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 085

Day:  085
Date:  Saturday, 26 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  21.4
Daily Other Miles:  0.4 (to Killington Peak)
Total AT Miles:  1666.5
Total All Miles:  1714.0
Weather:  Very warm, humid, overcast, rain late.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Soup, veal, ice-cream.
Aches:  None bad.
Animals Seen:  Small snake, chipmunks.
People Seen:  2 overnight hikers, 8 day hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 5:30am after a bad night because of mozzies and heat.  Felt tired straight away – already warm.  Set off at 7am for a relatively short day which, however, incorporated Killington Peak (4250’).  I decided to aim for Killington for lunch (there’s supposed to be a cafeteria on top), which meant a relatively short morning.  However, the bad night’s sleep seemed to have pushed me over the edge into “over-trained” and, even with a light pack, I struggled all morning.  It was foggy, so no views, but the higher altitude forest was pretty and “fairy-tale”.  There was a “blue blaze” (side-trail) 0.2 miles very steep trail to the summit from the AT.  I reached there at 1:30pm and struggled up the climb only to find the whole resort closed – presumably because of the fog and wind.  I walked back down to the AT and Cooper Lodge where I met two girl day-hikers and a guy, Todd, who had started hiking the AT two days before me, but had finished at Harpers Ferry and was now doing a few of the northern sections.  I had passed him at Rainbow Springs.  He had travelled with Lisa for six weeks, and others, and could fill me in on how they were going.  He said he would probably see me in the White Mountains and maybe Katahdin (northern end of the AT), from where he might be able to give me a lift to Boston.  We chatted over lunch after which, at 2:30pm, I set off down the mountain.  I planned to stop at the Inn on the Long Trail for the night and arrived there, very tired, at 4:40pm.  Unfortunately, they didn’t provide evening meals so I decided to walk another two miles to another Inn.  I was very tired and not pleased to lose the Trail in rough terrain at one point, costing me 15 minutes, and then to be hit by torrential rain just before reaching the road where the Inn was supposed to be.  The Guide Book details were confusing and I got saturated before going into an expensive-looking motel where I took a room despite the $40 price tag.  I ate a lot of peanuts in the bar before having a nice dinner.  I rang my cousin, Peter, to say I was thinking of putting back my meeting with them in the White Mountains by one day.  I had decided that, if the mountains or Trail got worse, I would have to work very hard to reach Franconia Notch on time. Better to give myself the rest, even if it means a day later at Katahdin.  I watched TV and rinsed out my clothes.  Running short of food and, given likely wet conditions tomorrow, I decided to sleep in and have a late breakfast (no early breakfasts at the motel) before heading off for a long afternoon.  Turned off the TV at 12:15am.
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