Slackpacking

Slackpacking: someone takes your pack and you hike with only a day pack containing snacks and water. A wonderful break!

Teaser photo: McAfee Knob

May 6th

Weather: Sunny, hot

Miles travelled: 21.7 (+.5 to hostel)

Total miles on AT: 623.8

I woke up and decided to cook breakfast, thinking we only had to hike 20 miles anyway and I had too many dinners and it was still early. While I was eating, South Pole did the math and told me it was 22.5 miles to the hostel. I told her to go on without me and I'd catch up (which I didn't believe would happen unless she stopped for some reason). I said goodbye to the four men at camp, who all seemed kind of awed by me and my solo bike trip. I knew I probably wouldn't see them again, and they knew it too. 

About two and a half hours in, I was feeling tired and slow. I hadn't slept well, as expected, and had a feeling that my going so fast the day before had drained my reserve energy and it would be a while before I would feel really rested again. I did finally catch up to South Pole though, and we took a short side trip to a waterfall for lunch. It was really nice to feel a bit leisurely about it, even though we still had a ways to go. 

I started thinking a lot about writing a book, thinking it would be different from the blog and nice to have for myself. People keep telling me to write one but it feels silly because I feel like I don't have much of anything interesting to read. Anyway, for some reason I started to write it in my head and started getting excited about another big project.

It was lucky I had something to distract me, because hiking was hard. The terrain was nice and flat and easy for the most part, but I was sluggish and everything hurt and all the rocks looked like nice seats. I was leading, but after feeling too tempted to stop at every rock, I let South Pole pass me and just did my best to keep up, which was much more motivating. We were supposed to descend to the road, but every turn seemed to take us higher and higher, and every step down had two steps up. It was scorchingly hot and there was little shade, the trees not yet in bloom on that mountain. I ran out of water one mile away and could feel my throat starting to parch.

It was as though years had gone by when we finally made it to the hostel. We trudged up the driveway slowly to see three men with chainsaws cutting wood. The buildings looked rustic and wooden, and there was a lush green garden. A pig was snorting and rooting around in the front yard and dogs were running all over the place, growling and barking. On the lawn was a small semicircle of ladies sitting on yoga mats, one of them waving at us and smiling broadly. It was Warm and Toasty! 

"Come join us for yoga!" She said. And even though it was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment, I dropped my pack and joined them. By the end of it I felt happy and at home in the chaos, in spite of the very un-zen-like yoga session that had been interrupted by chainsaws and falling trees and ants and bugs and wet dogs. I finally had a shower (after 8 days, ouch) and washed my clothes, and we had a superb communal dinner with the chaotic crowd. It consisted of homemade bread with amish butter, salad from the garden, mexican lasagna and rice, and amish ice cream for dessert. 

After gorging myself on the delicious dinner that just reminded me of home, I went right to sleep, waking up with an unquenchable thirst and then unable to sleep until 1 am due to the raucous game of Cards Against Humanity being played downstairs. 

May 7th

Weather: Sunny, hot, afternoon thunderstorm

Miles travelled: 8.5 (+.5 back from hostel)

Total miles on AT: 632.3

I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep, lying there for two hours. South Pole and I were planning a short day so we were in no rush to leave. I don't normally drink coffee, but I had a cup and it was the most delicious coffee I've ever had, but it was strong so I didn't want to risk another one. 

I spent another couple hours organizing my gear and packing up, gazing around at the gorgeous farm (and snorting pig), chatting with South Pole, and going through repackaging food. 

We got going at about 11, latest start so far, and walked leisurely, stopping at all the views and nice looking rocks. At one viewpoint, we sat on the rocks talking and watching tiny ants dragging peanuts across the rock determinedly, trying from every direction.

It was a beautiful day until about 4, when we started to hear rumbling. We began to go through our options. Go into town? Set up now? Throw our poles off a cliff? I got to a point where I had phone service and checked the weather to find that the chance of rain was low, so from there it was only a matter of finding an acceptable campsite when we wanted to stop. 

We ended up finding a really nice spot and set up camp. As I was rebuilding the old fire pit and shifting around rocks, I found what I thought was a small black and red snake curled up in fright. I moved to see what it would do and found that it had teeny legs. A salamander! I called excitedly to South Pole and we fawned over it before replacing the rock and covering the fire pit with leaves. We built a new one and had a good fire. It was great to have phone service at a campsite, and we had a view too because we were on top of a mountain. 

May 8th

Weather: Sunny, hot

Miles travelled: 22.4

Total miles on AT: 654.7

We woke up and started moving slowly. There was no need! We didn't have that far to go and we're getting picked up at 7 by south pole's friend, Dawn. The first section of the hike was beautiful and easy, and then we went through a town and passed a factory and landfill, which both lasted maybe 8 miles and were the more industrialized and urban parts of the AT that you don't hear about. For those miles, there were no water sources aside from a stream coming directly from the landfill and marked "WATER NOT POTABLE. DO NOT DRINK." 

By the time we made it to the shelter at the top of the first climb, it was hot and the climb had been long and shadeless. I hate to say it wasn't beautiful... But it wasn't. I hadn't been snacking as much as normal because the heat sapped my appetite so I felt weak. I was happy to sit in some good shade for a bit and finally let my hunger catch up to me. I hadn't slept well for a few days so I was feeling worn down and miserable.

We continued and it became much more beautiful. The top of the mountain was grassy (still shadeless and hot) and picturesque, and there were trees loaded with dainty pink flowers. When you walked by, you could hear the buzzing of bees even though it was hard to see any. 

I didn't take too many pictures because it was around this time we realized we were on a time crunch to meet Dawn in time. I don't remember that last section very clearly except that I felt miserable. I think I could've hiked better if I didn't have a deadline and if I was by myself, but in that moment it was nice to have South Pole walking ahead of me to motivate me onward. 

We made it to the road with four minutes to spare and Dawn soon pulled in, grinning widely and warmly welcoming us. She was sweet and chatty and friendly from the get-go, and she drove us back to her cozy house, where she fed us a delicious meal of spaghetti and offered us each a twin size bed with a soft pillow and real blankets. It was like heaven, with the best company. She has three cats and lives in the woods on the edge of national forest, so I felt right at home.

After dinner, I immediately lost all energy and struggled to make it to bed in time. I slept wonderfully and long. Apparently one of the cats got himself stuck in the upstairs bathroom but neither South Pole nor I stirred, deeply asleep, and Dawn had to come up and let him out.

May 9th

Weather: Clear and sunny, hot

Miles travelled: 20.6

Total miles on AT: 675.3

Our first day of slackpacking! South Pole and I put together our day packs and had a filling breakfast consisting of lots of fruit before Dawn drove us back to the trail.

The few days preceding had brought little in the way of thru hikers and we'd seen less than five a day, but in this day we started to see a lot of people. We were catching up to them and they were catching up to us and the trail was starting to feel lively again. 

It was another day of rushing to make our deadline so we could go back with Dawn and get a bit of shopping and laundry done. It wasn't a very pretty day but the hiking was fair for the most part. We had just climbed two miles and thought we were close to the top of the mountain, only .6 to go, and discovered the worst .6 so far. It was steep, shadeless, and horrible. We ended up asking Dawn to pick us up a little later because we wouldn't make our deadline. 

The last mile was beautiful, crossing pastures and looking back on the "mountains" we just summited. I was incredibly happy to make it to the comfort of Dawn's car and the half a liter of cold water she greeted us with. She was again the bubbly, cheerful lady I'd come to know the night before and made lentil tacos for dinner, which were delicious and accompanied by copious amounts of fruit, after which I quickly crashed. 

My favorite part about being in a soft bed is the pillow! 

May 10th (Mother's Day)

Weather: Partly cloudy

Miles travelled: 18.8

Total miles on AT: 694.1

Mother's Day! I woke up and immediately thought of my mom back in New Mexico, who texts me multiple times a day to encourage me and motivate me on. She sends my resupply packages and life would be much more difficult and less happy without her around to help me out and be wonderful. 

We got back on the trail at about 8:30, only 11 miles to hike because we were on our way to a much anticipated Hiker Feed, a trail magic event that had been executed for years, planned for months, and for which we had seen an advertisement in a shelter 140 miles prior. We knew it would be a big congregation and an excuse to see hikers both ahead and behind that we hadn't seen in a while. 

Four miles into our hike, South Pole came across two hikers that she hadn't seen in 400 miles-- they'd walked 161 miles since Monday and were night hiking daily to make it to the hiker feed. We passed hikers and hikers passed us and the trail felt incredibly congested. 

We got to the hiker feed early to find thirty people lounging around eating food and chatting, and three ladies cooking in Dutch ovens and directing the masses. There wasn't much food when we got there but it kept coming out in waves when it was ready; quesadillas, lasagna, tofu spring rolls, fruit, salad, soda, and much more food was lain out to be devoured. It was a party. I saw the three people I'd started with, now named Squeeze, Wrecker, and Sweet Eyes. Wolverine and Andreas were there, as well as seven other Germans. It was good to see everyone and talk and eat. 

After two short hours, South Pole and I decided to hike on. We hiked another 7.5 miles, which turned out to be really nice and gradual and easy, and chatted with Andreas and another German guy, Earth, for a while. Andreas is planning to end his hike on the 27th in Harpers Ferry, to go home and be with his daughter for three weeks before coming back. We made a plan that if South Pole and I are in Harpers Ferry on that day, we'll celebrate with him. I'm actually very excited about the challenge of averaging 20 miles a day and looking forward to celebrating a halfway point of sorts. 

We again were picked up by Dawn and she told us about her Sunday; church, baking, a nap in her hammock, and all sorts of busy activities that made it sound like she'd had a long and productive day. She met us with a delicious pasta dinner and a dessert of strawberry shortcake, after which I accordingly fell dead to the world.

May 11th

Weather: Sunny, hot, afternoon thunderstorm

Miles travelled: 14.9

Total miles on AT: 709.0

We woke up and changed our plan suddenly. We were going to spend another night with Dawn but South Pole came up with a new plan to pick up our packs at the end of the day's hike and continue. We packed up and this time, Dawn packed with us. She was going to hike with us for the day, 14 miles! 

The first part of the hike was a gradual climb with lots of switchbacks and the trail was very nice. We made good time and took breaks and joked and talked. Dawn led us at a brisk pace. 

Eventually we reached the scenic part. We had stunning view after view and had a fair bit of rock climbing. We made it to the top and Dragon's Tooth, which I didn't have the courage to climb all the way up but South Pole monkeyed her way to the top for a 360 degree view and a good picture. 

After Dragon's Tooth, we had a heck of a climb down. The boulders were huge and difficult to navigate and South Pole and I were happy to only have day packs. It really wore us down and the rest of the hike was more difficult. We had to stop for breaks more often, but Dawn kept up with us fantastically and had a really great attitude about the hardship. And the rhododendrons were finally in bloom!

At the end of Dawn's hike, South Pole and I collected the rest of our gear from her car, said our goodbyes, and hiked another mile to the shelter. It was logistically the best solution because Dawn had to go back to work the next morning. 

As we were eating, it started to rain and we rushed to get in the shelter (South Pole in her tent) and had an early night. There was only one other person in the shelter; a guy named Rocky who I'd only met once and doubt I'll see again.