Soakies, Magic, and not a single bear

The last time I was able to post was in Franklin, NC, which is soon after the 100 mile marker. I am now in Hot Springs, NC, which is around 275 miles. We have a lot of catching up to do.

Also, it is said that 40% of people drop out by the end of the Smokies, so a pat on the back for me. 

Day 11, Miles: 3.6  AT Miles: 106.1

Hiked a short day so I could catch the shuttle into Franklin. Split a cheap motel with 3 other hikers and then just enjoyed the rest of a lazy day in town on a beautiful day. Showered and got laundry done as well. It's often hard to remind myself how necessary these town days are. The tendency is to want to skip over in order to make miles and save money. 

Day 12, Miles: 8.1  AT Miles: 114.0 

Ate breakfast at the Baptist church in Franklin. For 1 month during peak hiker season, they drive a van to all the motels and hostels to pick up hikers for an all you can eat pancakes and bacon breakfast. After eating my fill and thanking these wonderful people, I went and bought my food for the next 5 days. 

  

I went and hung out one of the outfitters so I could get free coffee and wifi to type my blog post. I also needed some more time off of my feet for some blisters to harden up. I wasn't able to get back on trail until 5 pm, when I then proceeded to pump out 8+ miles to a shelter .5 miles off trail. Crammed in with friends to avoid thunderstorms predicted that night. 

Day 13, Miles: 6.8  AT Miles: 120.8

Took a later morning waiting of a lull in the rain. It rained more anyway so my waiting didn't help that much. Ended up running into my first trail magic at Wayah Bald. Hot dogs and fruit was one of the best things to combat a really terrible day for hiking. Hiked another mile or so past the bald and made camp around one of the shelters. It wasn't a long day but I needed it to help some minor injuries rest up. 

Day 14, Miles: 10.6  AT Miles: 131.4 

Took another later morning and a long lunch. Got to see some incredible views from Wesser Bald and then hiked just a little further to Wesser Bald Shelter. I was the only one there. I have never had such an eerie experience than being at the shelter all night, alone. I did get to go back to the top of the bald for an incredible sunset though. I also had my first mouse incident. Since I was the only person in the shelter, I was the only hiker for them to mess with so they decided to chew through the bite-valve of my CamelBak. 

Day 15, Miles: 12.6  AT Miles: 144.0

Ended up enjoying the solitude (other than the mice) and had a nice night overall. Hike down several thousand feet of elevation today into a place called the Nantahala Outdoor Center so I could buy a new bite-valve and grab lunch. Then hiked up several thousand feet of elevation to make camp. After a strenuous and long decent with a long climb after, I am feeling pretty sore. Starting to notice more and more pain in my feet. Hoping these boots can make it a little longer. 

Day 16, Miles: 9.1  AT Miles: 153.1

Another day with a lot of downhill, starting to have more foot pain and soreness, almost like I sprained a few toes or something. Planning a zero in Fontana the day after tomorrow so hopefully a lot of the pain will go away. 

Day 17, Miles: 12.8  AT Miles: 165.9

Yet another day with a lot of downhill. People think the ups are hard, but its the downs that take the most toll. Fontana has a great shelter nicknamed the "Fontana Hilton." It has public restrooms and showers and an incredible view of Fontana Lake. Looking forward to the zero tomorrow. 

Day 18, Miles: 0.0  AT Miles: 165.9

Relaxed for a while and then took a shower, finally. Got a hitch into town and picked up my food drop for the Smokies, which is right after the Fontana Dam. Hung out at a little store for a while and did laundry. Ran into another hiker, Ron, and he offered the other bed he had at the lodge there. A great way to end a relaxing and very necessary zero day. 

Day 19, Miles: 6.0 AT Miles: 171.9

Much later start than anticipated but wanted to grab lunch before heading out. Started hiking again around 2:30 pm. Was pouring rain all day and the trail was basically a creek. Slowed our pace quite a bit so we camped at the first site we saw. In the Smokies, you are only allowed to camp at shelters or designated sites which is kind of annoying. Anyway, the rain had let up so we wanted to get our tents up while it was dry.

Day 20, Miles: 10.8 AT Miles: 182.7

Trail was super muddy making it very hard to make a good pace. Stopped shorter of our goal but there was a good group at the shelter and had a good time just sitting around and talking.

Day 21, Miles: 12.1 AT Miles: 194.8

Pushed out a hard first 6 miles but realized I wasn't going to make my initial goal of almost 20 today. The 3 inches of mud is making hiking very difficult and disheartening. Pushed on some more so a shelter. Heard we are going to get over 2 inches of rain tomorrow, great. 

Day 22, Miles: 0.0  AT Miles: 194.8

Woke up to high winds and pouring rain outside. Inside, we had a fire in the fireplace and everyone else had decided to take a zero day. We have now started referring to the Smokies at the "Soakies." Ate food and made hot tea all day which was a good morale booster. Also having a lot of issues with my feet because of my boots. I don't know if I can make them last too much longer. 

Day 23, Miles: 8.0  AT Miles: 202.8

Made it to Clingman's Dome today, the highest point on the AT. Had some good views and beautiful terrain as we made it into higher elevation. Going into Gatlinburg tomorrow to get some food since I'm taking longer to get through the Soakies. Staying in Mt. Collins shelter tonight at 5900'. 

Day 24, Miles: 4.5  AT Miles: 207.3 

Short day to Newfound Gap so I could hitch into Gatlinburg. Got a hitch pretty quickly and got lunch at Five Guys. Went to the outfitter to charge my phone and ended up buying trail runners so I could ditch my boots. I couldn't take hiking in them any longer. After navigating the trolley system to the grocery store and back, I reached the edge of town around dark, to try and hitch back to the trail. Not easy after dark when you are a guy. Ended up getting picked up by a park worker to crash at her house for the night. Many thanks to her, it was nice to have a bed and a shower for the night. 

Day 25, Miles: 15.6  AT Miles: 222.9

Got a hitch in about 15 seconds this morning and pumped out good miles today. Feet feel amazing in the new shoes. Weather was clear providing some amazing views of the Smokies, finally. Reminds me of something I would see out west or something. Sharper, rugged mountains, speckled with conifers, It's stunning actually. 

Day 26, Miles: 20.5  AT Miles:  243.4

Longest day yet! Dropped several thousand feet out of the Smokies and had more incredible views in the process. Was able to get enough signal to FaceTime my Mom for her birthday which was definitely a nice surprise. One, for her to see me, two, that I had enough service in the middle of the woods. Still feeling good with the new shoes and happy to be out of the Smokies, now we can camp anywhere again. 

Day 27, Miles: 7.7  AT Miles: 251.1

Heard there would be trail magic at Brown Gap and were they ever right. I ended up camping the night. I ate a total of 6 meals there, it was, in fact, called a "Hiker Feed." One night we even had steak, pork chops, salmon, and chicken. Huge props to the crew at Brown Gap, they have been doing that for about 24 years. Looking forward to seeing them again at Trail Days in a few weeks. 

Day 28, Miles: 0.0  AT Miles: 251.1

The zero day of the hiker feed. Just imagine me sitting around eating all sorts of food, drinks, and soaking up some sunshine. Man this hiking thing is hard.

Day 29, Miles: 8.9  AT Miles: 260.0

Hiked out from the hiker feed in pouring rain and hiked into the night before I made camp. Night hiking alone is already a little creepy, doing it in fog just makes it unbearable. Camped alone and just tried not to think of any of the horror movies I had seen where being alone in the woods ends badly. I remembered all of them. 

Day 30, Miles: 14.4  AT Miles: 274.4

Made it into Hot Springs, NC today and got a bunk at the Laughing Heart hostel. was going to push on but ended up hanging out in town all day. Nice little trail town and nice to get some good food. There is a nice little hiker ministry with computers, wifi, and free coffee which is where I am right now.

So there it is, one month on the trail. I haven't made near the pace I had expected but that is probably a good thing. Now that I have new shoes and less foot pain, I hope to put many more in a day. I should hit VA in about 2 weeks or more and can't wait to be back home in a few after that. 

Shades, the hiker formally known as Chad.

There is a long standing tradition among thru-hikers, or any type of hiker, to have a "trail name". Essentially a nickname to be used on the trail. Some pick their own, others let their name be chosen by those their fellow hikers. I fall into the second category. Finally, on day 5, I received mine. But anyway, let's start with day 1.

Day 1, Miles Hiked: 8.1, AT Miles: 8.1

After hiking to the top of Springer with my parents and saying our goodbyes, I took off to hike another 7 miles that day to the first shelter, Hawk Mountain Shelter. (Shelters are often simple one to two story huts for hikers to stay in. I usually just camp near them for the social aspect and the privy, or outhouse.) It was an absolutely gorgeous day for hiking with predominantly mild terrain. I met a lot of awesome people that first night, many I continue to run into. I also met the two families, total of 15 people, that are hiking the entire trail. It rained pretty hard that night, which made breaking camp that much more enjoyable. 

Day 2, Miles Hiked 7.7, AT Miles: 15.8

After breaking camp, I hiked most of the day alone. So far, this has been my preference as it allows me to move at my pace and enjoy the stillness and solitude of the woods. Anyway, I rolled into camp fairly early and spend the day lounging around and drying out my stuff. I stayed at Gooch Mountian Shelter and met many more incredible people, as well as running into many from the night before. 

Day 3 Miles: 8.5 AT Miles: 24.3

Took my time breaking camp today and just enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weather. Big day with Blood Mountain tomorrow, the first real Mountian I'll have to hike. 

Also, thanks to Molly and William for being awesome and giving me some peanut butter, Nutella, blister band aids, and great camp conversation! It was much appreciated! 

Day 4, Miles: 15.7 AT Miles: 39

What a day, hiked Blood Mountain and had some absolutely incredible views. Then made my way to Neels Gap, and hung out at the outfitter there and bought boot insoles which may have saved my hike. This is where the story gets fun. I was supposed to only go about a mile past Neels Gap and make camp near a water source, that ended up being dry. My original play for a 9 mile day went out the window as I continued on to find the next few water sources were dry as well. Severely dehydrated and exhausted I stumbled upon the two hiking families' (Known as the Biff Network) camp. I could barely even speak at this point and they gave me a liter of water to drink as well as filling my bottles and offering even to help set up camp. I was in rough shape and they helped me out in a big way, so to them I owe a great deal of thanks for saving my hike and just being absolutely incredible people. 

Day 5, Miles: 11.5 AT Miles: 50.5

Woke up in a cloud and remained on a cloud all day. It provided for some cool pictures and even cooler hiking, a big change from the 80 degrees of yesterday's big, and stupid, mileage day. Feeling good and having easy terrain, I pushed out almost 12 today. I also am sleeping in my first shelter so I don't have to pack up a wet tent in the morning.

This is the day I got my trail name, Shades, due to a pair of pink Oakley frogskins I decided to bring as sunglasses. They have nice lenses, are lightweight, and I got them on sale I have no regrets. Shades it is. 

Day 6, Miles: 2.4 AT Miles: 52.9

Hikes to Unicoi gap where the shuttle for the Top of Georgia hostel picked me up. Got a bunk there for the night as well as a shower (my first of the trip) and they did my laundry. They even gave me a pair of scrubs to wear while they did it and I wore them to town when I went in to resupply. We all looked ridiculous in our muddy hiking boot/scrub outfits but it was amazing. 

Day 7, Miles: 13.1 AT Miles: 66.0

After getting back on trail, I hiked some of the hardest miles so far, up and over 3 mountains that left me absolutely worn out and glad to make camp. 

Day 8 (Easter Sunday), Miles: 12.6 AT Miles: 78.6

Hiked 3 miles to Dicks Creek Gap where I walked a short way back to Top of Georgia to retrieve my spork that I had forgotten. (Oops) after resting and eating lunch I got back on trail and pushed out about 9 more miles to make the NC border. One state down, 13 to go. I camped directly after the border with a good group of people and I had my first real campfire. Life is absolutely great and the people I'm around are incredible. Really loving trail life. 

Day 9, Miles: 7.7 AT Miles: 86.3

Short day today to rest the legs alittle. Well that, and it was rainy and cold and so I took the option to cram in a shelter instead if trying to pitch a tent in the storm. 

Day 10, Miles: 16.2 AT Miles: 102.5 

After a sharp climb and a long day, I hit to 100 mile mark! An absolutely beautiful with and even more perfect evening. North Caroline is beautiful so far. A shot day tomorrow and into Franklin, NC to split a motel room and enjoy a very refreshing day in town. 

I am having some trouble being able to post the pictures I have on my camera so unfortunatly don't have any to share, hopefully by my next post I will have it sorted out and can share some of the amazing views, and amazing people that I have been surrounded with. This trip so far has exceeded even my best expectations. I am doing great, loving life on the trail, and have been so blessed by all of you that have sent me so many kind words and well wishes. 

Unfortunatly it will most likely be another 10-14 days until I can post again as I am about to enter the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennesee.