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 032

Day:  032
Date:  Tuesday, 3 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  23.1
Daily Other Miles:  0.3 (Shelter)
Total AT Miles:  596.6
Total All Miles:  613.2
Weather:  Mild, mostly sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bars.
  Dinner:  Noodles and egg, pop tarts, chips.
Aches:  Both heels, right shoulder.
Animals Seen:  Two deer, cows, dogs.
People Seen:  About ten.

Journal:
Got up at 6:10am and away by 7:40am.  Decided not to bandage feet, just Mercurochrome and Vaseline.  Both heels were still very sore and I started slow.  The left Achilles just feels like old times!  The weather was cool, which was good, and the Trail was good and easy walking through forest along the ridge.  Occasionally it was possible to see down to the farms in the valleys. I started slow and Stu went ahead.  In late morning the Trail descended to a road which I walked along for about 4 miles. It was quite pleasant despite being chased by a few dogs.  The Trail then climbed steeply up over a hill then along another pretty ridge before descending towards another road through a lovely open field in the warm sun.  I found Stu having lunch in the sun and joined him.  Stu left early and decided to detour to a nearby grocery where he offered to get me a Coke and chips for dinner.  I carried on after lunch with ½ a mile of road walking before following a lovely easy graded ascent through glades, open forest and sometimes on pine needles.  My feet felt a little better towards the end though my right shoe now has a big hole in the sole. I reached Wapiti II Shelter at 5:40pm and had a cold wash in a nearby stream before a leisurely dinner on a lovely evening augmented by my Coke and chips.
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