My first week on the AT

I’m not really sure how prepared I was to start this journey and I feel a little less confident in myself than I did 2 years ago. The first week was something of a test for my own self-confidence. While I experienced a few issues, none were serious and I noticed that my feet still seemed to know what to do. The following is essentially just my journal since I haven’t had time to write more.

Day 2 4/3 8.4 Hawk Mountain Shelter -18.7 (10.3 miles total)

The morning started slower than I wanted… sunrise wasn’t until 7:30, and it was 9:00 when I started. I discovered that my Sawyer water purifier, which I admit I had not used since 2024, was not working at all. Someone told me they could “crystallize” if not used for several months. I had followed the cleaning and storage instructions religiously, but hadn’t checked to see if it still worked. Luckily, someone let me use theirs and I also have a backup chemical treatment. I walked all day with Jarred and we met several nice people throughout the day, including Kevin, the RR from the night before. Most of our little bubble stopped at Gooch Shelter or Gooch Gap, but Jarred and I pushed on a couple more miles. I had read a weather report predicting rain on Sunday and wanted to get past Blood Mountain before it started. That meant reaching Neal Gap (mile 31) the next day, which was a stretch at best, as we were still at 18.7mm when we stopped that night. We stopped at a stealth campground with 2 lovely tent sites. I ate a good dinner by the fire, without fire. Not that we would have built one even if we had been allowed. It takes too much water to put them out!

I struggled once again with the sheet on my mattress but was able to sleep around 9:00. I woke up too early again, tossed and turned for a while, and also discovered that my phone wasn’t charging. My Nitecore power bank was strangely dead. I plugged in my spare but also discovered that my watch’s charging cable wasn’t working. I had checked this before starting, so it was particularly annoying because most places don’t have Apple Watch charging cables with USB-C cables. Fortunately, I was able to do without my watch.

Day 3 4/4 18.7-20.6 (Woody Gap) and 37.4 (Tesnatee Gap) – 38.2 (Hogpen Gap) 1.9+0.8 (2.8 miles total)

Day 3 turned into an unplanned NERO, which means «almost zero miles.» Rain and thunderstorms were now forecast for that day, so my revised plan was to meet Heather at Woody Gap so I could get ahead of Blood Mountain until the weather cleared. I knew my lack of sleep and exhausting day 2 had caught up with me. I wanted to add a short section to that short hike, so I did a whopping 0.7 miles. I couldn’t find a way to add more miles, so we went to Walmart. I have cake and ice cream for dinner!

Day 4 4/5 Neil Gap 31.3 to Tesnatee Gap 37.4 (6.1 miles)

On day 4, I packed Slack, which is when you just walk with a backpack. Typically, this means carrying only that day’s food and water, some emergency supplies, and not much else. After walking with a full backpack, walking with just a backpack is like flying. It rained lightly that morning, but we missed the forecast storms. That night, Heather and I had dinner at a delicious German restaurant. I had roast pork with the best German potato salad I had had in years. The apple strudel (takeaway) finished a lovely dinner.

Day 5 4/6 Woody Gap 20.6 to Neal Gap 31.3 (10.7 miles)

On day 5, I finally hiked Blood Mountain. The weather was wonderful and once again I was lazy packing. All the way up the mountain I saw a beautiful Trillium in bloom, as well as some other wildflowers. Curiously, on the path to the north side there were no flowers yet. Also on the way up, I was thinking that my efforts to avoid hiking Blood Mountain in the rain had been foolish because it really wasn’t that slippery, but on the way down, I hit slippery sheets of rock that would have been very unpleasant in the rain. Also, if I had gone up earlier, I would have missed the beautiful view from the top.

I made it to the end of Neal’s Gap before Heather arrived, so I stopped and talked to the outfitter about a problem I’m having with my backpack. I couldn’t loosen the shoulder straps when I needed to put it on or take it off. He suggested I just needed to let it loosen up a little over time. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I thought the load lifters were the shoulder strap adjustments because I couldn’t find anything else to tighten them, but then when I looked closely I realized that the shoulder strap adjustment is way down behind me where I can’t even see it with the backpack on. However, even once I found them, I still had trouble getting them out. Fortunately, this backpack is extremely comfortable and I don’t really have any problems leaving it loose enough to take on and off.

Heather and I went back to Walmart for dinner. I spent the afternoon packing for the next six days. My plan was to bring 3 days worth of food and have Heather bring me the next 3 days so I could stay on the trail for 6 uninterrupted days. It took me quite a while, so I didn’t even get to eat my frozen Gordon Ramsey macaroni and cheese and Brussels sprouts until after midnight.

Day 6 4/7 Hogpen Gp 38.2 to Spanish Knob 49.3 (11.1 miles)

This was a pretty easy hike. The weather was beautiful with lots of sunshine. Nothing really difficult… just a lot of short climbs and descents, hugging the side of the mountains and passing saddles. I finally returned to wildflowers, with several varieties of Trillium. My favorites are the blue blues, small periwinkle-colored flowers that grow in clusters. They follow the sun, so they all seem to be looking at the same thing.

That night I camped in a group with about four or five other people. While setting up camp, they talked about their military experiences; about half of them had served. Bathhouse queues predominated in Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. It was a good camaraderie, but since we can’t light the fire, it doesn’t last long, which was fine with me. I find that when I stop walking for the day, the only thing I really want to do is climb into my tent and sleep. I had been having trouble sleeping because I was cold, so this time I packed my warmest quilt, but I was still cold. In the morning I heard that the temperature was in the 30s, which explains a lot.

Day 7 4/8 Spaniards Knob 49.3 to Tray Mt Shelter 58.4 (9.1 miles)

Today was a harder climb than expected. I was tired and cold when I arrived at the shelter. There was an (illegal) fire right in the shelter. I probably should have confronted them, but that’s not really in my nature, so I pitched my tent and never went up to the shelter. In fact, it gave me an excuse not to be social. Instead, I went straight to bed.

More to come

Hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll be able to write more about what I’m seeing and the people I meet along the way. The path is beautiful but exhausting, which is undoubtedly why 75% of those who start it do not complete it. I only have a few more kilometers left!

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