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 091

Day:  091
Date:  Friday, 1 August
Daily AT Miles:  8.6
Daily Other Miles:  1.0 (0.7 on road, 0.3 in town)
Total AT Miles:  1777.4
Total All Miles:  1829.8
Weather:  Warm, humid, mostly overcast, some rain.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Fish and chips, ice-cream.
  Dinner:  Chilli, veal, ice-cream.
Aches:  None.
Animals Seen:  Grouse.
People Seen:  6 day hikers, many others.

Journal:
I got up at 5:30am after a wet night, during which I woke up a number of times when rain came in through the mesh screen.  It was still drizzling when I woke up, so I moved things into the Shelter as quickly as possible and didn’t get much wet.  After putting on wet clothes and socks, I left at about 7am with 8½ miles to go to US 3 and Franconia Notch.  The going was very slow as the Trail ascended Mount Kinsman through sopping wet vegetation and up its hairy slippery rock faces.  It was very foggy and there were no views, but the scenery was attractive desolate alpine at the summit as I walked to North Kinsman before beginning the risky descent.  It took me 3¼ hours to reach the AMC’s Lonesome Lake Hut.  The AMC manages a number of huts on trails in the White Mountains which it operates for hikers who do not wish to carry camping gear and food.  They offer dormitory-type accommodation and meals, at a price.  I went in and rested for ½ an hour during which time I ate a couple of Hershey Bars, some chocolate cake, and some of the remaining pancakes (free) from the Hut breakfast.  The Hut looked like a good place to stay.  From there it took me just over an hour to walk the three miles down to US 3 and, after mistakenly walking ½ a mile north along the road looking for where the AT left on the other side, I hitched into North Woodstock.  I got a lift relatively quickly from a lady who lived in Lincoln and arrived at Cascade House, the guest house where I had arranged to meet Marj and Peter, at 12:30pm.  Marj had booked me in, and I had a shower before putting my laundry on and having lunch at a restaurant.  I spent the afternoon doing the washing, shopping, food repacking, drying out wet equipment, reading the paper, and eating.  During the afternoon, Ruth and Bob turned up (having cut out the Kinsmans Ridge section) as well as the four guys from last night’s Shelter – all very friendly.  I started a letter to Barb sitting on the verandah of the guest house at 5:30pm. When half-way through, Marj and Peter turned up and we spent some time sorting out gear before going out to a meal.  After dinner, we returned to the verandah to talk and eat our ice-creams for a while before retiring around 10:30pm.  It was raining steadily.  I had tried, unsuccessfully, to ring Barb a few times.  I finished the letter to her and went to sleep at midnight.
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