First day in the smokies

Hiked 13.8 into the smokies today. Might have been my favorite day yet. Good gradual climbs and great sweeping vistas. We climbed almost '3000 ft total I think. Weather was perfect. 65 and sunny.

Bugs are starting to become a nuisance and I think it's only going to get worse as the weather warms. Fortunately for me they like hybrid's blood a little more than mine so far...

The park rangers require all hikers to sleep in shelters in the smokies, but since it was full when hybrid and I arrived, we get to sleep in our tents, which we are quite happy about. It's cold tonight, so definitely happy I got that extra fleece sent to me at Fontana Dam and picked up a sleeping bag liner as well. (note to self: 30 deg sleeping bag is not warm enough for first month of AT!)

Just realized today- I haven't taken a day off hiking since we started the trail. 18 straight days for me. Body is feeling good and I am man o man we are having a blast!

At the foot of the smokies

Survived the crazy storms that rolled thru last couple nights. High winds and creaky trees had everyone camping up all night. Bears are not what I fear anymore...its those 100 ft trees swaying and groaning in the wind, threatening to fall on me that keep me up.

Smokies tomorrow AM! Thanks so much to the Hammonds (chimp's parents) for the great afternoon spread! I'm still stuffed. I'll post some pics when we get better service....hoping to hit clingmans dome (highest pt on the trail- around 6600 ft I think) for a sunrise this week too. Hoooah!!

Trekked a record today of over 17 miles today. Made it to Fontana Dam just in time to pitch my tent before a storm. This storm is INTENSE! Wish me luck.

New high on mileage yesterday

The trail magic really inspired us yesterday and we made it 16.2 miles, our highest number yet. We don't think we will keep pushing that number now, but definitely felt good to get that number in. Also, once we got down from the mountain, everything was so green. Really cool.



Here is a shot of hybrid trying to cross a tree in our way:



We made it to the Nantahala Outdoor Center last night which is right on the trail and a beautiful river. We unfortunately got to the restaurant here just after they closed, but the manager must have felt bad for us and heated up some chili and poured us some ipas. Plus the Yankee game was on tv!

Ended up camping near the train tracks with our good trail buddies will (trail name - chimp), phil (trail name - chef or cheffield), and tequila joe (an awesome Vietnam vet).


(in the picture is chef and tequila joe)

Some severe storms are supposed to be rolling into the area so we are trying to get out of here and tented along the trail before they hit.

Fontana dam is next (if you've seem the fugitive, it's where they filmed that sweet jumping off the dam scene) and there has been talk of spending a night at will's folks place outside of Knoxville. I'm looking forward to it!

-mojo

Trail magic!

We just beasted Wesser Bald. A 1.6 mile, 800 vertical incline mountain top in 31 minutes. We got to the top of the observation tower and basically needed a nap. A few minutes later, a couple trail angels, mike and Veronica came up...with beer! Oh man. We don't remember many of the beers we drink in life, but we will definitely remember this one.

Cheers!

A little trail magic to start the day

Got to the parking lot where we could hitch a ride to town this morning and sandy from the local AT club was waiting with bags of candy for hikers coming through. She even gave 3 of us smelly hikers a ride into Franklin, NC. That's what hikers call trail magic. Kindness of strangers helping others

We are staying at a motel for the night and will do some resupplying as well as hitting the just opened pool here. Great day ahead after a great few days of hiking.

Here are some shots from the week:

100 miles

After my post about the weather guys on our side, they turned on is a little. 2 nights in a row with some hard rain. But we were fortunate to stay dry. The morning is always fun, packing up a wet tent in a little mud.

After hiking 15.3 yeaterday, we pulled a 12.2 mile day today (grandpa bob - yes, we did 3.4 into hiawasse, thanks for keepin track!) We basically hiked in a cloud most of the day. Made for a cool, comfortable hike, but we had no views at the summits. It was super surreal walking through some parts as well. Overhanging, twisted trees surrounded with mist. Felt like a dream sequence almost. I'll try and post a picture I took when we get to town.

We also hit the 100 mile mark today! Pretty psyched all around. We are a little sore but we are getting to the town of Franklin tomorrow where we can let our tired bodies get some rest.

Onward and upward!

-mojo

Ps- tristan, you are most definitely a gangster

Made it to North Carolina yesterday!!! 15.3 miles today!!! T-storms rolled through two nights now. Safe and dry in our tents.

A few things learned

Being in town has been great, but hybrid and I are ready to hit the trail again in a couple hours. Our "day off" was spent eating, shopping, resupplying, eating, hanging out with other hikers, and more eating. Oh, and some beers, of course.

So far on the trail, I have learned something or another pretty much everyday out here. Here are some takeaways I have so far:
-Tent setup- it's one thing to know how to set it up, it's another to know how to do it correctly and quickly.

-Dont hang your bear bag at night- hybrid and I made this mistake one night and while sloshing around in the trees, setting up our bear bag, we looked down and realized we were hanging out in a poison ivy patch...we went unscathed tho!

-The AT hiking community is completely unique to any community I have ever experienced- first off, the people we have met on this trip have been nothing short of awesome. The hikers we run into are all people we would like to hang out with in our everyday lives, but the AT has brought us together. It's very interesting to see how these people come in and out of your life sort of like a wave based on your hiking pace. Hard to explain but we really have liked this community so far and are meeting really cool people every day.

-crappppppp - we are about to get slammed




But the overall theme is we are really learning a lot out here and loving every minute. Thanks for reading and keep the comments coming. We really love em!

Some pictures from the week...

So we dont always have the service on the trail to post pictures (not strong enough signal) we take on the trail, so we thought we'd post them once we get to places where that is possible (ie towns).

Here are some from this week:




Dan-o!










This is what we use to know we are on the trail

Town!!

Let the feasting begin...time to replenish the lost calories from this past week.

Location:Oakmont Dr,Hiawassee,United States

p.s.

By the way, this is my friend Mojo:

Here's to Now

Good afternoon, y'all! Mojo and I cranked out 9.5 today (following a 13 miler yesterday). We are just a few miles from a gap where we can catch a ride into town. Though it's tempting to go there tonight we've decided to stay put for today, eat the remaining bits of our rations, and head into town first thing in the morning. This way we can spend all day tomorrow resupplying, doing laundry, eating a ton of food, and resting; it will be our first "zero-day" (well, almost, except for the 3 miles from here to the gap.)

Today's weather was warm and sunny. Two mountains were challenging but we pretty much owned them. I intend to set up camp now. Mojo plans to sleep in the shelter - a first.

Dinner tonight will be mashed potatoes with veggies and a helping of almond-something (thanks, Tiffany!)

The bugs are starting to do their thing. I respect their right to live until they land on me, then I have no mercy.

Over 'n out

-Hybrid-

Location:Deep Gap Shelter

Hello from atop tray mtn

Double Digits

The mantra has steady, steady, steady. Thus far we've been logging about 7 to 9 miles per day. Today we hiked 10.8 miles from Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter (3,040').

The weather was excellent - not too hot and not too cold. We had nice views from a couple of peaks and I felt great with oour trek - we were cruisin'. Breakfast consisted of a meal I dehydrated and vacuum sealed weeks ago (oatmeal with some dried fruits, flax seeds, protein powder, and cinnamon). Lunch was more of a prolonged snacking between breakfast and dinner. Dinner was a freeze-dried meal of chana mansala - all 820 calories of it, it was supplemented with cheese-in-a-pouch...only on the trail are these meals soo delicious!

Our bear bags have been hung, the fire is dwindling, the sun sank below the ridge, and I am now tucked in my sleeping bag in my tent anticipating a slightly chilly evening. Tomorrow's weather looks great and we are shooting for another double-digit hike up to Rocky Mtn. (4,020') - there is a campsite right at the peak so we should have some spectacular views while we eat and rest our feet.

We are aiming for the town of Hiawasee in the next few days to resupply and take an afternoon off.

I trust all is well with ya'll outside these Georgian mountains.

-Hybrid-

Shelter from the storm.

Frank has been on top of our blog (his phone is far superior) and my telegram-esque entries must be lame. Though he covered most of what has been happening to us here is my share:

Our four-day venture thus far is a huge success. The people are friendly, the wilderness has been hospitable, and our bodies are adjusting well.

We are currently staying at a hiker hostel in Neels Gap, GA waiting for a "severe storm" to pass; we had the option to stay or add more miles onto our day and land right in the middle of an aggressive bear's territory. We stayed.

I have bunk number 6. The aroma of the hostel is offset by everyone's openness and friendly attitude. We've met at least two dozen unique thru hikers and everyone is cool in their own way.

Upon arrival, I ate a small helping of Cherry Garcia ice cream and an apple pastry. For dinner I cooked up a quick pasta dish and a big cup of hot chock. Then, I experienced my first "trail magic"; Larry drove up to the hostel, walked out from his car, came up to me with a 24 pack of beer and said, "you look thirsty." !!!!!! I gave him a hug and brought the bounty back to share. My first trail magic was beer! Larry is going to hike the AT soon; I wish him all the luck.

Well, tomorrow looks like it's going to be a little over 11 miles so I am going to get some sleep.

Thanks for following along.

-Hybrid-

Location:Neels Gap

Day 4 - Blood Mountain

Last night Adam and I tented right along Lance Creek. Beautiful area. We were also blessed with 75 and sunny. Today was a different story. We awoke to fog rolling through and an eventual rainy, windy hike up Blood Mountain. (as an aside- I remarked how this name reminded me of my childhood, skiing with my grandfather. Long story short, I fell off a rock, skiing in killington, VT and twisted my knee pretty bad. From then on, that rock was known as "blood rock" - name provided by grandpa dean. Was thinking of those times today grandpa!)

Even though we were soggy, we were moving well and blood mtn was the largest we had encountered to date. We crossed the top and descended to neels gap on the other side. Did a total of 7.3 miles today.

At neels gap, there is an outfitter that is very hiker friendly called mountain crossing. They will do a "shakedown" of your pack and guarantee they can lighten the load. They also have a hostel, which adam and I have elected to stay at tonight due to an impending storm approaching as well as an "active bear" in the area. For 15 bucks each, we get a bunk, a hot shower (quite possibly the best in my life) and a roof over our heads. We can also wash our stinky clothes. One of the girls who works in the shop is going into town to get pizzas for those who want...I was all over that. Whole pie for me tonight!!

So all in all, a great day. I'm currently hanging in the common area of the hostel with other thru hikers. Everyone is very friendly and there is a good community here. There's even a radio in here and "cheeseburger in paradise" is playing.

Mmmm. Cheeseburger.

I would like to formally introduce myself, my name is Hybrid.

8.2 miles today- no record but we're feeling great about our steady approach.Bodies are acclimating well.No blisters to report yet.Camping near a stream tonite.

Second day was a success despite a shaky start with my oatmeal (as Frank kindly pointed out.). Into the bag early tonight. Dinner was delicious: lasagna w/ meat

Days 1 & 2 in the books

Day 1: 8.9 miles
We began our trek in chilly, windy, and rainy conditions. Although the weather was menacing, we were not deterred. Our patience in the weather paid off as the wind and rain calmed by the late afternoon. We arrived at the hawk mountain shelter for the night where we set up our tents, thankfully in dry conditions. A few other friendly hikers were also at the shelter for the night and we all conversed about our first day on the trail around a campfire. Someone brought a frisbee too so it felt like home. Sleep was a little more difficult as everyone seemed to need to get used to sleeping on the ground and not in a bed. I myself woke up at one point and thought it was time to rise for the day...turned out to be about midnight. All in all, not too bad though.

Day 2: 7.3 miles
I awoke to this view



Cold in the morning, but a few jumping jacks in my down jacket warmed me up. We made some oatmeal for breakfast (took Adam two times to get it right - Oatmeal Fail!) notice the water spill...



Today was BEAUTIFUL. Much better than yesterday. Felt sort of like summer by mid afternoon. We spent about an hour hanging out by a creek, relaxing. Cold water on our feet felt good. Still no blisters, fingers crossed.

Got to our second shelter for the night around 4:30. We are keeping our pace slow and our mileage low to start. We've heard from many people wiser than us that slow and steady is the way to hike the trail in the early goings.

About to make some dinner and probably crash early tonight. Two days of hiking is tiring!!

-frank

We have arrived

Arrived to Amicalola State Park at around 9pm to check into a campsite. We were then told that severe thunderstorms will be rolling through this evening with chances of tornados (yesss!) so we thought it best to stay at the nice lodge they have here and listen to the storm from the comfort of a bed and roof over our heads. I guess if we are going to be living outside for the next 5 months, one more night in a bed won't kill us. Although Adam has elected to sleep on the floor over than sharing a twin with me. Probably the right call.

Huge thanks again to Mr. Sitterly. 12 hrs behind the wheel and no speeding tickets!

Almost to GA

Sun is setting and we are about an hour and a half from the trail head.

"We've got a long drive..."

Prophetic words from one, Adam Sitterly. We are off and Georgia-bound! A big thanks to Mr. Sitterly for the ride!

My journey begins now

I write to you from the 12:40 Amtrak train out of metropark, nj. My goodbyes have been said and there is not much left to do other than hike. I arrive in Adam's hometown at 4:39 where I have been promised "a canoe full of beer". I have much to look forward to!

Here is a picture of mommy and me right before my train arrived. :)



Next stop, Virginia!

More preparing

I haven't taken my tent out since I was in Great Sand Dunes National Park last fall. Considering it's about to be my home for the next 5 or so months I thought it prudent to take out, assemble, spray down with water repellent and gain a sense of comfort with it. But I guess that won't really come till we hit the trail.

Also sprayed down my pack with water repellent. Not sure how much that will actually help during 5 straight days of rain we are likely to hit here or there, but can't hurt nonetheless. Here is a pic of my pack and tent. I'll try and get a gear list up later on too.

Packing on a Friday night

It's Friday night and I'm packing and re-packing my mail drops for the trail. I have one of the talking head news channels on in the background as a reminder to stay efficient in my packing (as our govt shutdown looms). I have 10 boxes so far and think this is one of those "don't think too much into it" type deals. I'm going to back off and enjoy this scotch instead. :)


Getting closer to Tuesday!

I am a walking observatory

Tiffany is awesome!  She gifted me a new watch for my AT journey.  But, this watch is not your ordinary watch - it is solar-powered, has a compass, and informs me of my current altitude, temperature, barometric pressure (I can even set an alarm if the pressure suddenly drops thus indicating an incoming storm), moon phases, tides, ascent/descent totals, alarm, stop watch, etc.  I think it also has a coffee-making function that I have yet to figure out.

Glimpse my gear

This is my house, bed, kitchen, wardrobe, and tools for the next half-year:

Lots of mountains

I just read that an entire thru-hike of the AT covers some 250 mountains. When I told this to Sarah, my girlfriend, she replied:

"Wow. That's a lot of mountains."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Start day is one week away!

It's the Final Countdown!

Exactly one week from now Frank and I will be deep in the woods of northern Georgia probably thinking about dinner and looking for a nice patch of ground to call home for the night.  It's surreal to think that I've had the AT on my mind for over a year now and the launch-date is right around the corner.  Given that our journey is about to officially begin I would like to share with you all the gear that I will lug around on my back for over two thousand miles:

• Backpack (Gregory Z55: the 55 denotes size in liters)
• Pack cover
• One-person tent & footprint (Big Agnes Copper Spur Ultra Light 1: this took a while to decide)
• Sleeping bag & compression-sack (The North Face Cat's Meow: Rated at 20 Degree F.)
• Sleeping pad (Thermarest Prolite 3/4 length)
• Water bladder (3 liters)
• Water purifier (Steripen Explorer: it purifies water using ultra-violet light)
• Titanium mess kit (two bowls, one lid/skillet, one spork)
• Flint & steel
• Knife x 2 (one single blade to keep in my pocket at all times and one Swiss Army)
• Rain pants (REI brand: completely water proof but lacks breathability) 
• Rain jacket (Arc'teryx Beta AR: 3-layered Gore-tex)
• Gloves (EMS: lightweight)
• First aid kit (Band aids, Ibuprofen, nail clipper, mole skin, needle and thread, gauze, & tick-remover)
• Hat
• Hiking poles 
• Cord (30 feet)
• Socks x 2 (Smart Wool)
• Underwear x 2 (Synthetic and quick-drying)
• Thermal leggings (Nike Element Thermal Running Tights)
• Pants (REI: synthetic convertible pants/shorts)
• Pack-towel (synthetic, quick-drying)
• Toilet paper
• Money
• Credit card
• Phone & charger (to update blog and stay in touch with civilization)
• Boots (Asolo TPS 520 GV: Leather & Gore-Tex - heavy support and very dry, not lightweight) 
• FOOD (ideally ~2.5 pounds per day @ 100 calories per ounce.)
• Nalgene bottle (for purifying water b/c the Steripen won't be used directly with water bladder)
• Camera
• Long sleeve base layer (Smart Wool)
• Shirt x 2 (Synthetic, quick-drying)
• Down jacket (The North Face Diez: 800 fill down, ultra-light, and very compressible)
• Bandana
• Eye glasses 
• Stove (Trangia alcohol stove)
• Fuel (any kind of combustible alcohol)
• Lighter
• Headlamp
• Whistle
• Ziplock bags
• Soap (biodegradable)
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss (floss taken out of plastic container)
• Driver's license
• Pen 
• Garbage bag (as a pack-liner)
• Guidebook (No cover & ripped in 1/2; I will take one-half at a time to save weight)
• Crocs (lightweight - for wearing around tent site to let feet breath and rest)
• "Brain Book" (Small mole-skin journal containing important addresses, dates, phone numbers, etc.)

So this is what I have so far.  With food and water (water is heavy - 2.2 lbs. per liter!) my entire pack-weight, last time I checked, is hovering around 32 pounds.  Granted, I need to pack everything right now and reassess the situation but the pack is about 17% of my bodyweight so I am feeling pretty good about it all.  

Feel free to let me know if I'm forgetting anything!  (I will definitely double-check with other lists and triple-check after that.)

-Adam