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 088

Day:  088
Date:  Tuesday, 29 July 1986
Daily AT Miles:  15.5
Daily Other Miles:  1.2 (0.2 shelter, 0.3 spring, 0.4 mistake, 0.3 shelter)
Total AT Miles:  1722.6
Total All Miles:  1772.9
Weather:  Warm, overcast, humid, rain later.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Macaroni cheese, instant pudding.
Aches:  Left heel sore.
Animals Seen:  3 snakes, chipmunks.
People Seen:  3 AT Thru-hikers, 4 overnight hikers, some others.

Journal:
Had a bad night’s sleep because of indigestion and a monstrous thunderstorm at 2am.  Tent didn’t leak.  Got up at 6am and left at 7:40am with plans to walk 23 miles.  Early progress through conifer forest was slow and I had to make a detour for water from a spring.  Rain threatened and was forecast, but it was hot and humid.  Once again, I felt enervated and found it hard going.  It’s hard to know whether it’s physical or mental.  I kept plugging away on the Trail, which was always fairly close to civilization, and passed through a number of boggy areas so my feet became wet again and my left outside heel became quite sore.  I began to ponder the merits of stopping early for a restful day in the hope my attitude would improve.  I would still be on schedule for North Woodstock for midday Friday as planned.  The Trail passed over Moose Mountain which was enshrouded in fog so no views.  On the descent, the radio warned that severe thunderstorms were on the way with heavy rain.  I decided to push on over the exposed Holts Ledge in the hope of getting to Trapper John’s Shelter before the bad weather hit.  I was tired (pack heavy), but kept going and passed over the Ledge where there was a fog-impaired view before descending to the Shelter.  In residence was Larry, a friendly AT Thru-hiker, and later arrived two overnight hikers then Ruth and Bob, also AT Thru-hikers. The overnight hikers slept in their tent and the rest of us in the Shelter.  I managed to get a fire going and cooked dinner, generally taking my time.  At about 6:45pm, it began raining steadily.
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