march 7-8 dj gets lost

Its march 8. Thelast two days were beautiful to say the least. Clear blue skies, sunny, and the temperature was in the high 50s or low 60s. Last night was cold. But it warmed up quickly in the morning. Not all was well though. Yesterday, me and DJ left neels gap, after a good nnights sleep at the hiker hostel there. We bought some new gear, i sent home 8 pounds of stuff. The day wasnt supposed to be a long hiking day, only about 7 miles to thw whitley gap shelter. Despite my lowered pack weight, DJ was much faster than me, and kept having to stop to wait for me. After a while he just went ahead, and i was hiking by myself. I eventually caught up to frances and carlie on top of a mountain while they were eating lunch. Neither of them had seen DJ, even though he was between me and them last time i saw him. I figured that he had maybe gone around them and was far ahead. I continued hiking with the others, hoping to catch up to him eventually. We had passed the 7 mile mark and still hadnt seen him. So we continued on to the low gap shelter at the 12 mile mark. Dj wasnt at that shelter either, and it was late in the day. So i hoped that he had just gone off trail to the whitley gap shelter and waited there for me. Either way, the next day was supposed to end at the same place, no mattr if we had done 12 or 7 the day before. In the morning i continued hiking to the blue mountain shelter, 7 more miles away. I expected DJ to catch up at some point durimg the day, since hes faster than me and i took today very slowly, because my achilles tendon is swollen and causes my ankle to hurt. When i got to the shelter he wasnt there, and still hadnt caught up to me. It was still early in the day, only about 2pm. It gets dark at about 7pm, so there were still plentyl of daylight hours left. That meant he still had plenty of time to arrive. I took out my phone to try and call him. His phone went straight to voicemail, he hasnt had service, but it was worth a shot. I noticed that i had a voicemail. DJ had left a message saying that he got lost the day before, and ended up finding a house. The people who lived ther drove him to the trail, and he was continuing from the tesnatee gap. About 15 miles from here. Its almost dark and hes still not here. We are both taking a rest day tomorrow, saturday. So im going to wait at the blue mountain shelter. And hopefully hell catch up on sunday. The day off will help my heel hurt, and sunday may be a short day, wiith us staying at a hostel in hiawassee. Where i will be able to rest some more. There is an anesthesiologist staying at the shelter with his son while they are on a few day hike. He told me that if my ankle gets any worse my tendon can tear, leaving me with an injury that can potentially leave me unable to hike permanently. Ill need about 3 days of rest until i can hike again. Ill also have to lighten my pack. Mine is the heaviest around at 50lbs. Most others are in the 30s. Theyve given me the nickname "pack mule", as well as "sherpa", and "chef boyardee" because my meals are often a concoction of things i have on my food bag . Along with "The almighty D" it has become " The Almighty Chef Pack Sherpa Mule Boyar D". DJ's name, meanwhile, has become Dtour. Those werent the only names i was given, two middle aged women on the trail called me "pipes". Because they heard me singing from far off while hiking, and had caught up to me when i stopped to rest. They were hiking a little further than i was, to unicoi gap, where they were getting a ride to helen, a town a few miles away. they gave me a bag of homemade salmon jerky, which was pretty good. I ended up sharing it with everyone at the shelter when i got there.

march 6- neels gap

We woke up very cold. It had snowed during the night, so my boots that had been waterlogged from the day before were now frozen solid. After trying for more than 15 minutes with numb fingers to get my boots on it finally worked. Since the boots were frozen my feet quickly numbed from the cold. We got our hanging food bags and slowly packed up our things, which was difficult because of the cold. It was so cold during the night we thought we were going to die in our sleep from the cold. Seriously. In all the books about the appalachian trail, nobody ever mentions the cold. Well bill bryson does in his book, but he says it was a freakishly cold spring. Everyone else paints a sunny picture of a happy green forest where nothing goes wrong. Maybe they are scared to talk badly about the trail, maybe their years were just so much more pleasant, or maybe we just started much earlier than most people do. Either way, these past 5 days have been the most brutally cold days ive ever experienced. We walk all day until were sore, then set up camp, and get into sleeping bags that are in no way warm enough for the weather were encountering. Ever night i wonder if this will be the one i just dont wake up. We both dread the night for that reason. A sleepless night of shivering, and sporadic situps or pushups to raise our body temperature to the point where we might be able to feel our toes. Thats why today, after the coldest and windiest day of hiking, where it was too cold to even make breakfast, and where our water bottles were frozen solid in the morning so we hardly even drank any water, we both bought sleeping bag liners, and DJ bought a new sleeping bag. Its huge, a 15 degree big agnes with a sleeve in the bottom for a sleeping pad. I hope hell be comfortable in it. Im going to continue with my sleeping bag. Coupled with a liner it might be tolerable. The liner says it adds 15 degrees to the comfort of a sleeping bag. Plus ive been spending a few minutes each night trying to "reloft" my sleeping bag, by pinching the stuffing and trying to pull it apart to fluff it up. the cold wont be a problem tonight though. Were staying at the hostel at neels gap. Attached to the outfitter store theres a 16 bed hostel. For $15 plus a $5 donation you get dinner and breakfast a bed to sleep in. I took a shower here for the first time in 5 days. It was the greatest feeling ive felt in a long time. The warm water was something that just doesnt exist on the trail. The closest i came to a shower on the trail was was my face and crotch in an icy cold stream. Theres alot of other hikers here. Its such a comfortable place i dont want to leave in the morning. Just stay for a few days until my blisters go down and my knees and back stop hurting, but that wont happen. we have to continue as soon as possible, and check out is at 9am. We should be reaching a town in 4 days or so. So we might be able to find a hostel there. Hopefully the next 4 days will be easier too. Today I sent home 8lbs of gear that i wont need, And there less food in my pack than when we started. My pack weighs just under 50lbs now. Much less than the 65 i started with. We also did our laundry here. So our clothes are once again clean. Weve been wearing the same clothes since thursday.

march 5

March 5. We woke up to the sound of rain on the tent. Surprisingly enough, the tent is doing a good job of keeping the rain out, but the inside walls are covered with condensation. Not sure how were gonna go today, my back and knees hurt, and we havent even gotten up yet. Im gonna hike with knee support today, though ive lost one of my supports. I guess one is better than none. My knees werennt too bad during the hike, but it rained most of the day, especially towards the end. The day wasnt all bad though. When we reached woody gap, there was a guy with a table set up giving out free food and hot drinks to hikers. He had hiked the trail last year and wanted to make things easier for hikers during their first few days hiking. He went by the name of Fresh Grounds. There was a light drizzle and mist for most of the day, and the last 2 hours there was a downpour mixed with hail. When we got into camp i was cold and tired. After we set up the tent i used my towel to dry out the inside, as it was wet from the morning, and it was raining while we set it up. We hung our food a quarter mile away on a tree, then invited frances and carlie to come chill in our tent. DJ came up with the idea that we should all pass around a light and say something about ourselves. While we did that, carlie had each of us draw a penguin in a hot air balloon. She wants every person she meets to draw that for her. After carlie and frances left, me and DJ stayed up talking. We didnt want to go to sleep because it was cold and our sleeping bags were wet. We finally went to sleep, though we both just stayed up most of the night shivering.

first and second day of hiking. march 3- 4

Today is march 4th. We have finiswhed our second day of hiking, and both my knees and my back hurt. I have blisters on both as well as severe chafage. The chafage is the only thing i can do anything about, and itll hopefrully be healed by mornign, since hydrcortisone is fuckin awesome. Yesterday we began ourhike, we hiked the approach trail from amicalola state park, climbed over springer, and stayed in a shelter about 2 miles past it called stover creek shelter (i think). While on the approach trail a hiker named frances joined us, and has been hiking eith us since. Caleb had to go home due to a stomach ulcer that he had forgotten his medicine for. We beump into freeman every now and then. As he stayed atop springer last night instead of continuing to the next shelter at lower elevation. The temperature at springer last night went into the teens, while the temp at stover creek was in the low 20's. It was the coldest night yet, and i hardly slept. My water was frozen in the morning, and both of feet were numb. Its scary waking up in the morning and not being able to feel your feet. Tonight were staying in the tent for the first time. We got to a campgroung near a stream. Its called the justus creek campground, and there are a few other tents here too. Freances has a hammock. Im considering getting one at a store at neels gap called mountain crossings about 20 miles further. Thing is, the tent is really good for rainy days compared to the hammock, but the hammock is a fifth the weight. My pack is way too heavy. Ive been slowing DJ down. I stopped him from reaching the next shelter today, and it might take us an extra day to reach mountain crossings. Though Once we get there, ill mail home the things i dont need. I have an extra knife, a first aid kit that is wat too big, extra clothes, and afew other small things i dont need. Ill prob shed about 10lbs there. If i buy a hammock itll be closer to 15. Gonna go to sleep now. Tonight the weather is beautiful, and the tent is great at keeping the cold out. This is the warmest night so far, and i hope it stays that way. Ive heard rumors about extrfemely cold weather tonight, and rain tomorrow.

second day at amicalola. march 2

Today we woke up freezing. Though when i say woke up, i mean multiple times during the night because of how cold it was. The temp went down into the high 20's, and i heard that tonight it should be in the low 20's. We woke up at one point during the night and decided to do pushups to raise our body heat. It worked well, until after falling asleep we got cold again, it was in and out sleeping the whole night. If it doesnt start getting warmer soon im going to need a warmer sleeping bag. We went to the visitors center in the park today just to check it out, and found two people with a few different birds of prey, owls, a vulture, a hawk, and they told us that there will be a show with more birds at the lodge a mile away. We decided to walk there, and when we got there the show was already under way, different birds and a presenter talking about them. Afterwards, we spoke to the presenter, who is a park ranger here and she gave us advice on what to about the cold, how to lighten our packs, and some tips about the trail. Shhe told us we can sleep in the campground bathroom that is heated and will be open all night. DJ asked a counterperson at the lodge for a hot drink, and a few minutes later one of the girls working there showed up with hot cocoa for each of us. We walked back to the shelter, pcked up our packs that we had left at the visitors shelter, and shortly after got back to the shelter, a few more hikers came to join us. A few minutes later, the park ranger showed up with a duralog for us to start a campfire with. Things are looking good, but im still debating sleeping in the batroom. Its late now. I think around 9pm. Its cold. Very cold, and its snowing. Were sitting around a campfire, 2 of the other campers, caleb and freeman, joined us a while earlier. Caleb was a guy in his early 20's, he had grown up on an army base, and had been discharged from the army.. Freeman was ollder, he stopped working in 2003, and has been living on the trail and the road ever since. We ate a dinner we cooked over the fire, and were just chilling smoking now.

first day at amicalola

Today we headed to amicalola falls state park. Mahnu drove us there. Which made life much easier as we didnt have to find a shuttle or cab. We stopped at a pizza store first partly to get breakfast and partly because DJ thought it would be a good idea to bring a pizza to the campground. Turned out to be an awesome idea. We stopped at a paint store during the drive to pick up some denatured alcohol for our stoves. Then continued on our way. as we were drivin g it occurredc to me that atlanta is set up very differently from new york, and it makes more sense. The city is very dense and is the center of atlanta and its suburbs. There is a highway that runs in a circle around atlanta, with other highways crossing it and through the city. This makes it possible to reach atlanta from any direction. The subways run just to the outer limits of the immediate suburbs, and i was told by mahnu that most of the middle class live just a few exits beyond the reach of the subway. This is to ensure that no homeless end up in their towns. Beyond that is suburbs and rural land, with many farms. We drove past many farms on our way to the campsite. And even got lost on some back roads for a little bit because we had the wrong destination in the gps. We got to the park shortly after realizing this because we were only about 10 miles off track. We signed in and weighed our packs. Mine weighed 65lbs, with only half my water. About 13 lbs of that is my food, and i severfely overpacked that. I gonna eat like crazy over the weekend to lighten the load abit. We found out from the people who work at this park that wazter is very easy to find on the trail. So carrying alot is usually not necessary. DJ's pack weighed only 37lbs, he packed only the essentials and will be resupplyiing from mail drops in town. I packed alot because i didnt want to rely on mail drops, though ill be able to resupply in towns when we stop to get his mail drops. After finding the shelter, we immediately began collecting wood to makee a fire. The workers told me it was 29 degrees last night. Anfd it wont get warmer until next week. At the same, its unusually cold here now. We spent an hour trying to hang my food bag. Broke 2 tree branches in the process had to look for a good tree to hang the bag of food from so bears cant reach it. Im tired and it cold. Gonna go to sleep.

day in atlanta

My day in atlanta was interesting to say the least. After i got off the train i waited at the nearest bus station to what i hoped was the train to the airport. When i got to the train station it was pretty straightforward. There was a train that went all the way to the airport. Well 2 , but they followed mostly the same route. Atlanta has 4 subway lines that intersect the city latitudinally and longitudinally. That is, two run striaght north to south and two run straight east to west, and they only go separate directions for the last few stops at the end of the line. So i took the subway to the airport expecting to get off and wait 11 hours for DJ to get off his plane from chicago. when i got to the airport it wasnt even 9am yet. And his plane was getting in at 7:30pm. So decided to ride each subway in atlanta in every direction. 4 hours later i was feeling like a hobo as i has slept much of my time on the subway, waking up at the end of each line to take it back the otherway. So i had run out of subway and was wondering what else to do. So i took the subway to the middle of atlanta where all all 4 subways cross. A station called 5 points. I walked around looking for something to do and i decidedc to find a starbucks using my gps, so that i can access the wifi with my phone. Found one about 10 minutes later, updated my blog,checked facebook, and then a homeless guy started asking me about my backpack, how much it cost, what i was doing, etc.. I told him about my appalachian trail plans, and then we spoke for the next hour or so about all the free stuff to do in atlanta. Evidently, on the first thursday of every month there are free art exhibits with free refrreshments, and thats how the homeless guy keeps himself occupied once a month. I left him to go find food. After snacking i found an army navy surplus store a mile away so i walked to it hoping to find fuel for my stove. They had nothing of use to me so i wanderedmostly aimlessly around. An asian guy at a convenience store told me how he always likes to bring weed when he hikes to help him sleep, which i guess is good advice. I headed to the airport around this time, about 7pm to go meet DJ. His flight got in about a half hour later. While waitimg i saw 3 other hikers in the airport. I can tell they were hikers from their backpacks. After DJ got in mahnu picked us up and drove us to his friend where we were staying for the night. We chilled, dj and mahnu jammed, some guys came over, then we had a schmoke and went for pizza. Me and DJ had an interesting convo when we got back. We spoke about our reasons for hiking the appalachian trail, as well how we expected the hike to be. We both have very different views and expectations. We have similar reasons to some extent, such as to get away from what we always do, and to go on a cool adventure. But our expectations are very very different. I might talk about them here some other time. Passed out shortly after that until morning