Friday, March 20 - Day #8 - AT Hike
Miles Hiked Today - 12.2
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 85.9/2,193 (3.92%)
Plumorchard Gap Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter (tent at Standing Indian Shelter)
Total Ascent - 3,618’
Total descent - 2,181
States Completed - 1/14
Bye-Bye Georgia. Welcome North Carolina!!!! 1 state down - 13 to go. I can’t say I’m sad to see Georgia go. It’s really not Georgia’s fault however. It was just bad timing (continuous rain and fog). We could have had a good thing. It just wasn’t meant to be.
At the conclusion of my full journey - I’ll rank the states by order of difficulty and also by the order I enjoyed each state. Just because it may have been easy hiking conditions - I may not have enjoyed it as much. Scenery, resupply locations, privies, bear boxes, signage, etc will all play into it.
I’ve read about the AT being very uplifting throughout the journey because you have so many markers along the way. The completion of each state helps you feel tangible progress toward your ultimate goal. I certainly felt this today. That was all the chatter on the trail: “The state lines coming up”. “You’re almost to North Carolina”
With all that being said - queu the band: “Hands touching hands. Reaching out, touching me, touching you —-SWEET CAROLINE. Good times never seemed so good”. Don’t know why exactly - but I was singing this sing to myself all day
North Carolina - or as I’ll refer to it moving forward — just Carolina (the North is implied). I like Carolina a lot as a state. I almost moved there back in 2011. I’m excited to be here now. I’m not expecting things to get easier - I actually expect this state to be more difficult than Georgia. I’ve already hiked some in this state - all good stuff.
It’s 8:11pm currently - I unfortunately don’t have proper cell signal to post tonight - so I’ll stop on a mountain top to make it happen tomorrow. I’m in my tent at Standing Indian Shelter. The rain is pouring down. It’s also very windy. This will be a true test for my tent to see if I stay dry. So far so good.
I completed 12.2 miles today - with over 3,500’ ascent. The big hills came early in the day. I just had to hang on to make it to the shelter around 3pm. Standard chores and early to bed. I slept OK yesterday as well - but again waking up a number of times. I’m still looking for the perfect tent sleeping performance. I’m in training now - hopefully I’ll get there soon
I was thinking today that it might be interesting to go over my pack with you. It’s something I’ll be able to read and remember as well. But everything has its spot. The longer I’m out here - the more efficient I’ll become.
The pack I have is a 60L - Gossamer Gear - Mariposa. It weighs only 1.9 pounds empty.
My setup:
(A). Inner compartment — I have 2 white trash compactor bags that hold 5 total bags for separate gear
1. The bottom trash compactor bag is first filled with: DRY-SAC #1 — my sleeping bag, sleeping liner, pillow, air pad (this is on the bottom because I would only need this at camp - last thing to remove). On top of this goes DRY-SAC #2 — all my clothes (that I would never need during the day)
2. The top trash compactor bag is filled with: URSACK BEAR BAG #3 — contains all my food (not needed on trail). On top of this goes DRY-SAC#4 - my tent, plus Salomon jacket, gloves, hat if needed. Finally, DRY-SAC #5 — electronics, first-aid kit, etc. Bags #4 & #5 are side by side and easily accessible. If I get hot - I can take coat off and quickly put in the Tent bag #4. If I get a hotspot with a blister forming - I can quickly access bandages in bag #5.
My pack also contains 7 outer pockets:
1. Long Side pocket — I keep my tent poles, tent stakes, and tent footprint here - along with my camp shoes
2. Small Side pocket (1) — toiletries (toilet paper, trowel, hand sanitizer)
3. Small Side pocket (2) — my water filtration equipment, 1L Smart water bottle for drinking, my pack rain cover
4. Hip belt pocket (1) — multi-tool knife, hand sanitizer, headphones
5. Hip belt pocket (2) — Garmin in-reach, headlight
6. Top Pocket —- 2 epi pens
7. Back mesh pocket — rainfly for tent, rain pants and rain jacket, a ziplock filled with snack food for the day, and an additional Liter of water (at times if long distance between water refills)
You’ll see that the 7 side pockets all have items I could theoretically need on the trail. I’m usually never going to dig into my main compartment bag (only for a hat/gloves or to get a coat usually). I did fix up a blister the other day
That may or may not have been interesting - but I’ve put a lot of thought into all my gear. By nature, I’m a very conservative guy - so I have a lot of things available to me for certain situations. If I get stung by a bunch of hornets - I have benedryl and an Epi-pen. If I get lost or hurt seriously - I have my Garmin in-reach with SOS capabilities. I also have matches and a lighter to start a fire if desperate and cold.
The thing I’ve been thinking most about lately is snakes. I saw a non-poisonous one the other day by the water refill. Supposedly - there’s lots of rattlesnakes and copperheads around. Outside of using my SOS - I’m really not sure on this. I was walking with a paramedic the other day and he seemed to think trying to hike out could cause more problems (pending how far you were and symptoms). Keep elevated above heart, monitor any reaction with pen, use tourniquet if necessary. Snakes scare me more than anything. You walk over a million rocks and logs a day - even keeping an eye out is not fool proof. Keep the faith!
Well - it’s 9pm and I’ve just been rambling. Tomorrow is a 16.2 mile day - but only around 2,900 vertical ascent.
Here’s to a dry tent in the morning! Good night from Sweet Caroline (a)!!
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