Posted by rmorris on 25. April 2009 10:04
Spring is finally here in full force, by now those hikers planning on a NOBO (north bound) thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail are well underway. Some have already reached far into Virginia, others having gotten hurt or discouraged or for other reasons have left the trail. I’ve developed a habit in recent years of checking in on their progress from time to time by reading their on-line trail journals. These days with crack-berries and iPhones it is much easier for a hiker to update their journal. Some hikers have their own web sites, but I tend to just check in with trailjournals.com (http://www.trailjournals.com/index.cfm).
Just to give a small sampling, I’ve found four hikers ranging in age from 24 to 61 all with their own stories but all with the same passion for hiking the AT. I’ll start with John, a.k.a. “nice lens” at 61 years old - as he puts it he is “well outside my comfort zone… Like most, I have been preparing and reading journals for over a year. Finally decided I had better get with the program. As I read John’s journal I found myself cheering for him. At one point early on he was having a lot of trouble with his hip and thought he would quite – I kept hoping he wouldn’t – and he is still hiking.
Next I found a young couple hiking together with their dog; Georganna & Logan (and Corbin the dog). These two are carrying a GPS device (spot) that transmits their location so you can follow them on a Google map if you like. So far it sounds like they are really enjoying themselves… “the trail has been a blast...we started on springer mtn. with a bottle of whiskey and beautiful sunset. on the 21st we set out and had beautiful weather for several days! we heard coyotes howling right outside of our tent!”
Then there is “Snuggles” who started off on her solo thru-hike on March 19th, much to the chagrin of her nervous parents! She seems to have been born brave and with an amazing zest for adventure. Here is a snippet from her journal…“but i didn’t make it there before sun down. so i went to look for my head lamp and i couldn’t find it. i didn’t know where Jen (from the store) had put it. i didn’t wanna take everything out in the dark just so i wouldnt leave anything behind. so... i walked in the dark. i could barely see anything, i had to use my hiking poles like a blind person so i could feel where the large rocks were and where it went up and down! i finally started hearing voices so i knew i had to be getting close. then i saw the fire! i just cut through the trees and went straight towards them and they all yelled "snuggles!!! you made it!" at this time it was 8:30pm. i had hiked 6 miles in only two hours. they couldn’t believe it! they helped me put my tent up since the shelter was full and lent me a head lamp to get settled. i wasn’t about to cook dinner at that time so i just ate a snickers bar and pop tart for dinner.”
With people like this along for the walk, no wonder we dream of being on the trail.
http://backpackbasecamp.com/
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