too. I was surprised that we caught them. I'd thought Rusty would be three days ahead of us by now. She's mid-fifties and wiry. Tough old bird. She's done half the trail before and is trying again one last time. We'll see how that goes.

Tonight we're going in to Daniel's Steak House - another all you can eat place. My watch has decided to die, so I need to find a CVS and try to buy myself a watch as well. I think our next off trail day is going to be four days from now. Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be nice, Monday showery, and Tuesday a few showers, and then it's supposed to get nice again. So we'll probably be - well, I'm not sure where we're going to be! It will be somewhere in North Carolina. We'll go to one of the hotels or motels or hostels there. Signing off now just before 6pm on Good Friday. It's been a heck of a week!"

Thursday, April 9th - "Day 6 here on the recorder. Sorry about the wind noise as I record here. It's about 5:30 in the afternoon and a beautiful day here. Around 75 degrees here with a cool breeze. We're at a place called Tray Mountain Shelter - beautiful overlook with a 1,000 foot drop. Looking out over a valley with just a little hint of civilization - twenty mile vista, but pretty remote here.

We got up this morning around 7:00. It was pretty chilly but not ridiculous. Got on the trail around 7:30. Planned on getting at least to Tray Mountain, maybe further. It will be a thin day tomorrow. We are only 7 - 8 miles away from our next resupply point in Hiawassee, Georgia, and maybe a day off the trail. It will be a 'nero' day (a near zero hiking day). Well, with 7 miles to go to get there, I guess it won't really be a 'nero' day.

Today we climbed two major mountains, each with over a 1,000' climb, and most of a third mountain. They were brutal. A difficult and trying day. In between the mountains the temperature rose to over 80 in the valleys - they felt really hot.

Last night we saw a pack of hog hunting dogs and a couple of guys. Apparently there are a lot of feral pigs in the hills. They keep after them with dogs and hunters to trim 'em back some. The dogs had radio collars on. In fact, when we got to Blue Mountain Shelter we found one of them there. he was very skittish - would not come near us, but hung around the shelter. They must be trained to go to a shelter or where people are if they lose their pack. They'll be found eventually because of their radio collars. They are very expensive animals, of course. It is a little distressing that there are that many hogs in the Southern US. They are dangerous, even more dangerous than bears, because they will attack if they even think you are a threat to them. That's tough to work through.

We did 10 miles today with three mountains - tough climbing. We'll camp out tonight under beautiful skies. No need for the tarp tonight - just my tent. The gnats here are incredible! It's amazing really. 3 days ago we had 19 degrees and blowing snow. Now, it's near 70 degrees with 80 degrees in the valleys. Mark is shot, and I'm not far behind him. We're both carrying 40 to 45 pounds. Others are at 30 - 35. We thought we knew what we were doing! They are just more hardcore, I guess. But then again, we didn't suffer as much as some of them in the snow because we had the gear and clothing! And there maybe more snow in the Great Smokeys, so I think we're ok.

We're about at mile 60. Probably two to three more days in Georgia. Not bad - we'll knock off Georgia in 10 days. Yesterday we did 15 miles. We did 10 today. We are making pretty good time. We've met a lot of people on the trail - some will be easy to forget, others I'd like to get to know. Everyone is doing the trail differently. I think we are doing it more rationally than most.

Had a full moon last night. We might get one tonight, but there is a high overcast coming in. Should sleep well tonight!

Wednesday, April 8th - Well, it's the 8th, I believe. I am sitting in my tent at the intersection of something Jack Trail and the AT. A very, very long day. Mile marker 46, I believe. Quite a bit further along than we thought we'd be.

After I talked to you in the restaurant last night, we went to the grocery store and got four days worth of food. Probably only needed three days after how far we went today. It is a learning experience, judging how much food one person needs per day. All of Mark's and my food experience is with a dozen people at Philmont.

We went back to the cabins after that and spent a little time reorganizing our gear. Went to bed early, and despite the warm cabin and comfortable bunks had a fitful night of sleep because the darn furnace kept turning on and shutting off about every 15 seconds, making a racket every time.

Woke up at 7 to a chilly morning - maybe 35 degrees. The skies had cleared dramatically overnight - a big difference to see the blue! The last bit of snow was melting. We got the shuttle back to Neel's Gap, and Mark went in and bought a couple of meals. We had shipped some of our gear home as a result of the reorganizing, but I think I only saved about a pound - Mark saved more than that. Always trying to trim down. Got going on the trail around 9:30 - it was warm and beautiful. Then it got warmer and warmer, enough that we were rapidly stripping off layers. Fabulous views today. We hit a particularily brutal climb - Wildcat Mountain - Mark and I will remember that one for a long time. We're doing a lot better on our hiking. We had no caterpillars at all today. We took a couple of minor breaks, mostly at the top of hills or summits, and then kept moving right along.

The first 6 or 7 miles that morning after Neel's Gap was designated a no-camping zone by the National Park Service because of a particularily aggressive bear. He apparently was attacking campsites for food. The next designated site was 11 miles in from the gap, but we knew that everybody who had holed up in town off trail from the snow would be stopping there. We pressed on and were pushing for a campsite called Poplar Stamp that apparently doesn't exist. We saw a few single tent campsites and kept going on, eventually throwing in with Chester and Sam (who we have seen several times), plus a middle aged lady named Robin (she goes by the name 'One Track') and a couple of kids who apparently were substitute teachers. We were all going along and the campsite never appeared. We kept on going and the sun was going down. We kept going until we came across (unexpectedly) this trail crossing. We planned on doing 11 or 12 today, and ended up doing over 15.5 miles. We didn't know we had come this far. We are sore. Got in about 7:15 or so within an hour of dusk. I put up my tent and Mark slept on the ground. We did not have a cooked dinner - just ate cold stuff. Put up my bear bag. Water was about a half mile away. Took care of that, and helped Robin and the kids with their bear bags. Beautiful sunset to the west, at the same time coming up is a big moon. Very, very windy. That's what kept us going, as the other potential campsites we passed were very exposed to the wind. This site by Jack's Trail is much better protected, cut in behind a bank. We ended up getting a better site by keeping going even though we didn't know it at the time.

We're looking forward to the next couple of days. Tomorrow should be nice and warm, and tomorrow night there is the possibility of thunderstorms. Then Friday it is supposed to rain all day, so we will probably have a challenging day. We may try to stay in Hiawassee. it's about 21 miles away - a couple of good days should put us there. Today was the most difficult day so far. The climbs are tough - not much in the way of switchbacks, but we kept motoring along."

Tuesday, April 7th - "Yesterday was our third day on the trail. Am sitting in Goose Creek Cabin #7. Last night the shelter was pretty full - 8 people in a shelter designed for 6. We were all wedged in. Others camped outside the shelter, including a group with an odd nylon wall tent set up right outside of the shelter. The wind and snow got worse quickly - it was blowing very hard. We ate early, and everyone was done eating by 6:30. Got to bed early, primarily for warmth. Pretty nippy overnight - well below freezing. We weren't expecting the combination of 40mph winds and snow. Just unbelievable.

Met some interesting people - Bruce and Dot. Bruce was in between jobs (or maybe lives). Raised money for the trip by being a medical guinea pig for experiments. Cleared a grand total of $2500 over the past year. Most of his gear was homemade stuff sewn together. Got a lot of gear for free from Scout troops. Others there at the shelter we were familiar with already, even so early in the hike. There were even a couple of dogs.

I was on the edge of being cold all night. It was probably down to 20 degrees or below. Got up at 7:30 and we got out of there quickly. It was still snowing moderately with an inch or snow already on the ground. We were first down the hill, then headed up the next hill. We passed a few campsites where there was no signs of life yet in the tents. I think that was the Flora Creek site. Caught up with Boy Scout Troop 556 out of Warner Robins, GA - a Philmont crew. Several kids were overly cold over the night, so they had split up and some headed down to get some vehicles to warm up.

Scaled Blood Mountain and it wasn't as atrocious as I expected. It was a tough climb. The Philmont crew went with us and they set an easy pace as we chatted. Stopped at the shelter at the top of the hill. The wind was really blowing. Nobody was there. The kids were parched because they didn't know the old NY Boy Scout trick of sleeping with your water so it doesn't freeze, or at least turning your bottle upside down so it freezes at the bottom first. All their water was frozen, so I doled out all of mine except for a cup. Their adult leaders were very grateful. Mark and did share a little water later.

It was a struggle to refind the trail. Many of the blazes at the tops of mountains were on rocks. Well, all the rocks were covered by snow! It took us a half hour to find the trail again. Some of the scouts were getting nervous watching us floundering about looking for the trail. But we pressed on and headed down the mountain. I had one minor spill. I suppose I should be grateful that that was it all considering the conditions - extremely rugged. We meandered down the hill to Neel's Gap. Bagged the hostel and headed for the Goose Creek Cabins instead. Bought some gloves. We were very grateful to be warming up and drying out. Headed to town for dinner and grocery shopping."

Monday, April 6th - "It's the 6th of April and we are in Woods Hole Shelter at mile marker 26.6. It is day 3 of our trek and it is 29 degrees with 10 - 30mph winds with some higher gusts. Snowing today and brutally cold. There are 8 people in the shelter that is designed for 6. Some others are tent camping. I thought about it, but when we got here at 4pm, it was sleeting, so I decided to bite the bullet and sleep inside the shelter.

Started off around 7:30 this morning with temperatures around 39 degrees, clouds and very little sun. It looked ok, but the wind really picked up through the day. Did nearly 12 miles today - more than we planned, but it puts us within striking distance of Neel's Gap. We got to this break pont today and decided to stay here rather than the next one up the line. This one is 1/2 mile off the trail and less likely to be crowded. There is only other couple here.

A routine day with lots of hard hiking and lots of uphills. Met a couple of Scout troops training for Philmont. It was so windy in one of the gaps where we met them that the conversation was very limited - basically good luck and see ya!

It's cold. Mark coined this our 'Adventure in Winterland'. It is not the conditions we were expecting starting our trek in the south in early April. Today, tomorrow, and the next day are all supposed to be quite cold with high winds. It's 30 degrees right now and we are going to bed, because basically inside your sleeping bag is the warmest spot we've got. It is going well though. We are still learning our way here. You'd think two long term scoutmasters would know what they were doing, but we still have a learning curve to overcome.

Tomorrow we go over Blood Mountain and then down to Neel's Gap and to a hotel. We are not going to the hostel, as we hear that it is pretty groaty and would be difficult to get a good night's sleep."

Sunday, April 5th - "It's 1:50pm and we are at Gooch Gap Shelter, which is about mile marker 16. Quite a warm day, not clear though. Overcast all day. We are expecting heavy weather tonight. We will stay here at the shelter if there aren't too many people that show up.
Yesterday, when we were at the top of Springer, we met a guy who was signing in (or out?) people who were going to thru-hike the AT. He made an interesting remark in that only about a thousand people have attempted in over the past couple of years. Mark and I said that he must have been kidding us, because we heard that it was several thousand a year who were doing it, but he insisted that it was only about a thousand overall.

About 75 degrees today despite 'hiking with winter'. The trees here are not green at all - it's just like Arlington. Met Scout groups yesterday and today - one was a quasi Philmont crew who was going in 2010.

Left the shelter last night after dinner, did the extra 1.5 miles. We were up at 7 this morning after a beautiful night. We left at 7:30 and hiked to the top of an overlook. The proceeded down to the gap before Sassafras and had breakfast. Continued on over Sassafras Mountain - a real gut buster. We used 20 step caterpillars - they worked ok, keeping us fresh and going. This climb will break the hearts of many people who think they are going to thru-hike the AT. It's steep! We pounded it out, but other people without a hiking skill setswill have problems.
Down across Justice (sic?) Creek where we met another scout troop. Up to Gooch Gap Shelter which was nice! A brand new privy! There was a spring for water, not a creek, which was nice. Pathetic campsites though. Right now I am sitting in the shelter and mark is pursuing his favorite program activity - napping. I think I'll get some water out and clean up a little and even shave. I'm sure everyone will appreciate it.

Mark's weather band radio has been screaming out the warning of heavy weather coming in. It's hard to believe, with the sun and a nice warm breeze. We may not make it to Neel's Gap until day 4. We are trying to heed the advice of people to not overreach early and wear ourselves out. We'll hit the GPS spot next, sign the register, and see who shows up at the shelter!"

Saturday, April 4th - "Hey, this is Bob. It's April 4th - Saturday, and we finished our first day on the trail. mark & I have settled in for the night. It's around 6:30pm.

We got up at 5:30 this morning and the Wray family and I went to McDonald's for breeakfast. After breakfast I set down my pack to go do some stuff and when I came back, I noticed that I had set it by room 111 - fricking weird (Mark is laughing in the background.) Survivor Dave had said it would take about 1 1/2 hours to get to the Springer Mountain parking lot, which is one mile north of Springer Mountain on the trail - he was dead on. We got there around 8am. There were lots of people there, including 'Mountain Squid', a hiking legend here and a main contributor to whiteblaze.net, a website dedicated to hiking the AT. He was very friendly and there encouraging people who were heading out. We headed up the 1 mile trail to the top of Springer, the beginning of a northbounder's trek. We left at about 8:20 after taking sometime to say goodbye to all the Wrays. After about 65 goodbyes we got moving. It was quite cold and very windy. mark said that he was told we'd be hiking with the spring, but it sure feels like we're hiking with winter. We signed in at the top of Springer. Great views from there!It was 41 degrees with 30mph winds. I got one picture (I think) and then we turned around and headed back down the trail to the parking lot. Met a young group of Scouts who reluctantly admitted they were Scouts that were out for a weekend hike. Got back to the lot, chatted with Mountain Squid again and then took off north.

The day's conditions improved rapidly. As Mark and I were hiking, we met 4 or 5 people who we just looked at, looked at each other, and said 'Neel's Gap'. These were people who had no clue as to what was ahead of them, and would most likely drop out at Neel's Gap. One poor lady badly sprained her knee just a few miles out and was done on Day 1. Several other folks were hurting too. Stopped for dinner and chatted for about 15 minutes with an elderly guy from Florida. He was in rough shape - he looked like he was ready to go home. I gave him some basic trail advice and wished him well. Daypack hiking experience does not prepare you for the AT.
We ate on the trail. Everyone agrees that we have too much food. The weather kept getting better. It actually felt hot, maybe 70 degrees. We were sweating pretty good. We ended up at Hawk Mountain Shelter. We had done about 9 miles, including the 1 mile down the trail to get to the start at Springer. The shelter was a disaster. There was food and trash everywhere, and even left over gear that had been abandoned - some of it new. It reinforced our decision to only stay in shelters if the weather was really bad.

We hiked until about 4pm. Met a Cub Scout (James) and his dad who were camping here. We got along famously. He wants to join an active troop, but it seems to me his dad is already doing more than most troops do.

It's funny. We keep running into people who keep saying they're 'definitely going all the way'. Mark and I simply say that we're 'attempting' to do the whole thing. Just a different way of looking at it, I guess.

We decided after dinner to push on - the shelter was a mess. We left Hawk Mountain - the gnats were ferocious - and went on to the next hill. This was a departure from our pre-hike plan of doing 8 each day for the first few days. But we felt ok and we're glad we knocked it off. It was a steep downhill and a steep climb. I'm not sure of its name, but it's not quite to Sassafras Mountain. We found a campsite. It was overgrown with growth and brush, but we finally found two clear spots. Perfect weather tonight - no need for tarps, just tents. Blue skies, a few spotty clouds. Cell coverage is spotty here, so I'm not going to throw away money and try to call.
It was our first day and we lived through it. We didn't break anything! We saw a lot of people who clearly are not going to make it (Mark laughed out loud in the background.) They say it takes about 3 weeks to become trail hardened. We're pretty pleased so far. We're learning. It's new for us - we don't have a bunch of scouts to take care of. It's just us. We have excess food and gear that we don't need, our pakcs still need adjusting, but all in all it was a solid first day!"