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 068

Day:  068
Date:  Wednesday, 9 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  24.7
Daily Other Miles:  2.3 (0.6 water, 1.7 Arden)
Total AT Miles:  1347.6
Total All Miles:  1389.3
Weather:  Very warm, very humid, overcast, some showers.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, Mars Bar.
  Dinner:  Pizza, ice-cream.
Aches:  Feet sore.
Animals Seen:  Deer, groundhogs, small snake, squirrels, grouse.
People Seen:  1 day hiker, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 6am after a showery night.  Didn’t sleep that well.  Set off, still undecided whether to ring Gordon and arrange to stay tonight and tomorrow.  I walked to the side-trail to Wawayanda Visitor Center, arriving there at 8:45am and rang Gordon to see if it would be OK.  He seemed pleased, so we arranged that I would call him from Arden, still 22 miles along the Trail.  It was a very dull humid day and I set off along the Trail hoping that my feet, particularly the right one, would be better in the cooler weather and clean socks.  The Trail was easier on the feet with fewer rocks and flatter rocks and I didn’t push it.  Progress was not all that quick because there seemed to be many escarpments to climb and descend using hands and muscles.  It was quite tiring, but I just kept plugging away and enjoyed the change in terrain.  In some places, the Trail was along the top of long stretches of exposed rock which gave good views over the nearby lakes.  It was obviously a populated area with the sounds of civilization evident and several roads to cross.  I had a late lunch at about 4:10pm and then pressed on non-stop for the last 6½ miles to NY17 near Arden.  More escarpments and progress was slow.  I arrived at the road at 8pm to find the telephone I had been counting on vandalized.  Very tired and not happy, I walked another mile to the small Post Office at Arden along the railway line to where there was supposed to be another phone.  If there was, it was inside and locked.  I walked to NY17 and began to hitch south at 8:30pm.  It was getting dark and I realised I may as well start walking to the next town, 2½ miles away since no-one in New York was going to pick me up after dark.  After a mile, I got a lift from a shift worker to Sloatsburg, about 12 miles down the road, arriving at 9:15pm.  I rang Gordon and then ate a pizza sitting on the footpath watching the world go by while Gordon made the long trip out to get me.  It was quite pleasant sitting there with the prospect of a day off.  Gordon arrived while I was buying some ice-cream and drink and we drove back to his house at Sparkill arriving at 10:30pm.  It was great to see Gordon and Pam again, and Aidan soon woke up and joined in the fun.  We stayed up talking till about 1am and then I went to sleep in Aidan’s room.
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