Appalachian Trail - 2020

We slept great last night. The temp got into the low 50's which is just perfect sleeping weather. Some small animal or maybe even a small deer may have walkee through our campsite, but Walker moved and the thing scurried off. We fell asleep under the stars again but when we awoke there was a thin cloud cover so we didnt get a good sunrise. No issue there though. We were awake by 645 and on the trail by 745, which was the earliest we have been on the trail in quite some time. The morning had several small ridges that we climbed over, and as the blue sky came out so did the heat. Thankfully, the morning wasnt to hot. We had a beautiful view off of one of the mountains we climbed in the morning looking down below into Rye Valley. I was amazed at how green the grass was in the valley. There was a stream flowing through it and the surrounding mountains towered over the valley. The view looked like something out of a fantasy world. As the day progressed, so did the heat. By 11 the ...

Being dry has never felt better! We woke up to our first sunrise in quite some time. Surprisingly, I think the temps were in the low 30's. Our socks and shoes didnt freeze but they were mighty cold. We took our time getting breakfast ready, just enjoying the mountain views and soaking up the morning sun. Most of our day was spent enjoying the scenery and change of pace that virginia has. We now go up and over only a few mountains a day, instead of a few mountains every hour. Walker and I definerly agree that Virginia has treated us nicely so far. Everything that we have seen has been fantastic. At 130 we stopped for lunch. The temp was probably 60 degrees at this point and just felt fantastic. We layed out any gear that was still wet and enjoyed the afternoon sun. I'm not sure when exactly, but we really picked up the pace. We had a 2.5 mile climb up a mountain and we ended up doing it in 30 minutes. We rarely go that fast going downhill or on flat ground! Maybe our leg...

I'm not sure how much rain we got, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was an inch. It really rained hard last night. We got up at 745 and tore down camp. We ate a few pop tarts and started hiking by 845. After hiking for an hour or so, we walked through a green cow pasture where we heard a hundred birds chirping. We were perplexed by how many different bird chirps we were hearing at once. After leaving the pasture, we started our ascent up whitetop, 2000 feet of elevation gain in 3 miles. We took a break halfway up but made decent time. At this point in the day (10 am) the rain was starting to let up but the fog was still very thick. We didnt have any view from the top so we started our descent. While descending whitetop we started to notice that the trail had alot of water on it. In fact, the trail was basically a stream. There was so much water running off of the mountainside that the trail itself had become a stream. For the first hour of walking through these conditio...

I woke up at 715 feeling very refreshed. Over the years I have changed my sleeping style many time. The position that I wake up feeling most rested in now is when I can sleep on my back and sprawl out. Since I have a limited range of movement in my sleeping bag, it was nice to sleep how I would normally sleep at home. We finished packing up by 830 so I started heating up some pans for breakfast. Another nice feature about the room we stayed in was that it had a kitchen. Instead of going out to a diner and spending however much money, we got a dozen eggs and a pack of sausages for 6 dollars... pretty good deal. After mixing that all together in a pan and throwing cheese in as well, we were properly full. We left the inn around 1015 and started our walk through town. Just like in Hot Springs, the trail goes directly through main street. After walking the one mile in town, we crossed the road and started our ascent back into the mountains. I think Walker and I are getting better at ...

We are one month in. 31 days. I guess 30 days is a month as well as 28.... but 31 days is a month in my books. It sounds better to say we made it into Virginia in one month anyways. But how about that, Walker and I walked from Amicalola to Damascus in 31 days. My goodness. This whole trip still feels surreal to me. Like I said a few days ago, time feels very differently out here. Other than the two days we took off and rested up, every day has been hiking. I think in regular life you do multiple activities in one day. You drive to work, work, go to lunch, talk to different people, go home, see your family, talk to friends, maybe go to the gym or whatever other activity and then go to bed. Out here, we wake up, tear down camp, eat, walk, eat, walk, set up camp, eat, and go to bed. There are very few distractions. We are experiencing life in a very natural form. Yet even so, we have our own set of restrictions we live by. We do not have access to food, other than what we pack out with us...

Not one single rain drop fell from the sky today. We woke up at 8 this morning, after our hike yesterday we definetly slept well. We also awoke to an unfamiliar sight, sunlight and a blue sky. Although the morning was cold, somewhere in the high 30's, the warmth of the sun was fantastic. Being dry is such a blessing. We got on the trail by 930. Later than usual but not the end of the world. Other than the first few miles of the day, which were uphill, the rest of the day looked like minor ridges. Our topographical understanding of the day was correct and everything went smoothly. Not much to report, in general, we simply enjoyed the nice weather and the chance to dry our gear off. We made it to camp at 515 and had all of our chores done by 8. We plan on getting up earlier tomorrow in hope that we can get into Damascus in the early afternoon. We went slightly over 18 miles today, tomorrow will be slightly under 19. Tomorrow we cross into Virginia. Wow. Goodnight, Tyle...

I feel like I am becoming a broken record but oh my goodness did it ever absolutely pour last night! I am impressed by how much rain is able to fall from the sky.  Thankfully, Walker and I slept great, but we were slow getting out of bed in the morning. It really is a mental issue putting on a completely wet pair of clothes. It's really not even an issue, it's just annoying and in the moment I'd rather stay in my warm and dry sleeping bag.  We got up and got moving and had our morning routine done by 845. The rain had stopped by this point but the forest was still dripping wet, plus with a thick fog we were still basically in the rain cloud.  We 1015 we had walked a few miles and decided to take a quick food break and look at the map. Our goal for the day was 27 miles, or at least, this was the farthest we figured we could possibly go in the day if everything went our way.  Our morning and early afternoon were fairly standard. We talked about whatever came to us. We ...

Sleeping on a comfy mattress with cozy sheets is just the best. I slept incredible last night. It's funny, before starting this hike, I was rather particular about how I slept. Now, I could care less really, everything is comfortable and I'll sleep however. I'll be curious if that stays the same after the hike or if it will only be a short term change. We started moving this morning by 715. We had a fantastic breakfast of 3 chicken breasts. That was breakfast. It was good. We started packing up after breakfast and by 930 we were back on our way to the trail. It's hard leaving the comforts of every day life. I slept great, I ate good food, and chose whether or not I would get wet. I want to get to Maine. I dont care what conditions I have to go through to get there. I am determined. We have probably already faced every type of condition we are going to face. Now we just have to endure them for less than 1800 miles. As a side note, today is the start of our 5th we...

This will be a short post as I would rather be sleeping than looking at my phone.  We ate so much food today, took 3 showers, and layed in bed for most of the morning.  This afternoon we went and walked around at linville gorge... North Carolina and Tennessee are truly beautiful states. After going to three grocery stores in search of rice, we finally found enough food for a successful 4 day resupply.  The trail is calling.  Goodnight,  Tyler M. 

We woke up to the sound of freshgrounds setting up for breakfast. By 7 we were packed and sitting down for our best breakfast on trail. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, bananas, oranges and sausage... life couldn't get much better.  By 8 we were on trail. Like I said in my previous blog, we only had to hike 15 miles today and the terrain / elevation was supposed to be easier hiking than it typically is.  By 915 we had gone 4 miles, the terrain was easy! After going up and down thousands of feet each day, walking with a few hundred feet of elevation gain / loss almost feels flat.  The trail was very muddy today though. With all the rain in the past week, there were sections that had several inches of mud. As for the trail itself, it was basically a creek. Water was flowing off of every ledge and right onto the trail. On a good note, we arent going to get dehydrated anytime soon on the AT.  We kept plugging away and we soon reached our two climbs for the day, little and b...

We woke up at 630 to a light rain. I got another night of okay sleep. I was talking with Walker and it seems like our sleep for some unknown reason comes in cycles. For 3 nights straight we sleep incredible, then for the next 4 night we toss and turn or are restless and only sleep okay. Not sure what causes it but its interesting that it's the same for both of us. We got on the trail by 8 and by 801 we understood that it was going to be a long wet day. The trail was flooded, the rain was pouring down, the forest itself was just soaked. Our goal for the day was a bit ambitious, but completely within reason. We wanted to go 24 miles from low gap to stan murray shelter. At 12 we stopped at clyde smith shelter for a break from the rain and a chance to eat lunch. When we arrived we met a fellow through hiker by the name of boots. Since we were wet and hungry, we asked boots about our mileage for the day, since we didnt want to get our guide book out at the time. Big mistake. I...

I got another great night of sleep again last night. We camped right on the edge of a stream and since we only got to bed at 10pm my body was ready to sleep. One aspect of the trail that does surprise me is how many people only sleep in shelters. I'd have to say that it's at least a 1 to 5 ratio, probably even more. Some shelters are built great, no drafts, no holes in the ceiling or walls, just an all around well built structure. At least half the shelters though are run down, floors are slightly uneven, holes in the wall, the flooring is made of plywood.... and so on. Even with that said, almost everyone we meet stays in shelters. Walker and I definetly enjoy the privacy of camping, and 95% of the time we have a more comfy and warm sleeping spot. Plus we can hang out and talk and not worry about waking other people up or just disturbing them in general. To each their own I guess. We packed up by 930 and started up the trail. The first 13 miles of the day trended uphill....

I slept okay last night. The wind gusts were probably mid to high 20 mph. I woke up several times to my tent poles / rainfly rattling about wildly against each other. Thankfully I staked everything down well and nothing was going anywhere. Even with this in mind, it is still somewhat nerve racking sleeping in a tent during a storm. When you are in a house, you typically dont worry about your foundation falling apart and part of your house blowing away.  We did not want to get out of our tents this morning. From 7 to 8 we layed in bed, hoping the rain would stop. By 8 we agreed that it was time to get the morning started so we broke down camp and got on road by 9. The rain was no more than a drizzle at this point but the woods were so wet that the forest was dripping with water. The fog was so wet that we basically were walking through mist..... just another typical morning in the appalachian mountains.  There is a certain pride that comes with bad weather. I don't mean the typ...

I cannot stress enough how nice it is to be sleeping in our tents again instead of a shelter. I almost slept through the night last night, which is rare for me to do at home. I only woke up once or twice... I slept good.  We got moving at 645 again and were on trail by 8. Our morning was very easy hiking. Other than a quick 200 feet of elevation gain, spread over .3 miles or so, the first hour of the day was flat / slightly downhill. My body gets acclimated to the trail quite easily when the conditions are not straight up or straight down. I often find that if my muscles get warmed up with minimal stress, and then I stretch them, that they will rarely get sore throughout the day.  Unlike yesterday where we spent the majority of the day climbing up and then down two large mountains, today was a combination of several ups and down. After the initial 4 miles, we gained 1700 feet over 2 miles. Then we went down 800 feet. Then back up 600, then down 1500. By 1 we had gone 12 miles....

Last night we experienced our first thunderstorm on the trail. For most of the early part of the night, we heard distant thunder. Around 1 or 2 am, the sky broke loose. Bright flashes of lighting illuminated the night time sky while loud crashes of thunder could be felt from inside our bags.... and it rained as well.  We woke up at 650, packed up our belongings inside our tent and put on our rain gear. Then we had the lovely joy of stepping out from our dry tent into the rain. I really dont mind getting wet... it just hurts your morale just slightly when you have to do it so early in the morning.  By 8 we were on our way on the trail, eating pop tarts as we went. The fog and rain clouds created quite the dark atmosphere for the morning. Coupled with thick rhododendrons, it almost felt as we were hiking at night.  All things considered, we still made faily good time. By 1045 we had gone 7 miles. We are also officially in cherokee national forest. Cherokee has excellent tra...

Sleeping is a real bed is so relaxing. While on the trail, I sleep pretty comfortably, but there is just nothing like a bed. We got up at 7 and by 715 we were seated at the diner. I ordered 2 pancakes and an omelette with sausage, ham, peppers, and onions in it, with a side of biscuits and hashbrowns. That filled me up pretty well. While eating, an older gentleman came in and started talking to us about the trail. In 2013 he hiked from springer to Duncannon PA. After talking for awhile about our shared experiences, he offered to pay our bill for us. I hope someday I can pay the favor forward to another set of hikers. I really appreciated the generosity.  Speaking about generosity, the lady who owned our motel that we stayed at last night, personally did our laundry for us. The only town laundromat was shut down but after we explained how long it was since we had done our laundry, she actually offered to do it for us for free at her own house. I'm so thankful for generous people, ...

The rain come down in buckets last night! At 218 in the morning, walker and I both woke up due to the incredible volume of rain that was coming down, and I use volume in both the three dimensional sense and auditory sense. Thankfully we are proficient in setting up and using our gear and enjoyed a warm and dry night. Even with the rain, I slept great last night, probably only waking up 2 or 3 times and then falling back to sleep quickly thereafter. We left camp at 9 am this morning. We climbed 4 miles until we hit bluff mountain. From here, the final 11 miles of the day were basically downhill. Not much happened today. Mostly just walking and enjoying the woods. We came around a bend and saw a far off mountain chain and valley that was completely covered in fog with only the highest mountains peaking over the fog. I do not know if I will ever tire of these views, and I pray that I will not. As we were descending bluff mountain we spooked out 4 deer. This was the first time we have...

I cant remember if I mentioned the angle of our tents last night. Since we didnt feel like staying at the hostel after the smokies, we camped a few tenths of a mile away near the creek. There was not a single level campsite. The best we could do was set up on a slightly downhill section, with a slight lean to the left. As you know from last night, I posted the blog around 9pm. Walker and I then stayed up somehow until 1130 talking and laughing about whatever came to mind. After realizing how late it was we went to sleep. Even with the grade of the campsite, we slept fantastic. It was mid 50's, the warmest sleeping temp yet, and an all around fantastic sleeping temp in general. Also, not being forced to sleep in a shelter was great since we both prefer to tent camp. To top it all off there was a nice flowing stream nearby that provided a nice gentle noise to fall asleep to. We woke up and 7 and packed and ate by 815. The first half of the day was grueling. Whenever you walk into...

I did not sleep good last night. I woke up to feathers from my down sleeping bag scattered across the bunk. At some point during the night, probably when I got up to use the bathroom, mice has gnawed through my sleeping bag and started taking down for their nests. The great smokies have been wonderful, the shelters have not.  I woke up as a red line started to ascend over the distant mountain tops. As I cooked oatmeal and ate my last poptart the sky quickly filled up with bright orange, red, and yellow hues. The smokies sent us on our way with one last gift.  We arrived at davenport gap around 1130 am. having hiked around 8 miles since the time we left camp slightly after sunrise. We arrived at the gap we were blessed by a famous trail angel by the name of freshgrounds.  As most of you dont know who freshgrounds is or what a trail angel is, he is someone who supports thru hikers free of charge, whether with food or simply taking our trash. Now, freshgrounds is leagues abo...

The past few blogs may have posted out of order. I had 2% battery and a random bar of 4g. Our profession of campsites were:  Birch spring to derricks knob shelter to ice water shelter to Cosby knob shelter.  Hopefully this clears up any confusion. 

The wind howled on the ridge above us all night. Thankfully we were 200 yards below the ridge. Sadly, at 8 am when we started walking again, we got the joy of walking up the ridge into the wind. Everyone wakes up differently, some like coffee, tea, or maybe a nice shower. Let me tell you, no matter what you think, there is no quicker way to wake up in the morning than having a 15 degree wind blast you in the face. That is simply the truth. We spent the majority of the day above 4000 feet. We climbed two 5000 footers with the most memorable one being thunderhead mountain. At its false summit you had a 360 degree view. Even with it being a cloudy day we could still see layers of mountains in the distance. Today was a solid day of progress. We went from birch spring campsite to Derrick knob shelter. Totalling about 17.5 miles for the day. When we arrived here at the shelter a few guys had a fire roaring which was such a welcomed surprise for our chilled bodies. After sitting a...

Remember how I said the cold can always be managed? Well thank goodness that Walker and I have both experienced cold before because we couldn't do anything about it last night. We learned that the temp got into the single digits last night and of course with our luck, the shelter we stayed at had a minor draft. Although the draft would typically not create an issue, when the wind was howling and the temp is in the single digits, that draft becomes miserable. With that said, we slept okay. Our evolution of sleep is a strange process. The first few nights we probably slept 4 to 5 hours even though we were in bed sundown to sunup, which is about 12 hours. Now, we sleep probably 7 to 9 of those hours. Sure we still wake up, toss and turn, or wake up when somebody else in the shelter moves around, but generally we sleep much better now, despite however cold or noisy it is. Another subject to note. In the smokies, you are mandated to sleep in the shelter unless it Is to full. The pur...

The smokies deserve to be called great. How fortunate and truly blessed we were today to experience and feel what we saw. We woke up slightly before sunrise and packed up. By the time we had everything packed up the sun had begun to rise. Bright shades of orange and red filled the sky, eventually fading to reveal a baby blue sky. As we left camp we were amazed by the views we saw. Our first major view camp from Charlie's bunion, where there is a small rock outcropping. From here you feel as though you are standing above a crater, looking down at the bowl shaped valley beneath you. We could have stayed here all day, little did we know our views would only get better. It is impossible to describe what we saw today in words. The atmosphere, tranquility and absolute beauty of the great high smokies was so astounding that we were truly awestruck. Today was bliss. We often stopped and stared off into horizon, unable to take our eyes away from the unimaginable beauty of the place. W...

We ended up being the only ones in the shelter last night. It took me a little while to fall asleep, but from 11 until 630 I slept pretty good, only waking a few times, Walker even said I snored some. Since we were in the shelter, the morning pack up was quick and we were on the trail by 7.  Our goal for the day was to walk 11 miles into fontana dam, resupply, and then walk 8 more miles into the smokies and camp.  The morning went smoothly, we got pockets of rain but it barely amounted to anything. A tenth of an inch was a nice reprieve from the typical inch or so that we are used to getting out here. We made it into Fontana at 1250 and were lucky enough to get a shuttle to take us to our resupply by 1.  We were debating whether or not we wanted to get a 3 day resupply and then go into Gatlinburg, or if we should just get 5 and a half days of food, cram it into our packs, and push through the smokies. We decided that the later was the easier option. Let me tell you, the d...

I got another great night of sleep last night. I had the windows open and all the blankets on. Perfect temp and I slept great. We woke up at 7, cooked some eggs and bacon, cleaned and packed up, and were out the door by 9. We were both glad to be back on the trail. Although it is very easy to do nothing but relax and be comfortable, our purposd for coming down here was to hike the appalachian trail and it's rather hard to do that from a bed. We got to the noc around 915, purchased some supplies, talked to a few other hikers and officially started hiking around 1015. The first 9.5 miles of the day were straight up. Our starting elevation was 1700 and the mountain we were climbing up to was 5050. About halfway up, Walker and I felt as if we had lost every bit of endurance we had built up. Even our lungs weren't used to breathing 4000 foot plus air. Slowly but surely our endurance came back to us. My calves stopped screaming at me as we ascended cheoah bald. I dont quite r...

I did absolutely nothing today and I truly mean absolutely nothing. Just because I woke up at 8 does not mean that I got out of bed. In fact, I have probably been out of bed for a combined time of maybe 2 hours. It stormed for most of the morning, but as the day rolled on the sun came out and a nice gentle breeze blew through the cabin windows. We enjoyed our break today. Between stretching and just laying around, we barely feel the stress our bodies have been under for the past 10 days.  The upcoming days will be the hardest challenge the south has to offer, or so we have heard. We will start our approach into the smokies in 2 days. In a weeks time the smokies should be wrapped up. If the forecast holds the weather should be some of the best we have experienced on the trail which would lead to incredible views.  Along with resting, we got to check what was going on in the world around us. Politics is nuts currently, dont know about none of that stuff. Coronavirus seems to be ...

I had another great night of sleep last night. Typically, I struggle with changing sleep schedules, especially if its drastic. I'm also much more of a night person than a morning person. Since our new life's schedule is so natural though, I believe this has helped me transition quicker. At the same time, Walker is also starting to sleep better now so maybe we just needed time to adjust to our new gear and lifestyle.  We woke up at 6 and actually cooked breakfast at camp today. Most mornings we wake up, eat a pop tart or a granola bar and get on the trail. Since it was supposed to rain all day, we decided to eat plenty of food in the morning so we didnt have to stop so often in the rain.  I dont believe the temp got under freezing last night or the day for that matter. Our waters didnt freeze and it wasnt absolutely awful getting out of bed. Anyway, got on the trail around 730 and were met with a layer of ice and snow. Our first hour and a half were slow, as we were very mindfu...

I slept amazing last night, best night of sleep so far hands down. Most nights I might wake up close to 10 times. Last night I slept from 8 to 2 and then on and off after that. Felt great. We woke up to another cold morning. If I had to guess I'd say low 20"s. Not quite as cold as the previous morning but definetly not warm. We got moving by 730 again and by 9 we had gone 3 miles and climbed our first 5000 footer of the day. What made this one particularly special was .2 miles from the summit was the 100 mile mark. It was quite inspiring to see that we had gone 100 miles, especially since we had no plans of slowing down. Throughout the day the tempurate slowly began to rise. The majority of the snow had disappeared, leaving a wet slushy trace behind. This slush followed us for several parts of the day. I hate this slushy snow. It is absolutely the worst. Imagine every step you take the ground beneath you shifts an inch and you end up sliding forward or your foot shifts p...

It was supposed to stop snowing last night. It did not. Woke up with a few inches on the ground, maybe around 4. I checked my phone and the temp was 12 degrees with windchill, surprised it was even that high. We had decided to sleep into 730 this morning, but even so, we were the first ones to leave camp. Vermont was soon behind us but the real surprise was in front of us. 4 inches of snow is not awful to walk in. However, when mother nature creatures two foot snow drifts, then walking is a challenge. Instead of getting angry, which trust me, was almost my response on several occasions of thigh high snow, we simply laughed it off and kept going. Part of the adventure is making the most of everything and negativity doesn't really help with that. After climbing a few ridges in these conditions, we reached the base of our first 5000 foot mountain in NC, standing Indian mountain. The view from up top was spectacular, but completely impossible to capture on a phone. We ended...

Boy was it great to sleep in a bed last night, even If it was at a budget inn. Then again, hikers cant be choosers. We walked to a nearby breakfast place and hastily read the menu looking for the most food possible at the lowest cost. The meal I chose was the lumberjack breakfast, it is as follows: 3 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 french toast, 2 biscuits, and hashbrowns. The meal came out on 3 plates, each one full of food. Sure does beat two instant oatmeals and a fruit bar. After licking the plates clean, we went back to the room and packed up our backpacks. Since hitchhiking took a bit to long the other day, we called a shuttle service called "mountain ma's dirt cheap taxi." Think what you may from the name, but the guy who picked us up was nice and friendly. It had even began to snow and he still got us and drove 15 minutes into the mountains. In the mountainous regions of the south, roads run through gaps. The thing about gaps is that they are at the...