On-Trail Update No. 1

Day: 19     A.T. Miles: 162.6     Total Trip Miles: 171.4
Greetings from the Appalachian Trail!  I am currently in Fontana Dam, North Carolina, about one mile from the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  This is the first access to internet I have had on the trip.  I've obviously got a lot to write, and I don't have a lot of time to write it, so I'm going to have to move fast.  Since I am not spending a night here but will be continuing up the trail this evening, I might not have time to get the blog completely up-to-date, but I will post as much as time allows.  The following journal entries were written in shorthand each night on the trail.  They were written in a sort of stream-of-consciousness format while I thought about each day's events, and that format has not been changed here.  Because my time on the internet is so limited, I am having to suppress my urge to proof-read and edit everything I write.  I have taken tons of photos and half a dozen or so videos so far, but unfortunately I cannot upload them today (this computer has restricted user access settings and it won't let me upload any files).  I promise I will get those up as soon as possible.  Overall, it has been a great trip so far.  I spent four days in Florida and Georgia with my friend, Brent Thomas, before hitting the trail on Feb. 20.

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2/20/11     Day 1     Miles: 2.8 (plus 8.8-mile Approach Trail)
Brent dropped me off at Amicalola Falls State Park and I started the Approach Trail at about 9:30 AM.  I was hiker #51 to sign the registry (although many do not sign).  The trail begins on top of Springer Mountain in the park, and no vehicular access is available to the summit, so hikers must hike 8.8 miles from the visitors center to the start of the trail.  My heart was pounding like crazy when I stood under the stone arch at the beginning of the approach trail.  After a year of waiting, I can't believe I am actually here.  It is all very surreal.  On top of Springer I met Phil and Steve, the first thru-hikers I have met on the trip.  Both are students at UConn, so we did some bantering about whose women's basketball team will win the national championship.  We all three kept on until Stover Creek Shelter where we met Brian and Eric, two more NOBOs (northbound thru-hikers).  Gave Eric his trail name tonight: The Man With Half a Face (derived from a joke about internet stalkers).  Most A.T. thru-hikers go by a trail name of some sort.  While most are given their names on the trail, some opt to choose them on their own.  I love this tradition.  I am tent camping tonight.  I saw smoke to the east while on Springer.  Pretty windy today.  There was smoke haze and smell in camp near sundown with some ash settling on my tent.  I will stay alert for now.  Some minor knee pain today but nothing serious.  Good weather, positive spirits today.

2/21/11     Day 2     Miles: 12.3
Staying tonight at Gooch Mountain Shelter, first night staying in shelter.  Pretty tough day today, lots of big PUDs (pointless ups and downs, the ones that lead to no good views and seem to have no purpose other than making the trail more difficult).  Must have climbed and descended 4 or 5 different mountains.  This trail does not seem to believe in switchbacks, it just goes straight up and down each mountain without attempting to avoid them.  Great weather, good spirits all day.  Mostly hiked by myself and sang a lot.  Met Triton, Hawk, and Joker at the shelter this evening.  They all seem like great guys.  Triton gave me my trail name tonight: Sensei.  I got it when I was teaching him and some others the PCT method of bear-bag hanging.  It's a great name, and I think it fits my personality: I am quiet and contemplative at times, I love to teach, and I consider music and fly fishing to be spiritual pursuits.  Sounds like "Sensei" worthy to me.  Phil also got his trail name tonight: Guido Blanco (because he is a blond and very light-skinned Italian American).  These mountains are beautiful: dead oak (I think) forests up high, green and cool and water-filled near creeks down low with lots of rhododendron.  Knee pain on all downhills, but nothing too bad so far.  Felt good on uphills.

2/22/11     Day 3     Miles: 12.4
Camping alone at Slaughter Creek Campsite.  In tent, first night alone on A.T.  Will probably go to sleep around 7:30 since it gets dark so early (completely dark by 7:00).  Haven't seen any other thru-hikers all day, have only seen a few day hikers (maybe 4?).  Picked up a lot of trash on the trail, it really annoys me.  Some with a cold must think the world is their trashcan.  Met two cool locals, showed me Atlanta from a good overlook (70 miles away!)  Tomorrow: Blood Mountain, resupply at Neel's Gap, make it an easy day.  Left knee hurts now, both knees with moderate pain on downhills and little to none on everything else.  Looks like another windy night.  Not the best pitch on the tent, I hope it holds up.  Wind blowing fallen leaves, making my imagination go crazy thinking every noise sounds like a bear.  If you don't think you're afraid of the dark, you probably haven't been out in the woods alone at night.  I've camped alone before, but this is the first time I've camped alone without knowing where/how far the nearest person is.  It makes a difference.

2/23/11     Day 4     Miles: 4.3
Just as I was sitting down to write this, Guido, J.T. Hill (Steve's new trail name) and The Face showed up in camp,  I was very happy to see them, as I was starting to get lonely after two full days by myself.  Took it easy on the knees today, aiming to hit Hiawassee by the morning of the 27th.  Will spend the night and take a nero ("near zero," few A.T. miles hiked) and resupply there.  Man, I can't express how happy I am to see the other guys right now.  It has been one of the biggest spirit lifts I can ever remember having.  If I didn't realize how much of a people person I was before, I definitely realize it now.  Resupplied at Neel's Gap today, easily spent several hours at Mountain Crossings Outfitters.  Had them do a shakedown of my gear but didn't change much.  I replaced my "water resistant" bear bag with one that is 100% waterproof, got another dry bag for my clothes to replace broken ziplock.  Also got new headlamp to replace crummy visor clip light that didn't ever want to work.  Sent home running shorts.  Will probably get rid of some more stuff in the next few weeks.

2/24/11     Day 5     Miles: 9.7
Supposed to T-Storm tonight, so we took it easy to stay at Low Gap Shelter to keep out of rain.  Completely full in shelter with five or six more camping outside.  Met up with Triton, Joker, and Hawk again around lunch, met more thru-hikers here: Rhino, Pops, China Girl and Wood Rat.  Wood Rat thru-hiked in 1995 and knows a lot about the local ecology.  He is a super cool guy.  First day I have spent hiking with others all day long (most time hiking is spent alone).  Will do about 13 tomorrow if weather permits.  Sang on the trail a lot with Triton today.  Also met SOBO (southbounder) today finishing up his thru (started in July).  Left knee hurt pretty bad today, right knee almost no pain.

2/25/11     Day 6     Miles: 13.0
Pretty tough day today, but I feel surprisingly good.  Two BIG ascents and descents today (Blue and Rocky Mountains), plus lots of rocky ankle busting sections on the trail early on.  Got a bit of a late start, had a conversation this morning with Triton about bebop and the influence of Miles Davis on American popular music.  Hiked alone, caught up to J.T. Hill and Guido just before lunch and Face a bit later.  Tent camping tonight at Cheese Factory site (there used to be a dairy here; sadly, there was no longer any cheese factory).  Thought today about what Triton said yesterday: the difference between will power and willingness.  Will power assumes that a person can mentally overcome any obstacle, which isn't necessarily true (a person can't hike on two broken legs, for example).  Willingness, on the other hand, simply means a willingness to keep going.  In other words, will power is more active, while willingess is a more passive acceptance of the fact that not everything is under one's control.  Spent a lot of time during the day thinking about what to write in journal, but I forget most of it by the end of the day.  My mind drifts in and out of autopilot while hiking, kind of like when driving on the highway: feel on trail, ankles, trail as a whole, weather, will I make it or not, people back home, etc...  Sitting around campfire tonight, I thought: I can't believe this will be my life for the next five months.  Hiawassee on Sunday.  I've never been so excited about eating at a restaurant in my entire life.  About 80% of the conversations on the trail have to do with food.  It just never leaves your mind.  Both knees hurt pretty bad today, should have a left knee brace waiting in town.  I have pretty much given up on personal hygiene except for brushing my teeth and washing my feet when a good water source is available.