What’s it like hiking the AT as a couple? After years and miles being individual hikers, it’s what Sandy and I are learning. Living out of only two backpacks requires more team work, much more than just your everyday living. At home there’s a kitchen, with things like a stove, microwave and fridge. If the …
AT Ambassador
It’s Friday night in Erwin, Tennessee and we and Plodder are setting up our tents on the lawn of town hall. “We’re Occupy Erwin!” we joke. An antique car cruise is going on a couple of blocks away. Inside town hall, Miss Janet is readying an “AT Film Fest” to help connect the two communities …
Big Bald
One of the finest views we’ve had on this hike appeared at Big Bald, a mile-high mountain north of Sam’s Gap. Open and expansive, it’s a place where thunderclouds gather easily. We enjoyed 360-degree views before the storm crashed in.
Burst Bubble
As luck and timing and pace would have it, we’re caught in the bubble: the maximum flow of northbound hikers on the AT. We’ve been in it since the Smokies. Waves of hikers pass us, but we’re coping with anywhere from 24-52 people showing up at shelter areas built to accomodate 8-12 people. Worse, it’s …
Bye Bye, Balds!
After a gorgeous night at the iconic Overmountain Shelter, a historic barn with one heck of a view, we climb the last of the North Carolina balds. These grassy-topped peaks since Roan Mountain offered excellent panoramas, but the pair of Little Hump and Big Hump, our last North Carolina mountains, are simply amazing. They defy …
Camper Karma
It took two hops to leave the southern Appalachians behind and continue north. Our friends Sally and Johnny got us to Damascus to pick up our maildrop after picking us up just past Big Hump Mountain. They’d parked in front of Mt. Rogers Outfitters, where Gutsy was hanging out. We moved our packs to the …
Chattahoochee Nature Trails
Chattahoochee Nature Trails system treats hikers to an exploration of botanically-rich habitats along bluffs and ravines near the Apalachicola River and an archaeological site towering over the river’s edge.
Cruel Shoes
John’s feet hurt. Bad. It started right out of Allen Gap, but he’d had hints of it in Hot Springs, buying Superfeet insoles in hopes that they would help. En route to Jerry’s Cabin he tried reversing his socks – wearing liners on the outside. By the Shelton Graves he’d turned his socks heel up …
Gotta Go
One of the aspects of the AT thus far that I’ve been thankful for are the privies at shelter areas. They aren’t always the cleanest places, but they’re a welcome sight when relief is needed. So far, they’ve been mouldering privies, using worms, mulch, and air to break everything down to compost. You must toss …
Hiker Feed
Word spreads up the trail fast. “Hiker feed at Unicoi Gap! Pancakes tomorrow at Burningtown Road!” We always seemed to miss these traveling feasts until we laid up in Hot Springs. We heard whispers in the halls of Laughing Heart before the notice went up: “Potluck at community center, 6 PM.” And so we piled …
Lord Willin
Still recuperating and exhausted at the nearly 14 mile day into Jerry’s Cabin the prior day, I collapsed onto the platform of the Flint Mountain Shelter. It was lunchtime, and the combination of a bright, clean, welcoming shelter, sunshine, and a meal had me ready for a nap. I dozed while John read a magazine …
Maryland Rocks
Everyone warns you about the Pennsylvania rocks, but no one ever mentions the rocks of Maryland. They start off somewhat innocuous, jumbles of small stones that make up the footpath. Then you climb to the top of the ridge of South Mountain and discover what rock hopping feels like in earnest. “I heard something slither,” …
