Appalachian Trail Hike, GA->ME 1999

The Appalachian Trail is a roughly 2100 mile footpath along the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern U.S. The Southern terminus is Springer Mountain, in Georgia; the Northern is Katahdin (no Mt, Mtn, etc. just 'Katahdin'), in Maine. In 1999, I will attempt a thru-hike, from Georgia to Maine. I will do this 'alone', except for the company of my dog, Heidi, and any person I may meet on the trail.

Updates while I'm on the trail will be handled by my buddy Kev. You can check out where the heck I am at his Simon Tracking page.

Latest Update

Well, I suppose there must be a 'post-trip' update of some sort; today seems to be the day for such things. I've just witnessed the loss of the Packers-Vikings game tonight, which may be an accurate reflection of my reacclimation to society. i.e. I'm no longer in 'trail mode' and am, instead, fully embroiled in the silly worries of day-to-day society.

Anyway, my life since the trail has been 'ok'. Rather than return to work, I've decided to continue the sabbatical and travel overseas with a friend. We'll be making stops in Hong Kong, Vietnam (via Hanoi), Thailand, Bali (Indonesia), Australia, New Zealand and the Cooke Islands. We're departing in early January, and returning in late May. At which point I'll be forced to return to the world of the gainfully employed.

To briefly summarize, I've been home since late October. I summitted Katahdin on October 15th, and spent 5 or 6 days returning to Minneapolis. I must say that doing 'the Bearded Lady' for Halloween was a big hit. I'm still waiting for the pictures. Prior to 10/15, trail life was awesome. I will never be able to fully recount the experience(s) of the trail. Yes, both singular and plural, as the AT experience is made up of a plethora of experiences. In those (nearly) six months, I was scared out of my wits (more than once), totally alone, totally content, frustrated with myself, proud of myself, drunk as a skunk and just plain happy beyond description. The people are the best part of the trip. Yes, the wilderness experience (when it appears) is awesome. But, frankly, you can be scared out of your shorts anywhere. Trust me - when lightning strikes within 100 feet, and you're outside, you learn things about yourself - and your place in the universe.

People are what really make the experience. Yes, sometimes, its the lack of other folks that makes a place beautiful, but its also being able to share that observation with others that really drives it home. And when somebody gives you that hitch that makes up for a day of frustration, the innate goodness of people really shines. It can come in any form, and I can only hope that it doesn't end here.

But, back to now.

At this point (12/21/99), I've been fairly busy preparing my home for rental. Basically, the situation is that I need to move out so I can rent out my place to fund the next journey. Of course, its not quite that simple: the kitchen has required remodelling, so I've been rather occupied in the destruction and reconstruction of that room. I must say that tearing out cabinets, replacing floors, painting walls, wiring the room and replacing the cabinets have been much more enjoyable than sitting behind a desk each day and being 'gainfully employed'. Whatever the hell that is.

So anyway, a variety of epiphanies have struck, since I've been home. For one thing, I no longer totally despise city living. I must say, that when I don't have to commute during rush hour (or 2 hours), living here is splendid! But when I speak to my friends from life on the trail, the fact of the matter is that returning to reality sucks. Actually, returning to reality sucks for me too; just not quite as much as for the folks that actually have jobs now. I will be in that situation in about six months, but who can say what will happen in that time. Certainly not me. One thing I do know is that many of my trail friends are now pursuing dreams. The trail has taught them that the roles our society pushes us into are not necessarily those that best suit us. Instead, these people are pursuing their passions - they're doing the things that make them happy, rather than follow the societal rituals that steer us towards boring lifestyles that leave us on our deathbeds wondering, 'What the hell have I done with my life?'

So much for The Best Laid Plans...

The month of March was largely spent in panicked preperations for a pre-sabbatical vacation. I went to Moab, UT for a week for the Easter Jeep Safari. For a week, a bunch of friends and I drove through the Red Rocks of Moab challenging ourselves and our vehicles to conquer different obstacles of the terrain. I had an absolutely awesome time.

Upon return however, I had allowed only one week for final preparations for the AT. This proved to be way too little. By Wednesday, the 8th, I called Mom and told her to postpone her arrival in Minneapolis. We've pushed off departure for a week or so, which seems, at this time, to be about perfect in terms of allowing me to get everything done.

In terms of getting things done, I'm just about there. The dozen maildrops are mostly packed and labelled. I still need to throw some GORP/trailmix in each one, but other than that, the breakfasts, dinners, snacks, film and maps are in each one. Taxes are done, I just have to go to the accountant's to sign & mail those. The house-watcher/rent-collector has been arranged. The refrigerator still needs to be emptied and unplugged, plus a million or so little cleanup chores around here, but its starting to look feasable for me to leave. So today, instead of taking my first steps in Amicalola State Park, heading towards Springer Mountain, I'll be typing a few words here, and doing other final preparations.

Other news includes making final arrangements for a web-tracking system, hosted and maintained by my hiking buddy Kevin. You can track my progress at His BSIMON A.T. Site.

Let me second that Time Flies statement. I've been shamefully lax lately with the AT planning thing. However, this is not entirely my fault. I'll blame it on major life changes.

What I have done is rough out the final schedule mail drops and overall mileage. My assumption is for averaging 15 miles per day, six days per week. I don't expect to have enough food drops for all my eating needs, so I figured on roughly two weeks (180 miles) between drops. From these guidelines, I've picked post offices.

This puts me right on schedule, completing the hike on or around September 26th.

Time Flies! The excitement level is certainly flying high though. After a family visit to long-lost relatives in Virginia, I am more excited than ever to travel through the area. Of course, the prospect of people to visit on the way adds to that. Also, I am getting more and more requests/desires to join part of the hike. Between friends and family, I'll probably have four or five different people meet me. Some just for a day hike, others for up to a week or more, my girlfriend is talking about finishing with me, maybe even the last 4 to 6 weeks.

The planning is slowly coming together. I have even developed a tentative daily schedule for the first 500 miles. This takes me from Springer Mtn into Virginia, just North of Damascus. That will take me 5½ to 6 weeks. I've also scheduled Heidi for a couple days of boarding, while I traverse the canine-free Great Smokie Mountains National Park.

Other plans are also coming together; I have a couple trips to make between now and departure day. These diversions will also impact the planning stage. Of course, if I didn't want to go I wouldn't, but I just can't pass them up. I will be doing a college reunion of sorts in Boston, MA and a week long Jeep trip to Moab, Utah. Both trips will be just awesome - visiting friends on the one hand, and getting a last dose of mechanized recreation on the other. Some people wonder how I can be into motorized recreation in addition to human-powered; that will be an essay topic at some point, but not today. Check out my Jeep to see what I'm talking about.

Well, the new year is here and gone, and somehow, the clock's ticking has accelerated. While the aggregate time remaining (2 months) seems like alot, I'm beginning to question whether I have enough time to complete all that needs completing. There is food to dry, a last couple items of gear to acquire and final planning of food drops to take place. This, of course, in addition to other responsibilities like work, taxes, and finding new tenants for my first floor.

In terms of scheduling, I have finalized a date for departure: April 10th. From here, mom and i will begin our drive to Amicalola Falls on that date. I expect to arrive there in time to start on the 14th. Beyond Amicalola, and the true departure point of Springer Mountain, Heidi and I will hike together for about two weeks, at which time she'll be in a kennel until I traverse the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park.

In other news, I've begun drying food, but have much more to do, if I am going to fill 12 mail drops worth. So far, I've done Kiwi's and Beef. Kiwis I soak in a bit of Lemon juice prior to drying, this mostly keeps them from browning. When done, they're little sweet & sour chips, most people seem to really like them. This batch of beef was flank steak, cut thin. I soaked it overnight in tamari sauce (similar to soy sauce) and pepper. Pretty basic, but pretty good.

For a Christmas Gift, I received a new tent - an REI Sololite, so I'll be using that rather than the tarp. While its 3lbs will be heavier than a tarp, I'm a bit more comfortable with the likelyhood of it keeping me dry. Plus with the dog along, zipping her in the tent with me will probably be less of a headache than keeping her on a line all night.

I'm also reaching the conclusion that I should just use the pack I have, rather than hunt down and buy another pack. Maybe sometime I'll try making my own pack, but that won't be happening for the AT trip.

Recently, my mother volunteered to drive with me from Minneapolis to Georgia. This will alleviate one of travelling issues: how does a solo hiker get to Springer Mountain, particularly with a dog? We'll rent a car here and drive one-way to GA. Mom will drop Heidi and I at Amicalola Falls State Park, where we'll take the 8 mile approach trail to the AT terminus. Mom will then drive the car to Atlanta and fly home.

Of course, I haven't yet figured out how I'll get home from Maine, but thats a long ways off now, isn't it. (One wild hair is to buy an older VW bus & drive back in style!)

I'm also debating about my plan to sleep under a tarp. Since the dog will be with me, I'm beginning to think that the weight of a tent will be a better alternative - at night, the dog'll be inside with me & not wandering around tangling her line with the guy-lines of a tarp. We'll see though, I'm also a bit reluctant to spend more money on a tent...

Following is my 'intro' email to the at99 mailing list at trailplace.

Hello 99-ers. I, also, am planning a thru-hike in 99, in the GA->ME direction. Current plans are for a departure by May 1st; I plan to quit work on tax-day and spend the subsequent 2 weeks wrapping up loose ends here & travelling to Springer Mtn. From there, head North, with a planned completion sometime between Oct 1st and the 15th.

My packing philosophy is to go light. I'm not into ultra-light, but am planning on reexamining every piece of equipment based on utility and weight. I say I'm not ultra-light because I will, for instance, take a therm-a-rest and 35mm slr camera, but will not be taking a tent - I prefer the packed size & weight of a tarp instead.

Speaking of sleeping arrangements, I plan on mostly not sleeping in the shelters, for several reasons. These are that I will be travelling with Heidi (dog) and I'd prefer to schedule my day around what is a 'good time to stop' vs where is the next shelter. Also, due to stories of mice & crowds, it appears as though the shelters may not be as desirable as one might first assume...

see you on the trails

Clothes

Kitchen

Misc

Bedroom

• Marmot Down Bag (30*)
• Therm-a-Rest light sleeping pad
• REI Sololite tent
• plastic ground sheet

Early/Late season addition(s)

• Fleece Jacket (North Face)
• Fleece Gloves (Columbia)
• Fleece headband (Turtle Fur)

Carrying it all...

Currently, I have a medium-to-large sized LL Bean internal frame pack. I really like it, and it has performed rather well for me over the past four years or so. However, I've never had it completely full, so it must be more than I need, right? I will begin to search for a better solution. I'd like a bag that is packed chock full with the above gear and 8-10 days of food. The bag should also be pretty light, without superfluous straps and pockets. It also must have external water bottle pockets.

Dog Gear

• Wenaha pack
• Wolfpacks collar
• Wolfpacks summer booties (Cordura nylon)
• Leash
• Rope tie out & carabiner
• Ruffwear bowls
• Half of a Ridge Rest

Links

• Appalacian Trail Conference Page
• Appalacian Trailplace
• Appalacian Trail Home Page
• Solophile's Hike - very inspirational for me
• Other journals
• My Vague Plan of hiking the trial.
• Kevin's Where is Brian site
• A brief recap of dog issues and my hike
• 1999 Thru-hiker Swamp Fox

Pics

Kernel on Katahdin, 10/15

Cairn, Hoar Ice on Katahdin

Summit photos on Katahdin

Heidi watching an approaching hiker

First good view of Katahdin. Rochambeau, Diesel, Bubbles, Dawntreader

Heidi and I, about to take our first steps towards Springer 4/21

Bears Den Rocks; Giggler, Stone Monkey, Grim, Kernel, Boo & Wak-a-Pak

Daisy, Heidi, Privey

Heidi's lunch nap on Tinker Cliffs; McAfee Knob behind

Diesel, Rochambeau, Katahdin

Climbing Lehigh Gap

Heidi using the ladder on NY rocks

Lunching on Springer, 4/22

Best trail magic - Privey, Daisy and beers in the Greenhorn Saloon

Firetower view of a doe in the Smokies (Shuckstack)

Mt Washington from Wildcat, the day after Floyd came through. Check out the hair in that wind (60mph, gusting above 70)!

A portrait of Heidi and I on Mt Garfield, sent by some nice folks from Pittsburgh, PA.

Thru-hiker Leaping Gnome looking for a ride.

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