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 083

Day:  083
Date:  Thursday, 24 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  24.0
Daily Other Miles:  0.3 (shelters)
Total AT Miles:  1619.8
Total All Miles:  1666.7
Weather:  Very warm, humid, sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Fettucine, instant pudding.
Aches:  Right foot sore, right back chafed.
Animals Seen:  Chipmunks.
People Seen:  10 overnight hikers, 4 day hikers.

Journal:
Got up at 5:30am after a disturbed night.  Woke at 11pm first because I was too hot, so applied insect repellent to legs and opened out my sleeping bag.  The woken at 3pm by a porcupine chewing on the Shelter.  It left when I shone the torch on it.  I realised then that the rocks I had seen lined up along the inside walls of the Shelter were for throwing at porcupines!  I left at 7:10am and passed the nearby Caughnawaga Shelter where it looked like a single female was in residence (bathing suit hanging up) but she was nowhere to be seen.  I continued on quite a warm morning but nice in the green forest.  My right little toe was still sore so, at my first break, I changed into my spare New Balance running shoes.  They were an improvement, though made my feet hot.  I made good time to the attractive Stratton Pond and had my morning break there.  Couldn’t be bothered going for a swim.  Continued on along the reasonable Trail through pretty woodland.  Feeling a bit tired and thinking a lot about finishing. Passed a girl doing trail maintenance then a group of young hikers and their leaders just before I reached Spruce Peak Shelter where I had a late lunch at 3pm.  The group turned up to stay for the night and I chatted to a few of them while eating and resting.  I set off at 4pm to cover the remaining six miles to Mad Tom Shelter which included a solid climb up the 3260’ Bromley Mountain.  Because of the humidity, it was hazy and the views were nowhere near as good as yesterday.  Another mile brought me to the Shelter.  The spring was almost dry, but I decided to stay and boil water.  The Shelter faced west and I had a fine view of the sun setting in the haze.  Went to bed at 9pm.
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