AT ‘23 Post 1 - Day 12 (170.3 KM) - Dial it up a Notch

A warm howdy from Franklin, NC. I’m neroing at the Hilltop Inn, just about to go celebrate Peroni’s birthday at the local brewery. This week we’ve been dialling up our distances and speeds a bit. Testing our limits without trying to exceed them. For the uninitiated, a notch is another term for a gap between mountains, hence my punny title. I’ve finally developed some blisters and a minor shin splint. Otherwise I’m feeling fine. Here’s my journal for this week.

Fr Mar 17/23 - Day 5 - Home in the Woods Hostel (61.5 KM)

My first zero. Rain coming down like cats and dogs. 2 inches predicted. For my Canadian readers, that’s a metric “shitton” of water. The day started at 8 AM with a St Patrick’s style breakfast. Amazing waffles with real maple syrup (a minor blessing), green eggs (made green by some unknown potato magic), bacon, and lemon crumble muffins. I’m not usually a lemon fan, but the muffins were amazing. That’s a big complement.

Green eggs and the group

After breakfast, Body Shop learned that his mother in law had passed away. We all gave our condolences. He’s not sure if he can stay on trail given the circumstances, but so far his wife and father in law have both said “just go hike”. I hope he’s able to stay on trail, as it’s been a blast hiking with him, but we all understand if things turn out the other way.

After breakfast I sought some much needed introvert time. I decided to go out on the porch and sit in a hammock watching the rain. I aggregated my blog posts and did some “punch up” work while I watched the rain. Then I integrated the relevant pictures into the post. A good few hours to myself working by myself was nice.

Tech left around lunch to meet his buddy, and another swath of hikers came in. We met Pepe, Stretch, 3 Times, and Getty. We ate some sandwiches and headed in to town to meet some fellow thru hikers at the Long Horn Steakhouse. More cultural enrichment for this Canadian.

At the pub we met up again with Peroni (their deflacto pod leader), Soup (ne Sky), and Radish (ne Summer). Yes it is a coincidence that they were both named Sky and Summer. We sank some brews, commiserated about how cold the next section would be, and chatted about how no healthy, well adjusted, sane human being would attempt to do what we’re doing. It was a really fun time and we all made sure to wear some green for St Paddy.

Happy St Paddys!

After the drinks, Body Shop, Tent Pegs, and I decided to head back to the hostel for dinner. Peroni’s pod decided to go check out another distillery and keep their night going. 4:30 PM is getting pretty late for us hikers! We got back and had an amazing dinner of pulled pork with slaw and apples. I got to try “Duke’s” sauce for the first time. Like a smoky mustard BBQ tangy sauce you put on pulled pork. Dessert was apple bunt with walnuts and more ice cream. Heavenly. Bonnie said another prayer to keep us dry through the next section and we all dug in like animals.

After dinner I took some more introvert time on the rainy porch and then came back in to play some cards. BS and I played some more crib, and I ended up barely scraping out a win by one point. These guys get good fast! Tent Peg came up and we played another game. He ended up winning this game hand over fist. He’s a video game and board game nerd like me. No wonder he picks up quick.

Now it’s 10:49 PM and I’m sitting in a basement office of Paul Hayward’s (at my hostel) finishing off this entry.

A great zero and a great St Paddy’s day. I didn’t get pinched and I don’t believe I got too belligerently drunk. Tomorrow is 12 miles (or 19K) to Blue Mountain Shelter. It’s going to be dry but we’ve been warned there’s a large section of trail starting our day akin to an uphill mudslide. Let’s see if my zero today gets totally knocked out of me tomorrow.

Sa Mar 18/23 - Day 6 - Unicoi Gap (84.5 KM)

Woke up a bit hungover and sleep deprived. I might have drank too much on St Patrick’s indeed. Getting out of bed was hard but the smell of Bonnie and Paul’s cooking was a strong incentive.

Came upstairs to another beautiful breakfast, this time two different kinds of quiche with pancakes. Another timely prayer from Bonnie preceded our last feast at the home in the woods. Breakfast was pretty silent. We all thoroughly enjoyed the meal, and I reflected on my time there. I asked Bonnie if I had earned a return trip, and she said yes! As we left I gave her a big hug, which she returned strongly.

We got to Hogpen gap around 9:25. Paul said it was a balmy 27F (-3C) according to his car thermometer. Rain from the night before had frozen on all the trees, turning the scenery into a beautiful winter wonderland. The cold immediately perked me out of my grogginess from the night before.

Winter wonderland in Georgia!

The day started with me once again frantically jogging up the mountains for dear warmth. As I rotated from the cold side of the mountain to the warm, a gradient of frozen trees would begin turning to thawed. Then I would bask in the warmth temporarily as the tree gradient turned frozen once more and I hiked back onto the cold side. There weren’t many people on the trail. We passed a few thru hikers and some section hikers, but way less people than the first week.

We did end up knocking the zero yesterday out of us. 23 KM in 6 hours! A new daily KM and speed record. We didn’t plan to go so far. We ran into Moxie at Low Gap, an AT Ridge Runner that ran our backpacker orientation last week. Great to see her again! She said that the shelter we were aiming for was at a high elevation and would be incredibly cold to try to camp at with the weather tonight. She recommended going into town, and we agreed. In order to make it to Unicoi Gap and shuttle in to Hiawassee we would have to add 4 KM to our originally 19KM day, making it a 23 KM total. To add insult to injury, the shuttle left at 4 PM. 4 hours to finish 15 more KM. If we don’t take any rests and go at breakneck up Blue Mountain, then we could make it. A good test of our legs after this week! We decided to push on.

Moxie at her finest

For the first few hours I was able to jog along the relatively flat and cruisy terrain leading to Blue Mt. When we reached the base of Blue around 2 PM, Tent Peg and I agreed we were pretty much beat. We had taken less than 10 mins of breaks and skipped lunch, all the while hiking at maximum effort. On the way up Blue my hunger got so bad it turned to nausea, but the will to sleep warm kept me motivated and grinding on. We had 2 hours and 6 KM to finish going over the 1200FT mountain, unsure if we would make the shuttle at 4.

Luckily enough, despite our exhaustion, we made it to Unicoi around 3:45 PM. We finished 23 KM (14+ miles) in 6 hrs. It really hurt. At Unicoi we were greeted with our second trail magic of the trip! Perfect for some harried and hungry hikers. I took a protein shake and a sausage, tried Squirt for the first time, and praised our food related saviour with thanks.

On the shuttle we ran into Erich, a hiker Tent Peg and I had met at Neels. We decided to share a room at the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee. He’s really chill and incredibly calm. He says he drinks coffee but it doesn’t help him at all. I think we should give him a trail name about being cool and calm. Maybe “Iceman”.

Iceman meditating with his resupply!

We checked in at the hotel, showered up, and went to a southern style all you can eat. Giant pieces of fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, and slaw, which I combined with a bowl of salad, a side plate of carrots, and a couple of spoonfuls of peach. For every plate of garbage I must eat a plate of fruit and veg. It was a delicious and much needed meal.

Yum

Tomorrow we think we’ll try to make it to Deep Gap, another 12 miles (or 19K) down the trail. It’s supposed to be really cold once again, but Deep Gap is at a low (“deep”) elevation and protected from the wind, which should keep it warm. We also have literally no other alternative; the next road is about 10 KM past Deep Gap anyhow. If our legs are too busted after today, we’ll camp in between spots early.

Su Mar 19/23 - Day 7 - Sassafras Gap (101.1 KM)

Passed the 100 KM mark today! A big win in an otherwise event less day. We started off with breakfast at 7:30. Our Holiday Inn hotel had a warm breakfast buffet, complete with biscuits and gravy, on the fly pancake making machine, eggs, and cinnamon buns. The biscuits and gravy were definitely the star of the show; loving the southern cuisine! Guts came down for some breaky and joined our group.

100KM mark! Woo!

The shuttle we booked was all packed, so Body Shop and Iceman (ne Erich) took the 9 AM and me and Tent Peg took the 10. By the way, I’ve christened another trail name! Erich liked “Iceman”, and it fit due to his ability to drink 300mg of caffeine and still be cool as a cucumber. On the 10 AM shuttle we ran into Guts and Little Bear again. Looks like our pod from last week is back together!

We hit the trail feeling beat as hell. The 6 hour race yesterday had some bad affects on our knees. So, Peg and I decided we should use the whole day and slow down our pace to get to camp. That was good for Guts and Littlebear; they were beat after hiking through the rain the day before. Guts mentioned that his wet socks froze into boomerangs the morning before! Fun.

The day started off typically cold and only got colder as we started our first ascent up Rocky Mt. Today we’re going over two mountains back to back, forming a beautiful M shape on our elevation graphs. 3500 FT elevation up and down total by the end of the day. Glad we’re taking it slow.

We hiked for a few hours and chatted. Little Bear talked about his time in the Royal Green Jackets. Some crazy stories about Iraq. He almost got court marshalled for refusing to drive through a literal mine field… Well, the court marshal would have been for telling his commanding officer he’d rather shoot him than drive to his death. Smart guy, didn’t get marshalled in the end, and can confirm he’s still alive.

The hiking was uphill and slow but uneventful for the most part. We ran into a lot of “warm ice”, our new term for mud coined by Tent Peg. The man is an artiste with the English Language. Our new term for a toilet break is to go visit the “tree room”. Those North Carolina boys have a way with words.

At 5:30 after about 18 KM, only a few from Deep Gap, we ran into a group of section hikers with a bonfire and decided to finish our day early. We met Pineneedles, Scout, and her husband Jeremy (untrailnamed for now). We setup camp and thanked them immensely for starting a fire. After a much needed dinner, we sat around the fire chatting. The section hikers went to bed and we grew the bonfire even more, to help combat the brittle cold. It’s going down to -7C tonight again, and even though we’re in a gap, the elevation is still high enough that it felt a lot colder. We turned slowly around the fire like chickens on a rotisserie to keep warm. Around sunset it got so cold that we put the fire out and headed to bed.

Tomorrow we’re hiking the 10KM to Dicks Gap and taking a Nero at the Around the Bend Hostel. Should be an easy day.

Mo Mar 20/23 - Day 8 - Around the Bend Hostel (111.4 KM)

Last night was the coldest night we’ve had yet. Weather said -7 for Hiawassee, so we probably encountered -9 to -10C. I awoke with a layer of ice on top of my sleeping bag from the condensation. My tent had a perfect square of ice around it too. I’m definitely asking Shawn to send me his sleeping bag liner and a Mylar blanket for below my pad. I’m going to need all the heat I can get in the Smokies. We were going to get up at 8, but by 7:30 I was freezing in my tent, so I got up early and woke up Tent Peg. He was awake already, as was most of our camp, so I didn’t feel too bad rousing him early.

We were going to rush to the hostel, but the section hikers we were with started a fire, causing Tent Peg to immediately become the fire Godfather. Pineneedles had some leftover hot water, so she gave me a free cup of Starbucks instant coffee… And the rest of her leftover Starbucks instant coffee! She told me “I’m getting off the trail in a week… You’re not getting off at all!”, and kindly donated her leftover coffee. Thanks Pineneedles!

Thanks so much!

We managed to rip ourselves from the fire around 9:30 and start the ascent to Kelly Knob Mt. Hiking up Kelly sucked, but it was a good warmup. I’ve gotten into the habit of cheering our group on by screaming “I eat mountains for breaky and shit ridgelines!” This morning Kelly definitely kicked me and my hiking pod’s ass, but I tried to take it in stride. It was more a filling lunch than a minor breaky, but I kept my mouth shut. The ascent sucked, and the descent was cruisy. Other than some big sections of “warm ice” (our new term for “mud” coined by Tent Peg), the day was uneventful. We summited Rocky Mt (no, not the Rockies), Tray Mt, and Powell Mt. My mom’s side of the family are Powell’s, so I had to get a shot. A Powell on Powell Mt. I’m sure I’m not the first.

A Powell on Powell

We got to Dick’s Creek Gap around 1:40 PM, and as we arrived we ran into Bonnie and Paul Hayward! They were shuttling Getty to another spot to hike. We said hello, showed Paul that we still had the bracelets he gave us, and chatted for a bit. When they heard we were staying at the Around the Bend Hostel, they offered to give us a ride! Score! On the way over we learned that they’re taking a couple of days off to themselves and going for a walk in the park. Good to hear given all the dirty hikers like us they normally take care of! We took some of their trail magic, some brownies, waffles, and breakfast cookies that were sweet with salty bacon bits hidden inside. At the hostel I gave Bonnie another big sweaty hug and Paul a first bump of solidarity.

We got to the hostel and checked in. They were very friendly and you could tell there was a community vibe to the place. We met Grazer and Lennon, who help run the place. We showered up, caught up with Body Shop, and then I headed into town. I resupplied, grabbed some beer and a Four Loko (Illegal in Canada!), and headed back to the hostel.

Around the Bend hostel

When I got back, the hiker Naomi had made dinner! Pasta with garlic bread. Very good. I offered some jalapeño poppers for the group in exchange for the pasta. It was a big hiker family feast. We needed more pasta, so I made it for the group. I sneakily cooked it perfectly al dente, my favourite bite. Everyone seemed to appreciate it regardless.

Afterwards I came out and met Strugglebug and Fuckit. Strugglebug’s best friend committed suicide due to PTSD, and he is now hiking the trail in his memory. Apparently he’s using his friend’s gear too so that he can do it in spirit! At this point I’ve met 3 people on the trail with PTSD, and all of them have said that hiking the AT has taken a big load off their back. I joked to Stugglebug that they actually had quite a heavy load on their back with their packs, even without the mental stress! Ironic that carrying a heavy pack through the mountains can be such a source of relief for so many. He highly recommends PTSDUSA.org for anyone in need.

Fuckit is a French hiker I heard about from someone else on trail. He’s finishing off his Triple Crown on the AT. I think it was Peanut and Lisa that told me about him. They said he told them “the AT guidebooks don’t mention that you’ll shit your pants on trail!”, and they’ve been repeating it ever since. When I leaned that Strugglebug was staying with Fuckit, I had to have a beer with the legend himself! We chatted about mental game, travelling in Canada, and general health on the trail. He said go slow, listen to your body, and enjoy. Hey… Isn’t that a quote from my first blog post!?

Fuckit!

Overall it was a great day. Tomorrow we should cross into North Carolina, marking the end of Georgia, our first state. I’m seeing all the states as Pokémon gyms. My first state badge on trail! After this it’s only 13 more to go. Tomorrow it should be dry and warmer than today, so we’re going to try to get to Muskrat Shelter. In a few days we should be in Franklin NC, then Fontana Dam NC, the gateway to the Smokies. I’m not excited for how cold the Smokies will be given the luck I’ve had so far. Let’s see what happens.

Tu Mar 21/23 - Day 9 - Muskrat Creek (130.4 KM)

A 19KM day with 4500 ft of elevation upwards. It was basically uphill all day, with slight cruisy areas of reprieve. A rough and slow day, but we made it through in about 7.5 hrs.

Crossed into NC today! Felt a lot of emotions when I reached the border. Only cried a little bit. I realized that a part of me still believed that I would somehow fuckup in my first week. I also felt a lot of gratitude to be out here on the trail. And I filled with determination. If I can put one state under me, I can put them all. I listened to some Pokémon music to celebrate my first state badge.

Full of emotions at the NC border

We had lunch at the border and powered on. A couple of hours, and three more ascents later, we rolled into camp around 5 PM. Due to the weather showing rain, I decided to take a spot in the shelter. I was a bit grumpy coming into camp. It lifted once I had some food in me and a warm fire to roast by. I tried Idahoan instant Potatoes today. Much better than other instant potatoes I’ve tried. Lived up to the hype.

We had a nice fire and chatted with the other thru hikers. We met Mantis, Sparky, Iron Mike, Cyclo (like encyclopedia), Roadrunner, and some others I’m sure I’m forgetting. Tech and Iceman were in their group, so we caught up too. Sparky is so named because her great great uncle was the famous park ranger that got hit by lightning 7 times, Roy Sullivan. I had to take a selfie!

Sparky, the great great grand niece of Roy Sullivan himself!

We’re heading into Franklin on Friday, so we’re going to try to pull two more 20KM days in a row to make it. Tomorrow it’s going to rain during the day, so we might not be able to make it that far. In that case there’s a camp at the 12 KM mark.

We Mar 22/23 - Day 10 - Deep Gap NC (136.8 KM)

Woke up to the pitter patter of rain on the shelter. Uh oh, my first rainy hike. Got up, packed quickly, and shoved a granola bar down my throat to keep pace with Body Shop. Hit the trail with him around 8:15 AM.

It was wet and cold. I noticed in the night I’m developing a rash on my lower back where my pack rubs up. It was painful to sleep on my back due to it, but I’m a natural side sleeper so it wasn’t a big deal. Trudging through the rain definitely intensified the pain, though.

Mantis caught up with us quick, and pretty soon Body Shop and her had outpaced me on an uphill. I trudged through the cold rain for a couple of hours. I noticed on my map that there was a parking lot about 6 KM in. I had a prayer of getting out of the rain and into another hostel! The guide said that the road was closed, but when I got there I ran into some parked cars and two people huddling under an umbrella for dear warmth. I asked them if there was a shuttle into town, and they said they were taking one back to the Around the Bend Hostel in 15 mins. Score!

We huddled and chatted for a bit to ignore the rain. I met Eugene and Tammy Foret from Louisiana. They were very friendly with a beautiful Cajun accent. The shuttle arrived and saved us from the freezing rain.

The shuttle back to the hostel took about 40 minutes. I learned about how devastating hurricane Ida was, Louisiana boudin, and the crude oil pipeline work that Eugene had done for more than 30 years. I also learned about their grandson Tanner.

Luckily the hostel had a room for me, and I managed to split it with another hiker named Pineapple. Last two spots! It was meant to be. On top of that, Eugene and Tammy paid for my shuttle cost. I thanked them immensely and ran into the hostel to get dry. In my haste to escape the rain I forgot to take a selfie. Hope we meet again so I can pay back the favour!

I hung around and christened another hiker Honey, which he accepted. The name is because he offered me a Guinness beer, but then gave me a Honey Amber lager. He had been drinking the beer himself and thought it was a Guinness brand until I pointed it out. We got a big laugh, and I traded him a Land Shark beer that I picked up on the way. Honey also gave me a spare inflatable pillow he didn’t want anymore. Again I forgot to take a selfie. I really was beat by the rain. Thanks man!

We hung around and played some crib and crazy 8s. I find crazy 8s is easy to teach because most people usually know some form of Uno already. I met Patrick, Dan, Mike, and Barbie. Barbie is actually a man who sings “Barbie Girl” by Aqua quietly to himself when he’s pushing through tough sections. That Aqua album was actually the first CD I ever got, around 5 years old. Everyone was impressed when I was able to sing the whole chorus from memory.

I ran into Puffin, Bluebird, Moweight, and Papa Bear (formerly Popeye) again as well. Moweight was the one who gave me my trail name! Good to see him again! Papa Bear bought fresh made donuts and shared them with everybody. He let me have a sweet taste of home with a maple donut. It was amazing. I shared the apple I cut up in exchange.

I did my laundry, showered, dried off my stuff, and chilled out. I contacted Body Shop and Tent Peg and let them know I got off the trail but planned to catch up on Friday. The rain ended up lasting all day and into the night. I’m glad I got out of it today.

To catch up with the others I’m planning on pushing a 28 KM (16 mile) day tomorrow and then a 12 KM (7 mile) the day after. If all goes well I’ll be just passed the 100 mile mark when I camp. I’ll have to summit Mt Albert to get to Long Branch shelter, though. Hoping to meet back up with the others in Franklin. Let’s see what shakes out.

Th Mar 23/23 - Day 11 - Long Branch Shelter (164.4 KM)

Woke up around 6:20 this morning and quietly packed my stuff up to not disturb Pineapple. At breakfast I ran into Moweight and Puffin. I ate a banana and grabbed an orange for the trail. I took a selfie, chatted with Chefferey, and caught the 7:30 shuttle back to Deep Gap with Gordon, the hostel owner. He was very friendly and gave me some good tips for dealing with wild hogs and bears.

Everyone at breaky

The terrain today was nice and cruisy. It was speckled with highly technical sections including spots covered in mud scattered with downed trees. There were also a few sections hiking up active creeks. I got incredibly lucky with a few slips and slides today. Could have hurt myself badly, but didn’t. The trail gods are still smiling on me. It was dry, sunny, and blessedly warm. A 15C for the high. I actually took off my jacket and hiked in just my sun shirt! Another trail first.

In the morning I ran into a hiker named Stairmaster as he filtered water. He sped off after a quick chat about Long Branch, our next camp. Around 1 PM, after climbing Indian Mt, I came to a beautiful vista overlooking the Appalachians. I took a picturesque lunch and continued on.

Best seat in the house

At a road crossing shortly after, I ran into more trail magic, hosted by Miss Janet herself! She’s a legend, having contributed to the AWOL guide, ran a hiker hostel, provided trail magic, and helped hikers in a pinch for almost 40 years. She’s considered an all around “angel of the trail”. She was incredibly friendly and a fountain of wisdom. She taught me how to identify poison ivy vine, filled me up with pop and chocolate, gave me a set of gossamer gear tent footprints, and refilled my Leukotape laden lighter. She told me stories about Darwinonthetrail and other similar legends. Her dog Dexter was also cute as heck. I gave her a hug, thanked her for the help, and she gave me her number in case of emergencies. What an angel!

The legend Miss Janet herself!

About 10 minutes after Miss Janet’s trail magic, I ran into more! A bunch of dirty hikers drinking PBRs and red wine! At the camp I met Tom, Hoot, Piper, Aloha, Melodic, Saas, and some others I’m sure I’m missing. We drank and laughed in the sun, and time flew. After 40 minutes and some red wine, I managed to tear myself from the trail magic party and begin my ascent for Mt Albert.

A boozy trail magic

The ascent for Albert was incredibly steep, but there were stairs and rock steps to help the climb. After seemingly no time, I made it to the top, and my first official fire tower of the trail, marking the unofficial 100 mile point. It was picturesque. The most stunning sights yet. I climbed to the top of the tower, took some pics, basked in the glory of another major milestone, and headed off for the real mile mark some .7 miles away.

First official watchtower around mile 100

Stunning

I passed the official 100 mile mark and got to the shelter around 6 PM. Here I met SpongeBob, Satellite, and Gadget again. I caught up with gadget and his adventure, setup shop in the bottom of the shelter, and started making dinner. Tonight was Idahoan Garlic instant potatoes with jerky. Yum.

As I finished dinner Hoot, Melodic, Sass, and Dave rolled in. We laughed and chatted while we ate. Sass is from South Africa. I asked him what’s the weirdest thing he’s ate, and he said hands down Hippo. Definitely weirder than anything I’ve had.

We let it get a little too late, and realized we still had to hang our food. Me and Sass headed out to share a hang, and it took us nearly an hour to find a good spot in the dark! Long Branch shelter, ironically, doesn’t have many good long branches for hanging. We heard the others laughing at our misfortune back at the shelter, and thanked them for their help!

Today I finished 28 KM, a new distance record for my thru. I feel a bit beat up, I’m developing some blisters, my shin splint in my right leg isn’t happy, and I’m playing rash “whack-a-mole” with hydrocortisone and body glide. But I can’t complain compared to some of the other injuries I’ve seen. Body Shop and Tent Peg both are icing different parts of their leg due to overuse injuries. I don’t want to join their fate.

Overall it was a great day. Amazing to meet Miss Janet in real life, and great to get a surprise glass (or cookcup) of wine mid trail. Tomorrow I nero into Franklin NC. I’m aiming for Winding Gap but will settle for the slightly closer Rock Gap if the shuttle lines up. There I’ll catch up with Tent Pegs and Body Shop. Only a few more days before Fontana Dam and the beginning of the Smokies. See you there.