Taken from the top of Siler Bald in N.C.

AT Journal Day 14

March 18th - Day 14 - Brown Fork Gap to Fontana Hilton
Still foggy. An early get out an 13 miles walk to Fontana Hilton. The downhill into Fontana Dam takes forever. This is compounded by the rumor that Leap Frog Cafe is set up at the Hilton. When you reach the road going northbound there is still another 1.1 to go before reaching the shelter, but there is an immediate clean bathroom, so we have that going for us. Fittingly the sun comes out just as we get to the shelter. The rumors are true. Fresh Grounds whips up seemingly endless batches of beans, hot dogs, and chessy eggs. This is one of the early large gatherings of hikers that I really enjoyed. There is something about Fresh Grounds that brings the best out of hiker culture, it accentuates the vibe of this crowd a lot I feel. We've made it to the Great Smoky Mountains. This is where the hike moves into the small child stage. Most at this point are comfortable with the idea of a thru-hike, but there is still a lot to learn. One more day and this will be the longest backpacking trip I have ever been on. I am breaking new ground. I meet Sunbear, Grease, Canary, Joules, Haiku, Blink, Dorothy, Rambles, Wrong Leg, and TurtleFish. All young people. Turns out the older contingent stayed at the resort down the road.  It is a perfect afternoon to sit around and arrange resupply and eat as much as possible.  Sunbear immediately makes an impression on me. He is very quick witted and tries to make a joke out of everything even when he knows it may fail, but it rarely does, or at least I don't think it does.

One if the things I forget about this early stage is that it is still very cold. So this rare sunny, slightly warm day is very welcomed.

Hikers take advantage of the sun to dry their brightly colored belongings

AT Journal Day 13

March 17th - Day 13 - NOC to Brown Fork Gap Shelter
The uphill out of the NOC is one of the hardest on the trail. Whether its the terrain or the relative inexperience of the person hiking it, its eight miles up and its raining today.

Live - n - Learn resting atop Cheoah Bald

I meet Handsome Dan and Happy Feller at Stecoah Gap. Someone left some fresh fruit on a picnic table here and I help myself. Right after Stecoah Gap there is a section of trail called Jacob's Ladder which is just very steep, steeper than anything I've encountered so far. At the shelter we meet a group of hikers from Moorehead State University.  The student s from Moorehead share their leftover pad thai and make s'mores for us. As a thru I can't turn down any of it. This interaction is also nice because neither Live or I would have taken the time to build a fire tonight, we are both exhausted. To sit around an effort-free fire and converse with people I've just met is great. Meeting new people everyday, and meeting people you wouldn't talk to in "normal" life is a really rewarding part of the trail. Travelling in general opens you up to a new way of approaching and interacting with people. This helps me a lot, it kind of forces me into new social interaction, which is never a bad thing.

AT Journal Day 12

March 16th - Day 12 - Wesser Bald Shelter to Nantahala Outdoor Center
Set off hiking really early, around 6am, its still dark out. Chowder is a cool dude to hike with. Its raining but spirits are high. Hiking can go from the last thing you want to be doing to the most fun you'll ever have, and I experienced the full spectrum on the 5 months I spent hiking. This hike is cool because I have a chill hiking partner and the sunrise comes up and we watch the fog come through the valley. By 9am we reach the NOC and its pouring rain. We meet up with Live who spent the night somewhere around the NOC, we post up in the pavilion and charge our devices. We can't get into the hostel until 11 and the beer store doesn't open til 10. The hostel here is slightly disappointing, with design cues from a chicken coop, but I feel oddly at home surrounded by the OSB walls. At least the showers are hot. I hitchhike for the first time in my life down to a gas station to buy spaghetti and sauce for dinner. Facts whom I first encountered near Rock Gap gets a bunk in the hostel as well. I meet Spaghetti and Motor(who gets renamed Papa Squats at some later point) sleep in the cafeteria, I should have thought of this.

A rainy sign at the NOC

AT Journal Day 11

March 15th - Day 11 - Wayah Bald to Wesser Bald
Something like 13 miles. Less interesting day of hiking. From the shelter logs we learn that One Day, Professor T, and Two Forks are only a day ahead. At this point these are the only people I know on trail. I would still consider this part of the infancy stage of my hike. Live and I relate on a lot of topics, or just as much as two men really have to to hang out with each other, and its good to have a hiking buddy. around mid-day we meet up with Chowder, whom we met back at Standing Indian, and hike with him the rest of the way. At the shelter its about 4, I am beat, my knees hurt mostly on the downhill and it is 6 more miles of downhill to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). live decides to go on. Columbus and Queen show up and tent out, showing some disgust that chowder is here, smoking cigs in the shelter and supposedly he snores. I care about neither and am just happy to have a laid back person to kick it with. Wrong Leg from Surrey shows up for the night as well. I am initially impressed with Wrong Leg as he is one of the few thrus so far who seems to really have his gear sorted. He also has a British accent which lends him some sort of imaginary credibility. A handful of young kids roll up to the shelter very poorly outfitted looking to camp. I admire their sense of adventure, mostly clad in skate or basketball shoes and one is carrying a crossbow and some arrows. After surveying us they decide to move further up the trail. The forecast is rain in the morning so chowder and I decide to get out early and make it to the NOC before we get too soaked.

My rig as of March 15th, at the Wesser Bald Fire Tower

AT Journal Day 10

March 14th - Day 10 - Rock Gap to Wayah Bald
Ron Havens delivers us to Rock Gap around 11am. A couple doing trail magic is here, Fred and Sharon Stephenson are trail angels. After 3 miles of hiking I, discussing the intricacies of dating, Live and  get to Winding Stair Gap and Fred and Sharon have moved up here and we get round two on donuts and magic. The woman how we saw at rock gap yesterday morning is now camped out by the road at Winding Stair. Live and I get our first taste of the southern balds and I'm impressed. The weather is perfect, North Carolina has been great. We hike on nine more miles to a camp spot just before Wayah Bald.  A couple Columbus and Queen camp here, as well as father-son team from England.

Live-n-Learn hiking up Siler Bald, first of the southern balds.

AT Journal Day 9

March 13th -Day 9 - Long Branch Shelter to Franklin, NC
Cold morning, there is a dusting of snow about and the moisture in the ground has frozen into tiny vertical columns jutting through the leaves. This creates a very crunchy sound to the hike. It's only 3.5 miles to rock gap where an advertised shuttle should be at 9am. Live and I got to rock gap and there was another hiker there. After striking up conversation we found that she was just a denizen of the trail had been on for nine years or so. She had two packs on, camo head to toe, smoking a cigarette, and she spoke in a half cry half angry yell. Ron Havens shows up in a bus to shuttle us to town. Ron Havens is the most intelligent man in this part of the south, owns multiple motels, has been in government, yet still he reminds me of the stereotype fat segregationist southern mayor. He is a lovely man. his prize quote of the encounter, speaking of his home town in the summer, "Hotter than the blue blazes through purgatory in the summer." In town Live and I resupply, find lunch, and get a motel room. March madness is in full swing and we spend the afternoon watching basketball. sitting around doing nothing is just what I need right now.

AT Journal Day 8

March 12th - Day 8 - Standing Indian to Long Branch Shelter
I wake up to driving rain and cigarette smoke. Chowder was tented out 30 yards in front of the shelter and in what is now a small lake. He and a section hiker are smoking in the front of the shelter debating how to go about retrieving his tent. By the time I am packed up and fed the rain is still coming down.Regardless Live and I head out up and over Standing Indian mountain. We want to make it to long branch shelter so we can nearo (near zero mile day) into Franklin, NC. by the afternoon we make it to Albert Mountain and the 100 mile mark of the AT. I call my mom and savor the moment. I am very happy and even happier that there are 2085 miles to go. The fun is yet to begin. By 7:30pm the fun has ceased, the temperature is dropping fast. This would be the coldest night on the AT.

100 mile graffiti atop Albert Mtn. in Georgia

My dinner tonight consists of a sweet and sour chili pasta side, a tuna packet, half a summer sausage, 2 swiss roll packages (4 total) a tea and hot cocoa. Today was a long day and I need the energy.

These guys.

AT Journal Day 7

March 11th  - Day 7 - Dicks creek gap to Standing Indian Shelter
Hiking with Live - n - Learn. Long uphill slog to muskrat creek shelter. We cross the North Carolina border around noon. A hiker named Rear Admiral Foggy Caboose offers up a celebratory pull of whiskey at the border. Even more uphill.... At the shelter Live and I opt to take the 0.25 blue blaze out to ravens rock. Still one of the best views of the Trail. A group of hikers we met pushed on 5 miles to Standing Indian shelter and we follow suit. Country, Mason(later Rockfish), Illlinois, Chowder, Live, and some section hikers are here including a 2013 thru. The former thru entertains all of us around the campfire with his stories of working as a teacher inside a prison.

AT Journal Day 6

March 10th - Day 6 - Tray Mtn to Top of Georgia Hostel, Dicks Creek Gap
My knees are really starting to hurt at this point. Going down hill is more painful than going up. After 11 miles down hill from Tray Mountain the hostel at Dicks Creek Gap is looking awful promising. Around three we reach the gap, I hiked with Professor T, Two Forks, and Panzer down the mountain. The hostel is a half mile off trail down towards Hiawassee. I decide to stay for the night and Live- n - Learn show up not too long after. The hostel is run by Sir Packs-a-lot, a triple crowner, and helper of hikers. Here are his 10 tips for a successful thru-hike:
1. Be mentally and adtitudinally prepared
2. Be physically prepared
3. Be gear ready
4. Understand what you "bare necessities" are
5. "Hike your own hike" with an open mind
6. "Don't quit on a bad day"
7. Take the time to "see" what you see
8. Have your "real life" affairs in order
9. Prepare for the harsh physical realities of a 2189 miles of backpacking
10. Don't let the small problems become big ones.

Found this video from 2012 about Napoleon.

So much love for this man. Had the opportunity to hike with Napoleon from Delaware Water Gap to Katahdin. This is him everyday. Wherever you are man, you're in my thoughts. Rock on,

AT Journal Day 5

March 9th - Day 5 - Low Gap to Tray Mountain
My second 15 mile day, this is big for this early in my hike. I average 14 miles per day over the entirety of my hike, but no 15 mile day will hurt as bad as this one. Georgia is rough. Early on, not flat, and mostly out in the middle of nowhere.

At the shelter I set up my tarp for the first time. Most people have free standing tents. And I am a little nervous about just sleeping under a tarp, but its light. Professor T, Two Forks, and One Day are at this encampment. Tons of others are scattered about the shelter area. The sunset from the overlook is quite pleasant and I am very happy about being here.

AT Journal Day 4

March 8th  - Day 4 - Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter
I often think of the different stages of my thru-hike as stages of human life. Early on in Georgia and into North Carolina/Tennessee it felt like the infantsy stage of the hike. I was still wandering about the woods aimlessly. Everyone on the trail is new. Advice is everywhere, the amount of learning to do is immense. In the months leading up to my hike I did a lot of research, planning, and thinking. This all undoubtedly helped, but one of the strange things about the AT is that now that I am out here, none of that work matters any more. If I had done physical conditioning for my hike, it wouldn't matter now either. Now what matters is being out here, staying out here, and enjoying and experiencing as much as possible.

A church group is cooking burgers at Mountain Crossing, and although it attributes to a late start, we all indulge in their amazing charity. Trail legend Baltimore Jack is here, he tells me that I should elevating my bothered knee at night. Slowly set out towards low gap shelter and make it as the sun is setting.

Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Journal Day 3

March 7th - Day 3
Still damp this morning. During my shuttle to Amicalola Ron Brown informed me that a man named fresh grounds is set up with trail magic at Woody Gap with the Leap Frog cafe. Rumor is true. Fresh Grounds puts on amazing hiker feeds at random points along the trail. As Two Forks, Professor T, One Day, Stride, Tarzan, Kodak, and others arrive, Fresh Grounds whips up a batch of cheesy eggs and banana pancakes. There are a handful of people here helping out, former hikers, and friends of the trail.One man named Jimmy offers to slackpack us to Neels Gap. Alex and I take him up on his offer.

The Leap Frog Cafe

Tarzan, Kodak, One Day, Stride Live - n - Learn(Alex) hike over blood mountain to Neels gap and rent a cabin at the Blood Mountain Cabins for the night.

LIve - n - Learn on top of Blood Mountain

More random squiggles.

Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Journal Day 2

March 6th - Day 2
Sleeping alone in the woods is relatively conducive to waking up early. I pack my things and eat my first oatmeal breakfast of the journey. March in the mountains of Georgia is still cold. I start hiking in my insulation layer and soon have to stop to take it off. Rookie mistake. It became commonplace later in the hike to remove all insulation before hiking so you didn't ruin it with sweat. I don't remember much of the hike. I pass Professor T and Charlie (who later gets trail name Two Forks) who had camped a mile or two past the shelter. I also pass biscuit, an older gentleman from Syracuse, NY. I hike 13 miles or so to Gooch Gap Shelter. My journal entry indicates that my knees are already starting to hurt on downhill sections of trail. I speculate about this pains' relation to Lyme disease I had in my knees as a kid, There is a large number of hikers at the shelter tonight. Jenn(One Day), Stride, Tarzan, Dillan (who is now being called kodak or paparazzi), Mathmagicain, a couple from Iowa the husband is being called Seth Rogen to whom he bears a striking resemblance, his wife, can't remember her name, but she is ultimately responsible for my trail name. Seth Rogen builds a fire and we all gather around and chat. Upon coming back from gathering firewood Seth Rogen's wife jokes that I look like Goliath carrying too much firewood. It sticks. Unfortunately. I never really got used to the name. David(my real name) and Goliath(trail name). I always feel pretentious when introducing myself as Goliath. Jenn also gets her trail name, One Day, tonight. A kid named Alex rolls in a bit later looking very exhausted and soaked(it is now raining).

Photo Courtesy of One Day (AT 2014)

Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Journal Day 1

March 5th - Day 1
As it starts to get light, my train is still zipping down the tracks. I see mostly dirt roads, trailers, a school bus picking up kids, and green grass. Coming from the Montana and New England winters, this is exciting. I arranged a shuttle from the Gainesville Amtrak station to Amicalola before I got on the train. Ron Brown is waiting as promised and we are soon on the way to the park. Its the beginning of a new day for most, but I am feeling the all-nighter delirium, but still too excited to do anything about it. no words to describe the feeling as we drive up to Amicalola. At about 8AM I buy a couple of fuel canister from Ron and head into the visitors center there. not open. I meet a perspective thru-hiker couple Megan and Daniel and we chat for a bit. We take each others pictures at the gate, sign in to the register and start my hike.

The stairs take it out of me. I did almost no prep for my hike, conditioning wise. I get to the summit of Springer Mtn. around 2PM. I've eaten very little, probably a by product of me not sleeping. I meet Professor T and Charlie two guys hiking up the Approach trail, Dillan Forsey(Dillan's Blog) and Tarzan(AT 2012) at the summit. Chris and Alison a couple from Kansas attempting a thru. I chill for a while and try to take everything in. Its sunny and comfortable here.

There is a shelter not too far from the summit with a lot of people around, I have my first Privy experience, and decide to continue on to the Stover Creek Shelter. I meet Jenn and Stride in the parking lot 0.9 miles past Springer. Stride has already hike the AT(08) and PCT(12) and is attempting the CDT this year. Jenn is in my boat, beginning of our very first thru hike. It is 2.8 miles from Springer mountain after the 8.8 mile approach trail I've done 11.6 miles today, on very little food. My body feels it. I eat around 5PM my first backpacker's Pantry, well deserved in my mind. no one else is here. A few people pass through but no one stays. Being alone in the woods makes me miss home, family and friends a bit. This would be the last time I camp alone for the remainder of the hike.

Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Journal Day 0

March 4th, 2014 - Day 0
10:45 AM Mom and I drive down to the Amtrak station in Windsor, CT. Emotional departure for her, I am too excited for these feelings. I guess I never had trouble with separation anxiety. I take the local train from Windsor to New Haven. In the hour I spend waiting in the station I feel a little weird toting my Vaude backpack, clad in hiking boots and synthetic clothing. This would be my attire for the next five months. Sweaty train ride through the urban centers of the northeast metro corridor. From the rails you see mostly the neglecting backsides of cities. Washington DC I switch to the south regional train to New Orleans. Its dark. A gentleman from Danville, VA sits next to me. We exchange cordial conversation, He's a professional welder who works all over the US, and most recently in Massachusetts. I have a really hard time trying to understand his accent. This is my first time in the South less a trip to Disney World when I was a small child. He gets off in Danville and I am rewarded with the empty seat next to me. I try to sleep. Still too excited, nervous feeling to get a wink of sleep. Everyday from now on is a complete unknown. I'm on my own... just the way I want it.

N.B. After hiking each day, generally right before or sometimes while I feel asleep I wrote in this journal. While I won't copy it word for word into this blog I am going to try and do a day by day retelling of my experience. 

Tree I drew a while back. Figured I'd put it here.

Blog Attempt

Lately I've been motivated to start a blog. I have a Wix webpage/e-portfolio but I am not a huge fan of the editor tool. It reflects how good the final product looks but I was yearning for a more simple format.