The train had arrived around 11:00 am and I made my way from the stationo to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy office for the traditional post card photo.  I was enjoying the sights and history of Harper’s Ferry.  My plan was to stay at the Harper’s Ferry Hostel just outside of town and begin my northward journey the next morning on my birthday. (I definitely reccommend the hostel which is capable of accomodating large groups and is very reasonably priced, $20.16).  On the west side of the railway bridge where the Shenandoah joins the Potomac, there is a double white blaze marker indicating the turn in the trail that will carry you east across the railway bridge that spans the Potomac and brings you into Maryland from West Virginia; my first state border crossing.

Now I don’t know if it was because I was so distracted by the gorgeous environment or if someone may have blocked the view of the next blaze, or what, but for whatever reason, once I crossed the bridge and descended the spiral iron-grated stairs – (a personally challenging obstacle for me…I tend to freeze up on these types of stairs, but today, my fear only caused minor quivering in my knees) — I instinctively headed upstream along the C&O towpath.  I knew the Potomac flowed south toward Washington, D.C. so I naturally headed north.  I was, afterall, a NoBo, right?

There are over 84,000 white blazes marking the trail between Georgia and Maine and you would think with such a large amount of markings, that it would be impossible to get lost or make a wrong turn, but in reality, it happens more often than you would think.

I kept watching for blazes and knew I would be making another turn to the hostel near another bridge, but I didn’t see any blazes or bridges.  I heard the teachings of previous hikers echo in my head, ‘If you don’t see a white blaze within 1/2 mile, you are probably off the trail and should turn back.’, but I brushed the thought aside KNOWING that I was heading NORTH and rationalizing that because the tow path was so wide, graded and heavily traveled that there really was no need for blazes to guide you along it.  Surely, I would see a blaze near the turn to the hostel.

1 mile, no blaze…1 1/2 miles, no blaze…maybe I’ve misjudged the distance…2 miles, no blaze, no bridge.  Ok, something isn’t right.  I ask a couple approaching my from the opposite direction; ‘Is the Sandy Hook bridge nearby?”

“Yes, there’s a bridge just ahead.”

Ok, just a little further, I think to myself.  I round a turn on the path, only a small foot bridge is visible on my right.  Definitely not the large bridge required to carry the Route 340 traffic for which I was searching.  I confer with the next gentleman approaching me and he looks at my map, studying if for a moment to orient himself, then informs me that what I’m looking for is on the SOUTH side of the Harper’s Ferry railway bridge.

Again, I hear voices of advice in my head, ‘The trail doesn’t always go cardinal or geographically north on the way north.’  I thank the gentleman and turn south to retrace my steps to the railway bridge.  As I pass the railway bridge, I see a white blaze on a post just a few yards south on the towpath.  Before long, I would be at the hostel.

I chuckled a little at my wrong turn and how I became ‘lost’ on the A.T. with over 84,000 blazes to mark the way.  I had added 4 miles to my walk that day and didn’t regret a minute of it.  The water was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the wildlife abundant and the people were happy.

If you have the time…get lost along the Harper’s Ferry C&O towpath on a beautiful spring day.  You won’t regret it.

The post Get Lost in Harper’s Ferry appeared first on Appalachian Trials Blog.

I did have a close call with a minor accident this past Saturday afternoon, though, but in the end all I have is a scraped up forearm and a slightly sore neck. Here’s what happened, I left Pearisburg, VA Saturday morning and met some nice young guys during the day who said that they were going to stay at The Captain’s that night, which is about twenty-one miles from Pearisburg. It sounded good to me and it’s mentioned briefly in the guidebook so I made The Captain’s my destination for the day.

About 4:00 pm I got to the spot just across a large creek from The Captain’s where you have to use a zip line to cross the creek. There were no instructions and this would be my first time using a zip line, so I decided to give it my best try. Foxtrot, another hiker, was on the other side and yelled, “Take your pack off and hang it on the carabiner”. So I did that, sat down in the seat and start pulling on the line to move myself across the creek. Before I even got over the water my pack swung around behind me and caused me to flip over backwards. I went heels-over-head backwards and ended up in the dirt beside the creek. I guess that’s better than landing in the creek!

I was so embarrassed…me Walker, now a somewhat experienced outdoorsman, getting dumped on the zip line! I quickly stood up, checked to see if anyone had seen my fall. Of course Foxtrot had and there were a couple of other guys around but they didn’t make fun of me, only asked if I was okay. Fortunately I just had a deep scrape on my forearm which I disinfected and bandaged when I got to the other side. I did notice that the second time I got in the seat to attempt to cross the creek, Foxtrot got out his smartphone and was videoing me. I think he was expecting a repeat performance and this time maybe I would even make it over the water and provide him the material for a YouTube viral video. Sorry Foxtrot…I made it across safely on the second attempt.

In retrospect it is quite funny of course…but it was embarrassing and after having made it almost 700 miles without a fall, I was a bit disgusted with myself for having a close call. Most hikers, especially us older folks, try really hard not to fall because it’s easy to hurt yourself (sprained knee or ankle or worse) and have to get off the trail for a while. At least I learned a good lesson and the next time I get on a zip line I’ll be more careful and I’ll know to keep my pack in front of me for balance and to hold on tightly with one had while pulling with the other hand.

Anyway, The Captain’s was great! According to The Captain, he gets his trail name from the fact that he looks like Captain Kangaroo. He’s a great guy and a real friend to hikers, who he allows to camp on his property or sleep on his back porch if it’s raining. He also has a refrigerator full of sodas on his back porch that he provides for free. In fact, he doesn’t charge hikers for anything and doesn’t solicit donations. Two weeks after Trail Days in Damascus he hosts a ‘hiker feed’ and he said that he generally has over a hundred hikers camped at his place. His property is a little slice of heaven, located on Stony Creek. He has a large grass-covered yard that is perfect for camping with a picnic table, fire ring, clothesline, outdoor water faucet, and plenty of firewood.

Saturday night there were about ten tents set up and a really good group of hikers, including two young Brits, Butch and Sundance, who are in the US hiking the AT during their gap year. They have a great spirit and they are easily recognizable in their bright Hawaiian-style hiker clothes which they purchased at a Goodwill here in the States. Everyone enjoyed The Captain’s hospitality and camping at such a beautiful spot. If you get a chance to stop for a night at The Captain’s, don’t miss it!

Here’s a photo of The Captain’s place…

Hikers enjoying The Captain's hospitality.

The post Virginia! appeared first on Appalachian Trials Blog.

Oh…well hello there anxiety!

I have spent the last year physically preparing for a long-distance hike – I’ve bought guidebooks and studied them obsessively, planned out my resupplies, purchased enough new gear to rival REI, dehydrated hundreds of dollars of food (50 bags of groceries = about one bag after dehydration…), studied other people’s journals, watched videos, read books, trained with a full backpack, and driven everyone I know crazy with my PCT obsession.

But how does one mentally prepare to leave the family they love, the comforts of their home, all the familiar, safe routines to set out on a difficult, long journey full of unknowns?  Zach’s book has been wonderful in helping to prepare for many aspects of this, but the one area that has been most difficult for me is leaving my family behind.

I have a strategy to cope with my impending homesickness.  The largest aspect of my strategy was that I switched from hiking the A.T. to hiking the PCT – makes sense as I live in California, so now I am closer to home and my partner can visit me on the trail more easily.  I am also bringing my cell phone for texts/phone calls when I have a signal.

The second important part of my strategy is to keep a positive frame of mind and know that the trail will end at some point and I will be coming home.

With that being said, I am still dealing with a wide range of emotions – excitement (I can’t believe it’s almost here!), fear (what am I getting myself into?  what if I have to camp by myself in the woods?), sadness (leaving my partner and six cats at home), and anxiety (do I have everything I need?  what if I screwed up my resupply and have to go hungry?  what if I forget my maps?  I don’t even know what all the functions are on my Suunto watch are yet!).

It’ll all be okay.

Ivan says "Quit yer whining and get out there!"

I leave in 3 days for the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick-Off (ADZPCTKO) where I will spend several days attending seminars, meeting my fellow PCT hikers, and settle those butterflies before my long journey.

The desert is in bloom!

My next post will be from the Pacific Crest Trail.  With any luck, I will be so exhausted by my insomnia that I will sleep like a baby.

But somehow I doubt it…

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“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Gang aft agley, [often go awry]

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

For promised joy.”      

– Robert Burns’ poem To a Mouse, 1786.

How depressing!!

How often have people quoted from this poem?  How many have ever actually read the poem though or understood it?  Aside from the old English and therefore unfamiliar phases used (i.e. Gang aft agley….say what?), if it wasn’t for the truth that lies in Mr. Burns’ poem and John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men I don’t know that the quote above would be readily recognized by anyone today.

In case, you don’t know the background of this poem, let me give you a brief synopsis.  Mr. Burns supposedly plowed through a mouse’s nest in his field one day and wrote this poem as an apology to the mouse.

Basically, the event got him thinking about how things fall apart and don’t always work out like we plan.  He ends the poem with lamenting about how the mouse is better off than himself, because at least the mouse doesn’t carry the memories of past failures nor is the mouse fearful of the uncertain future.  Mr. Burns must have been a really depressed young man when he wrote this.

We all have had plans that didn’t work out and I certainly have spent my fair share of time being depressed and lamenting over things that haven’t gone the way I had hoped throughout the years.  I understand how Mr. Burns could feel so hopeless and scared about the future, but he missed the key lesson of this event while he was wallowing in his misery.  The lesson was staring him right in the face and he even touched upon it, but didn’t embrace it.

Look at the mouse.

The mouse didn’t waste time lamenting over the home destroyed.  The mouse didn’t sit there paralyzed with fear because it didn’t know what the future might bring. The mouse didn’t suffer from a lack of confidence in its abilities because circumstances beyond its control destroyed what it had already accomplished.  No, the mouse went right back to work building another home.

The mouse had something Mr. Burns was lacking…determination!

Yes, we all suffer disappointments and we all experience plans that go awry, but that’s when it’s time to re-assess the goal and the plans to reach that goal.  You have to ask yourself many questions during that process.

Is this goal still important for me to achieve?

Is there a better way to achieve it?

Am I being realistic about this goal?

Is it time to seek a new goal or new direction?

I have been asking myself a lot of questions over these last couple weeks and re-assessing my plans and goals.  And I’m here to announce that I am still determined to complete the trail this year and with the advice of my doctor taken into consideration and with her help, I should be able to continue toward my goal in just a couple more weeks.

This has resulted in a major change in the way that I will complete the mileage, but nonetheless, the entire trail will be covered.  I will be returning to the trail at Harpers Ferry, WV and heading north following the spring into New England.  Then hopefully near the end of August or in early September, I will return to Harpers Ferry and head south with the fall season and end my hike in the area of Hiawassee, GA near the beginning of November.

The A.T.C. calls this alternative hiking plan, Head Start – May.

A head start, hmm, that has a hopeful ring to it, doesn’t it?

If you’d like to read more details about the how’s, why’s and what frogs have to do with my change in plans, check out my Hopping the Hills to Harpers Ferry article at http://walkingloon.blogspot.com

The post Mr. Burns’ Mouse appeared first on Appalachian Trials Blog.

Announcer enters center ring and reaches for the descending microphone.  The contestants stand sweating and weary but his side.  A hush falls over the crowd as the announcer reads the judges’ decision.

And the winner is by an unanimous decision and technical knockout, the reigning champ-i-on….The Appalachian Trail!!

Supporters of the Trail’s opponent, The Loon, boo wildly!  The defeated opponent hangs her head in sorrow, but still manages to briefly bump gloves with the Trail and says, “Good match”, then turns to exit the ring.

With over a 70% win ratio every year, the Trail’s winning record is tough to beat.  There will be other opponents and other bouts this year.  Occassionally some of the underdog fighters will win and the crowd will cheer for them.

The crowd rarely will cheer a win for the Trail, but that doesn’t mean they hate the Trail.  No, they respect the fact that the Trail is a formidable opponent.  They admire the Trail’s winning record, but everyone is always trying to knock the king off the mountain.  It’s like a rite of passage.  The Trail has set the standard that must be met and many strive to meet the standard.  It’s a matter of pride and accomplishment to achieve a win, to meet the standard set before them.

But, as with all great standards, they are not easy to meet and most will fail to achieve the goal and that is what makes it a great accomplishment.  For if everyone were to achieve the goal, much as we might like to have all successful, the accomplishment might lose it’s allure.  Greatness requires few to achieve to be considered great at all.

As for our defeated opponent, well, at least the match ended in a technical knockout, due to injury and not because of the lack of heart or desire or effort.  The Loon will be receiving medical attention for dual herniated lumbar discs and can not say at this time whether or not there will be a re-match with the Trail.  And while, the sorrow of defeat still looms over the Loon, she can also say that she is extremely thankful and grateful to have the time in the ring with the Trail.  The experience, the people, the pain, the beauty, the love and laughter will not be forgotten.  While she may have lost the match, she still came away from this experience richer and that makes her a winner.

The post And the Winner Is… appeared first on Appalachian Trials Blog.

I decided to start the adventure by hiking the approach trail. My advice is to go to Amacalola Falls and check in get your hiker number and then drive to the Springer parking lot and hike up to Springer Mountain and miss all the stairs and trail that is the approach its not worth it.

The first several days were rough. Acclimating to the elevation plus the cold nights causes me to come down with a cold. Some people go home because of colds pneumonia and other health issues.

On night 3 my Klymit air mattress popped as i rolled into my sleeping bag. The next few nights are cold temps in the teens or below without a pad.

The hike up Blood Mountain was rough but I thought the downhill side was tougher. Lots of rock scrambling and what not. The view was amazing. We pushed on to Neel Gap because the weather was going to get bad.

Was held up at Neel Gap for 3 days due to the weather. Lots of rain, snow, and freezing rain. Still fighting cold like symptoms. Glad I was able to rest up and wait out the weather.

More tough climbs and cold weather my sleeping bag zipper blew out before we made it to Hiawasee causing several sleepless cold nights. Finally got a new bag in Hiawasee.

The Sutches hostel is nice and the folks who own it are also very nice. If u need a place to stay its great they also shuttle u to the trail. Helen GA is a must stop and the Blueberry Patch hostel is also a must stay in Hiawasee GA.

At Low Gap I was met with some awesome trail magic lots of great food and hospitality. They served huge omelets for breakfast. It rained all night long causing my tent to flood and soaking pretty much all of my gear. Thanks to dry bags and ziplock bags that kept the important stuff dry. Woke up at 4:30 ish to a loud noise and people making lots of noise. The wind had blown over one of the canopy that the trail angels had set up and I felt a little wet. I began looking around my tent to find out It was flooding and managed to stuff my sleeping bag up and rescue what I could and abandon my tent and headed over to the canopies the trail angels had set up. Had a long night shivering and trying to stay warm and dry. Caught a ride into Franklin to dry out.

Overall I have high spirits no blisters and feel great. The gear issues are very easy to get down about and just keep pushing on down the trail. The good news is that I am now in North Carolina.

More to come.

Adam

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Well, after 3 days on trail, I was exhausted, sore and totally frustrated with the lack of speed and distance I was putting out.  Sassafras (Kick-my-assafras) and Justus Mountains tore me up.  My achilles tendon popped and ached all the way down Justus and I was already mentally preparing an exit article to write.  You know, something noble along the lines of the great Achilles being slain and how I was now sharing in his fate. RED LIGHT!

But I’m no quitter, no siree…so, after some recoup time and lots of encouragement from my fellow hikers and Summit Sisters yet to get out on trail…I picked myself up and got back out there.  This time I still wasn’t making the mileage I wanted, but I wasn’t sore and I resigned myself to just enjoy my hike regardless of the miles.  GREEN LIGHT!

Well, that is a great idea, but there is also the reality of the time constraints on the other end of this trail.  Baxter State Park will close and access to Katahdin will be cut off at the latest Oct 15th, so I still need to be realistic about covering the turf in between Georgia and Maine.  That’s when I took a good look at the numbers and decided that I will just have to continue to do my best and if I haven’t covered as much ground as I need to make the Oct 15th deadline, then I can high-tail my bootie up there and start heading southbound to complete.  Not near as dramatic nor my prefered course of action, but by George, if that’s what I have to do to complete, I’ll do it!

So, happy little me hiking along the hills of Georgia develops another problem…back spasms.  I have 2 bulging discs in the lumbar region of my back and arthritis in the lower back as well.  This is not new news for me, but generally I don’t have too much problem with it aside from the usual morning stiffness.  But….on occassion, I will develop paralyzing and agonizing back spasms that drop me to my knees like my legs have turned to jello.  This is not good nor is it safe to hike since I don’t know when these spasms will hit and I don’t need to risk having a serious fall that could leave me in worse shape or end my hike altogether, so again I leave the trail and this time, I decide to take my butt home to Oklahoma.  RED LIGHT!

It’s been great to see my husband and son, but it’s killing me to be here when I want to be out there.  So, I’ve got some anti-spasm meds in hand and am making a few adjustments to my food drops (carrying too much food) and hopefully within the next week will be back on trail and crossing off my first state.  GREEN LIGHT!

The post Red Light, Green Light appeared first on Appalachian Trials Blog.

For some reason, people think I am joking when I tell them I am hiking the PCT.  Then they simply forget that I ever mentioned it and when I bring up details, it’s like the first time they have ever heard such a ridiculous idea from me and I have to explain it all over again.

I am asked, quite often, what my resupply plan is and, for those who may not know this, planning food for a trail that is over 2,650 miles can be quite daunting.  Luckily, I have my Yogi guide and I am following her resupply plan, which is to resupply in town when I can, mail food ahead in some locations, and my partner will mail me packages with my food.  I am planning about 25 mail drops and to make it simple of my partner, I am putting one days’ worth of food in a freezer bag so when I call her, I will ask her to place however many days of food I need into a box and mail it to my specified location.

I have a feeling that at some point, I may go hungry for a couple of days, but hey, that’s all part of the experience.

So back to the dehydrating business.  I had never dehydrated food before, so this was a new area for me.  I bought an Excalibur dehydrator (pricey!) and then found a dehydrator at the thrift store for $7 and guess what?  It works just as well as the Excalibur, albeit maybe takes a bit longer, but is less noisy.  I couldn’t find the brand name on it so I call it my generic dehydrator.

Generic Dehydrator

I’ve mostly been dehydrating fruits and veggies with occasional one-pot meals, courtesy of “Backpack Gourmet” by Linda Frederick Yaffe – highly recommend if you are interested in dehydrating your own food.

Excalibur - The Pricey Noisy One

Surprisingly, I have been having fun dehydrating.  I think there is something very satisfying about making your own meals for the trail.  I only hope they will taste as good as they did before I dehydrated them…

I have also been purchasing various foods that I think will be good for my resupplies – stuff I don’t normally get to eat like mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, oh, and Payday bars.  They don’t melt, are full of protein, and get this…it’s a CANDY BAR!  I never get candy bars anymore!  So yeah, I’m a bit excited about that.

Paydays and Other Forbidden Goodies

I just received a giant box of Backpacker’s Pantry, as well as orders from several other freeze-dried food companies, so my resupplies are coming together well.

I’d also like to shout out to Probar as they are sponsoring my hike by providing me their delicious and nutritious food bars!  Their bars have been a staple of mine for backpacking and other outdoor adventures for years now – if you haven’t tried them, do so, as they are amazingly delicious.

The other company I’d also like to thank is Hyperlite Mountain Gear as a sponsor as well for providing me this cuben fiber deliciousness -

HMG Windrider 3400 Pack - Sweet!

I am truly fortunate to have wonderful and generous sponsors that will help me during my journey.

I had a bit of a scheduling change for my departure – originally, I was heading out mid-April, but I am now departing with the rest of the hordes from the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kickoff aka ADZPCTKO, April 26 – 28.

EYEBROW UPDATE!  For those of you who read my blog post about my eyebrow tattoo debacle – Flash, my eyebrow tattoo artist, touched up my pink eyebrows and they are now a definite darker shade…of pink.  Mauve maybe?  I don’t know, but I am done getting tattoos, especially on my face.

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