Mel and Mike Hike

Editor’s note: this was written a few days ago. We have good cell service now, so we’re posting ’em.

(posted by Mike from Mel’s phone; 9:30 PM, 4/20/11) We hiked about 14.5 miles today, from 9 AM to almost 7 PM, over three big peaks, the last of which was Roan Mountain. Roan High Knob, at 6275 ft. Is the highest shelter on the trail. It has four walls, a wooden floor, two windows, a loft for extra sleeping space and a door that closes! What luxury!
There are just three of us here tonight; Melissa, me and a guy we’ve known since Hot Springs called “Ramblin’ Man”. We like him a lot. He’s a very friendly and delightfully conversational retiree from Buffalo, NY who now lives in Mt. Dessert, Maine.
It’s raining a bit outside so we’re very happy to be here!

Editor’s note: this was written a few days ago. We have good cell service now, so we’re posting a few.

(dedicated to my sis, with many thanks, and sung to the tune of a John Denver classic. This ran through my head for most of the AM today, 4/20.)

Almost heaven, Starbucks Via, mocha java, M&Ms and Slim Jims.
Life is good here, on the old AT, long as Deb keeps sending lots of goodies!
On the trail, goin’ forth, to a place, way up north.
Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park,
Goin’ forth, way up north,
Goin’ forth, way up north (fade out).

Editor’s note: this was written a few days ago. We have good cell service now, so we’re posting ’em.

We are now 358.6 miles from Springer Mtn. That’s 16.4 percent of the way. My left pinky toe joined the blister club yesterday. Guess it wanted in on the action. Backpacker’s Pantry Beef Stroganoff is the best freeze-dried meal. Last night we repaired our stove with no tools but a toenail clipper. (of course it was helpful to have Mel’s iPhone to download a .pdf of the manual.) We celebrated the repair by eating M&Ms. We’ll be going over Roan Mtn. today. We hope it’s not cold, as it’s over 6200 feet. We’re pretty sure it’s the last 6000-footer until the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We have seen no mammals larger than a squirrel, except for other hikers. It’s time to fix breakfast. My post entitled “Outta Time” originally had some text that explained we were getting pushed out of the library in Hot Springs at closing time. I guess I spent too much time trying to identify wildflowers and ended up with no time to post any photos but one. We’ll try to do better, but town time is quite precious, and we’re trying to avoid “zero” days (nero days don’t leave much leisure time).

It’s 8 AM – gotta cook and pack! —– Mike

P.S. I used to drink 12 or more cups of coffee a day. I’m down to one cup of instant each morning and a cup of decaf tea each evening!

The portion of the AT that passes through the Great Smoky Mountains is a grueling but beautiful section to hike.

After Fontana Dam, North Carolina, the trail enters the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is partially in North Carolina and partially in Tennessee.  Check out the new photo gallery by clicking on galleries and selecting from the drop-down list.

400 miles!

…and I will walk 1780 more. Okay, I know that doesn’t have quite as nice a ring to it as the old Proclaimers tune, but it’s been in my head all day and making up lyrics to already established songs is requisite on this journey. But really, 400 miles today! Wahoozie! And internet to boot!

It’s been at least 3 days since we’ve had any cell service and a week(?) since we’ve had any wi-fi or internet, so this morning when Long Time and I were looking at the book and planning our day’s mileage, we opted for a relatively short day (12 miles) and headed to Vango & Abby’s Memorial Hostel in order to use the internet to check in with all of our friends and family at home. And we’re the only two hikers here tonight so we’ve got both computer terminals to ourselves! Vango was a bigtime Appalachian Trail supporter who set up a bunkhouse on his property for any passing thru-hiker to come and stay, shower and do laundry, and at just 3/10ths of a mile off the trail, it’s convienent. When he died, he left money to build a bigger bunkhouse and now his step-son Scott, a thru-hiker alum, runs the place. It’s rustic, but it has all a hiker could need and is on a beautiful piece of property in the Tennessee Mountains – and only costs $5 by donation. Very cool spot.

So let’s see, this week, in addition to crossing the 400 mile mark, we also made it through our second state! So long, North Carolina! We’ve actually been skirting the North Carolina/Tennessee border for a couple of weeks now. Some days the AT has actually been the border between the states – left foot TN, right foot NC. We’ve been back and forth, back and forth since the Smokies, but as of yesterday, we’re officially in Tennessee! And soon, (probably Tuesday), we’ll be done https://sgs.nsw.edu.au/buy-levitra-online-vardenafil/ with this state too. I can hear Virginia calling! The good news about Virginia, is that we’ll be close to 1/4 of the way done with the journey when we get into the state. The bad news about Virginia is that 1/4 of the whole Appalachian Trail is in Virginia. The AT racks up so many miles in that state, many hikers get the “Virginia Blues.”

The best other things about this week have all been food related. (I think you get some official thru-hiker cred when all you do is start talking about food.) We got some trail magic from a former thru-hiker married couple, “Dingleberry” and a very pregnant “Snot Rocket.” They were out on a section of trail with Double Stuff Oreos, salt and vinegar potato chips and Cadburry’s Cream Eggs. That may sound like it doesn’t go well together, but trust me, it’s delicious! Next up was the actually-tastes-like-real-coffee instant Starbucks that Aunt Deb sent us in a care package. If anyone else gets inspired to send us food, just think Starbucks!! It is such a welcome change to Foldger’s instant. And who can forget today’s breakfast at the Mountain Harbour Hostel in Roan Mountain, Tennessee?! Over the last few days we had heard raving reviews from southbound section hikers about the breakfasts there. And boy, were they right! The owner gets up at 4am every day to set out a huge spread of French toast with pecan maple syrup, biscuits and tomato gravy, baked eggs with sweet peppers, asiago sausages, pork chops, coffee cake, tomatoes, fruit, donuts, coffee….

…But I digress. I guess from this post and the last, you may think that all we do is eat out here. It’s just that after all of the ascending and the decending, the stepping over roots and on top of rocks, putting the rain gear on, taking the rain gear off, slabbing the sunscreen on, sweating it right off, the wet and tired feet, the achy twisted knees, hikers don’t want to think about the pain of it anymore — otherwise we would realize how crazy we are and quit. I guess we want to focus more on the food and the folks. And there sure are a lot of both out here!
~Mel

It’s 9pm: do you know where AT hikers are? Most at this shelter 4 miles north of Erwin, Tennessee are hunkered down in their sleeping bags either writing in their journals or sleeping already. My dad and I are definitely on the late shift. We’re out by the campfire boiling water for our dehydrated dinners right now. There’s just one other hiker still up with us.

I guess we’re up so “late” because we left Erwin and the comforts of Uncle Johnny’s Nolichucky Hostel and Outfitters around 5:30 this evening. Let’s just say that 5pm is when a lot of hikers end their days, so we’re a little off schedule. We arrived at Uncle Johnny’s last night (the 17th) around 8 pm, after our new longest hike to date – 20.5 miles. We did laundry, showered & hung around the fire with fellow hikers. It’s a very welcoming place. This morning they shuttled us to JD’s, a local diner where we had a huge breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, hash browns, coffee and oj, all for under $10 for the both of us. Then they shuttled us to lunch – Pizza Plus, an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet and salad bar. In between, we got to shop, go to the P.O. and just relax and repack on the grass at the hostel.

So what I’m getting at, is that it was hard to leave. Other hikers were sharing beers, playing games, checking emails, planning more http://www.mtmorton.com.au/?page_id=319 all-you-can-eat adventures…and there we were, putting our heavy packs (due to the 6-day food resupply) back on our backs and heading uphill. (Towns are always in the valleys.). We’ve been moving along at a good clip for the last couple weeks and so we haven’t had the chance to stay with the same hikers much. We’ll be around the same people for a day or two and then they move ahead or we do. It’s great for meeting a lot of people, but not for making good friends.

A place like Uncle Johnny’s gives us the chance to talk to people other than ourselves and connect a bit with the faces you’ve seen along the way so far. I mean, I love my dad and all, but being together 24/7 is a lot of time together. And with the hours we’ve been putting in, it’s sometimes too late to talk much to others before everyone starts their bedtime routines at shelters or campsites.

But I know we’re not out here for the hostel bunk beds, the 10am beer run shuttles, the stupid amount of bad food we’re eating and the basic comforts of home — we’re here to be in the woods and hike! And though it was sad to turn back and see those happy, relaxed hikers as we were walking out of town, it didn’t take too many miles to feel like we were back in trekking mode. Besides, Damascus, VA is just over a week away!…
~Mel