Blame the Weatherman

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014 / jim fetig / 1 Comment

Matts Creek Shelter, Va., AT NOBO mile 778.6, Sunday March 23 — Today’s my daughter’s 25th birthday. Happy birthday Tiger. Go get ’em!

Today’s forecast was for sunny and 70F. I dressed accordingly.

Had a lousy night’s sleep. Don’t know why. The night was too warm, maybe. At around 2:30 am the temp dropped 20 degrees. That did it. I slept ’til 7 am; was hiking by eight.

There I was cruising up the first of two scheduled climbs for the day when, two hours in, nickel-size snow flakes began bombarding the woods as if dropped from a fleet of B-52s directly overhead.

“Where the hey did this come from,” I muttered. Faster than a NASCAR pit crew, my wet weather gear was on me and my pack. Everything needed fits in pockets outside my pack, making for quick access. “That’s not what the weatherman said!”

Just then a gaggle of Boy Scouts trooped by. Some were in shirtsleeve T-shirts. ‘Nuff said, I thought. I’m not the only one.

Being a bit underdressed kept me moving at a hasty pace all day. I reached my planned destination by two o’clock. Stopping for the day at 2 pm in the cold, empty shelter wasn’t a viable option, so I pressed on for a total of slighly more than 22 miles on the day. Now I’m much lower in altitude and out of the snow.

The old aphorism about everybody complaining about the weather – and by extension weathermen – but nobody ever does anything about it.

As I passed through the trail feature known as the guillotine, the answer to the age old complaint flashed between my ears.

“Off with ‘is ‘ead!” The answer was obvious.

I hear music

March 21, 2014March 25, 2014 / jim fetig / Leave a comment

Bobblets Gap Shelter, AT NOBO mile 742.5, Friday March 21, 2014 — For the first time this year song birds sounded the morning alarm! Until now, the forest has been as mute as a mime.

Just as the song birds voiced their pleasure, I spied dwarf daffodils marking their corner of the camp area. But, … There’s snow and sleet in the forecast for Tuesday. Seems Old Man Winter just won’t exit stage right or wrong. Dude! Take the hint!!!

During the day’s walk I spotted Carolina wrens, black capped chickadees, a tufted titmouse, a dark-eyes junko and a cat bird. These all appear at our feeder throughout the winter, so there’s no surprise other than why their spring concert season premiered today.

I also saw a honey bee, surely a sign of spring tho nothing is blooming. P.S. Oh yes there is.

We’re entering the area where the AT crosses over the Blue Ridge Parkway for the next hundred miles or so. It’s the same drill as Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, only minus the waysides where there’s food within easy reach.

I still haven’t forgotten that I did not get my Blackberry Milkshake at the Elk Wallow wayside because the congress closed Shenandoah… Getting one is on my bucket list for sure. Better than beer!

Audie Murphy Memorial

March 18, 2014June 25, 2020 / jim fetig / 6 Comments

Major Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in WWII, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor as the highest among his several decorations for valor. The Audie Murphy memorial on the AT marks the plane crash in which he died as a civilian after the war.

It’s a hiker tradition to leave something at the memorial, especially those of us who are veterans. I’ve been carrying a special Army pin since the beginning of my hike, expressly for the that purpose.

Audie Murphy served in the U.S. Army’s Third Infantry Division (Rock of the Marne) which is currently stationed near Savannah, Ga. at Ft. Stewart. There its mission is to be our nation’s rapidly deployable armored force.

What you may not know is that many military units have unique songs that grow out of their various traditions. The Third Division’s song is a fun ditty entitled “Dogface Soldier” which is reminiscent of the culture and times when it was written in WWII. Here’s a link: http://www.stewart.army.mil/faq/dogface.mp3  By the way, and no offense to my Marine comrades, but I too “Wouldn’t give a bean to be a fancy-pants Marine. 🙂

Regular readers of this blog know this, but for those who don’t, I’m a retired “dog face” Army infantryman with 28 years of service. Today I proudly stood at attention and saluted the memory of a bona fide American hero.

“Dog Face.” That’d be a great trail name for somebody, don’t ya think?

This is how Murphy might have heard or sung it:

“I wouldn’t give a bean to be a fancy-pants Marine.
I’ll be the dog face soldier that I am.

I wouldn’t trade my old ODs for all the Navy’s dungarees,
’cause I’m the walkin’ pride of Uncle Sam.

The poster on the wall says the Army builds men,
So they’re tearing me down to build me over again.

I’m just a dogface soldier with a rifle on my shoulder.
I eat my beans for breakfast every day.

If you feed me ammunition,
‘N keep me in the Third Division,
Your dogface soldier ‘ll be okay!”

The day ended post-hiking up the Dragon’s Tooth in a biting wind. The icy descent to my waiting friend’s car was treacherous practice for New Hampshire’s White Mountains coming up in June.

Am now taking a weather zero in Roanoke.

Brought to you by our sponsor…

March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 / jim fetig / Leave a comment

Rice Field Shelter, Va., Mile 638.1, March 13, 2014 — “This is W Appalachian Trail radio and that was Bob Dylan and “A Hard Rain.”

And now a word from our sponsor (Mad Men style). Hikers, do you feel tired after a long day on the trail? Are you more run down than usual? Do your feet get sore making every step painful? Then you need to zero at Woods Hole Hostel. Neville and Michael can restore your vitality with a deep tissue massage or a little downward dog action on the yoga mat. But best of all, Neville can prepare you a nutritious and delicious home cooked meal that will restore your energy and improve your outlook. You can even help. At meal time hikers can volunteer to help out making the leafy green salad, slicing the aromatic bread or helping to clean up afterward. ‘A little slice of heaven. Not to be missed.’ Stay awhile at Woods Hole Hostel. It’ll help you hike!

And now ‘Stormy Weather’ on W Appalachian Trail radio …

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you another one of Jim’s blogs. Take it away Sisu on the trail.”

Left my favorite little farm in the snow. The snow had all but disappeared by the time I reached Pearisburg with it’s stinky Celanese Plant. It’s aroma reminded my of the glacial acetic acid used in the wet chemistry darkrooms of long ago.

The climb out of Pearisburg was on poorly maintained trail, but uneventful. Rice Field Shelter is situated on the edge of a bald with a to-die-for view. If the weather were warmer and less windy, I would have slept on the cliff’s edge.

Matt dropped of in Pearisburg to see his cousin. Probably will not see him again.

So it goes on the trail:

The sky is blue
The leaves are brown,
The trail goes up
And the trail goes down.

Hikers come
Hikers go,
We march on
Not hoping for snow.

Tomorrow’s trail candy is “The Captain’s Place”. He’s a guy who lets hikers tent in his yard after the crossing the river on a zip line. Too bad I’ll pass at mid day.

Discretion Over Valor

March 7, 2014March 7, 2014 / jim fetig / 4 Comments

Today’s lesson children is humility.

Yesterday my plan called for 18.5 miles if my every other shelter strategy was to hold up. The real challenge wasn’t all the good stuff that happened in the morning, it was one big mountain immediately followed by a smaller one that came at the end of the day.

If the day’s exercise ended after the first mountain, all would have been hunky dory. I learned the 15 mile limit makes all the more sense after being off the trail for nearly two months.

When I awoke this morning to a landscape dusted in snow so ably predicted by mission control – thanks very much – I knew that last mountain, Bushy Peak, had done me in. Every muscle I have is sore.

Here’s the set up for my dramatic announcement. I met to southbounders yesterday who said there are six legit northbounders ahead. Most are at least two weeks ahead, but I should expect to see one of them at my intended destination, Knott Maul Shelter. And so he was, an affable 23-year-old student from Richmond, Va.

This morning we set out together. We had two steep climbs that proved significant. We both struggled. At one point I got hypoglycemic. Energy bar to the rescue.

We reached Chestnut Knob Shelter at 3 pm, two hours behind schedule. No chance of pushing on to the next shelter. As a bonus, it has a truly million dollar view so what’s not to like. The stone building even has a door, and used to house the fire wardens who manned the fire tower now long gone.

I did lot of thinking while shuffling of today’s hills. Nearly two months off was too much. 5,106 feet of elevation gain, not counting the small ups and downs, took an unexpected toll on my body. I need to cut back my pace until my body adjusts. After all, I’ve got the time. Look for 10 mile days for awhile.

Dumbo’s Feather

February 26, 2014 / jim fetig / 7 Comments

I am thru-hiking the AT this year with fond memories of my late friend Bob Schwartz.

In the mid-1970s, when we were young, hard-bodied and living in Colorado Springs, Bob was my favorite hiking, climbing, and biking partner. We would hit the Rocky Mountain high country as often as our lives and wives would allow.

Together we summited “fourteeners” in winter and summer, bouldered and swam through the 1,800-foot-deep Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, rode centuries through the rolling plains around C-Springs, and contemplated the cosmos as we camped at starry-eyed altitudes.

Bob in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, Colorado

Bob loved New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Walking there in his footsteps there will be the most cherished part of this experience.

Bob was a native New Yorker (Brooklyn). Through his eyes (and accent) I learned my way around the city long before I ever set foot there. His quintessentially Jewish sense of humor and piercing intellect were extraordinary.

Bob graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale in only three years on his way to becoming a distinguished physicist, NASA scientist and university professor. During our journeys we often camped above tree line where the deep velvet sky is sequined in stars. His education was my good fortune because, ever the professor, he never missed an opportunity to expand my mind and share his appreciation for the cosmos.

Bob tragically died of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) in 1980. At the time, his doctors believed he might have contracted this brain-destroying disease while doing post-doc work at Cambridge University. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) was present in the UK then, and researchers believed that CJD could be contracted by eating contaminated beef.

The irony of a mind-robbing disease destroying a brilliant intellect remains heart-breaking to this day.

After he died, Bob’s wife Mary wanted me to have his climbing and camping gear. In Bob’s memory, I will carry one of his carabineers.

How would I know the carabineer was Bob’s? Climbers mark their equipment because during climbs it often gets co-mingled with hardware belonging to others. Since Schwartz sounds like schwarz – German for the color black – Bob marked his gear with black electrical tape. Duh!

If Bob were part of this hike, and believe me he would have jumped right on it, we would literally fly like Disney pachyderms. ‘Quit’ and ‘impossible’ were not in his vocabulary, although he spelled PRUDENCE in all caps.

Once while ascending the south route of Colorado’s Crestone Needle (14,197ft.) in February, my toes were suffering from frost nip on their way to something worse. We descended to our tent pitched on a saddle below, warmed my foot and changed into dry socks. I was thinking zero and a very early dinner, but Bob pointed his mittened hand upward, and back up we went to keep our appointment with the blustery summit.

My friend, we will be united once more, especially on those magical midnights when stardust rains from the sky. Your carabineer will serve as a talisman inspiring me to press onward relentlessly and always. It will remind me to be courageous, to challenge my imagination and to encourage my mind to travel far beyond what little I can actually see.

I am so thankful to have Mary’s bequest. It reminds me that life and good health should never be wasted. You have my solemn promise to give this journey every ounce of energy, fortitude and kindness to others that I can muster.

Just as Dumbo clutched his feather and soared, I hope having Bob’s ‘beaner’ along for the ride will do the same for me. BTW, It’s not useless weight. In addition to its function as totem, it moonlights by clipping my micro spikes to my pack by day and as my bear bag hanger by night.

Sisu – Making tracks

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” Marcus Aurelius

(A version of this essay was previously posted on Trail Journals.)

Vandalism

February 19, 2014 / jim fetig / 2 Comments

A certain number of our fellow countrymen/women don’t like rules and they don’t hesitate to demonstrate their viewpoint. The AT is far from pristine throughout the 700 miles I’ve hiked so far.

The A.T. Journey’s magazine recently chronicled the growing graffiti problem. The story is spot on. Most every shelter is covered in it. Of interest, almost all of the graffiti dates no earlier than 2010. Since then, every year is amply represented. It makes one wonder what change caused such an explosion of orgasmic ego expression. Did fracking fluid enter the water supply?

Hint to the young folks who do this – and you can tell. It’s not flattering to you or your generation.

Trash is another problem. The Carter Gap shelter and the grounds around it in North Carolina where my most excellent bear experience occurred was full of empty food containers. My theory is that the bear hangs out there because he can score tasty treats the campers leave behind.

To be fair, not all the trash is left by long distance hikers. Hunters and weekenders probably account for most of it. How do I think I know that? Well, it’s the cans and other detritus one finds which have included frying pans and coffee pots – not the stuff 2,000 miler wanna bees routinely hump, especially after a couple of hundred miles. I’ve also found spent ammunition in and around the shelters as well as on the trail. This, in spite of the hunting ban on and in proximity to the AT.

Property damage also is prevalent in some areas. This is from that part of Tennessee where the AT right of way was taken by eminent domain. Every night I was in the area, hunters passed through in their ATVs using the trail itself as their primary right of way.

There’s a lot of trash in this photo taken on the night the temp dipped to zero at Ice Water Springs in the Smokies in early November. Too much of it stayed put in the shelter. I tried to gently shame the young Southbounders who left it into carrying it out when they decided to backtrack into Gatlinburg to duck the weather. They politely let me know where they wanted me to stick it.

Three things – erosion, trash and overgrowth – are serious threats to the AT. Any one of them could destroy the experience. Clearly Leave No Trace could use a few more evangelists.

For those who are following, my hike should resume in about 10 days. I’m almost done with the aftermath of my mother’s passing, my taxes are filed and I now have a Medicare card. The National Weather Service reports about 18 inches of snow with deeper drifts at altitude. Here’s hoping that it’s warming enough to melt a bunch of that snow by the time I can get back out.

The next stretch will be a treat. There’s Woods Hole hostel, the Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and the Priest, plus a few other chunks of trail candy. Best of all, several friends who live along the way plan to meet me. Baring another nor’easter, t should take about a month to reach Waynesboro where one of my high school classmates lives. Can’t wait to see him.

Sisu – Makin’ tracks.

A Christmas Reward

December 26, 2013December 26, 2013 / jim fetig / Leave a comment

This holiday break was a gift for sore legs in more ways than one.

It is the third long break to occur during my hike. I didn’t plan it that way. The calendar just intervened on its own like a deus ex machine to save my bacon, or at least that part of my anatomy that is analogous to the part of the pig where we find bacon.

Maybe my trail name ought to be something like “Well Rested, Days Off or Hardly Hikes.”

Nevertheless, being home is a treat. Let’s see, there’s hot water on demand and porcelain, the fridge doubles as an endless food bag, and best of all, the shelter is warm when I wake up no matter the outside temperature! Central heating. What a concept!

In contrast, there is the honey do list, regular chores, family matters, holiday shopping and far too many impatient drivers. I do live in the Washington, D.C. region where “everyone is entitled and special” after all.

Do I really have to go back out in the cold? You bet, so start getting your head and backside ready.

Of course, I knew the facts of thru hiking life the day I returned home. In fact, I was motivated. I started running on the first day just to maintain my cardio fitness, but I put off the dreaded gym as long as possible.

My wife’s mother taught me to make nisu, a traditional Finnish braided holiday bread that is smothered in cherries, nuts and frosting. We enjoy it on Christmas Eve. This special treat takes forever to make because it has to rise three different times during the course of its preparation. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4168/finnish-nisu-aka-pulla.

I used to get up at 2 a.m. so that the nisu could be ready in time to unwrap presents on Christmas morning. But, once Santa’s alias became obvious to every household member, we shifted the presents and the bread to Christmas Eve so dad could get a few extra winks.

This year, while the nisu was rising and Sisu was contemplating its stratospheric caloric richness, I slipped in a trip to Fitness Together in Bethesda, Maryland where I train. By doing so, I rationalized that I could discount the calories in advance.

By the time my training session was over, I knew the next day was going to hurt. Hiking doesn’t work your body much above the waist. Of course, that’s the part that got tortured the most.

As Christmas day opened, this hiker hobbled out of bed like a geriatric pretzel permanently bent and twisted into a shape not found in nature. I felt like a human sacrifice. However, a generous dose of vitamin I, some gentle stretching, and an extra hot Hollywood (very long) shower combined to enable basic locomotion and upright posture.

The best part came later. I limbered up enough to zip off a five-mile run and topped my usual time for the course by better than a minute and a half per mile! The exercise and weight loss gods at long last had rewarded my offerings.

In a short while, I’m going back to the gym. Dread the thought, but will love the run to follow.

BTW, the way the weather forecast is racking up, it appears I’ll be back on the trail when the calendar flips to a new year. Since I usually go to bed early, I won’t miss much. I’ll just celebrate at hiker midnight rather than when the clock strikes.

The ponies of Grayson Highlands will be the scheduled highlight. Can’t wait.

600 Mile Gear Review

December 20, 2013December 21, 2013 / jim fetig / 2 Comments

No two hikers are alike – in their experience, size, strength, comfort levels, ambition, motivation, fears, concerns and confidence level, and expectations. That’s part of what makes interesting the beast that an Appalachian Trail thru hike is.

After more than 600 miles, I thought a gear review might be in order. Remember that this experience has been mine alone. Your or anybody else’s reality could be very different.

First to recap. I hiked the 160 miles from Waynesboro, Va. (Rockfish Gap) to Harpers Ferry, WVa. starting Sept. 24th and finishing on Oct. 6th. During that period the daily high temperature ranged from 54 to 92 with about a week of each. The experience was instructive to say the least. I still can’t get the funk out of my sleeping bag.

On Oct. 24th I started hiking north from Springer Mountain, Ga. with 13 days off for Thanksgiving. My marker is now in Damascus where I left the trail for Christmas, New Years, income tax and to file for Medicare.

With so many people focused on starting early this spring, my hard learned lessons may be helpful to some.

Philosophically, I am not an ultralight hiker. I’m not a tank either. Ever mindful of weight, I carry what I need to be comfortable, warm and safe. Just understand that I am willing to pay a weight tax in the areas that are important to me – but may not be important to anyone else. My spring/fall pack with 1 liter of water and five days rations weighs around 26 lbs. My full winter weight clocks in between 32 and 34 lbs.

My pack itself is a Deuter Act lite 40 +10. That means that it’s basically a 40 liter pack with about 10 liters of expansion room. When I bought the pack, I thought that its size limitations would help impose some weight discipline. My catch phrase was: “If it don’t fit. It don’t go.” That’s been true, but if I were to do it over, I’d buy a 50 liter pack. Forty liters is very tight, but I have been able to make it work.

Deuter packs have a brilliantly adjustable suspension. I have the build of a marathoner – which makes it hard to find a pack that fits. Deuter’s infinitely adjustable suspension helps my pack fit like a pair of comfortable old slippers. That’s the reason I’m staying with it. I also like its ability to create compartments which help me stay organized. That’s where my love affair ends.

Deuter could improve all its packs tremendously with a few simple fixes. Watersealed seams and water resistant zippers would be more than helpful. This pack leaks like a sieve, even with a rain cover on. You listening Deuter? I really don’t like that.

The hip belt could use properly sized (meaning large) side pockets on both sides. The one pocket it does have is on the right and far too small. Worse, it is located in such a way that I can’t see its contents. The left side has space to attach something – heaven knows what. There are no after market products specifically designed for this pack that could stimulate my imagination that I can find. I made do with a zippered item I found at REI.

My sleep system works – barely. As a winter hiker I need to be prepared for ten below zero. I’m finding that zero is about the limit of real comfort. The system is based on a woman’s 25 degree dry down bag by Sierra Designs. My stature allows me to use a woman’s bag which saves about a pound of weight and $100 in cost. I really like the extra insulation they put in the area for your feet in a woman’s bag.

The bag is supplemented with a silk liner – mostly for the purpose of absorbing grime and managing drafts. The question is, What happens when the temp threatens to plummet below 25 degrees?

Since I can expect a huge range of temperatures on the trail during the winter, I have to have an adjustable clothing/sleeping system. To supplement both, I truck two puffy down jackets – one medium and one large so they fit inside one another. Then there’s the puffy down pants and booties. Combined, with clothing layers, I figured this system would easily get me to `10F.

Not so. The sleeping bag itself is made of light weight fabric. When stretched by water bottles and a butane fuel container, the bag develops cold spots when the temp nears zero. It hasn’t bothered me much, but I don’t like it. Moreover, the zipper snags both up and down because the fabric is so light. That’s not good.

When I return to the trail after the holidays, I’m switching to my 1970’s zero degree bag. It’s bigger and heavier, but it is absolutely bullet proof to zero. With the puffies added, it’ll take anything mother nature can throw at it, and I’ll be more confident.

My Thermarest NeoAir mattress is awesome!!! Can’t praise it enough. If I could marry it, it would. I’ll just sleep with it instead. 🙂

I switched from a Pocket Rocket stove to a Jet Boil Sol. Since I cook exclusively in Zip Lock freezer bags, that was the right move. The size increase was miniscule. The efficiency increase is remarkable and well worth it. With the Pocket Rocket, I used up a full size butane cartridge about every 10 days. With the Jet Boil, the mini cartridge lasted 18 days with fuel to spare.

I use a Zpacks food bag. It’s NOT waterproof. Moreover, it needed to be modified with an extra tiny snap link and some chord to make it easily hangable and operable with mittens. I’d buy it again. The size is about right for up to a week’s worth of food.

Speaking of modifications, I’ve had to modify about everything – tent, rain jacket, food bag, and pack – for winter and mittens. Try and operate everything you own with mittens on before you actually hike. You’ll be surprised.

My iPod and iPhone serve as communications and entertainment – the entertainment is mostly at night. Since lithium batteries suffer from cold, I carry three Mophies that will fully charge my iPhone a total of one time each, plus the charge in the phone itself. The priority is to the phone because I frequently text my wife and family where I am. I reserve one battery for my iPod which serves as evening entertainment. This arrangement usually works.

I keep the phone in airplane mode most of the time and a battery usually lasts a couple of days, if not more.

My rain gear – pants and jacket are traditional. They work. My jacket is a North Face with pit zips. It’s functional, but the chords that tighten the hood and waist are not designed to use with gloves or mittens. So much for the compromises necessary to honor North Face’s identity as a fashion brand.

My clothing is in a Sea to Summit compressible dry sack. I carry an extra base layer, plus a sleeping shirt, four layers, a sleeping hat and three pair of socks in addition to the aforementioned down gear.

That’s about it for equipment. I carry gloves and waterproof arctic mittens. My first aid kit services me and my equipment. My headlamp is a light weight single LED by Princeton Tec.

I also carry one charging cable and iPad charger for each battery and electronic device I carry. There are not enough outlets at the hostels. They’ve not caught up to the 21st century in that regard.

My return to the trail is indefinite. My mother is struggling with cancer. I may fly home to Colorado to be with her before continuing my hike.

I also plan to sneak in the Grayson highlands between Christmas and the New Year with the help of the kind folks at Mt. Rogers Outfitters who will shuttle me 60 miles north so I can hike back to my car in Damascus. Once past Grayson, altitude will be less of a weather factor.

On blogging and future plans

November 19, 2013November 19, 2013 / jim fetig / 2 Comments

AT blogs seem to be divisible into two fundamental categories. The travelog and the essay.

The travelog blogs appear to try and chronicle in as much detail each day more or less as the hiker progresses. In 2013 there were several outstanding writers of this genre. My favorite was Linda (Karma) Daly’s blog at http://thumperwalk.com.

The essayists pick topics and explore them. A lot of the travelog detail makes it into these stories, just not in chronological order. Clever Girl was, in my view, handsdown best in this class at http://trailkit.blogspot.com

My blog is a collection of essays. Either my imagination is a failure, or I’m too boring to write a travelog. I’ve spent 36 days hiking the Appalachian Trail since 10:08 a.m. Sept. 24. That’s enough to know that most of the days are pretty much alike. The first time something happens, it’s special. After that it becomes pretty mundane. I can’t make writing about hiking in the rain interesting more than once – if that – unless it turns into an adventure of sorts.

I’m telling you this because I have some readers who may be expecting a travelog. For instance, someone wrote to me correcting my mileage to date. It’s 400.8. What I said in my last blog was that I was writing from Hot Springs, NC. Due to the essay format, I did not say I hiked there. In reality, I got a shuttle from Davenport Gap where I’d stayed at Standing Bear Farm, to Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs. Hence the missing miles.

I needed the shuttle because my wife was scheduled to pick up me, along with two other hikers who needed to get to the D.C. area, in 36 hours. With sore tendons from having to hike long days to reach certain shelters in the Smokies, I was in no condition to hike 38 miles that quickly. Moreover I was a day behind schedule thanks to the storm that dictated my side trip to Gatlinburg. So, I got a ride and took a zero in a great hiker town to make up the difference.

When I return to the tail, I’ll spend another night at Sanding Bear and start hiking the next morning from Davenport Gap. No way I’m going to miss Max Patch! I’ll also get another night at Elmer’s when I reach Hot Springs. That’s a bonus.

The plan for the hiking through the winter is simple. Since I’m solo, I am acutely aware that I need to be careful of the weather. My wife and I will be paying acute attention to 10-day forecasts with the intention of being off the trail during storms. The accuracy of 10-day forecasting means I’ll be hiking on average from three to seven days out of every 10.

In addition, from this point on, I’ll be trucking my full winter kit complete with snowshoes, microspikes, mittens, balaclava, including down jacket, pants and booties to supplement my sleeping bag. Everything is in dry sacks. The down garments are double bagged.

My winter goal is to reach by the end of March, Waynesboro, VA where I started on Sept. 24. If this is a stormy winter, that may not happen. If not, I’ll dive into the first 2014 hiker bubble that comes along in the spring.

I did hear that there are two men and one woman, each hiking solo, ahead of me. I hope to meet them before the winter is out.

So, family, friends and random readers, that’s the plan. More to come on gizmos and gadgets, the 2:3 ratio, the cost of trips to town, and more.

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.

thru hike