Under Way

Alright, back to that thing I said I was going to do!

I suppose I'll post separately about all the things I've been distracted by April was definitely the start of the real hike for me ! I found people immediately, about 6 of us who balanced each other fairly well, and we were off to the (slow) races!

I was still (stubbornly) carrying my bear cannister at that point - 2 controversial pounds of food storage protection that bears in certain areas have learned to penetrate anyway. On the plus side, finding a place to put it is FAR easier than throwing a bear line tends to be.

You also find a lot of foods delicious you wouldn't normally eat, I mean, who actually likes HoneyBuns!? On the flip side, I read that packing dehydrated dinners you wouldn't normally eat wasn't a great idea. THAT advice was on point.

I did come to miss the amount of down time we had on some of the early days - because we were only hiking 6-8 miles a day at the beginning. Though we were definitely hiking it slowly, we still arrived at camp most days by around 2.

We made our first Hostel stop at Above the Clouds, complete with an excellent burger just in town. We met a gentleman in his mid 70's who was hiking the trail whom we did not bump into again. He was absolutely a character, but perhaps not quite equipped to be on his own in the woods. He was very thin, carrying a very heavy, older style pack, and wearing heavy layered fabrics. We told him about the FarOut app for navigation, which he didn't seem familiar with. But he said the AT had been a life long dream for him and he wanted to see what he could do. If I had given him a trail name, it would have been Preacher. I think he might also have been a bit hard of hearing, but he was content to talk more than listen, anyway, so it was better to let him ramble a bit.

We also met a hiker from Rhode Island going by Cheeseburger who we would see a couple weeks down the trail. He had met a group at Springer mountain and was working to keep up with their hike (I believe it was a group I met along with Phil in our first couple of days on trail). He spoke glowingly about how well they had all clicked; they were camping on trail, but he had come to the hostel for some elevated rest and, well, because he could. He was getting back on trail at least one exit further down than we were.

We were just learning our "town chores" at this point - laundry and showers, resupply and inventory. Naturally, I dug my whole pack apart again to try to figure out anything I could leave to drop weight. I didn't drop anything significant, maybe a half pound tripod (I was carrying my good camera still) but I also found a tripod there that I liked . . . and I picked up a mini muscle roller, so basically a wash! I might easily have ended up with a trail name along the lines of "It doesn't weigh anything . . ." as I stuffed things back into my pack.

Another hiker of the six we had started with was there also (CJ?), and bartered a ride into town with some section hikers, Holly (Trail Mum) and her son to look for trekking poles. He had started without them and realized that he was having a bad time compared to the rest of us.  He took another zero as we departed, having picked up a cold that was going around. We coordinated with him for a while after that, but didn't end up seeing him again.

Someone else brought in a pizza from the gas station they ended up not wanting (I can't honestly remember the reason), but nothing beats second supper when it's unexpected and free.

I had a bunk in the back of the main house and had a lovely discussion with a couple of the hikers staying there that night. One was solo hiking, only 19 or so, and managing serious dietary limitations on trail. She said her parents had expressed serious concerns about her hiking, but she was loving the trip so far.

K, Mat, and Magic were in a cabin out back. K said the fan was on all night and she and Magic did not get much sleep because it was cold and someone (Don't think it was Mat) was snoring.

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