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 104

Day:  104
Date:  Thursday, 14 August 1986.
Daily AT Miles:  16.8
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  1993.0
Total All Miles:  2051.0
Weather:  Mild, sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, health bar.
  Dinner:  Macaroni cheese, instant pudding.
Aches:  Lower right back chafing.
Animals Seen:  Squirrels.
People Seen:  14 overnight hikers, some others.

Journal:
Got up at 5:30am and, after water-proofing various pack items with garbage bags for the coming Kennebec River crossing, left at 7:10am.  It was going to be a beautiful day as I set out to try and reach the Kennebec, 17 miles away, by lunchtime.  The Trail passed through pretty deciduous forest for most of the morning and also by three beautiful lakes.  The second, East Carry Pond, was particularly beautiful, with a loon calling, and I took an early mid-morning break to enjoy the scene.  It made me feel quite melancholy that the trip was nearing the end.  After a break at Pierce Pond Lean-To, I pushed on to the Kennebec.  The Trail was new and, although following an attractive large stream, was hard slow going.  Just before reaching the Kennebec, I met an elderly couple coming the other way who’d just crossed the river by canoe.  They said the river was running very high – too high to ford.  Alice Ference, an AT Thru-hiker nearing her goal, drowned while fording the Kennebec last year, so I was a bit anxious about the dangers involved.  I reached the river, more than 100 metres wide, at 2:45pm and found the two mid-river gravel bars, which were supposed to be above water for safe fording, beneath the surface.  I was tempted to try the ford and assume I could swim pushing my water-proofed pack if too deep, but decided to leave that as a last resort for tomorrow morning.  The river is supposed to be at its lowest at 6am (there’s a dam upstream making timed releases of water).  It is possible to call in advance to arrange to be ferried across the river, but I didn’t really want to do that, having walked every step of the way so far.  I had lunch and waited on the banks in the sun for 1½ hours to see if there was any change in the water level – there wasn’t – before walking inland 100 yards to a small conifer grove where I set up camp.  There is a major road across the river.  It is strange to contrast that normality with my life-risking struggle to go on first thing tomorrow morning.  Around 5pm, two hikers (I think) began testing the water depth on the other side.  The current was far too strong and the river too deep for them to go more than a few yards from the shore and they gave up.  I had dinner early, made some preparations for tomorrow, and went to bed at 7:30pm.
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