In 1986, a few days after running the Boston Marathon, and following a year of touring the US and Canada in a campervan, I set off by train to realise a dream to walk the Appalachian Trail. I first heard about the Trail from the American wife of a work colleague in Melbourne a few years earlier and had since read widely about the trail. The Trail follows the crest of the Appalachian Mountains for more than 2,200 miles along the eastern side of the US. Starting in mid-spring, I followed the trail northwards from Springer Mountain in Georgia to its northern terminus at Mount Katahdin in Maine, finishing in the late summer. It remains one of the most meaningful experiences of my life, fostering an ambition for more such experiences and inspiring me to retire from work early enough follow through on that ambition. In 1986, only about 80 people each year completed the whole trail, but during that year National Geographic did a feature article on the Trail and its popularity increased dramatically.

Appalachian Trail - Day 007

Day:  007
Date:  Friday, 9 May 1986
Daily AT Miles:  21.5
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  127.9
Total All Miles:  134.2
Weather:  Hot, humid and partly cloudy.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Three buns, orange juice.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, potato chips, Coke.
  Dinner:  Vegetable sauce and rice, instant pudding.
Aches:  Feet sore
Animals Seen:  Marmot, squirrel, chipmunk.
People Seen:  Three AT Thru-Hikers, four others.

Journal:
I got up at 7:40am, packed up and walked up to the Campground store.  I had three buns and some orange juice for breakfast and then got a lift back up to Wallace Gap.  On the way we saw two AT hikers walking down to the Campground.  The day was already quite warm.  The Trail again climbed up to peaks and down to saddles, mostly through fairly dry open forest, with occasional good views.  I reached Wayah Crest Picnic Ground at about 11:50am and decided to lunch at a lovely sunny table.  While doing my diary, I put a big dent in a bag of potato chips and two litres of Coke I had been carrying.  I left at about 1pm and, as I crossed the road through Wayah Gap, met a guy I’d first met at Blood Mt Shelter.  He was organising a walkathon along the Trail and said he had a feeling he might see me today.  Coincidence.  I pressed on through forest and then up a tough climb to Wayah Bald and a developed look-out.  Near the top, military jets began flying around.  There were good views from the look-out and it seemed that jet pilots saw me because they made a close fly past of the tower – one on either side – then later did a roll right above me.  I continued along the Trail and stopped at Cold Spring Shelter to fill my water bottles in case water was scarce at the campsite two miles further on.  I read the Shelter register and saw that the New Zealander, Andy Clark, seemed to be heading for the same campsite.  I walked on another 45 minutes and arrived to find him set up and just finishing dinner.  He was a pleasant guy, 23, and this was the first part of a two year stay overseas.  He was a very experienced hiker.  After dinner, I set up my sleeping bag on the Trail, the only relatively flat spot, and went to bed about 9:40pm.
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