The End! (part one)

Well, it's been a month and a day since I summited Katahdin- think it's about time to type up my final entry.  ;)  My excuse (and believe me, I'm sure everyone around me is getting tired of hearing this as my reasoning for not doing anything for the past month) was that I just wanted to relax.  Of course, I thought I'd just relax for a few days and then finish my blog, and then that turned into a few weeks, which has now become a month.  I guess since the blog was mainly intended for the reason of communicating with family and friends- and because I can now do that in person or through Facebook- I didn't find it as pressing as I once did.  However, I understand the need to complete the written account of my hike, plus many people were wanting to know what my final weeks, days, hours were like, so here goes:  


 I'll pick up after I left Rangely with BC.  The weather was getting noticeably colder and wetter.  Okay, let me also add windier.  Ha!  Basically, winter was creeping up on us and we knew our time on the Trail was becoming limited.  There was not only the urge to finish the hike to feel the sense of completion/accomplishment but also now the added pressure to finish while we still could, while the weather permitted.  Earlier and earlier each night we were wanting to make camp, cook dinner, go to sleep.  Humans just aren't made to be exposed to those sort of conditions day after day, and our bodies were beginning to let us know this.

BC and I left Rangely alone, without Velvet (who had a mystery-illness) and Bumblebee and Biscuit (who had hiked ahead, hitched in from a different road, and were now taking a couple days off).  It felt good to hike alone with BC for a couple days.  "Just like old times" we reflected. A hiker's mom had given us a ride from Rangely back to the Trail, and had bid adieu by bestowing us with two Coronas a piece.  A little bit of Trail magic even in Maine.  We didn't even care that we were carrying the extra weight of glass bottles.

BC and I saw our second and last moose during our couple days of hiking alone- an older cow chewing plants complacently at the edge of a still, silver pond.  Grey fur marked muzzle and shoulders.  We thought she would run as we approached but she just remained there as we quietly and slowly walked the perimeter of the water.  We were happy we got to see a second moose.  As it turns out, a porcupine is the only animal on my "must-see" list that I never saw (save for two dead ones on the side of the highway... which I ended up reluctantly "counting" after the hike).  

Our last moose sighting.

On top of Saddleback Mountain BC and I caught our first glimpse of Katahdin to the north; it was merely a shadow of a grey smudge away on the horizon seen between the valley of a closer ridge.  We didn't care- it was the end and it was finally in sight.  We celebrated on top of the frigid peak by drinking one of our remaining Coronas.  Behind us lie Mt. Washington and the Whites, still the largest and most formidable ridge in view.  What an odd and indescribable feeling it is to advance mile by mile- peak by peak- over a range of mountains spanning the length of the eastern United States- to be able to see where you've been and where you're going at the same time.  To look back at Washington was deceiving: it had the bright sun above it and looked relatively benign.  Only those who have climbed it know the truth of its summit.  But that is true for all of the Trail and all of the mountains and valleys and forests I'd visited.  To observe from afar is just a fantasy, while the truth lies in walking upwards and inwards.  Again and again in life, through myriad lessons in every scenario, I'm taught and reminded that the truth is never easily attained, but is to be attained nonetheless.  And the Trail taught me not to fear its truths, even though I sometimes glanced at the approaching masses of mountain ridges and thought "there is no way I am going to be able to do that". Ultimately, by not fearing the knowledge of whether I could do something or not, I learned my own strengths and found that most things are attainable if I approach them with the willingness to at least try.  That's not to say I was never afraid... sure.  Afraid of falling, afraid of twisting an ankle, afraid of the dark and the mysterious noises that issued from the blackness of the forest.  But not afraid of failing.  I couldn't fail, I told myself, as long as I kept moving forward.  And so I did...

The beauty of Maine's mountains cannot be captured on film.

BC and I enjoying our celebratory beer at the first sighting
of Katahdin.

Not far from Rangely BC and I passed through Stratton, where Velvet (who was feeling slightly better) hitched forward and met us to continue north.  The Bigelows (Maine's last big mountains before Katahdin) lie before us, and a two-day march led us up and over what was a mostly misty, cold, and typical jumble of Maine rock.  It was here that we passed the current 2000-mile mark (which tends to drift either north or south every year due to trail extensions/re-routings).  However, at the northern base of the Bigelows lies the iconic "2000 mile" road which has been spray-painted to mark the mother of all Trail-milage milestones.  It was here that I took my picture and actually celebrated.  I was officially a "2000-miler", which means something in the Trail community. 

2000 miles is, trust me, a lot more than just 2000 miles, both
actually and metaphorically.  Those miles changed my life.

It was at this point, right before we arrived in Carratunk, that whatever sickness had been ailing Velvet also hit me.  It started at first like a slight upset stomach... maybe just bloating or gas.  But nothing was wrong with my stomach- save for the fact that I felt I had to burp but could not.  The real problem lie in the fact that I couldn't hike uphill without sweating, hurting, moaning and generally feeling like I HAD TO STOP!  My body was screaming at me that something was wrong if I even slowly ambled up a gentle incline, let alone went the quick pace that I was accustomed to and needed to keep up if I were going to make my miles for the day.  So we took a day off at an outdoor center conveniently located a few miles off Trail to assess what was going on.  I was at such a low morale point after just a day.  I was ready to quit, to call the rest of the trip off.  I had passed the 2000 mile mark, seen Katahdin, basically walked the entire length of the Trail.  It was almost seven months since I'd started out and I'd been through a "bear attack", break-up, record setting heat wave, the flu, a hurricane which unprecedentedly closed the AT for days, multiple minor injuries and morale-smashers.  And now my body was shutting down.  Now I couldn't even walk a minor hill on what was essentially a flat part of the Trail.  But then, as things usually go on the Trail, a "miracle" happened: Velvet's doctor called and informed him that his stool sample showed that he indeed had giardia (the same parasite that had taken BC off the Trail for a few days right before the Whites).  Velvet and I had for the last couple days assumed that we had the same illness, since our symptoms were exact, so I was extremely surprised to learn that I had what was probably giardia.  Luckily, Velvet (being only 19) was still covered by his parents' insurance.  He selflessly hitched into the nearest town and back, stopping at a pharmacy to get medication, which he then split with me at no charge in what was an absolute act of generosity.  I was so humbled and appreciative.  It is really only an illness which makes you aware of how wonderful feeling healthy is.

I found I was not the only creature sitting by Flagstaff Lake. 

We left Carratunk the next day, having crossed the Kennebec ferry, which is one of the last milestones before Katahdin.  Every day I was reminded of how close we were getting.  But there were still many hard days ahead of us, and I knew that.


In fact, it started with that very next day after receiving the medication.  Due to the excessive rain brought upon by Irene and other storms, this area of Maine had a higher-than-usual number of mosquitoes for the season.  And by "higher-than-usual" I mean they were everywhere.  You could see them in the air.  You'd run ahead- on the Trail, on a road, over a river- and look behind to see a swarm following intently behind you, even as you were running into a brand-new swarm.  I kept my trekking poles in one hand so that I could continuously swat with the other.  My shoulders, forearms, behind my knees.  My forehead and stomach.  The top of my head.  Nothing deterred them.  I smeared mud on my arms and legs in a final, anthropological (!) act of desperation, trying to remember where I'd learned that the native Americans used to do this to prevent bug bites.  Maybe I hadn't.  Maybe it was elephants in Africa to prevent bug bites.  Maybe I'd just made the whole thing up... but I didn't care.  It was better than nothing.  So here I was, my body protesting due to giardia-related muscle fatigue as I ran up the Trail, being followed by thousands of mosquitoes, voluntarily covered head to toe in pine needles and mud... and then I slipped on a root and fell and hit my knee and immediately just burst into tears!  It was the last time I cried on the Trail.  I actually allotted myself five minutes to sit and cry from self-pity (for I hadn't really hurt myself in the fall).  And it worked.  I have usually found that allowing myself to cry instead of holding it back usually clears me emotionally.  So I sat there and cried and told myself I'd stop crying by the time BC showed up (he was hiking behind me), but I was done before he arrived, and found that the mosquitoes actually backed off when I sat still by the river.  How quickly things sometimes turn around!  After a 30-minute break we arose and continued hiking.  The mosquitoes and my self pity were gone- never to return for the rest of the trip.


Monson was the next Trail town- the last Trail town, and so we decided to take a zero day since all we had ahead of us was the 100-Mile Wilderness and then Katahdin.  Bumblebee and Biscuit arrived just in time to take the day off with us as well.  We decided at that point that the five of us (Bumblebee, Biscuit, Velvet, BC and I) would hike the remaining miles together and summit Katahdin as a group.  At the hostel in Monson I called my family for the last time- everyone was thrilled, as my success was pretty much guaranteed at this point.

We weren't scared.  :)

The 100-Mile Wilderness (we all just called it the 100-miles) is the longest stretch of the Trail without a town or easy hitching option.  You're supposed to carry enough food to get you through the entire thing, but we all did a food-drop 30 miles in so we didn't have to break our backs with 10 days'-worth of food (which I couldn't have fit in my pack anyways).  The first day in the 100-miles was easy and exciting.  We met many day hikers who smiled and wished us luck, one section hiker who was turning around due his unpreparedness, and a southbound flip-flopper we'd last seen in the Shenandoahs who said he hated, hated, the 100-mile wilderness.  BC and I gave a knowing look to each other across the Trail: he only hated the 100-miles because he hadn't been through the Whites yet.  The Whites were serious mountains- laughably difficult in some places.  Nothing was hard, as far as we'd seen, after you pass through the Whites.  We wished him sincere luck and said a final goodbye.

We took it a little too easy for those first couple days in the 100-miles- we'd packed too much food and so weren't in a rush due to a shortage of supplies, and plus we knew that we had it in the bag, we would finish our hikes before Baxter Park closed on October 15th so we were really in no rush.  That is, until the rains started.  A morning of fog turned into drizzle by noon, which was a soft downpour by 3pm.  By 4pm I still had about 6 miles to go to the nearest shelter, and was pressed to get there before dark as to avoid hypothermia and the dangers of night-hiking in bad weather.  Velvet was maybe a mile ahead of me, BC perhaps hours behind me, and so I walked alone.  It was such a gorgeous stretch of trail, and I could even admire it as the rain constantly hit my head and my feet soaked up every drop of every puddle through the mesh tennis shoes I wore.  I began to panic, however, as the evening grew ever-colder and I had still many miles to go.  My mind began to wander, my toes lost sensation, I couldn't move my fingers independently of one another, but most alarmingly was that it took my eyes many seconds to adjust focus from near to far.  That had never happened to me.  And so I walked as quickly as my numb little stumps of feet would carry me, feeling the whole 30 pounds of pack on my wet body, fearing I had the onset of hypothermia but knowing there was nothing I could do but keep walking.  Geez!  How many times, I wonder, on the Trail did I tell myself my only option was to keep walking!?  Just as light was fading and the night was growing intolerably colder, I passed over a stream and heard the unmistakable noise of a human ahead in the woods.  A person.  I must be close to the shelter!  I called out Velvet's name.  No response.  I called it out again and waited... but only the solid silence of a cold forest pressed against my ears.  So, great, now I had begun hallucinating, I thought.  And for the second time on the Trail (the first being in NY during the heat wave) I honestly thought I might die.  I couldn't move my fingers, which were gripped ever tightly on the trekking poles, I couldn't focus my eyes, I was soaking wet in every layer of clothing, and now it was darkness and I'd begun hallucinating.  A few steps further, and a few more.... and I saw a sign.  For a shelter!  I'd made it to the shelter, and if you've ever been a hiker on a trail in need of shelter, you'll agree that there are few things in life which inspire more joy.  Velvet was indeed there, and we threw out our gear, changed clothes, and crawled into our sleeping bags.  I was still shivering an hour later when Bumblebee and Biscuit showed up.  It was 9:30 before we saw the light of BC's headlamp bobbing up to the lean-to... we'd long since given him up for having set up his tent in the woods.  I was relieved- it was my nature on the Trail to worry about the safety of  BC whenever he was away from me.  I slept soundly that night knowing we were all okay.

My third and final pair of shoes: nothing more than laced mesh
strapped to a rubber sole.  My feet were wet for days on end.

So the rain and cold went on like this for days.  It was hard to enjoy the relative ease and apparent beauty of the 100-miles when you're cutting your days short and scurrying through the woods just to escape the inescapable.  I hadn't wanted to text my family to tell them where I was because not only was I going slower than I wanted, but I also wanted to surprise them on my summit day.  So, at a place called White House Landing (a small outpost in the 100-miles offering hot food and bunks only accessible by boat) we stopped to once again evade a rainy, cold night.  It was here that I texted my dad that I was still in the 100-miles but doing okay.  I didn't tell him, but we were maybe three or four days from Katahdin at this point.  The forecast called for clearing skies and a final warm push of air.  It looked like we were going to have a beautiful week in which to finish our hike.....

Even through the rain, autumn was exquisite.

White Mountains and Western Maine *Quick UPDATE*

Hey!  I jumped into the library really quickly here in Rangely, Maine but don't have time to stay.  I'll just do a really quick update:

-BC got sick (Giardia?) right before the White Mountains and took about 4 days off, 3 of which happened to coincided with Hurricane Irene.  If you hadn't heard, the White Mountains were closed during the Hurricane.  Boo... :(  He is now better and has been walking with the group for the past couple weeks.

-Once the forest was opened to us hikers again, I found the Whites were 100 miles of AMAZING scenery and INTENSE trail-hiking.  Subsequently, they were my favorite miles on the Trail so far.  It was wet and dangerous and our miles slipped- averaging about 10 per day.  That's going to be normal for a while, even now that I'm out of the Whites and into Maine.  This is some tough stuff...

-Summiting Mt. Washington was my favorite single event on the Trail so far.  It was cold, wet, and windy, with a visibility of maybe 20 feet.  The wind absolutely HOWLED through the metal rigging and towers at the top. My bandana blew off my head as soon as I summited.  It was powerful and amazing and exactly what climbing the mountain with the "world's worst weather" should feel like.

-I'm still hiking with Bumblebee, Biscuit, Velvet and BC.  Velvet has been feeling sick lately and might not continue hiking.  BC and I hitched into town with him yesterday (after hiking 4 measly miles in chilly weather) and are going to head back out on the Trail this afternoon after resupplying and showering here in Rangely.

-Still haven't seen that elusive porcupine... the last critter on my list of animals to see.  I'm hoping the rest of Maine will provide.

-Will be summiting Saddleback mountain tomorrow, where on a clear day I can see both Mt. Washington AND (AND!) Katahdin!!!!!!  At least that's what the guide book says.  We'll see...

-Hopefully I'll be picking up the miles soon and I'll be done with the Trail before you know it.  We're all in a state now where we know the end is near... and we both DON'T and DO want it to arrive.  It will be disorienting and sad to return to a life where there's no longer unexplored forest to walk everyday, where you're sure of where you'll be sleeping each night and of where you'll find your food.  All my friends will be gone.  But it will hopefully also be rewarding and relaxing.  I'm looking forward to not walking for a week straight and someone at home (nudge-nudge) spoon-feeding me Haagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream. 
:)

My next update could be after I summit Katahdin!  Who knows?  I'm having fun and enjoying the beauty of Maine and the approach of autumn.

The "bubble" of hikers I'm walking in now

Some of my friends on the Trail:

BC, Velvet, Navigator, Biscuit, Bumblebee

BC, Hopeful (and Ally) on ground.  Sweet Tea
Guinness and Nate Dogg (?) standing.

Bumblebee and I in Dalton, Mass. at Tom Levardi's house.

Vermont

Hello to all!

Before I write a bit about the beautiful state of Vermont, I'd like to add something that should have been included in my last blog: that we were able to see the NYC skyline from the top of nearby Bear Mountain in New York!  I even saw the Empire State Building.  Bear Mountain is less than 40 miles away in an area that is completely wooded and remote.  You'd never guess one of the largest cities in the world is right at your feet.  And Abbey, I wish we could have met up but the timing was not right and my funds are nearing non-existence.  :(  I promise we'll see each other soon...

So after a bumpy but scenic stroll through Connecticut and Massachusetts, we were suddenly in Vermont.  The mountains and weather changed almost immediately on the border line...  a cool front moved in, bringing with it some intense rain.  One night near the VT border I was lying in my tent reading when I heard an airplane or semi-truck moving quickly towards the mountaintop.  It sounded like a large plane crashing in slow motion over the trees- a low roar and a rushing wind.  I soon realized that it was just an immense downpour moving steadily my way, and the roar was the huge droplets hitting the forest canopy.  I heard it come my way and prepared for the beating my tent would soon receive.  Of course, I assumed BC had also heard the rain coming and was sleeping with his rain fly on over his tent.  Whoops.  You can see where this went: BC wakes up in the middle of the storm of the century with rain flooding the inside of his tent.  He said he literally had to bail himself out by scooping rain from his tent with his cooking pot.  He was afloat on his blowup mattress... so he said.  ;)  I felt bad for the boy, but he should have been prepared.

The Appalachian Trail followed the famous Long Trail of Vermont for half of its way through the state, some 150 miles or so, through the lower half of the gorgeous Green Mountains.  In the Greens, the forest is not so much a place as it is a thing: you can sense it all around you, as if it has intelligence and is watching you.  I found myself looking behind my back, or all around me, as I hiked.  It wasn't a scary feeling- it was just that there was so much going on in each square foot of the forest, so many different plants and creatures that the whole place seemed alive.  I think the Green Mountains are probably the most beautiful forest we've walked in so far.

On our second day in Vermont, BC and I were talking about moose.  Just as we did with the bears, we bet on when we'd see our first moose.  "September third" I said confidently.  "September fourth" he replied competitively.  What a surprise, then, that later that same day, nearly a month before we thought we'd see one, I hear BC exclaim "Is that a freaking moose?!"  Sure enough, I looked downhill into the twilit forest and saw a dewlap and velveteen antlers.  Then it trotted gracefully away from the trail and turned to look at us.  It was a young bull, but still huge!  Like seeing a horse in the woods.  We cautiously stood and watched it a bit, then moved off quietly as to not intimidate it.  I hope we see another.

I have also seen my first beaver and beaver pond!  They're everywhere.  Then, just two or three days ago BC and I sat by a lake and watched/listened to loons.  I love that sound.  I then heard up in the trees a breathy, rapid laughter coming from what sounded like a very large bird.  Sure enough, a second later we saw our first bald eagle soaring above the lake.  I had guessed there was one nearby from the call, which I told myself I would remember when we saw a captive one at the Bear Mountain Zoo in NY.  It swooped for several minutes above the lake before retiring back to the forest canopy.

I am now in Hanover, New Hampshire, arriving a few days later than I'd wanted due to some intense storms we had over the last week.  My fellow hiker Bumblebee is a graduate of Dartmouth's graduate school and so got us a sweet hook-up in some of the nicest accommodations we've had yet on the Trail.  We're staying in what is essentially Dartmouth's Business school's "hotel" where they let executives stay while at campus seminars and conferences.  Wonderful!  Velvet, Navigator, Biscuit and BC are also here with Bumblebee and I.  Many other hikers are also in town... probably 20 or so that we've been seeing for the past several months on the Trail.  However, our little "bubble" (Bumblebee, BC, Navigator, Velvet, and Biscuit, along with the not-present Guinness [and her dog Ally] and Hopeful) are who I've been mostly hiking with over the last several weeks.  This is the group I'm closest to on the Trail... and I've  been hoping that we'll stick together and end up summiting Katahdin together as well.  That's still a long way off, however... (about 450 or so miles).

So this will be my last stop in town before we hit the infamous/famous White Mountains of NH.  Most would say that the Whites and the subsequent western Maine portion of the Trail is the most difficult.  I think I'm finally ready.  I've been grilling all the southbounders I've seen about the Whites and I think I've finally pumped myself up enough that I'm not afraid anymore!  There's only one way to find out, I guess.  Why am I afraid?  Most of the Whites (the peaks, essentially) are above tree-line, making you vulnerable in the case of bad weather.  Also, the climbs are INTENSE- basically all rock scrambles up and down the mountains, which are themselves very tall.  Also, if we don't plan correctly or if bad weather picks up quickly, we will find ourselves shelling out upwards of $85 a night to sleep in the stone huts (as opposed to the mostly free shelters or campsites) which the local Trail maintenance group runs for weekend vacationers. 

All I can do is take a deep breath and go for it, I guess. I mean, I've walked 1700+ miles so far, you think I'd be used to climbing mountains by now.  Geez.... ;)

And so I bid you adieu for a while... maybe until Maine.  We're shooting for an October first summit of Katahdin so that we may be able to see some nice fall colors while in Maine.  Plans may change, but keep your fingers crossed for me around that time. 

Thinking of you all!
Tara

NY, NY, and lower New England

Hello everyone!  I am 4 miles from the Vermont border, sitting in the Williamstown, Mass. public library.  Williamstown is the home of Williams College, a pretty liberal arts school that kinda takes me back to my days at Miami U in Oxford.  Of course, (as I always brag) Miami is still more beautiful... 

I somehow seemed to have survived the Dog Days of summer. Barely. As I told a few of you already, I was on top of a mountain the day that NY/NJ hit record temperature highs.  Struggling across the rocks, with no tree cover to protect from the sun and having recently drank the last of my water, for 30 or so minutes I honestly wondered if I was going to die.  Ha! Sounds quite dramatic, but I assure you I wasn't being overly so.  My eyeballs felt swollen, as did my brain, giving me a massive headache.  I began stumbling and panicking.  I felt my body temperature rise and there was not a thing I could do about it as town (and water) were still at least 2 miles away, thousands of feet down in the valley, nestled against a lake I could (achingly) see off to my right.  Alone, as BC was hiking ahead of me, I very seriously wondered if I would make it to town.  What an odd feeling...  for only the second time in my life I really felt as though I might actually die (the first being when a plane I was in hit "clear air turbulence" over the Gulf and "nearly crashed" as I like to say).  At last I found the side trail off the AT that would take me into town, and almost an entire mile passed before I heard a trickle of water to my left: a small spring flowing from the rocks with just enough room for me to cup a hand under and bring water to my mouth.  I literally collapsed to my knees and began throwing water on my face, into my mouth.  My head cooled instantly... and I knew I would be okay.  How different it is to pass a summer heatwave in a home or air-conditioned building, while there are some of us lapping groundwater from our dirty hands just to stay alive!  When I finally made it to the bottom of the mountain I saw BC in the distance near a ball field with a garden hose.  Needless to say, we both took turns running through the hose water before finally deciding to spend the next couple of days cooped up in air-conditioned bliss in a hotel.  I heard afterwards that a West Point cadet died that same day of heat-related causes not far from where we were.

So, that was really the only bad thing about the last few weeks on the Trail.  New England has been nice, in general.  The people are great and really helpful to hikers.  The towns and homes are gorgeous, and many of them date to the late 1600s/early 1700s.  The terrain has steadily been intensifying, much to our collective chagrin, but we need to slowly ease ourselves back into the mountains as the Whites are only a few weeks away and consideredy by many to be the hardest part of the Trail.  :(  I hope I do well...

I'd sadly like to state that camera #2 is broken (I know, I know... i have the WORST luck with point-and-shoots) and that camera #3 was ordered and recieved last week... so I will continue taking pictures that I'll hopefully have time to finally post once this whole walk is over.  Again, all apologies for not being able to do it now but there is just NOT enough time in the day.

BC and I have been traveling as of late with a lot of people we met early on in Georgia and North Carolina.  There's Velvet, Bumblebee, Guinness and her dog Ally, Swamp Dawg, etc.  It's nice to have old friends back again.  I've been thinking a lot of the end of the trip (which doesn't seem so far away now) and summiting Katahdin.  I wonder who will be with me on that day... I hope it is some of the friends I'm hiking around now. 

The colder weather has started since we've been heading north, and I asked Dad and Becky to send my winter gear back to me.  I finally have my sleeping bag back after a few months without it!  This means no more sleepless cold nights.  Both BC and I are wishing for cold days again, as we do so much better when it's chilly. 

I can't believe we really have less than 2 months left.  BC and I are guessing October 1st or so for our last day.  We will have to take our time in the Whites (of New Hampshire) and western Maine, so that may slow us down more than we'd like... but we see no reason right now that we will not make it to Katahdin by the first week of October.  Hence, much of our daily conversations have revolved around what we're going to do when we get off the Trail.  As for him, he's leaning towards going to college... which I highly support.  I think I will probably move back to Ohio for a while, work near my parents' home in Wilmington, and save money while I send out resumes to various state parks across the country, hoping that one of them will eventually want to hire me! 

We've been seeing southbounders on a daily basis lately.  Most of them left Maine in June or July.  They still have soooo much further to go!  We're glad we're nearer the end than they are.  Also, they smell really bad! HAHA!  I don't know what it is, but us northbounders NEVER smelled like that...  

I'm nearly out of time on this computer, though I had more to say.  I should be taking another day off somehwere in Vermont next week, so hopefully will have prepared a more interesting, fact-filled blog update by then. 

Thanks for reading, and until next time...

The NORTH!

Sheesh.  Did I really go through ALL of Pennsylvania (not to mention little Maryland) without posting? 

I guess it was just one of those states I wanted to get through, though- don't get me wrong- I really enjoyed it.  It was beautiful, and much of it reminded me of Ohio (which BC had to hear over and over and over again every time we walked through a grassy meadow or the wind blew just so on a cool sunny day).  True, PA lived up to its rocky reputation, but it was mostly flat and straight, not to mention that we saw THREE rattlesnakes and multiple copperheads in PA- the only state so far in which we've seen venemous snakes.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  It struck me as I was walking away from the last rattler I'd seen (a long, thick yellow-phase timber rattler that I nearly stepped on as it crossed the Trail) that I'm out here with venemous snakes and bears... sometimes just FEET away from them, and if this would have happened at the Zoo there would be people running around with guns and nets and tranquilizers and people freaking out and keepers pulling their hair out wondering what to do!  But out here in the wilderness I walk among "dangerous animals" and we get along- somehow- and everyone is fine.  And there really is a mutual respect between creatures out here.  I was thinking of this the other day, as I realized that the MILLIONS of chipmunks and millipedes and daddy long-legs and ants and rat snakes (etc.) are as much my companions as the handful of other hikers I'll see in a day.  And I (and most others) would go out of my way to avoid at any cost harming any other living thing on the trail.  This means I spend a portion of my day dancing around them on the rocks and grass so as not to step on them.  But that's a part of being an inhabitant of the forest, I guess...

But speaking of bugs, let me again state how HORRIBLE the gnats are around here.  My rule is that I won't harm anything unless it attacks me first... so biting gnats and mosquitos have it coming!  Honestly, the gnats were worse than the rocks in PA.  There's a particular tiny species that follows along in front of your face right next to your eyes and periodically dive-bombs them (and your ears, nose and mouth) in search of who-knows-what, leaving you cursing and flailing on the Trail trying to get them out of wherever they flew into!  My final technique was part acceptance and part trickery: I'd let them land on my eyelids and then close my eyes really hard, hoping to squish them that way.  (You know, typing that out it sounds kinda gross... but completely normal for the Trail.)  It worked about 35% of the time.  Resiliant little buggers...

Geez.  Not to go on about bugs, but I can't write about PA without mentioning that a bunch of people are getting Lyme disease this year.  People falling out left and right, going to the doctor with weird symptoms such as lethargy, muscle aches and pains, joint pains, loss of appetite, etc.  And what's scary is that, though I check myself for ticks, there have still been two instances in which I've found a couple attached to me that were on me for at least the night- one of which had gotten swollen with blood.  Now, that sounds gross, but keep in mind these are tiny, MINISCULE, little ticks... most look like a speck of dirt or freckle.  I'm not used to that, coming from Ohio where we have the large dog ticks.  Deer ticks are new to me and a whole other ballgame.  PA is the state with the hightest number reported cases of Lyme, and Lyme is the fastest growing and number one diagnosed infectious disease in the country.  So far, I seem okay.  If I make if off the Trail without getting Lyme, I will consider myself lucky, though.

So, a little about the Trail in PA.  Like I said above, it lived up to the reputation of being a rocky, aggrivating state in some areas.  PA is where they say boots go to die.  Indeed, my new boots, with less than 200 miles on them, now have parts of their soles ripped off in places, chunck by chunk.  It was inevitable.  But the berries more than made up for the rocks.  There are innumerable blueberry bushes, blackberry and raspberry vines, mullberry trees, and a new one to me (but very tasty) that is called Japanese wineberry.  I was unfamiliar with that one, but it looked so similar to black and raspberries that I picked one and took a chance.  Tastes delicious.  I didn't die, so I continued eating them.  :) 

The weather has been hot but not so humid, with many days having a steady cool breeze.  Hiking has been wonderful on those days, many of them reminding me of childhood summers in Ohio.  I wish I could capture those days and share them... but a picture won't get the sound of the robins, or the soft leaves hitting each other in the tree tops, or the warm coconut-y smell of the fields of forest ferns wafting across the mountian ridges.  I take a picture of this beautiful place that I wish to share with everyone back home, and it basically turns out as a picture of a bunch of bright green contrasted too sharply with a sky of blue.  Hmm... disappointing.  Some things just have to be experienced to be understood, I guess. 

I only have a few remaining minutes, but I'll add that by entering northern PA, I finally feel as if we've reached "the North".  Different foods, different accents, different ways of living up here.  But the forest looks different, too.  Birch, maple, walnut, and even some sort of poplar or aspen are trees that I'm seeing a lot of now, as opposed to mostly tulip poplar and oak of the south.  Soon we'll be in New England, and I really am so excited to be hiking in an area of the country that I've not even visited by car.

When I think of my hike so far, I see a string laid out over the eastern coast of the US, going up and over the highest peaks of the mountain chain there.  And I think, incredibly, that I've WALKED that string.  It's crazy, but wonderful.

Have to run... till next time.

Harpers Ferry

What a wonderful town!  I'm on my THIRD zero day (hehe...) and will be hitting the Trail again tomorrow, but stopped back by the ATC headquarters in order to use the computer.  I purchased new boots and a new pack online (both of which I badly need) and should be getting them in a few days.  I can NOT wait!  The tread on my boots has worn nearly away after 1015 miles and it makes rock-hopping a little dangerous as it gets really slippery.  My pack is and always has been way too big for me and it's too heavy and smelly and all around just a pain.  Ugh.  I will let you know how the new gear works out. 

Dad, Becky and mom came to visit me in town, which is a beautiful historic village.  Look it up online.  Lots of Civil War/early US history here.  We walked around and ate and looked at the beautiful buildings and rivers.  It was a very memorable visit.

So how does it feel to get half-way?  Amazing.  :)  Yet then I look back on the time I've spent on the Trail and realize that although it seems like my life is totally different and March is a million years distant, in actuality these three months have flown by and it will all be over in another three.  Pretty soon this will all just be a time to look back on- a distant memory.  I'm not sad about it yet, as it really hasn't sunken in... but I can start to understand the tinges of what I might be feeling when I step up to that sign at Katahdin.

Virginia claimed a lot of thru-hikers this year, as far as them quitting the Trail.  It was just too hot.  So our ranks continue to thin.  I was hiker 506 to reach Harpers Ferry this year, and the guys here at the headquarters say that 50% will not reach Katahdin.  I still feel as confident as the day I set out... time will only tell.  :)

I got sick again in the Shenandoahs- something in the water I drank I guess.  I haven't been treating the spring water I drink (it just tastes too fresh) and I think there was some privy run-off at the first shelter I got to.  Without saying too much, let me just tell you that I couldn't keep any food in my body, nor water, and so actually really wondered aloud if I was going to die as I rolled around in agony all evening on the forest floor.  BC actually said "I don't know", which wasn't the most reassuring comment from a friend.  I sent him on ahead of me the next morning, as I didn't want to hold him back or gross him out with my constant retching/bathroom usage.  He ended up doing 20 miles that day, and I BARELY crawled 8.  That day ranks among one of my worst not only on the Trail, but in life, and the only day on the Trail that I've contemplated hitch-hiking to avoid doing miles and (only for a moment) quitting it altogether.  It took me 8 full hours to do 8 miles.  I didn't eat anything, and actually felt my body using muscle as fuel.  I can't tell you what that felt like, but I understood where I was getting the energy to hike up mountains and it didn't feel right. 

But, as you know, I DID NOT die or quit... !!!  I recovered the next day and, luckily for me, had multiple restaurants to look forward to as the Shenandoah National Park is full of them.  So I hiked by myself (always a day behind BC, reading his entries in the shelter logs every night) and ate all I wanted for a few days until I was back to full health (but 5 pounds lighter).

While BC and I were hiking alone through the Park he was lucky enough to have multiple bear sightings... even watching for 30 minutes a female rip apart a tree for grubs as her 2 cubs wrestled and climbed trees nearby.  I was SO jealous to read of that in the register.  I lamented to some friends that I would NEVER see a bear, not even one of the hundreds in the Shenandoah, and tried to get it in my head to accept the fact.  I sulked down a grassy path near the shelter in search of the spring to fill my water bottles, and had FINALLY come to terms with having seen no bears, when (hahah!) I turned a blind corner to the spring and saw a fuzzy black mass in front of me, not 15 feet.  It was huge, head down and drinking noisily from the spring.  :)  My heart leaped not with fear but with joy!  I silently and slowly backed away about ten feet, coughed lightly to alert it to my presence, and watched as it quietly ran away up the mountain, stopping once to scope me out before heading on.  I later saw another (younger and more curious) bear on the Trail, but my first sighting was wonderful and at the most coincidental moment.  I loved it.

So, BC and I finally met back up our last night in the Park.  We both enjoyed hiking solo so much that we continued to do so, but still seeing each other throughout the day on breaks at at night at the campsites.  When you hike alone you don't have to rely on anyone, have anyone rely on you, and can take breaks whenever you please.  When I walk alone I am filled with happy thoughts on life in general/life after the Trail and often dream of things to come (jobs/things I'll do in my free time).  Of course, hiking with someone has its benefits as well, but after 800 miles of hiking behind someone it was refreshing to find my own pace, realize my own strength, and see the Trail as if I were the only one on it. 

I've been taking many pictures and will upload them when possible, but it has been very hard the last month or two to find a place that will allow that or to even find the time in my day.  Most places allow only 15 minutes of computer time, which probably wouldn't even be enough to let me upload ONE picture, let alone multiple.  I will post them to facebook when I can (and if you haven't seen them, there were some I put on there from central VA a few weeks ago). 

Speaking of 15 minute limits... I've been here at the AT headquarters now for 3 hours and probably should leave (though I'm having fun trading one-liners with the staff and volunteers).  This is a GREAT place and if you're ever around the Harpers Ferry area I'd recommend stopping by.

Till next time!  Pennsylvania, here I come...

First Half of Virginia

I know, I know, I know!  It's been waaaay too long since my last post.  But let me tell you, it is NOT easy to find internet access when you live in the woods and have almost ZERO free time!  :)  So, all apologies... but please forgive me.

I don't think I've written since Damascus, which seems like a long, long time ago.  In fact, I think it was a little over 300 miles ago.  And, to put it another way, in "Trail time" it was YEARS ago.  Even things that happened last week or a couple days ago seem too long ago to remember.  Every day really is its own adventure.

I will go ahead and admit that I lost my camera right before I hit the most beautiful section of the trail I've hiked yet: the Greyson Highlands.  Ugh.  Too bad, huh?  The Greyson Highlands is the section of Trail in lower Virginia that basically extends from its highest point, Mt. Rogers, for just a handful of miles.  However, it really feels like you're in a whole other part of the country.  As I walked through, all I could think of was old westerns and cowboys and the deserts of California.  It was rocky and scrubby and very beautiful.  However, the absolute best part were the wild ponies.  Not to mention the newly born BABY wild ponies.  Not only did I get to see the baby ponies, I was lucky enough to actually PET one!  Haha!  It was scared at first, but since its mother was calmly browsing nearby and since I snuck up nice and slowly, it didn't run away and let me scratch its back.  In fact, the look on its face told me it actually ENJOYED my petting it.  :)  !!!  Or maybe that's just what I'd like to believe.  But not having my camera is just reason enough to go back again one day and hike the Highlands.  Preferably in spring when the baby ponies are out...

Not long after leaving the Highlands I got sick... like really really sick.  I think I had either a sinus infection or the flu.  Either way, I was craving antibiotics like I never have in my entire life (and that's saying a lot for a girl who hates medication).  But, since I don't have insurance and there weren't random doctors wandering around in the woods, I got no medication.  I just had to take it easy.  BC and I still hiked the trail, but our miles slacked off a bit and we took one entire day off from hiking where we just camped by a desolate country grocery store.  It allowed us easy access to food and free showers.  And since the only way for me to get any relief from the sinus pain and headache was to be in the shower, I think I took about 10 in the 30 hours that we were there.  After a day we had to move on, but we came upon Woods Hole Hostel within a few miles and stayed the night there.  Woods Hole is probably the most famous hostel on the entire trail... it was founded in the 80s by a couple who took in hikers in their old 1880s cabin.  The granddaughter of that couple runs it now with her husband (who stopped there during his 2005 thru-hike).  They specialize in organic gardening, cooking, healing arts and massages.  It's a very hippy sort of place.  In fact, Amanda Wikan: if you read this please look up the hostel online.  I thought of you and Jono the entire time I was there.  I think you two need to visit because I could really see the both of you running something like this up in Iowa.  Anyways, the granddaughter, Neville, cooked some amazing food, and I've honestly never had a fresher salad than the one I ate that was plucked from their front garden.  I also did meditation with Neville and another girl right before retiring to bed... and I'm surprised that anyone reached relaxation with my sniffling the entire time (stuffy nose), but somehow I think we did.  Oh!  I almost forgot... Dad sent me a camera to Woods Hole, which I was ABSOLUTELY EXCITED to receive.  I will take extra special care of this one and not leave it loose in my pocket.  :(

So the last week and a half or two weeks has been spent traversing the area of Virginia leading up to where I am now: Glasgow.  Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of it... there are probably 800 people living here... but it's the first town I've come to in awhile that has unlimited internet and in which I have more than an hours' free time.  And I have reached a very important milestone this week: I'm 1/3 of the way through with the Trail.  Can you believe it?!  In fact, I'll soon be in Harpers Ferry, which while not the EXACT halfway point of the AT, has always been the symbolic halfway point.  Hopefully (and I'm keeping my fingers extra-crossed for this one) my mom and dad and brother can find the time to come visit me when I arrive, sometime in mid to late June.  It will be great to see a familiar face on the trail as I haven't really seen friend or family for almost three months now.

The Trail through Virginia has been gorgeous, and summer has definitely arrived.  Everything is glowing green, and recently the temperatures have been in the 90s... much to our horror.  I can't tell you how hard it is to hike the crest of a rocky mountain carrying 35+ pounds with a noonday sun beating down on you and humidity so thick you can feel it.  Oh, and did I mention the constant drone of thousands of flies, gnats, mosquitoes and other bugs flying around the Trail, into your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc.  I have so many bug bites I look like I have chicken pox!  Nothing really keeps them at bay, either.  Guess I'll have to learn to live with it.   But summer has brought much wildlife and flowers, too.  Some parts of the Trail look like planted Japanese rock gardens, with the moss-covered boulders and the bonsai-looking mountain laurel in bloom.  It really is gorgeous.  BC and I have seen lots of animals as well... in fact, we ran right up on a fawn curled up and hiding only about a foot off the Trail a day ago.  I almost didn't see it, but when I realized what I was looking at I gasped and put my hand to my mouth, I was that shocked!  It blended in perfectly with the leaf litter and was totally silent and small, just lying there instinctively waiting for us to pass.  It was beautiful.  Maybe even better than baby wild ponies... ;)

I'm in the process of trying to upload some pictures now, but my camera is nearly out of battery (of course) and I don't know how many I'll be able to get uploaded before it dies.  I'll post some soon, I promise. 

Just want everyone to know I'm doing well and mileage-wise, am still on track to finish the entire Trail by late September.  There's no reason to rush it... who doesn't want to see New England in fall colors?  And aside from an unforeseen injury, there really is no reason that I see that I WON'T finish the Trail.  I'm not bored and have no thoughts of quitting.  So if you don't hear from me in a while, it just means that I can't get to a computer... NOT that I've gotten off the Trail!

Until next time.  :)
 (Waynesboro, maybe?)

Roan Highlands and Into Damascus

Ahh.... I'm sitting in Damascus at the lovely and friendly Hikers Inn in what is my SECOND zero day in this small town.  I will leave tomorrow for the Trail about noon, but until then I'm going to continue to relax and enjoy the beautiful day with fellow hiking friends outside on the porch.

I don't think I've written since Hot Springs, which seems like years ago.  Time on the Trail is very slow, and each day passes like many.

Most importantly, Stew got off the Trail again.  His knee gave out on the walk out of Erwin, TN where he planned on picking the hike back up.  I was really proud of him though, in that he completed a 17-mile hike, which was his largest-mile day ever.  On top of that, and for many reasons, we are going our separate ways now, and I wish him the best on his adventures cross-country.

I will also add that sadly I've lost my camera.  It fell out of my pocket on that very same (and horrible) day out of Erwin.  I tried backtracking for a mile and a half to look for it until I realized that it was only going to be a futile search for a needle in a haystack.  I am hoping that someday someone steps off the Trail a few feet and kicks up a muddy old Canon Powershot, sees my name on one of the pictures (the pic of me as a little girl which I posted on this blog a while back) and turns it in to me.  I had three beautiful weeks' worth of pictures left to upload - all of the Smokies, Hot Springs, Erwin- which meant a lot to me.  I could care less about the camera itself... but the pictures are as good as gone forever.  At least it happened early on in my hike and I still have 4 months to take pictures of me in the woods.  :)

But oh how I wish I'd had my camera to show you the beauty of the Roan Highlands and Laurel Falls!  If I could recommend any hike out of the entire Trail I've done so far it would be from Roan Mountain to the Falls.  Simply beautiful.  Most notable were the balds, which are mountaintops without trees in which you get a total 360-degree view of the surrounding peaks and valleys.  This is really America at its most beautiful.  Spring is in full-force now and the mountains (and forest interiors) are electric green.  On a day with a deep blue sky and puffy white clouds, the green looks almost fake it is so bright.  Add to that the snowy dogwoods in the treetops and the carpet of multi-colored forest flowers and  you get  a picture of what I see every day.  Again, it is a shame I don't have my camera, but even photographs wouldn't do it justice.

There was one intensely terrifying moment that occurred about a week ago, and it happened to be the night of that terrible storm in which hundreds of people died.  Believe it or not, I was sleeping (or TRYING TO SLEEP) in an old barn which had been converted into what is probably the most unique and beautifully set shelter on the whole trail.  It's called Overmountain Shelter, and you should search for it on Google in order to see it.  Anyways, it's in the crook of a mountain valley, and all night we heard the wind howling up the valley and felt as it slammed into the barn.  The barn shook all night long, and I was SURE it was going to collapse... it easily could have!  If I had known that people were dying as I lie there, I might have fainted in my sleeping bag.  :(

As for the hiking, I am doing great.  My blisters are gone and I'm doing much better with the uphills.  I think I've finally gotten my trail-legs. BC and I have really upped our miles this week- we did two 18-mile days, a 17 and a couple 15s.  Not bad when you look at the terrain we're walking on.

Still looking for those bears!   There have been many sightings around us but we've seen none.  It's also becoming snake season, and BC and I must have walked right past a rattler that others behind us said was lying on the trail.  I guess it's good our paths didn't cross...

As usual, the computer is limited and I can't post as good of a blog as I had hoped.  All apologies.  But everything is going well... looking forward to getting to the Greyson Highlands and Shenandoah National Park.  Then after that it's a huge milestone: Harpers Ferry... the symbolic half-way point.  :)

Love you all!  I'll write again when I can (and maybe have a new camera by then with pictures...)

Thought I would post some pictures for everyone to see.  The grassy bald is Max Patch, and the town by the river is Hot springs.  Enjoy!

Day off in Hot Springs

Hello all!

Tara here, in Hot Springs for what is now my FOURTH "zero day" (no hiking) of the trip.  A day to do laundry, resupply, and just bum around like the homeless person that I've now become.  :)

I successfully made it through the Smokies this week.  That was a big milestone for me, because I'd always said if I could make it through the Smokies, I could make it to Katahdin.  And here I am!  Feeling more and more like a thru-hiker as I go. 

When Iron Will, BC and I entered the Smokies it was cold and blustery.  There was still visible snow on some of the high, far-off peaks in the distance.  How different it was a little over a week later as BC and I walked out of the Park with birds singing, myriad flowers blooming, and clear, sunlit water rushing through the streams.  Spring came while we were in the Park... and we readily welcome it! 

I found the Smokies to be beautiful, though the trail was rugged and I exacerbated the blisters on my feet while climbing the peaks.  They're slowly healing as I learn to take care of my feet (hint: take your socks off at night!).  I'd have to say there were three really exceptional moments for me while in the Park.  The first happened on my "Worst Day Ever" (due to how bad my feet were feeling) when I climbed (limped?) up to Rocky Top.  All the way up I was singing that old song ("Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top- dirt's too rocky by far./That's why all the folks on Rocky Top get their corn from a jar.") and don't you know, the dirt IS actually extremely rocky!  Ha!  BC always walks in front of me as he is a faster hiker and sets the pace, so he reached the summit before I did.  At the top he stopped and called down to me "Don't turn around until you reach the top!"  The summit was a bald, which means there are no trees- only grass- so I knew it was going to be a great 360 degree view, but I was astounded when I actually got up to the top and turned around to look behind me.  Mountains upon mountains as far as I could see.  I felt so high!  It was worth the limp for the view.  The second great moment was the day we hiked up -and then down- Clingman's Dome.  That was the first day that we really hiked through pine forest.  The smell was incredible!  Cinnamon mixed with pine, and a fresh, green smell like celery all rolled into one.  The clouds hung on the mountain and veiled the forest around us.  It was like walking through a Pacific Northwest rain forest.  We'd run out of food nearly half-way up and were starving by the time we reached the 6600+ foot summit.  We got a little trail magic, however, in the form of a Dr. Pepper and Mello Yello someone had left on the trail.  :)  We got no view at the top (the highest point on the AT) but we were happy to be up there just the same.  With the help of a handful of granola bars we bought at the summit, we hiked down the mountain and into Newfound Gap, where almost immediately we were offered a ride into Gatlinburg by an extremely friendly family from Indiana.  (Thank you guys!!!)  The ride in the back of the pickup down into the green valley a great ending to a great day of hiking.  Finally I have to mention how much I liked Charlie's Bunion, a rocky outcropping right outside of Newfound Gap.  It's a very accessible hike if there is anyone interested in going there-  just a few miles from the Gap.  I'm scared of heights, but I definitely climbed up onto the Bunion and took in the great view.  I'd love to include some photos, but the computer I'm using won't allow it.  Perhaps at my next stop.

Stewart has returned to the Trail!!!  Coming down Davenport Gap as we were practically running out of the Smokies on a wet, windy and nearly hypothermic day, I saw his car on a forest road and there he was!  I knew he was on his way to meet up with me, but it was still a wonderful surprise to see him there- our "savior" from the elements.  Now he is following BC and I in his car, walking with us when he can- hanging out and providing support when we most need it.  I wish he were able to get back on full-time, but he's still not sure about his knee (it hurt him the other day as he hiked).  He is going to wait a little bit before making that decision...

In the meanwhile, BC and I are still hiking together.  We did our best mileage ever yesterday at about 3/hr.  Granted, most of it was downhill and we were practically running to get into Hot Springs, but still.  :) 

There have been so many people I've met and become acquaintances and friends with over this entire month (can you believe it's only been a MONTH!?) that I have to mention some of them.  Iron Will, who's a day or two behind us, is a pretty frequent companion.  There's Earth, who left her PhD studies three-years in to do the Trail.  We just met Polo, from Spain, who is skipping from place to place on the Trail as he hikes.  There are about 10 Germans I've met so far (maybe more) and it's not uncommon to get to a shelter or town and hear a conversation in German (there was a documentary on the Trail released in Germany last year, that's why it's so popular with them).  There's the "Old Hippies" as I call them- a group of 40/50/60 year-olds who look straight out of the 60s.  Dirt Nap is hiking barefoot the entire way!  You should see his feet...   Cimmaron is an 88 year-old thru-hiker I last saw a few weeks ago.  He hiked it once when he was 82 I think.  The list goes on and on.  Wonderful people. 

Sadly I have to mention Model T, who passed away a few days ago in a shelter in his sleep.  He was 70 years old.  Our friends Ben and Eva, and Nate, went to wake him up and found him dead.  Tragic, but not a bad way to go if you must. 

Stew and BC are rushing me to go to the Outfitters, so I must!  It is also Trail Fest today in town so there is a lot outside to see and do.  I am thinking of you all, especially when the trail gets hard and a fleeting thought goes through my mind that I CANNOT climb this impossible uphill!  I still hate those darn uphills. 

Love you, miss you!  Pictures coming soon!

Stew says: what would have killed me a few weeks ago was awesome today. I drove up to the trail this afternoon and hiked until the sun went down, then turned around and came back. Both knees were fine! I was worried about getting tired since I've been off for a while, but the pack felt good and it was energizing to be passing white blazes again. Went up to clingman's dome and the view was amazing. The whole day has been great actually. Re-geared this morning at a local outfitter, got a new tent, stove, and a few other things. Picked up a guy hitching on my way to the gap. He was a big fan of the magnetic zeros witch was playing on my stereo (thanks Katie!) and we talked about good concerts we'd been to the rest of the way up the mountain. Also heard fr

om my cousin Wes and hope plans work out for us to meet up this weekend. Going to take a nap right now and get up early to head back out. I'm trying not to get my hopes up to much but I feel really good about my knee. Should see Tara sometime tomorrow, excited about that. Hope it isn't raining too hard on us. Storms are starting to move in. Tara says: At cosby knob shelter. beautiful day. cant believe ill be out of the smokies tomorrow. it was great.

The Smokies are beautiful! And I arrived on a gorgeous night. I am at Gatlinburg and Tara is at Peck's corner shelter tonight. It feels strange to be only a few miles from her after being off the trail for several days. But, I look forward to seeing her, if only for a moment, very soon. Tara is a hero to many people who know her, and that includes myself... So I know we all look forward to a new blog from her whenever she gets the chance. As for myself, I'm excited to get some new gear, test it out, and doing a little afternoon hike tomorrow before leaving town. I promise to try and keep everyone updated as much as possible....I can definitely appreciate the value of hearing one's voice after not having so for days. But obviously it is difficult to get signal out here. Love to everyone, keep sending that positive energy. Love you Eugene.

Hello from the doorstep of the Smokies.

I just arrived at Fontana Dam about an hour ago.  What a crazy week it's been.  But "crazy" in a good way.  The terrain has me completely exhausted, but finally feeling like a "real" hiker.  I've been taking fewer breaks now, and my pace is definitely quicker.  The walk down into NOC and up out of it was INTENSE.  I think besides Katahdin, the walk up out of NOC was the largest at-once altitude gain I'll have on the trail, about 3,000 feet.  When BC and I got to the top the skies were grey, the wind was blowing (it must have been in the low 30s as far as temp) and there was a layer of ice on the summit trees.  But Cheoah bald was gorgeous and I really felt accomplished.  Let me just say, however, that I HATE UPHILLS!  :)


I've been hiking mostly with our friend BC since Stew has left.  We try to meet up with Iron Will at times, but he is maybe a day behind us now AND HE HAS MY CELL PHONE!  I know this has caused a little problem with family and I do apologize to you out there (mother, father, grandparents and Stew) who wish to hear from me but cannot.  Let me just quell your fears by saying that I'm hiking with a large number of people every day and if need be, I can get a hold of a phone.  My thinking is that Iron Will will be here at Fontana tonight and get it to me.  If not, I'll leave a message for him to mail it ahead if possible.

The weather has been cold and windy but we are finally starting to see buds on the trees and flowers underfoot.  I'm still keeping my eyes out for bears but to no avail!  :(  I'm sure the Smokies will chock full of them.

My fifteen minutes are almost up but I want to say that I'm having a great time and the hike is intense but all that I've wanted and wished for.  I can't wait to hike through the Smoky Mountains this week.  I'll probably take a zero day in Hot Springs afterwards, where I hope to blog again and include some pictures.

A special "hello" goes out to Stew, of course, and my girl Cowswarts. 

Thinking of you all,
Tara

Stew says: I have been meaning to write since I got off the trail, but it has been difficult to put my emotions into words. It was extremely difficult to leave the AT after only two weeks. We left Hiawassee with high hopes but it became evident within a couple of hours that my left knee wasn't getting better and it seemed futile to try and continue. We pushed on with plans to make it into Franklin but obviously my morale was low. The coming rain didn't help. After doing three soaking wet miles, and staying in a crowded shelter, my last day on the trail ended up being (in my opinion) our most beautiful day of hiking. With a blanket of clouds surrounding us and some interesting terrain, it felt like we were walking through some exotic rain Forrest. That is until we were greeted by a little dog in the middle of the trail that belonged to a trail angel making pancakes and coffee. From there we got a ride from an interesting local down the mountain and into Franklin. I am extremely grateful to my mother, not only for driving to NC to pick me up, but also for staying a day to allow Tara and I some time before our separation. After a nice day in town, we climbed into the car along with our trail friends BC and Black Beard and headed back up the mountain. There was never any question that if something happened to me, Tara would continue on. But, watching her throw her pack on and take off down the trail, as I walked back to the car, was very very hard for me. I am very proud of Tara as I know many people are, and one of the reasons I love her is because she is strong and independent, and certainly not afraid to do anything on her own. I don't know when she will be able to do a blog entry now that I have the iPhone, but I look forward to hearing from her along with everyone else. Last we talked she was doing well and enjoying herself. For me, it is bittersweet to be here in Ar. It's always nice to see my family, and they have been wonderful, but I can't help but feel like I belong out there. I only got a taste of what the AT is like, but even with an injury, it is an extremely enjoyable experience. The knee has been feeling much much better and I have plans to go test it out on some rough terrain in the local area. I'm very hopeful and look forward to returning to the trail and my partner Eugene.

Link to Facebook pictures...

 I have an album on Facebook of my AT pictures so far.  I hope most of you can access it, even if you don't have a Facebook account.

Grandpa and Grandma, let me know if you can!

Here it is:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=278921&id=510821915&l=5fdf9f4764





Real post from a real computer...

Hellllooooo! 

I finally made it to a real computer to update my blog.  Only took two weeks...

A lot has happened since I last posted from the Blueberry Patch.  We stayed in Hiawassee for about a day and a half, hoping that a day of rest would fix Stew's bad knee.  Well, as soon as we got back on the Trail it was obvious he was still in pain.  We were able to keep the miles we needed for the day, but limping down the trail is no way to hike the AT.  About two days out of Hiawassee Stew and I decided that it would be best for him to get off the Trail, take time to recover at home, and for me to continue on without him for as long as he needed.  It was not an easy decision, and I can tell you it has not really sunken in yet, but I think it was the right thing to do. 

Now, as for the Trail:

Georgia was HARD!  If you saw a peak in the distance, you knew the Trail would take you to the top of that peak.  It was a LOT of ups and downs.  North Carolina seems to differ so far (albeit we've only been in NC for three days) in that a lot of the trail just follows along the side of the mountains, instead of taking you straight to the top. 

We haven't seen any bears yet, nor have we been visited in the night and had our food taken again!  The day after our food got stolen near Neels Gap a mother and daughter had their bag stolen out of the tree... and a few days after that (around the same area) three hikers had their bags stolen too, but were able to chase down the bear and get some of their stuff back. ARGH!  Stew and I have obviously been very diligent about our bear bags, and other hikers have commented on how well we hang them.  :)  Once "bitten", twice shy I guess...

Yesterday, after climbing most of Albert Mountain, we were treated to some Trail magic in the form of an older hippie making us fresh blackberry pancakes, the Grateful Dead drifting out of his car stereo and mixing with the campfire smoke.  It was wonderful.  I think I ate about ten, spreading Parkay all over them with my fingers.  Mmmm....   We got a shuttle ride from the top of that mountain with the intent of getting into Franklin so that Stew's mom could meet us there and take him back to Arkansas.  Our shuttle driver did not anticipate taking 5 people down the mountain, so only brought his little two-door Cherokee Sport.  We packed everyone in there regardless... Stew sitting on one of our friend's lap in the front seat, me in the shuttle-driver's granddaughter's CHILD CAR SEAT (!!!) and then two other fully-grown men squeezed in beside me!  When we got out it was like clowns unloading from a circus car!  Many people took pictures of us.  A ride to remember, that's for sure.  The driver was a story-teller and drawled on about recent Sasquatch sightings in the area, something I was keen to listen to.  I'll keep my eyes open while I'm out there.... ;)

My 30 minutes is nearly up on the computer, so I have to go and finish the laundry and packing so that I can get back on the trail tomorrow morning.  I estimate that I'm a week out of the Smokies... which is very exciting.  Everyone keeps telling me to anticipate snow up there.  I wouldn't mind it... it's better than the torrential rain that we walked three miles through a few days ago.

I promise to keep posting as often as possible, though I won't have access to the iPhone.  Thanks for all the well-wishing we've received from friends and family!  It's been an interesting two weeks and we've learned a lot.

We hiked our butts off yesterday to make it to Dicks Creek Gap in time to hitch to a nearby hostel: The Blueberry Patch.  Along with unmatched hospitality (the owner did our laundry for free himself) they also are known for having the best breakfast on the Trail (says Backpacker Magazine). Indeed, we were treated to pancakes with blueberry syrup, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits with gravy, plus juice and coffee. Everything, including a shower and bunk for the night, was free of charge, but they accept donations and of course everyone gives some.  It was a wonderful place.
After breakfast the owner drove us into town where I had reservations at the Hiawassee Inn.  Stew and I just got done resupplying and packing our food for the next 4 days (enough to get us to Franklin, NC) and now we're relaxing and just wasting time until we head to the all-you-can-eat buffet.  I KNOW I'll need a nap after that!  If we feel up to it we might walk down to the Holiday Inn where our friends Shortcut, Iron Will, and BC are staying and sit in the hot tub awhile.  Tomorrow we get back to the trail about 9:30 and should make it across the NC state line before we make camp.  
The pictures included are from the Blueberry Patch and Hiawassee. 

Thinking of you all!  Till next time...

Stew says:   Blueberry patch was amazing!  Great shower there and awesome bunk house.  Best nights rest I've had so far.  Glad we caught up to some friendly faces.  Taking it easy on the knee right now and just medicated myself with a little Sam Adams.  Thank you to everyone for the comments!

Tara says: Yesterday was definitely the worst day on the trail for us. Backtracking those few miles and then trying to press on to the next shelter killed our morale. We ended up making it to Whitley Gap shelter at about 8pm.  Stew's knee was killing him at this point and we were both so frustrated with everything that we both broke down at separate points.  The sunset on top of the mountain, however, was one of the most magnificent I'd ever seen. And then our luck tuned for the better:  though warned that there were "40" boy-scouts at the shelter, we came down and found it empty- the scouts were camping a few yards away.  So Stew and I set up our tent in the shelter and had 9 entire hours of peaceful slumber (which we desperately needed after our bear night). Plus, the scouts were so kind as to bring us extra food they had in the morning...  even olive oil!  Thank you troop 589 from Beaufort!!!  
Today was cold and windy, and surprisingly lonely, as we saw nearly NO thru-hikers the entire day.  This feeling of camaraderie was something that neither Stew nor I knew we would  want on the trail... but after a week of hiking with the same group of people, you find comfort in their presence throughout the day.  It's also nice to know that you aren't the only one with aches and pains.. We all share our gripes at the end of the night around the campfire (along with plenty of jokes and wise-cracking).  So today our goal was to make it to Blue Mountain shelter, and despite the large milage, we did.  We were greeted warmly by a group of familiar hikers who fed us extra food and discussed our bear incident.  We're glad to be " home" tonight.  We're going to take it easy the next couple of days and ease our way into Hiawassee where we might take a day off to let Stew's knee heal.  Hopefully I'll be able to write a "proper" blog from the public library instead of on the phone.
Feelin' good!!!

Stew says:   Loved getting to shelter tonight after a tough hike,  awesome fire going.  Knee is killing me but it is manageable,  I'll keep gritting my teeth til we get to town and I can take it easier.   But got to get back to the fire for tonight.  Good to be laughing and drinking coffee.    Ps.  I really hate bears!