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 048

Day:  048
Date:  Thursday, 19 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  9.9
Daily Other Miles:  0.5 (to store)
Total AT Miles:  940.1
Total All Miles:  969.0
Weather:  Mild, sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Burgers, fries, apple, watermelon.
  Dinner:  Pork chops, vegetables, ice-cream.
Aches:
Animals Seen:  Deer, grouse, chipmunks, squirrels, Asian donkeys.
People Seen:  No hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 6am and away at 7:30am. It was hard to develop a sense of urgency on days when I was walking reduced mileages. The Trail wound around a lot and passed through a few properties initially but was still good going for the first 3 miles.  But, after that it passed through very overgrown grassy areas which were supposedly tick infested.  Much of the grass was head-high and I didn’t enjoy it.  The Trail also passed along the perimeter of land owned by the National Zoo and I saw animals which looked like Asian donkeys grazing.  The grass was later replaced by nettles before it became more pleasant at higher altitudes. I made good time and the last few miles along country roads into Linden were enjoyable.  I arrived at the Post Office at 11:40am (lucky – it closed between 12pm and 1pm) and found a very helpful postmaster who gave me my mail, insisted on ringing motels in Front Royal to check prices (and if they had cable TV) and then drove me the 7 miles to Front Royal in his lunch hour.  I checked into the motel, which was a bit dumpish but OK (didn’t have HBO!).  I then walked up the street ¼ mile to a supermarket, did my shopping, and collected some lunch at the Burger King on the way back.  I spent the afternoon watching TV, reading mail and writing to Barb.  I had dinner at a nice restaurant across the street and then relaxed eating, watching TV and reading the paper for the rest of the evening.  Went to bed at 12:30am.  I couldn’t open the windows, so had to have the noisy air conditioner on most of the time.
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