Extension

I have been in the middle of the next adventure and will unfortunately be stopping regular updates on this particular adventure. I may however be sending new updates from a trip across the country from east to west this time.
 I believe that now is the time to adventure, while I am young enough to enjoy it. I learned this view from some of the girls I hiked with on the trail, and I think it is a great idea.

Peace!!

Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

Relaxation

  It was here I found a few days to really test my experience of being in the wilderness. I had already resigned myself to living without the hat and gloves. I was happy for the newly found coffee cup. I had a couple of days of hiking alone, though I did stay at a shelter.

  Melanie had sent plenty of candy, leftover from the baby shower as a trail magic gift for other hikers. I waited until I was going uphill and left some on side of the trail for others, with a quick note asking them to send a thank you to Mel’s email address. A bit of sugar will always help you get up the hill. Many hikers I know carry some hard candy for just that reason. If the hill is a steep climb they will get about half way up and then go for the sugar rush to help them the rest of the way.

  I came into the shelter area a little late that day, and there was a large group of college age people there. Overall they were a rude bunch of kids that seemed to have no respect for the other hikers around them. I offered them a bag of candy and the only comment they made was, “AOL really, that is old school “. They were talking about the email address I had left in the bag. One of them even said that I WAS BEING RUDE BY ASKING THAT THEY SEND A THANK YOU. I decided it was better to keep my mouth closed and go a bit away from the shelter to set up my tent.

  Down on the southern part of the trail there always seems to be plenty of camping spaces near the shelters. Places that are flat with little debris so you can set-up rather easily. This is not the case when you get up to the northern areas, so enjoy it while you can.

  I grabbed my cook pot and had a quick dinner, pulled out my journal and began to jot down a few notes of the day. I’m pretty sure this was the first entry I had managed to write. I just was not very good at the whole journal thing. It gave me time to reflect on my recent life and the things that I had misinterpreted. One guy came back from the shelter to let me know I should join them for a bit of social activity. I politely declined, but it was nice of him to make the effort. I would be seeing him again, and I’m pretty sure not many of that group ever made it passed the halfway point.

Psychological stress and cancer

Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

The trail doth provide

  So it was a fantastic weekend back in the Atlanta area. Melanie and her husband Mark were brave enough to endure having me in the car with them for the 2+ hour trip back home. After a couple of showers and a night in a real bed I was right as rain.

  I had hoped to grab a metal cup while I was off the trail. Something I could use for coffee, the most important part of my morning. I went through the options at the house and could find nothing. I stopped by an outfitter on the way back to the trail, and all they had was a $45.00 titanium cup. Titanium would have been nice, but at that price I was willing to do without. I also hoped to refill my fuel canister and the outfitter wanted $12.00 for a pint of Coleman type fuel. I learned my lesson of stopping at an outfitter anywhere near Lake Lanier, a popular water recreation area in Ga. I figured I would move on to Hiawassee and get some there. Unfortunately everything in town was closed on a Sunday, and I had to get some unleaded gasoline to carry me for a few days. Luckily I had an MSR multi-fuel stove that would allow me to use gasoline.

  The weekend was fantastic and my friends had refilled my food supply. Melanie became notorious on the trail for making sure that I hiked with the heaviest pack possible. There were times when she even made sure it was too heavy. I wouldn’t have thought that a week of food could be so heavy, but sure enough it can.

  As I said before, if you are not out hiking everyday you will lose your trail legs. It only takes about 2 days for that to happen, and I was gone for three. When I started back on the trail with a heavy pack it felt like I was starting fresh all over again. Though I had a great time over the weekend, I was regretting it now that I was back on the trail. I somehow managed to remember everything as I prepared to get back into the woods.

  It took me a few hours to climb that first hill. I stopped to rest about 5 times on the incline, and I was very happy to find that the first shelter was only a couple of miles away. On the way up I was contemplating the best way to serve my coffee in the morning. I didn’t want to use my water bottle for coffee. It would make me have to take 2 trips to the water source each time. I couldn’t use the plastic Gatorade bottle as it would melt, and I was tired of using my cook pot because I had already managed to burn my lips a couple of times. It did look cool though for many of the other hikers. I heard several comments on how much of a “Mountain Man” I was while sipping from my cook pot. The pot I had with me at this time was about as old as the trail itself. The trail was completed in 1937, and the cookpot was last manufactured in 1940 when the company went out of business.

  I reached the top of the hill, and dropped my backpack off next to the picnic table. Noone was around the shelter site, and after checking the shelter log it appeared that the last hiker had been through about 3 hours before me. Sitting on the table in front of the shelter was a blue enamel coffee cup. Here again I picked it up with the intention of returning it to it’s rightful owner if I came across someone who had lost one. It is still attached to my pack to this day.

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Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

Communication Breakdown

  As I topped the last hill before Hiawassee, I had a passing thought of confirming the plans I had made with my best friend. We talked the day before and made arrangements to meet at the trail crossing just outside of Hiawassee. I had dropped my pack long enough to take a quick break up where there was a bit of a view.

 You would be amazed at how quickly news will travel in both directions on the trail. If something noteworthy happens you will hear about it faster than you would imagine. This particular day I was beginning to dig through my bag when some hikers came from south of me and gave me a warning about a sex predator that was supposed to be at the road crossing. He was driving a red truck, offering shuttle service for sex. The other hikers and I talked for a few minutes about this, made our jokes and then prepared to go down the hill. In light of the conversation, and my amazement how much detail the grapevine was able to produce, I completely forgot to make the call.

  It was nearing noon when the group of us made it to the road. Nine miles into town with a large incline to start that trip with. I was to be picked up at 2 or so I thought, and I whipped out the phone to let my friends know I had made it. I waited a few seconds, I moved to a new spot and tried again, I walked up the hill a bit and I could not for the life of me find a signal. The other hikers had already started the hitching ritual, and I quickly asked one of the ladies if she would be kind enough to call my friend when she got to town. I couldn’t go into town as I was expecting my ride. In the gaps between mountains is a terrible place to try and get a signal, so make sure you make your calls at the top of the hill before going to town.

  I didn’t have to wait alone. Bahala Na, another thru-hiker, had trouble with his feet and was taking a few days off the trail in an effort to heal. This is an important point to make; you can stay in one place when necessary. Take time to heal and don’t force yourself on thinking you will adapt. Listen to your body and take precautions when needed. Personally I thought he would be going home, as he could barely hobble out to say hello and smoke a bowl with me while I waited. Another group of slow moving hikers were there also and preparing to leave. One man put on his overly large pack which had a mannequin head with a wild red curly wig and crazy make-up on top of his pack. It was interesting and I made a personal note to find out what that story was someday. The afternoon ticked slowly by, and my 2 o’clock departure was late, as my friends were waiting for me to call and let them know I had made it.

 

It was great to see my friends again. Melanie had come up from the Atlanta area to take me back home for the holiday weekend. Before heading south we made a quick bounce over to North Carolina, to a little BBQ place that was amazing! I really didn’t think that I had enough time on the trail to have worked up a “Hiker’s Appetite”, but I managed to finish a feast while I was there.

 

Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

Inspiration

  Have you ever hit that point where you zoned out, and time had no meaning or place with your thoughts? Have you been so stoned that you were thinking of nothing for an indeterminate amount of time? This is where my mind was.

  A good day of hiking will give you ample time to contemplate. When you are out by yourself in the woods for many hours with no particular place you have to be, your thoughts will wander. You may be figuring out the answers to the universe, or simply wondering what brought that stick to lie in middle of the trail. It really doesn’t matter what is occupying your mind, it is the freedom of thought that fills your mind. It is a wonderful feeling. You can expect to have it more often as time goes by.

  For most of the early hike I would travel mostly alone. There were always times that I would meet someone new and even hike with them for a few hours. It was great to have some interaction with others just to see how much they were enjoying, or despising their own hike. It was a window into someone else’s lifestyle without caring where their story would lead. Whoever they were, wherever they came from did not matter, only that they were safe, and in good health. It is truly amazing to see mankind in this kind of environment.

  It had been a day since I had left my hat and gloves behind. I spent the night in the shelter, had breakfast and packed everything to go. The air was a little crisp so I put on my hat and gloves, hiked for a couple of hours and stopped for a break. The air had warmed a bit so I laid my hat and gloves to the side and eventually left them behind. Emergency calls to my ground support, my sister, telling her to send some in the next maildrop.

  A few hours of hiking and I was over the hill and on my way to Hiawassee and a fantastic St. Patty’s Day.

5 things a woman should know about Breast Cancer: HERE
Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

Get in the groove

  Finally it was a couple of days of what I had been looking for. The night air still had a chill but, the days were great for hiking. When the sun would dip behind a cloud and the breeze would kick up you had to make the decision of stopping for a light jacket, or pushing on until the sun would give you some rays.

  With my schedule of late rising and early stops I had managed to get behind the early crowd of hikers. I was able to get a couple of days of that wilderness experience I wanted. I was able to stop and camp away from the shelters, where the forest was my own. I was able to enjoy the sounds at night, and the wake up call of the early morning birds. I had managed to somewhat get my trail legs and was ready for whatever the trail would bring.

  It was so nice to look at the upcoming hills and not worry if I would make it to the top. I knew I would make it, even if I did take longer than some of the “professional” hikers. I did notice however that the forest was a little quieter than I had imagined. It was still early in the year and the sounds of crickets and tree frogs were absent. It left the night sounding still. Every little creature stirring in the leaves sounded large when trying to sleep. My first night camping alone, I was excited and a little scared. If something were to happen I would have no way to take care of it. It was just a personal fear I had to overcome though. I made it safely through that first night, and had a great outdoor experience all the way to Hiawassee.

Natural Spring with great tasting water.

Living for something more than the almighty dollar.

A quiet day

The first days on the trail you can’t help but have many thoughts vying for attention. You have all the concerns of the “real life” that seem to stay in the back of your head and nag you. You also have the concerns of the trail jumping around in there. You begin to wonder how your body is going to hold up, and the ever-present worries of making to Katahdin before time runs out.

  You have become accustomed to outdoor living and a schedule begins to form for your days. You have an average time to wake, your average time to pack, and a time to start hiking. I found at this point that I was not as worried about the waking and hiking time. It was a relief to be able to do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it.

  After leaving the hostel was the first time that I truly enjoyed a full day of hiking. I was getting further away from Springer, which meant less time wondering if I would call for a ride home. I had talked to Melanie, one of my best friends and ground support for the hike, and made arrangements to be picked up in Hiawassee. Only a couple of days to go and I would run back to Atlanta for the weekend. I would be able to resupply at a regular grocery store, do my laundry, and enjoy some time with my friends.

  My mind was at ease, and I had a great hike that day. It was a little depressing that the trees were still leafless, and there was no foliage out, but it gave me a chance to look around at the hills and see some of the environment around me. Later in the trail when the forest wakes, the trail becomes what is commonly called “The Green Tunnel”. It basically means that you can't see much beyond the trail you are hiking, as the leaves form a tunnel around you, and are too thick to see much of the environment beyond.

How sleep can fight cancer:  HERE

Living for something more than the almighty dollar.