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 052

Day:  052
Date:  Monday, 23 June 1986
Daily AT Miles:  17.4
Daily Other Miles:  2.5 (0.2 to ATCHQ, 2.0 to store, 0.3 to shelter)
Total AT Miles:  999.9
Total All Miles:  1032.7
Weather:  Hot humid, sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Egg and bacon pie, muffins, burger, ice-cream.
  Lunch:  Hot dog, beans, ice-cream.
  Dinner:  Muesli, muffins.
Aches:  Sore toes on both feet.
Animals Seen:  Squirrels, turtles.
People Seen:  4 AT Thru-hikers, 1 day hiker, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 6am after a reasonable sleep on a hot night.  I packed up and was underway by 7:15am.  It was already warm and humid and the day was forecast to be hot.  It took me until 9:20am to reach Harpers Ferry and the Appalachian Trail Conference Headquarters after crossing the Shenandoah River.  Goodbye Virginia.  They let me use the office phone to ring Barb, which I did.  Not a great call because neither of us had much news and the line wasn’t great (I couldn’t shout because of the office staff).  While in the office, I met Chainsaw (so-named because of his snoring), also northbound, and Jean Cassin (ATC information lady who remembered me from my previous visit) and a Harpers Ferry visitor who talked with me for a long time, and a local newspaper reporter who also talked to me for a while.  I then walked a mile to a cluster of three small groceries where I got my supplies and had a snack.  I wrote cards to Cederholms and Birches and posted them at the Post Office on my way back.  Met George and Karin there, who had had a good night with the alcoholic tramp.  Jean had gone out so I decided to get some lunch at a nearby café.  I returned at 1pm, hung around for a while and met Paul, another northbound Thru-hiker, who’d been off for a week in Washington DC.  I had my photo taken for the AT album (Australian flag prominent), said goodbye to Jean and the other staff, and set off about 1:50pm, about 3 hours later than intended.  It was very hot.  The Trail descended through historic Harpers Ferry and crossed the Potomac on a railway bridge to Maryland.  Goodbye West Virgina.  The trail then followed the Ohio & Chesapeake Canal and the Potomac River for quite some time.  It was flat, and cooler in the shade.  I had hoped to do another 18 miles but my toes hurt for some reason and, after climbing up onto a ridge in Maryland, I decided 12 miles would be enough – it was getting late.  I caught Chainsaw and we bot decided to head for Crampton Gap Shelter. He stopped in Gothland State Park to cook dinner and I went on to the Shelter which was unoccupied.  However, during the next two hours, George and Karin and their son (joining them for a week) turned up with George determined to utilise all space in the small Shelter so the snoring Chainsaw would have to sleep elsewhere.  Next, however, Paul turned up so they found room for him.  Then it really was full.  Chainsaw turned up at 8:30pm and good-naturedly agreed to sleep outside, even though he didn’t have a tent.  At about 3am, there was a huge thunderstorm and torrential rain.  Chainsaw didn’t get much sleep.  I felt sorry for the gregarious eccentric old guy.
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