My Tennessee Mountain Home

Greetings from Tennessee! I just passed the one month mark, and I'm still having the best time! 

Friends 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to stay with friends and have had friends come hike with me. Kellie and Andrea drove out and each hiked for 3 days with me. Both committed to whatever pace I was doing, and to hiking wherever I was. I had so much fun! I feel like no one can truly understand my trip until they're out here hiking with me, and having two of my best friends come and gain that understanding was amazing. You guys rule, and I can't believe how tough both of you are! 

"I don't mean to be rude, but you guys don't have jobs"

Meet Rachel Drummond

Rachel and I grew up together, and she is a true trail angel. She and her husband Gerrad live in Johnson City, Tennessee, and have let friends and me stay with them on multiple occasions over the course of the North Carolina/ Tennessee portion of my hike. Rachel has driven 30ish miles at least 6 times to pick me up/ drop me back off at the trail, and even took me to rescue Lara when she got sick. She and Gerrad have taken me out to dinner, let me do laundry, shower, and have even cooked for me! On a recent grocery store outing Rachel grabbed mine and Lara's food and said "I don't mean to be rude, but you guys don't have jobs", and paid for it! Rachel is already extraordinarily generous, and like Kellie and Andrea she gets it. She and most of my other close friends understand that it'll cost roughly $3,000-$5,000 (this doesn't include gear already purchased) over the course of my hike. In my mind three to five thousand dollars doesn't seem like a ton for 5-6 months worth of living, but spending without earning starts to add up quickly. I can't even begin to explain how helpful staying with friends/ getting mail drops is! 

What is down time?

I'm currently wrapping up my third 0 mileage day by sitting on Rachel's couch, watching Game of Thrones, and trying to figure out mail drops/ mileage for the next few weeks. I think another thing many people don't understand is my lack of down time! When I envisioned hiking the AT I imagined myself hiking for most of the day, being able to hangout at camp, eating, sleeping, and repeating. This never happens! My daily schedule is as follows:

7:00- wake up 

7:15- start packing up 

7:30- leave tent

7:45- eat breakfast

7:45/8:30- leave camp/ shelter/ begin hiking

10:00- snack break

11:30/11:45- lunch break #1

2:30/3:00- lunch break #2

4:00- snack break 

5:30/6:30/7:30- finish hiking

7:30- DINNER

8:00- journal

8:30- sleep

I thought days in town would be a great time to relax and explore, but in reality they're normally spent running "town errands". Going to a post office, grocery store, and an outfitter gets difficult when you have a limited amount of time/ don't have a car! Fortunately, hitch hiking has been incredibly easy! If you're wondering why I've been so bad at keeping my blog current, it's solely because of lack of down time! 

Ok now hiking 

This week was trying. It rained for 6 out of 7 days and saying I'm soggy is an understatement. 

Tuesday

Tuesday started out with a climb from out of town. It was hot and humid and was raining on and off and I was generally unhappy. 

The rain stopped just long enough for us to get trail magic! BT (brother Tom) wasn't a hiker, but came and set out banana bread, brownies, and sweet tea for a few months at the start of AT season just because he wanted to be helpful! He even had dog treats! After our trail magic break we continued on to our intended campsite, and were surprised with the presence of 8 of our friends! 

We all stayed up (and by stayed up I mean until 9; this is late for us), hung out, and cooked dinner together, which never happens! 

Wednesday 

I woke up to the sound of pouring rain on my tent on Wednesday morning. I'm normally up and out of camp by 9 at the latest, but we didn't end up leaving until 10:30 because we were all trying to wait the rain out/ were unwilling to get drenched. The rain slowed just long enough for us to pack up our soaking wet tents and we continued on. I knew we were starting the day off with a big climb, and that was daunting. 

The climb itself wasn't terrible. Torrential downpour had turned the trail into a swamp, and that made hiking really difficult. I tried to dodge water, but gave up shortly after. My feet were soaked, and freezing, but got better because my shoes turned into tiny wetsuits. The farther I hiked, the warmer the layer of water trapped in my shoes got (small victory). We hiked to the summit of Roan Mountain (6,286 ft.), which was our last 6,000 ft mountain until Massachusetts! We ate lunch #2 at Roan High Knob Shelter, which is the highest shelter on the AT! We trudged on for another 8.5 miles and set up camp in the hopes that our tents would dry out overnight. 

Thursday 

Nothing dried. It wasn't actively raining, but my tent was just as wet as when I had set it up at night because there was so much moisture in the air. We left camp and the sun came out for 20 minutes! 

It rained more, and was freezing, and Thursday was terrible. Lara and I had no dry clothes, and no dry gear, and were cranky/ homesick. I'm normally fine with rain, but when I didn't have a way of escaping it, and has nothing dry to change into I realized how much I hate it. 

Thursday ended on a high note though! I stayed at Overmountain Shelter, which is a converted barn that now sleeps 20+ people! 

It was really drafty at night, but I was so happy to be out of the rain that I didn't care. 

Friday 

Friday was my favorite day thus far! When I woke up it wasn't raining, and I realized how beautiful the views around the barn were! 

Right after leaving we climbed Little Hump and Hump Mountain. 

Hump Mountain doesn't look very imposing here, but it was. If you look really closely at the top of the mountain you can see a few small dots, these are fellow hikers. Lara and I rounded the corner, saw Hump Mountain, and just started laughing. We could see our friends slowly making their way up, and could see how distant those who were already at the top were. 

We made the climb and were rewarded with cool views all around! We've been going back and forth between North Carolina and Tennessee for the last few weeks, and we finally left North Carolina for good! 

After border crossing we ran into town, and were offered a ride! Naturally we accepted and asked to be taken to Bob's Dairyland. I was starving and had a  strawberry milkshake, BBQ sandwich, fries, and cornbread! 

We met up with a bunch of friends, ate and hitched back to the trail. We started hiking, and immediately looked around at each other. We all realized what a huge mistake we had made. It was around 75 degrees, humid, we had 8.5 miles left to hike, and we were miserable. We all sat around a water source and whined but continued on to help speed up digestion. 

We passed through beautiful meadows and walked along the Elk river, and it was glorious. Shortly after we found this nice sign 

With praise like that we couldn't turn Jones falls down! 

Totaly bitchin', right?! We also passed the 400 mile mark!

Saturday 

It rained again. We did an uneventful 15 into Dennis Cove. The day was boring, except for one cool, old barn. 

Wrap up

Despite the weather, I've really loved this part of Tennessee. In the last four days I've hiked through meadows, rhododendron  tunnels, spruce forrest, by rivers and waterfalls, and over balds. It's really beautiful, incredibly diverse, and I would love to hike it again in the future! 

The next time I update it'll be from Virginia! 

The Non-Thru Hiker's Guide to Thru Hikers

Before we get to Andrea's blog entry I have a few things to say about her time with me. Andrea Singer is a badass! She endured two 85 degree and humid days, and then did 15 miles in the rain with me on her last day. I was moving pretty quickly, and she managed to stay with me the entire time while remaining her positive and fun self! On my last day with Andrea we went to wal mart and she tried to pay for my re-supply! Who does that?! All she said was "but you're not working!". Only the most selfless and thoughtful person would do that. I love you Anje, and I can't wait to be reunited with you again! 

Andrea on the A.T. 

I was lucky enough to get some time off work, so obviously I decided to meet up with Kylie for 3 days on the Appalachian Trail.  I honestly had no idea what to expect, but had a good amount of hiking experience under my belt and let's be real - Kylie is pretty fun. The time came to head to Hot Springs, North Carolina where I planned to meet up with her and Sullivan at The Laughing Heart Hostel. Once I arrived, I was literally thrown from the car with an extremely heavy backpack and into her insane life as an AT thru hiker.  (Ok, so this is not exactly how it happened but looking back it does sort of seem that way...)

During my three days on the trail, we hiked about 35 miles and ate a lot of snacks.  I could go into detail about my specific experience, but since that is literally all we did I decided to instead turn this post into something a little more educational. So, without further adieu, I present you with: 

The Non-Thru Hiker's Guide to Thru Hikers 

1. Thru hikers eat so much food. SO MUCH FOOD. When they aren't eating food, they are talking about eating food. If you are not eating as much food as them, they will yell at you. Also, snacks.

2. Thru hikers are actually professional scales. They can tell you how much something weighs simply by looking at it. Nothing can ever weigh too little, but almost everything weighs too much. 

3. Thru hikers can sleep literally anywhere and through anything. I began to wonder if they are able to sleep THROUGH their THRU-hike. Heh heh....

4. A common misconception about AT thru hikers is that they are normal people, just like you and me! This is not true. They are actually super humans. Some of them might even be aliens.

5. Thru hikers speak a foreign language. Here are a few words I learned and their definitions.

Zero day: v, to chill.

Bear bag: v, using super human strength to make a bag full of stuff fly 20 feet in the air and have it remain there until morning.

Privy: n,  a very fancy toilet.

Elevation gain: n, a very cruel joke that nature likes to play.

Resupply: v, to hunt and gather new food ravenously.

Rocky and strenuous: adj, no. Just no.

Camp shoes: n, heavenly clouds that you put your feet into.

Trail magic: n, this is literal magic. Wizards appear and hand you treats.

Shelter: n, a wooden mansion.

Steripen: n, a magic wand that changes the flavor of water

Blister popping: v, this is what they do for entertainment. Weird, I know.

Fire pits: n, something no one uses because they are too busy eating or sleeping.

6. In all seriousness, thru hikers are among the most inspiring people you will ever meet.  They save a bunch of money, put their lives on hold, and just go for it - which is more than most people will ever do. Whether it's to check off a bucket list item, prove something to themselves, search for a purpose, or just to be in nature, they are all there together, working towards reaching the same place. Because of this, they are always there for each other like a very close and diverse family. The amount of respect and kindness they give one another and their surroundings is something everyone could learn from. They genuinely want the hiker next to them to succeed as much as they want themselves to.  I feel extremely lucky to have been able to spend time among such amazing people. 

Shout out to everyone I met during my trip, especially Sugar Magnolia, Lara, Wookie, Uphill, Cob, Rhonda, Tony, Coco, Magnus, Bud, Bud Light, and Sullivan. I wish you all the happiest of trails!

Kellie on the A.T.

Earlier this week my friend Kellie Lingle joined me for 3 days and nights of camping! I had so much fun with her, and she was a trooper. We started off our first day with climbs, and our last day ended with thunderstorms. Kellie also brought Sullivan to me, and for that I can never thank her enough! I thought it would be interesting to get an outside perspective on hiking and what I'm doing, and Kellie agreed to do a guest blog entry for me. Here's her take on her time with me:

I'm currently in the Laughing Heart hostel and Kylie asked if she could turn on the light, I said no, she did it anyway. That aside, this hike has been enjoyable. And by enjoyable I mean day two was cool, and day three didn't totally suck, but let me tell you about day one. 

Day one...about a quarter of the way into the hike I was secretly plotting my escape plan. Thoughts rolled through my head "maybe I'll just say I fell down the mountain, she'll get that text when she has service. Should I say I sprained my ankle and fake limp away back down the mountain? Will she believe that?"  No, I told myself, don't be dumb, you've hiked plenty of times, how bad could the next three miles be. Well for those that have hiked humpback rock, think about doing that for about three hours. Needless to say, the first day almost killed me, and by me I mean my knees after we went down the steep downhill. The campsite was cool, first time I've ever camped. Note to self, when using a mummy sleeping bag USE THE HOOD FUNCTION. Let me tell you how dumb I felt after realizing the next day I could have just cocooned myself into the sleeping bag instead of wearing about twenty layers to bed. 

Onto day two! Very easy hike for the day, well I lied, not very easy, but enjoyable. Max patch was awesome! It had been cloudy most of the day and was forecasted to rain, but when we got to the top of the bald the sun broke through the clouds, and besides the strong wind at the top it was very pleasant.  It made me feel like I was back in the alps again, if only I had a salami and cheese sandwich and some Italian chocolate bars, yum. As we hiked to our campsite I wished that there was more foliage in the trees and less dead brown winter leaves that were off of the trees, but beggars can't be choosers. At the campsite I realized that Kylie can literally smell everything, things that I'm pretty sure don't even have a smell she could smell from a mile away. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?  It rained all night that night, but since I now knew how to properly use my sleeping bag, I slept like a baby. 

Day three, we planned to wake up at 6 am, but that didn't happen, whoops. After a late start we ascended bluff mountain and then started our long descent down the mountain. As we were going down the mountain my knees, ankles, and toes were screaming at me; it didn't help that I had fallen onto my left knee the previous day.   As I continued in the path to Hot Springs, I couldn't help but think of how Kylie is able to do this. After three days of this I was over it. Don't get me wrong, I love hiking, I love getting away from the world for a bit, but I desperately missed my bed and heat and AC. The farther we went down the mountain the more it looked like rain was going to fall upon us and about six miles in it finally did. After waking/jogging down hill in the rain for three miles I was done. I had fallen on my knee again and it was severely hurting, luckily we were at a service road and I was able to get a shuttle into town. Kylie was a real trooper, hiking the rest of the 6.6 miles into town. You go girl! We later got dinner with Kylie's new friends and they were all so nice!  They don't seem like they're serial killers so I guess I can continue to assume that Kylie will be safe on the trail, especially with her friends and Sullivan. Until next time, happy trails!

The Great Smoky Mountains

I spent four days in the Great Smoky Mountains last week! If you're not familiar, Great Smoky Mountains National Park spans many of the mountains on the North Carolina/ Tennessee border, and the Appalachian Trail section of the park is about 71 miles long. I had heard many stories about how beautiful the park was, and was really looking forward to it. 

Why I initially hated the smokies 

Even though I had heard stories of the beauty of the smokies they started to seem more burdensome than anything else. Almost all thru hikers knew that before entering the smokies we would have to obtain AT thru-hiker backcountry permits in order to camp. These permits cost $20 and last 7 days. Obtaining a permit was mildly annoying (only because I was trying to purchase mine on a public computer with a half functioning monitor), and I would've done it in advance, but my entrance date was tentative and I didn't want to risk having to purchase a second permit. My backcountry permit was accompanied by a long list of park rules. 

In no particular order:

Leave no trace (this is standard)

No outside animals

No camping outside of shelters

No fires in most shelters

+ more!

I never expected camping to have so many rules. Paying to camp and then being so regulated was confusing to me. I mean, it's a National Park! Shouldn't I just be allowed to be in the wilderness/ camp wherever I want?! I begrudgingly began my hike in anyway. 

I still hated the smokies 

The day of our GSM entrance started out really well. It was beautiful and sunny as we left our campsite on Fontana Lake.

 

We hiked across Fontana Dam, and into the southern entrance of the park. I knew I had a ton of climbing in my future, but I was unprepared for what laid ahead. 

SO MUCH CLIMBING

Followed by more climbing. Then a tiny break, but then more climbing. I had resupplied at Fontana Dam, and my legs were feeling the extra seven pounds of food I was carrying. In a desperate attempt to lighten my pack, I "cameled" all of my water. Two pounds down, but legs were still screaming. I took a break midway through our nine plus mile ascent. I looked around and saw dead trees and leaves everywhere. I was underwhelmed. Six more miles into my journey I was still feeling underwhelmed, and totally exhausted. Being forced to stay in shelters made mileage in the smokies hard. Shelters were 3-5 miles apart, but that meant doing 9/10 mile days or 15/17 mile days on tougher terrain/ at higher elevation than we're used to. Naturally we chose 15/17, and I was left feeling so tired every night. 

Then something magical happened

Towards the end of day two I rounded a corner, and was totally surprised. 

I had entered beautiful pine forest! I felt like I was in the Pacific north west, and I couldn't be any happier. That coupled with a few balds, hiking along ridges of mountains, and the most amazing views made me realize why everyone speaks so highly of the smokies. 

Half way 

Half way into the smokies we all decided to head to Gatlinburg for the day. We had a little under 11 miles into town, and we were all ready to get there. We woke up early and had small breakfasts while on the move. I did a bad job resupplying, and was starving/ running low on snacks. I was starting to get hangry but we entered a gap and trail magic appeared! 

It couldn't have come at a better time! The two lovely older ladies who were doing trail magic had set up a sandwich station, drinks, and snacks and I couldn't have been happier. 

I got audited!!

After trail magic I was feeling full and happy, and set off on a easy 3 miles to Newfound gap/ our access road for Gatlinburg. I saw a man hiking towards me, and he turned out to be a park ranger. He asked for my backcountry permit, and I looked at him and said "I didn't think this would actually happen". He went from looking stern to chuckling, we parted ways, and I left feeling happy that I had purchased a permit. 

Gatlinburg 

Gatlinburg is definitely one of my least favorite cities. It was filled with tourists and tourist attractions. I like to describe it as the Myrtle Beach of Tennessee, and I have nothing more to say about it. 

Back to the smokies 

So much weather

On my last day in the smokies I really felt like I got to experience all four seasons in a 9 hour period. It had thunderstormed the previous night, and had been freezing. When I started hiking I realized that it had literally been freezing, and was snowing! 

I was so happy, until it started raining and the AT turned into a river. 

About two hours later the sun came out, it was around seventy degrees, and it was glorious. 

All downhill from here 

But really. Our final descent out of the smokies was as steep downhill as it had been on our first climb uphill. I take pride in my downhill hiking ability. Most people complain about it because it hurts their knees, and on my last day I understood why. Double digit mileage on steep downhills was not fun. 

All in all I loved the Great Smoky Mountains. They're majestic, and there was so much I wanted to see that I didn't have time for. I'm already looking forward to making a trip back post thru hike! 

So far

Sorry for the delay in between this post and my last! Service has been hard to come by, and when I do have service it's normally because I'm in town to resupply. 

Mom & Dad

I'd like to start this post off with a huge thank you to my parents. I was planning on starting my hike with Sullivan (my dog), but dogs aren't allowed in the Great Smoky Mountains and I was unwilling to board him. So, my parents have been watching him for the last 3 weeks while I've made my way to/ through GSM, and I can't thank them enough. In addition, they provided me with my trip essentials: my backpack, tent, and steripen (water purifier). They were left with a house full of my hastily moved furniture, and have been making post office trips for my mail drops whenever I need them. You two are an integral part of what has already become the best experience of my life, and I am eternally grateful! 

I GOT A TRAIL NAME

It's sugar magnolia 

Apparently it's a grateful dead song, but I like it either way. 

That being said

I've come so far since my last post! I'm currently in the Great Smoky Mountains, and am well over 200 miles into my hike! I've hiked all of Georgia, and am going back and forth between North Carolina and Tennessee for the next week or so before returning to Virginia! I've survived snow and multiple thunderstorms. I've climbed to the summits of well over twenty mountains, and have had breathtaking views daily. Today I woke up at 5 am, packed up, and hiked in the dark to watch the sun rise on the highest point on the AT, Clingman's Dome. It was cloudy, but still beautiful, and it makes me truly happy to say that this will be my life for the next 5ish months. I started out hiking 10ish miles a day, and now I'm averaging closer to 15. I'm still waiting on trail legs, but hopefully I'll be averaging 20+ miles a day by the time I enter Virginia. 

Weird things 

Unlike a lot of my fellow thru hikers, I didn't really read or follow any blogs before I began my hike. I was totally unprepared for drastic changes. I'm a little less than 3 weeks in, but so far I've noticed:

Tan lines- I'm generally hiking in the same direction every day, and as a result the right side of my face is significantly more tan than the left side of my face. I also thought I had dried dirt around my socks, but it's actually just the most intense sock tan I've ever had. 

Hiker hunger- I heard tales of hiker hunger, and was immediately concerned because I already love to eat. I heard stories about hikers stopping in town, going to restaurants, and ordering 4 burgers per person. Obviously I thought this was exaggerated, but it wasn't. I've been consuming around 4,000 calories a day, I'm still losing weight, and am constantly hungry. I've tried to suffer through and eat less (because eating more isn't cost effective), but that's been a failure. 

Constant fatigue- I expected this, but on a lesser scale. I have plenty of mental energy, but my body feels like it needs a week long break. I've been sleeping 10+ hours a night (I used to average 6), solely because my body needs the recovery time. My joints feel like they've aged 30 years, but my legs have started to feel stronger every day! 

Loss of manners- As a result of hiker hunger thru hikers refuse to waste food. If you drop food on the ground you ALWAYS pick it up, dust it off, and eat it. Maybe this is gross, but a dirt covered Oreo is better than no Oreo when you've been hiking for 9+ hours. 

Frequently asked questions 

In an attempt to reassure all of you I'm going to try and answer the questions I get asked the most. 

1. You're hiking alone?! Is that safe?

I'm as safe as I can possibly be. I try to constantly be aware, and make good decisions! The AT is incredibly social, and I haven't spent a day alone yet! 

2. What do you need for maildrops?

Food! Letters! Really anything you feel like sending me! I'm always in need of food! Lightweight, easy to carry foods are best! I'm able to text/ use social media on a semi regular basis, but I still get homesick! Letters from friends and family are always a nice surprise, and make me happy! 

3. When will you be at (insert town/ place)? 

I'm not sure! My mileage has already changed drastically, and so much depends on terrain and weather. I'll be able to give better estimates once my mileage stops changing. Currently I can figure out where I'll be and when for the next 100 miles or so, but that's it! 

Side note: I do post on social media a fair amount, but normally I will only post/ not check. If you have asked me questions on Facebook I'm not ignoring you! It's easiest for me to communicate via text. 

I'm also going to try and be better about blogging regularly! 

I promise I'll actually write about hiking next time!