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 044

Day:  044
Date:  Sunday, 15 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  21.4
Daily Other Miles:  0.7 (around Campground)
Total AT Miles:  854.1
Total All Miles:  881.1
Weather:  Very warm, humid, mostly sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Four cakes
  Lunch:  Chicken, salad, pate, biscuits.
  Dinner:  Chicken, chips, rock melon, ice-cream.
Aches:  Blisters on both heels.
Animals Seen:  Many deer, a bear, snake, chipmunks, squirrels, grouse.
People Seen:  Four overnight hikers, ten day hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 5:30am after a reasonable night’s sleep and managed to get going by 6:40am.  Everything was wet after a heavy night’s dew.  After about an hour, when crossing a fairly open scrubby part of the crest of Calf Mountain, I disturbed something big about 30 yards in front of me which turned out to be a big black bear.  It went lumbering off to the right and I had a good view for a couple of seconds.  My first black bear – I was very pleased.  Shortly after, I entered Shenandoah National Park and concentrated on maintaining a good pace on the good quality Trail.  Although there were hills, the grades were good and surface even.  The scenery wasn’t much altered from further south, although perhaps there was less undergrowth.  Occasionally, through the clearings and when the Trail crossed the Skyline Drive, it was possible to get good views of other mountains and the valleys but, as always, it was very hazy (and hot and humid).  I only allowed myself short breaks in my efforts to reach Loft Mountain Picnic Area, 21½ miles away, at the 2pm time I had arranged with the Binnings.  My pack was light and my progress was good. With about 3½ miles to go, I met Mark coming the other way and he accompanied me back to the Picnic Area, chatting all the time, which made the last few miles a bit easier.  He also had some soft drink and I had run out of water.  We reached the Picnic Area, and Fran and Ashley, at about 2:20pm and I was glad to sit down.  They had brought lots of drinks, fruit, pasta salad and chicken, so I ate my fill and talked a lot.  Asley had the sulks.  They had driven 130 miles to meet me, which was really nice of them.  At about 5pm, we moved down to the shower and laundry building and I had a shower before putting my washing on. The 50¢ for 5 minutes shower ran out (no cold water, either) when I was fully soaped up (hair and all) and I had to wipe myself down with a towel, throw on some shorts, and walk out to Mark to borrow another 50¢.  Broke my thong en route.  While my laundry was on, we had cheese and pate on the lawns before the Binnings left at about 5:45pm – leaving me with food, newspapers, etc. – for the long drive home.  I could have joined them easy – a bit of takeaway on the way home, some TV, and bed.  Instead, I did some shopping in the poorly stocked store, walked the 1/3 mile to the Campground, and booked in for a night as well as getting my Backcountry Permit.  In the remaining two hours of daylight, I ate, repacked food, and read the paper.  It was strange to be in a standard National Parks Campground without Barb and the van.  It made me nostalgic for this time last year.  Hot tomorrow and 26½ miles.  I went to bed on my new air mattress (also got a new Sony Walkman Radio, new shoes, new shorts, new groundsheet) feeling tired already.
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