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Backcountry proudly presents an ongoing diary from Zach, our friend and employee, direct from the Appalacian Trail. Good Luck, Zach!
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3/02 The bus ride from Traverse City to Grand Rapids was boring but not horrible, until we transfered buses and headed to Detroit. I had to sit next to a guy who smelled like we will after the first week on the trail. We had a four hour layover in Detroit. When we got on the bus it was crowded and impossible to sleep. The lady next to us had two kids, one of which soiled himself and she didn't change him all night, which made the kid scream and cry all night long. Another lady was yelling on the phone about how her boyfriend left her and that she is pregnant with his kid, and how she found out how he had eight other kids with four different women. She also complained about how she had crashed her car and had to ride this stupid bus. The person behind us wouldn't stop trying to talk to us all night.
When we got to Nashville we had a twelve hour layover. Fortunately, my cousin goes to school there and we were able to hang out with him and his sister all day. The last bus from Nashville to Dalton was also crowded and the bus driver could not drive. Instead of holding the gas pedal for a constant speed, she pumped the gas like a brake, resulting in a rough ride and a very serious case of whip lash!!! The Dalton stop was a gas station--not a bus station--and there was a miscommunication with our ride, so we were in the gas station from 2:00 in the morning until 5:30am. Anyways, we're here in Dalton and the weather is great. We leave Sunday after church to start the trail approach to Springer Mountain. Hope everything is going well at Backcountry and I will write again soon.
--Zach
3-07 The trail is a blast. We got to the top of Springer and started the trail on march 2nd. The weather is great. That day we hiked 9 miles to hawk mountain shelter. We met some interesting people there. One that comes to mind is a guy we named mule, he was carrying 65 lbs. and had all cotton and two pairs of timberland boots. We dropped him down to about 51 lbs. but some things he just wouldn't let go of. The next morning it was raining HARD. We hiked 7 miles to Gooch Gap shelter and changed out socks because we had to cross a river that had flooded. Then we decided to keep going. The rain stopped for about a half an hour, then it started back up and we got caught on top of Sassafrass Mountain in a 20 minute lightning storm--NOT GOOD. We ended up setting up camp near a stream at the base of Blood Mountain. The next morning was cold, and that day we summited blood Mountain, and when we got to the summit we were above the clouds, it was sweet. Then we went down to Neels Gap and got our first food drop. Stayed for about an hour. Then went on for about 8 more miles and set up camp. It was about an 13 mile day. The next day we went about 14 miles to Blue Mountain shelter. That day dragged on for ever. I hiked all day by myself, really home sick. Once we got to the shelter, my spirits were lifted by the other hikers there. Worst shelter ever--wind came right in. Today we decided to stay at Cloud 9 Hostel near Hiawassee. Its great--warm shower, fun people, and warmth. Tonight we are going to get a 14 lb. deep dish pizza. YES, fourteen pounds. Doing great, having fun and loving life. Tell George I've got tons of compliments on the spoon from Thailand. My trail name is THE KID. Dan's is WOODPECKER. Anyways, I gotta go--we are going to get the pizza--talk to you later.
Sincerely, THE KID
3-12Hey guys, hows it going at the store? The trail is amazing. Dan and I left cloud 9 sunday afternoon. We did about 14 miles that day to deep gap shelter, I killed a mouse to with the end of my leki pole. We left early to try and catch up with some people we met at cloud 9. We crossed over into North Carolina and had a warm welcome into N.C. with three nice mountains. We made it to muskrat creek shelter around 4:00, felt good and decided to go to the next shelter 5 miles away. We got to Standing indian shelter, cooked and hit the sack. In the morning we ate and took off for another long day. We expected to catch up with them at Rock gap shelter. It was a fun day, we summitted standing indian mountain, and Albert Mountain which wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be. Everyone said it was a rock climb, but it wasn't even close, it was more of a scramble. We made it to Rock gap shelter and they sill were not there. So we cooked dinner and decided to go further. We made it to US-64 and it was dark. The only camping possibility was about 200 yards away from the road. In the morning, we got a ride into Franklin to the Budget Inn and sure enough there they were. They are going to stay another night and we are going to set off in the morning. In the past two days we hiked 48 miles. 23 the first day and 25 the second. We are taking a zero at the Budget Inn, and resupplying. I will try to write again when we get to Fontana Dam or the N.O.C.
3-27Sorry I didn't write when I got to Fontana Dam, we stayed at the Fontana Hilton Shelter. It had running water, showers, and the shelter slept 25 people. We got a ride into town to get our food drop, and I spent an hour trying to get a fellow hiker his poles that he left on the trail. We left that afternoon and headed into the Smokey Mountains. We got to the first shelter and a ridge runner kicked us out because there were more hikers coming behind us. We ended up staying at a nice shelter. 16 mile day, and these kids made a fire in the shelter but they couldn't get it going and the smoke was horrible, we had to stay outside for a while. The next day it was raining and 60 mph winds, we came over Thunderhead mountain in the storm. We couldn't see a thing but it was a blast anyways. We stayed at Derick's Knob shelter that night. Woke up to snow and 24 degree temperatures. We came over Clingmans Dome, clear skies, and the trail was all ice. The view was amazing, and everything was frozen on the trees. We got to Newfound Gap at about 6:30 and hitched a ride into Gattlinberg. When we got there, Dan found out his mom wasn't doing very well so he got a plane ticket from Knoxville and headed home. In the morning, I had to get my food drop which was 3 miles out of town, the trolleys were not running yet, so I had to walk, Luckily I got a ride back to the hotel. We hitched a ride back up to the trail and started hiking at 11:00. Charlie's Bunion was sweet. I hiked with a guy I met the day before, his name was Strides. I got to camp at 7:30, 23 mile day. I had to be at I-40 at 3 the next day because my buddy was picking me up. I spent Easter with them and had very good southern cooking. My parents suprised me and drove down Max so he could hike the rest with me. The next day we got an early start and went to Roaring Fork shelter because Max was having so much fun, and it was snowing. 16 mile day. Max slept in my sleeping bag with me that night because it was so cold. The next day we decided to go to Hot Springs and zero the next day, because the weather was supposed to be crappy. Got to town at 5 and split a room with Wrong Way. The next day I went crazy, there is not much to do in Hot Springs. Today we are taking it easy and only going 11 miles. Feeling good and having a blast. I can't wait to show off the pictures. My trail name was changed to Thud--not my choice. We were also given the name Team Extreme.
Happy Trails,
Thud and Max (Team Extreme)
4-09In Damascus HOORAY, finally in Virginia. We finally left Hot springs after 3 days, spent way to much time in that town. Our next stop was Erwin, 4 1/2 days away. It rained every day.It was actually pretty sweet except for the fact that I couldn't see anything. When I got to Erwin the hostel was full, luckily a few others said that they would split a room with me. So we hitch hiked 4 miles to the super 8 motel were supposedly dogs were aloud, wrong. When we got there I had to convince the guy that max wouldn't ruin anything. From there we hiked a mile to the post office and then 1 1/2 miles to the food lion. after that we hike 1 more mile to an all you can eat buffet at KFC, with groceries in one hand and a mail drop and a dog in the other. We should have ate first and then done all the shopping. Fortunately I got talking with some people at KFC with a big white truck, and they gave us a ride back to the Hotel. As soon as we walked in the door it started raining.The next day we left early and got on the trail by 8:30. A couple days later we stopped at Kincora hostel and got a $5 pizza at Little Cesar's. the next day we hiked through laurel gorge and came to laurel falls were I was the only one stupid enough to go swimming. The water was pretty cold. Later that day we came to watauga lake and couldn't resist this rope swing (It was hot out), the water was so low in the lake that the rope swing was thirty feet off the water. It was insane, we spent about an hour there. That night we stayed at Vandeventer Shelter. Before we went to sleep we were already seeing mice. That night I found out that mice are very afraid of max. The next day was very sunny, I took lunch in a huge filed overlooking the mountains, it was beautiful. I did get a pretty good sun burn that day, nice pack strap tan lines. That night we stayed at Abington gap shelter, the oldest shelter on the trail. coyotes around the tent that night. 10 miles into Damascus today and made it in time to hit the buffet at pizza plus. apple crisp and blueberry crumble pizza for dessert, weird but amazingly good. Staying at Apple Tree B&B. They are SO nice they are making us Dinner and Breakfast, very cheap to and the rooms are sweet. Anyways talk to you all later.
Happy Trails,
Thud and Money Shot Max
4/23
I am in Troutville/Daleville, VA. An interesting town/towns that are located in the middle of an interchange. Anyways, the past four days have been wierd. The last person I saw on the trail was just coming out of Pearisburg. Throughout the next four days to here I didn't see one person on the trail, in a shelter or even driving a car. Not to mention the during those four days it rained constantly. Luckily, today on my way into town the storm cleared enough that I could see the view from on top of McAfee Knob and on Tincker Cliffs. The views were great and I did hang my feet of the ledge at McAffe. Had to stay the night because I didn't get into town in time to get my food drop, the post office closed four minutes before I got into town. I needed to stay anyways to recouperate. I will try to write again when I reach Waynsbouro, VA
Happy Trails,
Thud & Moneyshot Max
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