Well, I did find a few photos from Damascus, this one being The Place, the hostel we stayed at. When we arrived in town we ran into Pirate and his friend at the outfitter and they told us where to find the hostel, next to the burning pile of rubble. Sure enough there was a pile of rubble as the house next door had burned down!
The trail goes straight through Damascus so it is easy to stop in and resupply.
Apparently after talking to a few other hikers we learned that the AT used to follow the Virginia Creeper trail. I think it would have been awesome for it to continue down the trail as the VC trail follows streams and is very beautiful. However, the AT is now rerouted off of roads and other trails, in most parts, and the trail only stays along the VC in a few points. After heading out of Damascus our goal was 16 miles to the Lost Mountain Shelter. We started gaining elevation and the trail was definitely easier than it had been the previous states. On our way to the Saunders shelter we got a bit lost, following a blue blazed trail after the white blazed one hadn’t been properly painted. We wandered around down on the VC trail for awhile before realizing our error.
We had a beautiful day climbing up the highest point in Virginia, well, almost to the top of Mt. Rogers. The trail bypasses the viewless summit and we had lunch at the Thomas Knob shelter. It wasn’t long after we finished lunch that we realized a storm was brewing and we still had five miles to go to get to the Wise shelter and make it across the Grayson Highlands.
The Grayson Highlands are such an awesome place, covered with ponies and awesome rock formations. It was a magical place that I’d love to explore with more time.
The park was also extremely busy with hikers crawling over it everywhere.
We go to the shelter at a decent hour and in time for the rain to start. We met up with a section hiker who was doing Pearisburg to Erwin and it was interesting the next morning when he told us “Have a nice life!”, which is basically how it is out there, you won’t see anyone ever again, much less know their real name.
Our next day was to be our biggest, 20 miles, and also a milestone of passing the 500 mile mark on Pine Mtn.
Comers Creek Falls.
Trimpi Shelter.
Trimpi shelter, one of the shelters that have fire places.
There were a ton of morel mushrooms at this campsite, verified by others in the shelter log, so we picked some and ate a few for dinner. We also had an extra dinner from the section hikers the night before so we ate that as well, but either the mushrooms or the extra dinner made us a bit sick.
A nicer privy in the south. I loved being able to breathe! The privies that are more enclosed tend to be dark and suffocating. Half the time I’d leave the door open and hope no one would walk around. It is common courtesy to shout at the privy and ask if anyone is in there!
Rain was on the agenda for the next day with drizzle and some downpours that ended up soaking my pants since I decided not to put my rain pants on. Luckily we made it to the Mt. Rogers Visitor Center where the Partnership Shelter is located. This is one of the first places on the trail you can order pizza for delivery. The shelter is located about a quarter mile down the trail from the visitor center, but the visitor center has a pay phone, restroom and soda’s to buy. Pretty nice place to break! We took our leftovers to the Chatfield Shelter for the night where a full shelter forced us to pitch our tent.
Packing up the next morning. Our next goal was to hit up the town of Atkins four miles away for a resupply and a stay in a motel.
The Exxon and other gas stations on the road intersections are a great resupply and the Exxon has internet for customers. We stayed at the very cheap, but moderately clean motel next door.
The barn restaurant has the best food and for cheap! We ate there for every meal.
Heading out of town we ran into the Traveling Circus at various locations as we headed for our destination on Lynn Camp Mtn for the night. We also were lucky to come across some trail magic near Va. 42, peanut butter sandwiches and sodas!
Several stiles to cross farm fields.
This section is plagued by a series of mountains that are generically called Brushy Mountain. You’ll go up one and down another and they aren’t even near each other! It’s similar to the Low Gap’s and Deep Gap’s you run into in the south.
After going up Chestnut Knob and across a rocky ridge we passed Jenkins shelter in favor of a campsite that was in the middle of a stream. A little water crossing and we were there!
Making jello in the stream. We learned this from another hiker and thought we’d give it a whirl. It was the only time we made it but really delicious!
The next morning we got up early to go into Bland. It wasn’t our initial intent to go into the town but we’d only resupplied a few days back in Atkins so we had to go into town. Luckily Dark Star’s grandparents were meeting him and graciously allowed us and another hiker Beefstick to tag along and get some food in Bland.
Since our goal was to the Helveys Mill Shelter only three miles past Bland we carried out some food to cook over a fire! Nothing beats eating ‘real’ food for dinner.
At that shelter was where we first met Bulldog the blind hiker. I wonder if he finished?
Jenny Knob Shelter for lunch. This is where we last saw our friend Red Hat who was making her way south to Damascus for Trail Days. I remember my lunch from that day involved some cheese dip in a can with pepperoni and tortillas. Mmmm!
Good ol’ switchbacks!
That day was the day we saw our first bears (see post above), not too far before…
the Kimberling Creek suspension bridge. At Va. 606 we took a detour west to have dinner at Trent’s grocery. We thought about staying but heard some sketchy things about the cleanliness of the showers and so we decided to eat dinner and make our way back for the bridge where we pitched our tent in the rain. We ended up pitching it in a place where water was running and Chris’ pack ended up with a bunch of water and some ants who found refuge and some crumbs.
It was a fairly relaxing morning walk to the Wapiti Shelter, lots of flat ground and water sources everywhere. There was a side trail to Dismal Creek Falls which we bypased.
Wapiti Shelter for lunch.
Shortly after we left we ran into a dog and his companions, one of which said his name was The Captain. He told us that he lived outside of Pearisburg on the trail and to stop by when were near, that we could get sodas and pitch a tent in his yard. I was skeptical about it at first because no one had even mentioned this guy before.
Once we got on top of the nameless mountain, or at least in our book, we got a nice view of the valley in which Pearisburg resided. At Sugar Run Gap we could have easily taken the road down to the Woodshole Hostel, but since we were planning on meeting my dad in Pearisburg the following evening and staying at the hostel we thought it was pointless to skip the 8 or 9 miles into Pearisburg so we kept on going to the Doc’s Knob Shelter.
Doc’s Knob Shelter. I just remember asking Chris about two minutes before we saw the shelter if he thought we were close, to which he said we were. He got so good at determining our speed and time that he was usually on target about our arrival! This however changed in the northeast when we slowed down and seemed to be in a time warp. The privy at this shelter is kinda dark and spidery, ick!
We had a drizzly morning to walk into Pearisburg, but it was peaceful. Once we arrived down into the town we had to walk off the trail and uphill to get into town. We were walking along the not hiker friendly roadway when a car pulled up and we saw hikers we knew, Turkey & Thrasher and Sheryl and Diesel (the ones who taught us about jello) with Neville, one of the owners of Woodshole Hostel. She asked if we needed a ride and we told her our story and she knew right off the bat who we were. We kept walking up the hill to the post office where we had a package and stopped in at a Chinese buffet for lunch. Eventually we got picked up from the post office by Michael, Neville’s husband and we made the trip out to Woodhole.
It’s such a beautiful, quiet place.
Group shot of some of the hikers.
Dad finally showed up later that night with his ride from the Roanoke airport. Unfortunately the airline lost his bag and so all he had was some toiletries and a carry on bag. Leaving early the following day was out of the question so we had to wait for quite awhile the next day for the courier to deliver it in town. After that we headed out of Pearisburg and into the Virginia hills.
Leaving Erwin was difficult as usual when leaving a town. Spring was coming out in Erwin and the town was one of the bigger towns we’d been to thus far, complete with a Sonic and Walgreens. We left out and the weather was just beuatiful.
The trail out of town was gentle and beautiful, walking along creeks for quite a way.
Early on there were still quite a bit of blown downs on the trail, some creating unique climbing situations, others with trails down or up and around the trees.
After climbing up Beauty Spot, a beautiful bald that you can drive to, we went up Unaka Mtn. At 5,180′ you run into a stand of red spruce that is incredibly beautiful and smells wonderful. We were planning on camping up there but did not find the water that was mentioned to be .3 from the summit so we decided to push on for the night.
We ended up camping at Low Gap (yet another one of those).
The next morning we passed Cherry Gap Shelter…
and made our way to Greasy Creek Friendly, one of the best hostels that you haven’t heard about. It’s .6 miles off the trail at Greasy Creek Gap but it is well worth the hike off. In fact, I suggest resupplying in Erwin and continuing on to Greasy Creek and taking your nearo or zero there. The owner is super friendly and will make you just about anything and it is incredibly peaceful, but she does have a crank for a neighbor. Just follow the rock cairns down the path to her place.
The view from Little Rock Knob.
We met White Jeep, the support crew for his wife, Seminole, down at Hughes Gap before we climbed up Roan Mtn. Roan Mountain is about 6300′ and is notorious for not having switchbacks, though we heard some were put in this year after Trail Days. It’s just straight on up the mountain. Little did we know that the majority of the northeast operated in this manner and we were just being wusses at the time, but it was pretty difficult. We made a few stops on the way up and set up camp a little more than half way up at Ash Gap.
It was incredibly peaceful and I was glad we did stay instead of going to the shelter on top of the mountain.
This next morning we finished climbing to the top and it was pretty beautiful up there.
An old chimney from the old hotel when it was on top of the mountain.
Remnants of the snow…
Then we went down to Carvers Gap where we had to head over several other balds for the day.
Round Bald.
For lunch we made it to the Overmountain Shelter. I wish we’d of stayed there because of the awesome view, but it was too early. One of the few shelters with beautiful views.
After lunch we went over Little Hump Mountain, with Hump Mountain there in the background. They look like little hills until you are climbing them and they present a thousand false summits.
On top of Hump Mountain taking a break.
We came down off the balds and finally into Tennessee. We’d been bouncing between NC and TN for the past several weeks and now we were firmly on Tennessee soil at the Apple House shelter. We’d heard from some people that this was not a good shelter being that it was .5 from the road and the locals did not appreciate hikers so much. Much to our surprise we arrived to find trail magic in the form of chips and salsa and other goodies! What a welcome sight!
The following morning we decided to detour to the Mountain Harbor B&B/hostel for breakfast. Good thing, too, since it had been raining that morning. This is the BEST breakfast on the trail, hands down. You might hear about Shaw’s in Monson, ME, but that does not compare. For $9 you get the best breakfast buffet of your life! Think Thanksgiving breakfast or Christmas breakfast…oh it was wonderful! The hostel was really nice too, we took a peak inside.
The hike from the B&B began pretty nice, starting with a nice waterfall that is not listed in the book. One of the few you will see in the south and worth taking the short blue blaze to see.
Our first red eft of the trip!
Making it to 400 miles! WOO! The rest of that day was pretty rough, I think we did 19 miles, one of our longest days thus far. The last bit to Moreland Gap shelter was rough, lots of ups and downs that were not listed in the book that wear you down more than anything.
The next morning we cruised into Kincora Hostel six miles down the trail where we locked in the treehouse! SCORE! This was much better than staying in the main part of the hostel. Honestly, Kincora was not what I had imagined; it had been talked up and perhaps it was better in past years. There weren’t too many people there that morning but by the evening the place was packed! We also ran into Turkey and Thrasher here for the first time. They’d started in February and I’d followed them on TrailPhone for awhile.
I met up with my friend Amy here and she took us to eat lunch and get some resupply. Very thankful for her and to get to meet her! We met on the internet years ago and it isn’t often you get to see someone in person that you ‘know’ online.
After leaving Kincora we began making our way for Damascus. The Pond Mountain part is kind of a misnomer. There is not pond on the mountain! The book mentions a Pond Flats and one would expect a pond on top, but there wasn’t. But before we climbed up that #*&*#$ mountain we had to go past some beautiful falls.
The part along the river was beautiful and even the initial ascent to Pond Mountain wasn’t too terrible with some nice switchbacks. However, the last part was steep and frustrating and wore me out. Luckily the rest of the day to the Vandeventer Shelter was relatively pleasant.
Near the Watauga Dam is the Watauga Lake Shelter where many thru-hikers begin their “40 into Damascus”. Yes, people really walk 40 miles all day and night to get to Damascus in one day. Most regret it and end up taking several zeros to repair blisters or hurt legs, but some don’t and reap the benefits from jumping ahead basically two days. We didn’t do this! We aren’t that nuts!
Vandeventer Shelter
The walk from the Vandeventer Shelter to Damascus is the entry into the ‘easy’ part of the trail. Well, easier, because Virginia does present some difficult sections, but this is where things become ‘flat’. More on that ‘flat’ later. Anyway, we passed the recluse Nick Grindstaff’s grave…
Got some trail magic near a road…
and walked on one of the very few places that are handicap accessible on the trail. It started acting like it was going to rain at this point and we had three miles to the Double Spring shelter so we booked it and made it there just as it started to rain.
The next morning all we had to do was walk 18 miles to Damascus! First we had to pass the Queen’s Knob shelter, built in 1934 and one of the oldest on the trail. It is listed for emergency purposes only because otherwise you wouldn’t want to stay in it as it is very leaky and small.
Chris found an arrowhead at the Abingdon Gap shelter….
And we finally made it to Virginia! WOOT!!!
The next thing we knew we were walking into Damascus at 3pm and ended up staying at The Place, a house/hostel run by a local church. We loved staying there but they are very strict with their rules, so if you plan on partying or have pets do not even bother going there. Also, your donation is very much needed so don’t skip out on the donations! Damascus was an awesome trail town and I don’t know why we didn’t take a single photo. Lots of good places to eat and resupply and three different outfitters.
We’d heard from our friend Thin Mint had said that the climb out of Hot Springs was one of her favorites and it wasn’t a let down. As you leave Hot Springs you walk along the river front for awhile until you climb up onto the ridge and head on out of town.
We saw two snakes on our way out of town, this one and a water snake down near the river.
On our way out of town we ran into On the Loose who was slackpacking her way back into Hot Springs. Slackpacking is where one gets dropped off at a certain distance from town and walks back to town with a light pack. It is usually done to avoid a climb, but sometimes it’s just to get something in, a sort of ‘nearo’ to spend more time in town. We’d met her in the Smokies. She and Red Hat both had the same red shirt I had, a Smartwool shirt that we’d all bought on Steep and Cheap! I always wished we’d gotten a photo of all of us wearing the same shirt together.
That night we made it to the shelter and it was packed, only 10 miles out and it seemed everyone wanted to hit that site. This is where we first met Nobody, a tattooed bar owner from New Orleans. He was also the athletic challenge type and was planning on trying to get to Erwin in a short amount of time, just to see if he could do it. At that point in time I always wished I could do that sort of thing! We also ran into Red Beard/Grateful and Jasper again.
We took this sign at Allen Gap and at this gap we saw Jasper and Grateful on the other side of the road. Jasper was excited about seeing new hikers and ran across the road to greet us. We walked across and sat down for a little break when Jasper saw another hiker on the other side, only this time there were cars coming. Jasper ran into the road and stopped. We’re all yelling at the dog to move out of the way and he is so confused and for some reason he narrowly misses getting hit. Then he just as he makes it to the other side he decides to come back over and of course, get in front of another car. It was a sweaty few seconds but the dog made it back across alive and was promptly put on his leash!
We had one pretty rough climb that day, 1,000 feet in a smidge over a mile up to Camp Creek Bald. Somehow it didn’t really turn into a bald; perhaps it was at one point.
We had some beautiful views from Blackstack Cliffs and Big Firescale Knob. We poked our head in a few little side trails to see about some views.
Jerry Cabin shelter where we camped for the night.
The guy in this photo is named Hobbit and he was hiking a 25th anniversary hike of his first thru-hike on the trail; hiking back to Maine where he lived. We never saw him again after that day. I think we kept in front of him for awhile until we took the time off in Virginia.
The next morning we climbed up Big Butt Mountain and of course all during the climb I had the song on my head. If you don’t know what song I’m talking about you must’ve missed the 90′s.
The trail was really smooth along the way down to Devil Fork Gap. Along the way we passed the Shelton Graves a Civil War massacre site. A lot of the trail in the southern section, and well I guess along the whole thing, has portions that were taken by locals for hundreds of years, including the Native Americans who settled it. I couldn’t help but think of these soldiers hiking over such long miles with the pitiful shoes they used to wear and drinking untreated water.
At Devil Fork Gap we got super awesome trail magic by a couple who’d hiked the AT the year before. The husband made homemade pizza’s on his propane powered oven! It was so awesome! The next thing we had on our agenda was to go up Frozen Knob and head to Hog Back Ridge Shelter.
We eventually ended up stealthing at a site about a mile or so past Sams Gap where a spring and small tent site was located. The sunrays were beautiful coming through the trees and we were joined by at least three other hikers.
The following day we had some beautiful balds to go over and it was such a gorgeous hike. Our first was to tackle Big Bald.
Bald Mountain Shelter.
It was one of those perfect spring days, where things were beginning to get warmer and the wildflowers are blooming everywhere. After a brief stop at the No Business Knob Shelter (no privy, no water…bummer) we kept on going down to Temple Hill Gap where we stayed for the night, putting us closer to getting into Erwin the following day. The hike into Erwin was only four miles and of course the book makes it look like it will be mostly down hill but there were some PUD’s tucked away in there. But, of course we rolled into Uncle Johnny’s hostel, right off the trail by about four steps, and into Erwin quite early in the morning.
Shelters we stayed at:
-Spring Mtn Shelter
-Jerry Cabin Shelter
-”springs” at mm 316
-Temple Hill Gap
Up next…Erwin to Damascus and one of my favorite sections.
When we left the Smokies we ended up at the Standing Bear Farm Hostel. It wasn’t our intended destination but once we heard about pizza and soda’s we were easily adaptable. We arrived around 5pm and the place was packed. The people we thought we wouldn’t see again were staying there for nearo’s and zero’s and it was an all out party. The hostel itself was kinda neat, rustic and such, but I was peeved that the bunkhouses were full and we had to tent. To boot we had to pay the same price for tenting as if we were in the bunkhouse. Probably one of the most rotten deals on the trail. The food itself was serve yourself and on an honor system.
Some of those people in the photos, I don’t know what happened to them. Did they finish or get off?
We left out of the hostel late in the morning, nearly lunch time, and it was blazing hot. No leaves on the trees yet so the sun was shining brilliantly and warming things up. The climb out of the gap and up Snowbird Mtn was brutal because of the heat.
We originally planned on staying a campsite near a forest road but decided to push on to Max Patch bald for the night even though we’d started so late in the day. We stopped a few times to rest and get water.
At this shelter we met up with Willie and Pirate, two, I guess you could call them trail rats? Similar to mall rats? Just two older fellas who bounce up and down the trail for varying lengths of time; they’d already thru-hiked before, maybe even more than once. We ran into them again once we got to Damascus; they were helping out at the hostel there.
Max Patch was an awesome place. Prior to going up the hill we saw water trail magic, a jug of water left by a trail angel, but it was already empty. Once we got on top we saw there were several others who decided to camp out on top as well.
The wind blew pretty hard throughout the night and in the morning we were the only ones with a tent left up. Others had taken theirs down in favor of cowboy camping.
The next morning the hiking was pretty easy. We cruised downhill for a good while and had two climbs for the day.
Wildflowers were becoming more abundant as spring was showing her face.
Just before this gap we ran into our first ‘southbounder’, but it was really a southbounder from ’09 who was completing his hike since he had gotten snowed out at Roan Mtn in the Fall. I remember thinking that I was slightly jealous that he was almost done with his hike and we were just beginning.
That night we decided to stealth outside of Hot Springs, NC so that we could get into town super quick for breakfast. We had received a giftcard from a friend to a bed and breakfast and we were looking forward to having a hot tub and a fluffy bed to lay our head on.
Since the trail goes straight through town, Hot Springs has put in very cool sidewalk emblems to mark the trail.
Mmm, food! I miss being able to eat anything I want and not feel guilty.
Hot Springs is a very tiny town; you can walk to one end and back to the other in just a few minutes. We poked our head in the small shops, went to the outfitter, did our laundry before heading to the b&b.
I know we took several baths in the whirpool hot tub! oh, it was delightful to soak our muscles and relax. Originally I said that we should do that every 500 miles, but we ended up saving our money and stayed at hostels or cheap motels.
More good food at the Ironhorse Station restaurant. It was a good thing we stayed in town that day because it decided to rain all day. We left Hot Springs after lunch the following day and had a beautiful day of hiking.
Next time: Hot Springs to Erwin, followed by Erwin to Damascus. Then we’ll break up Virginia into at least three sections!
After taking two zero’s in a row most of the people we’d been hiking with were ahead of us. It was a little disheartening knowing that you had to start over with people again. Our only hope was that folks would get off for a zero or nearo in Gatlinburg and we would see people again. We set off from Fontana Dam and said goodbye to Chris’ mom and stepdad and we were off.
The Smokey’s weren’t quite as annoying as the White’s when dealing with shelters, but it was still frustrating. No stealth camping is allowed and ridgerunners are everywhere. We saw not one park ranger. The Smokeys were where we stayed in our first shelter.
We stayed at Russell Field shelter which still has the metal fences up on the front from long ago. They were originally installed to keep bears out but the park service is now rethinking this tactic and taking them off the shelters. We stayed there with another couple who were only out for the weekend. The other really bad thing about the Smokeys were that privies were very, very rare. Instead there are ‘toilet areas’ which is code for nasty side of the hill. People don’t follow the LNT ethics of burying waste and toilet paper is everywhere. It’s quite disgusting.
Everything was still leafless and the views were outstanding. This is from Rocky Top.
We met a ridgerunner who was doing work at Spence Field Shelter and he was boasting about Rocky Top. I thought it was an annoying climb but now I look back and think I would enjoy it more if I redid it. The weather in the Smokeys was really warm and there wasn’t any snow on the ground until we got closer to Clingmans Dome and crossed over Newfound Gap.
Chris had too much fun turning over rocks in all of the springs looking for salamanders. We hoped to find a hellbender but never had such luck.
Our first shelter that was completely empty was Siler Bald shelter. It was so peaceful and our only company was a deer.
On our third day in the Smokey’s we went up and over Clingman’s Dome. It was not as big of a deal as I was imagining and we bypassed the actual top of the mountain. There was snow the majority of the way up the mountain and we were postholing our way down the trail. It was one of our slowest days on the trail, minus those in the Whites. We did 15 miles but it was well after 7pm by the time we made it to the next shelter.
When we got to the shelter passed Newfound Gap we ended up seeing some of the folks we hadn’t seen in several days or a week. Exciting to know some faces! The shelter was also crowded with weekend hikers and it was incredibly disappointing to the stomach when they were cooking all sorts of delicious foods that thru-hikers just can’t/won’t carry. I remember the morning breakfast consisting of eggs and bell peppers and some kind of savory meat. *drool*
Charlie’s Bunion was a very cool lookout area and this is where we encountered one of our first ‘dumb questions’. Some day hikers asked us if we were carrying all of our food to Maine. Yes, we were carrying, at that time what we assumed six months of food…hahahahah!
The walk for the rest of the day was awesome, so many views! The trail was graded well and was overall enjoyable, though we had at least two more over 6,000 foot peaks to go over, Mt. Sequoyah and Mt. Chapman. Not too bad though.
Somewhere out there is Tennessee!
One of our favorite spots in the park was at Bradley’s View. We had lunch and watched two peregrine falcons dive bomb around the valley. Spectacular!
Finally getting a chance to dry out our boots from going through all the snow.
Our final day in the Smokey’s turned into one of our longest hiking days at that point in the trail, 18 miles. Several weekend hikers told us that the grade down to Davenport Gap was hiking nirvana, gently sloped and easy terrain. It did turn out to be pretty great! We covered the 18 miles by 5pm!
We stayed at Tri-Corner knob on the last night in the park and I remember it being a full moon. The only time I thought time passed quickly on the trail was when the moon was full and I’d swear that it was just a week ago, not a month.
Upon leaving the park and descending down into lower elevations we went through a dry and scrubby area and boy was it hot! We passed up a few good camping spots along a small stream in favor of making it all the way to the Standing Bear Farm hostel because of the scent of pizza. Pizza can make you do strange things!
Shelters we stayed at:
Russell Field Shelter
Silers Bald Shelter
Icewater Spring Shelter
Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
I wish we’d taken the time to do the side trail to Mt. Cammerer, we’d heard it was good. I also would have gone up the Shuckstack fire tower. Perhaps we’ll go back for a week trip and do some of these things in the future. Hah, I just looked and when we left the park we’d only done 236 miles! It felt like a lot more than that I assure you!
And so I will leave you there and continue from Standing Bear to Hot Springs next time!
It felt like the minute we left Georgia the trail immediately changed. We had some minor rock climbing and it threw us for a loop. Wait a minute, where’d the endless PUD’s go? Rock climbing, huh? We’d heard that there was bad weather coming but that night was a beautiful evening and we saw a lot of people at the first shelter passed the border. After setting up camp we went to bed early. The next morning we woke to cooler weather and clouds. Someone mentioned talking to their dad and that the weather was coming with rain on the way and snow later on. We just prepared ourselves by layering up and started hiking. With the exception of a few climbs that day, Standing Indian Mountain being the the biggest one and it was such a graded trail that the elevation change wasn’t nearly that bad, the trail seemed to go pretty quickly that day. Walking in snow is definitely much easier than walking in rain and is quite peaceful, too. Once we arrived at Carter Mountain shelter the weather soon deteriorated. I think we at our earliest dinner at 4pm and were in the tent by 5pm. The shelter was full and people ended up sleeping under the shelter that night.
The next morning the ground was covered in snow and our tent poles were frozen together. Getting going and walking down the trail was the best way to warm up. The snow covered rhododendron tunnels were absolutely beautiful.
I had to take a short break on the trail because I felt a migraine coming on; the fuzzies out in my eyes and a slight headache. Luckily we had Excedrin and things were taken care of. The trail the rest of the day was really good, but we had our first rock scrambling climb up Albert Mountain. It ended up not being as difficult or scary as I imagined.
We got to camp too early to hit the sack, but we shivered as the snow kept coming down.
The problem with building fires is that once you move away from them it seems to get even colder!
The weather was better the next day as we went down to the gap that leads you to Franklin, NC. Many people went into town for a resupply but we were planning to wait until the Nantahala Outdoor Center another two days away. I remember passing “Swinging Dick Gap”, which was really “Swinging Lick Gap” but someone had cleverly etched the L into a D. Oh, those silly hikers! We went up Siler Bald and Wayah Bald and intended to stay at a campsite on the backside of Wayah Bald until we were rudely awakened to a foot or two of snow and ice on the north face of the mountain. We ended up pushing into a 14 mile day, our longest thus far.
Between Siler and Wayah Bald.
On top of Wayah Bald we met StumbleWolf and Lightning from the Traveling Circus (before we knew about the TC) and then settled in at the Wayah Bald Shelter. We also met Traipsing Platypus who had set up a tent near ours but we never saw her again after that night until we got to Maine! The trail does mysterious things with hikers!
We had fun playing with Jasper, the dog of another hiker, the next morning. We had some good terrain and the dog would run up to us and then run back to his owner! We hiked with him and his owner off and on until we found out the owner got off the trail somewhere near Erwin. Bummer!
I think many people would be surprised how many times you cross power lines and see cell towers or even just crossing a road, whether paved or dirt. The AT is remote, but not that remote.
Beautiful weather made the climb up to Wesser Bald an awesome adventure.
On top of the Wesser bald is a look out tower. This is our friend Missionary.
It’s always amazing to have a view in order to ponder at what you’ve already walked over and to see what you will be walking over. The talk on the trail was about the snow in the Smokies and while on top of the bald we tried to see if we could make out Clingman’s Dome, the highest point on the trail.
We only did 10 miles that day since we were trying to kill time until we got to Fontana Dam to meet Chris’ mom. We took our time that day and got to camp early as did the majority of everyone else at the Wesser Bald shelter. This is one of the worst placed privies on the trail and you have to kinda lean over to the side so you can prevent yourself from being seen from the shelter!
At the NOC we had to hitch into Bryson City. We considered staying at the hostel there, but once we got down to the gap we realized we’d of been bored and we would have greatly enjoyed being in town instead. So, we hitched a ride and got a hotel room and oh, that was so nice! Our biggest problem was trying to figure out how to get back to the trail but I remembered I knew some people who worked in Cherokee and I was able to get him to take us back to the trail so it all worked out! Thank goodness!
The climb of the NOC is notorious for being a bit difficult. It was a bit trying that’s for sure. We ran into some trail magic from some local folks who had houses down the road but we’d already resupplied and decided against taking extra weight.
Lunch in the trail.
Cheoah Bald was a beautiful site and we met iTrod on top. We camped at a nice gap that night and it was the last nice day for a few days.
It was a pretty cold and rainy day for the climb down and out of Stecoah gap. Luckily we were only doing 9 miles again, short days to stall, and so we took our time at lunch before making it to the campsite for the night.
BRRRR!
The next morning we woke up to an inversion, the clouds were lower than we were. Pretty cool to look down into the valley. For most of the day as we descended into Fontana Dam we were walking in the clouds and visibility was pretty short.
Finally we made it to the Fontana Hilton, one of the nicest shelters on the trail. It was pretty full so we set up our tent. There is a small resort about three or four miles away and once we found out we could call and get a shuttle to the dining room we were stoked! Burgers here we come! I still think that was one of the best burgers we had on the trail.
We took our second zero that day, chilling for most of the morning at the shelter and drying things out.
The second part of the day was spent up at the village general store eating junk food, picking up our maildrop, hanging out and playing putt-putt!
A big group of hikers came in later in the day and we saw some folks we’d met earlier on and new faces. We met Nuthatch and Sea Otter for the first time and were blown away by the amount of miles they were already averaging.
Finally Chris’ mom and step dad showed up and we were off for another zero day!
Shelters we stayed at:
Muskrat Creek Shelter
Carter Gap Shelter
Rock Gap Shelter
Wayah Shelter
Wesser Bald Shelter
Locust Cove Gap
Cody Gap
Fontana Dam Shelter
I’ve decided to go back through and show photos that I never got around to posting, recap some of the sections and discuss in more detail various sections of the trail. Plus, I like reminiscing and I’m a little sad that we’re pushing on two weeks off the trail.
And off we went. I look back now and realize just how overweight we were. Looking at us now someone might not have guessed. We had a few people think that we’d started the trail this way, people imagining that to walk 2,000 miles you must be fit. Not really. Tons of people start off in varying weights and fitness levels. Some quit, some continue. All you need is ambition and the mental toughness to keep going when the going gets tough.
I remember climbing the stairs up Amicalola Falls and thinking to myself that I was insane. It was difficult, I was out of breath and I was hoping above all hopes that the whole 8 miles on the Approach Trail wasn’t going to be like that. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t easy either. We met two guys on the side of the Approach Trail who had ginormous packs. The kind of packs you imagine from A Walk in the Woods. We never saw them again after that day. After awhile the sun went away and it started trying to rain just after we’d finished our lunch. Eventually it started sleeting somewhere just a few miles from Springer. In my head I was just thinking that we were really in for it. I’d read so much about the Smokies and all the snow, I just *knew* that it was going to be horrible the whole way.
Of course it wasn’t horrible! Somehow we made it to the top of Springer. It isn’t as monumental as getting to the top of Katahdin, but it was still exciting since this was the official beginning of the trail.
I don’t even remember if we signed the register, it was too cold!
The ridge runner at the top of Springer near the Springer Mtn Shelter. We hung out at the shelter for a few minutes until we realized we’d be much warmer walking so we kept on going to Stover Creek shelter.
Oh the rhododendrons! How many there were and I didn’t even know what they were! The tunnels that we went through in Georgia and North Carolina were majestic.
Those first few days the trail is so crowded. You skip and jump in front of people all day long, they pass you and you pass them. For awhile it is a bit nerve wracking, this contest of sorts to keep up. Eventually it gets to the point along the trail where you just don’t care, though sometimes I did like to keep a mental “I’m ahead” list of people that we’d passed and were behind us. People who are typically faster hikers than us, but because they took time in town I just liked to know that we were ahead of them.
The further north we got the less we were in National Forests. I personally liked being in National Forests because they weren’t so picky about stealth camping. Some areas in the NE were very picky about where and where not you could camp.
Going up Blood Mountain. We were the only ones who stayed on top of the mountain that night. When we crossed Jarrard Gap there was a fierce wind blowing through, extremely chilly. Many folks went to the Woods Hole shelter just past that, but we kept on going, passed the Slaughter Creek campsite and then on up to Blood Mtn. It was such a surreal experience in all the snow and ice.
Of course then you get to Neel’s Gap and Mountain Crossings and you think you’ve come *so* far when you’ve only gone 30.7 miles. Most people we knew stayed at the hostel. Later on we heard not such great things about the hostel which made me thankful we kept on going and camped on Cowrock.
Still one of our best campsites, not only for the beautiful sunset but the quiet solitude.
Another good campsite was at Sassafras Gap, one of the bazillion SG’s there are. The people who named Gaps, Mtns, passes, and other things on the trail were not very imaginative. You’d mention Sassafras Gap on the trail and someone would say “Which one?”
On the day we hiked over Tray Mountain there was still snow on a lot of the mountain. I thought that was a pretty fun climb, whereas other didn’t enjoy it so much. We had a good bit of hiking after that, a nice ‘flat’ stretch where we could cruise, but my mental time still hadn’t gotten calibrated yet and I would always think we’d gone further or faster than we really had. I kept looking for the Swag of the Blue Ridge and when it finally came, miles after I’d expected it, I knew we were close to our campsite.
When it is a town day the trail seems to go incredibly slow. Our first stay in town was at Hiawassee and the Blueberry Patch hostel. We got to the road by lunch but we first had a thousand foot climb over Kelly Knob and like most of the trail once you go down you have to go back up to go down again. The book is famous for leaving out little ups, thinking that you will have a mostly flat section, but instead you go up and down and up and down until you finally reach that spot you thought was going to be flat.
And here we are at Dicks Creek Gap being dropped off by Gary the owner of the Blueberry Patch. I’m glad we left on that sunshine day because the next day brought rain and snow and leaving town would have been a mental impossibility for me! Starting to hike when you are already out in the elements is one thing, but going out when you can be cozy indoors is quite another thing!
Of course we then finally made it to the NC border!
Here are a few people we met in those first few days that we never saw again, but they are still out on the trail! RafiC: We always thought he’d pass us after we left him in Neel’s Gap because he was very fit and did marathons and such, but the only time he passed us was when we took our time off at home and then we passed him when he got off for treating his Lyme. Red Lobster: another girl that I thought would pass us but we never saw her after Neel’s Gap. Klarity: Ditto to above Gearbomb: we heard her for several hundred yards because she had a metal cup clanking on the outside of her pack. Llano: I actually started reading her journal before we left and was surprised to meet her at the Low Gap Shelter after Neel’s Gap.
Shelters we stayed at
Stover Creek Shelter: Good water source, but it was crowded with thru-hikers and a scout group. Camped.
Gooch Mtn Shelter: Again, super duper crowded! Camped.
Blood Mtn Shelter: Not a soul in sight and we camped. Very dirty shelter.
Cowrock Mtn: Take a shower at Neels Gap, eat something and keep hiking to this awesome spot.
Blue Mtn Shelter: Very chilly, not too crowded and we camped.
Sassafras Gap: Water was a bit far but it was well worth it to camp here.
Hiawassee, GA: Blueberry Patch hostel is still one of my favorites for the just plain down-homeness and sweet folks who run the place. Hiawassee is an excellent resupply point.
Stay tuned for the southern NC post! It’s going to take me decades to get this done!
Trail Magic at Katahdin Iron Works Road, 100 Mile Wilderness, Maine
Now that we are several days post hike we’ve had to really think about what we are eating. When you aren’t burning 5,000 calories a day it is impossible to continue eating like you were. Or, you could, but you’d balloon up in no time! So, I thought I’d give a run down of what a typical thru-hiker eats.
Breakfast: Pretty much everyone starts off with oatmeal. It’s warm and easy to make, but it takes time to boil water. In the beginning this is great because you start off later in the morning. Eventually you move on to breakfast bars. Some people start eating cold oatmeal, some drink Carnation instant breakfast, Pop Tarts are popular and I tried those fried fruit pies. Too much sugar for me. Breakfast was mostly a pain in the butt.
Lunch: Lunch can be equally as hard as breakfast. Mostly we stuck to pepperoni, salami and tuna, but sometimes I bought chicken salad packages and ate peanut butter. I went into this thing thinking I would love pb but it didn’t appeal to me at all! Sometimes I had enough of something else that I’d put my pb into a hiker box. We also cooked lunch sometimes. In our mail drops we’d send a pack or two of chicken or tuna and then a mashed potato. This was awesome on days you were extra hungry. Tortilla’s were used most of the time for wraps with the pepperoni and tuna. I bought the flavored tuna packs, sometimes tuna salad packs. We’d grab mayo, mustard and relish from convenience stores or restaurants to flavor it up a bit. I liked to carry crackers, either cracker sandwiches or items like Goldfish or Cheez-its. Then you’d top it off with a candy bar, gummy bears, or some sort of dessert.
Dinner: Our dinners consisted of a lot of Mountain House/Alpine Aire or the like dehydrated meals. We had bought a bunch before we left for our mail drops and this was an excellent supplement along the way. Towards the later half of the trail we’d sometimes just buy them in outfitters because with two people it was the same cost as buying a Lipton/Knorr side and two packages of meat. Lipton/Knorr sides were very common. Once we bought some Thai noodles and some sauce and made that. Mac and cheese is popular as is ramen noodles. Ramen is probably the most popular hiker dinner there is. People made it all sorts of ways, and the latest popular way was to add peanut butter to it. We went until the very last day of the trip to buy a package of ramen. We had a few in the hiker box on occasion, but we kinda prided ourselves on not buying ramen. You will see all sorts of combinations of hiker food: Noodles with little packages of the dried sauces in the spice aisle, mac and cheese with Spam, pieces of sausage in ramen….on and on and on. One of the best things we did was send dried tomatoes to ourselves. They were nice surprises and additions to our meals. Further north we found some in stores and we’d buy them along the way.
Snacks: Aside from bars like Larabars, Luna, Powerbars, etc., we ate a lot of candy bars for snacks, gummy bears, Oreo’s, crackers, Little Debbie snacks. Anything junk food you can insert here. And oh, it was so nice!
The photo above includes a Whoopie Pie. We discovered these in Andover, ME at a general store. They packing a whopping 800 calories and an ungodly amount of fat and sugar, so they are a PERFECT hiker food! Merf and Chris would joke that after I ate one that I’d have my afterburners on because I’d be so far ahead of them I’d keep slowing down to wait for ‘em. Yesterday we were driving along a road on the coast when we saw a hand made sign for pies and whoopies. We turned down the road and into someones drive and out came a pre-teen girl who showed us to a covered porch with a fridge full of whoopie pies. I refrained, but Chris got a pb one and mom got a coconut one. I had a nibble…and they were so divine!
Too bad you can’t eat a whoopie every day.
I’m actually craving a green monster and can’t wait to start cooking! One of my hiker friends (though we only met twice!) has a cooking blog, so check our Eat What You Love and entice her to post more!
The alarm went off. Was the sky clear? Yes, the stars were out. We reached over and twisted our NeoAir tubes to deflate them, stretching in our sleeping bags and yawning. It was too early. After fumbling for our headlamps we started moving about, getting dressed, rolling up the air mattresses and stuffing our bags into their compression sacks.
Sitting on the side of the tent platform at The Birches, Blue Rooster came by and said he was getting ready. Cubbie & Dilly Dally were in the other shelter getting their items together. We ate a few granola bars for the early morning breakfast and quickly put everything together in our packs.
We were off on an adventure. Or the final adventure to a long adventure.
Inside the front porch of the ranger station we found someone sleeping. Sorry, but we had to switch our some gear, ditching anything heavy we didn’t need for the final five miles. No use for a sleeping bag, Keen sandals, cooking gear. Throw it into the trash bag to leave behind. Without the extra weight we felt light and airy, able to bounce around. Just some water, food, rain gear and extra clothing.
We crossed Katahdin stream, through the campground and were off. It was 2am. I lead the way up the Hunt Trail, the name of the trail that the AT follows up Mount Katahdin, this Greatest Mountain that the local Indian tribes call Maine’s tallest peak. I’m the slowest one so it’s easier to keep everyone behind the slowest person.
Lights are on full blast, to scope out the roots and rocks that we might stumble upon. We cross over a bridge, see the privy that is located a mile up the trail. That was a quick mile. We finally start climbing, lots of nicely placed rock stairs by the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, then up some big rocks. Finally we come to a spot where water is flowing on the trail, trying to side step the puddles in the dark, careful to keep our shoes dry. We pull ourselves up by using some trees, our hands, other rocks, to keep moving upwards and onto rocks that pose tricks for us to continue. Eventually the confiers become smaller; we are nearing tree line.
With a turn around a rock, the wind howls, the stars are bright and it is pitch black outside of five head lamps on the trail. It becomes a bit scary, finding that we have to manuvere our way up large boulders, several having rebar placed in the perfect position to pull ourselves up or place a foot. The white blazes are well marked every few feet, though in a few sections we get confused; is it that way or this way? Of course we have to go down to go up, this is the Appalachian Trail after all, so yes, it is that way, down through the trees and into some protection from the wind, at least for a few minutes.
Soon we are completely above tree line, following white blazes over large boulders. Still leading, I pull myself up rocks that look intimidating, squeeze through sections that I can barely fit through. The wind is still blowing and it is getting pretty cold. I have my warm wool hat on to keep my ears from stinging. We’re all talking, looking around us. We can see the outline of some thunderheads to the northeast. We’re all hoping they don’t blow our direction. We see the lights from Millenocket in the distance, and further away, is it Bangor? Finally everyone gets too cold and starts putting extra layers on and we take a few minutes break. Is that the peak we see up there? Probably not, there are always false summits.
I spot the white spray paint on a rock that says 2 miles. We have two miles to summit. Continuing our way up to the summit we are all hoping is the summit, we eventually see a sign. Could it be? Is it the sign? We joke that it is probably a fake sign, and sure enough it is just a small sign advising people to stay on the trail to avoid damaging the alpine vegetation. By this time we’ve reached the tableland, the flatter section of the top. We keep walking along, bouncing off rocks on the path when we finally see a sign for Thoreau spring and the mark for the 1 mile to the summit. Which way is the summit? It’s probably the part that is covered in the clouds, a light fog drifting over it. Damn, we all hope it blows away.
The sky is becoming light in the east. We’re getting faster, more excited, but we still have to go up the mountain more. By the time we start climbing more MATC stairs the fog has drifted away, the sky is brighter and our head lamps are turned off.
And then it was there. The Sign. The one we dream off the minute we left Springer Mountain, Georgia. The sign we all walk to. We stop 100′ away, maybe more, so Cubbie & Dilly Dally can take a photo of us walking up the last bit of the Appalachian Trail. And then we keep walking.
And we’re there. On the summit the with the sign. We’re relived, stoked, excited, in awe of the awesome beauty of the sunrise that is unfolding before us. Our summit was just after 5am. Three hours to the top. None of us can believe it was three hours, it didn’t feel like it, nor did it feel like four thousand vertical feet of elevation gain in five miles. It is such a beautiful site. And words just can’t explain the feeling of being there.
Only five of us at the top for the sunrise summit. No crowds, no day hikers. Just five thru-hikers who have busted through 2,179 miles to be there. We stayed for two hours, eating M&M’s and other food, taking photo after photo, nearly getting dragged off the mountain by a kite and losing said kite (that story later), the other three smoking cigs that were left up there by someone else, probably a thru-hiker, discussing the intense insaneness of the Knife’s Edge, talking about our favorite parts of the trip….
We left down at 7am. It was a completely different hike on the way down since we hadn’t seen what we’d come up. Going down is much harder than coming up, scooting down rocks, easing your way around, trying not to fall. I was amazed at what we’d climbed up at night and couldn’t believe how narrow some of the areas had been. Adrenaline had been our power that pushed us up the mountain. We were down by 10am, passing hoards of other tourists, most in amazement that we’d left so early, many congratulating us on our accomplishment and some asking if they were half way or even near the top (sorry…not quite).
And it was done. We had thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.
I have to blog about the rest of Maine that I haven’t covered and then I plan on doing a retrospective of each state with photos that haven’t been shown here, when I get home. If you have any questions about the trail, hiking, whatever, ask away and I’ll answer them soon!
What’s next for us??? Hanging around Maine for a few days, heading to Texas and after that we’re not sure. Looking for jobs and trying to find a place to live, but doing a lot of fun side trips and getting into photography again will be on the agenda, too. Thanks for reading and I hope you stay around! Oh yeah, it was a Class I day and we were #’s 103 & 104 at the park.
Since last leaving y’all we were in Rangeley, Maine. Now we have advanced forward to Monson, Maine, our last town stop on the entire trail. Everyone seems to be a little bit sad about this last town stop, reminiscing in the log books. It does seem surreal that we won’t be continuing our walk north towards a far off destination.
We left Rangeley and got to the first shelter two miles out for lunch to find that our friends Moose & Tetherball had finally caught up to us and passed us. Drat! Merf’s friend Inferno had done the same. We climbed up Saddleback mountain and had a beautiful view. Supposedly you can see both Mount Washington and Katahdin from the summit but it was a bit hazy and we could only glimpse what we thought was Katahdin. The next day we had a pretty easy day and had only planned 14 miles but tossed around the idea of doing 17 or so until we came to a stream at mile 13 and Chris decided he wanted to fish so we took two hours and sat around before walking up to the Crocker Cirque campsite.
The following morning we left Merf at the road to Stratton. She has a later finish date and so she wanted to take a nearo and stay in town and we continued on and summited both the West Peak and Avery Peak of the Bigelows and camped down in a notch between those and Little Bigelow. It was a quiet campsite and I thought a nice place to stop. It was another 17 mile day. woo for higher mileage days! The next morning we went up Little Bigelow and found out that our friends Moose, Tetherball, Cubbie and Dilly Dally were only five miles ahead of us and we were fairly certain we were going to catch them that night at Pierce Pond. Sure enough at lunch we ran into them at a shelter! We hadn’t seen M&T since New York when they were slowing down to do some zero’s with family. We did 22 miles into Pierce Pond shelter. The reason to push was so that we could get a super awesome breakfast at Harrison’s Pierce Pond camps about .2 off the trail. The owner walks over in the evening, or you can call him, and tell him if you want sausage and eggs with your 12 pancake breakfast. The next morning you walk over and sit down in his dining area sipping coffee, watching the hummingbirds at the feeders and just chill out. He goes all out, powdered sugar, maple syrup….oh it was really, really awesome.
Our next big “thing” was to cross the fabled Kennebec River. It’s the only ATC sanctioned moving white blaze on the trail. At least one person has died trying to ford the river and many get swept down stream or lose their packs, so for 20+ years during certain times of the day, a paid canoeist will come and shuttle you across the river. We picked up a package in Caratunk and kept on going yesterday and ended at 18 miles. We did 22 miles today to get into Monson and will take the morning off and head out somewhere into the 100 mile wilderness tomorrow.
It’s so insane. We are almost done. Last night we were flipping through our photos on our camera. We switched our card out when we went home in Pearisburg so we only have from Pearisburg until now, but it was hilarious to see my brilliantly pink hair, and so many other photos that you all haven’t seen yet. There will be many more stories to tell.
So far in the animal count, no moose yet. Everyone says we will see them in the 100 but who knows. Everyone also jokes that the only moose they will see will be the ones on the road out of Baxter State Park! hah! We saw two grouse this morning, a ruffed and a spruce. I saw three garter snakes today, too.
what can I say? The journey is almost done. we have plane tickets for the 17th and my mom is coming on the 12th to pick us up/hang out with us in Maine for a few days. Since we were concerned about the whole summit thing we were leery about getting something too close, but I am excited to have some time to tool around Maine. I want to do a trail magic day, go to Arcadia National Park, eat a lobster dinner, and hang out in Bangor some. A mini-vacation.
So….sometime next week I’ll be back with summit photos! Until then keep thinking “Class I day….Class I day”. Class I day is like having the as perfect a day as possible on Katahdin.
Until then keep thinking “Class I day….Class I day”. 
Class I day is like having the as perfect a day as possible on Katahdin. 