[at-l] Kicked with my own boot... (long)

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

Hi all,

I had meant to get this out earlier but the death of a close friend and the 
diagnosis of cancer in my immediate family, all since my return two weeks 
ago, put a damper on my enthusaism for writing.

Mara
Stitches, GAME99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How I got kicked with my own boot and other stories from my two year 
anniversary hike on the AT...

March 18, 2001

Two years earlier, starting a thruhike on the AT, the prospect of walking to 
Katahdin was daunting and though we tried to seem calm, many of us aspiring 
thruhikers were in fact a bit freaked out by the whole prospect.  This time, 
getting onto the AT and starting to hike north, was a joyous, carefree 
experience.  I had no agenda other than walk north for a week.

I spent Sunday with a friend, Michele, visiting the falls at Amicalola, 
something that I skipped two years ago in the rush to start hiking.  Then we 
drove around to FS 42 and had a nice leisurely walk to the summit of 
Springer, just .9 miles from the parking area.  Relaxing there and reading 
the summit register, I was recognized by Tarpin’ Tom, a hiker I had met at 
Goose Creek Cabins two years earlier.  He remembered Mule, Papa Bear, and 
all the others from the crowd that gathered there for a night to dry out 
after a violent storm the previous night two years earlier.

Then, another hiker approached me to tell me that he had just met a family 
at the Hike Inn that said they had just finished a southbound hike.  As far 
as I could figure, it could only be the Family from the North would had 
finished the trail a week earlier.  Perhaps they are working at Amicalola 
now?  (Has anyone heard anything?)

We then walked up to the Springer Mountain shelter so I could show Michele 
what they were like and ran into David, a friend of Waterfall’s.  We hung 
out there for a bit and then started on our way back to the car.  As we 
passed a small group heading to the summit, one stops me and asks if I was 
at the ALDHA Gathering last fall.  Turns out he was among the fireplace 
soccer players.

Michele is beginning to realize just how small this thruhiker world really 
is.

I finally leave the parking lot at FS42 and head north just before 5:00pm.  
I bypass the shelter and camp just south of Long Creek Falls for the night.

March 19, 2001

The next morning, I have breakfast at the falls and start moving up the 
trail.

What a difference two years, a bunch of confidence, and a lightweight pack 
make.  With just three days of food, a new pack, and some other new 
equipment, my pack is only 28 pounds – down from 42 pounds when I had 
started my thruhike.  I was just as prepared as I had been two years 
earlier.

So, I’m basically just strolling along.  Mostly catching up with, and 
passing people.  Two years earlier, I was definitely amongst the slowpokes.

Once again, I’m recognized – this time by Joyce and her husband who I had 
met at the Ruck this past January.  As I pass a trio of slackpackers, they 
give me a message for a friend of theirs ahead on the trail.  I would 
recognize him by his lightweight green backpack.  Sure enough, I eventually 
meet up with him and he’s carrying one of the new Golite packs that has a 
belt.  We walk and talk for the last mile or two into Gooch Gap.  Try on 
each other’s packs and talk lightweight packing options.  I met a bunch of 
hikers there including two men, a journalist and photographer, hiking the 
trail together.  They are carrying significant weight in the form of a MAC 
laptop and good cameras.  It’ll be interesting to see if they continue to 
carry that equipment for the duration.

I eventually move along and walk a few more miles.  The wind has picked up 
and a storm is due the next morning.  Already, there’s been a bit of drizzle 
so it doesn’t seem like it’s going to hold off and I look for a spot to camp 
in the lee of a hill or gap.

One mile south of Woody Gap, I finally pitch my tent with one other hiker, 
Zigzagger, who also has a Nomad.  For once, I found my compass truly useful 
on the AT.  We knew there was high pressure to the north and low to the 
south.  The wind was going to really blow from the east and we both had 
Nomads.  I used my compass to identify east and we pitched our tents 
carefully to hopefully keep the brunt of the wind from making a sail out of 
our awnings.

I stretched my tent across an old, overgrown gravel road.  I used a hooked 
branch off of a huge log to “stake” one end of the tent and have no problems 
getting a stake in for the other end.  For the awning stake, there was no 
getting a stake in the ground.  So, I haul a large (7” diameter, 8’ long) 
log across the road to use to stake the awning out.  It has no branches so I 
pull over some smaller branches to use as chocks to keep the big log from 
rolling.

There’s been a little drizzle already starting as we eat dinner but not 
enough to rush into our tents.  Finally, it’s getting dark and we call it a 
night.  The wind certainly picks up but the tent is performing admirably – 
until 1:45am.

Then, the wind starts getting squirrelly.  It’s stays primarily from the ENE 
but starts occasionally gusting from the ESE, just the direction to catch 
our awnings.  At 1:45, a gust catches my awning and literally lifts it up 
and pulls that huge log a couple of feet closer to the tent.  For the first 
time ever, I decide half mast will be the better option for the awning.  I 
get it set up from inside my tent but then decide I need a pee break.  While 
I’m out of the tent, I clear the snow off the tent.  Then I take a look and 
decide that if the wind could move the log once, then even at half mast, it 
can grab the awning and move it again.  So, I grab another equally large and 
heavy log to put between the original log and the vertical pole holding my 
awning up at half mast.  I figure that if the original log tries to move, it 
will bump against the new log which will bump against the pole and then just 
be stuck and unable to move.  Cool.  Looks like a great setup.

And this setup did work for another 5+ hours.  Then I had a rude awakening 
when I got kicked in the stomach with my own boot.  The wind caught the 
awning, with a gust strong enough to lift the awning which in turn caused 
the original log to jump the new log.  The log crashed into my tent but 
thankfully hit where my hiking pole was supporting the tent.  My boots were 
just inside the hiking pole so when the log hit the pole, the pole hit my 
boot which in turn got sent right into my stomach.  Ouch!  I quickly 
realized that if the log hadn’t hit the hiking pole, it probably would have 
crashed through the wall of my tent and hit me much harder than my boot had.

That was it.  It was now dawn and light enough to hike.  I couldn’t do 
anything to keep the rain out so I packed as quickly as possible.  
Everything got wet so I knew I had to make it to Neel’s Gap, as planned, 
just 11 miles away.  It looked like I would be out a tent stake and an 
awning pole for a while.  They were nowhere to be seen as I packed the tent. 
  I finally found the stake about 20 feet from the tent and then the pole 
about 15 feet from the tent in some rough grass.  I was very glad my poles 
were yellow and not black like Zigzagger’s.

March 20, 2001

I was mostly getting wet from rain and slush dripping off the trees for the 
first few miles.  After five miles or so, I come across a cluster of tents 
and approaching the closest tent, inquire if everyone’s OK.  Everyone’s OK 
but the hiker in the first tent I had approached asks if I’m Cheerio.  Turns 
out she was in the next tent over, a Nomad.  So I quickly make my way over 
there and had a little reunion.  I hadn’t expected to catch up with her so 
soon.

While the weather had been dangerously windy, with trees and branches coming 
down even as I walked, it really hadn’t been too rainy or snowy so I tell 
Cheerio as much.  Well, I finally say ‘bye’ after making plans to share a 
cabin at Goose Creek Cabins and continue on my way.  Within 10 minutes, the 
rain starts up again.  As I ascend, it turns to snow, then back to rain 
during the descents.  The trail is a creek and there’s no walking on the 
edges to try to stay dry.  I recognize that and don’t even try.  I follow 
footsteps of someone who had been camped with Cheerio and gang and he, too, 
eventually gives up trying to avoid the flood in the middle of the trail.

I skipped Blood Mountain and took the Freeman trail around.  It would not 
have been a good day to climb Blood.  Then again, the Freeman trail was 
remarkably rough compared to anything along the AT in Georgia.   But, I was 
glad to stay lower down the mountain.

In the meantime, I have allowed myself to get totally soaked through.  With 
temperatures hovering around freezing, I know I could easily get in a bad 
situation if I stopped moving.  So, I take it slow and easy knowing that I 
now have no protection if something keeps me from being able to walk.  But, 
I have no problems getting to Walasi-Yi and hiked the 11 miles by noon.

There, I warm up with a hot chocolate and make my way to the dryer where I 
start stripping my clothes and shoving them in the dryer.  There’s a heater 
in that room so I start warming and drying myself by the heater while my 
clothes dry.  Every now and then, I pulled something dry out of the dryer 
and threw something else wet in.  By the time an hour was up, my clothes 
were dry and I was warm and dry.  I met Dan, Peanut Butter’s friend 
repacking his backpack and getting ready to head out into the elements.  
Then I caught a shuttle to Goose Creek Cabins.  There, I found that Cheerio 
had managed to get a ride into town (from Jarrard Gap?) and had already 
gotten us a room with one other hiker, Billie.

The three of us ended up sharing that room for two nights, drying everything 
out.  Cheerio finished seam sealing her tent that day.  Billie did some soul 
searching.  I basically just hung out and made some (invited) suggestions 
for Tuckerizing their packs.

I also realized that my thruhiker appetite had already kicked in.  Then 
again, I was already hiking thruhiker miles at thruhiker speeds so I guess 
it should have kicked in.

March 22, 2001

This ended up only being more evident on Thursday when I left Goose Creek 
Cabins early.  I realized that the Blue Mountain shelter was 18 miles up the 
trail and I thought it would be great if I could get there so I could see 
the sunrise from the shelter the next morning.  I really had no idea if I 
could make it or would want to but I thought I would give it a try.

I finally got on the trail at 9:00 after a stop at Walasi-Yi and quickly 
gave up on the idea of reaching Blue Mtn. shelter.  The trail was still 
snowy and slushy where it wasn’t muddy.  The going seemed really slow - 
until I got to (Hogpen?) gap and realized I had just hiked 5.5 miles in 
under 2.5 hours in really sloppy conditions.  I really was not pushing, but 
just hiking at a comfortable pace.  So, I just kept going, taking breaks 
here and there.  I pulled into Blue Mountain shelter just a little after 
5:00.

While I was glad to see the shelter, I was also a bit disappointed.  The 
shelter has been modified and now has extensions to the walls and roof.  It 
used to allow a lot of weather in to the shelter during bad weather.  The 
modifications solve that problem but perhaps affect the ability to enjoy the 
sunrise.  There was also plastic sheeting up blocking whatever view we would 
normally have.  Had I gotten there earlier in the day, I probably would have 
pulled it down, but with the crowds there, I was not so inclined.

So, I settled in to the shelter, got to meet a bunch of the other hikers, 
and had plenty of time to get water, cook dinner, and hang out at the 
campfire with the rather large crowd gathered there.

Once again, I met the journalist and photographer hiking the trail with 
their heavy equipment.  They are hoping to come up with a book on the AT 
more for the mainstream rather than the typical niche market.  He’s a 
journalist though and is not trying to write another “Bryson” type book.  
When I mentioned at-l and my own web site, rather than noting it down, he 
pulled out his laptop and noted the information there.  He did not 
apparently even think that might be annoying to some hikers.  For anyone 
interested, you can find his web site at www.wolftrails.net/vrexployer.  I 
tried it and it hasn’t been updated since they started.  It’s also 
extraordinarily slow to load – and that’s from my speedy work connection.

I had been a shelter rat on my thruhike and so far had felt little desire to 
stay at shelters.  I mostly wanted to stay here just for yucks, to try to 
regain that thruhiker feeling, and to see the sunrise which I had bypassed 
two years earlier.  I had assumed that I would want to remain a shelter rat 
because even in the Whites all last year, I preferred to stay in shelters 
than set up my tent.  But, after a night next to a squirmy four year old who 
was having nightmares and constantly trying to invade my thermarest, one 
night in a shelter was enough for me.

March 23, 2001

The next morning, someone woke me up for a spectacular sunrise.

I had an interesting experience as I was getting ready to hit the trail in 
the morning.  My favorite NH 4000’ers Nalgene water bottle was full and 
ready to get added to my pack.  The top was on tight so I wasn’t too 
concerned when someone knocked it off the edge of the shelter.  Then, I 
realized there was water everywhere.  To everyone’s amazement, the entire 
top of the Nalgene bottle had broken off the rest of the bottle.  Now I know 
that old Nalgene bottles can get brittle but this one was only 6 years old 
or so.  Granted, it had been all over the world and spent six months on the 
AT, I didn’t think it was anywhere near the end of its useful life.   While 
I have other bottles, it was really nice to have such a distinctive bottle.  
I’ll probably replace it next time I get to Ragged Mountain Outfitters in 
NH.

I took all day to go the 12 miles to Sassafras Gap.  There, I camped with 
four other people, including Serge, a former pro basketball player.  At 7’3” 
and with size 19 feet, I’m willing to admit that he has a harder time 
finding appropriately sized gear than I do.  But, he has a mother who sews…

March 24, 2001

The next morning, we were treated to yet another spectacular sunrise.

Shortly after I passed the turnoff to Deep Gap shelter, I see something 
ahead on the trail.  At first I think porcupine but then I realize, NO!  
It’s a polecat!  Yikes!  And I almost walked right up to it.  For those 
people like myself who grew up in the north, a polecat is a skunk.  This one 
had a white spot on the back of its head and neck but no stripe like I’m 
accustomed to seeing up north.

Anyway, you just don’t hurry a polecat so as I watched a couple of guys 
caught up with me in time to see the polecat meander away.  It was only as I 
reached the side trail to the “vista,” that I realized that two years 
earlier, I had smelled skunk in about the same spot I had just seen one.  It 
was at that vista two years earlier that I met some locals who informed me 
that they were called polecats.

With only 6 miles to go, I slowed down a lot as I approached Dick’s Creek 
Gap.  I was much earlier than I had expected to get there and now I really 
wanted to prolong the hike.  It would be so easy to just stay on the trail 
and keep hiking north.  But, when I got to the gap, I hitched a ride to town 
and managed to get POG on her cell phone before she stopped at the trailhead 
trying to find me.  A half hour later, my stuff was loaded in her car and we 
were off.  Another AT thruhike will have to wait for another year.

We drove back up to the Blueberry Patch where I got to say ‘hi’ to Gary.  
Then continued to the trailhead where we worked the trailmagic for three 
hikers who we then brought back to town.  Then we meandered our way back 
towards Atlanta with a stop at Walasi-Yi.

All in all, it was a great hike and a much better way to spend the two year 
anniversary of the start of my thruhike than fretting in my cube for a week. 
  Fow what it's worth, I covered in about five days, what took me nine days 
to cover on my thruhike.

I have high hopes for meeting some of the hikers I met in Georgia when they 
get to New England.

Mara
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