For spring break this year I decided to forgo the beach and sunshine, and head somewhere much colder and with a lot more rain. Seemed like a good idea at the time... Marie, a good friend of mine, has decided to hike the entire Appalachian trail and she invited me to join her for the first 53 miles. We were joined by our friends Emerson and Ethan.
I hear a lot of people talk about going into the wild to "escape" people and be alone. They get tired of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, tired of people, and tired of stress. Wilderness can be seen by many as an escape back to a simpler way of life (even when fully supported by camping supplies and products that are produced by those in the aforementioned "complicated way of life"). If an "escape" is what you want to do, the Appalachian Trail (AT) is not for you. It's something totally different, something I had never experienced before, and I found it to be an amazing place. I have never been one of those folks that wanted to "escape" people, I like the species of which I am a part, and this is why I really, really enjoyed the AT.
We put in at Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Here we met miss Janet, one of the most famous AT trail angels out there. She travels in her ole van, with her dog, up and down the length of the AT. Providing assistance to those in need on the trail is her calling. She offers a kind, and sometimes painfully blunt, word of advice or caution when needed and gear to those who need it. People like this are part of what make the AT what it is.
Hanging out at the summit of Springer Mountain.
On day one the weather was clear and cool, the sun hitting our backs and the breeze carrying us along the path to Hawk Mountain shelter. We hit camp at sundown thanks to our late start, and set up on the outskirts of the tent village. Remember how I said the AT is not an escape? There were about ten folks in the shelter and maybe 25 tents around it. The first few days on the trail the campsites will be packed. We managed to find a quiet little spot, make a quick dinner, and pass out. That night it poured down rain. Inside my tent it was a beautiful sound that brought me peace and quick slumber in the confines of my dry tent. Unfortunately, we knew it would not stop raining for the next three days.
About ten miles of hiking on day two, and we were substantially soaked. We decided we needed to dry our gear and stay at a the wolfpen hostel. We met some kids from New York, one of which was suffering from hypothermia. Before we knew it our group of four had grown to eight, so when we bummed our ride to the shelter we all rode in the back of a pick-up truck. That night, at the hostel, we met some truly inspiring people. We met a man with stage 4 pancreas cancer, who was given 2 to 5 years to live about 2.5 years ago, who had decided to hike the AT with his daughter. There was a man under the trail name "semi-colon", who lost half of his colon from stage 3 cancer. He was traveling to rural Appalachian towns to hand out cancer test kits to families that can't otherwise afford preventative tests for cancer. The two kids from New York had finished high school and decided to do the trail. We also found out about a man that was doing the whole trail at the age of 81. Our little second floor hostel (above the general store) was home to nearly 30 people that night.
Drying out our gear at the hostel. Marie says hello! The hostel also had a fresh litter of kittens.
We set out the next day in the rain and did about 10.5 miles to arrive at a shelter at the base of Blood Mountain. Blood mountain is a fairly strenuous climb and usually makes a lot of folks quit the trail and go home, so we camped at the base. Only one other person at the shelter that night, but the site was also known for high levels of bear activity. The fog grew so dense before bed that if you walked more than 15 yards from the shelter and turned back around you would not be able to see the shelter. Moments like this help you realize how people end up getting lost on the AT.
Day four was a big day, we hiked around 16 miles, with Blood Mountain right at the start. Fortunatley it was a sunny, clear day. We reached the summit in less than an hour, and it was not near as tough as expected. The summit provided a panoramic view all the way around of North Georgia and into North Carolina. After over two days of hiking in the mist, this spectacular view was needed.
At the summit of Blood Mountain, 4,458 feet. The prominence of the mountain is 1,480 feet, meaning it's that much higher than the saddle of the closest surround peak.
***Here I am, two years later, finishing this story. I don't recall the last few days of our journey near as well as I should. This is a testament to the importance of journaling and writing things down. Over the years nearly all of an experience can be lost to the mind, or the days blur together into a haze. I find that the sentiment and emotions of the hike and it's influence on you remain, but the specific details that caused that feeling are lost. Maybe that's all Deja vu is. You aren't remembering a specific experience, but a specific feeling that has been unlocked by that moment, the cause long forgotten.
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