Appalachian Trail - 2020

I tried uploading all the photos but the blogger app kept crashing. I then uploaded everything to google drive and tried posting it here but only a few of the pictures would come through. I'll try to upload pictures soon but I'm not really sure what the problem is.  Sorry. 

Today felt like home.  I woke up a few times last night. We got an inch of snow and the winds were close to 40 mph. Definetly a chilly night.  We woke around 630 or at least I did. I woke up to walker telling me to look at the sunrise. The sun was coming over the distant mountains of North Carolina and it was blood red. Camping near the top of a 4500 foot mountain in a wind a snow storm all of a sudden became very worth it. We were warm throughout the night and saw a gorgeous sunrise. Walker said it might have been the most beautiful one he has ever seen.  We started walking around 8. The temp could not have been much warmer than mid 20's but the windchill was high teens at best. We were the first ones on the trail as there were no footprints in front of us.  Not much happened in the early morning to be honest. There were plenty of views but for the most part we hiked in 3 or 4 layers, with hat a gloves on, and just kept moving forward. We stopped around 10 to get br...

Owls are just roosters that holler at night instead of morning.  Slept pretty good last night. The tempurate dropped more than expected, was supposed to be mid 40's, ended up being high 30's. That's my best guess anyway. It took me a little longer to fall asleep last night because two or 3 bard owls just kept going at it. Now it's not every night you get to hear owls but after a long day of hiking I'm not quite in the mood to hear who who for hours on end. Still, I slept good enough and got to listen to some opera performed by a trio of owls. Pretty cool.  We got moving around 6, cooked breakfast, tore down camp, filtered and filled up water, and were on our way by 8. By 10 we had almost gone 6 miles and stopped to eat at blue mountain shelter.  The day went a bit slower after that. We summited three 4000 footers today with each one having a prominence of 1000 feet. My ankle gave me a bit of problems today and Walkers knee got the better of him today. Hopefully we c...

Other than the euphoria of summiting springer on day one, today was my favorite day.  I slept okay last night. Woke up a few times and it took awhile to fall back to sleep. Thankfully only one or two people in the hostel snored and it wasnt loud. I rolled out of bed around 7 and packed up by 8. The hostel we stayed at was in Neil's gap and the name was mountain crossings. They have food options for resupplies and a ton of gear options. Walker decided to buy a new tent as his was giving him so many issues and no good nights of sleep. We both got another 3 days of food including plenty of tuna. The best thing I bought was chapstick. My lips have been so incredibly chapped the past few days its unbelieveable. I rarely use chapstick. Maybe in the past 5 years I've used it 2 or 3 times. But let me tell you, chapstick is amazing. I've used it 5 times today alone and it's just great. Okay,  enough about chapstick.  After leaving mountain crossing at 9 thre day met us with more...

What a day!  Rained most the night last night which was actually enjoyable. I sleep alot better with a bit of noise. With the sound of rain and nearby creek I got the best sleep I have on the trail. Slept from 8 until 1135. Then 1230 until 530. Tossed until 630/7. Then I officially got up. Wasnt raining to bad at 7. Walker and I got out of camp by 730 but we didnt cook breakfast cause we wanted to get away from the 20 other people near the campground / shelter. On our way out we passed by rice sides and said hello to him and all that.  Our plan for the day was to hike from gooch mountain shelter to either woods hole shelter or Neil's gap hostel ( 15.7 to 27.7/31.3). 1.7 miles into the day we reached the bottom of gooch mountain and went to a water source near gooch gap. Here, we ate some oatmeal and tuna for breakfast, got more water, and stretched out. We then climbed 3 or 4 ridges and came down into woody gap which was about 5 miles into the day. Here, we were blessed by a p...

Woke up this morning at 630 as the sun was beginning to rise. I slept okay, two nights ago my toes were a bit chilly so I wrapped by down jacket around them last night and that kept them plenty warm. Walker and I were able to get out of camp by 7. We walked for an hour or so and made breakfast next to one of the thousand mountain streams in the area. Apple and cinnamon oatmeal, a pack of tuna, and a nature valley bar is how I start my mornings out here. The temp was probably in the low 20"s when we were eating so we didnt waste any time starting back up again. As we were eating vermont passed us, we think he is a very fast hiker.  There is a saying on the trail that once spring arrives, you begin to hike in the green tunnel, referring to the vibrant green leaves that have come to life around you that time of year.  However, I would have to argue that green tunnel starts much earlier than that. Anyone who has ever hiked through a forest of rhododendrons knows exactly what I'm t...

It actually feels somewhat strange to be on the trail. For the past few years, especially this last one, not a day would go by without thinking of the trail. Now I am here At 730 we woke up, cooked breakfast, and packed out gear. The night was pretty cold, probably high teens or low 20's. From Amicalola campground to the visitor center is about a mile walk. What was amusing was the fact that we had to hike the famous 700 steps down to the visitor center. We signed in, talked to a few georgia forest rangers, and had our picture taken at the arch. While in orientation, we overheard the conversation between another hopefully through hiker and one of the rangers. She was curious about the average weight of a loaded backpack, to which he responded was about 30-35. Apparently, her bag was almost 45 pounds. That is nearly twice the weight of ours, which are 26. This weight includes clothes, sleeping gear, cooking knits, food, etc. Although this shocked us, she wasnt the only one with su...

The trip down has finally ended. Tomorrow, our journey back home begins. After 14 hours of travelling, beginning at 5 am and ending at 8 pm, the campsite is set up and we are in bed. Although long, the day went very well, flights were quick and simple, and there was minimal traffic leaving Greenville. Also, shoutout to Andrew Helms for driving us 7 hours rountrip, could not be more appreciative for his generosity.  I am not quite sure how to describe what I am feeling. I am confident in my abilities, yet fearful that I have not taken into account some aspect of the trail. I am anxious about starting, but also looking forward to accepting the challenges that come my way and overcoming them. I am overjoyed that I have this opportunity to attempt and hopefully complete something that many people either never have the chance or will to do. I want to be on of the 7% of hikers that complete the trail this year. I am curious as to what lies ahead.  I truly believe that humanity has l...