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 111

Day:  111
Date:  Thursday, 21 August 1986.
Daily AT Miles:  21.9
Daily Other Miles:  0
Total AT Miles:  2138.1
Total All Miles:  2196.1
Weather:  Mild, mostly sunny.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli, health drink.
  Lunch:  ??
  Dinner:  Hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni cheese, apple pie, chips.
Aches:  Left Achilles sore.
Animals Seen:  Moose, chipmunks.
People Seen:  1 AT Thru-hiker (southbound), 6 overnight hikers, 4 day hikers, many others.

Journal:
Got up at 5am to what promised to be a beautiful day.  We packed up and left our lovely spot at 6:30am and hiked upstream to a nearby lake.  As we walked around the shore in the early morning sunlight, Jerry spotted a big bull moose out in the middle of the lake which was covered on the surface by a light mist.  It was a beautiful scene and I wished I had the zoom lens.  We took some pictures and walked around the shore on the Trail getting quite close before he heard us and took off.  It seemed a good omen.  We pressed on along the Trail, which was never easy going – always twisting and turning, going up and down small bumps and hills, covered by exposed tree roots and rocks, and occasionally boggy. It was a real test for the legs, ankles and feet.  It passed along the shore of Rainbow Lake for five miles before climbing up on to the Rainbow Ledges.  It was a excellent day and we had good views in all directions.  The crest of Katahdin still had a cover of cloud, however.  The descent from the Ledges to Hurd Brook Lean-To was tortuous.  We had a break before continuing on more tough trail.  We were both wishing it was over.  At about 1:30pm, we reached Abol Bridge Campground and its small store.  We bought a big lunch and sat outside in the sun eating and watching the logging trucks roll by.  We decided to buy some extra food for our last night on the Trail and got some hot dogs, baked beans, chips, cans of drink, fruit pies and cookies.  We left at 2:30pm for the last 7½ miles to our target of Daicey pond Campground.  The Trail was easy at first, following old logging trails and some flat land upstream along thePenobscot River, which was quite wide.  We saw a couple of big rafts with tourists floating downstream.  The Trail then left the river and followed a large stream upstream and became more difficult.  The stream was pretty, with a number of big cascades and flumes and inviting swimming holes on a warm afternoon.  We were both tired and looking forward to getting to the Campground.  The Trail crossed a number of tributaries on testing logs and saplings, but neither of us fell in.  We reached the Campground at 5:30pm on the shores of a beautiful pond with Katahdin in the background (top still cloud-covered).  We paid for a shelter and had a very pleasant evening eating our goodies, chatting with a southbound, by sections, AT Hiker, and reflecting on the trip.  Rain was forecast overnight, clearing tomorrow.  We went to bed at 8:30pm after deciding to go tomorrow, regardless of the weather (Katahdin weather can be very dangerous, even in summer).  Almost as soon as we went to bed, it began raining.  There were mozzies and mice in the shelter.
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