Well, it started just like any other day I suppose. We woke up, ate breakfast, then started our short 4 mile hike down to Dicks Gap where we were to be picked up and brought into town by a man who ran a shuttle service. This way we wouldn't have to deal with people worrying about us hitch-hiking. We got into town and shopped, shipped unnecessary weight off, then strolled over to the local library. I hopped on facebook to update my status and check in with friends.
I need to hold off on that story for a second and address this issue. This blog was origionaly tittled, "So Then, We Walked". Why is it now "life as we know it"? This isn't about or outlook on life, there isn't some apocolypse happening, this isn't life as we know it, it's not a blog about life, it's about a hike from Georgia to Virginia, life for everyone else isn't changing, and our lives aren't either. Life as we know it is a dumb name for a blog about hiking. This isn't about life as you guys know it, you guys know life.
Well I got on facebook and had a discussion with my friend about the stories I'll have to tell once I return. I thought about it for a second and realized, well, nothing exciting or epic has happend. All we've done is hiked over a dozen hills, no one has been injured, although one guy did die on Blood Mountain, but we didn't know him, and how could I make that an epic story? "There we were, hiking up BLOOD MOUNTAIN and a guy just DIED!". Because that's epic. This hiking isn't very tough, well, physically it isn't tough. Mentally it's a nightmare, everyday feels like an on going week, days last forever, but nights are never long enough.
We road back into Dicks Gap, finished our chocolate glazed gifts from heaven, and took off for Plum Orchard Shelter. It was the single nicest shelter we have been to yet, it had 3 levels, the bottom was full sized and the top 2 were half sized. The plan was for me to be alone on the top level and Petra to be beneth me on the second level, but the wind was blowing in hard so I let Petra up on the top level with me. I made a fire while Petra planned the next few days. We started diner as the sun was setting and when we were finished, the sun was gone and our head lamps on. We put all the food into a large Hefty trash bag, planning to hang it up in the bear cables that were 100ft off into the woods. Diner time finished up, dishs were clean and food was stored. Petra proposed the idea that I was to run out with the food bag and hang it up on the cables, I had done it the past night and asked that since I was already in flip flops and warm that she could take care of it this night. Neither of us wanted to run out into the woods with no source of light or warmth, so we agreed that, because we had had no need to use the cables prior to this night that, we would hang it up on what looked like a metal coat rack not 10 feet from the shelter.
The bag was hung, and we fell fast asleep. "ding, ding ding". Now usually I am oblivious to the sounds outside my sleeping bag, I keep my hat over my ears and eyes along with my hood, the sleeping bag, and my Buff. Few noises can penetrate my serenity inside my cozy Halo bag. This sound happened to be one of them, the sound of something scraping, and banging a metal coat rack. I thought, "It's ok, it's just the wind blowing the food bag against the pool", but wind makes a sound when it blows, this did not. The sounds of foot steps caught my ear as they trotted about through the waste land of dead leaves. The sound grew closer and closer until the noise changed to the pitter patter of paws on rock. "It's just a small wolf" I told myself over and over again, "He's too short to reach the bag, besdies, I haven't heard anything loud hit the ground". Pitter patter, from stone to hard wood, wood that felt like it had been petrified, the same hard wood that our picnic table was made from, the same picnic table that was closer than a foot from the first level of the shelter. From hard wood to soft wood, soft wood is what the first level was made from. "Small fox, small fox" I repeated until they were the only words I knew. It was close, the sound of heavy breathing became all I heard. "Take a look Nate, come on, prove that it's just a small harmless fox". Uncovering the hat from my eyes and loosing the pull strings of my sleeping bag, I peeped my shaky head through the banaster to catch a glimpse of the fox.
Foxes are red, his fur was dark, dark enough that light couldn't reflect off it. All I saw were his eyes, eyes lit up by only moonlight, but fogged up by his breath. It wasn't a fox, no, it was much to large. I slid back away from the banaster, the moment our eyes lost connection I bundeled up in a ball, pulling my sleeping bag strings so tight that air wouldn't make it through. Minutes turned into a half hour before he left our shelter, but he didn't leave completely until he had tried and tried again to get at the food bag. Finnally he was gone. I didn't dare wake Petra up, especially after what had happened with mice the night before. The night kept in suspense as the howels of coyotes out sounded the wind.
-SleepyHead
Saturday, February 12, 2011
North Carolina
As we crossed the official border between Georgia and North Carolina, Nate commented, "NC doesn't seem that much different." Little did he know what was lying in store for us just a few hundred meters beyond Bly Gap. I can sum up the difference between GA & NC in one word. Snow. Not the flurry fake stuff that melts within a few hours, but real, knee-deep snow that lingers for days, even in the sunshine-filled parts of the mountains. Now we didn't feel like total fools carrying around snowshoes.
Plum Orchard Gap shelter was our last Georgia shelter. Nate had quite the experience here, but he'll have to tell you about that himself. Our ride into Hiawassee was right, GA maintains its shelters better than NC, or at least Georgia's shelters have the feeling of security because the majority are above 1 story high.
Day 7: Plum Orchard Gap shelter-Standing Indian shelter, 12.2 miles. Met snow-and lots of it-steep climbs, and bigfoot today. Once past Bly Gap it was straight up. Nate and I used to joke and point to the tallest mountain within sight and say, "You think we're climbing that next?" Inevitably that was the case, so it became less of a joke and more of a reality, "Well, I guess that's our next point." Bigfoot was the first SOBO (south bounder) we met. We chatted with him for a few minutes about our snowshoes (this has been the #1 conversation topic thus far) and their usefulness in the Smokies (yay!). We followed his tracks all the way to Standing Indian shelter, where we bedded down for the night. No bear cables. No second floors. Nothing between us and the wild. Great. We named him bigfoot because he had to have at least at size 15 shoe. I could fit almost two of my shoes in his footprint.
Day 8: Standing Indian shelter-Silers Bald Shelter, 16 miles. Blueblazed 12 miles off of our total mileage. Blue blazing is when you take a side trail that is not part of the AT. In most cases this results in cutting mileage. This would provide us with an extra day, but proved to be a more difficult experience than we had imagined. The day began with a 2 mile climb to the summit of Standing Indian Mountain. From there, we picked up the blue-blazed trail down to the SI camping ground. The problem was that no one had gone on this trail since the snowfall, so it took cunning land navigation, expert eyesight, and a little bit of luck to make our way from blaze to blaze. It must've taken us 20 minutes to find the fourth blue blazed tree, but after that the trail was easily identifiable, although still slippery with the steep descent and heavy snow. 6 miles of detour later, we were back on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. Our shelter seemed rarely used as it was on a 1 mile off-trail loop and the bear cables were so rusty, I was surprised we not only managed to get our food up there, but also back down in the morning.
Day 9: Silers Bald shelter-Wesser Bald shelter,18 miles. 9 hours 40 minutes. Very long day. We were motivated by the fact that the next day would be a low mileage day topped offwith a hot shower, food, and warm place to sleep. On the approach to Wayah Bald, we utilized our snowshoes for the first time (and our packs felt as light as air!). Nate, who had been lagging behind a bit, took off like a rocket and I didn't see him again until we reached the summit. A beautiful view aided by an observation tower. It was neat sighting the mountains we had just come from (Standing Indian) and the ones we would reach in the near future (Clingman's Dome). With two climbs standing between us and our shelter, we reached Burningtown Gap. Nate and I noticed a huge tent that looked like a military tent. As we drew closer, we were greeted by a man named Apple, and a sign that read, "Trail Angel, free hot dogs." We were welcomed into the heated tent and given hotdogs, chips, and cookies, as we discussed our journey thus far, trail conditions, and our future plans. This was Nate's first experience with a trail angel, and later that night at the firetower, Nate told me, "If he wasn't there, I wouldn't be here." It's funny because after our experience I remembered Nate Jones talking about the same man who had been there last year. With our last climb to go, we opted to take the road as the sun was quickly setting (I assumed it would be a more direct approach). Just before sunset we hit the summit of Wesser Bald with an old firetower. It was a beautiful view and a great way to end the day.
Day 10: Wesser Bald Shelter-NOC, 5.7 miles. After a restless freezing night, I awoke Nate a little earlier than usual (shh, he doesn't know that). We were on the trail by 8am, enthusiastic to have less than 6 miles between us an the NOC, where my old high school friend, Anne, would pick us up to take us to her home in Andrews, NC near Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters, the youthcamp we used to attend when we lived in Savannah. It felt strange, but good being back after nearly 6 years. We have since showered, laundered, and refueled, ready to take on the Smokies. We will have a short hike tomorrow, and reach Fontana Dam on Monday, February 14th.
Blessings,
Petra
Plum Orchard Gap shelter was our last Georgia shelter. Nate had quite the experience here, but he'll have to tell you about that himself. Our ride into Hiawassee was right, GA maintains its shelters better than NC, or at least Georgia's shelters have the feeling of security because the majority are above 1 story high.
Day 7: Plum Orchard Gap shelter-Standing Indian shelter, 12.2 miles. Met snow-and lots of it-steep climbs, and bigfoot today. Once past Bly Gap it was straight up. Nate and I used to joke and point to the tallest mountain within sight and say, "You think we're climbing that next?" Inevitably that was the case, so it became less of a joke and more of a reality, "Well, I guess that's our next point." Bigfoot was the first SOBO (south bounder) we met. We chatted with him for a few minutes about our snowshoes (this has been the #1 conversation topic thus far) and their usefulness in the Smokies (yay!). We followed his tracks all the way to Standing Indian shelter, where we bedded down for the night. No bear cables. No second floors. Nothing between us and the wild. Great. We named him bigfoot because he had to have at least at size 15 shoe. I could fit almost two of my shoes in his footprint.
Day 8: Standing Indian shelter-Silers Bald Shelter, 16 miles. Blueblazed 12 miles off of our total mileage. Blue blazing is when you take a side trail that is not part of the AT. In most cases this results in cutting mileage. This would provide us with an extra day, but proved to be a more difficult experience than we had imagined. The day began with a 2 mile climb to the summit of Standing Indian Mountain. From there, we picked up the blue-blazed trail down to the SI camping ground. The problem was that no one had gone on this trail since the snowfall, so it took cunning land navigation, expert eyesight, and a little bit of luck to make our way from blaze to blaze. It must've taken us 20 minutes to find the fourth blue blazed tree, but after that the trail was easily identifiable, although still slippery with the steep descent and heavy snow. 6 miles of detour later, we were back on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. Our shelter seemed rarely used as it was on a 1 mile off-trail loop and the bear cables were so rusty, I was surprised we not only managed to get our food up there, but also back down in the morning.
Day 9: Silers Bald shelter-Wesser Bald shelter,18 miles. 9 hours 40 minutes. Very long day. We were motivated by the fact that the next day would be a low mileage day topped offwith a hot shower, food, and warm place to sleep. On the approach to Wayah Bald, we utilized our snowshoes for the first time (and our packs felt as light as air!). Nate, who had been lagging behind a bit, took off like a rocket and I didn't see him again until we reached the summit. A beautiful view aided by an observation tower. It was neat sighting the mountains we had just come from (Standing Indian) and the ones we would reach in the near future (Clingman's Dome). With two climbs standing between us and our shelter, we reached Burningtown Gap. Nate and I noticed a huge tent that looked like a military tent. As we drew closer, we were greeted by a man named Apple, and a sign that read, "Trail Angel, free hot dogs." We were welcomed into the heated tent and given hotdogs, chips, and cookies, as we discussed our journey thus far, trail conditions, and our future plans. This was Nate's first experience with a trail angel, and later that night at the firetower, Nate told me, "If he wasn't there, I wouldn't be here." It's funny because after our experience I remembered Nate Jones talking about the same man who had been there last year. With our last climb to go, we opted to take the road as the sun was quickly setting (I assumed it would be a more direct approach). Just before sunset we hit the summit of Wesser Bald with an old firetower. It was a beautiful view and a great way to end the day.
Day 10: Wesser Bald Shelter-NOC, 5.7 miles. After a restless freezing night, I awoke Nate a little earlier than usual (shh, he doesn't know that). We were on the trail by 8am, enthusiastic to have less than 6 miles between us an the NOC, where my old high school friend, Anne, would pick us up to take us to her home in Andrews, NC near Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters, the youthcamp we used to attend when we lived in Savannah. It felt strange, but good being back after nearly 6 years. We have since showered, laundered, and refueled, ready to take on the Smokies. We will have a short hike tomorrow, and reach Fontana Dam on Monday, February 14th.
Blessings,
Petra
Updated Itinerary/Mail Drops
Nate & I have managed to get ahead of schedule thanks to beautiful weather and a good gene pool. Courtney is planning on picking us up from Damascus, VA on March 4th.
2/14: Fontana Dam
*Mail drop
2/21: Hotsprings, NC
*Mail drop: c/o Sunnybank Inn, 26 Walnut St., Hotsprings, NC 28743
2/25: Erwin, TN
3/1: Hampton, TN
*Mail drop: c/o Kincora hiking hostel, 1278 Dennis Cove Rd, Hampton, TN 37658
3/4: Damascus, VA
*Courtney is picking us up; no mail drop necessary*
2/14: Fontana Dam
*Mail drop
2/21: Hotsprings, NC
*Mail drop: c/o Sunnybank Inn, 26 Walnut St., Hotsprings, NC 28743
2/25: Erwin, TN
3/1: Hampton, TN
*Mail drop: c/o Kincora hiking hostel, 1278 Dennis Cove Rd, Hampton, TN 37658
3/4: Damascus, VA
*Courtney is picking us up; no mail drop necessary*
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Amicalola to Hiawassee, GA
I had a long update typed out and it all got deleted. I will try to give you a make-shift shortened version.
Day 1: Amicalola Falls to Stover Creek, 11.6 miles. made it to the summit of Springer by 2pm so we added an extra 3 miles (Nate was thrilled).
Day 2: Stover Creek to Gooch, 12.3 miles. Rained ALL day and night. Quickly got over the infatution phase of the AT (I'll expand more on the phases later). Met up with 2 thru-hikers and 2 Atlanta friends section hiking to Hiawassee.
Day 3: Gooch to Neels Gap, 15.6 miles. Motivated to get dry clothes and a shower, we hiked 11 miles to the base of Blood Mountain, the highest point on the AT in GA, 2 miles up, and 2 miles down. Made for a long day. The weather cleared and we had a beautiful view from the top. Met Pirate, the man who runs the Neels Gap hostel and had a black tie gala (we were given neon orange trail marking tape for ties).
Day 4: Neels Gap to Blue Mountain, 18 miles. Mixed up Blue mountain and Tray Mountain shelters. Added 7 miles to the originally planned 11 miles. Made for a long day, but we had a fire by our Atlanta friends.
Day 5: Blue Mountain to Deep Gap, 15.3 miles. Lost and gained 1000 feet within the first 3 miles. First 7.5 miles took forever to Tray Mountain. Finally made it to Deep Gap as it started heavy snowing. Had mice troubles. I freaked out a little bit envisioning they were eating away at my pack (they didn't).
Day 6: Deep Gap, 3.5 miles to US 76. Hitched in to Hiawassee. Resupplied at Ingles. The bakery people must have thought we were nuts as we salivated over the dougnuts and other junk foods we had been craving. Mailed off a few pounds of unnecessary gear--extra pot, waterpoof bags that were too small, sunglasses, first map (woohoo!), towels, etc.
Will hit Bly Gap, the boarder of GA, NC tomorrow morning. 4.5 more miles today.
I had more humorous stories in my other post. Sorry for dumb internet.
Petra
Day 1: Amicalola Falls to Stover Creek, 11.6 miles. made it to the summit of Springer by 2pm so we added an extra 3 miles (Nate was thrilled).
Day 2: Stover Creek to Gooch, 12.3 miles. Rained ALL day and night. Quickly got over the infatution phase of the AT (I'll expand more on the phases later). Met up with 2 thru-hikers and 2 Atlanta friends section hiking to Hiawassee.
Day 3: Gooch to Neels Gap, 15.6 miles. Motivated to get dry clothes and a shower, we hiked 11 miles to the base of Blood Mountain, the highest point on the AT in GA, 2 miles up, and 2 miles down. Made for a long day. The weather cleared and we had a beautiful view from the top. Met Pirate, the man who runs the Neels Gap hostel and had a black tie gala (we were given neon orange trail marking tape for ties).
Day 4: Neels Gap to Blue Mountain, 18 miles. Mixed up Blue mountain and Tray Mountain shelters. Added 7 miles to the originally planned 11 miles. Made for a long day, but we had a fire by our Atlanta friends.
Day 5: Blue Mountain to Deep Gap, 15.3 miles. Lost and gained 1000 feet within the first 3 miles. First 7.5 miles took forever to Tray Mountain. Finally made it to Deep Gap as it started heavy snowing. Had mice troubles. I freaked out a little bit envisioning they were eating away at my pack (they didn't).
Day 6: Deep Gap, 3.5 miles to US 76. Hitched in to Hiawassee. Resupplied at Ingles. The bakery people must have thought we were nuts as we salivated over the dougnuts and other junk foods we had been craving. Mailed off a few pounds of unnecessary gear--extra pot, waterpoof bags that were too small, sunglasses, first map (woohoo!), towels, etc.
Will hit Bly Gap, the boarder of GA, NC tomorrow morning. 4.5 more miles today.
I had more humorous stories in my other post. Sorry for dumb internet.
Petra
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The weigh-in
The final weigh-in results are in.
Baseweight:
Nate: 22 lbs
Petra: 17 lbs
Total:
Nate 34 lbs
Petra 27 lbs.
Total includes 14 pounds of food for a week for both of us and our 4lb snow shoes. Hopefully we will be able to wear these instead of carry them the whole way.
Nate Jones, you probably consider this heavy, but I do not have any cans of fruit with me this time.
Baseweight:
Nate: 22 lbs
Petra: 17 lbs
Total:
Nate 34 lbs
Petra 27 lbs.
Total includes 14 pounds of food for a week for both of us and our 4lb snow shoes. Hopefully we will be able to wear these instead of carry them the whole way.
Nate Jones, you probably consider this heavy, but I do not have any cans of fruit with me this time.
Cold
While not literally cold as of yet, I do believe I have come down with a viral cold. It's gotten progressively worse over the past few days, but thankfully I am not running a temperature. We would really appreciate your prayers for both current sickness and future aches and pains. We are anticipating fatigue, muscle aches, chilling temperatures, and the occasional crabby attitude, but with your prayers and support I believe Nate and I will come out stronger in the end.
Armed with pseudoephedrine & a handful of kleenex, we will press on with our February 3rd start date.
Petra
Armed with pseudoephedrine & a handful of kleenex, we will press on with our February 3rd start date.
Petra
Mail Drops
Mail Drops: A fool-proof method to boost a hiker's morale.
After a morning of running errands and finally sitting down to map out a haphazard itinerary, I believe we have finally figured out some mail drop addresses along the way. We welcome letters, candy, cookies, & hand warmers; you name it and we'll love you for it! Make sure to include your return address so we can send you a letter with a personalized update. Hope to hear from you!
Petra & Nate
Nantahala: ETA 2/14
C/o Anne Tully
75 Mae Johnson Way
Andrews, NC 28901
Fontana Dam: ETA 2/17
*Last mail drop before Smokies
ATTN: Hold for AT Hiker ETA 2/17
General Delivery
Fontana Dam, NC 28733
Fontana Dam, NC 28733
Hotsprings: ETA 2/25
*First drop after the Smokies
ATTN: Hold for AT Hiker ETA 2/25
Sunnybank Inn
26 Walnut St.
Hotsprings, NC 28743
Hampton: ETA 3/6
ATTN: Hold for AT Hiker ETA 3/6
Kincora Hiking Hostel
1278 Dennis Cove Rd.
Hampton, TN 37658
Damascus: ETA 3/10
Petra Gerber
ATTN: Hold for AT Hiker ETA 3/10
Mt. Rogers Outfitters
Mt. Rogers Outfitters
110 Laurel Ave.
Damascus, VA 24236
Damascus, VA 24236
For General Delivery, the following information should be included.
- Your full name (no "Trail names" or initials)
- Business name and address OR "c/o General Delivery" for post offices
- City, State, ZIP Code
- Return address (phone number optional)
- “Please hold for A.T. hiker”
- Date you expect to pick up package
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805573/k.6382/Resupply_and_Mail_Drops.htm
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