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 039

Day:  039
Date:  Tuesday, 10 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  21.5
Daily Other Miles:  0.2 (to Shelter)
Total AT Miles:  739.9
Total All Miles:  765.3
Weather:  Mild, overcast, a little rain.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Noodles and chicken, instant pudding.
Aches:  Blisters on both heels.
Animals Seen:  Squirrels, chipmunks, three deer.
People Seen:  Stu and The Greenhorns.

Journal:
Got up at 6:00am and messed around a bit before leaving at 7:50am.  The Trail was mostly through forest and fairly easy walking.  It was nice to have it a bit cooler.  The Greenhorns had arrived at the shelter just before I left and Mike indicated they wanted to get to Rockfish Gap the same time as me and said they would try to stick to my schedule though I don’t think that Frank was so keen.  I was happy at the prospect of a 20 mile day and hoped to finish early for a change.  The miles seemed shorter, which was nice.  After a steady descent, the majority of the day was spent ascending Floyd Mt and then up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The last part of the day was through a lot of nettles and later through very rocky and difficult terrain.  It drizzled a little in the late afternoon.  I reached the Thunder Hill Lean-To at 5:15pm and spent a pleasant leisurely evening eating, writing and listening to the radio, as well reading the Philosopher’s Guide to see where my next motel stop might be.
By

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)