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 021

Day:  021
Date:  Friday, 23 May 1986
Daily AT Miles:  21.6
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  400.5
Total All Miles:  412.8
Weather:  Rained all day.  Cool.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, Mars Bar.
  Dinner:  Muesli, instant pudding, Mars Bar.
Aches:  Left Achilles.
Animals Seen:  Rabbit, cows.
People Seen:  One overnight hiker, four others.

Journal:
Got up at 6:10am and after a remarkably quick pack-up left at 7:20am.The two ladies hadn’t moved. It started to rain shortly after I left.  The Trail was a hodge podge of other trails and roads and passed through some muddy farmland.  Two miles after putting on my raingear I realised I no longer had my hat.  The rain continued as the Trail into more forested country passing through groves of dripping rhododendron on occasion.  Because of the rain I pushed on to a late lunch in the Moreland Gap Shelter.  The seven or eight miles before that, the Trail was continually dipping down to cross small boggy streams and the going was slippery.  My left Achilles tendon was not enjoying the walk.  The rain continued after lunch as I walked along the ridge of White Rocks Mt with no views.  The Trail then descended, slippery and steep, to Dennis Cove Rd where it passed through a small poor-looking community before following an old rail link which was easier waking.  Despite the wetness, my spirits were never really down because I knew there would be a dry shelter at the end of the day.  The Trail left the rail cutting and descended to the very impressive Laurel Falls before climbing to Laurel Falls Shelter.  Bill, a south-bound by sections AT hiker was already there.  He was a college economics lecturer and a pleasant type.  There was no dry firewood at the Shelter so I had a cold dinner – not too bad.  The rain stopped and there was a bit of sun before the fog closed in making for an early dusk.
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