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 010

Day:  010
Date:  Monday, 12 May 1986
Daily AT Miles:  6.9
Daily Other Miles:  1.0 (to grocery in Fontana Village).
Total AT Miles:  171.3
Total All Miles:  181.6
Weather:  Warm, humid and partly cloudy.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Rice bubbles, eggs, sausages, chips, orange juice.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Macaroni cheese, instant pudding.
Aches:  Little toe on left foot very sore.
Animals Seen:  Long black snake.
People Seen:  Three AT Thru-Hikers, six day-hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 7:50am and prepacking set off to the cafeteria for breakfast.  Had to wait in a long queue - lots of old people.  Breakfast only fair.  Went to laundry dry remaining socks and tea towel.  Then went post office and collected mail and return shortly after to send off used maps, etc., and letters.  Went to grocery and did shopping and returned to room at about 10am.  Supposed to be out at 10am.  It took an hour repack all food and pack.  Left 11am.  While walking back to the Track along the road, I met Kevin an AT hiker who had lived in Australia and chatted for a while.  Got a lift back to the Trail in a pick-up truck and walked to Fontana Dam VisitorCenter.  Lost the Trail a few times and ended up walking further than necessary.  At the Visitor Center I learned that the National Park Service ranger had been in in the morning and may be back in the afternoon around 4pm.  I was not pleased since he was supposed to be there between 1:30pm and 3pm.  Tennessee Valley Authority rangers in the Visitor Center tried to contact him without success.  Sat around for a while (read Barb’s letter), met another AT Thru-Hiker who'd come down from the Fontana Dam Shelter for his permit.  Went outside to have lunch during which time Andy turned up.  He’d successfully got lifts to and from Fontana DamVillage after arriving on the road in the morning.  We hung around (Andy had a shower) until 2:30pm when the TVA guy came to say he thought the NPS ranger might not show at all.  We decided to ring Great Smoky Mountains National Park Headquarters in Gatlinburg and did so.  They gave us the go-ahead and I set off at 2:40pm, having wasted a large part of the day.  In the Smoky’s you have to stay in shelters so it looked like Birch Springs, 5.5 miles away, would be the target although there was another, 4.5 miles after that, if I made fast progress.  From the Visitors Center I walked across the huge Dam wall (highest in eastern US) and entered the National Park.  Shortly afterwards, after being warned by a motorist, I saw a very long blue/black snake on the road.  It was a solid climb up to the Shelter with the views hindered by the heavy haze.  I arrived at 5pm and decided an early night would do no harm after a late one last night.  Andy arrived at about 5:30pm.  There was plenty of time after dinner to sit around watching a beautiful evening set in with the birds singing.  The Shelter had wire caging across the front to keep bears out and there were a lot of mice in the Shelter, even before we went to bed at about 9:15pm.
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