My success with Slack Packing most of New Jersey in 2012, I decided to do my own posting in the Appalachian Trail Magazine in the Fall of 2012 and I got over 25 replies. Many of the replies just wanted to backpack but a handful wanted to Slack Pack with me beginning in late April of 2013. Virginia has the most AT miles and I thought it would be a good idea to start hacking into those 541 miles with seven (7) days of Slack Packing from Damascus Virginia northbound to USFS 86 Glade Mt Road.
Tom and Carl from New Jersey joined me on the first day, April 29th, and then Harold from Virginia joined us at the end of our second day. Harold hikes about the same pace as I do, but Carl and Tom were much faster hikers and finished most days at least 30 minutes or an hour ahead of us. Some days we'd hike south and some days we'd hike north depending on the terrain. I prefer to climb in the mornings and come down in the afternoon. In April 2013 I was still using David AWOL Millers 2009 AT Northbound and some of the GPS coordinates were wrong. Yes, I bought his 2013 AT Northbound after this hike.
We spent two nights in Damascus in a new B&B, but without breakfast, then we moved north to stay at Troutdale Church Hostel, and then Randy, whom I hiked NJ with in 2012, arranged for us to stay at Retreat House in Rural Retreat (no longer a place to stay as of the end of 2013). Rain was forecast on our last day, May 6th, and Randy, who is very familiar with this part of the AT, advised us the terrain we'd be hiking from USFS 86 could be difficult in the rain. Harold and I decided not to hike, but Tom and Carl decided to hike anyway. I shuttle them from their end point where Tom left his Jeep and then back to their start point. We said Goodby and I headed back to Maryland. I had another 68 AT miles under my feet.
One of the most important lessons I learned hiking this section is to read all the signs at each road intersection and when if possible drive and verify a GPS location. While this is not always possible it does prevent a lot of "issues" and cuts down on the amount of time trying to find the correct location. Another lesson I learned that if you get good solid advice about an area and the terrain follow your "gut".
Richard from New Jersey and Fred from West Virginia joined me on my second hike between May 24th and May 29th. The plan was to hike south from Bears Den Hostel (where I ended my overnight from Harpers Ferry in July 2011) and to hike to US 211 at Thornton Gap. Richard, who was a former British Naval Officer and F4 driver, hiked with me for only 2 days before his hip issues caused him to end his hike. Fred joined me for our last three days and David, who lived near the AT Sections we were hiking hiked with me for a couple of days. He offered Richard and me, then Fred and me bedrooms in his large home and his wife made us a wonderful breakfast before our Sunday hike. I completed this section and added another 62 AT miles. I learned another lesson on this hike about "closely" checking the signposts in SNP. Maybe I was tired that day, but I missed the turnoff the AT to where we had parked Fred's car and ended up having to walk and hitch a ridge back to his car. It made for a very long day and extra miles on our already tired feet.
In June, Joan from Virginia, and I were able to knock out my remaining missing 10 miles of the NJ AT from Mohican Outdoor Center south to Delaware Water Gap. It was a hot day and I was glad I had brought extra water. We did water up at the park just before crossing the I-81 Interstate bridge into Pennsylvania and I'm glad we got the extra water. Crossing the I-81 bridge on the New Jersey Pennsylvania border was an experience. The huge semi-trucks passed with a few feet of us and we walked as close to the railings of the bridge as possible. Not sure I want to cross that bridge again.
In July, Harold, and David from ME, and I attempted to hike the 100 Mile Wilderness starting in Monson and hiking north. Between the heat and humidity and one especially hard fall on my back on a large slate rock, I decided to bail out on the second day. It had taken us nearly 11 hours to hike these first 10 miles which included two stream crossings. I must have drunk three or more liters of water and still I didn't pee much until the end of that day. After we got to the Lean-to and I had set up my air mattress and sleeping bag, just lying down hurt. I had some pain medication with me and that seemed to help somewhat. I got a good cell signal and called Shaw's and asked about options for a pick up the next day. They agreed to pick the three of us up where Pond Tote Road meets a gravel road.
We were all up just as the sun came up and after breakfast hiked north for about four (4) miles to Pond Tote Road. We had one small stream crossing on the AT, but we had another stream to cross on Pond Tote Road. I still had some pain and decided not to take off my boots and crossed the steam. This stream was deeper and I got water in my boots. I emptied my boots and continued down the road with wet boots and socks. This road was an old logging road and it seemed that it hadn't been used in years. The road was flooded in parts and I just waded through. At one point the water was nearly up to my thighs and I considered bushwhacking, but then the water receded. The folks at Shaw's said it was about a "mile" to the gravel road and it was nearly two (2) miles. I learned that when folks in Maine say "about a mile" it could be several. Harold and David who had stopped to take off their boots and socks arrived at the gravel road only 15 minutes behind me. We waited about 30 minutes for the shuttle to take us all back to Shaw's. By the time we were back at Shaw's my back felt a lot better and I saw only bruises on my back and shoulder. I really didn't want to take any chances so Harold and I spent the night before driving back to Maryland and David left that afternoon and drove back to his camp. Apparently David had forgotten to lock his car and most of the hiking food he had left in his car was gone.
In late August, I would begin hiking with Greg, (formerly from CT, now from FL) over the next three years. He wanted to hike the southern half of Smokey Mountain National Park, take a Zero Day, and then backpack the northern half of the Park. On August 26th, we Slacked from Clingmans Dome northbound to Newfound Gap. We drove both of our cars to Fontana Dam and I left my Subaru. We drove in Greg's car to The Hike Inn for our overnight. The next day the owner shuttled us to Clingmans Dome and we began our three day backpack to Newfound Gap. This was my first backpack since I had hiked with Ron in Georgia in 2011 and our first day was long and hard, taking us nearly 8 hours to hike nearly 10 miles. My ULA backpack worked great, but I was not used to carrying that much weight. We didn't have much sunshine and it was foggy and overcast the next morning so we got a late start. It was so foggy this first morning that Greg and I got to within 10 feet of a deer in the middle of the AT before it saw us and ran off. These next 12 miles took us nearly 9 hours and my ULA pack felt better. I seemed to be getting use to the additional weight on my back and hips. Our third day was again overcast and cloudy and the temperature seemed ideal for backpacking. The last 3 miles were hard on both our knees as the AT drops nearly 1600 feet over the last three miles. At the time I thought this was tough terrain, but now after hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in 2015 and 2016, this wasn't that difficult. Of course I am now three years older and have a lot more miles on these 75 year old knees.
Greg got an email later that third day stating that one of the shelter we had planned to use on our northern half of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park hike was closed due to aggressive bear activity. After our three hard days, we agreed that we probably couldn't hike a nearly 15 mile day. Greg cancelled this part of our hike and he suggested we take a Zero Day at Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel on US 19E. which at
the time was the best Hostel I had been too. The Hostel was great and
the buffet breakfast was out of this world. I still think its the best
breakfast on the entire AT. Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel was the second Hostel I stayed at and in 2013 I thought it was the best. We hiked from Carvers Gap in Tennessee and North Carolina north to Overmountain Shelter on our first day. There was a good water source just off the blue blaze trail to the Shelter. Overmountain Shelter is a two story old red barn and the sleeping platform on the first floor has a wonderful view of the valley below and the surrounding hills. We arrived around 1:30pm about 40 minutes before a huge down pour. A very wet Scout Troop came in a bit later. The sky cleared and the rest of the day was great. This was the first 360 degree view privy I've seen on the AT. Yup, just a toilet bowl, seat and cover and a complete 360 degree view. We had prime sleeping spots and those who came later had to sleep on the upper level which was hot and didn't have much air flow. The next day we climbed out of the valley and stopped several times to look at the Shelter below us. The AT was mostly a narrow and deep footpath that was overgrown in a lot of places. We either hiked very slowly as we could see where our feet were landing or walking alongside the "trench". This part of the AT is a series of three balds and every time we topped a bald there was another ahead of us. The temperature was pleasant with some wind and I am so glad we didn't hike this in June, July or early August as there is no cover.
I understand that the AT has been rerouted and the footpath is a lot better now. The last several miles we hiked mostly down over wet rocks, which required us to slow down and make sure we didn't slip or fall. Once we got to US 19E it was a short road walk to Mountain Harbour and our cars. They allowed us to take a shower and change into clean clothes and then Greg and I had lunch before heading home. A good portion of the AT runs along the Tennessee and North Carolina border so at times you are never sure if you are in North Carolina or Tennessee. I added another 55 AT miles with this hike.
My final hike of 2013 was in October when I drove to Carlisle to see a new Appalachian Trail movie. The following day, Ron from PA, shuttle me to Scott Farm and I hiked the 10+ miles south to Boiling Springs. I was supposed to make this hike in June of 2012 but the heat and humidity were excessive and these 10+ miles were all open with almost no tree cover. I finished 2013 with another 228 AT miles which were more miles than in all my previous years. Having hiked 451 AT miles I really began to believe that I could complete all 2189 miles before I turn 80.
No comments:
Post a Comment