Pictures!

I had to really limit what I uploaded.... but some pictures! Enjoy

http://picasaweb.google.com/brian.cargill/AT2007

4/28 More random stuff

So I'm sitting in the Smoky Mountain Diner, its a great little place, and the only place that is open at 6:30 in the morning. I've been coming here 3 mornings now, each morning the same group of locals are here in 'their' booths. You just walk in, grab a mug from behind the counter and get your coffee, leave a buck next to the register and grab a seat.
In fact there have been so many examples of trusting folks out here it really restores your faith in humanity. Most locals think we are crazy to do what we do, but from experience they know that we don't mean any harm, we just smell bad.
As an example there is a hostel, Standing Bear, right outside of GSMNP. Everything is on the honor systam, you write your trail name on an envelope, write what you take from the store, food, fuel etc...when you leave you stick the cash in and walk on down the trail. I talked with the owner, he gets 1000 hikers a year and only 1 or 2 folks that rip him off.
So back to the beginning of this ramble, I walked in, picked up a random coffee mug and it had a picture of a train on it and the saying:

Destination: Success
Keep it on Track

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/27 Injury Report

So injuries are just part of the territory out here. Most are just little things that work them selves out after a day or so. One day you will twist an ankle, the next your back hurts from lugging your pack around. The one constant is that your feet hurt. There are all sorts of foot injuries, blisters, fallen arches, trenchfoot, hiker toes etc etc etc. Your feet really get the short end of the stick inthis deal. I am dealing with an odd blister right now. It is a blood blister on my left heel that formed and popped without me even realizing it when I pulled that 26 mile day. By itself it is no big deal, throw a band-aid on, cover the band-aid with duct tape and move on. The weird thing is that it has drained and refilled 4 times now, sometimes with blood. This means there is an open wound in there somewhere and that is susceptible to infection. I'm monitoring it closely and it seems tobe finally, just a blister this morning. Good news because you really don't wan!
t an infection in your foot. I also have a couple hiker toes, these are toes that have gone numb, probably the nerves getting squished. They come back once you get off the trail, but it can take a couple months.

Shanty, slipped on a root and jarred, not really twisted, his right ankle back in GSMNP, it started swelling immediately and is still swollen a week later.
Little injuries take care of themselves, but feet, ankles, and knees need special care.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/27 Hot Springs, NC...STILL!

So I had a nice quiet evening in Hot Springs, very few hikers around, and the few that were here were from groups that are ahead of my group. There was an odd silence to the town as if it were waiting for a storm. Indeed, this weekend is the Hot Springs Trailfest. It is a toned down version of Trail Days in Damascus VA on 5/18. Whereas Trail Days is a hedonistic weekend of pagan like celebration, TrailFest is more of a way to volunteer your time to clean up rivers, the trail etc. But this is not the storm of which I speak, nor in fact was the storm related to a weather pattern. Nay, the storm I speak of was when the rest of my crew rolled into town around noon the following day. Somehow, after I left the group to its own devices for one night, it grew in size to 10 hikers! And by the time We rolled into the local pub/restaurant a couple hours later, we were nearly 20 strong.
Clearly, this inordinate growth pattern cannot be sustained, in fact I'm assuming we will shrink back to the original core, perhaps adding 1 or 2 new members. But, the Pain Train is now a force to be reckoned with, absorbing the competition and taking no prisoners. We are now discussing initiation rites and secret handshakes. However this works out, if they start passing around kool-aid ala Jonestown I'm exiting stage left!

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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Bonus Blog -- Gear Talk

Ok, 270 miles in, what works, what doesn't.

Big 3
--------------
Pack ULA Catalyst
This is a bomber pack! 4300 cubes at 3 lbs. I've received so many comments about this pack. The hip belt pockets rock. So far duability is good, some seams and stiches are starting to show wear, but I've modified my "mis-use" to correct problems here. Every day weight changes because of eating food, less water because od whrere the next water source is etc. But eventually you get the magic adjustment and viola, 30lbs disappears and its like carrying a fanny pack. It is almost as adjustable, in terms of where the load is carried, as an external frame.

Shelter
Hennesey Hammock Hyperlight
I'm the only one getting 8 hrs o sleep night after night. Nuff said, if you can sleep in one to begin with, its great on the trail. I have the Jacks R Better Nest underquilt...This thing rocks, I was sweating down to 9 degrees wheen folks in tents were hatin life. It takes practice but man...a good night sleep is money! The hyperlight is a little whimpy for day in and day out usem, this thing won't make Maine, we'll see how far it lasts tho!

Bag-- Marmot 30 degree Hydrogen
Marmot rocks, true to rating, if not conservative unlike The NorthFace where a 10 deg bag means your'e cold at 30. Not that I'm slamming TNF, but the tail of the trail is fact, TNF ratings are bogus. Marmot & Montbell get great reviews.

Misc
Montbell Thermawrap UL synthetic jacket-- Single best piece of cold weather gear I own. couple that with a rain shell, and you'll be warmer than some big expensive LL Prean parka. Tons of gear envy from others when I whip out my 9oz Montbell! Course I look like the Michellin Tire Man, but warm is warm!

Rain pants....useless for a thru hike, you put em on, you are soaked from sweat, off, soaked by rain...the key is to just have something dry to change into when you get to camp.

Jetboil, awesome, quick boil, idiot proof. Deep 'pot' is tough to clean and cannisters are tough to resupply, so I'm going to my alcohol stove and Freezer bag cooking. After that I may jus go cold i.e. no hot meals. we'll see

Water purification
I started with chlorine Dioxide tablets, which take 4 hours to work, but kill everything bad in the water. It just took too long, I ended up carrying extra liters every day because I had to have all my water ready in the morning. I've switched to Aqua Mira, 25 minute wait, but not effective against cryptosporidium. Which is very very rare, so worth the switch. I'm switching again to a filter for VA because the water is pretty ugly (ie murky) but will keep the aqua mira in pack for questionable sources. AM kills giardia, the #1 threat on the trail.

Hiking poles, I was skeptical at first, but these turn broken ankles into rolled ankles and rolled ankles into a non-issue.

Montrail Hardrock trailrunners. Great shoe, but I probably needed some boots for GA and the Nantahalas. If you get these replace the insole on day one and break them in together, ie a set od SuperFeet. Once you hhave built your heel pocket in the Montrail you don't want to try and change it...lesson learned the hard way!

I'll do a full gear list of what is still in my pack (a lot less!) at 25% trail complete...I'm just over 10% now. Later

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/25 Hot Springs, NC

Well, I got a little carried away today and did 26.2 miles to get into Hot Springs. Yep, exactly marathon distance, a marathon in 85 degree humid weather, over mountains, with 30 lbs on your back. Why, you ask? well, pulled pork sandwiches, beer, and a hot shower of course!

So, there is so much I haven't told you all because it is hard to articulate this experience. This will be a little disjointed but I'll just start typing and let you all sort it out...

The first two weeks are largely a mental challenge. Yes, your body is screaming at you because of all the work, but missing your normal life and loved ones is an incredible burden. The first two weeks usually account for a solid 25% of failed thru hikes. The day I started 220 others started and 20% dropped out after the first 3 days due to weather. A close hiking buddy and member of the Pain Train Little spoon dropped after 3 weeks,I think, because of missing home.

The next 4 weeks is largely a physical challenge as your body settles into walking 20 miles a day, eating 6000 calories and tolerating an additional 20% of your body weight strapped to yor back. This the phase I'm in, I seem to be on the leading edge as I'm easily pulling away from others everyday. It does give me a sense of pride to hike these 20 year olds into the ground everyday. I guess they'll laugh last when I keel over from a heart attack trying to prove a silly point :)

The crew, the Pain Train, I realize I haven't told you all too much about them.
Big Shanty, young, former Corrections officer from Kennesaw Ga aka 'The Big Shanty' hence the name. A real nice down to earth southern guy. He speaks in metaphor so much we have dubbed his words, 'Shantyisms'. He is in his early 20's so most of the Shantyisms are too crude for wide spread distribution :) But they are slowly creeping into my lingo!

Sideshow, used to be 'mousewheel'-- Chemistry major, and a closet intellectual, good guy to get talking with. He is from Saratoga Springs, NY and came down with Little Spoon. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to being out here without his close buddy.

Bigby, 20 year old college student from, surprise American University, He is an Eagle Scout and is therefore prepared for the end of the world should it occur while we are out on the trail. Which also means he is carrying the heaviest pack! He is also a sailor having worked on a tall ship down in the Keys.

Good guys, one and all.

One thing that has struck me is the community that we form out here. There is real truth that a common enemy makes strwange bedfellows. I probably would have never met, nor been as close to these guys if we weren't sharing the struggle of getting to Maine. We all come from very different backgrounds, but find common ground from which to build from. With very few exceptions, out on the trail, you can leave a thousand dollars worth of gear un attended and not only will it be safe, but protected and taken care of by your fellow hikers. I can only assume this is the asame phenomenon as the 'band of brothers' you associate with comrades in arms.

Pain-- yep, there is alot of pain, every day a new pain. Left ankle today, right knee tomorrow. Feet, well they hurt every day, all day. I've found that there is nothing you can do about it, you just push through.

Motivation-- This is what gets you through the pain. For some it is getting to town. For me, during the day is an imagined scene of me summiting Katadhin inMaine and kissing the last sign, 1900 miles left to go! I'm carrying 3 small rocks that Charlotte picked out ont the starting mountain, Springer Mountain, GA. I'll place them on a cairn that is next to the sign. All of the rocks in the cairn have been carried by hikers from georgia to Maine. Just thinking about this, and writing it almost makes me cry, it is the only part of this trek that I have, visualized. I'm trying to let this experience just happen instead of trying to have too many expectations of what it should be like. But the pictue of the end, having Charlotte there with me at the summit and and finishing something this BIG, thats what keeps me going during the day.

And with that, I hope all is well with every one. Keep the emails coming, I save them and read them out in the woods in between towns.

Happy Trails my friends!
--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/24

Well it finally happened, one of the Pain Train has left the trail. Little Spoon headed for home today. I'm not sure of the reasons, I'll miss him, he was a good guy, who knows he may be back. We seem to have picked up a waif from another group, 'Grizzle' he's a big guy, also a hammocker and a gadget freak.
Best of luck to Little Spoon, HYOH (hike your own hike) and LYOL (live your own life)

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/23 Standing Bear Hostel

Well, I knocked out an easy 17 and change to finish off GSMNP and get here for the night. Funny, just a few weeks ago I remember a 16 nearly killing me.
GSMNP offers some fantastic hiking, and beutiful views, incredible ridgewalks and forests that change personallity every few steps. The only problem with the park is that they do not allow you to camp anywhere except the shelter. The idea is to concentrate use into small areas, but it really makes the nights rowdy.

Looks like we have a storm a brewin, we're gonna beat feet to get to Hot Springs before it gets too bad. But it looks like yours truely is going to be getting wet again.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/19 Russell Field Shelter

----- GSMNP Day 1 -----
Well, we took a much needed zero day yesterday, drank tons of beer and destroyed the south eastern US's supply of DiGiorno pizza. I saw the mess that occurred at Virginia Tech. I know that lots of you all went to VT, hope everyoune in everyone's family is OK.

Today, we set off from our cabin to cross Fontana Dam, one of the tallest dams on the east coast. We attacked Shuckstack Mtn at about 10:30 rapidly ascending from 1700 to 3800 feet in one fell swoop. At the top there is an observation tower that provided the most magnificient views of the Smokies and Fontana Lake. And, for the second time ever, it was warm enough to hike in shorts and a TShirt. Until after lunch when the clouds rolled in and we got hailed upon....again. BUT, today, finally, I saw the first hints of spring...small flowers, whole fields of them had bloomed. Delicate little barely purple things. More birds, some salamanders.....and wait for it......wait for it.....I saw a bear!

Towards the end of the day I was walking alone, pretty quiet, enjoying some alone time ya know, my hiking pole struck a rock which makes a loud 'CLAACK' sound, then crash crash crash something large goes tearing away from me, about 150 ft in front of me.
I was surprised as it turned out that I knew this bear. His name is Holy Shit. I yelled his name at him, I'm sure to most folks it would appear that I was startled, but I was just trying to get him to pose for a picture. But bears are very fast and he was too far away to hear me. After changing undies (a completely unrelated event, I assure you) I moved on.
You are suppose to make noise as you walk so that they know you are coming and not startle them....gotta remember that. Everyone is asking how big it was, my response is about bear sized :)

Happy Trails!
--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/22 Tri Corner Knob Shelter

-- GSMNP Day 4 --
Best day of hiking yet!! Great weather and the Smokies were incredible. Today we had an entire day of ridge walking. The trail would be bordered on either side by a dropoff of hundreds of feet. And the forest would change every quarter mile, it was weird one minute it is a warm, light and airy glade the next minute a murky dank forest where there was still snow in the crevices. Lots of birds now, and of course lots of bugs.

Should be out of the smokies tomorrow. Clean up, shower, laundry and 2 day resupply, then on to Hot Springs.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/21 Icewater Spring Shelter

--- GSMNP Day 3 ---
Well we summitted Clingman's dome this morning, the highest point on the AT. Then booked 11 miles to this shelter. We really are cruising now, doing about 2 1/2 mph on the uphills and 3+ on the flats and downs. It allows us to take some nice breaks during the day. Which we can now do since the weather is great, finally.

So remember the storm we got on 4/15 (Sassafras Gap) where we got howling wind and snow? Well the smokies got hammered, freezing rain anf gusts measured at 75 mph at Clingmans Dome. The forest is devestated, huge old trees thrown about like kindling. Really sad as many of the trees that were lost were Fraser Fir and they are under attack by something called the balsam woolly aldegids, some think that it could be a repeat of the American Chestnut that was wiped out by a disease.

I was hiking most the day with Little Spoon, we both have been having the same thoughts, why are we here etc. Its reassuring to hear I'm not the only one. Pretty much everyone seems to be going through some problems. Mental, physical, as an example Big Shanty hasn't had a good night sleep on the trail.

But my motto is: I may quit tomorrow, but I won't quit today.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

PS We crossed the 200 mile mark today, seems like the second 100 went faster thanthe first!

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4/20 Siler Bald Shelter

--GSMNP Day 2--
Yes sports fans, you read that right, yet another Siler Bald, second of this trip. We've crossed three Sasafrass Gaps too..Apparently, these are pretty popular names. 15.1 miles today, my feet are a tad weary. Tomorrow we ascend Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the AT at 6643 feet. I guess it should all be downhill from here, unless I have misunderstood this whole deal. :)

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/17 Fontana Dam Village Resort

Easy 6 into (down to) Fontana Dam. Fontana Dam is the highest Dam
in the eastern US. 480 ft of concrete, created by the Tennessee Valley Authority creating Fontana Lake. After crossing the dam I'll be entering Great Smokey Mtn Nat'l Park.
But enough of that, onto important stuff, food and shelter! Big Shanty's Mom and Dad came out and met us at the dam. You may remember Big Shanty's mom as Short Timer, she started the hike with her son. Anywho they met us with a cooler of beer and are putting us up in a cabin for two nights. After a beer and shower we went to a steak lunch, then a dinner back at Fontana Village Resort. They are incredibly generous people, and I can't thank them enough. I've spent 2 weeks 24/7 with this small group of wildly different people, but the trail has a way of forging a community out of the thinnest threads of common ground. We share those 'trials and tribulations' day in and day out. I know I would be back home already if it weren't for the Pain Train, and I think that is the motivation for the Shanty's going the extra mile. I just hope we stick together until Virginia when my support system can kick in and perhaps I can repay the generousity that I have received.

Now some miscellany, the knee is sore (left one not the one I had fixed) I think I am subconsciously favoring my 'bad' knee putting more load on the 'good' leg. Ankles sound like they have gravel in them, but I'll keep walking on them, maybe they will give up and quit complaining all the time. Feet are good, they gave up a couple days ago.

More good news Bigby is back! The Pain Train is back to full strength.
Even more good news, looks like the weather is turning, we'll see if it holds. The smokies got dumped on in the snow storm. The road out of the park to Gatlinburg had 200 closures due to down trees, probably closed for several days to a week. Which means we will be carrying 6 days of food. Heavy but we are going to take our time and enjoy it.

I'm a little bummed about the weather. We have been hiking and camping in winter for 2 weeks. Very little has woken up for spring yet. No birds, animals, plants trees etc. It's a shame because all that great stuff in the smokies will still be hunkered down for winter when we pass through.

And finally, thanks for all the emails, its great to know you all are following along and enjoying the blog. I'm sure you can tell when I'm writing when I'm tired and when I'm well fed and rested. Thety say that the first two weeks is a mental and physical challenge. The next four weeks end up being more physical than mental. we'll see!

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/16 Cable Gap Shelter

Ugg..15.2 today, twisted an angle, twisted a knee. "Nero" day in Fontana Dam tomorrow then another Zero day for recovery. Hope it helps!

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/15 Sasafras Gap Shelter

Wayah Bald is at elevation 5342 ft, we then plunged down to the NOC at 1740 ft. So 3602ft down, and as all you observant folks out in the bloggosphere realize, if the hill goes down, you get do the matching up the next day. So today, we left the NOC and did 6.9 miles running up to a height of 4710 ft. That was a big honkin up! When we left it was about 35, and overcast, the clouds were sitting at about 2500 ft, so we were quickly engulfed by the angry sky. The howling wind started shortly thereafter, 30mph ripping over the ridgeline, finally at about 4000ft, it started snowing, temp is around 28 and falling. The wind is still crazy but we are holed up in a shelter in our sleeping bags and it is only 4pm. No worries!

We had some bad news today, Bigby had to stay behind at the NOC because of bad blisters. We're hoping he will catch up by Fontana, but that would be a challenge knowing the pace we tend to maintain. He is a strong hiker, but is carrying alot of weight, at 6'3" and 154 lbs (no that's not a typo) he was carying 48lbs. I weighed my pack leaving NOC and was at 30.5 lbs with 4.5 days of food (6 lbs) and 2 liters of water (4.4 lbs) for a base weight of around 20 lbs. BTW I've bounced a bunch of stuff to Fontana Dam, most will probably go home from there. Things you are sure you'll need, you just don't or you substitute something else.

Big Shanty's mom (shorttimer) is meeting us at Fontana and is going to drive us around and have a hotel waiting for us, which is really cool. We will be entering Great Smoky Mountain Nat'l Forest, six days with no resupply and elevations another 1000 feet up. the highest point on the AT is in the park, called Clingman's Dome at 6643ft. It is supposed to be spectacular, a really unique and very rich ecosystem. 1600 black bears, more varieties of trees and shrubs within the park than ca be found in all of Europe. 100 kinds of trees, over 1500 flowering plants 2000 kinds of mushrooms and 25 different type of salamanders.

Snows up to about a 1/2 inch now, 22 degrees at about 7pm.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/15 Bonus Blog

So you may wonder what is on the daily menu in Chez AT, here is today's menu.

Breakfast: Bagel with peanut butter and beef jerky.

2nd Breakfast: snickers or gorp and some kind of dried fruit, apples, bannanas etc.

Lunch: Bagel with summer sausage, string cheese, gorp & beef jerky

First dinner: varies, whatever I have too much of in my food bag.

Second Dinner: Lipton Pasta and sauce with a chicken breast or tuna filet thrown in.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/14 NOC

Well, we hunkered down, tied down, battened down, strapped down, and in all ways prepared for the storm that was about to descend uponus like the wrath of God....and nuthin happened, 50 drops of rain and some very angry looking clouds.
So we got up, packed up, buckled up and finally started walking...And it started hailing on us. Guess that will teach us to think we dodged the weather. Good hike though, 11 miles the last 5 of which were straight downhill. The NOC is a cool place there are water sports galore, kayaking,whitewater rafting, mountain biking...really a neat place to hang out and be one of those stinky hikers.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/13 Cold Spring Shelter

12 miles today, a tough 12 at that! But man did we get the payoff. We hit a spot called Wayah Bald, its elevation is 5280 ft and there is an old massive stone observation tower atop it. We arrived at about 11am went and spent an hour lazing in the sun, bright blue sky and you coulsee for miles and miles. It was great because the previous two sites that were supposed to have excellent views, Blood Mtn and Alberet Mountain were both shrouded in clouds when we arrived. We really hit the jackpot today.

But weverything has a price. And as they say, into every life a little rain must fall, and fall it will. We are all hunkered down awiting a massive storm tonight. We are under tornado watches etc, etc. But ya know, you can't control the weather and there is only so much worrying you can do about the whole thing.
One big difference is that it takes skill to live out here with the weather. You have to know the wind and land formations to know how to pitch your tarp to block the wind. You have to know runoff patterns to avoid getting caught in an overnight flash flood. As safe as the AT is, compared to real life, there are quite a few challenges. Life out here is very simple stategically but more complex tactically. In real life humans have made life so cushy that we barely think about our day to day, we only think year to year, or decade to decade. I know that it will be raining tomorrow morning when I wake up which changes completely my morning routine. I bet it will be raining when I walk to the NOC tomorrow. Beyond that everythin is based in the now. Is my pack getting wet, did I pick a good spot to ride out the storm etc...

On the lighter side, while we were enjoying our view at the bald a young hiker, hiking fast, arrived, we said our howdies and out of the blue he asked if we were the Pain Train! He was actually excited to have caught us, I guess we are gaining a reputation on the trail...Well, it was a hoot at the time!

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/12 Siler bald Shelter

Whew, that was a tough day! Just kidding, we did a mighty 4 miles out of Franklin to this shelter, We were cooking with gas though, 4 miles in one anfd a half hours. Beutiful shelter too, about an acre of cleared grass, great water source, FANTASTIC weather, and a couple good groups seem to have converged. Tomorrow is probably a 12 or 18 mile day , we cross our first balds.
--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/12 Franklin, NC

Well chalk another one up to luck, last night a serious storm rolled in at about 9. 30 mph winds and enough rain to make Noah start looking for lumber. We were snug as bugs in a rug toasting our most excellent foresight :) for getting to town.

I was just chatting with a great guy, Buffalo Bob, we have been hiking at the same pace as him the whole time. The guy is incredible, he is 62 and a hiking machine, his gear is so dialed in it takes him 10 minutes to break camp and hit the trail in the morning. We usually pass him around lunch then he rolls into the shelter an hour or two after us. Slow and steady, but he gets it done.

There seem to be three main groups on the trail. Young kids at a major transition point in their lives, like the guys I'm hiking with, this is by far the largest group. Then you have retirees, these guys seem to all be 'characters' and are some of the nicest folks to chat with. The third group are folks who just got out of the military. There are several who just got off active duty in some nasty spots of the world. They range in age but I am inclined to lump them into the first group as the motivating factor seems to be a major life transition. I seem to be an anomoly (keep your snide remarks to yourself please!) as there aren't too many folks that are mid-life/mid-career out here.

A couple other things:
Beer Gut is almost gone, the weight seems to be migrating south to my calves. I'm still at 158 lbs which is good, I can't afford too much weight loss. My beard is coming in nice, but part is grey, part is brown and some is blonde, I'm going to look like a calico cat!

Also, we passed 100 miles on the trail yesterday, which was pretty cool. 2175 miles is very abstract until you have a good benchmark. I feel good, and am much more confident now than I was a week ago. But the distance left to go seems like an impossibility. I tried not to visualize or think about what the trail was going to be like beforehand, so that I wouldn't have too many pre-coinceived ideas of what it was like, I would just let it happen. But the vision of touching the plaque on top of Katadhin Maine and completing this 'big thing' came to me very vividly when we passed 100 miles. While I saw myself there, it seemed much further away than it did just 11 days ago. Crazy talk I know, but in 100 miles we've seen an incredible number of folks drop out. The weather has been brutal and for many moral is really low.

And finally, looks like snow Sunday. If we get enough I'm gonna build a snowman. Hope all is well with every one. Next updates will be 3 days or so from the NOC.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/10 Carter Gap Shelter

Had a nice night sleep last night, great campsite surrounded by massive rhododendrons. In fact some parts of the trail are completely enclose by them, it is like walking through a tunnel. One thing I have noticed is that there is a serious lack of wildlife. In NoVa,even in winter, you will see rabbits, squirrels birds etc. There are barely even any birds. I have to say the trail in NC is beutiful, Bigby and I struck out a little early this morning and had a very nice walk, we stopped for a water break looked around and he said "it looks like the shire" which was what I was thinking.
Ended up at the shelter early in the afternoon, so we had some nice down time after the hiking.

Another 12 mile day tomorrow, then a quick 3 miles into Franklin, NC for a much needed resupply.

Gear problems:
My hammock is starting to split a seam which is not good news I just hope it lasts to the NOC where I can spread out and fix er up. And I lost my spoon yesterday so I had to carve myself a set of chop sticks. Either way the food got down!

Our group has gotten a new name, "The Pain Train". There is a saying on the trail, "No pain, No Maine". The five of us are now the pain train.

Howdy on the NC folks, Heather, Lance and Noah. Y'all gots you a nice state.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/11 Franklin, NC

Weird day, we hiked in a cloud allday, cool mist hitting you evey step. Visibility was about 30 feet. It wasn't a great weather day, and no views, but great for hiking. I did 16 miles today which is big miles for this early on. the cool weather kept me from overheating and let us bust our humps into Franklin for a nice hotel room and pizza. Time for a resupply, and hit an outfitter for some gear. Pizza hut tonight for dinner, I'm thinking a pineapple and canadian bacon large deep dish...for me alone...mmmmmm

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/9 Muskrat shelter

Well, I had a big day today! did a little over 12 miles out of Hiawassee starting at about 10:30.
And, at about 2:30 I crossed the GA/NC border, so 1 state down, 13 to go! The hike today was brutal, I started at an elevation of 2600 feet and am camping tonight at a little over 4600 feet. Most of the elevation chang occurred right after the state line. 500 feet in about a quarter mile, insane if you ask me. The good news is that the trail in NC really sticks to the ridgeline and I'll be moseying along at about this elevation for 6 days or so until we drop down into the NOC at 1700 feet. Of course, we are right back on top of the ridge at 4500 feet when we lweave NOC until Fontana dam, also at 1700 feet.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/9 Leaving Hiawasse

Pulling out of Hiawasse this morning after we visit the outfitter and the post office. Pretty much everything was shut down except the Ingles (supermarket) yesterday. Hope everyone had a good easter.

Looks like the weather should be improving for a while, cloudy, warmer and only a chance of rain. I'm sending about a pound and a half of stuff ahead to NOC. My book, fleece pants, and anything with the word extra in it's name that doesnt also have the word socks in its name. The term for this is using a bounce box, you bounce it ahead of you from town to town.

If all goes as planned I should be sleeping in NC tonight. It depends how quickly we can pull up stakes out of the town and boogy down the trail. 3 days to Franklin, NC then a hard 2 or easy 3 into the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) at Bryson City NC.

Hope to hear from you all! I wont post the email address here, so it doesn't get spammed, but charlotte has it if you want to get in touch.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/7 Hiawasse, Ga

Well, we got up this morning and it was 9 degrees with a wind of 10mph gusting to 15. That is cold, really cold. I was nice and toasty in my hammock, I had really took my time to get the perfect hang. Perpendicular to the wind so that the tarp takes the brunt of it, low to the ground, with leaves piled up all around, making a sort of nest. Finally, the tarp pitched at a narrow angle so that it basically closes off the hammock to the outside. Inside the hammock it was 20, inside my sleeping bag about 80. For most of the night I was actually too hot. Tonight is suppose to be colder, so the 5 guys voted unanimously to make it another long day and bust our humps into Hiawasse today. In terms of the hiking today, we left the campsite at about 8, all of our water froze within about 30 minutes of leaving which sucked big time. Overall I had a really bad day hiking, I just had no 'go'. But the 5 guys stuck together which helped, everyone has a bad day, today turned out to be!
mine. I think the problem was I got a little dehydrated and didn't eat enough calories in the morning. But a bad day that ends in a town with the promise of beer, food, and a warm bed can be endured. We called in from the trail and got a reservation at the Hiawasse Inn, one big room that sleeps 5 and has a kitchenette. 15 bucks a head plus the guy running the place hiked the AT southbound (SOBO) in 06 and has basically given us free run of the place. Laundry, internet, and he drove us to an all you can eat (AYCE) buffet then picked us up afterwards. And yes, we did eat all we could, it was a truely astonishing amount of food that disappeared it 30 minutes. Little spoon went to the dessert table, couldnt make up his mind so he got one of each on a dinner plate, walked over to the soft serve machine softserved everything, then proceeded to lay waste to the whole mess in about 5 minutes.
We are taking a zero day tomorrow and staying another night in this place because everyone needs to resupply then hit the post office Monday. I'll be bouncing my luxury items and fleece pants forward to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) which is about a week down the trail. That should cut almost 2 lbs off my pack. Speaking of whats coming up, Monday we will be heading out from here and during the day we will pass a clearing with a large gnarled oak tree, this represents the GA/NC border, so monday I will have finished 1 state! I can now say from personal experience that the Trail in Georgia is really tough and the weather has not really cooperated. Drought, torrential rain, some snow and temps that haxe shattered the 100 year record for low temps. I keep expecting to see 4 horsemen come riding down the trail, but thankfully they don't allow horses on the trail.
Hope you all have a happy Easter! We will be counting our blessings here in Hiawasse, GA over AYCE chinese food tonight and cold beer.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/6 Cheese Factory Campsite

We did a blistering pace today, we started at 8 and by 11 had covered 7.6 miles. we finished off after lunch with another 6. 13.6 miles and we were in camp by 4. That is a really good pace, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up with these young bucks. They were astonished when I told them how old I was. They figured I was their age.

Its 8:15p and I'm laying in my hammock, it is 22 degrees (-5c maybe hi martin) the wind is blowing 20 mph giving a wind chill around 4 or something ridiculous like that. So far I am actally too warm, I may send a some gear home. In less than a week I've learned alot I imagine there is still tons to learn.

My pack weight leaving Neels gap was 31 lbs with fooed and water, I want to get that down to 25 or so pretty soon, could be tough, basically all the things I think of as luxury items would have to go. My book, spare batteries, the jetboil(go back to the alky stove)...Not ready yetbut if I want to keep up with these youngins, I'll either have to lighten my load or start smacking them in the knees with my hiking poles.

Speaking of knees, my are doing good, as are my ankles. i only have 1 blister and it is a small one. Hopefully I can get it cleared up soon. We are planning a light day tomorrow, 10 miles which will stage us for a 3 mile hike out to Hiawasse, Ga where we are planning to stay at a hostel and resupply. Also contact 5 guys and see if they will sponser us, maybe airdrop in some subs every couple of days. GG

I was thinking about going back over my original posts and add more to them, but I think I will leave them just to show how beat I was the first couple days. I just re-read my description of the storm at woods hole (neels gap entry). It really was one hell of a storm, if there were four horsemen riding around I wouldn't be surprised. Looking at peoples faces in the morning, I could tell that some were really scared. Of the roughly 75 people that started on the first with me we have lost 2 after the first day due to injury (that I know of) and I could see 6 or 7 that were thinking about quitting at Neels Gap, mostly because of the storm.

Anywho, thats all for now, hope all is well with everyone back in the real world. It is funny, out here life is so simple, eat walk sleep. Repeat as many times as needed. I am missing char quite a bit I've been trying to find a cell signal every night. Tonight i actually had enough energy to walk up a hill and finally got half a bar..enough to say hi, love ya and askif she could update the blog since I couldn't from Neels Gap.

--Brian
aka "Bytecode"

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4/5 Low Gap Shelter

Did an easy 11 out of Neels,sitting now at Low Gap, left at about 7 and got here around 1:30. I've synced up with a couple guys, we all seem to do the same mileage and have some good laughs. we have given our group a name, Five Guys "Burgers and Subs". There are, five of us, duh, Me, Bigby, Big Shanty, Little Spoon, and Mouse Wheel. I have a new trailname, "Bytecode". I like it, it comes from something I said at Neels Gap that they all thought was hilarious. We all have various backgrounds. Bigby is 20 years old and works construction. Big Shanty is 21 and has been working as a Corrections Officer for a while. Mouse wheel, 23 works HVAC and Little Spoon is a para legal going into law school when he gets back. The last two are good friends and have been hiking together for years.

I'm getting to the point where the miles don't hurt, I can get into camp and still have some energy to read and blog a little bit more creatively than the weather and where I slept.

--Brian
aka Bytecode

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4/4 Neels Gap

Up and over Blood Mtn, the highest point on the AT in Georgia. Staying here for the night in the hostel. We had 50 mph winds and torrential rain last night. Lightning crashing all over the place. An impressive show. Don't care to repeat that, but I probably will. Just had a shower and a couple hot dogs. Feeling ok!

--Brian

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4/3 Woods Hole Shelter

Great weather today, hiked 12 miles with Big Shanty, his mom Short timer and Rob. Lots of ups and downs, but I got an early start and got to this shelter first. Now sitting around joking, getting ready to hit the rack. Gear is working great, no blisters, pack is working as is the hammock. Some incredible pack weights Rob 'BigBy' is carrying 54lbs.

Neels Gap tomorrow anda resupply, I didn't bring enough food to start, hiker hunger has hit big time.

--Brian

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4/2 Gooch Mtn

Beautiful day today kind of short too, I left Hawk at 9:30 and got here at about 2:00. Feet are tired and gear needs to be dried so I called it a day.

pretty cool, I got my first 'trail magic' today. i had just climbed over Sasafrass Mtn and was at Cooper Gap when a nice lady rolls up, asks if I'm a thru hiker, I said Not yet but thats the plan! She then gave me two bags of famous amos chocolate chip cookies! Score!

All for now, hope everyone is good back in the real world!
--Brian

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4/1 - Hawk Mtn

It rained, I got wet, the end.

Ok I'll write some more. Charlt Isaac and I left the hotel at about 8 I guess and went to Amicalola Falls state park. We checked out the falls for about an hour taking some pictures etc. After that we went to the visitors center and I registered as a thruhiker and got directions to the top of the mountain. We got to the parking lot that is just below the summit, its about a mile walk, so we set off in the drizzle. After a while we were pretty wet and poor charlt was soaked to the bone. Isaac was having a good ole time getting wet muddy and stinky. We made it to the top and took the obligitory pictures with the starting plaque. I gave my info to the volunteer at the summit. back down the hill and i am now hiking the trail. Back at the parking lot there was a guy named mountainsquid taking peoples names, he actually knew who i was from a forum i posted on called whiteblaze, kind of cool. It was raining pretty hard and I was eager to go so I kissed char goodbye, hois!
ted my pack and headed off down the trail. I was pretty sad, I'm gonna miss char lots. Had lunch at stover creek shelter, met a couple of folks that I have seen since. After a couple of more hours of hiking in the rainI made it to hawk mtn shelter. No lie there were 20 people in the shelter and another 40 camped out around the shelter. I made dinner and passed out in my hammock. at about 10:30 the guy in the tent two doors down (50 ft) yells BEAR!!! Needless to say I was awake pretty quick! I didnt see it but it beat his pack around and nosed his tent. After that he decided to hang his pack away from his tent. In the morning I saw where he hung it, 20 ft from my spot....Nice! Sun in the forecast tomorrow!

Later
Brian

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