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 110

Day:  110
Date:  Wednesday, 20 August 1986.
Daily AT Miles:  24.4
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  2116.2
Total All Miles:  2174.2
Weather:  Warm, mostly sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  Biscuits and peanut butter, candy bars.
  Dinner:  Noodles, instant pudding.
Aches:  None bad.
Animals Seen:  Pheasant, 3 snakes, 2 moose.
People Seen:  10 overnight hikers.

Journal:
Got up at 5am after a good night’s sleep and set out at 6:30am for Potaywadjo Spring Hut, six miles away.  The skies were relatively clear so we were hopeful of a better day.  The Trail continued through mossy forest with an incredible variety of mushrooms and toadstools – all shapes, sizes and colours – as had been the case the last few days.  The Trail was rough, boggy in parts, and covered in roots.  At Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To there was a magnificent spring with bubbling sand as the water (cold and clear) bubbled up.  We then decided to go for Wadleigh Stream Lean-To for lunch in two sections.  The Trail conditions remained the same and it passed by some more beautiful lakes.  At one point, the Trail actually went along the narrow rocky shore of the lake.  I slipped into the water twice.  We had lunch at about 1:40pm at the pleasant Lean-To.  Jerry was having a lot of trouble with one of his boots that was falling apart, and was tying it together with string and tape but it kept coming apart under the strain of the rough Trail.  We only had eight miles to our target shelter, Rainbow Stream Lean-To, but were both tired and weren’t looking forward to the miles which included Mount Nesuntabunt (~2000’), the last mountain before Katahdin.  Jerry seemed to have decided he was going to accompany me to the end.  I would have preferred to hike alone but don’t want to be rude and he’s a likeable bloke – we get on OK.  We set out up the mountain and stopped at the top for a great view of the forests, lakes and Mount Katahdin (the northern end of the AT) for the first time.  The summit was covered in cloud.  We descended from the mountain to Crescent Pond and, as we were walking along the edge, Jerry spotted a moose feeding in the shallows about 30 yards offshore.  We both got pictures before it was scared off.  We then saw it had a calf with it.  The last four miles dragged, but we eventually reached the pretty shelter by the stream in a little valley.  We had it to ourselves.  I had a double portion of noodles (because I hadn’t cooked the two previous nights) and, after dinner, enjoyed two cups of hot chocolate whilst musing over the trip and its looming end.  I felt a bit melancholy.  Went to bed at about 9pm.
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