From Virginia to South Dakota with a plane

That feel when you decided to quit the trail...

It is with mixed emotions that I write this last post. After struggling with the trail for the last few weeks, we decided that it would be in our best interest to stop hiking and return home. While we are both disappointed that we will not be reaching Maine this year, we are also very excited that we made it as far as we did. We hiked 870 miles, which is roughly 40% of the entire trail. We hoped to make at least to Harper's ferry before getting off the trail but we are mentally exhausted, so we decided that now is the best time to get off. 

For the next couple of weeks, we are going to spend time with friends and family back home, then decide on what we want to do next. We are in no hurry to return to full time jobs so we might do some traveling abroad. 

We are also planning on how we can finish the trail in the future. We have most of the boring parts of the trail out of the way and many good views to look forward to in New England. Hopefully we can afford an opportunity similar to this in the future where we could take another 3 months to do the north section of the trail. I'm sure it will be on the back of our minds until it happens. 

Thanks to everyone who read this blog and sent us encouragement! We have many fond memories of the Appalachian Trail and we will return with a vengeance to finish it!

Until we begin again,

Leap and Frog

Daleville to Waynesboro

Last seen, we were in Daleville, treating ourselves to a couple of days off. We spent the next ten days hiking to Waynesboro, VA. We hiked 133.8 miles for an average of 13.38 miles per day. If you check our spreadsheet, you will see we had some long days and some short days. We resupplied twice during the week and that can throw off a day pretty quick if you spend too much time off the trail, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

The first day out of Daleville was tough, due to the fact that we had two zero days back to back and the prospect of going back into the woods was not all that enticing. However, we got back into the swing of things fairly quick. The day after that, we hiked 17 miles to get to Middle Creek campground. We rented a cheap cabin for the night and got a good nights rest. It had been a hot day, so when we walked inside, the cabin felt like a sauna, despite the cool of the evening that we had been enjoying for a while. Fortunately, the cabin had an AC unit, but that was the only amenity the cabin had. The next day we got off to a late start so we didn't make it very far. Less than a quarter of a mile from the shelter, we got caught in a heavy downpour and got soaked. By the time we made it to the shelter, the rain had subsided. We met some new people, most notably was "The Dude", who was a living embodiment of Jeff Bridges' character in the Big Lebowski, in appearance and in the way he spoke. He was a character to say the least, and we enjoyed his "pontifications" that he shared with us. 

This was the first week that I started waking up early and making coffee. Most mornings, I woke up around 6:45 due to my back hurting (the airpads are not easy on me). I walk like an old man for a couple of minutes since my feet hurt so bad. But by the time I walk to where I hung up our food bags, my feet are broken in for the day. I then undo the knot of the rope hanging the food and let it down from the tree branch it's hanging from. If we are camped at a shelter, you can bet people are up and at it early. It's fun to make coffee at the picnic table and chat with other hikers who are making breakfast. By the time I've had a cup or two of coffee, I go back to the tent to wake up Leap so we can hit the trail. On average, it takes an hour to get ready from the time we are both up until we are actually hiking. 

Anyways, we hiked 17.7 miles to Matts creek shelter the next day. We got a great view from Apple Orchard mountain where we stopped to eat lunch. We also walked under a rock formation called the guillotine. The next day, we hitched a ride into Glasgow, VA to resupply for the remaining five days into Waynesboro. However, once we got there and bought our groceries, we decided to eat lunch at the restaurant across the street. We gorged ourselves on some pasta and talked with other hikers for quite a while. The cool thing about Glasgow is that the town has setup a shelter in the park that has electricity and a hot shower. We decided to go check it out and rest for a bit. We didn't end up leaving for another hour after that and by the time that we hitched a ride back to the trail, it was getting well into the afternoon. 

After a couple of miles, I got startled by a rat snake falling from a tree that I was walking next to. We stopped to observe the snake for a bit and watch him slither back into the woods. This pause from hiking gave another hiker just enough time to catch up to us and create some conversation. He ended up telling us his life story. Some people are fun to talk to, others are not. This guy was not. We finally broke away from his conversation, which had only set us back more. On the bright side, we did end up stopping early to camp at a really sweet spot on the cliffs overlooking the James river and Apple Orchard mountain. 

The next day was fun as we got to hike along what used to be a community of freed slaves back in the early 1900s. You could still see the stone foundations of their houses. That night, however, I had the most terrifying experience of my entire life. Around 2:30 in the morning, a tree fell in the woods very close to where we were tenting. The noise was so loud that everyone there woke up with a fright. My first thought was that it was a bear so I began shouting in a confused daze and we heard other campers doing the same. After being awake for 30 seconds, we finally reasoned that it was falling tree so I got out of the tent to have a look around. I never saw what fell exactly as there were already a lot of logs laying around. I talked with the other campers in the morning and we talked about what had happened. Falling trees have moved to the top of my list of fears of tenting (replacing getting bit by a bear). 

The next day was warm and the water sources were far and few between. We knew a water source was coming up at around mile 8, but it was a bit off the trail.  We came across a gravel road that had a sign pointing to the left that indicated there was a spring a half mile down the road. We ended up following it for quite a ways before we realized that we had actually gone the wrong way. The sign wasn't wrong, we just misinterpreted it. Once we realized the mistake, we also realized that if we went a mile further in our current direction, we would arrive at Three Springs hostel where we could buy some more snacks (we were running a bit low). Once we got there, we were immediately sucked in by ice cream and sodas. We ended up staying the night. It was a great decision. We got to go kayaking in the pond, eat copious amounts of food, and we got to sleep in a comfy bed while a thunderstorm raged outside. We were treated to a good breakfast in the morning before we set off. We began by hiking in the rain, but eventually it stopped but most of the day was enshrouded in fog. 

That night, we ended up staying at a shelter called "The Priest". Every shelter has a log book that hikers can sign. They are always fun to read but this one was especially good. The book was called the confessional and it is tradition to confess trail sins in it. One person confessed that they didn't bury their poop 6-8 inches (which is the recommended depth). I confessed that I didn't use the privy at that shelter due to the overwhelming stench that about knocked me out when I opened the door. I instead opted to go in the woods. 

That day, we had a 3000ft descent to start out the day and another 3000ft ascent immediately after that. We made it to the top of the ascent, but it took every bit of our energy to do so. We cut the day short by a few miles at the shelter and reasoned that we would just have to suck it up and hike 21 miles the next day to make it into Waynesboro on time for our B&B reservation. 

We woke up at 6am and hit the trail by 7 the next morning. The terrain was good for the most part, but we did take an hour lunch since we each had to cook up a meal (we were out of lunches and we had an extra supper). The last shelter before town had notes about a bear that had been hanging around. We got about half way up the hill after that shelter and ran into a bear that was sitting down in the middle of the trail. This was only our second bear sighting. The first one was the day before and we only caught a glimpse of him before he ran off. However, this bear had absolutely no fear of us. We yelled at him, tried to make ourselves look big, and even threw rocks near to try to scare him. After a couple of minutes, he lazily stood up and wandered off a little ways. We hurried past and fortunately hit a switchback which took us in the opposite direction. 

We ended the day with showers and a Chinese buffet in Waynesboro. We plan to head out tomorrow and start hiking in Shenandoah National Park! It should be lots of fun and I'm sure we will see many more bears there. 

Until next time,

Leap and Frog

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Pearisburg to Daleville

Pictures are at the end of the post

We left Pearisburg on June 1st, after sending our cold weather gear home and picking up an Amazon package that contained Leap's new trekking poles. Our packs felt so light, even with four days worth of food and a liter of water each! We got dropped off on the road where we last left off and I immediately got a bug in my eye that irritated it for some time. After hiking for a bit we came across an old cemetery that contained the grave of Captain George Pearis, a revolutionary war veteran. By the end of the day, we could actually see West Virginia. The clouds began to look ominous so we hurried to our campsite to get settled down for the evening. The storm ended up missing us fortunately but we did get a small sprinkle.

The next day we had great hiking weather. After hiking for some time, we came to the Captains, which is where a former thru hiker has opened up his yard and back porch for hikers to camp and get free soda. The best part is that in order to get to his place, you have to take a zip line over a river. You hang your pack on a carabiner, then sit in the swing. You have to pull yourself over using a rope. Leap was dreading the zipline ever since we heard about it, but she ended up loving it and insisted that we make one some day. We sat around, drank sodas, visited with others and made our dinner while we waited for an afternoon thunderstorm to pass. Once we had eaten and had checked the radar, we crossed the river again and continued hiking a few more miles to get to the next shelter. 

The next day started with some rocky hiking that slowed us down quite a bit. We took several breaks that day and really took our time. We got some trail magic at the end of the day that was provided by a lady who had just quit the trail. She had started with her husband in Georgia but decided that the trail life wasn't for her. So she came back to help her husband by carrying most of his stuff in a car then meeting with him at the end of the day. This is known as slackpacking, which a lot of people will offer to hikers for a fee. We ended up chatting with her for quite a while which also cut into our miles that day. 

The next morning, we hiked a couple of miles to the road and hitch hiked into Newport to resupply with enough food to get to Daleville. We were first picked up by a lady who was on her way to work. We hopped into the back seat with her 15 year old son who decided to tell me all about his life, his 20 year old girlfriend (he was 15) and how he was going to join the navy seals when he turned 18. These people were very friendly, but were characters. We thanked them for the ride and walked into the gas station / grocery. We were lead to believe that there was a lunch spot across the highway so we crossed it only to be let down by a sign that said, "catering only." Sadly, we crossed back across the highway, went back into the gas station and picked up some hot dogs and ate them while sitting on the ground outside. I'm beginning to internalize that I'm a vagrant freeloader. After our lunch, we stood by the post office with our thumb out for a while. A farmer picked us up and told us in great detail why a natural gas pipeline was going to destroy their community. He had some good points, but in the end, I decided that I'm going to stay neutral on the issue. 

With a pack full of food, we continued hiking. Not long after we got back on the trail, we ran into the Keffer Oak tree, which is the oldest oak tree on the Appalachian trail. It's estimated to be over 300 years old. After a short break, we continued hiking into the nearby pasture. The grass was up to my shoulders and when we finally got back to the forest, I found my first deer tick. That night, we began making supper when we heard some thunder rolling in. I just began eating when a torrential downpour began. I moved my things to shelter to stay dry and ate my macaroni and cheese. A small river began flowing from under the shelter. By the time I finished my meal, the rain had settled down so I walked to our tent. Amazingly, the inside of our tent stayed completely dry. We were both shocked as we have had pools of water in our tent during much lighter rain. 

The next day we hiked past a monument to Audie Murphy, a decorated WWII veteran that crashed his plane in the mountains after the war. We planned to camp at Dragons Tooth that night, but it looked like a thunderstorm might roll in so we decided to camp a few miles before it, in a more covered area. The thunderstorm never happened, but the spot we chose was very nice. 

On Monday, we hiked up to Dragons Tooth and got some good views. I climbed to the top of the stone slab while Louisa yelled at me to be careful. On our way down, we encountered the most challenging climb we've faced yet. At some points, there was rebar in the rock to help lower ourselves down to the next platform. There were times I didn't know what to do and had to sit there for a while thinking about my next move. We did not particularly enjoy that section. A local couple who was hiking the trail warned us of a rattlesnake that had taken up residence near the path so we walked slowly for quite a while. By the end of the day, we had one final climb to get up to McAfee's knob, a well known spot on the Appalachian trail. It is also the most photographed location on the trail. We got to the top just before sunset and took in the best views we've had yet. 

The next day we woke up early to get into town at a reasonable time. We took a snack break at Tinker cliffs where we got another amazing view of the valley below. 

Once we got into town, we immediately went to the local outfitter and bought some supplies. Today is our second zero day here in Daleville. We got a rental car yesterday and got some good Indian food in Roanoke. We plan to hike for another eight days before we stop again, which should be at Royal Oaks hostel, which is also near the Devils Backbone brewpub! Can't wait to have some good beers on tap. 

The mood was much improved this last week. Our mileage is up and we feel confident in our ability to finish. Thanks to everyone who sent words of encouragement to us after our post last week! We are grateful to have family and friends that care about us so much. 

Until Royal Oaks,

Leap and Frog

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Atkins to Pearisburg

The format of this post is slightly different. All the pictures are in a single album at the end. It's much easier to just upload them in one shot and embed a single album rather than doing it inline with the post content. The pictures have descriptions so hopefully you can piece it together after reading the full post. 

The day we left Atkins was somewhat hectic. We needed to do laundry and resupply before hiking out of town. The nearest laundromat was in Marion, VA, but fortunately a shuttle service ran between the two towns. We stopped at the post office to send some things home then took the shuttle to Marion at 9:30am. When we arrived in town, we noticed that the stop lights were off. As soon as we got to the laundromat, the owner was putting a sign on the door that read, "no electricity". She told us that the power company didn't expect the power to come back until 1:00pm. This posed an issue to us because we needed to be done with everything by 2:30pm so we could take the shuttle back to Atkins. We decided to wait it out in front of the laundromat and within a half hour of arriving, the power came back on and we were able to start a load of laundry. We bought enough food for a few days and waited for the shuttle to come back. We only hiked 7 miles that day. The next day we hit the one fourth point of the trail, which meant we had hiked 547 miles at that point. Soon after we ran into some trail magic and got to eat some fresh strawberries! We continued hiking into a pasture with some cows and got some amazing views of the mountains of Virginia.

The next day was spent walking a ridge that we thought would be easy terrain. Unfortunately, the ridge was super rocky and the trail kind of rollercoastered up and down along the top, which made the day more strenuous than we had planned. We did get one good view from the shelter we stopped at for lunch. 

So far, our challenges have been primarily physical, due to tough climbs up and down mountains or battling cold and rain. This lady Friday we encountered our greatest challenge yet. The mental strain that a trip like this takes is not to be overlooked. We found ourselves beginning to get burned out of constantly being in a state of discomfort (going a week without showers or shaving and doing your business in the woods). We decided that we are going to take a few days to go to Washington D.C. for our two year wedding anniversary once we get to Harper's Ferry, WV. We hope that getting out of Virginia and taking a little time off will reset us and give us a boost to finish the last half of the trail. Planning it now gives us something to look forward to. We also decided that we completely hate Virginia. It has beautiful mountains but we really don't like the small towns we have been stopping in. The towns offer very few services so it makes it harder for us to enjoy our zero days when we have to walk around town or find rides to get to places that have laundry or food stores. 

Anyways, the same day we both admitted that we were getting mentally exhausted of hiking everyday, a new type of obstacle appeared. Caterpillars began descending from the trees on silky lines and getting into everything. It made for some miserable miles of hiking. Every once in a while, a caterpillar would fall on our heads our drop immediately in front of us and stick to our clothes when we walked through their safety lines. Fortunately, after two days of misery, the caterpillar apocalypse ceased. On the second day, we saw three snakes. One rattlesnake, one HUGE black racer, and a small garter snake. It was a terrifying day. I actually walked right past the black racer and it was Leap who noticed it. When I looked back, I began to question whether I need glasses. It was less than two feet from where I had stepped and was probably around 4ft long. My current theory is that we went from seeing no snakes to seeing several in one day due to the sudden influx of caterpillar food on the forest floor. Could be coincidence too!

Going back to the day before we saw the snakes, we needed to get to Bland, VA to get more food to make it to Pearisburg. The town is 4 miles from the trail so we had to hitch a ride. A tow truck with a large flat bed offered to give us a ride so we rode in the back with another hiker named Timewarp. It was quite the experience! We got our food and then hitched back to the trail. The guy that picked us up was on his way to pick up his wife from the trail. He is driving to her destination each day so she can carry less food and hiking items. That is a setup I would not mind! We hiked another couple of miles and setup camp and attempted to make spaghetti. I bought a 6oz can of tomato paste but had no can opener. I used a tent stake and a rock to mangle it open. I would not recommend this technique to anyone. 

The day we saw the snakes, we hit the 600 mile marker, which gave us a small mental boost. At the end of that day, we hiked a half mile off the trail to Trents Grocery. The owners of this small gas station / cafe / grocery store also offer a camping area nestled in a camper graveyard, surrounded by a pasture for their horse. There is also a small building that has a washer and dryer as well as a bathroom with showers. We did our laundry in the mornings but neither of us were brave enough to get in the showers. They were way too nasty. The place was surreal. 

We got back on the trail by 10:30am and kept hiking. It was kind of dreary day and probably our lowest point, emotionally, yet. However, as the day progressed, our moods improved. We met some friendly weekend hikers at a shelter and talked with them for a while. We read through the trail journal and found some good trail poetry (contains strong language). We found a good stealth campspot and settled in for the evening. In the morning, the sun was out and we were in high spirits, as we usually are the day we hike into town. The prospect of having clean clothes and a shower is enough to motivate us to get going early in the morning. We did take a small side trail to catch an amazing view of the valley between a couple of ridge lines. We were about 1000ft above the clouds and it made the valley look like a lake. We had several good views that day which can make the day go by very fast. The day ended in our motel with fresh fruit and a strong wifi signal. 

We miss home very much but we have no intentions of quitting! Our next stop will either be in Daleville or Troutville. They are at the same mile marker on the trail, it just depends which one has more services (or an all you can eat buffet). 

Until then,

Leap and Frog

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Damascus to Atkins

Well, it's been another five days since I last posted and eight days since our last zero day. We averaged a little over 14 miles a day since trail days. Part of the reason for the increase in mileage is that terrain is easier in Virginia and plus we are starting to get our trail legs!

Our first day out of Damascus was a little dreary but we managed to escape getting rained on. We followed the Virginia Creeper trail, which is similar to the Mickelson trail in South Dakota in that it is an old rail road track that has been converted to a hiking and biking trail. 

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Day 2 was very foggy so we didn't get to see much. The fog discouraged us from hiking up to the summit of Mt Rogers, which is the highest peak in Virginia. We did get a cool camping spot right outside of the Grayson Highlands and the fog made for a different kind of beautiful scenery. Another theme the last week has been walking through pastures, so we get to meet cows and avoid their droppings quite frequently. 

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The third day was when we finally got to walk through the Grayson Highlands state park, which is something we have been looking forward to since we began planning this trip last year. The reason is that the park is home to wild ponies, which have been introduced to maintain the meadows. As we walked toward the park, Leap and I were chatting and very suddenly a pony appeared out of mist and gently trotted onto the trail in front of me. We followed the pony as he began to walk north ahead of us. 

We also hit the 500 mile mark as we walked through the park. We are getting closer to meeting our goal of doing 100 miles a week. I updated our spreadsheet that I shared a while ago so that it shows how many miles we need to do per day in order to get to Katahdin by mid October. I will share the link again at the bottom of the post. 

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The next day was eventful in several different ways. In the morning, we both got a large dose of adrenaline when a branch fell very near us (probably within 30ft of where we were walking). It gave us a good scare and then it happened again in the afternoon, but slightly further away. When we hike all day everyday, we zone out if there isn't much to look at (which is 99% of the time), so when a branch falls randomly, it really puts you back in the moment. Also that day, we were startled when a deer appeared on the side of the trail. 

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At the end of the day, a thunderstorm rolled in and we got to walk through pouring rain for about an hour. By the time we got to our campspot, we were too tired to cook so we ate some snacks and went to sleep. We discovered that our tent lets in a lot of water from the bottom when it rains hard and one of our sleeping pads now has a leak, so by the morning, one of us is on the floor. 

On Sunday, we needed to hike 18 miles to get to Atkins. We hiked at a good pace in the morning and were able to get a soda at a visitor center after 7 miles. Whenever we get some caffeine, we really pick up the pace for the next hour or so. About 3 miles before Atkins, we stumbled upon some trail magic which was held in an old 1895 one room school building. About the time we sat down in one of the desks, a dark cloud appeared overhead and dumped rain for 10 minutes. It then cleared up and the sun came back out. Talk about good luck! We hiked the remaining 3 miles and finally got some good views. 

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When we got to town, we stopped at a gas station to try to hitch a ride to our hotel across town. Unfortunately, Atkins is a tiny, but spread out town, and our hotel was 4 miles away. This meant no one was headed that way so it took us a couple of hours to find someone willing to pick us up. Normally I wouldn't have had a problem just walking the remaining distance but a very serious looking storm was looming in the distance and coming our way. By the time we got the ride it was pouring rain. The guy who took us was a former truck driver and I understood about a quarter of what he said but he refused my money when I tried to pay him. We thanked him about a million times and checked into the hotel. 

We are going to get back to the trail tomorrow and head toward Pearisburg, VA. 

Until then,

Leap and Frog

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Mountain harbor to Damascus, VA

Last seen, we were staying at a bed and breakfast. In the morning, the B&B held up to the second B and we enjoyed the best breakfast we've had on the trail. We picked up some food for the next week and hit the trail around 11am. It is also important to note that on the previous day, we met Rob Bird at the gap just before the B&B. He was giving out trail magic and trying to recruit hikers to help him collect wood for trail days. After talking to him for a while, we ended up exchanging numbers and planning to ride with him from Abingdon, VA to Damascus for trail days (since Damascus is so small, the hotels were full for Trail Days and the nearest vacant hotels were in Abingdon, where Rob was planning to stay). More on Trail Days later in the post.

The day we spent hiking out of Mountain Harbor was incredible. We saw two waterfalls, a mountain cemetery, and we hit the 400 mile mark. We also camped at a little stealth spot right next to the Upper Laurel Fork river, which made for good white noise as we slept. 

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The next day featured some easy hiking for the first half. At one point we walked through an area of the forest that was burned (but only on one side of the trail). We also hiked past another waterfall and followed the river to another beautiful campspot. 

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We didn't get going until about 2pm the next day since there was a thunderstorm in the morning. We made it over the next mountain in the afternoon, but couldn't go too far since the next area was in a bear watch. We camped right outside of the zone in a designated campground that was created last year for the very purpose of keeping hikers out of the active bear area, which is right around Watuaga Lake. There ended up being a bear hanging around our campsite that night anyways and we had to scare it off on multiple occasions. There was also a thunderstorm that night and I started to feel nauseous toward the morning. It was probably my worst night yet. 

On Thursday, we called an outfitter in Damascus to shuttle us in to town from a road just past Watuaga Dam. We got to the dam but didn't realize which road we needed to be at so when I got a call from the driver asking where we were at, we were surprised we didn't see him. It turns out we needed to hike another mile to get to the correct road. We also met three other people that needed to shuttle into town so that made our ride much cheaper. 

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We didn't spend much time in Damascus on Thursday. We got another shuttle into Abingdon, checked into our motel and I slept most of the day (I was feeling even more nauseous and had a fever). I felt much better in the morning and was able to eat some food. I was worried I had the noro virus, but my symptoms only lasted 24 hours and I never threw up. Plus, Leap never caught what I had, which we were both grateful for. 

On Friday morning, Rob drove us back into Damascus, where Trail Days officially kicked off (http://www.traildays.us/). 

We got some free food, listened to a lot of music, met trail celebrities, watched a food eating contest, and caught up with other hikers we hadn't seen in a long time. And I got a new haircut from Rob! The Mohawk is the only style he does, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. 

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On Saturday, we walked in the annual hiker parade, where those watching the parade hose down the hikers. There was also a hiker talent contest that filled our need for laughter. 

On Sunday, we helped Rob tear down his gazebo in tent city and said goodbye to the hikers we had met during the weekend. We got a ride back to the road where we had shuttled from that Thursday and began hiking again. I could go into a lot more detail about trail days and the fun we had, but it would take way too long to write. 

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We are back in Damascus now, having hiked into town this afternoon. We are officially in Virginia now and will be for probably the next month or more. Approximately a quarter of the entire Appalachian trail is in Virginia. When we are done with this next state, we will be almost half done. 

Until the next town,

Leap and Frog

Hot springs to Mountain Harbor B&B

It's been a while since I've made a post so I guess this will be a long one. So much has happened since Hot Springs. The day we left, we got a ride past the burning area of the trail with a former thru hiker named Yonder. He was about our age and gave us a lot of encouragement. We skipped a total of 16 miles to get past the fire. That day we hiked into a very crowded shelter as the sun was setting. The reason we got there so late was because of a very intense ridge that ended up in our path. The path went up and over very steep boulders making for some treacherous hiking. The views were worth the effort.

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 We became familiar with the phrase "town gravity" that day. Hikers love town days so much that they make leaving difficult, but once you're back out for a day, your pack starts to lighten up (due to eating food) and you appreciate the outdoors again.

The next day we hiked 15 miles to the next shelter. The only problem was that the water source was another half mile from the camping, so I put on an extra mile just to get 4 liters of water for cooking and drinking. 

The next morning was a bit lazy. We didn't leave until well after 10am which concerned me since the forecast was looking like rain. We got to the end of the day and had to hike up to Big Bald. The sky looked ominous and we could hear thunder in the distance. We got to the top and took some amazing photos. We could see a sheet of raining moving across the valley. 

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We made it to the shelter and got our tent set up and it started pouring almost immediately. We stayed dry that night despite the wind and rain. That morning the sun poked out just long enough to dry off the rain fly so we could put it away. 

We took another two days to get to Erwin, TN. The day we hiked into town gave us some beautiful views of the Nolichucky river. 

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We took a zero in Erwin to resupply, get some mail from Leap's parents (thank you so much, by the way!), and fill up with pizza. We made a crucial contact while in Erwin. The name Miss Janet won't mean much to most, but to thru hikers, she is the most amazing trail angel that exists. She has a van and shuttles hikers around in the south. We met her and exchanged numbers. She ended up shuttling us around, which allowed us to go to Walmart and get a better variety of food than we are used to (aka better variety of tuna and knorr pasta rice sides). 

We left Erwin with enough food for 5 days to get to mountain harbor B&B, which has a light resupply store. We made it to Beauty Spot, which is a bald. We had planned to camp on top but it was too windy. Fortunately there were some good spots right past the top of the bald. 

The next day was uneventful as we didn't  do many miles (mainly due to getting up late and not doing many miles since it started raining and it was a cold day). It did end up snowing too (and it was Cinco de Mayo). The snow and mist made for some surreal moments in the spruce forest we were walking through. 

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The day after was better. We did make a small side trip to a hostel a half mile off the trail. The trail leading there was incredibly wet and steep, which made the return trip more difficult than it should have been. Greasy creek hostel was a cool place, however, and was worth the trip. The rules were as follows: 1. Take off your shoes 2. Go wash your hands 3. Take a seat. We ended up eating some ice cream, drinking a coke, and getting a new fuel canister. 

On the 7th, we stumbled upon some trail magic in the gap right before Roan mountain, which is the last 6000ft mountain until New Hampshire. The ascent was ok until the last couple of miles, which was solid mud and snow. 

There wasn't much for views at the top, but I did get to make a small snowman. 

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We also checked out the highest shelter on the Appalachian trail. It was pretty cool since it had an upstairs.

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We ended up hiking almost 16 miles to get to Overmountain shelter, which is an old barn. There was a beautiful view of a valley facing south. 

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Today, we hiked into the bed and breakfast and had an awesome home cooked meal. It was also our last day in North Carolina. We have another 80 miles left in Tennessee then it's onto Virginia. 

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Until Damascus,

Leap and Frog

Gatlinburg to Hot Springs

The morning we needed to head out of Gatlinburg was rushed. The free shuttle was leaving at 8:30 am and was a mile walk from our hotel. We didn't checkout until 8:00 so we had to walk fast. Plus I needed to get fuel for the week and we were hoping to stop at an ATM. We made it to the shuttle with 5 minutes to spare and fortunately there was a gas station across the street. We hit the trail with full packs (about 35lbs each including food for 5 days and a liter of water).

That day, we were blessed with good weather, which was especially great because that section of the trail was home to a lookout called Charlie's Bunion, which is arguably the best view on the entire Appalachian trail. 

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That night we made supper and I spilled my entire rice dish (which had butter and bacon in it!) on the ground. I was pretty deflated after that. The next day was the worst on the trail yet. It started raining as soon as we left camp. It was also a cool day and my hands lost dexterity within 5 miles. We pulled off into the nearest shelter to warm up and ended up staying there. The shelter was packed. There was a total of 22 people in the shelter and some people had to stay on the floor. 

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Our clothes were soaked and did not dry even though we hung them to dry overnight. Our shoes were soaked too. In the morning, we took off from the shelter to get out of the smokies. It was all downhill and I ended up getting a bad shin splint on my left leg. We ended up at standing bear farm (the most popular hostel on the trail) and stayed the night there. We hiked a total of 18.4 miles that, making it our biggest day yet. It was probably our most memorable night yet as well since Lumpy, the caretaker of the hostel, was fully loaded since it was his birthday. At one point, lumpy fell down he was so sauced. Despite that, the hostel was vey nice and had a very nice atmosphere. 

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We only hiked 7 miles the next day since we were so sore from the previous day. We hung up our clothes that night since they were still wet from the day it rained. We also ran into some trail magic at the top of snowbird mountain that day. We ate some cookies and had a cold drink before continuing. 

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The day after that we ran into some more trail magic where they were serving up hot dogs, chips, and cold drinks. The intersting part of the groups that were doing the trail magic is that they were not  part of an organization. They were just groups of friends out helping hikers for the sake of helping others. It was refreshing to see people helping others without any kind of agenda. We also summited Max Patch that day where we got to see another amazing view. That night we got to the shelter and witnesses the worst privy yet. It didn't even have a door. I guess beggars can't be choosers (I've been saying that a lot since the start of the hike). 

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The last day we hiked 13 miles into Hot Springs. We could start to see smoke around the town early in the day. In case you didn't know, there has been a large fire around Hot Springs for the last few days. There has been a lot of activity, from helicopters, to planes, to forest service vehicles and fire trucks. The hill behind us was on fire last night and the whole town has been enshrouded in smoke for days. The trail, north of town, is closed due to the fire, so we are getting a shuttle tomorrow to Allen gap, which is about 14 miles north of here (in trail miles). We took a zero day to take care of some things. Namely, sending some gear back home, restocking food, and getting some lighter gear from the outfitter. We traded our MSR whisperlite stove for a pocket rocket. I'm estimating that we dropped our base weight by about 3 pounds today. I will also have the peace of mind of not carrying around 30oz of gasoline now. And, the pressurizing pump on the gas container was staring to deteriorate. 

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We hope to be in Erwin, TN in 5 days where we can resupply on food again.

Until next time,

Leap and Frog 

Fontana Dam to Gatlinburg

We left the Fontana Dam shelter early on Saturday morning and entered the Smokies.

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It was a beautiful morning for a hike. The landscape of the smokies seemed to be pretty much the same as everything else we had seen up until we crossed some sort of magical line where flowers started lining the forest floor.

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On the way to the shelter, we came across an old fire tower overlooking the dam. It was sketchy as all hell, however. The first flight of stairs was missing a handrail on the right side and the floor of the top portion was spongy particle board. I took a few pics and came back down as soon as I could. The fear was worth it for the awesome views.

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We stayed in a shelter for the first time that night, and we decided we would never stay in one ever again. The trail log at the shelter mentioned that there were rats there, but even more irritating was the 3 guys snoring in the shelter. Everyone complained about not getting any sleep the next morning, so we decided to stay in our tent from then on. The other not so great part about shelters in the smokies is that most don't have privies. Rather, there are designated "toilet areas" where you must go. These are always a minefield of human feces that must be navigated very carefully. You are supposed to bury your poop 6 inches in the ground but somehow people end up ignoring that rule. 

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The park has more than made up for its shortfalls with beautiful views and a varying landscape. I took a short nap in a meadow near the summit of a mountain overlooking the park, which was one of my favorite moments on the trail so far.

We also reached the highest point on the Appalachian trail a couple of days ago. The point is called Klingmans Dome, and it is over 6500' above sea level. The views were incredible. On the path leading up to the top, the landscape changed to a dense forest of spruce trees. The change of scenery did a lot to brighten our mood. 

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We hiked down to the shelter after reaching the summit and made food and went to sleep. The next morning, we woke up at 6:00 am and hit the trail by 7:00. We arrived at Newfound gap at 9:30 after hiking 5 miles and caught the shuttle into Gatlinburg. There was some trail magic setup in the gap so we got to eat some fresh fruit and snacks before the shuttle arrived. 

Once we arrived in Gatlinburg, we spent some time at the outfitters to get some supplies. Then we made our way to our motel and showered up. Our plan is to get back on the trail tomorrow and hike to Hot Springs, NC in 5 days. I've made a spreadsheet with the plan and some other stats. You can check it out here:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=163A0240689BD4D9!282379&authkey=!AImHKwH9_zxNIXI

We're are over 200 miles into the trail now and we're still loving it! Once we get out of the smokies, the trail will follow the North Carolina / Tennessee border until we reach Virginia. I'll try to make another post once we get to Hot Springs. 

-Frog

NOC to the Smokies

Last time I posted was the day before heading into Wesser (the area is also just referred to as NOC, Nantahala Oudoor Center, an outfitter where you can get new gear and resupply). It was a short day's hike into Wesser. When we got there, we rented a cabin, took showers, and did laundry. Then we went to a restaurant along the Nantahal river. 

In the morning, we bought food enough to get us to Gatlinburg, TN, which is where we plan to take our next zero day. We hit the trail by 11. We had to climb 3000ft in 7 miles to get to our next campsite. It was brutal. We were tired by the end of the day despite the low mileage. 

The next day we hiked 12 miles to get to the next campsite. One interesting feature was called Jacobs ladder, which is a very steep incline up to the summit. 

Today, we hiked 9 miles to get to Fontana Dam shelter, also known as the Fontana Hilton (this is the first shelter with a shower and a proper bathroom). A bubble of hikers is here, so we had a campfire and I got to meet a lot more awesome hikers. We also got to eat at a restaurant in Fontana Village. We also hung at at the general store for a while to let our phones charge. On the shuttle back to the shelter, we crammed into a van with a total of 8 hikers (not including the driver). It was actually kind of fun, despite having multiple backpacks laying on me. 

We also ran across a rat snake today. It was up in a tree and I would have walked right by it if it wasn't for Louisa's keen eye. We haven't seen much besides a few squirrels. That might change tomorrow since we are entering the Smokies, which is a bear sanctuary. 

We are definitely looking forward to seeing another national park, but not as excited about the rules and restrictions. You must tent at a shelter, and if it's full, you must hike onto the next one, which could be 10 miles away, even if it's raining or storming. I will try to remember to post again once we get to gatlinburg, which should be 4 days from now. 

Day 20

Well, we haven't had exactly 20 days on the trail. We've had 4 zero days so far and a couple of neros (near zero). Last Wednesday, we had a huge day in terms of miles. We hiked 15.9 miles to get to winding stair gap and hitch a ride into Franklin, NC. We didn't actually hitchhike, but my trail buddy, Thor, texted me to give me the number of Beverly. She gave us a ride to our hotel and only asked for a donation for gas money. We also caught up with the Finnish couple, Lucky Man and Strawberries. We stayed in Franklin until Sunday morning, due to the cold front that had moved into the area. The low temperature at night was reported to be around 20 F every night during that time, and we know our sleeping system does not do well below 30 F. We started getting cabin fever toward the end, but it was nice to have some days to relax, heal, and explore Franklin. The first day in town, we did laundry, bought groceries, and relaxed. On Friday, we only got out of the hotel room to get lunch. We tried going to a Chinese restaurant we found on Yelp, but after a half mile of walking, we discovered that it was boarded up. So we walked back up the hill and ended up going to Fatz, a restaurant right across the street from our hotel. The worst part about walking around Franklin is that there few sidewalks and crosswalks don't exist. This meant having to wait 10 minutes to cross the freeway. By Saturday, we had enough sitting around. We took a walk to get downtown so we could check out the local brewery and associated food truck. After eating lunch and having a beer, we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way, a truck pulled over and offered us a ride. We graciously accepted and rode in the back. 

On the same day, we met a lady named Prairie Star. As it turns out, she was born and raised in Sturgis, SD, which gave us plenty to talk about. She is also a thru hiker and her husband had come down to visit her (they live in NC), so they had a car. They offered to drive us back to Winding Stair gap since she was planning to head back out on Sunday too. Both her and Jack, her husband, were super nice and we enjoyed visiting with them.

On Sunday, we hiked 11 miles to our next shelter. The shelter and campground were all but full when we arrived and by the grace of two hikers from the UK, we were able to find a place to pitch the tent. Today, we hiked another 11 miles and had some amazing views. 

A lookout tower, where I took the below picture

Looking north toward the Smokies (I think)

We're both glad to be back out on the trail. My knees have been feeling better and Louisa hasn't had any more blisters as far as I know. Tomorrow we head into Wesser, NC to resupply, then it's onto Fontana Dam, then into the Smokies. 

Week 2 Retrospect

What went well:

Better planning in terms of food

Muscles are getting stronger

Joints are aching less

Staying on top of blisters (using Leukotape asap)

Did more reading at night and in the morning

Reached a new state

Got trail names

Hit the 100 mile mark

What could have went better:

Took less photos (and there were plenty of things to take photos of)

Should have individually wrapped my peanut butter and jelly tortillas

Still didn't wake up any earlier (I'm no longer worried about this as our daily mileage is still fairly small and the temperature of the night usually is dictating when we get up, i.e. If it's cold, we get less sleep, so we tend to sleep in the warmer morning to make up for the loss)

What to work on for the next week:

Take more photos!

A very important photo I took this last week

New state, new name

As of Sunday evening, we are in North Carolina now! One state down, 13 to go. We also have new names now. From now on, Louisa shall be referred to as "Leap" and I shall be referred to as "Frog". There have been several days where we kept passing and being passed by the same hiker, so he dubbed us "Leap frog". 

We are close to Franklin, NC, where we might take a couple of days off. The weather has turned cold and snow is possible. We are doing well, physically and mentally. I caught a blister forming in my left foot yesterday, but put some Leukotape on it just in time. 

We had a tough time getting the sign and both of us in frame. 

As our legs are getting stronger, we plan to start putting more miles on in the coming weeks. We are hoping to hit 15 miles a day as the terrain / weather allows. 

Day 7, 8, 9, 10

Haven't had good service in a while and my phone didn't have much battery so I've been slacking on the blogging. 

Day 7:

After a fairly cold night, we spent the morning sleeping in. We didn't hit the trail until 10:45 AM. I made a small fire in the morning to help warm myself up. We hiked to the next shelter, made camp, and spent the evening reading (this has become a common theme of how we spend our evenings).

Day 8:

We got going a little earlier and hiked into Unicoi gap. There were two separate groups serving up trail magic. One was a church group serving hotdogs and hamburgers, and the other was an outdoor enthusiasts club, and they were serving free food and beer. I ended up having a Milwaukee's best and a ton of food which made hiking the rest of the day fairly easy (due to lots of carbs, not the alcohol, which was barely detectable). We hiked up Tray mountain and setup camp at the shelter there. We didn't get much sleep because the wind was so loud. I woke up several times during the night and could have swore I was by the ocean. 

Day 9:

Another day enshrouded by fog. The worst part about hiking in the rain / fog is once you reach the summit of a mountain you've been hiking for hours, you can't  the see the beautiful landscape you would normally be able to see on a clear day. We got up early (as per last weeks retrospective) and arrived at our next shelter by 1:00 PM. Fortunately, the bubble of hikers we started out with are a day ahead of us, so Deeo Gap shelter was almost empty. There was a guy there taking a zero day and later in the day, a couple from Finland stopped by that I hadn't seen since Gooch gap. We all sat around and chatted until dark. It was one of the better evenings I've had socializing with other hikers. 

The other reason the shelter was fairly empty was that a lot of people got off the trail due to the predicted bad weather. We opted to keep going because if we got off the trail every time  there was a 30% chance of thunderstorms, we would  never finish it. It did rain fairly hard and there was thunder and lightening, but we both slept really well. 

Day 10:

We woke up at 7:00 AM and were hiking by 8:00. We needed to be to Dicks creek gap by 11:00 to catch a shuttle into Hiawassee, GA. We got to the gap by 10:00 and the shuttle didn't arrive until 11:20, so we got plenty of time to sit around and talk to other hikers. 

Once we got to town, we checked into our motel and ordered a pizza. We don't have a scale to weigh ourselves, but we can tell we are both losing weight, which is no surprise. We ran a serious calorie deficit this last week, which we plan to correct with our resupply for the next week. 

We also ate at a southern style buffet called Daniels. It was really mediocre, but it was worth it for the atmosphere, which can only be described as southern kitsch. We plan on taking a zero day tomorrow and to be back on the trail by Sunday. Sunday will be our last day in Georgia and we will end up camping in North Carolina that night. Georgia was beautiful and I'm going to miss it. 

Week 1 Retrospect

I'd like to do a weekly retrospect where I go over what I think worked and what I think we can improve on. We'll see if I stick to this format as it may become not as useful the longer we hike.

What went well:

Packed enough food

Prepared well enough to survive a week in the woods

Started with low mileage to ease us into long distance hiking

Took breaks to enjoy good views and rest

What didn't go so well:

I lost my knife and water filter and almost lost my jacket (remembered where it was and avoided a major loss)

Woke up late almost every day and didn't start hiking usually until after 10 AM

Didn't do as much reading as I would have liked

One thing to work on the next week:

Louisa and I decided to work on getting up earlier. This should help us hike during cooler parts of the day so we won't be as likely to get sunburned. Plus, as we add on more miles to our days, it will be necessary to start earlier or we will end up setting up camp in the dark. 

Day 5 and 6

Day 5:

With only 5 miles to Neels gap and our cabin, we woke up eager to get going. We skipped breakfast as we knew we would be able to get a bunch of good food at the outfitter at the bottom of Blood Mountain. After a couple of miles, we began our ascent up the mountain and it began to rain. We shrugged it off and continued trudging on. After a while, I took off to hike at my own pace and told Louisa I would meet her at the shelter at the summit. Once I reached the top, I rested in the shelter to await Louisa. 

Blood Mountain shelter

Unfortunately, since it was such a foggy day, we were unable to see any of the scenic views from the summit. The descent was much tougher than the ascent since it was littered with large boulders that we had to hike on. To make matters worse, it was rainy and windy, so we had to be extra careful navigating the terrain. One thing I have found is that downhill walking is much harder on my knees. I bend my knees when stepping down off rocks as well as using my trekking poles, which helps to reduce the impact to my knees, but there is still a fair amount of strain. The pain is manageable and hasn't been getting any worse, so I think I'll be ok but I'm definitely looking for ways to reduce strain on my knees. 

Anyways, the pain I had and Louisa's pain in her feet and the rain and wind made for a grueling descent and we were both miserable. However, the day turned out to be a good one once we reached the outfitter. Mountain crossings in Neels gap offers a bunch of food for thru hikers to resupply with and we definitely took advantage. We both picked up a frozen pizza and snacks and soda and settled into our cabin. We showered up and brought our dirty laundry up to the main lodge where the owner washed and dried our clothes for us. We both rested up and went to bed early. 

Day 6:

We planned out our next week to make it to Hiawassee, GA and decided that day 6 would be a shorter day in terms of mileage. This gave us some time to resupply our hiking food at the outfitter and pick up some items I lost during the last week. I lost my knife and water purifier on day 4 :(

We also sent some items back home to help us save weight. Once we were done at the outfitter, we continued onto the trail. We took a quick lunch break soon after that. There were several beautiful lookouts we came across today and the weather was clear so I was able to get some good photos. 

The shelter we were going to stay at was 1.2 miles off the trail, so we decided to keep going and find a campsite along the trail. Every place we have stayed before had a pre built system for storing food at night (to keep bears out of it). This is the first night not at a place that has that or without the bear canister we rented (see day 4). I watched a video on YouTube on how to hang a bear bag PCT style. It took some time for me to figure it out, but I got our food hung properly after about 15 minutes of messing around. 

It's supposed to get down to 35 degrees tonight, so we are huddled up with our sleeping bag liners and coats on. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, so we are looking forward to tomorrow's hike. 

Day 3 and 4 aka Trail magic is real

Day 3 started out in Black hawk campground. We needed to get to Gooch mountain shelter, which was about 9 miles away. An uneventful morning of hiking had us thirsty and unsure where exactly the next water source was. After a fairly grueling climb and descent, we came across some trail magic. Some trail angels hauled a large tank of water to the gap we hiked into. It was perfect timing for us since it was turning into a hot and sweaty day. There was a group of about 8 veterans there filling up with water. They are part of a program known as "walk off the war". One of the gentlemen we met gave us some food including a dehydrated ice cream sandwich. The Appalachian trail, as I am finding, is unique in the aspect that since so many people hike it, there is a lot of help from other hikers or just random good doers. The afternoon had us both tired and ready for rest. For the last mile, Louisa and I walked separately since her feet were hurting and I thought it would be more efficient for me to arrive at camp earlier and find a spot (which are at a premium due to large volume of hikers). At the intersection of the shelter trail and main trail were a couple of men handing out apples. Oddly enough, I had been craving apples all day. I stopped to chat with the guys for a bit and the subject of pain came up. I told them of Louisa's foot pain and why we were walking apart. They asked me when she would be by and I told them about a half hour. My estimation was based on me walking 2 miles per hour and Louisa walking 1 mile per hour for 1 mile. As soon as I was done explaining this, James spots Louisa crushing it up the hill. They got to make fun of me for my gross miscalculation of Louisa's speed :)

Day 3 ended around a campfire with about 10 other hikers and one of the ridge runners. A ridge runner is someone who walks the trail throughout the day and offers guidance to other hikers. The conversation around the campfire was filled with laughter and stories of the days hike. 

Day 4:

I woke up at about 7 EST to sit on a log outside our tent and watch the sunrise and listen to birds chirp. Feeling not quite rested, I went back to bed until about 8:30. Louisa and I didn't start hiking until about 10:15. After a mile and a half, we arrived in Gooch gap. James, from the day before, had setup in the gap and had been making hot breakfast for hikers all morning long. We had yogurt, more apples, banana bread, orange juice, and sausage biscuits. Then, I had James perform a shakedown of our gear. I laid out everyone on a tarp and we went over what we actually needed and were able to shed a small amount of weight. 

It took us about an hour to get out of Gooch gap, but it was well worth the time. We hiked another 4 miles to the next gap. By this time, it was 2:30 and we still weren't exactly sure where we going to stay. The problem is that there is a 5 miles stretch that requires hikers to use a non pliable bear canister to store food. We don't have one since they are bulky and heavy and not necessary for most of the trail. Fortunately, there is a grocery store in Suches, GA that rents then to hikers. Even luckier yet, there is a free shuttle that runs to the town from the gap that we were in. So we caught the shuttle to town and got the very last bear canister they had. We also got to order a small, yet very delicious pizza. We made it back to the gap around 3:15. At this point, we had hiked 5.5 miles already, and the next gap we wanted to get to was another 6 miles away. So we got trekking. About an hour in, it started raining. We quickly threw on our rain jackets and kept going. Unfortunately, we were doing a lot of up and down on slippery rocks, but we took it slow and made it through safely. One thing we forgot to check was if there was any camping at the gap we wanted to get to. Turns out there is a campground a mile west so we cut the hike a little short, probably less than a half mile. We found a single camp spot high up in the hills. For once, there is one else around. The silence is deafening and I love it. 

View from our current campsite.

Tomorrow, we have a 5 mile hike up and over and back down Blood mountain. It will spit us out into Neels gap, where we have a cabin booked for Easter Sunday. We are both looking forward to a shower and getting to do laundry (yes, having clean clothes is a luxury). 

Day 1 and 2

Warning: stream of conscious incoming

Day 1:

The big day arrived. Time to hit the trail. We woke up and had some time to kill before our ride to Amicolala Falls state park. I decided to call our ride to make sure the guy was still going to pick us up. As it turns out, he never received my confirmation email that 11:30am was going to work for us to be picked up at the airport. So we were SOL. The guy had no more room, so we got an Uber ride to the start of the trail. Which turned out to be interesting because, Eric, our driver, is originally from Sioux Falls. We ended up chatting for the duration of the ride, which ended up being over an hour. He was one of the most genuine people I have had the privilege to talk with. 

Once we were dropped off, we checked in with the ATC (Appalalchian Trail Conservancy) and weighed our packs. With food, my weighed in at 35lbs and Louisa's was 30lbs. We were shooting for less than that, but the lady who weighed her pack before us made us feel better. Her pack was 50lbs and that was after shedding 25lbs of gear she decided wasn't worth the effort of carrying. 

After filling up with water, we hit the approach trail. We had 8 miles to cover and about 6 hours until the sun set. We made it to Springer Mountain right as the sun was setting over the horizon. We got our tent up, made dinner, cleaned up, and were asleep by 9:45 EST. 

Day 2:

Woke up very rested. Rehydrated some scrambled eggs, filtered more water and officially started the Appalchain trail. We ended up following a small creek for a while through a very green section of the trail, which definitely put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. 

We hiked about 7.5 miles and made camp. I called my dad to wish him a happy birthday then listened to music and read the remainder of the night. So far, Louisa is the only one with blisters, but fortunately we have some special tape to cover them so they don't get worse. I put some tape between my toes as a preventative measure. No aches or pains to report, so I think we are off to a good start. There is supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight so hopefully we get some rest tonight. 

Edit: wrote this before I went to bed last night. The thunderstorm never hit but it did rain a good amount. We're both feeling good this morning! 

Driving down to Georgia

Louisa and I are in Atlanta tonight and will begin our hike tomorrow, however we will not officially be on the Appalachian trail until the Thursday. We will hike the 8 mile approach trail that starts at Amicalola Falls state park and ends at Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the trail. 

Since we both left our jobs and packed all our things into a storage unit, we have been visiting family and friends in Aberdeen and Rapid City. We began driving down to Georgia on Sunday afternoon. Our route took us through Omaha, St. Louis, and now into Atlanta. We plan on being picked up at the airport tomorrow at 11:30am so we can hit the trail by early afternoon. We are looking forward to the start of our adventure!

Some pictures we have been taking:

https://imgur.com/gallery/RyTAe

Testing out the tent

We spent our first night in the tent last night in Hot Springs, SD. The low temperature was 20 degrees F. We made it until about 6 AM before we had to head inside due to the cold. The biggest issue was that the shared sleeping bag let heat escape between us when one person slept on their side. The other issue was that we just had a hard time getting to sleep, but that was due to us not being used to tenting. We might get individual sleeping bags for the start of the trail and switch back to the shared sleeping bag once we hit warmer weather. Hopefully a long day of hiking on the trail will help us to fall asleep faster. 

Testing out the pack

Today, Louisa and I went to Buffalo State Park to do some hiking. I brought my pack along to see how I would fare with 20+ pounds on my back. For the most part, I was fine but the balls of my left foot started to hurt toward the end. Perhaps I will need an insole to keep my foot from hurting. I also found out that my trekking poles need some adjustment. Only one week until we move out!

Gear Overview

https://lighterpack.com/r/8fs28q

I decided to put our gear together in a single list since some of the items are shared between Louisa and I and we haven't decided who will carry what yet. I also haven't included food yet since the amount of food we will carry at a time will depend entirely on how many days we plan to hike between towns. Worst case scenario will be the 100 mile wilderness in Maine, which will take about 5-8 days to complete.

There are some optimizations we can make to our gear and I'm sure it will evolve as we figure out what works and what doesn't. Our packs will be inevitably lighter during the summer months since we will be able to send some of the cold weather gear home (I'm looking at you, sleeping bag liners).

Also, I'm slightly concerned about the weight of our fuel canister. It's a 30 oz canister and after running the stove, I'm realizing that amount of fuel will probably last for months (not ideal). I'd rather have to resupply fuel once a week and save myself from carrying a non-trivial amount of weight.