The Land of Flushing Toilets

Highlight of the week: Wild ponies on the highlands.

Day 39: April 29, 2015

Weather: partly cloudy, warm, evening showers

Miles travelled: 15.6

Total miles on AT: 484.9

I had to wait for the post office to open and hope they had received my package so I had a leisurely morning and showered before moseying over to check-- and they had it! I packed up all my things and left Damascus around 10, moving slowly and feeling heavy. It was a nice day for hiking but I didn't really want to go anywhere, just plop down on a log and sit there for hours. I kept myself going and ended up leapfrogging the "Mississippi Boys" all day; Arrow, Snooze, and Remi. I would leapfrog them for several days after this. They're young (but older than me) and rambunctious and best in small doses.

My feet really hurt the whole day and I kept a pace of about 2 miles/hour, slower than I've walked in weeks. I had a lot of time to think, and listened to music for a little while before I felt like it wasn't right and haven't listened since. I make my own music, or listen to the birds. 

I got to the shelter after the Mississippi boys to find that it was pretty full, all with guys I didn't know so well, and I decided to set up my tent. As I was making dinner, it started to sprinkle, and it rained on and off for several hours. I missed Seth at camp and it felt weird to not know anyone well enough to keep a conversation going, though I sat next to the fire for an hour or so to be social. I ended up spending a long time writing in my journal and fell asleep happy. In my journal, I wrote "Soft rain is pattering on my tent and I feel at peace, listening to it and the singing birds as the light slowly dims. It's never truly dark, the clouds spreading a gentle glow over the forest. It's never quiet, snores at a distance or chirping bugs letting the world know they may be small but they're worth something too.

I think of quitting often, but I would miss these nights, miss the hours of time spent alone with my thoughts and my aching feet. I would miss the unexpected creek or vista or encounter with a new friend. I may not be much of a hiker, but thinking is not an issue."

Day 40: April 30, 2015

Weather: sunny morning, hailstorm, afternoon and night thunderstorm 

Miles travelled: 17.6

Total miles on AT: 502.5

Today's walk was cathartic and beautiful. I was happy all day and found lots to think about. The scenery was vastly different from corner to corner and the weather changed by the minute. I saw a bunny and a mouse (separately) on the trail. There were lots of wildflowers in some places and green was exploding. I entered the highlands, which were mindblowing. It started to hail pea sized hail stones right as I reached the summit of a mountain and I was just thinking about putting on my rain jacket when I rounded a corner and the hail stopped and the sun came out and I saw a herd of wild ponies, with a few hikers among them, cooing and taking lots of pictures. I joined the gaggle excitedly, not having expected ponies for another few miles. They were very friendly, nibbling and licking our hands and sniffing our packs; hoping for food. Eventually the ponies moved on and so did we, and we were only a tenth of a mile from the shelter. 

I sat for a bit before thunder started sounding in the distance and it became very cold and started sprinkling, so I sat down to wait for it to pass. Other hikers collected and we all started to talk about weather and forecasts and how dark the sky looked over there and "maybe it kind of looks like it will pass over?" Some people hiked on but the rain only became heavier and I soon decided to just stay for the rest of the day and not risk getting drenched and having to set up my tent if the next shelter was full. After about an hour and a half, I could sit still no longer and packed up and went out into the rain. Those five miles to the next shelter were very wet and muddy and terrible (but I passed 500 miles, woo!) and I was happy to arrive at a nice solid shelter with space for just one more.

It had been one of my favorite days of hiking, rain aside, and I felt like I had made revelations, cresting mountains and enjoying myself and thinking and thinking... I felt like I had meditated all day. I thought a lot about what sort of job I might want after I graduate, or what I would be ok with anyway. I even felt like I was making new friends, which was a nice feeling.  

Day 41: May 1, 2015

Weather: morning snow, afternoon fog

Miles travelled: 19.2

Total miles on AT: 521.7

I woke up to snow! There was half an inch collected on the ground and it was coming down steadily. I lay in my sleeping bag for half an hour gawking before realizing that everyone had pretty much packed up and was just about gone. By the time I was ready to walk, I was the only one left and still completely mesmerized by the white fluff falling on the first day of May. Walking was slushy and muddy and cold, and the snow soon gave way to a gentle rain. Much of the snow was still collected, however, and it felt like a winter wonderland.

At one point, I rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a white long horn cattle, staring at me as I stared at him. In that moment, I was terrified. I came to my senses as he put his head down to continue grazing and I fumbled my phone out of my pocket and accidentally dropped it in the snow. It was fine though and as I took a few more steps I saw that it was a small herd of cattle, grazing as though it was another ordinary day. 

In my journal, I wrote "I woke up to snow on the ground and falling fast. 'Is it possible time is moving backwards?' I asked the other shelter-goers. I was the last one out, and the first five miles were completely surreal. The highlands under snow are possibly more beautiful."

It wasn't long before I came to the first shelter, where I met a woman going the opposite direction who told me about the trail magic in another 1.7 miles. I flew those miles to find lots of hikers congregated at a picnic table with snacks and drinks and a fire. Gray Jay and Rahn come out here every year for two weeks and camp out, cooking lunch and dinner and generally providing pretty awesome magic.

By the end of the day, my feet were aching and I was tired from not having slept well in the crowded shelter. I started to walk with South Pole, a woman who quit her high-stress job three years ago to do stuff like this. She was a workaholic and she worked on Wall Street before moving to Orlando to do something similarly high stress involving finance. She explained it but I forgot right away, sorry...

It was nice walking with her because we walk at just about the same pace, which is motivating. We ended up at a shelter with just the two of us and one other man. It was a really nice stone shelter with a fireplace and chimney and we built a fire before going to sleep. I didn't actually sleep much again because there were very active mice underneath us and I could only imagine them chewing holes in my gear and having their babies in my sleeping bag (it happened to someone!)

Day 42: May 2, 2015

Weather: partly cloudy

Miles travelled: 21.8

Total miles on AT: 543.1

I woke up and packed and left with South Pole. We ended up walking together the entire day. The hiking was pretty uneventful. I don't remember much except that South Pole and I talked a lot about different things; work, school, religion. Our goal was to make it to a restaurant and gas station for a hot dinner that evening, and we walked at a steady 2 miles/hour. At the first shelter, we took an hour long break because it had a shower (I didn't shower because I didn't have soap) and the visitor's center was really nice. It had a scale so I weighed myself and found that I'd lost ten pounds. While we were there, we ran into Warm and Toasty. She's doing a northbound thru hike with two cars, so she drives one ahead and then hikes south until she gets to the second car, which she drives ahead, and so on. 

At about three in the afternoon, we passed a shelter where Wolverine/Bryan had just set up, looking exhausted and ready to be done with the day. I stopped and had a snack and told him our plan and it didn't take long to sell him on the warm meal; he was in. We all pretty much hiked the last three miles together. Two miles in, I found a nice shiny penny lying face up on the trail and picked it up. "It's a lucky penny!" South Pole told me. Two minutes later, we came across an old schoolhouse with notes on the door-- trail magic for hikers! It was really nice trail magic, with cold sodas and a variety of junky snacks, and a huge amount of personal supplies like dental floss, toothbrushes, hair ties, safety pins, even some shirts and fleece hats and scarves. Everything was perfectly sized for hikers and very well thought out. 

The hiking from there was beautiful; green meadows and farm houses. We were in high spirits as we rolled into town, or as South Pole calls it, "The Land of Flushing Toilets and sometimes Showers", LOFT[ss]. We ate Mexican food and charged our phones and I bought some snacks from the gas station because I'd been running out. Everyone looked at us like we were aliens or bizarre homeless people about to ask for change. It's different from a trail town where people are used to you, because these were people straight off the interstate who don't know what the Appalachian Trail is. When we were done with our brief encounter with civilization, we went a half mile up the trail and stealth camped in a gorgeous green meadow. It got really cold that night and I had trouble sleeping because I was so cold. When I got out of my tent the next morning, I saw that the grass had frosted and my tent was frosty. 

Day 43: May 3, 2015

Weather: sunny and warm

Miles travelled: 15

Total miles on AT: 558.5

I started walking by myself; Bryan was soon far ahead (I didn't see him again) and South Pole went back to the road intersection because she had a friend meeting her for a three week section hike. At the first shelter, South Pole and Short Stride caught up to me. Short Stride is a nurse from Charlotte, and she knows South Pole because they run marathons together. We walked together for the rest of the day. It ended up being a very abnormal hiking day because we stopped so often.

We passed the 1/4 way point!!

Since we had such a short day planned, when we walked next to a river, we took heed of our impulse to soak our feet for twenty minutes. A few minutes after we started hiking, I mentioned my lucky penny and then we found more trail magic! PB&J sandwiches, cookies, and sodas. We only had three miles to go when we smelled hot dogs and were welcomed by three people; Hannah, Nick, and Jonah. They had clearly done extensive research on hikers' desires and had a huge array of fruit; pears, apples, oranges, blueberries, strawberries, baby carrots, soda, and assorted dinner foods. It was awesome. Hannah wants to thru-hike and really knows her stuff about the trail, but hasn't been able to save enough money and kept talking about hiking it four years from now. She was really sweet and friendly and happy.

We finally left reluctantly after maybe 45 minutes and were soon at our beautiful campsite, right on a creek. South Pole and Short Stride and I collected firewood and I tried to remember what I knew about building a fire (I was the most fire-savvy of the three of us) and somehow built a fire that started easily and burned hot and fast. It was awesome, I felt so powerful. That night was my best night of sleep, I only woke up once and slept till 6:30.

Day 44: May 4, 2015

Weather: sunny and hot

Miles travelled: 18.6

Total miles on AT: 577.1

I got up at 6:30 but didn't get hiking till 8, not rushing because it was nice out and there was no reason to. The hike started on an uphill and I soon lost sight of South Pole and Short Stride, long behind me. I started to get into my groove and hiked faster than I have in days, huffing and puffing but really making time up the mountain. It was a gorgeous mountain once I got close to the top, with long green grass and 360 views. My favorite kind of mountain. 

I got to the top finally (it was a long climb) and there was a shelter there, a really nice stone four-walled shelter with a door. I basked in the sun for half an hour and snacked and took my shoes off waiting for South Pole and Short Stride, and once I saw them I took off again. I filled up on water at the first source because there wouldn't be any for another ten miles; at the shelter. I heard later that lots of people ran out of water in this section. It was really hot and sunny and I sweated a lot. At one point 

It was hard to keep going, I slowed down and sat down on every other shady rock and didn't get to the shelter until 5:30, and I was so happy to get there when I did. The last mile, I kept thinking it was just around the corner... and it wouldn't be. 

There ended up just being two of us sleeping in the shelter, the other man was LL Retro, who I've been tailing for weeks (I know because he signs the trail journals in all the shelters). He walked with Seth, Bruce, and Breakless for a few days and they talked about him often. He's from New York and retired, and I think he's a hoot. 

It was about 6:30 and I was worried about South Pole and Short Stride ever showing up, when they finally trouped into camp, looking exhausted. Apparently Short Stride ran out of water and was struggling with the weight of her pack. Warm and Toasty saw them and took some food off of Short Stride to help her out. Short Stride was feeling pretty defeated at the end of the day and wanted to get off the trail, but decided to sleep on it before making any firm decisions. 

Day 45: May 5, 2015

Weather: sunny and hot, overcast afternoon

Miles travelled: 25.0

Total miles on AT: 602.1

I packed up and started hiking by 7:30, leapfrogging LL Retro all morning. We hit two instances of trail magic; the first a cooler with soda and the second just bags full of cans of soda. I always feel obligated to stop and enjoy when trail magic happens, so I did, in spite of not really wanting to drink any soda. It is always a nice surprise to come across trail magic. The first 13 miles were easy and beautiful, nice views and rhododendron tunnels. LL Retro got off the trail after those miles to go into town with one of his relatives. I crossed the interstate and loaded up on water, knowing the next 10 mies not to have any streams or springs. I felt really good and had walked the first miles quickly. I was ready to continue my pace and pulled out my music as motivation for the first time this week.

The miles flew. I hardly stopped and didn't see many people until the end of the day, when I passed six people also headed to the shelter. I saw a snake at one point and some very pretty pink carnivorous flowers, and many of what I think are mountain laurels. 

I passed the 600 mile mark!! They're going fast now.

I made it to the shelter in good time, arriving at 5. It was the second time I'd hiked 25 miles but they'd been fairly easy miles and I felt good. Four men on a section hike soon arrived, worn out. One of them called me the "green flash" because he said I zoomed past him effortlessly and he didn't even hear me get close. There is also an older couple section hiking and they are proudly going very slow. It has taken them 16 days to hike here from Damascus, which is 133 miles. 

I had cell phone service, which is very unusual, so I talked to my mom for an hour while I collected firewood and built a fire for the third time in my life. (it's still going, it's a very nice fire). I thought I wouldn't see South Pole again for a long time, especially if her friend stayed with her, but she rolled into camp at 7. I was so happy to see a familiar face! Short Stride went home, I guess she ended up getting a ride with LL Retro. She said it had been the three hardest days of her life, and sent her food ahead for South Pole to eat. 

It's nice to be able to hike with someone, and it looks like I may be with South Pole for a while now. We hike at a very similar rate and enjoy each others' company. 

And now, I'm going to sleep in what's likely to be a very mousey shelter. Fingers crossed!