Hiking the Appalachian Trail

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 …

Step lively at Fontana Dam as the traffic zips by!

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 …

Soaking wet at Winding Stair Gap, we cowered close to the roadcut as thunder boomed and lightning crashed across the mountains. How would we get to Franklin? Our friends weren’t able to pick us up and the last hiker shuttle of the day had already left. Gutsy sat in her tent, out of the rain. …

All set up in our Lightheart Duo. Rain or shine, this is home. Been hiking for nearly a week and getting stronger and more fleet of foot every day, and more adept at setting up camp quickly. Life is good!

Warm meals, hot showers, and comfortable beds with pillows: such are the kindnesses extended by friends as we hike, and it makes all the difference when our spirits are sagging. At the Hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge, we’re cheered by the hospitality extended by hosts Chuck Norris and Tigger. Yes, we know them, but they …

Stopped at the side of the highway as our tour bus waited at a restroom, I could see a distant cluster of towers on the mountain to the west. “Hey, that’s Pen Mar!” We’re visiting Gettysburg on foot, led here by a deepening interest in the Civil War history we’ve discovered along the Appalachian Trail, …

Diving into the tent the night before as a violent thunderstorm met us head-on atop Cove Mountain, we ate little, instead huddling on a single air mattress as the storm raged around us. Stepping over downed limbs as we picked our way down a portion of the trail that the guidebook called out as “especially …

(Just a reminder – these posts aren’t in “real time” but lagging 2-4 weeks. We’re well now, thanks!) We hadn’t planned to spend a week in Hot Springs, the first town where the AT ambles right through the center of everything, but there we were. The first few days were spent with a dear friend …

It’s been more than a decade since I lived out of a backpack for more than a week, and the experience brings back echoes of those rambles through Europe and Asia. We’re not quite to the AT yet – soon! – as my authorly duties have us living out of our packs in hotel rooms. …

Our second day of rain, we stopped for a snack. I looked at John and said, “your Dad is right, maybe we aren’t wrapped too tight!” Just then a couple of German girls came along and took this photo for us. As they handed the camera back, the sky opened up. We slogged across Blood …

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 …