4/20 - hot springs trail fest awesomeness

Its april 20. Supposed to be a fun weekend. Im waiting for miss janet to come back from shuttling. Then me, pilgrim, dah wah he, and miss janet are heading to hot springs for the hot springs trail fest. Gonna be tenting in a big group at hot springs while partying with a bunch of strangers. I heard theres going to be a big agnes sales rep there, so theres a possibility of free gear. Gonna be fun. Watching three stooges all morning waiting. ................... Today, april 20, 2013 was an awesome day. Woke up in miss janets living room when alll the other hikers woke up. It was about 8am. For breakfast, I ate some leftover pizza from last night. The other hikers were packing up to get back to the trail, i was packing up to get back to hot springs. Today in hot springs, nc, was trail fest. A family friendly town party celebrating the great outdoors and hot springs' location right in the middle of it. When miss janet left with the load of hikers, me and dah wah he, who has been staying in miss janets house, headed to hot springs in dah wah he's car. Only one hiker eazy E, stayed at miss janets. He hurt his back yesterday while hiking, and couldnt wear his pack without pain. He gave me his big agnes sleeping pad to try and exchange in case there was a big agnes sales rep at the fest. We got there after about 45 minutes of driving. 7 days of hiking were suddenly gone in 45 minutes as i rolled into hot springs. But hot springs is different now. When i was here 2 weeks ago passing through, the trees were mostly empty, some small buds on some of them. Now in hot springs, flowers are in bloom, trees are covered in green. Its like a whole new place where spring is in full swing. I noticed it too during the drive.the barren mountains i had hiked over were tinted green with the buds growing into leaves on the trees. The downside, was that every face was a new one. Going so far backwards meant that all the hikers are a week behind me. So i didnt know anyone. My first hour here was wandering around town, wondering what to do. Dah wah he had found some old friends, and was talking to them. so he was occupied, but i was alone. I finally built up the courage to go to a random group of hikers and introduce myself. Its difficult to do that at this point, everyone knows everyone around them. So when i walk up, i am a strangeer to everyone there, while they already know each other. Its an odd feeling, and some hikers have just been unfriendly. It went well though, i spoke to them for a few minutes, told them im a hiker. Then went back to being by myself. I still had to find the big agnes rep. So when dah wah he said he wanted to go find food, i asked if he can show me where the rep is. Earlier When we were driiving into town he pointed him out, and mentioned being his friend. Turns out the rep is fixit guy. I met fixit guy a few days earlier outside of uncle johnnys. He drives around to popular points on the trail and fixes gear in a trailer/workshop that he tows around. When i asked him about eazy e's pad, he told me that the best course of action would be to send it back to the company. He also asked me if i need any other gear fixed. I brought my backpack and he sewed up a hole chewed by a mouse. It was about this time that miss janet and pilgrim showed up. Miss janet told me about a duck race that happens down the river that runs through town. Hundreds of plastic ducks, each with a number on it, is dumped into the river and allowed to float downstream. The first 3 ducks that get to the finish line win, and split half the money earned by selling ducks. I got six ducks, whhich cost $10. Some people get more, some get less. We had an hour until the race started, so we all went to a bar right on the river. We had a few beers, and pilgrim got me a beer too. Then miss janet asked me if could help wrangle ducks on the river when the race starts. Sounded like fun so i took off my boots and got in the river with a few other guys, all lined up by a big net stretched across the river, meant to catch the ducks. The race began and the ducks floated down the river. I caught the ducks that floated to far to the side to be caught by the net and flung em to the net as they passed. My ducks didnt win, but it was still a fun experience. I got some free food being given out by a local church, then joined miss janet, dah wah he, and pilgrim back at the bar. We ate and drank some more, and pilgrims friend bright eyes joined us. while waiting for the bathroom i met julian. And i invited her and the rest of her band to come to the camgrounds later in the night after they performed. She plays the washboard, thats right, the washboard, in a band calleed tar and rosin. They play appalachian string music, guitar, banjo, violin, and washboard. Its like bluegrass, but a less commercialized style. They were providing the live music at the bar that night. I wnet to the campgrounds with miss janet, it was almost 7pm already, and i needed to set up my tent. After i got it set up, i went back to the bar to watch the band. I got a pitcher o beer, and gave some to other hikers who were there. I also gave some to julian after the bands first set. Shes cute, and seemed to liked me, so i figured i might as well try. The trail has been very dry and its getting frustrating. Also spoke to the rest of the band and told them about the campfire chill later at the campground. Towards the end, miss janet showed up, she had been by the campfire chill and drum circle up by the laughing heart hostel on the other side of town. I had stayed at the laughing heart two weeks ago when i was first in hot springs. Miss janet gave me a ride back to the campgrounds, i picked up some beer and snack for the night and headed to the fire. There were alot of hikers there, alot of beer, alot of smoking, everything youd expect in a crowd of hikers havin a party. I introduced myself to a few people. They got a kick out of my trail name, and i was asked tto repeat it multiple times. As of now its The Almighty Boss Scorch Pipes Wilson Chef Pack Sherpa Mule Boyar Darko D. I might be adding phaedrus into it.but that idea is still up in the air. Around the campfire, one hiker put the perceived unfriendliness in perspective for me. He told me i should announce to everyone that im from up ahead. He said that everyone assumes that im there with my friends, or that i have friends there, but im just not talkative. He said iif i tell them im from ahead, they will know that the reason im not talking is because i dont know anyone, and they will open up to me to make me feel more welcome. I never saw it that way, i just assumed that people further back were just assholes. The band eventually showwed up. And they played until 130am, when the security guard of the campgrounds came and told us to be quiet. So we chilled for a few more hours but many people went to sleep, and the band stopped playing. I spoke to kyle, the violinist for the band, turns out we have the same birthday. He was telling me about HP Lovecraft, a horror writer from the early 1900's and that they share a birthday, which happens to be the same as mine. Also chilled with julian a bit. Though sadly, nothing ended up happening. I had been too shy all night to appraoch her again. And another hiker had already took the opportunity when he saw it. I realized, after the fact, how easy it would have been for me had i not been such a wuss. Around 430am i finally went to bed. It was a good night. And had been a good day. Definitely one of the most fun days ive had so far. Trail days in damascus is gonna be even better. I have heard that its a few thousand people. With the camping area nicknamed tent city. Its only in a month too. May 18-19. In miss janets car theres a bumper sticker that says "the AT is the most fun youll ever have, interrupted by long walks in the woods."

april 15-19 staying at miss janets

Ive been spending thepast few days recovering at miss janets house. After twisting my ankle on sunday i havent been able to hike. Welll i did try to hike on thursday, april 18. But more about that soon. Monday, april 15, the group i had been hiking with for the past week up til then decided to continue down the trail. Hot dog was in the hospital because of her poison ivy, but supposed to get out soon after. Otto had given dumptruck the use of his car in order to slackpack otto and the rest of the group. So dumptruck and hot dog planned to drive from campsite to campsite, carrying the backpacks of the rest of the group, until they recover enough to hike. I said goodbye to the group, i was sad that id be hiking alone. Hiking with a group makes things alot more fun. That night miss janet cam back to the house with a huge group of hikers. There was about 17 people at the house that night. We had a bbq and miss janet made us all wear ties to stay classy. The next day, tuesday, april 16, that big group got back to the traill too. My ankle was still hurting, so i took another day off. Pretty much just eating and watching tv all day. Its good for a day or two, but id get bored of that very quickly. The day after that, wednesday, april 17, i spent most of the day again just chillin on the couch. Towards the end of the day, garbear, bearsnack, sarah (oatmeal), alpha dog, and peanut showed up with miss janet. I wasnt expecting to see anyone i know anymre. I had been in erwin since friday, and i figured my 5 days off wouldve let everyone pass me. So i was happy to see them. To make things better, they were planning to slackpack from spivey gap to uncle johnnys. That was perfect for me, so i decided to hike with them on thursday. But id take it slow so i dont hurt myself again. Miss janet picked up another big group a little while after, then all of us went out to dinner. Afterward, We were supposed to go to a bar that has karaoke, but they didnt let alpha dog in, because hes 19. So we went to a small bar calleed the acoustic coffeehouse. And chilled there for a bit. On thursday, april 18 miss janet drove us all out to spivey gap to continue our hike. We started around 230pm, which was pretty late. We were expecting to start in the morning, but miss janet has been getting nonstop calls from sick hikers. She shuttles the hikers, houses hikers, even deals with the CDC (Center for Disease Control). After miss janet collected stool samples from a few hikers and giving it to the cdc, its been confirmed that it is norovirus that has been going around. Norovirus is resistant to hand sanitizers, too small for filters, and can survive very high temperatures. The average norovirus induced puke contains several million viruses, and it only takes 4 viruses to infect someone. So the virus has been spreading. Ive heard that it has been as far back as fontana dam, and as far forward as damascus. When i first heard of the virus around hot springs, it was between hot springs and erwin. Its gained almost 200 miles more range, and almost everyone has had it. I still havent though, and im hoping it stays that way. We hiked pretty quickly from spivey, taking few breaks and making good time. It was a good day hiking. We took a longer break about halfway through, then continued hiking, this time the group was a little bit slower. I hiked far ahead of the rest of the group, and eventually caught up to peanut who hiked ahead. We hiked together for a few miles, and we were almost by johnnys, maybe a quarter mile away, when i retwisted my ankle. Hurt alot more than the first time. Though it was better that i had a short distance left to the end. Miss janet picked us up from johnnys and took us to walmart before going back to the house. We picked up meats to have a bbq for dinner. Itd be awesome to bbq on the trail, but meats heavy. Some of the group from the night before was still at the house, so it was a good chill. I finally took down my tent and moved into the house. Ive been in the backyard since sunday, and figured i might as well grab a bed in the house. Friday april 19 was another lazy day, just sitting on the couch. We went out for lunch and restocked on beer. Then i Watched tv all day, and played cards and drank with the other hikers in the house. The other group of hikers went out and picked up pizza for everyone, and we watched the hobbit. It was a good chill, and a good night.

april 14 - slackpack

April 14 me and apollo slackpacked. We woke up eearly again, about 7am, because we were expecting miss janet at 730. The day was planned to be a 24 mile slackpack. Froom sams gap to uncle johnnys hostel. Day started off well, we hiked very fast and made excellent timee. The hike took us over big bald, the highest mountain in the area, and its bald, which means theres no tress, only short grasses and the occasional shrub. So the views were amazing, with mountains as far as you can see out on the horizon. We got to spivey gap and took a longer break. We were 13 miles into the day, and figured wed break before continuing on the next 11 miles. We had taken a 5 minute break every hour and a half until then, so the longer break was welcome. The whole day both of us had been having stomach pains, and feared we were getting sick, so i used the time at spivey gap to take a dump. From there i also carried my bag across a shoulder instead of around my waist. The top of my backpack comes off and can be used as a daypack. I had been wearing it buckled around my waist like a fanny pack. Moving it to my shoulder took alot of pressure off my stomack, and the stomach pain lessened. After that gap there was a big climb then a relatively flat hike the rest of the way. We hiked the uphill very quickly, then when the flat began i decided to start running, which is way much more fun, especially over trails, whiich make your mind have to work super fast to watch out for obstacles and spot oncoming ones. It was maybe 30 seconds after i started running that i stepped on a tree root and rolled my ankle badly. I fell down and and waited a few minutes for the pain to begin subsiding, annd i made sure my toes could still move. From there i decided that ill continue to the end, even though we were only 2 miles out of the 11. after about a mile of hiking, i stopped and decided to turn around. The pain in my ankle was getting worse, especially on the descents. It was 3 miles back to spivey, or 8 miles to johnnys. I didnt wannt to hike in the dark with my ankle the way it was. I was compensating with my other foot and had almost rolled it twice since continuing. The best choice was to go back. Apollo called miss janet when he was able to get cell service. We hiked back to spivey and she came less than a half hour after. We drove back to her house and met back up with the rest of the group.

april 13 - zero in erwin

Somehow we managed to wake up at 630 for breakfast. I didnt get to sleep until 230 last night so i think that was the shortest sleep ive gotten yet. I did attack the breakfast though, 3 bowls o cereal, a waffle, toast n cream cheese, coffee. I tried to get my moneys worth, and i think i did. A few hikers caught a shuttle back to the trail early in the morning , so we werent alone. I ended up just hanging out there for 3 hours instead of going back to sleep and coming back to breakfast again. We ended up all getting together and heading out to do our laundry around 11am. Me, apollo, and whistlle first went to the post office. Otto and miss janet were there and otto gave us a ride to the laundromat. We hung out there until we all finished then we went for lunch. After that we went back to the hotel, and hung out behind it after setting up our tents to dry from the thunderstorms the other day. I took a walk and resupplied a little bit, then hung out at the hotel until much later, when we all went to go see jurassic park in 3d. It was alright, the 3d kinnd of added to it, but wasnt really something that would make or break jurassic park. Its a pretty good movie by itself. Weve been planning to slack pack tomorrow, which is when you hike without a backpack, because its someplace safe and someone will pick you up at the end of the day. I do have a daypack packed though. With some food, water, and basic first aid. Miss janet will probably drive us in the morning. Hanging with this group has definitely been alot more fun than the hiking i was doing beforehand. Miles dont matter as much, though they still have to be done. Theres just no pressure to hike big long days. Though if were slackpacking tomorrow id like to do a 24 mile day. The option is 13 miles or 24. That is where we cross a road and can be picked up from. So this group is more fun, but i keep getting the feeling that im still an outsider to some of them. Theres only 5 others in the group. And i only feeel accepted by 3 of them. I want to find a group i feel completely comfortable in. Dont know if that exists out here, would be nice if it does though, feeling lonely even in a group isnt a very good feeling.... Waking up at 630 again, hopefully we can get an early shuttle to the trail. Its almost midnight so i need some sleep.

april 12 - ibuprofen

Wokke up to the sound of rain on my tent. But the sound grew softer quickly and the rain stopped shortly after. I was the first one out of my tent this morning on april 12. I wanted to get an early start so i can refill my food. I was on my last day of food. One breakfast. 2 snacks. One dinner. i needed to refill by the next morning the latest. Theres a small shop and gas station 3.3 miles off the trail and 317 miles into the AT. I wanted to get there by the early afternoon and refill. The others were a bit slower, and i figured i had plenty of time. So i waited for them and hiked and their pace for most of the day. Stopping frequently to rest. It was a slow day, so while waiting for the other to catch up i decided to walk slowly and enjoy the surroundings. We were walking up a steep slope at one point for about two miles. Crossing back and faoth over a stream that cascaded all the way down the mountain. There were alot of plants growing, now that spring is here. And more green and other colors than there have been until now. At one point i came to an area that had ramps growing allnover the side of it. Ramps are a type of wild onion with a milder flavor and a bit of a garlicky flavor mixed in. I picked some and apollo caught up so i showed him and he picked some too. We picked until hot dog and whistle caught up, which was only a few minutes, then continued. We were supposed to get to a certain point then stop for lunch. I was hking ahead and had my headphones in so i didnt hear the others yelling my name when they stopped a bit earlier than planned. I kept hiking for a little bit then turned around to see apollo catching up. The others had stopped so we had lunch where we were, on the top of that mountain. And figured we can wait until the girls catch up. I only wanted to eat lunch so i can take some more ibuprofen. Today was my first day hikiing with ibuprofen. I only took them because my knee has been hurting so bad recently. It actually helped alot. When the girls caught up, hot dog wanted to get off the trail at thye gap where the store was near and get to a doctor to check the rash she developed all over her body. So to erwin it was, where we can meet dumptruck and clever girl, and she can get to a doctor. We got to the gap and called a shuttle to drive us to erwin. The drivers name was Tom, his trail name was 10-k. He drove us to erwin and drove us past the stores we might need before dropping us off at the super 8 motel. The girls showed up a little while afterward. They had first been dropped off at a walk in clinic. From there we walked to get food. tom had told us about a mexican shop that happened to have really good food. So we checked that out and got mexican food. Then while walking back to the hotel, we stopped in a supermarket and bumped into otto and miss janetboth thru hikers. Miss janet had her car there so she offered us a ride back to the motel. We picked up 2 more hikers on the way and then ended up going to walmart, then to the trailhead to pick up a hker who had slackpacked 33 miles today. From there it was back to the motel. Dumptruck and clever ggirl were back there so we all chilled in our room for a while. Big yankee and foxtrot showed up to chill also. We all decided to get the free breakfast the motel provides in the morning. We are going to wake up at 6. Eat. Go back to sleep then eat again at 930. Breakfast is available from 6 to 10. Were giving this place a run for there money. At 20 per person, 80 per room, we have to get our moneys worth somehow.

april 11 - dislocation

Today was a tough day. Not a very long day but it was tough. We woke up earlyish, around 7am. We packed up our stuff and hit the trail around 8. The beginning was really cool, it was a narrow steep path with big rocks and some small climbs. It went over the top of the mountain, and the views were really cool. We could still see smoke rising from where the fires were. And we could see a huge valley, with farms, and mountains far on the other side. Me, apollo, and hot dog waled ahead of the others. We hiked past some burn zones, which werent nearly as impressive as i hoped theyd be. Just burned leaves and some charred old logs. The trees were unchanged, and alot of undergrowth still remained. We had gotten about 2 miles and stopped at the shelter. We snacked and waited, expecting the others to catch up. After a while either hot dog or apollo asked another hiker passing through if theyve seen dumptruck or clever girl. The hiker said that dumptruck had gotten hurt and they were still on that first mountain 2 miles back. We left our backpacks and hiked quicklly back to them. Apollo said that dumptruck has dislocated his shoulder before and has been worried about it happening again. We got back to where they sure and sure enough, dumptruck was slumped over a tree branch with clever girl trying to pop his arm back in. It was difficult to watch and difficult to listen to dumptruck in such pain. Apollo had taken dumtrucks back pack back to the shelter and was going to bring some painkillers back from his firstaid kit. Me hot dog and whistle waited out of sight of clever girl and dumptruck to give them space. Whistle called a ranger and was put on hold. I walked with dumptruck further down the mountain with clevrr girl close behind, we were better off on the bottom of the mountain than the top when we figure out what to do. After a ffew minutes, a firefighter came by to check on the ashes and make sure everything went right. He said he can give dumptruck a ride down the mountain. So i ran back up to where whistle was waiting for the ranger to call back. She only had cell reception on top of the mountain. We walked back down, they were already gone when we got down, so we decided to wallk to the next shelter and just continue the hike. We met apollo coming back from the shelter with dumptrucks bag. He said that they had gone down with the firefighter, and that the firefightr will come back for the backpack. In the meanwhile, we should continue and the other two, clever girl and dumptruck, will meet us in erwin. We continued hiking, had lunch at the first shelter. Then continued on to the shelter after that which was another 6 miles. At one point we walkked through an open field, the trail running through the middle. On one side of the trail the ground was black, the other side unchanged, green and gold from hay. I think apollo and whistle took pictures of it. We got to the next shelter and clouds were starting to gather. We had been hearing reports of a thunderstom coming. I set up my tent and then ate dinner. Drizzle started just as i finished eating. So i hung my food bag, and gathered my stuff into my tent. A few minutes after i got into my tent the rain started and continued until morning. Some thunder and lightning. I fell asleep to the rainon my roof.

april 10 - vomit and feces everywhere

"Vomit and feces everywhere" was part of the warning we found by the first shelter we came to. The epidemic is seemingly getting worse. The hostel got a call in the morning from the appalachian trail conservancy that between hot springs and erwin, there have been many sick hikers, or so ive been told. I havent seen any sick hikers yet. Seems theyre always a day ahead or behind. Though im happy not seeing them myself. Getting sick out here would suck. It was a late start out of the hostel. We hung out by the shop for a while before we left. Ma started to warm up to me when i went to pay and she saw that im a lefty. She gave me some cayenne peppers grown in the garden there, and told us about when she used to hike on the trail. We thanked her and left. There wasnt enough space in the car so Marc drove the girls back to the trail while me and dumptruck started walking . Apollo had left before, and was almost by the trail by the time marc came and picked me and dumptruck up and drove us to the trail too. We said goodbye, marc thanked us for helping him. It was alot of fun though, and we didnt mind doing it for the free stay. We began hiking, planning on about 12 miles. I saw a snake while we hiked. Whistle said it was a ribbon snake. She has a degree in biology and knows alot about reptiles, amphibians, and especially bugs. We had only gone 4 or 5 miles when another hiker ran back the trail to tell everyone that the trail is closed up ahead. There was a controlled burn planned. Thats when the rangers purposely start forest fires to help the forest grow better. They say it helps. So we went as far as where the ranger was, then took a side trail to a campsite on a hill that was cvered in hay. From there we had a view of the burn, and were able to seee fires on a mountainside across the vally. There was alot of garbage on the hill though. It seems to be a popular place for locals to come, and many cars came through during the night. The rangers also sent a car full of waterbottle to give them out to hikers. After we ate dinner, we sat on the side of the hill and watched the sunset. It began to get very windy after the sun went down, so we went to our tents and had an early night. The plan was to wake up early and do a long day of hiking.