Hiking the Appalachian Trail

The Act of Creating

Dad was kind enough to keep an eye on ebay and craigs list for a cheap guitar and he pulled through in a huge way!

Since Duncannon, PA I’ve been carrying a Martin Backpacker Guitar and it’s awesooooome. I’ve been playing it every day. It’s only 2 and a half points and fits in the pouch on the back of my pack. It’s perfect.

As I play the guitar I’m realizing why it’s so special to me. Most of this trip, we hikers and simply following a path with a goal at the end. We experience much more than that along the way but ultimately it’s a simple journey lacking a very important life function: to create.

I need to create in order to feel like I’m growing as a person. I usually create in the form of writing, attempting art work or playing guitar. Writing sometimes feels like more of a chore than anything out here and art work is mostly limited to drawing, which is simply a skill I don’t posses.

So the guitar has been filling some sort of void for me. It’s time all to myself where I can slip into another realm of my mind and… create… free flowing and outgoing. I love it.

An Update on my Mind

Things have been amazing the last few weeks. Not that I wasn’t happy hiking before, but now I’m in a constant state of excitement and appreciation that I didn’t harbor before. A lot has been going on, on and off the trail, which has made it feel like the ADVENTURE I’ve wanted it to me.

People describe the trail as a “pilgrimage” and it fits. Something about this journey has the feel of a rite of passage, a necessary experience to become the person I need to be.

Many of the emotions I feel while hiking are extremely hard to describe in words. I’ll think about how I’m feeling much of the day but when I lay down at night to write… nothing comes out. When people ask me how the trail is going, my best response is something lame like. “it’s an adventure… that’s for sure…”

Needless to say I’m feeling inspired, excited and appreciative of the trail and the people on it. It’s been 3 and a half months. I have about 800 miles or 2 months left of hiking. I have no doubts that hiking the appalachian trail will continue to surprise me with challenges and rewards.

yuP!

Now I’m in New York!

So Far:

-Rocky climbs. Ups and Downs I haven’t seen since… probably North Carolina

-More visiting with family

Things to look forward to:

-Walking through a Zoo (might be a bit depressing)

-More lakes for swimmin’

and who knows what else, fun stuff I’m sure.

New Jersey

New Jersey! Wow! I was impressed. New Jersey was actually one of my favorite states so far. Not only is it beautiful but the people are friendly and wild life abundant.

-Side adventure with Mom to visit Grandparents on the shore and cousins in Warwick. Ate some sea food and enjoyed napping in a car

-Saw 2 bear, a rattle snake and some other little snakes

-Swam in a few lakes

-Jen and Danny, some super friendly strangers took me to their home in Blairstown where we stayed up late drinking wine and beer, eating a curry dinner made of 90% veggies from the farm next door, discussing sustainability/farming/energy/life  and all the while listening to good music from their ipod. One of my trail magic highlights for sure

-The Mayors House hostel: a strange place where all are welcome but you’re… hazed – I guess is the best word for it. Run by Butch and Bill (Bill is 80 something), they will hit you in the arm if you call them “sir” and you’re forced to watch a video about Paul Potts, a guy who won Britain’s Got Talent tv show. Vichero!

-24 side adventure to NYC with Bourbon, Jason and Moss. Bagels and lox, pizza, central park, metro, ground zero, battery park, china town, little italy, south east bars, looooads of walking, sunrise at times square while cooking popcorn. Basically we wandered around acting like fools all over the city for 24 hours without sleeping, then caught the train out and passed out for a day. It was wonderful

Jersey was mad fun. The walkin was pretty easy and the scenery surprisingly beautiful. I’ll have to come back and explore this hidden gem again in the future.

Pennsylvania

So the rumors were true… but only a little bit. Pennsylvania is long and the second half is really rocky. Luckily it makes up for the sore feet with lots of little towns and delis along the way. A quick summary:

-I started off hiking really slowly (10 – 12 miles a day) because of the lyme disease and antibiotics. Luckily I met up with the 2010 Geezer crew (Loon, East Wind, Seldom Seen and Jim). They have a van support with lots of supplies so I was well taken care of for a week or two until I felt 100% again.

-New Gear: my ninja turtles sheet from my child hood sewn over to make a sleeping bag (thanks mom!)

-Crossed over the half way point

-Watched others eat a half gallon of ice cream to celebrate (calcium negates the antibiotics I was on)

-Melted my face off walking through some corn and soy fields on the week we had 100 degree weather

-Swam in a pool, lake and river

-Drank in a fire house bar

-Jumped off a 35 ft rock into a river

-Camped in the back yard of a bar and then cooked an insane breakfast in their kitchen in the morning

aaaand some other cool stuff. Pennsylvania wasn’t too bad but I was glad to leave. It reunited me with some old pals and helped me make new friends. Thanks PA!

Hold on… I’m not invincible??

I know I looked and felt worn out from my visit at home, but as I walked out of the house on Sunday morning I started fading fast.

Climbing the 700 ft hill was really tough (should be a piece of cake by now) and I needed to rest at the Ed Garvey shelter. Granted it was noon and in the upper 90s that day, but man I was feeling somethin’ awful.

So I kept pushing on… muscles were tight and I couldn’t seem to look any direction but forward. Finally I hit Gathland, drank some water and took a nap on the ground. Woke up and pushed on…

I felt worse. Each step was way more tough than it should have been. I made it about 15 miles to wear my parents had set up trail magic and sat down to enjoy a soda. I wanted to call my mom and ask her more about symptoms of lymes disease but I didn’t have service.

Something just wasn’t right with my body! Even though I had searched my legs for ticks several times, I looked a little more thorough this time…

No ticks… but what’s this? A HUGE BULLS EYE! shiiiiiit! I didn’t need to know any other symptoms. Lymes disease it was and is. aaaarg.

(yes I’m naked taking pictures of myself and my new tattoo)

I called mom and was surprised to find out her and dad were in the woods about 100 yards away. They were checking out some monuments after dropping off the trail magic. haha.

Perfect timing. Mexican dinner and 800 mg ibprofin tucked me in for the night. Today I got meds and laid around resting. I’d love to get on the trail tomorrow but we’ll see. At the best I’m simply feeling lethargic and sore. Things I can deal with while hiking, but should I? I guess I’ll see in the morning. There’s only so much laying around a hiker can do. I need to get back into the woods!

(check for ticks and listen to your bodies! i never saw the dammed thing and most people probably don’t. if you’re feeling worse than normal for no apparent reason GET CHECKED OUT)

These things are you enemy!!

Harpers Ferry and 1/2 way done

Wow, it’s happened in the blink of an eye. I’m already half way done. I’ve walked straight to the back door of my house from Georgia. Pretty sweet. So many experiences, stories and kindness along the way, including my parents!

I showed at the house with 4 other hikers. Although it was after dark, my parents busied themselves cooking and socializing. It was a great time indeed. Awesome. I was ready for some time relaxing and catching up with friends.

Almost neither got accomplished. We ended up hosting more hikers for several nights and I found my time being spread thin among many different tasks, none of them resting. Not that the 5 days at home weren’t wonderful, because they were, but also not what I expected.

In about 4 days I basically accomplished:

Burgers/hot dogs/corn on the cob/baked beans/fruit salad/sodas and beer EVERY NIGHT.

Dad, Left Field and I set up trail magic about 20 miles into Maryland. A cooler full of almost every fruit I could find at the grocery store, sodas and ice cream. It felt pretty awesome to give some trail magic of my own. I know dad loved it considering he had the “best tasting apple” he’s ever eaten when we got trail magic at a shelter in Virginia.

Late night camp fire and booze with my home town buddies. Not everyone is around or could make it, but those who were here had a good time I think.

Visiting BonzNRio in his psuedo hostel outside Harpers Ferry. If you want to meet a truly genuine hiker angel, check out Bonzo’s back yard.

World Cup matches (both incredible and saddening) and movies

Resupply and reorganize for the 2nd half. Mom sued one of my old ninja turtle sheets together to make a light weight and airy sleeping bag. I can’t wait to use it. It’s been so hot at night there’s almost no reason for a sleeping bag. Ninja Turtles should do the trick.

Hang with moms and pops (sort of mixed in with everything else).

My visit at home has been amazing. I love this little mountainess/farmy/river area. Harpers Ferry and the surrounding country sides are very special. Everyone’s energy seems to be positive and ambitious. I hope anyone who visited my home felt as if it were one of those special times they’ll remember from hiking the Appalachian Trail. I know my parents want it to be that way. They are very supportive and respectful of anyone hiking the trail especially after each hiked with me in Virginia.

Time to move forward and really take advantage of this pilgrimage!

My Gear List (after hiking half the trail)

As of Harpers Ferry, WV this is my gear list. Keep in mind it has changed countless times since day one:

1 sleeveless thermal shirt and a cotton/town shirt

pair of nerdy water resistant zip off pants

pair of gym shorts

2 pairs of socks

1 bandana

gloves

osprey exodus 58 litre back pack

2 litres of water

2 stuff sacks for food

first aid kit with moleskin, band aides, neosporine, nail clippers, tooth brush, organic soap, retainer and some other stuff

full size big agnes blow up sleeping pad

ninja turtle sheet sewed together to make a “sleeping bag”

a book (has changed several times)

a journal and a pocket journal

lots of duct tape

water purification via chlorine drops (I rarely use them)

LITTLE FOOT! (my pillow)

rain proof pack cover

light weight rain jacket

8 x 10 tarp

plastic ground cloth

id, debit card, cash

ankle wrap

2 ski poles for hiking poles

titanium pot and spork

tuna can stove

fooooooooooood

cell phone and cell phone charger

disposable camera or digital camera

AND… probably some other stuff I’m forgetting. My whole regiment has changed as I’ve learned a more about what I’m doing. Also the weather has gotten waaaay warmer so I’ve gotten rid of some clothes and my sleeping bag. It’ll all change again soon I’m sure. The whole thing has been a learning process one day at a time.

My pack should be somewhere around 30 lbs with food and water. I started in Georgia close to 40 lbs. nice!

Stay tuned!

Trail Magiiiic

So much to write about. So much to ponder about the kindness of strangers. All I can say for now is I’ve had an incredible amount of trail magic out here. It’s wonderful.

cookouts with burgers, hot dogs and pretty much anything you can imagine, coolers with soda and beer, snacks hanging from trees, strangers letting me sleep in their homes, lawns to camp on, rides to and from towns, fellow hikers sharing precious food or water and even $$!

I’ve hiked over 700 miles now and still moving north inspired by the depth of encouragement and support I’ve received from strangers. Great people are everywhere. Simply wonderful. I haven’t even finished the trail yet and I want to give back. When I get home to Maryland I’m going to hook people uuuup!

Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia

Trail Daaaaaaaaays. What an insane festival full of weirdo hikers and gear buffs. Great times, great town and great people. I had an insane amount of free sandwiches and helpful bits of gear here and there. There was a water fight parade, lots of bon fires and I reunited with lots of people I met earlier on the trail. PLUS,my parents came!

I’m now sitting in a hotel just outside of town packing up gear to head back on the trail tomorrow with my dad. It’s going to be awesome. He can hike for about 10 days with me. For now I’m going to love sleeping on this huge bed and prepare to enter the beauty of the trail again tomorrow.

so tiiiiiiiiiired

1 Month Finished!

Yeaaaah! I’ve been hiking just over a month now. My stats from April 13 – May 15:

4 zero days (2 in hot springs and 2 in damascus)

Biggest Day: 33 miles

Shortest non-zero day: 3 miles on the trail (8 on the river)

Things are going pretty wonderfully. It’s really hard to explain the experience thus far, but it’s been a good one mentally and physically. A lot of alone time in my mind while hiking during the day. Some great nights around camp fires. Some crazy weather struggles. Some beautiful views. Some looooong days. Some “in the zone” days. Some days hiking with beer. Somes days spent desperatly trying to remember lyrics to songs. Some days encountering trail magic (people with free food, sodas and such at road crossing).

So many days! One month and I’ve gone 463 miles. I’m actually almost 1/4th done. Crazy to think about. I’m dealing with a lot less money than I thought I had but I’ve done some things to help like work-for-stays at hostels. It’ll all work out. It’s actually kind of cool having to really consider every purchase I make. Otherwise I could go out to eat every time I get to town and it wouldn’t have as much alure to it.

One month in and about 4 to go. Hikin the Appalachian Trail and lovin’ it!

How I Plan to Stay in Touch… er not stay in touch

So I’ve quickly realized that I don’t want to keep a blog for this trip. I hardly have enough time to write in my journals and read a book. The bulk of my energy is spent walking, thinking, eating and sleeping. Lack of towns and lack of time is going to make it very tough and inconvenient to update this blog.

I’ll try to put some general info on here from time to time, but I don’t plan on going nuts with it. I really just need to live in the moment soak this journey up for all it’s worth.

But don’t worry, I’m keeping very accurate notes and thoughts in my various journals. For those of you really interested in how the Appalachian Trail is affecting my life, I’ll be able to converse about it fully when I’m finished, hopefuly over a camp fire in the woods.

This is so freakin cool! I love it out here! Everyone needs to experience their own pilgrimage for sure. Start brainstorming!

Things have been great!

Ok so here’s an outline of my trip so far.

3 day hike to Neels Gap was good. A lot of people use the outfitter there to get new stuff and send things home they don’t need. Since I had such great advice from friends I didn’t really have to do much of that.

I bought a trail guide, new sleep pad and some food then headed out. My hikings friends for the first few days decided to stay and I haven’t seen them since.

For about a week I mostly hiked alone. I would come across people but moved at a fairly fast pace and kept passing older folks. I didn’t see too many people my age. It was nice though. Plenty of time to think, eat and adjust to this new life style accordingly.

Then my sister met me for about 5 days of hiking. It was awesome and she was a beast too, putting in 2, 15 mile days one of them in the cold rain. We also took duckees down the Nantahala River, which was a blast. I wish she could hike the whole thing with me!

As we parted ways at the beginning of the Smokey’s I met a lot more younger people. Thank goodness too because the next 3 days were a mixture of rain, sleet, hail, high winds and even snow. It was ROUGH. Without some fun people to share the misery with it would have been a lot harder.

But we made it out alive. It got as low as the 20s, but I think it kept the bears away. I saw almost no wild life up there. All we could do was get wet, eat and never stop moving. Wake up the next day, put evething on cold and wet then move on.

Eventually we made it to Disney Land… er, Gatlinburg, TN. It’s a super strange place. Basically an Ocean City, MD nestled in the forest at the edge of the Smokeys. Hard Rock Cafe, Ripley’s Believe it or Not… you get the idea.

We dried things out, had some beer and most importantly, had all you can eat buffet at Shoneys. I ate so much that about 15 minutes after dinner I threw up in a parking garage. Woah. I hope to never do that again.

Since then weather has been beautiful and I’ve been hiking big days with some of my buddies from Atlanta.

I made it here, Hot Springs, NC 2 nights ago just in time for a music festival. Tyler and James from Telluride were here. They let me in the festival for free (I’m sure because I looked so defeated from hiking 26 miles that day) and searched around until I found their campsite. Then we drank beer and danced to music on swollen blisters until 4 or 5 in the morning. Awesome.

Yesterday I moved into Elmer’s Hostel and am doing work-for-stay. I helped mow grass on his farm yesterday and did laundry and weeded the garden today. It’s been nice.

I have blisters from the we days of hiking and long days of hiking. I’m letting them rest. I also bought new insoles today.

Tomorrow I head back on the trail. 70 miles to Erwin, TN where I might stay at another hostel. We’ll see.

So far this has been the coolest adventure of my life except maybe for driving to Alaska and taking the Ferry back.

There are so many interesting and wonderful people on the trail. It really is a small community out here. I’ve never really liked hiking, but this is different. Every step is one step closer to a goal, a destination. This is a journey and an adventure. I’ve gone what… 272 miles out of 2,200. I have a loooong way to go. It’s hard to wrap my mind around, but I know I’m excited. Super excited.

Start Date – April 13, 2010… seriously!

My first day I hiked about 13 miles, but only 4.5 of them were actually on the Appalachian Trail.

I believe being excited and nervous provided some extra pep for the first day. I was told not to do more than 10 miles for the first few days, but it wasn’t awful.

The weather was great and I met some cool people right off the bat. A 44 year old school teacher from Florida, a 23 year old dude from Kansas who just joined the military, a 39 year old ex army guy and some others.

Good times.

Start Date – April 12, 2010… sort of… oops!

After several exciting days in the desert and a road trip with Audry down the Goergia, I showed up at the trail head of the Appalachian Trail on April 12.

Back pack on and ready to start walking, I search for my wallet to give Audry some extra gas $$. Uuuum, where is that wallet? GONE, probably in the parking lot of a rite aid about 2 hours away. Sweet.

No id, no health insurance, no debit cards and $140 down the drain. Nothing to do but suck it up. There’s no cell phone service at the trail head so we had to drive down to the state park to make some phone calls, then I sent Audry on her way.

The next morning I began my hike except I was being punished. I would now have to hike an extra 8.5 miles almost all uphill just to reach the beginning of the AT.

AT Challenge #1 was a bit of a set back, but in the grand scheme of things no biggie. Things have been pretty fantastic since day 1.

AT Thru Hike Start Date: 4/12/2010

TODAY! I’m in Nashville, Tenn. doing my final preps at grocery stores and REI with my co-pilot, Audry and her dog, Marley. Later this afternoon I will reach Springer Mountain in Georgia and be HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL! Sweeeet. I’ll post my final gear list when I have time, but it has been modified and I feel super ready to do this. Money is going to be tight, but that’s the point; living minimally on a whim within and close to nature.

For now, the advice of Julie,  my farm buddy in Telluride, echos in my mind:

1) “Be careful of extracurricular activities, ie. climbing trees and rocks for fun… but if that rock looks sweet… it’s absolutely worth it”

2) “Be flexible and adventurous”

Here I goooo!! hollaaaa

Leaving Telluride for the AT!

Today I leave Telluride! I’m no where NEAR ready to be on the trail, but hopefully after a few hours at REI I’ll have my gear together. First I’m headed out to Moab for a few days of camping with my buddies before we all go on our separate adventures.

The gear I have so far:

My dads sleeping bag that’s about 30 years old
A full length therma rest
A knife given to me by Sam. Thanks dude!
1 pair of shorts, 3 pairs of socks, 2 thermal shirts
Toe nail clippers
My sweet Merrel shoes
A book: Desert Solitaire
My journal
Sunglasses
2 nalgeens
A few stuff sacks/bear bags
A burner made out of a tuna can
aaaand some other odds and ends I probably won’t end up needing

Stuff I plan on getting at REI:

Either a tarp/bivy combo or a small ultra light tent
Approx. a 70 liter back pack
Cooking pots
1 rain jacket
Fuel
First aid kit
Trail Guide
Trekking Poles
Knee Brace

Aaaand some other stuff I’m probably forgetting. Once I get on the trail and get my pack situated after a week or so, I’ll post the official list of my gear. I’m pretty sure hiking enthusiasts are super into knowing what you pack and how much weight you end up with.

I’m going to try to make my pack pretty light, but not going crazy spending hundreds of dollars on gear (besides my back pack and tent). I guess I’m supposed to have around a 30lb pack when it’s fully packed, so I’ll aim for there and see how it goes.

Sooooo, it’s time to finish organizing my life and head out to Moab/Goblin Valley. Peace out yall!

-David

Hiking the Appalachian Trail very likely…

After a little advice from my parents, it looks everything has come together to allow me to hike the Appalachian Trail this summer. I’m both excited and nervous, but above all, I know it will be a super unique experience I can’t truly fathom at the moment.

As I mentioned in a seperate post, I plan on having a journal prompt published for each day I’m on the trail. This way there will still be a steady stream of information out there for you guys.

Also, I’m going to use iheartjournals.com as a venue for my own personal hiking blog. I don’t plan on keeping a strict blog while I hike because I don’t plan on keeping in much touch with the “outside world” and technology. However, I’m sure there will be certain emotions and experiences I feel the need to share.

I do plan on keeping an extensive trail journal and dream journal. I’m particularly excited about keeping a dream journal to see what sort of thoughts are floating around my sub conscious during the trip.

I’m heading to Georgia in as soon as 4 days. Woah.

-Telluride, CO