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 014

Day:  014
Date:  Friday, 16 May 1986
Daily AT Miles:  18.0
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  257.5
Total All Miles:  268.0
Weather:  Sunny at first then drizzle, then thunderstorms and heavy rain.  Cleared later.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Macaroni cheese, instant pudding.
Aches:
Animals Seen:  Rabbit.
People Seen:  Eight overnight hikers.

Journal:
Got up at 6:30am and seemed to take a long time to pack up before leaving at 8:30am.  The uphill slog continued, but the scenery was good and the grade not too bad.  It became overcast and threatened rain though not cold.  About noon it began drizzling very lightly then at 12:40pm began raining heavily.  I stopped under a rhododendron bush to have lunch and was soon forced to put on my Goretex.  After lunch it was a short climb to the bare-topped Max Patch in clearing humid weather.  The views from the crest were spectacular with thunderclouds filling the valleys and the dark peaks of the Smoky’s and other mountains looming in the background. I left the crest and headed northwards next to paddocks and then along a stream surrounded by rhododendrons and other shrubs. Very eerie.  It began to rain again and became very heavy.  I splashed onwards hoping that the Walnut Mt Shelter, which the Guide said was inadequate in bad weather, wasn’t that bad and resigning myself to muesli for dinner.  On arrival, I found the Shelter occupied by six hikers from the Greenville area of North Carolina.  They were a friendly bunch of guys led by Bill, with Herb the most talkative.  There was dry firewood in the Shelter, but the lads insisted I use their gas stoves.  I had arrived at 5pm and had plenty of time to sit around and talk.  I went to bed in the Shelter with three of the lads (ages 30-55) whilst the others slept in tents.  Around 10pm it began to rain and became torrential.  The Shelter leaked near the feet of Dave and Dave, two of the group, so it was fitful sleep as we checked the damage every so often.  In the early hours a dog began barking nearby, disturbing sleep further.
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