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 074

Day:  074
Date:  Tuesday, 15 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  23.9
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  1443.9
Total All Miles:  1488.7
Weather:  Very warm, sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, Mars Bar.
  Dinner:  Cottage pie, vegetables, ice-cream and fruit.
Aches:  Toes sore.
Animals Seen:  Deer, snake, chipmunks.
People Seen:  AT trail crew, 2 AT Hikers (southbound, by sections), 9 overnight hikers, 2 day hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 5:30am and left at 7am with the Shelter’s other resident still in bed – he told me the night before he was an early riser.  I’d disturbed him at both ends of the night!  It was a beautiful morning and after a mile I passed into Connecticut. The Trail passed through some farmland and climbed a short sharp mountain which tired me.  It then descended and crossed a bridge over 10 Mile River, a beautiful spot, and followed the Housatonic River through beautiful conifer forest.  The Trail reached a road and I met a Connecticut Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) trail crew who were about to resume work on a relocation.  We chatted for a while.  There was then a 2½ mile road-walk before a couple of tough hills with views from the tops over the lovely Housatonic Valley.  The hills were wearing me out and I was a bit worried that I’m losing condition.  It also meant that I was losing time on the way to meet Jayne at Cornwall Bridge.  Just before lunch, I met a couple of south-bounder AT Hikers in company with an AMC ridge-runner – a hiker paid by the AMC to monitor the Trail.  I had lunch on a rock ledge giving a magnificent view before making a steep descent to the river.  The Trail then more or less followed the river on a level path upstream to Cornwall Bridge.  I arrived there at 6:10pm and was met by Jayne and her mother-in-law.  We then drove back to their house at Granby, about an hour’s drive.  We stopped at a supermarket and I shopped for the next few days.  On arrival I met Jayne’s father-in-law.  Both in mid-70s.  We had a good dinner of cottage pie.  I rang my cousin Peter in Boston and he said he still hoped to hike with me for a few days.  I said I would ring back tomorrow night with some suggestions.  I couldn’t get in touch with John Cederholm, a Boston friend who also had expressed interest in joining me for a few days on the Trail.  After dinner, I watched TV and chatted with Jayne and her in-laws.  Went to bed at 11:30pm, but had trouble sleeping after a bit of trip planning.
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