May 27 Mile 538

Lots of noise in and around the Taj Mahal of shelters. The noise didn't stop til about 10:30 or so. Some folks who couldn't take the noise and the incredibly loud snoring slept out on the broad lawn where camping is prohibited. Couldn't blame them and I should have done the same. Cisco and I have made a pact to tent camp from now on-no matter what-we'll see how that works out. We are planning long hiking days starting next week. Hope that works out too. Due to all the snoring we were up before 6 AM, ate breakfast and were hiking by 7:10, our earliest ever! Alot of the party people were still asleep. The hike of about 11 miles was uneven but fairly easy. The most notable thing as we got closer to civilization were these massive electric power towers that we just humming with incredible noise. We hope our brains weren't fried as we passed beneath. We had a short hiking day by comparison to our earlier hiking, as we were meeting my Sweety in the afternoon near Atkins, Virginia at I-81. We got to the spot there at 1:30 PM. And had a welcome surprise. At the I-81 interchange where we were to wait for my Sweety was a full-service Exxon station-and when I say full service I mean-FOOD! They had a great little diner and instead of a peanut butter and tortillas shell sandwich I had a freshly made chopped steak with salad meal. Plus lots of ice cream. What a treat. This is the first time in 538 miles that we have come out of the woods and ran into such an unexpected food treat. I have really lost a lot of weight, and have a concern going forward. Need to eat alot when I'm in towns. My Sweety came a little later and it was wonderful to see her. I couldn't be doing this without her support, that's for certain. She's the best!! And of course, I really miss her. It's the hardest part of the trip. We all have taken a break at a local motel until June 1-eating and relaxing-zero days are good. Will resume June 1 and post more blogs when I get a &*+$@ signal or when we are in a

town. Stay tuned!

May 26 Mile 527

Exciting news today! My older son proposed and is now engaged to be married! Congratulations to Dan and Julie!!! Wish we could be with you to celebrate. Next time we are near some alcohol we will raise a glass in your honor! We'll all get together soon to cheer you properly.
Pizza time! We have intersected today with the modern world. After an unpleasant night in an overcrowded shelter. ( one guy who came late when there was little room said those of us with tents should go out in the mud and camp to give him space as he hiked without a tent! Some nerve, I wasn't sympathatic. I slept in an upper bunk and was worried all night I would roll off and smush the people below, so I clung to the wall. It was difficult to climb up to my bunk and difficult to climb down, especially over all the people. Made it challenging when nature called during the night as it always does. And it's not because I'm an old guy. We drink alot of water out here. At least two liters while hiking plus all we use in our food cooking. So, we've got a lot of liquid in us, which we need. Added to that we usually are in bed by 8-8:30 PM, so it's hard to make it 10 hours without a visit to the privy or the nearest tree.
Anyway, got up and started out a little late-8 AM- but again, the miles passed quickly and we were at the Pizza hut, shelter that is, by 1:15 PM , going about 10.5 miles. It feels very strange to stop so early, but we need to. Again, while we have ups and downs it is definitely not Ga, Tn, or NC ups and downs. Very welcome. This is all very encouraging when we start back later after my Sweety's visit. People told us VA would be somewhat easier and faster, and so far it is so. It is also very pretty here. Spent my college years in Charlottesville, Va, and being here the landscape is very familiar and I do feel at home.
There is a very nice Forest Sevice Visitors center here next to this shelter. The shelter has showers! Real bathrooms ! And a drink machine! And candy. Amazing! But tent camping is prohibited here. They also have a scale. I weighed myself and fully dressed with my heavy boots I am down to 150. I have lost about 15 lbs since I started. Probably haven't weighed this little since I was in college. Interesting weight loss plan, but worried about how much more I can lose. The thing about the AT, you can eat whatever you want, that is if you can find it and you want to carry it.
Today hiking we saw a turtle right on the trail and went through a herd of cows in a pasture. Had to watch out for those cow pies. Coolest thing was hiking along a mountain top today and looking down thru the trees saw a hawk diving below us. Also hiked for about a third mile thru a deep rhododendron forest. It definitely was a long green tunnel.
Anyway, we didn't really want to stay at this shelter after last nights experience, but I hiked ahead without a pack for about half a mile and did not see any good tenting sites- it was just a long ridge with no flat spots. So, reluctantly, we will stay in the shelter- but it is the Ritz of shelters- so I guess it's something we can talk about. We are claiming spots upstairs- so maybe it will be less crowded and noisy. But, alas we are at the party shelter. Lots of folks are here, Someone actually is hiking with a guitar! And has brought it out and it 9:30 PM they are playing and singing! I like music and all, but folks it's time for sleep. I read in one of the AT books that thru hikers really don't want to sit around a campfire and sing songs. I guess the author hasn't met this bunch.
Anyway, The pizza shelter is no myth. Called for Pizza and they delivered! Delicious! Also got a soft drink. And a candy bar and a couple of folks hitched into town and brought back milk and cookies. And the evening sky is clear and cool. Life is good.

May 25 Mile 516

It rained alot last night. But, as before, we were cozy in our tents. Had alot of rain over the past 10 days, but that's normal for the AT, I'm told.
Today we left a little past 7:30 and had a goal of 14 miles to a shelter area ( as the guidebook showed limited camping available. Also, my Sweety is meeting us on Thursday ( two days from now) for a several day visit! This is super! Very excited about that. So we have already picked a rendevous point and are scheduling our hiking to meet her at Mile 538, just 22 miles from here. So we headed out in the moist air and were shocked at the speed we made-5 miles in 2.5 hours and 10 miles before we stopped at lunch a little before 1:00 PM. Cisco says it's because we are now back in shape- after 3.5 weeks back out here- doing more miles faster. I thought it was because of the gentler terrain. And the terrain is less big mountains, so far. Maybe it's both. Whatever, it's nice to go 14 miles by 4 PM. Couldn't do that back in Ga. Bodes well for the miles we hope to make in throughout Virginia. Starting June 1, we'll have about 460 miles of Virginia to do, hopefully by July 4 we'll be through the state. We'll see.
Hiked through some beautiful rhododendron thickets today- full of purple flowers. Saw some fantastic waterfalls and streams. Sure like to keep them handy when we need water.
Saw our first mosquito when we reached our shelter. We got them before they got us. Wanted to tent camp at the shelter area, but the ground was too soft and muddy to put up our tents due to all the rain today. So we're in the shelter and a bunch if others are here too. Pretty crammed in.
Our food supply is getting low, so tonite we ate noodles and cream ( actually powdered creamora) sauce. It's 7:20 PM and already hungry again. Tomorrow is to be a special dinner- the next shelter - about 11 miles- has a phone and it's famous cause you can call and order pizza. I hope this isn't some trail myth. Will find out tomorrow. Hungry for it right now.
Hiking in the rain, as we had to do today is hard for me . I have to put on my rain gear, pull the rain hood over my head , which limits visibility, and constantly watch my feet- rocks, mud, more slippery than normal, and the slippery slopes people are always talking about. And you really can't enjoy the scenery, as you are trying to stay dry and not slide off the mtn. As I mentioned earlier, most if us don't go hiking on rainy days and for good reason.

May 24 Mile 502

A milestone day, literally. Broke 500 miles! The shelter area we arrived at last night really did not accomodate tenters very well- top of a mtn with lots of rocks! Plus no campfires as the potential firewood has rare salamanders living in them . Don't want to burn them up. So we decided to stay in the shelter- it had an "attic" where we stayed. It worked out very well as it rained hard during the night, but cleared off by 2:00AM. I went outside to look at the stars- but the moon was too bright- I can see more stars in Atlanta. Did have lots of snoring though down below. Need to remember to get some ear plugs.
This morning we got up and it was pretty clear right after sunrise for about 10 minutes. We were looking forward to the hike this morning through the Grayson Highlands- a beautiful state park-with lots of rocks and balds-Cisco said it reminded him of Scotland-and we could see the little ponies and their foals that live there wild. Supposedly the foals will come up and nibble on your pant leg. Anyway, a big cloud or fogbank rolled in as we were about to set off. No views for us and no ponies out to play. We did get lots of rain and cool air- about 52 degrees. And lots of rocks to climb over. It took a long time for us to work our way picking over the rocks through the park. Like to come back someday when it's clear. It's a beautiful area and very unique. Lots of fir trees.
Decided to have an easier hiking day and went about 11.5 miles to a shelter area. Lots of tent camping here, so we found a spot far from the shelter. Too much snoring there, plus a lot of folks on vacation camping in the area. They have alot more stuff and food than we do and I'm sure they'll be up late with their electric lights.
Set up our tents and relaxed, Cisco made our usual afternoon tea, we built a fire and settled in. But then the rains came, so we went back into our tents to wait out the storm. Then made dinner.
The trail today and the mtns are so different than Ga, NC and TN. Much more genteel ( it is Virginia after all) and refined, though high, so far. While there are certainly lots of rocks, the trail is not as exhausting. No "pointless ups and downs" yet, anyway. And beautiful meadows and balds to hike through with brilliant yellow wildflowers. I like Virginia so far.
There are lots of nasty flies at this campsite. The most I've seen. They seem to like the top of my tent fly, as they are all gathered there. Luckily they can't get to me, cause of the netting.
Knees still a little achy, but ok. Another big blister on my left foot. When will they ever cease! But at least I am able to pad them for walking and have no pain. So, all in all, things are good.

May 23 Mile 491

Virginia is not flat, contrary to the hopes of us hikers. Today we did the long hike that takes us up to Mt Rogers, the highest mtn in Virginia. When Cisco and I added up all the "ups" we did today it was about 5000 feet! This mtn is about 5500 feet, but kindly, the trail doesn't take us to the very top- guide book says there is no view there anyway. It skirts the mtn top. On the way up we got to climb over beautiful balds and meadows. Where we finally ended up- at a shelter area just past the summit - has exquisite views of the mountains and valleys below. Another great place to have a front porch.
On the way up, Cisco was looking closely at the edge of the trail. As I got closer he said, "look here" . Down on the ground at the edge of the trail was a small hole with baby birds ! I also thought birds nested in trees! Cisco told me that he had once read that if you see a bird dart up from the ground look and see the origin of the flight and you might see it's " nesting" place. Sure enough, that's what he did. And as we peered down at the little birds, we could hear one of the parents screeching above us! So, we moved on. The weather is perfect, except for a few clouds and we are waiting for the sunset while sitting on huge boulders. One of the attractions here are the wild ponies and we can see them now in the field in front of us. Should see more tomorrow when we get to the Grayson State Park. The mtn is named for a man that was the state geologist for Virginia in the 1840s and later went on to found MIT. The mountain is covered in Fraser Firs, so hiking up here is like walking through a Christmas Tree farm. Sure smells good. Certainly, better than us hikers after a long day. And today was long-14 miles with all those ups is a bit tiring. Hope to have a shorter day tomorrow.

May 22 Mile 477

After a very relaxing zero day in Damascus, we had a great breakfast at the Apple Tree B & B where we were staying and headed out on the Trail. Damascus has been the best "trail town" so far. The AT goes right through the town and everything is an easy walk. We hiked out about 9:30, kinda late for us (city living is corrupting) and walked done the street for about a mile before going into the woods. On the way we could stop at places and buy stuff- but you had to be careful what you bought, cause you have to carry it. Weight is everything when all you can take is on your back. Did buy a sandwich at a little store to eat for lunch. I really like to do that when I can, as you can't have lettuce or luncheon meats out on the trail very often.
We had to hike up a couple of mtns where the elevation was about 1000 feet above the valley, over a few miles. Was a little tough, just getting. back into it after a day off, and it rained as we began the day. It was the kind of morning that if I was home and wanted to go for a hike in the woods, I would say, never mind. And take a nap or read a book. But we don't have much choice. It's either hike or go back to town. So we hike. The rain let up after a few hours. It's the kind of rain where we put on our rain jackets, then it stops, so we take off our rain jackets, and then it starts again. This time of year, with warmer rains, the jackets are warm, and wearing them when it is not raining, is not very comfortable. So, on/off, on/off. It finally stopped. The trail was tough, going up and down as usual, but not as hard as some of the. TN and NC trails. Paralleling the AT here is the Virginia Creeper Trail, the first Rails to Trails in the country, I think. About 100 years ago this county we are in Washinton County was one of the highest producers of lumber from the forests here. They built a rail line to bring down all the trees and lumber. Today that old railbed is a bike and walking trail through the mountains. It is great for walking or biking cause it has a very gentle grade. Some folks cheat on the AT by hiking the Creeper trail then getting back on the AT when they cross some 13 miles later. In fact since I am on the subject, there is a lot of cheating out here, which is sad. They have a saying "everyone should hike their own hike", which basically relates to speed and taking time off to visit places along the way or "flip floping" your hike, which means going further north, doing sections and then returning to where you left off, but eventually completing the whole AT in one calendar year, which is the definition of a thru hiker. Alot of people out here are skipping tough sections they don't want to do, or they jumped ahead to Damascus, for the big party of Trail Days and don't plan to return south to cover ground they missed. Its called "blue blazing" ( which is the blaze color of side trails that somtimes short circuit loops of the AT) or "yellow blazing" which refers to the yellow line on the highway-getting ride miles up the trail and never returning to the section you skipped. There is also "pink blazing" going off the trail with one's girlfriend or "green blazing" which is person that is smoking alot of illegal stuff on the trail. Anyway, as far as blue blazing and yellow blazing are concerned, that's their business, but they are not thru hikers, and shouldn't try to claim the title when done. Some brag about it in the shelter journals, how they cheated the trail. When you are struggling up the tough mtns or hiking and camping in the rain, and later on at a shelter or in a town a fellow hiker laughs about how he skipped that section, you don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling for that person. Not much honor in these folks.
The Creeper trail is beautiful and folks will shuttle bikes to the top and then ride back down aboug 17 miles to Damascus. Saw lots of folks flying down as we were hiking up the AT.
Hiked about 12 miles and some hikers told us about a great campsite by a river below the Creeper trestle some 2 miles up. Really didn't want to hike anymore, but were intrigued by the prospect of such a good campsite. Trudged on a couple more miles and found the site. Wish I could take it with me. It is right by this river and flat for our tents. Built a fire, made dinner and we are camping here tonight. Long hiking day for us again. Hope I didn't do anymore damage to my poor knees. Tomorrow we go up Mt Rogers- the highest mtn in Virginia at about 5500 feet. Need to get my sleep !

May 21 Mile 463

Zero day in Damascus! And we needed it. Both of us pretty tired out from the past week of hiking- perhaps a little too much. My Sweety is coming up to meet us next week and plan on a rather conservative hiking goal over the coming days. Today I went to the local doc for my knee. Thank goodness nothing serious-just too much hiking! Same old ailment-runners knee- and I am very glad. She gave me a short term medicine- a steroid-to help with the inflammation . It started to feel better as the day progressed, even before I took the meds. Hopefully it will be ok tomorrow as we head off again. Very nice town, Damascus. Its called Trail Town USA due to the AT and the Virginia Creeper Trail- an old railroad track that is now a bike trail. Very pretty countryside. Good food and lots of places to resupply. We can have a sandwich made as we hike out tomorrow to eat for lunch. That's heaven to me. Spent a good part of today uploading my journal to this blog. Dont know when I can have access to the internet again, but plan to keep it up as long as I am hiking. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.

May 20 mile 463

A very cold night for May. It was about 40 degrees this morning when we got up a little after 6AM. Made a cereal breakfast with dehydrated milk we bought in Hampton. I am liking this better than the grits or oatmeal. But I know we will continue to have a combination of these. Last night our fuel canister for our cooking pot ran out. An energy crisis, so it was good to have the cereal this morning. Cisco still had some alcohol fuel, so we still had our coffee. Have to have our morning cup- and we carry creamer too, powder kind of course.
Packed up and were hiking by 7:30, knowing we had about 15-16 miles to go to get to Damascus. The hike itself was not particularly noteworthy, other than we hiked for a great distance. This is twice what we were doing in the beginning. The terrain was easy compared with what we had been dealing with all along. Little ups and little downs. We have been ridge hiking for nearly 40 miles, and while it is relatively easy, there has been no view and you are in the long green tunnel. All the trees block views of the valleys below. The big news of the day was my continuing right knee ache problem. It hurt all day,and this is now three days of right knee pain. Made a decision to see a doctor or clinic when we get to Damascus. Also my left foot blisters were coming back. Don't understand that at all, but there they were at the end of the day, making it hard to walk, even without my boots. At about 2:45 PM we finally made it to Virginia! Wahoo-wah! I went to the University of Virginia and that's our school cheer. After being in NC and TN forever it was wonderful to be in a new state. But there is no welcoming sign. The only way you know is the sign that announces the Rogers National Forest. And then the hike into Virginia is very pleasant and level. A far cry from the welcome NC gave us with Bly Gap. We decided to stay in a nice B&B, rather than a hostel as we need the rest. Got a great place at the Apple Tree Inn, right on the main street, which is also the trail. They made a doctor's appointment for me, and are loaning their car to me for tomorrow to drive to the medical center -about 20+ miles away, very nice. Hope strongly that this
knee pain is temporary and part the same issue I have with my left knee- do not want this to be a hike ending injury! Had a great dinner and now it is very late for hikers-10:30 and time for bed.

May 19 Mile 447

Very cool temps this morning, probably in the low 50s and never got higher all day. Cloudy too. Odd for this late in May, I think. We slept in the shelter last night as we thought it was going to pour again, but no rain. There were six of us sleeping side by side in the shelter, and one guy was snoring so loud I thought he was going to suck in the roof of the shelter. We really don't like staying in the shelters for that reason, plus s total lack of privacy. Tenting is far superior. Today hiking was the most accomodating of the entire trip. We went about 16-17 miles ( wore me out, and my right knee ached all day) but the terrain was just little ups and downs-we were on a couple of ridges all day, and they also took us through a beautiful pasture and cut the grass to make a wide trail. Just before that, near a highway crossing , a local church had put out a permanent steel box with treats for the hikers- we had cold cokes and peanuts and candy bars. It was fantastic. I wish I knew which church it was. Along the trail we saw the saddest tombstone. It was an old chimney for a man named Nick Grindstaff. He died in 1922, about 70 years old. His epitath was "he lived alone, suffered alone, and died alone."
After hiking all day we were on the look out for a camping site listed in our hikers guidebook. Never found it, but picked another site along the trail. We knew water would be a problem, so Cisco filled up our 4 liter water tank and carried it about 2 miles til we got to this site. It was cold, so we built a fire, made dinner, and are now going to bed. Thankfully the snorers are miles away.

May 18 Mile 430

Our biggest hiking day in a while - 16 miles. And we were pooped. Got up in the ending rain and were hiking by 7:30. Had to hike up two big mountains today. One trail the AT people created to make things unpleasant for the hikers. They used to have a perfectly good easy trail that came from our shelter- flat!- about a mile into town. That was too easy. They moved the trail to go 7 miles over a pretty useless and not pretty mountain. It's called Pond Flats- a total misnomer - no pond and certainly not flat! About a 2000 foot rise in just a couple of miles- it was very steep and tough. On the other side was a TVA lake-Watuga- with nice bathrooms and water! we could drink without purifying. We then hiked up from the reservoir on a new series of mountains- Iron Mtn. We are now getting closer to Virginia- where we start hiking the ridgelines. Up nearly 2000 feet above the lake and where we are staying in a shelter is a million dollar view of the lake and the mountains all around. A very nice spot to eat dinner and type this blog. But it's now 8:30 and time for bed. Everyone else is already snoring.

May 17 mile 414

It rained all last night, but we were dry and cozy in our tents. Thanks Big Agnes, the tent company. Got up and packed up all gear in the drizzling rain. Most things pretty dry except our tents isms fly, of course. Just messy putting everything away. Due to rain ate a fruit bar fir breakfast ( not very satisfying) and trudged off. Decided to make coffee and breakfast at the next shelter area 5 miles away. Hiked through lots of ups and downs, not particularly noteworthy, made breakfast, finally, giving me a an energy boost and then onward to get near Hampton TN to resupply. Wanted to stay at a very famous hiker hostel at Dennis Cove- Konkora- but it is all full up with trail maintenance volunteers today. Supposed to rain hard, so decided to hike to a shelter near the town and then figure a way to go for food. Before we could do that we had some great trail magic. We met these two very nice hikers, Sweet Tea and Mcguyver. Sweet Tea's husband is keeping up with her by car taking her to motels and meals. We came out at a road crossing today and they offered to take Cisco and me into Hampton Tn, a few miles away to get our supplied. It was terrific. We resupplied and then hiked on to our shelter for the evening, as it was going to rain. On the map the hike looked flat, but actually it went through this gorgeous ( no pun intended) gorge with a beautiful river and waterfall. But it was hard hiking over all the wet rocks and then a hard hike out of the gorge overore rocks! It is a wonderful place though- Laurel Falls- near Hampton Tn, worth a visit and very near the road . Went to bed on the shelter and syr enough around 12:30 am the rain started to fall and it rained all night. A side note, you may know that once upon a these mountains were covered in huge chestnut trees. But there was a blight and the big trees all disappeared by the 1950's. The blight only seems to get the tree when it's about 10 feet tall, so I have many baby chestnut trees, but as they grow, they die . It's a shame. Also, on the tree subject there are these huge trees that have blown over in storms and the root systems are about 15 feet high. It is strange to walk through the forest and pass by these giants toppled by the storms, many are right by the trail.

May 16 Mile 401

Had the best breakfast on the trail so far. Mary the hostel owner does an all you can eat buffet for her guests. It was great, but not heavy as we had to hike out this morning. We ate fresh fruit, ham and sausage, fresh tomatoes, French toast, fluffy eggs, cinnamon rolls, home fries, orange juice and coffee. What a treat for the hiker. Left about 9:20 and hiked up the highway back to the trail. I always hate the backpack hiking that doesn't count. As I have mentioned before, normally when you leave a town you are in a gap, and you have to hike up a long way with a full pack. Not so much today. It was up, but gentle. In fact, all day was up and downs, as usual, but much smaller. The forest today was much more like a lower elevation piedmont forest than a mountain forest. But in the beginning we did hike through some old farms and the views were terrific from what I guess were old home sites. Our last time in North Carolina. Good by to the Tarheel state. Over 300 miles jumping between NC and TN. Now TN and on to Virginia.
Ended up hiking about 13-14 miles today. Had a plan to make it to a campsite mentioned in our data book, but the book warned us that the water source nearby was contaminated . However it said other water was nearby. You have to have an available water source handy when camping, for making dinner and breakfast and filling up your water bags for the next day. So we got to the campsite- near this beautiful creek ( but it was contaminated) so I went ahead as the hiker data book suggested (without my pack ) to bring back some water in our plastic 4 liter tank. I hiked for almost mile and found no water! Even though the data book said it was there. So I went back to Cisco empty handed and we decided to hike for a while til we could find a campsite and water. Hiked on for awhile and finally found both. So I got to hike the same ground 3 times! Anyway, quickly got our tents set up as it had been raining off and on all day. As soon as we set up the rain poured down . So got our rain gear on and cooked and ate our dinner in the rain. There's not much else you can do. Still raining as we go to bed. I think it's going to be a soggy week. Luckily our tents keep us dry.

May 15 Mile 388

Heard coyotes howling during the night. As well as the owls hooting. All pretty cool. At 3 AM Cisco and I got up and did some star gazing as the storms all cleared out. Picked out about 6 constellations. The sky was a little murky cause of the weather. Woke around 6AM and hiked out about 7:30AM. The morning was beatiful and cool and we hiked up- the few miles up today afforded us some if the most breathtaking scenery of the entire hike thus far. We went over several very large balds- I think these are the biggest on the trail. These balds are huge grass areas that cover the entire mountain top and the views are stunning. We paused a good bit to take it all in- which was ok cause we had a short day planned- only about 9 miles to a hostel-Mountain Harbor-near Elk Park. Got here around 2:00PM and did the usual. Pretty tired. And both knees were aching- perhaps it was all he downhills to get here-2700 ft down in just a few miles. Lots of rocks to go over on the way down. Got to the hostel- Mountain Harbor- very nice and clean. Staying in their RV. Also they have a barn for hikers. Got resupplied and went for a great steak dinner nearby. Rained really hard this afternoon. Glad we were at the hostel. The owner said it was the first thunderstorm on the season. I guess we'll be seeing plenty more
If you like to hike for a few days and camp, Roan Mtns is definitely the place to come to- 24 beautiful miles. Lots of place s to park and then hike up. You should see it north to south, however. The views unfold much better I think and the climb is far easier . Well its past hiker's midnight-that's sunset, so time for bed.
Only 75 miles to Damascus!

May 14 Mile 379

We had decided to have short mileage days here in the Roan Mtns, and we're very glad we did. This area is extremely beautiful and one that should not be rushed through. After getting up fairly early, we left our camp at about 8:20 and hiked down to Carver's Gap where there is a highway to bring people up to the state park. The hike down was all through a spruce forest, and smelled like a Christmas tree farm. Supposedly at the gap the rocks are 2.5 billion years old and this mountain is one of the oldest in the world. Anyway, we hiked across the hiway and to the top of this huge bald. The view was tremendous and we stayed there for about an hour enjoying the views. I actually got cell service and called my Sweety. Our hiking goal was only about 7 miles today- good for the body and soul- and we planned to reach a shelter area right off the trail that featured an old barn as the shelter . We got there at around 2 PM, had lunch and decided to tent camp as there was a family in the barn and knew that we would be having different schedules. But that turned out to be a great plan as we set up our tents in this huge field near the barn with a million dollar view of the mountains and valleys to the south. I wish I could put up a house with a big front porch on this spot. We passed the afternoon relaxing, built a fire, made dinner, and watched the light show down below as thunderstorms moved through. Then it was time for bed. A great day and the reason folks hike the AT. This park is definitely one to return to.

May 13 mile 372

Hooray! I woke this morning and my leg felt much better. So we are off again and what a tough day it was! Today we are climbing Roan Mtn near a state park. You can actually drive up here, which is always weird to see. We decided to make a simple day of it- hiking only about 9 miles, including getting back on the trail from the hostel. Don't want to overdo it again. Roan Mtn is pretty special, so we want to take our time there . The first few miles were fine.
But then the climbing begins- you have to climb 2200 feet in elevation in about 3 miles. And it is straight up !! It was about the hardest hiking I have done so far . I thought " this is going to be the end of my short recovery", but it all worked out ok and no new or old problems surfaced. Finally got up to about 6200 feet at the top and it is very nice here. It's all pretty much a spruce forest with all the Christmas trees and the wonderful aroma. On the way up all the ground cover was grass, and not the flowers or scrubby undergrowth you normally see. One the sights at the top is the area where a fancy late 1800 s hotel used to be. You could stay there for $30 a month! What a deal! Wish it was still here. Went to a shelter to stay that was once a small home for a caretaker up here. It was pretty nasty, so we tent camped under all these beautiful spruce trees. Built a fire and ate mashed potatoes, salmon, hot chocolate, poptarts, and the hiker's favorite- a snickers bar. It was delightful evening and at the elevation very cool.

May 12 mile 364

Happy Birthday to my sister in law Debi!

Decided to take a zero day at Greasy Creek Friendly. It's a very cordial place and the owner Connie is very nice. The weather is cloudy and in the 60s but no rain. Decided this morning it was best to stay here and let my leg and knee get better. It felt much improved overnight, but decided not to rush it as I have been doing since we got back. Cisco was very agreeable with this plan. We have gone pretty much nonstop for 11 days, so a zero is really overdue. We need to take more days off as we go, to rest, even if we don't think we need it. In my case, it seems to really catch up with me. So, I am sitting here today in a rocking chair on her front porch admiring the mountains next to a stream. Very relaxing. She has a full kitchen of food and we can have whatever we want as long as we write it down on the honor system sheet. Cash only here, so we are limited by the small amount of cash we are currently carrying. One thing to remember on the trail is that some hostels don't take checks or credit cards. Need to get more cash at the money machine next we see one.
Had a nice evening at Connie's. Ate from here freezer a couple of chicken pot pies and then Cisco and I split a pint of Ben and. Jerrys ice cream. Had a chance to call my Sweety on the land line phone. No cell service here. When you stay at this hostel, you are a guest in Connie's home during the day and sleep in the bunkhouse at night. During the day the TV is on and I would pass by and the news would be on . How depressing it is to hear the news! We rarely hear any out here and don't seek it out.
Connie has one problem- a very mean neighbor across the gravel road. This person hates hikers and hates that Connie has a hostel. Every morning at 6 AM to annoy the hostel guests, he cranks up his riding lawn mower and rides it up and down his hill, supposedly to get the newspaper. He has put up signs leading to Connie's that say-"hostel closed due to sickness" and he has knocked over the rock cairns she puts up to lead hikers from the AT to her place. You see all sorts out here.

May 12 mile 364

Happy Birthday to my sister in law Debi!

Decided to take a zero day at Greasy Creek Friendly. It's a very cordial place and the owner Connie is very nice. The weather is cloudy and in the 60s but no rain. Decided this morning it was best to stay here and let my leg and knee get better. It felt much improved overnight, but decided not to rush it as I have been doing since we got back. Cisco was very agreeable with this plan. We have gone pretty much nonstop for 11 days, so a zero is really overdue. We need to take more days off as we go, to rest, even if we don't think we need it. In my case, it seems to really catch up with me. So, I am sitting here today in a rocking chair on her front porch admiring the mountains next to a stream. Very relaxing. She has a full kitchen of food and we can have whatever we want as long as we write it down on the honor system sheet. Cash only here, so we are limited by the small amount of cash we are currently carrying. One thing to remember on the trail is that some hostels don't take checks or credit cards. Need to get more cash at the money machine next we see one.
Had a nice evening at Connie's. Ate from here freezer a couple of chicken pot pies and then Cisco and I split a pint of Ben and. Jerrys ice cream. Had a chance to call my Sweety on the land line phone. No cell service here. When you stay at this hostel, you are a guest in Connie's home during the day and sleep in the bunkhouse at night. During the day the TV is on and I would pass by and the news would be on . How depressing it is to hear the news! We rarely hear any out here and don't seek it out.
Connie has one problem- a very mean neighbor across the gravel road. This person hates hikers and hates that Connie has a hostel. Every morning at 6 AM to annoy the hostel guests, he cranks up his riding lawn mower and rides it up and down his hill, supposedly to get the newspaper. He has put up signs leading to Connie's that say-"hostel closed due to sickness" and he has knocked over the rock cairns she puts up to lead hikers from the AT to her place. You see all sorts out here.

May 11 Mile 364

Started to rain in the early morning before we woke and it was cold , 40s. Thought this was May? Had to pack up everything in the cold rain and eat a breakfast of instant grits and coffee. Stuffing a wet tent into a bag is not too much fun- but we have been very fortunate and have very few rainy days and the AT is well known for rain. We hiked up Unaka Mtn right off- and it is an enchanted forest- it can be reached pretty easily by car and a short hike. The whole top of the mountain is covered in spruce trees. Their is no undergrowth due to the trees blocking out all light to the forest floor. The trail is full of fir needles making it all soft and springy. It was fantastic and a place I would like to return. It was very foggy on top as well and that probably added to the beauty. On the way down the muscle above my left knee began to hurt and bothered me alot the rest of the day - about 8 more miles. I sure hope it gets better by tomorrow- this hike is too much fun to have to quit. But I need to be realistic, only about 20% of those who start are able to complete it. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Maybe I am still doing too many miles per day- about 12 today , as well as 13 yesterday. But we just get going and the next thing we know, the day is over and we've gone a long way. We do plan to slow down for the next few days to go over Roan Mtn. We are told how spectacular the mtn is and will take our time to find out. We will not see mtns this high again until we reach New England.
Tonight we are staying at the Greasy Creek Gap Friendly Hostel and it's terrific- about .6 miles off the trail . Here we can sit in rocking chairs on the front porch, see the mtns we will climb over, and eat real food! We actually stay in the owner, Connie's, house and she is super nice. No wild partying hikers here. Very pleasant.
Saw some "slack packers" today. That is an AT term for folks who find someone to either transport their pack further up the trail and they hike to it or, in the case of today, someone drives you miles up the trail and then you hike back to your pack or where you are staying. It's a way to hike the trail and not have to carry all that gear! Slack packing forward would be fun, hiking backward, I'm not so sure, as you do miss the continuity of the trail and the changes that come as you go, in our case, south to north. But whatever works for people is cool.
Hope the knee is better tomorrow.

May 10 Mile 352
Got up early this morning. When you stay at hostels, they usually have a beat up old truck or van to shuttle hikers to certain spots, like this morning to a diner for breakfast. It was good and cheap. I told Cisco, if I was driving by I would never stop to eat in this place. I would go back for sure. We walked to a Dollar Store and bought enough food to get us to a hostel we plan to go to on Tuesday night- if we can get the 25 miles in. Got back to the hostel and we were out of there like a shot. Hoping all the drunks will hang back to sober up. Most are planning to attend the biggest trail event of the year- trail days- the weekend of May 15 in Damascus, Va. about 120 miles up the trail and right on the trail- it will certainly be a party for this crowd. Supposedly folks from the town go up and down the trail and pick up hikers to bring them to Damascus. We plan to avoid this at all costs and our hiking schedule gets us there several days later. The van driver told us Robert Redford is making the movie of Bill Bryson's book about the AT-"A Walk in the Woods". That will be fun to see-but I am sure it will explode the number of people out here.
Normally when you leave a town you are leaving a gap or low spot- Erwin is no different at 1700 ft if elevation.
Our plan today was to climb to about 4700 feet, so it's quite a rise and can be very strenuous, particularly when you are carrying a full pack with food and water. But today the hike was mercifully different. Theyhad the most wonderful trail coming out of Erwin. And it went for several miles right by this beautiful stream. It was terrific except for this one short section that was very steep. I really slow down at these points and just plod along. As I was doing so, I got too close to a rhodadendrum and the branches of the bush pulled my empty water bottle ( known as a Nalgen) right from the outside pocket of my pack and then flung it down a very steep ravine to the creek below. No way was I going down after that! But, a water bottle is a pretty critical item here. Have to buy a new one at the hostel tomorrow. Luckily, we have another larger water system we carry in our packs.
We hiked about 12 miles today, and it got cooler and cooler- down to about 50 degrees and very cloudy, but the mountains were really pretty all around us as we gained more and more elevation. And then we came to the top of this bald known as the Beauty Spot. It was terrific for the views all around and there was a gravel road for folks to drive up here, which was very odd to see. As we were hiking up and before we crossed a highway, a car dropped off a half dozen hikers ahead of us. We had a camping site we were trying to reach. But because these folks were driven to the site, they got the best sites before us. We are not sure of the equity in that? It's now after 9 pm and the rain has begun to fall. It's supposed to be a rainy week. We'll see how it goes. We are now at Mile 352 and that makes us 75% of the way to Virginia, yay. Virginia is always talked about by thru hikers like it was the promised land- because supposedly all the mountains are little and all the trails go downhill- or something silly like that. As you are struggling through Ga, Tenn, and NC you'll hold on to anything. 6000 ft Roan Mtn to climb in a couple of days and probably in the rain! Yikes!

May 9 mile 371

Happy Mothers' Day
Too cold for May for a Georgia boy. 38 degrees! In the tent! And still windy!
Got up at 6:30 and decided it was too windy and cold to cook breakfast here. So we packed up and headed out to find a spot out of the wind. Spent the day hiking about 15 miles to Erwin, TN. a town pretty much on the AT and well known to thru hikers. A very cool weather day. Got to Erwin at about 5 PM. and the last few miles coming down a ridge area gave nice views of the Nolichucky River that flows by the town. Came down with a plan to stay at a famous ( to hikers) hostel known as Uncle Johnnys right next to the trail and river. A very rustic, but summer camp sort of environment. Wouldn't bring my Sweety here. Decided to get a "cabin" - basically a room with double bunk beds and no bath. But the room had a microwave and refrigerator and a TV that could only play VHS cassettes. You see that alot on the trail at the hostels, but I don't have much interest in watching 20 year old movies after hiking 15 miles. Wanted the usual after we checked in- hot shower, do laundry, and get a meal at a restaurant. The hostel had an old van to shuttle us to some places to eat, but the best choice was Pizza Hut. I always want a steak when I get to town for the protein, but no luck here. But they did have a great salad bar.
I wrote earlier about all the drunks we were stuck with while traveling in the Smokies. Of course that crowd is long gone now, two weeks ahead of us. But here at Uncle Johnnys there was a whole new crowd of drunks. A huge group of young hikers were there for the night- went on a beer run and had a big campfire- right outside our cabin!! And drank and carried on until 2 AM!
We' re getting tired of these hiking/partying people. Guess we'll have to try to outrun this crowd too.
One apologized this morning for making so much noise, and I agreed with him that they were loud. I wasn't very forgiving. I just want to keep on
moving. Called my Sweety and my Mother. Wished my Mother a Happy Mothers Day. Really miss my Sweety.

May 8 Mile 326

Today went from exasperating to exhilarating. Learned a good lesson this morning. The weather last night was beautiful. So
I decided to not put my rain cover over my tent (it's called a "fly"- more on gear in a later blog) . My tent has a kind of sky dome netting above my head so I can have fresh air come in and also see out . It's great on starry nights to look straight up into the brilliant sky and know no bugs can get you. During the night I woke up and noticed- "hey where did all te stars go. oh oh, I guess it's getting cloudy. Might it rain soon? Perhaps I should put on my fly. Nah. I'll just go back to sleep."
Around 6 AM you can guess what happened- pouring rain in my tent on my head and my sleeping bag- and you really don't want your bag wet. I went flailing around trying to fasten the fly in the rain when Cisco came to the rescue and we got the fly fastened and the tent covered. Great way to wake-up, huh. So now we are up. Put on the rain gear and make breakfast in what now has become a drizzle. Packed up and hiked off. Today's goal is a 5500 foot mtn called Big Bald. The 13 mile hike today was terrific. After about two hours, all the rain cleared out and it was an incredibly sunny and clear day. Changed out of our rain gear and into summer wear- about 58degrees- perfect weather for hiking, actually. Though it may sound a bit cool. Before we started the AT, in the comfort of home, I would go out on cool or cold mornings and wonder how I would do without a warm house to run back into. While I do not want to be out here with temps in the 30s, or cold rain, or heaven forbid, snow- temps in the low 40s and up are ok, as long as you can put on your gear to stay dry and warm.
Hiked through one of the most beautiful meadows I have ever seen with yellow wildflowers. The colors of green grasses and yellow flowers and blue skies was stunning. We were near Street Gap at 4100 feet. This is a place to return to. Then the wind picked up and just blew cold at us. We headed for Big Bald at 5500 feet, but first got off the trail a bit to get out of the wind. We crossed a ridge and found ourselves across a gravel road from ski resort condos. Must seem strange to these people to see a couple of grizzled hikers cooking lunch across their road. No trail magic here though. Then straight up to Big Bald-on the top we had an absolutely incredible view worth the hike up. If you ever go to see this Bald, there is actually a gravel road up- so you can save yourself the hike up. The wind was ferocious on top of the Bald, but the views were splendid. The Bald is just as it says- no trees at all and the view is 360 degrees at 5500 feet. If I didn't have my pack on I think I would have been blown off the mountain. Hiked fr there to Little Bald, a mtn that should be sued for false advertising- it's not a bald and it's not little. Cisco found a great camping spot-Whistling Gap-perfectly named as the wind is just howling through here now. Sent our tents up to take the wind, ate a hot dinner, built a fire, with horizontal flames ( due to the strong wind ) and then went to bed. Long but good day.

May 7 mile 313
Went to bed last night the latest yet-Bout 10PM - in the dark. We have these head light elastic straps we wear at night. They have two levels of white light and one level of red light - red is the best as it doesn't blind everyone else in camp. You can read with it too. We were slow to get up this morning, but were off by 8:20. And all my parts were working ok!
Ever since we started in late March we have been plagued with gnats-except on the coldest or rainest days. And they are not the tiny pesky south Ga gnats that just go for your eyes and face. These are their muscular mountain cousins- much larger and aggressive . And they bite! Today for the first time, as we stopped for lunch at an old cemetery spot there were no gnats! Fantastic! Perhaps a good omen.
Also today by the trail we passed by the Shelton brothers graves. The were two Civil War soldiers from this area of TN who fought for the Union. This area of TN was very divided in their loyalties during the war. They were coming home on leave to visit their family when they were ambushed and killed by confederate soldiers. A very sad story.
On a happier note, one of the nicest things to hike through, particularly on warm or hot days are these deep rhodadendrum or mountain laurel thickets- I'm still not sure which plant is which. They are at all elevations and are dense and have the most refreshing air. To me it's the real NC mountain feel- even though most of the time I'm probably in TN!
After lunch and a rest we had a long climb up. Again a warm day but the forest floor was covered in newly green plants and flowers. Climbed over Butt Mtn, which is well named for the very large split rock at the top that looks like, well, a butt. There was an old farm here and what a beautiful spot in the high mountains they had. How terrific it must have been to live here all those years ago. Lots of old farm roads. can still be seen in these woods. I thought about all the families that farmed, married, had children, and died in these mountains one generation after another - and here we were just walking through all their memories . The trail in this part comes up against private property- so you hike right by the fence that keeps us off private land - can't really blame them.
Planned to hike only 12 miles today, but that didn't work out again ! Had to hike 15 miles to get to a shelter with water. Back in Ga it seemed there were many great camping spots by streams readily available . Not here. You can find nice camping spots but there is no water- no water, no stay.
I was really pooped when I finally staggered into the shelter around 7 PM . I asked Cisco to go ahead, as he is much faster than me and secure us a tent site as these shelter areas can fill up fast. Still having fantastic weather.

Back on the Trail - May 1-20

After a long break and a long time finding internet access my blog continues with May 1. I rushed to get our first 3.5 weeks on the blog back in April and my family's review was I needed to give a bit more info, and hopefully, make it more interesting. So here goes, with a little longer description of our travels, hopefully it's not too boring.
One footnote- I write alot about elevations of mtns we climb and distance up those mtns. It dawned on me that if you are not a hiker, it probably has little meaning. For those of you who live around Atl you've probably climbed Stone Mtn one time or another. Let me put io into Stone Mtn perspective. Stone Mtn is 850 feet above the surrounding landscape, and the trail is 1.3 miles from the base to the top. And it can be a bit demanding, in spots. Sometimes we are climbing 2000 feet in a couple of miles, so you can see why I am ( an old guy) huffing ang puffing so much! The mtns of Ga, TN, and NC are steep and tough, for me anyway.

May 1 Back on the trail.

After two weeks off attending a fabulous wedding and eating and drinking at will and not having to purify my water, we were back on the Trail. My Sweety drove us up to the very spot we had gotten off 14 days earlier and my son and I put on our seemingly over packed backpacks and trudged off. 14 days of no exercise-would we be softies? Driving up in the car we ate too much food-ice cream and Waffle House and Subway. The hike was 7 miles up, plus 2-3000 feet in elevation. And it was hot-summer hot for the mountains-82 degrees and humid. Gone were the cool spring days we had just recently known. I fact some of the thru hikers we met this day told us of their horrible hike thru the Smokies just the week before-snow, sleet, rain,- near hypothermia. Boy, were we lucky going thru there!
So, we hiked up. While home I went back to the doctor and got a shot for my left knee and stronger meds and different knee braces-all seemed to help- but I still have a little pain in my left knee. We got new rain jackets- gortex Arcteryx this time-expensive enough-they should work. The hike was different-plants and leaves had sprung up everywhere at the lower elevations-a Green Tunnel-they call it. Widflowers of every assortment - trillium, bloodroot, wild geraniums, it was a carpet of color up and down the forest. We hiked up Snowbird Mtn-3000 feet up over 5 miles-Could I make it after a long lazy layout? It was hard- but OK. Made it to the top- a great spot. An FAA cone and a huge clearing at 4700 feet. Hiked a couple more miles to the shelter. Now at Mile 245. Clouds came up and now this evening the winds are roaring-trees are cracking! A little unnerving tonight. Wanted to stay in the shelter-but it's rat infested- so into the tents we go. Hope nothing falls on our heads. Late night. Going to sleep at 9:30. Checked the shelter registers- all our old hiking friends are long gone up the Trail. That's what happens when you take 14 zero days! That's ok-we'll meet new folks as we go.
The AT has many customs-one of them is trail names- almost no one goes by their birth name. All have self annointed names or names placed upon them against their will. So we have met Magnet, Rockstar, Fog, Birdnut, Boundless, Achilles, Atlas, True, Country Man, Beachbum, Trail Bunny, Grumps, Husband and Wife-a newly we'd couple on a six month honeymoon- and three Superman. One of the more humorous named was the young man who did not want to bring the recommended thru hiker clothing-synthetics (no cotton here) but brought only wool! He insisted that it must be dry cleaned- on the Trail? - so he was given the name Dry Clean by his traveling companions. So, what is my name and my son's name? He selected ours- since I'm his Dad, he started calling me Pops and as he lives in San Francisco- he is Cisco- so it's Pops and Cisco. When were back home for the wedding, I found a baseball cap in a thrift store that said "Pops" on it. Had to buy it- guess the name was ordained for me.

May 2-
Mile 258

The blisters are back! How did that happen. You'd think after 240 miles your feet and your boots would work out their problems. But here they are again- moved to a little different location on the backs of my heels - ouch!
Today was interesting to say the least. It rained some last night- but we were dry and fine in our tents. The weather is not so cold anymore- humid and warm during the day- but today it was also very windy. Couldn't believe how early I got up- 6:30, right after sunrise. Cisco was up before me- as usual. We ate breakfast and packed up and were hiking by 7:40 - a near record. Today we were going to test our comeback skills- it's 26 miles to Hot Springs, NC a good hiker town, we are told and want to make it in two days, about 13 miles per day. Today we have to go up Max Patch- a 6 mile climb and a 1700 foot rise. Here's the thing I have learned after 240 miles of the Ga, NC, and TN mtns- they all have false summits! You climb and you climb and think you have reached the top. But, no- it's just a little gap and you have to climb some more- sometimes straight up! In the beginning it drove me crazy! A mtn should be honest- if you can see the top- that should be the top! Now I know- the only way to know when you are at the top, is when you begin to go down. I guess that's a good life's lesson. Isn't that what they say about the stock market,relationships, or careers? Anyway, on my return I have finally accepted this reality and don't fuss at the mountain anymore. I just keep going up until I am there. These aren't the Himalayas- you will get there eventually. Anyway, we got to the summit of Max Patch in about 3 hours- since we got back yesterday- we've been moving at a pace of about 2 miles an hour- which is great as that is my goal for the overall hike. People who have RUN the AT- and some are crazy enough to do it-only go about 4 miles an hour.
Anyway, the hike up was fine- and the summit is spectacular. It's near a road, so it's easily accessible. It was someone's farm, I think and it is a huge bald and you can see for many miles. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was hard to just sit down and take a break. So we walked for a while to find a rest spot and stayed for about an hour. Actually got a cell signal and called my Sweety. That's what this is about- hiking, relaxing and looking. After we left we started our descent to the shelter 7 miles away where we would spend the night. We prefer to tent camp, but it's supposed to be a heavy rain tonight and wind and tornadoes, so I figure a 3 sided shelter is better than a tent.
After coming down off of Max Patch, Cisco went ahead, as is our custom-you have to hike your own hike and pace. I decided to take a side hike- that's another way of saying, I got LOST! Got to a gravel road crossing and totally did not pick up the AT official white blaze mark on the otherside of the road. I thought the trail went up the road, so I starting trudging- after a few minutes I thought- "I am seeing no blazes", which are white and rectangular, and go lengthwise on trees or posts or rocks. The official AT literature says that blazes are always visible looking up and down the trail, other things say they are about every 200 yards or so. There are certainly alot of them out here but I have gone very long distances and not seen a blaze and I was on the trail. "I'll go a little further" I thought. Then looked behind and ahead - no blazes. I hiked for what was probably a half mile and could see that I was coming back around to Max Patch, and then becoming very concerned decided, "enough! I'm going back to the last blaze I saw- 15 minutes of huffing and puffing and worrying , I saw where I had missed the mark- it was right across the gravel road, but I hadn't looked far enough to my left. Now I was worried about my son not knowing where I was- and he was worried. But I caught up to him and it turned out ok.
So instead of 13 mile day, I got to do a 14 mile day. I was pretty pooped. After that, my son gave me the maps to carry, to help the next time I got lost. Then we moved on to the shelter for he night, and it became very windy . Saw a small snaking sunning himself on the trail- made me jump back, and Cisco saw two turkeys, the bird kind. Saw millions of wildflowers- yellows, whites, purples, and blues. The forest floor is just covered in them. Now, if my blisters can just improve-all will be good. The 13-14 mile day is my goal or even a 15-16 mile day on flat terrain. With an average 14-15 miles per day we can easily make Maine by October, with a few zero days to enjoy. Even an average 12 miles per day will work out. It's not a race. Just want to make it. Hope I can. Some folks are out here doing 20+ miles a day. That's great, but I can't do that- not now or in these mountains, nor do I want to. Kind of back of the pack of the north bound thru hikers now. That's ok- not quite so rowdy.

May 3 Mile 271 Hot Springs NC
What a crazy weather night! The wind just howled and the trees looked like they were going to snap in two! About 3-4 AM the rain came pouring down. I am glad we were in the shelter - with this much rain and high winds, I 'm not sure how our tents would have done. Found out later that there were floods all over TN with this rain. Woke around 6 AM - but with the rain didn't get moving til 7 or so. Rain stopped, but all was very soggy. We put on our new rain gear and headed out. Everything felt pretty good today for the first hour. Then my left leg over the thigh really started to hurt- what's that about. Blisters tugged as well, but the knees were ok. A very humid day but didn't get lost. Goal to make Hot Springs- a famous hiker town-13 miles. But my leg pain dominated the day. Hurt especially going uphill, lots of downhills today, thank goodness. Beautiful forest floor. Millions of mint green plants. Making about 2 mph- but have decided I came back too fast after a long layoff. Two 13 mile days after not hiking for two weeks probably not a good idea. The terrain was not too bad, by comparison, the first 30 miles in Ga took us 4 days. Now we are doing 33 miles in two days and 4 hours- but not really in the shape I was before in the Smokies. Probably why my leg is hurting so much. Decided that I need to go to a health clinic when I get to Hot Springs and check out this leg pain. Got to figure this out. Got to Hot Springs at 4pm- Don't know what the big deal is about this place. Not much here- but for hikers it's better than the shelters- and there is a bar. Our motel is pretty run down- no phone, shower won't turn off, broken toilet handle broken table, door won't open without a big push. Had a steak dinner at the bar- very good! Note to AT&T- your service is super crummy! No service at all for my I- phone. Why did I get a contract from you! I'm in an actual town and can't even call my Sweety. Future thru hikers- get Verizon. A close friend of Cisco came over from Asheville to visit. Very nice to see her.
From the beginning of our hike, I pretty much planned out everything to here-271 miles. Didn't know if I could even hike this far. Now have no real plans- other than to hike. Feels strange. Will get some groceries tomorrow, wash clothes , go to the clinic, and leave at some point. Don't really have any mileage plans- feel weird, but not worried. Next major stopoff is about 70 miles in Erwin, TN. Don't know how many miles a day I can go. Really need to get back to basics and see what I can do. Maybe 10 miles per day? Don't know.

May 4 mile 276

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law, Jean. Sorry I couldn't call you or my Sweety, but I have AT&T. I guess enough of that. This AM got up early at the motel after going to bed at the late hour of 11:30. Electric lights will keep you awake. Did the usual stuff- ate a big breakfast, always get eggs cause you sure don't have 'em on the trail. Wouldn't do well in the backpack. Washed clothes and went to my doctor's appointment- very nervous.
The Health Clinic in Hot Springs is very nice. Probably part of a chain. I got an appointment, luckily, not a walk- in place. Got there and the place was packed! Turns out the physcian that was there that day is widely loved by the community and everyone wanted to see him. Waited about an hour- but everybody knew everybody and talked about their families and friends, etc. The nurse called everybody in by their first names- cause they were neighbors. Except me of course. Great atmosphere. I was worried that these new ailments might put me off the trail. But it turns out I had an old ailment that came back- namely Bursitis. Evidently, I tried to do too much too soon after returning. Lesson learned- take it slowly and don't be so cocky. Doctor Jones said "take Aleve" and go slowly . If it hurts, stop walking. Good advice and I am glad I can keep going. So we left at 3 pm with a short goal of only 5 miles. Baltimore Jack who is a famous thru hiker ( hiked 8 times, I think) and is written about in Winton Porter's " just passin thru " book was in Hot Springs helping out at the outfitters store. We had met him at the Mountain Crossings store at Neels Gap when we bought our gear 2 months back. He told us of a great camping spot 5 miles out, near a pond and dam next to an former tobacco farm. Bought a star map- Great visibilty at night, hope to use it soon. On the hike up- no pains, just the blisters- hooray! Plan to do 9 miles a day for a while to rebuild my body. Down to 155 lbs and the nurse at the clinic checked my height and it appears I have shrunk 1.5 inches. Don't know how that happened. Have 63 miles to go to Uncle Johnnys hostel in Erwin. We bought our food at the Dollar General store and realized how ripped off we were at the Fontana Village store before the Smokies. Bought the same amount of food here for about half the price. Our packs were heavy coming out of Hot Springs, as we loaded up for a 65 mile stretch without resupply. It was not a bad hike out and up from Hot Springs. The first mile or so is very nice, going by the river and over Lover's Leap with a great view of the town. This is worth repeating someday with my Sweety.
Camped near the pond and had the place all to ourselves. Very nice spot. Even had a campfire.

May 5 mile 282

Happy Cinco de mayo!
Well, we didn't go buy 6 miles today. Decided to go real easy. Very hot day. Saw a really big snake on the trail today. Wanted to snap his picture, but he slithered off too fast. Long way to Erwin. TN. From here. But the mtns while demanding, aren't as intimidating on the maps as they used to be. But they are still hard! One is about 3000 ft up in 3 miles. But we have done that before. 282 miles so far. Not alot to write about today. Last night where we camped there was an old forest service road nearby. At 3 AM I looked out of my tent and was very unnerved.
What is that? The headlights of a truck! But wait, that's not it at all- it was the moon rising- what a bright light! I bought a star gazing map in Hot Springs and Cisco and I went out at 3 AM to look at the constellations- and could pick out several- can't really do that back home-too many lights. Our hiking guide said there is to be a meteor shower tonight and tomorrow night. The skies are clear here, so we'll look for it. Hiking today, came down a trail and saw a guy standing by a gravel road with no pack, that's always a little surprising. Looked again and saw a rifle on a log. Said he was turkey hunting. I make sure I don't gobble as I go through.
Tonight, as many nights, we are tent camping at a shelter area. Each shelter- I think there are about 200 on the AT- is a three sided kinda lean-to holding about 6-10 people side by side .
Often they mice , sometimes rats . Not somewhere we want to sleep on nice evenings, but good in a downpour on cold nights. Most shelters gave a spiral notebook and the thru hikers will normally sign-in as they pass through, so you can keep up with the folks ahead if you. Sometimes they will leave comments. Most we knew earlier are at least a week ahead of us. One of funniest entries I have seen was about infamous Gatlinburg. Seems like all the young hikers want to go there and when they do they complain how awful it was. One wrote, "Gatlinburg, you stole my soul and my wallet".
As we get past the halfway point in NC and TN ( the trail runs exactly on the border of these states for a long long way) all the hikers talk about is Virginia and how great it is going to be. So far the hike has been very rugged. Up and down constantly, as I have written. But people talk of Va as the hiker's paradise- flat and fast. Probably not that true. But the mtns are not as high. We'll find out in a few weeks. But first we have to get in shape on another 180 miles of TN and NC.
May 6 Mile 297 or thereabouts

Woke up around 3AM and looked for the meteor shower- only saw 2 shooting stars. Maybe better this evening. Left at 7:30 and at 10:45 passed a potential food source-a hostel known as Hemlock Farm-about .5 miles off the trail. A thru hiker tried to tempt us off with comments about ice cream- but we just wanted to keep moving today. Maybe cause we just left Hot Springs a couple of days ago and want. To stretch our kegs a bit to get in shape. Strange though, rarely does a thru hiker bypass a food and relaxation source so close to the trail. Saw many beautiful wildflowers climbing out if Allen Gap, particularly vivid orange wild azealas.
Very hot today, so we hiked about 9 miles in the morning- stopped for lunch and a long rest break at mid day. Decided we would have an easy day today to keep slowly breaking in. Thought we might do a short day-12 miles max, to save my knees . So we took off at 3:30, once it cooled down a bit.
What's it like to hike all day ? I wasn't sure what it would be like to get up early and hike til you are tired. And do it day after day . Some don't like it after a while and leave the trail after the novelty wears off. Some have too many distractions or things that happen in their life that pull them back to civilization. Some go to town and party and never come back. Some have an injury and reluctantly have to stop hiking. I think now only about one third that start finish in the same year. And that's the definition of a thru hiker - finishing in the same year you start.
The way the hiking is for me the hours just seem to fly by. I'm walking and watching the roots and rocks so I don't stumble. Huffing and puffing on the uphills and picking my way downhill ( almost all hikers use trekking poles, which are a must, I need to discuss gear at some point) so I don't fall I'm looking at trees, mountains, flowers, rocks and it's all very grand- too much to take in sometimes. When we returned to the trail the spring foliage was beginning to obscure the vistas- but that's ok cause it gives us shade. Often when I am hiking and Cisco is up the trail, I will stop and turn around and look back, then ahead and and just listen- not a human sight or sound. Just a few birds chirping and and a very peaceful feeling. So, if you like lots of company, it can get pretty lonely out here.
So, this afternoon, as we left at 3:30, we had a modest goal of just a few more miles. So we went on awhile and found a short of mediocre campsite after about an hour and a half- but thought-nah- let's move on, there's supposed to be a better spot ahead. Little did we know what was coming up. When the guidebook says "bypass trail available" it trying to tell you something important- namely the main trail can be pretty treacherous, particularly in bad weather. But we thought, "it should be ok- the weather us beautiful and there is no wind to blow us off the top. " So we pressed on and it was a truly fantastic hike for 1.5 miles-but it was hand over hand- huge rocks, boulders, slabs, - climbing down, more like falling down. The rocks followed the very tip top of the ridge of Firescald Mtn- that should have told us something - lightning strikes, I suppose. The rocky ridge dropped off like a shot on both sides. Thank goodness for the rhodadendrum thickets to mask the cliffs- or visually it would have been very scary. After struggling through the area for about an hour or so, we were pretty pooped- and headed down the mountain, which was also difficult due to all the rocks-Cisco said he felt like we were in a Lord of the Rings movie cause of the severe landscape. Finally after some hiking distance it was getting near sunset, and we were near the campsite we heard about. We got there all worn out and - rats! - someone had beaten us to the site! It was some local folks who took up the whole area and had four huge unleashed dogs. My son dropped his pack a good distance from them, across the trail to go to the watering hole, as we were about out of water. As soon as he left, on of their dogs decided to come out of their camp and across the trail and lifted his leg over Cisco's backpack. I yelled as loud as I could, scaring the dig, but a few drops were deposited. The guy camper was totally unconcerned, but the woman with him apologized and brought over some wipes. So not only did we not have a campsite, but their dog peed on his pack! So we trudged off aggravated to a shelter area about an mile away. A 15 mile day we didn't expect!
As we turned into the shelter area, we went by Andrew Johnson Mtn. I thought that this was great. I didn't know anything had been named for the poor guy. Lincoln had selected him to be his VP in 1864. He becAME Pres after Lincoln's assasination. He was a Unionist from TN. during the Civil War. So the southerners didn't like him, cause he supported the North, and the northerners didn't like him cause he was from the South. Only President to be impeached ( until Clinton)