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 061

Day:  061
Date:  Wednesday, 2 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  24.4
Daily Other Miles:  0.1 (hotel)
Total AT Miles:  1203.0
Total All Miles:  1239.4
Weather:  Mostly cloudy, rain in the morning.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter.
  Dinner:  Noodles and vegetables, pop tarts.
Aches:  Feet sore, right shoulder aching, lower back chafed.
Animals Seen:  2 BEARS, ground hog, grouse, small snake.
People Seen:  2 overnight hikers, some others.

Journal:
Got up at 6:20am and ate breakfast in my room before leaving at 7:10am.  It was a good night’s sleep and my feet didn’t cause me to wake at all, though they still feel battered.  It had begun raining during the night and was still raining steadily as I left. The Trail followed the Schuylkill River for a short distance before climbing away from the picturesque Port Clinton.  The Trail reached the ridge and followed the crest.  Again, there were patches of bad rocks which slowed progress and were more treacherous when wet.  The Trail passed close to some good viewpoints – Pulpit Rock, The Pinnacle – and I got some great views over the Pennsylvanian countryside.  The Trail descended into a valley where it passed through conifer forest which was very pleasant.  My feet, while sore, weren’t as bad as on the other days.  I had lunch in a nice spot and then ascended back up to the ridge.  Again, there were a lot of rocky sections which slowed progress and were very tiresome.  I stopped for my last break of the afternoon at 5:30pm near Dans Spring and while sitting down looking at the map I heard a twig snap.  I loked up to find a full-grown black bear less than 15 yards away sniffing the air – it hadn’t seen me.  Five yards away was a companion of similar size. They moved off slowly into the bush foraging and I got out my camera as quietly as possible and set off in stealthy pursuit.  After about 200 yards I got a couple of pictures and they still hadn’t seen me.  If they had seen me and were aggressive, there was nowhere I could have gone.  All very exciting.  I continued on for the rocky last three miles to the Allentown Shelter arriving at 6:50pm.  Chuck, a five-day hiker, was in residence.  We chatted and got along well while I successfully got a fire going with wet wood.  Went to bed at 9:15pm.
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