Trail Letter 1: 3/08 thru 3/12

3/08

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11 miles of hiking and only 2.8 done on the AT! The approach trail was worth it – very cold, but rewarding to reach Springer. Dave is now “Feezal”… (illegible).

3/09

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13.7 miles today – arrived at campsite with 3 hours of sunlight to spare. Ran into quite a few people today – a group of boy scouts, a few groups of weekend backpackers, and about 7 other thru-hikers. The sun worked its magic today and warmed our bones – a hearty improvement from the 25 degree snowy, windy conditions of yesterday. Ha, I feel like an old person, talking about the weather so much, but when it’s your central heat and air you tend to pay more attention to it.

A group of “kuntry boyz” from ‘Nawlins shared the campsite yesterday – I absolutely love hearing rowdy obnoxious conversations over the sounds of nature – esp. when I’m sleeping (or trying to). Met a guy who rode his bike from MI to Maine to CA to Mississippi, hitched here, bought 10 days worth of Ramen, and set out on the trail. He’s broke.

Also met the ridge runner who checks the GA section shelters and picks up lazy hiker litter.

3/10

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Put in a good 15.3 miles today. Weather was near perfect – in the 50s with a nice breeze. My face is already chapping pretty hard – between coldness, windiness, and sunniness (along with runniness of the nose), that burning feeling is slowly/steadily creeping in on me. I’m doing my best to dampen the effects with a handkerchief, but it only goes so far.

Climbed to the highest point in GA today. Blood Mountain, at 4,461′. We’ve passed way more hikers than have passed us – hope we can keep it up (it’s only day 3). Caught some tasty views along the ridge and mtns. today. Also encountered a hostel/outfitter with EVERYTHING – one of the hikers we met, “Dog”, bought 5 cheeseburgers with the intention of consuming all of them. I doubt he can. There were lots of hikers limping around the outfitters, and it felt good to not be among them. Bird’s getting more interested in a lighter load, and my take one of my Heine-can stoves.

Saw an owl just before arriving at the campsite – they have deep stares.

And we’ve been dubbed with our team name – “The Tennessee Studs.” Bird & I are still waiting for trail names to find us.

3/11

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16.9 miles today. Got our first taste of Trail Magic – we descended from Cowrock Mt. to find a husband/wife team grilling burgers, giving out stew (delicious), drinks, veggies, coleslaw, and other wonderful goodness. It really lifted morale. Thanks Kujo & White Bear!

It was drizzly for 2-3 hours today, but luckily not enough to soak us. Everyone’s holding up pretty well so far – my baby pinky toe keeps acting like it wants to blister, but it hasn’t yet. I think I’ll buy insoles & pantyhose @ Hiwassee. We’ve still been passing many people and few have passed us – hope we can keep it up.

Feezel took the first fall of the trip today – Bird and I are still at 0. Ran into a Gator fan, a gorgeous black German Shepard, 2 Indians, and a kid from Chattanooga – who spent lots of time @ Watts Bar Lake – today.

3/12

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We walked a fat 18.8 miles today. Feezel found some insoles at the shelter last night, so I put them in my boots. After 15 mins, I had to take the original insole out of the left boot, but after that I was gravy, baby.

Climbed the hardest “hill” so far (in my opinion) today – the heat’s what made it so tough.

It seems like so much has happened today, but now that I’m warm & comfy, it’s hard to recall. I was sad last night, because a lady was staying at our shelter who had just decided to quit her thru-hike. I didn’t even know her or care about her really, but I wanted her to keep going… I guess she’s the first of many we’ll see.

Anyway, we’re staying at Cloud 9 Hostel tonight – it’s got more than my house! Jacuzzi, showers, pool, ping-pong, horseshoes, blister care, sat. TV, and lots of other hostel-goers. The shower was unsurprisingly refreshing, and Feezel & I have some deep dish pizza on the way. Maybe it’s my hunger, but I’m not really interested in doing much right now – including socialize. You can tell these people haven’t had anyone to talk to for a couple days…

We’ve been moving quite a bit faster than the average hiker, I think Bird (who is now “Bigfoot”) is gonna have to cut some serious pounds from his pack to keep this pace up. It’s nice being in or close to your physical prime….:-p We’re going into Hiawassee, GA tomorrow to resupply. I’ve got a lot to figure out yet.