A flat soufflé and limp noodles…

March 14, 2017March 16, 2017 / jim fetig / 16 Comments

Good ole white blaze serial number 00000001

North Georgia, Appalachian Trail miles zero through 69.6, March 3-10, 2017 — There I was, hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia for the third year in a row. This time it was different, very different, but we will get to that in due course.

This adventure started with an invitation to present my talk on trail hygiene at the annual ATKO – Appalachian Trail Kick Off event at Amicalola Falls State Park. The kick off targets future hikers and serves as a reunion of sorts for many others.

The premise for the talk is that hikers neither have to get sick – Noro virus or gastroenteritis – nor smell like Oscar the Grouch’s trash can on a hot summer’s day. All they have to do is make staying clean a priority. My talk tells them how.

My talk is entitled “What the Funk!” I blogged about the subject here: What the Funk! My Power Point slides are here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwxxfhmz96vhn42/What%20The%20Funk.2.pptx?dl=0

The ATKO is a well attended two-and-a-half day event featuring speakers, vendors and old friends like Mike Wingeart and Robin Hobbs who were representing ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association.

The ATKO featured a tent city, gear vendors and even a slew of visiting owls. This is a great horned owl. His pals included a tiny screech owl named Goliath and a barred owl which remained amazingly quiet. Trail Dames is a women’s hiking organization I try and promote as often as possible. Love those gals, most of whom I’ve met on my various trail journeys. Check out Trail Dames here: Trail Dames

Now, let’s get down to business. We’ll open with a brief confession. I did not come to the trail with “trail legs.” In other words, I was not in shape. My excuse: I injured my hip lifting weights in early October and have not run since then. Throughout the hike, my hip and cardio were fine, but my legs had all the strength and authority of limp spaghetti noodles. That’s definitely not a recipe for a fluffy soufflé in the nasty hills of Georgia. (Lovin’ mixed metaphors!)

The anointed know that launching from the Amicalola Lodge nets the upper five miles of the infamously steep “approach trail” that leads to the AT’s southern terminus on Springer Mountain. I did it three years ago when I had to spell the caretaker on Springer Mountain. That year my gazelle-like bounds magically crushed the steepest hills. This year I huffed and puffed like the little engine that barely could. I was delighted to summit, albeit about 90 minutes slower than before.

While on Springer, I took a look around. I was saddened to see that two trees I’ve been tracking for the past three years had finally been done in. The number of people on the trail continues to increase along with their relentless degradation of the environment.

A bit hard to see, but campers have moved south of the lower bear cables on Springer Mountain shelter and much closer to the water source; and have established a new fire pit.

The good news is that previous recommendations have been implemented. The increased presence on the trail has remarkably reduced trash. Vegetation recovery projects have begun. Extra campsites and privies have been added. My observations from that time are here: Georgia 2015

Old fire pit at Hawk Mountain shelter cleaned up.

Improvements since last year to the new Hawk Mountain campsite.

As always the newly minted hikers were delightful. I saw Lynne, the Trail Ambassador on the right, twice on my journey as she expanded her patrol coverage. I saw several other ambassadors too.

Ambition has never been lacking for me. Since this was my very first time to hike Georgia alone, I decided to pace myself in accordance with the legend in my own mind, versus the reality of my current physical condition. Mind over matter was a good strategy, or so I thought. That worked about as well as one might expect.

After pitching my tent the first night and on my way to fetch water, I met a young man who asked me if it was okay for his dog to be off leash. Never ask a Leave No Trace zealot that question. I convinced him that every snake, skunk, raccoon and porcupine in the woods would eat his dog for lunch, not to mention any stray bears. How ’bout them Lyme disease bearing ticks ole fido is going to bring back to your tent? Oh boy!!!

This fellow also decided to cowboy camp that night (no tent). Guess what, it rained unexpectedly. I awoke to his thrashing as he hurried to pitch is tent while dodging rain spatter. “Grasshopper, you’re going to learn a lot,” I smiled as a hiked past his tent in the morning. He was sawing zzzzzzs.

I have finally perfected pitching and striking this tent in high wind. I failed at that miserably in Maine last summer. Hint: Up-wind pegs first…

The plan for Monday was to make it about 15 miles either to the Justus Mt. campsite or on to Gooch Gap. The forecast included rain and high winds for Tuesday, so I wanted to get as far as possible.

Moving with the speed to cold flowing molasses helped me realize that I wasn’t going to make either of my targeted locations, so I parked at Cooper Gap where, this year, the Army has been leaving its 500 gallon “water buffalo” unlocked for hikers. Now I was a half day behind with a cold, heavy rain in the forecast.

Very good news: ALL water sources in Georgia were flowing with the exception of the spring at Blue Mountain shelter which is just short of Unicoi Gap.

Fortunately the heavenly watering of the Georgia hills didn’t begin until after I’d packed up. I sopped off with a dry tent at least, headed for the Woods Hole shelter half way up the infamous Blood Mountain; about another 15 miles away. Woods Hole has a covered picnic table and is located where bear proof food containers are required. The odds were good that I’d get a spot, and I’d be back on schedule given that very few people want to carry the 3 1/2 extra pounds the canisters weigh.

Along the way, sometimes you see weird stuff. Who would set the stump on fire at Gooch Mountain? Just past there, somebody used a machete to hack up a dead tree. For what? The dead tree bark is good insect habitat for birds and bears. Why ruin it? Ignorance lives.

Please pack out your trash! The fire pits and the trail in general was far cleaner than I’ve ever seen it at this time of year. Thank you ridgerunners and trail ambassadors!

I arrived at Woods Hole just prior to dusk. I ate and then crashed between these two tents.

The morning dawned cold and windy. The rain had passed. Of the three campers at Woods Hole, nobody had a bear canister. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Where’s the ranger when you need ’em.

A father and son had pitched their tent in the shelter. They were were woefully underprepared with summer sleeping bags and sported wet cotton clothes from the previous day’s rain. The other tent belonged to a new thru hiker who didn’t know better. I made it clear. If more hikers came during the night, the tents would have to come down. Fortunately, none did.

It dawned cold and clear as I waited form my coffee water to boil. Note the two hats. After breakfast I was off for Low Gap, another 15 miles or so away.

Walking over Blood Mountain has its aesthetic pleasures.

Wind at Neel’s Gap

The trail to Low Gap is a relatively easy hike with the exception of a nasty climb at Tesnatee Gap. My right hip flexor was swelling. Time for a reality check.

Dawn at Low Gap. Fortunately, from there it’s an easy 10 miles to Uniqoi Gap where I decided to bail. The noodles were still limp and the soufflé was pretty flat. Reached Unicoi about 12:30 p.m. and shuttled to the Top of Georgia Hostel.

Bought a thru hiker lunch. How do you spell bankruptcy?

Breakfast at Top of Georgia where Bob Gabrielsen offers the morning pep talk before the hopeful sea of humanity rides the tide northward in search of adventure and the state of Maine. Time for me to saddle up the Subaru and ride north.

Toxic waste bag.

It ain’t over until everything’s cleaned up.

Sisu

To bear or not to bear a Bear Canister

April 11, 2016 / jim fetig / 4 Comments

IMG_2264_2

The Appalachian Trail in Georgia, March 2016 –The bear canister debate can get intense. A lot of people like to troll this subject. My intent is not to rip the scab off that wound or relitigate the question here. I’m only reporting observations I made last month as the hiking season started in Georgia.

The fact is, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), U.S. Forest Service and other agencies, that human interaction with bears is increasing on the southern 500 miles of the AT and the ATC is recommending that hikers use bear canisters from Springer Mountain to Damascus, VA.

Last year I had the occasion to be a ridgerunner in Georgia during late February and March. This year fortune granted me the opportunity to hike the state again with a friend as she launched her thru hike. Comparing bear canister use between these two years is interesting.

The conversation on the trail about protecting food from bears also changed some over the course of the past year. This is what I heard and observed.

As a ridgerunner I was issued a Bear Vault BV 500 (there are other brands) because my duties required camping within the bear canister-required zone in the Blood Mountain area.

I hate to say it but most hikers who showed up at Woods Hole shelter were ignoring this U.S. Forest Service requirement. They were unaware that the local bears had learned to shake food bags off the cable there.

In total, during my time in Georgia last year, I saw a very small number of bear canisters over the five week period I was on the trail. This one was at the shelter on Springer Mountain.

After conversations with hundreds of hikers over the past couple of years, my guess is the majority of thru hikers don’t take bears all that seriously thinking that what ever happens, it won’t happen to them. Moreover, most hikers don’t understand bear behavior well enough to recognize the many different ways bears might be attracted and habituated to human food.

With the number of hikers rapidly increasing, especially the large numbers starting in the south, this is unhelpful – mostly to the bears.

So, last year the ATC initiated a Leave No Trace-inspired effort to promote the use of bear canisters. Remember what the rangers say: A fed bear becomes a dead bear. Progress?

I arrived on Springer March 8 and spent the night talking to hikers and waiting for my friend to toe the starting line the next day. The first thing I noticed was three bear canisters. As we hiked north, I noted about a dozen or more or so. These were carried by older hikers – certainly they were over 30. They’d heard about and taken the ATC’s advice seriously.

Bears are always a topic at the beginning of a thru hike. For most, the question more about whether bears are a legitimate threat to them, not whether their habits can be a threat to bears.

A lot of hikers said they had considered food protection but had decided that the canisters were too heavy (mine weighs 2 lbs. 9 oz.), or that they would occupy too much space in their packs to make hauling one worthwhile. At around $80 retail, they are expensive too. Several implied they would rent them if that were an option.

Beyond canisters, people were debating whether or not the Ursack – made out of Kevlar, the material that bulletproofs bulletproof vests – was a better bet.

Ursacks are lined with a thick plastic bag that functions much like a Zip Lock. This helps protect the contents from moisture and reduces the aroma signature. Depending on size, their costs range from $55 – $90, so they’re not cheap either.

The white bag is an Ursack. It must be tied to a tree to be effective. My Bear Vault is in the far background.

Ursack’s are approved in certain areas but not in others, including the AT. It seems that even though bears can’t chew through them, they can still crunch up the contents and get a small taste – and that does not solve the problem. There’s some argument about how varmint proof they are, though their website says tests show they stand up. No doubt supporters would offer supportive arguments.

The attraction of Ursacks lies both in reduced weight and the amount of space they take up inside a pack. Being pliable, unless you’re using their aluminum shield, they are much easier to pack around. In other words, you can jam more stuff in your pack.

Bear canisters are designed to be left on the ground, yet some people still use the bear cables, poles or boxes when they are available.

The Bear Vaults have grooves in the sides designed to aid strapping to the outside of a pack. This doesn’t work so well with most internal frame packs. They easily strap on top of some Granite Gear packs. I saw one in Georgia and liked it. Unfortunately I was too dim witted to get a photo.

Although we’re not going to see the masses rush to embrace bear canisters or Ursacks in the near future, it appears the conversation about not habituating bears to human food is growing and more positive. That direction, in my view, ultimately helps serve the coexistence of both magnificent bears and intrepid people. I’m cautiously optimistic over time.

Full disclosure. I bought a Bear Vault BV 500 this year and hiked with it in Georgia. I also have a sow with cubs resident and often seen on the AT section I maintain in Shenandoah National Park. I frequently hang my hammock and camp over night on my section when there’s a lot of work to be done. In that context alone, using a bear canister makes sense for me and my momma bear. Sisu

Flash Forward One Year

August 6, 2015 / jim fetig / 13 Comments

Aug. 6, 2014. I took summit photos in two different shirts.

Home Sweet Home, August 6, 2015 — I wasn’t going to write a one-year-retrospective. Most of them are boring and trite. As I have often said, being a successful thru-hiker doesn’t make you special. It only means that you were fortunate enough to have a special experience.

Okay, so what happens when it’s over? You go home and then what? Post hike depression is well documented. Of course, I thought it could not happen to me.

When your hike is over, if you’re lucky, you have to get back to work. That’s true for most hikers. If you have something lined up – say going to grad school – you’ve got it made. But even if you have to job search, you’ve got a defined focus for your time and a purpose to pursue.

If you’re retired, that’s another story. Recently retired people are the second largest, albeit, small category of thru hikers. A lot of them shut the door to their offices and open the front door to the AT with little transition time. I met a hiker in Georgia this year whose time lapse was four days!

I prepared for ten months, but it’s almost the same. I’d done nothing to prepare for retirement itself other than to know that I’d have to “keep busy.”

Boom! The hike ends. You take a victory lap. The the crowds stop clapping. For months on end you’ve had a routine. Wake up, eat and hike. Following the white blazes was my job. Where is the next white blaze?

Aside from the daily trail routine, hiking is heavy exercise that bathes your brain in a heavy flow of endorphins all day long. Like distance running, the craving doesn’t stop when you end your journey.

Endorphins act like opiates. These chemicals, manufactured by your body, make you feel really good. When they go away, the funk can get very deep indeed.

I thought that returning to a strenuous exercise routine and increasing my volunteer activities would help me avoid endorphin withdrawal and the mental depression that goes with it. NOT SO!

I did all these things, but in between, I sat in my easy chair and stared out the window or zoned out with ESPN on the idiot box. My reading habit evaporated. In the past year I have completed exactly one book; that compares to my 3 to 4 per month lifetime average. My motivation meter was pegged at zero.

There’s more. My weight began to creep up. I did switch back to healthy foods from the ultra high calorie trail junk, but I ate a lot and drank more beer. I’ve regained about 75 percent of my lost weight.

After my voluntary stint as a ridgerunner in Georgia this spring, my mind began to get a grip. Maybe returning to the scene of the crime helped.

I remembered why I retired in the first place. My retirement routine couldn’t replace my previous career as an adrenalin junkie. The 60-hour plus work weeks needed to be left to history. The new normal needed to be new.

Now my volunteer time is structured around specific goals. I’ve found opportunities with much more responsibility – to the point where I supervise five paid employees in one of the gigs. Best of all, I’m beginning to have a lot of fun.

For now, one year after my hike, retirement has become a never-ending process. I’m contemplating more hiking adventures, but I’ll tackle them differently. For example, I’d love to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. (“Wild” by Cheryl Strayed is set there.) But if I do, it will be over three years in sections rather than all at once.

If I learned one take-away from hiking the Appalachian Tail it is that thru hiking takes a long time. While I loved my hike and would do it again, I got tired of being out there “forever.” Moreover, making “forever” so is not a reasonable expectation.

Looking ahead, I’m hoping to better use my time because at this stage of life, you truly have to do more with less.

Post card I sent to those who helped along the way.

One of the best parts of my final day on the trail was to share it with my friend Karen (Tie) Edwards.

Here’s a link to a one of several videos I’ve made in support of speeches I’ve made this past year.

https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D3624411_94596663_12582

Ridgerunner Coordinator

June 15, 2015June 15, 2015 / jim fetig / 9 Comments

Yours truly with the 2015 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club ridgerunners.

Blue Ridge Summit, PA — No good deed goes unpunished. In my case, the “punishment” is really a delightful reward. Last month I was asked to manage the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’s (PATC) ridgerunner program. I couldn’t wait to be thrown into that briar patch!

Although I love being a grunt on the Hoodlums trail crew and overseeing my AT section, I’ve been searching to expand into a leadership role within PATC and this one is perfect for me.

These ridgerunners are highly trained, independent, experienced and motivated. Serving them is a high honor. If you could meet them in person, you’d know exactly why. You’d break your pick for any one of them.

The Ridgerunner’s primary role is to be an ambassador from the trail to those who use it. They are there to help and encourage, especially desired behaviors such as practicing the Leave No Trace ethic. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgerunner for more. Ridgerunning is a rewarding experience as readers know who recall the blogs I wrote while ridgerunning in Georgia this past March.

Each ridgerunner patrols a defined section of the PATC’s 240 miles of the AT. The length of their service is dependent on the where their patrol section is and the funding provided by the partner agency responsible for that section. They aren’t paid a lot, but that’s not really the point.

As for the good deed — I prepared a report for various senior AT leaders about my experiences and observations in Georgia. The report was widely circulated, and I think someone thought, “Okay wiseguy. You brought it up. Now step up!” I accepted in a nanosecond.

Here is a link to that report: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D3624411_94596663_20574 Those who read it will learn a bit about what I leave out of my family-friendly blogs.

Looking ahead to upcoming challenges, the number of AT thru hikers and visits to the trail is expected to dramatically increase next year in response to two Hollywood movies — Reece Witherspoon’s “Wild” which involves hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail and Robert Redford’s “A Walk in the Woods” which is based on Bill Bryson’s popular book about hiking the AT. “A Walk in the Woods” opens Labor Day weekend.

Historical data tells us to buckle up and expect a huge increase in the number of inexperienced and inadequately prepared hikers. For my part, I’d rather be part of the solution than be part of the problem.

Meanwhile, I look forward to hiking with these great ridgerunners on patrol in, what for us, is the real world.

Several friends and acquaintances have congratulated me on my pencil drawings lately. I can draw, but not nearly that well. The featured image for this post was taken with my iPhone and processed by an app called Pencil Sketch. I’ve used this artful feature for more than a year and absolutely love it. I created the renderings that follow just to show you some of the tricks it has up its sleeve.

This is the original photograph. The various renderings follow.

Walking in the Woods

April 2, 2015April 2, 2015 / jim fetig / 12 Comments

Kensington, MD, April 1, 2015 — Bill Bryson wrote a wonderfully humorous book entitled A Walk in the Woods almost 15 years ago. It is a story about two totally unprepared old pals attempting on a lark to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. When I read it, I thought it was humorous fiction. After ridgerunning in Georgia this March, I know it’s not. It is as true as true can be, and Bryson was an astute observer.

The movie of the same name, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, will be out this summer. I can’t wait to see it, but I worry about those who do and then think they’re going to jump on the trail without a care in the world and hoof it up to Maine. Not that there aren’t plenty of folks hiking this way already. I just worry how many more of these unprepared innocents will join in the frolic over the next few years, and more importantly, what their impact will be on the trail and its environment.

This blog has noted the incredible number of clueless hikers observed last month as they attempted to foible themselves through Georgia. How anyone could jump into the woods having never set up a/their tent before, or show up with packs stuffed with so much that they can barely carry them – with all their gear still hermetically sealed in the original boxes – is beyond any level of sanity I can conceptualize.

How people can forget that the sun doesn’t always shine, that the days and nights are not always warm, and that rain or snow can be bitterly cold is beyond me. Misery does not love company on the trail.

Under the wrong weather conditions – cold rain sleet for example – you could become hypothermic and cease to exist or be seriously injured in the southern Appalachian spring. It’s happened recently.

Four components of success defined themselves as I observed both the prepared and unprepared go about their business. I thought a lot about them, comparing what I saw this March with my previous experience on the trail and elsewhere. Some may disagree with my priorities here they are anyway.

FITNESS. Being fit, especially cardio fitness, can cover a wide range of other deficits, particularly in older and female hikers. I couldn’t count the number of late middle age guys (mostly) who, for decades had been chained to their office desks until the week before they started, when they were suddenly paroled to pursue their retirement dreams on the AT. Too many of them went from zero to 60 and back zero in less than a week.

Guys, your high school sports days were close to 50 years ago! Take a year to get yourself in shape. Couch potato millennials fall into this same category. What did they think would happen when they rushed to Springer Mountain with little or no prep? That’s why about a third of hikers don’t make it past the first 30 miles.

As I hiked my patrol route, I’d watch the out of shape hikers sweat their way up hill chipping tiny step by tiny step up the trail, their wheezing breath hissing like dying steam engines suffering from leaky piston seals. Pure panic defined pallid faces as the harsh realization sunk in that they were in for more than they bargained. Their knees quivered under both the oppressive weight of their bodies and the clutter of unneeded gear strapped to their backs. Their fun meters were pegged at zero. So much for a walk in the woods.

Some folks are old school, but they’re in shape and prepared to go.

Being fit helps prevent common orthopedic injuries, not to mention that you can hump more weight on your back. Would anyone think that it might be smart to at least attempt lose some weight and/or get into shape before day one?

EXPERIENCE. Knowledge. Know-how. Call it what you will. Knowing how to live in the woods, and what to do if and when, can be priceless. Traditionally we might consider learning what’s in the Boy Scout Handbook a good starting point, and it is if you have an up to date copy, not the ancient one with which I grew up. Excellent information is available on line or in a range of recent how-to books. Then there’s the confidence born of having been spent a little practice time living outdoors.

Experience is the best teacher and makes for fewer goof-ups in the woods. AT hikers should know how to hike in the rain and stay dry, stay warm and above all, stay clean. How about pitching a tent in a storm so it won’t be flooded or blown down? How big a knife does one need, not want, but need? First aid anyone? What do you do if you tear your ACL or impale yourself on a protruding branch? You should know ’cause 911 response is several hours, if not a day or more away. Leave No Trace anyone?

How about them bears, anyway?

GEAR. You can buy your back weight down if you can afford it, but more folks are on tighter budgets than I would have thought. They simply can’t afford to equip themselves with hyper-light gear.

The reality is that most of us cannot afford a $600 – $800 Cuben fiber tent weighing mere ounces, much less the full boatload of gear made from this miraculous fabric – rain gear, food bag, pack, etc.

So, what do people do? A good set of lighter weight gear costs between $1,000 and $1,500 depending on how much of it you can buy on sale. This type of gear, with five days food and a liter of water, will get your total winter pack weight under 35 lbs. or less depending upon what you think you need to bring.

Properly fitting light weight and flexible boots or trail runners along with dry feet help prevent blisters, the scourge of any hiker.

Unfortunately even that much money is too much for many people. Their alternative is to buy heavy gear from Walmart or army surplus, either that or they repurpose older but much heavier gear from previous generations. They pack canned food because they cannot afford the lighter dehydrated meals. This route alone doesn’t deny success, it just makes everything harder.

Some hikers don’t know what to buy, even if they can afford it. That’s what produces the over sized 70 lb. packs stuffed with all sorts of useless trinkets.

Binoculars, camp chairs, bear bells, heavy stoves and stainless steel cooking pots, Carhart canvas jackets and other detritus is what finds itself strewn along the trail. Folks start sinking under the tremendous weight and desperately heave it overboard in hopes of staying afloat as did Bryson’s sidekick Katz in A Walk in the Woods. Remember: Are you on the AT to camp or to hike?

ATTITUDE. Like the Little Engine in the storybook, if you think you can, you can. Self-confidence and a bit of bravado can take you a long way. Yet, self-doubt racks too many hikers. The most common question is: “What have I gotten myself into?” That’s when I want to roll my eyes and intone “Duuuuuude! What were you thinking – that is if you were thinking at all?”

Positive attitude!

Being trail ready on day one is priceless. Showing up on the starting line fit, knowledgeable, properly equipped and confident isn’t a guarantee, but it gets you off to a great start.

Eating the Elephant

March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 / jim fetig / 9 Comments

Springer Mountain, Georgia, March 21 – 26, 2015 — My volunteer period is complete. I’ve hauled my last load of hiker trash out of the North Georgia hills. It’s now up to someone else. Some end of tour observations follow.

It’s a free country. You can tell that from the range of people and their degree of respect for nature, the environment and the hard won Appalachian Trail infrastructure. I just wish more hikers would come to the trail better prepared.

The overwhelming majority of people naturally do the right thing. They practice “Leave No Trace” outdoor ethics by taking only photos and leaving only footprints. Everything they truck in, they haul out from cigarette butts, Charmin flowers, and uneaten food to unwanted gear that’s unneeded or too heavy, excess clothing, or used dental floss.

My pleasure was being with these folks. They’re plumbers, pipe fitters, surgeons, teachers, nurses and bus drivers. They share a common love and respect for the outdoors and are excellent students of how to do well out here. They love being outdoors and live to be one with nature.

A lot of hikers come to the AT overwhelmed. They struggle to grasp all 2,189 miles at once. It’s like the old aphorism about how you eat an elephant – one bite at a time. The average AT hiker goes to town every five days. If that’s so, hiking the AT is simply 35 consecutive five-day hikes. Put that way, it’s much easier to get your arms around the magnitude of the task ahead.

My hope is that more hikers would better prepare themselves. I follow a blogger from Colorado who wrote an interesting post this week about Colin Fletcher who wrote some of the seminal books on hiking including the all time favorite, The Complete Walker. His post can be read at this link. http://www.pmags.com/the-complete-walker-iii-colin-fletcher I just wish more people would read Fletcher, or at least check out the enormous amount of information available on line.

Here’s a fellow dressed in cotton (cotton kills). He also could learn a thing or two about packing.

Others are far less attuned to ethical behavior in the back country. They do what they do back home. Twice hikers even tried to argue that I was hiding the trash cans from them. These would-be-thru-hikers had a hard time appreciating that thru hiking is supposed to be a wilderness experience. You pack it in. You pack it out. No trash cans. End of story. I was ignored more than once.

Food containers do not burn completely.

Nothing should go into the fire pits or privies that’s not supposed to be there.

Bill Bryson had it right in his book A Walk in the Woods. It’s been made into a movie which will be in theaters later this summer. Bryson wryly observed the unprepared throwing their gear overboard and much more. Why people come out here so poorly prepared is beyond me, and a hellova lot of others too. You don’t have to look far for classic examples. It’s a topic of continuing conversation among the properly prepared.

This was my final trash run. The load included a discarded tent, new boots, wet cotton clothing and uneaten food. Total pack weight was close to 70 lbs.

Considering how much excellent information is readily available on the internet or from recent books, there’s no excuse for being unprepared. Some self-identify with so-called survivor show heroes and want to give it a whirl. Others are just clueless. Somehow almost all of them manage to learn one thing – that is to wind duct tape around their hiking poles. A precious few don’t even find that out.

There are two basic hiker types out here. There are the thru hikers. They are self-evident. Only one in four will finish. Still, this is their season. They’ve got until mid-October to climb Maine’s Mt. Katahdin before it closes. They’ve got to get going.

Some folks are old school.

Then there are all the shorter distance hikers, sometimes called section hikers. Of them, about half are on spring break – families and college students alike. This is one of the only times during the year when they can come. They identify with the AT brand and are in Georgia because it’s where the southern terminus of the trail is, it’s warm and the logistics are easy. They’re not going away.

There’s an interesting subculture among section hikers. A significant number of these hikers want to share in the excitement of the great spring migration – to be there, to rub shoulders, to share the thrill and/or to relive their own adventure and reignite memories of years past.

Some come every year. It’s muddy form of March Madness where they get to be on the court with the actual players themselves. Later they will follow hikers they’ve met and root for them. It’s hard to beat.

The challenge is that, in the first 30 miles of the trail, for every 10 thru hikers there are 8 section hikers. The infrastructure is taxed to the max! Even the privies fill up – ugh.

This is the second shift cooking dinner at the Gooch Mountain shelter. These were some of the folks tenting in the rain.

Overcrowding has its downsides. Earlier in the week, the Georgia Health Department issued a noro virus warning. A case had been reported in the state. Funky hikers who don’t know how to stay clean in the wilderness, living in close proximity, form a perfect petri dish. In spite of the beauty, it can get really ugly out here. Nevertheless, it’s worth it.

Blood Mountain on Saturday morning. Some of the thru hikers showed me the trash they’d collected.

Many hikers are tuned in to Leave No Trace practices and collect trail trash as the hike. I gave one hiker (from Brooklyn, NY no less) a “Trail Karma” award for carrying out discarded clothing and other trash.

Gene from Brooklyn gets a “Trail Karma” award.

Someone creatively tried to hike the space blanket they no longer wanted.

Someone creatively tried to hide a space blanket they no longer wanted.

Still, hikers are excited to be on the AT whether the trail viscosity matches a hot fudge sundae on a summer day in Georgia or it’s frozen over. In many cases they are living their dreams.

Drying out at Hawk Mountain.

Her dreams are one step away from becoming reality.

During my stay the seasons changed – at least twice.

This year the Appalachian Trail is 90 years old. It was built by volunteers and is maintained by volunteers as originally envisioned by its founder Benton MacKaye. It’s thrilling to play a small role in that legacy.

Springer Mountain memorial to Benton McKaye who envisioned a hiking trail along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia.

Winter Wonderland, North Georgia Style

February 27, 2015February 27, 2015 / jim fetig / 6 Comments

Top of Georgia Hostel, Hiawassee, GA, Friday February 27, 2015 — A couple of days ago I marched into the woods to begin my duties helping hikers get through their first of the Appalachian Trail’s (AT) 14 states.

My duties are to educate hikers on Leave No Trace principles, which at its essence means that they are supposed to live in and leave the wilderness undisturbed by their presence. “Leave only footprints” is the mantra.

We also hike out trash we find, help where we can and be a friendly presence on the trail as well as eyes and ears.

The first day began at 9 a.m. at about 70 miles north of the AT’s start point on Springer Mountain. This section begins with a 1,500 foot climb right out of the door. It took about a nano second for me to fully appreciate that the 2,200 mile-strong “trail legs” earned on my thru hike last year were past their expiration date. Ooooph!

But I slushed on through the snow, stopping every 50 yards or so to cool down and catch my breath. I’m packing about 35 lbs. of cold weather gear, gaiters, food, stove, first aid kit, water purification pills, tooth paste and the like. Then there’s my trail saw, trash bags and bungee chords. Oof Da, as the Norwegians say.

First stop was to check the Deep Gap shelter and pick up some detritus left behind by hikers. Not much thank heaven. Then to push on to the Tray Gap shelter, about seven more miles up hill and ahead.

A storm was expected to roll in about 5 p.m., so no day dreaming was allowed.

The snow was typically heavy and wet southern snow ranging from four to eight inches deep with some drifting to a foot. My calves were screaming from pushing up hill and slipping back. What would have been a five hour hike on dry trail unfolded in just nine hours.

Of course the storm hit around four o’clock, an hour early. I arrived at the shelter covered in thick white stuff. Three hikers were there. They were strong and competent though the strongest among them told me that he’d been plowing Georgia snow for 12 days! That’s normally five to six days for most people just starting out.

I ate and took a deep dive into my down bag and reached slumber depth before anyone could say it’s snowing.

Throughout the night the wind whipped snow across my face, waking me occasionally. Who knew what we’d find in the morning.

The dawn sparkled with a fresh landscape of new snow, six to 12 inches adrift over everything. At least it looks good, I reasoned.

Now this has always been a family blog. But hikers have to do their business in the morning. Let’s just say that some mornings are easier than others.

The snowscape was inspiring.

Along the way I removed trail obstructions and noted some heavier work for later.

Wild pigs love to root and pillage.

Needless to say, the slogging was tiring. The smart decision was to push on another 8 miles and over another 1,500 foot climb to Unicoi Gap where I could get a ride back to the Top of Georgia Hostel where I’ve set up my base camp. I’d totaled only 20 miles.

Today is a zero day and the snow is melting. Tomorrow it’s back to Unicoi and another steep climb up Blue Mountain. We’ll see how far I get.

Back to the future

February 14, 2015 / jim fetig / 10 Comments

February 14, 2015 — I’m packing up and headed for some training in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) has a base camp there used for training year round and for trail crews in the summer.

I’ll be joining a group of ridgerunners. Ridgerunners patrol in season the Appalachian Trail (AT) from beginning to end. The onset of thru hiking season is just around the corner, and it’s time to get ready.

My role is to test the use of volunteers to augment the paid seasonal staff. The difference is that I’ll be there only for the month of March. Everyone else is there for the duration of hiking season – until autumn.

The need for the test is that AT (and other trails) is expected to see a large increase next year in thru hike attempts in response to the movies “Wild” in theaters now, and “A Walk in the Woods” which will be in theaters before summer’s end.

Historical data establishes a direct correlation between increases in thru hike attempts and popular mass media about hiking or the AT. Books, television, videos have done it every time. Now we have Hollywood to help drive up the numbers next year.

My patrol area is the AT’s 78 miles in Georgia. We walk five days and spend four nights on the trail. The sixth day is off. Of interest, we hike southbound (SOBO) for the purpose of meeting as many thru hikers as possible. Once we reach Springer Mountain, the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club shuttles us back north to do it all again.

Among our duties is to help hikers as we can, educate them on Leave No Trace™ principles and trail etiquette, pick up litter, do minor trail repairs, and report issues we cannot handle. These hikes are not about miles. They’re about the smiles.

The forecast isn’t friendly, at least for next week. It’s going to be colder than a well digger’s backside in the Smoky’s. So much so that we’ve been told that we’ll be spending our nights at the basecamp and none sleeping outside. Yea! No sense practicing being miserable.

The weather in Georgia will probably whip back and forth between ugly and nice with huge improvements toward the end of March. Still, the southern Appalachians are high enough that snow can fall into April, even when the temperatures in Atlanta and points south are cooking.

I’m looking forward to some former stomping grounds. Dick’s Creek Gap is just short of the North Carolina border and the northern edge of the patrol area. Blood Mountain is in the center of the sector. It’s got some interesting native American history with some ornery bear activity on the side.

I plan to blog daily, but publish them as every fifth or sixth day as time permits just like I did on my thru hike. So stay tuned. If anyone has read Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods, you know this could be interesting.

A fork in the road

Yogi said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." So I'm following the white blazes.

Georgia