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 060

Day:  060
Date:  Tuesday, 1 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  18.5
Daily Other Miles:  0.1 (hotel)
Total AT Miles:  1178.6
Total All Miles:  1214.9
Weather:  Mild, sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter.
  Dinner:  Salad, hamburger steak, fresh vegetables, ice-cream.
Aches:  Feet extremely sore, blister.
Animals Seen:  Rabbits, deer, grouse.
People Seen:  1 day hiker, many others.

Journal:
Woke up at midnight with feet aching mercilessly.  They were burning too, and I nearly got up to stand in the creek.  Dreading tomorrow.  I got up at 6am and, apart from the feet, slept reasonably well.  Managed to get going by 7:35am.  I was not moving well and my feet were already feeling battered as well as having sharp pain between the big and second toes on right foot. Feared infection and had to stop after two miles.  Fortunately, it turned out to be a big blister.  I pressed on for another four miles but was amazed how bad my feet felt so early in the day.  My pack was still heavy, but more tolerable.  My intended distance for the day was 25 miles, but I was moving so slow because of the extremely rocky terrain and sore feet that it seemed doubtful and foolhardy to try and make it.  I decided to reduce my sessions from four to three miles and checked the AT Log Book to find that I could probably still make Delaware Water Gap before noon on Saturday if I stopped the night in Port Clinton. The Trail was basically flat along the top of a ridge through attractive woods but the path was covered with loose and projecting sharp rocks.  It was slow, tedious and risky walking.  I descended into Port Clinton at about 4:40pm, found the Post Office and sent another card to Clio, then went to the Port Clinton Hotel where I got a room, the only guest, from the amiable Helen.  She offered to cook me dinner for an extra $3.50, so I accepted.  After a shower I had a salad, hamburger steak, fresh vegetables and ice-cream dinner in the bar watching TV.  No other patrons.I stayed there drinking Cokes, watching a few customers drift in, watching TV and talking to Helen until 9pm.  Decided sleep was probably more important than baseball and my feet hurt when sitting in a chair or stool so retired to update my diary, pack for an early start, and maybe read a little.
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