I woke up early this morning and was able to go downstairs and fix a hot cup of coffee and catch up on a few messages. What a treat! Then, at 8:00 we were served an amazing breakfast at the Mountain Harbour Hostel/B&B. This place has the reputation of serving the best breakfast on the entire Appalachian Trail, and for good reason. The food was all prepared by the local staff and there were probably 20 of us who enjoyed all that was in front of us. Afterwards, our tramily met for an hour to plan out our itinerary for the next 5 days. If all goes to plan we will cross over into Virginia on Monday.

Early afternoon was spent catching up on laundry and just resting. The highlight of the day was the afternoon when I was able to spend some time with my two brothers. My middle brother, David, met me at 2:30 pm and we ran errands for 2 hours at which time my youngest brother, Patrick, met up with us for an early dinner. It was so great to see both of them and I greatly appreciate the time they took out of their mid-week schedules to do so. I wish we had more occasions where these kind of get togethers were possible.

The weather the next few days looks to be cool, cloudy , with rain on and off. Not ideal, but we take what comes our way.

Pics – breakfast spread, my brothers and me (David on my left, Patrick on my right)

My apology for having no posts the past few days but it was mainly a function of having no cell service. That said, the past week has been a blur of challenging circumstances for our tramily. To summarize, Cobweb Rose and I caught norovirus last Thursday night in Erwin, TN. All four of us were planning to hit the trail on Friday afternoon after a quick resupply. Snapshot and Mountain Crusher did get back on the trail that afternoon. On Saturday afternoon Cobweb Rose got back on trail and managed to catch up with Snapshot and MC. However, I still felt too weak to start out and waited to do so on Sunday morning. On Sunday, Snapshot caught the virus on trail and yesterday Mountain Crusher caught the virus and is still feeling badly as I write this blog. Despite all of the chaos resulting from each of us getting sick, and the distance between us, I managed to catch up with my 3 traveling companions around 12:45 pm today and we all, broken as we were, made it to a hostel near Roan Mountain, TN. We will zero tomorrow to give everyone’s body (and mind) a chance to heal a bit, and then depart on Thursday morning.

On Sunday when I left Erwin, I felt pretty bad and had no appetite but I managed to get 17 miles in over pretty rough and mountainous terrain. It was very cold on Monday night (low 20s) and I had to resort to my winter sleep attire. On Tuesday, I still did not feel very well and still had very little appetite but again managed a 17 mile day including a climb at the end of the day to the top of Roan Mountain where I camped at a shelter site above 6,000 feet. It was brutally cold last night despite me having on 2 pairs of socks, insulated long johns, 3 shirts, a puffy jacket and my toboggan. I slept no more than 1-2 hours and tossed in the cold all night long. It took me a bit longer than normal to pack up this morning and I did not start hiking until 8:30 am. Today’s hike was just myself (as it was on Sunday and Monday) until I caught up with the rest of the crew just before 1:00 pm. Today was another 17 mile day for me and we ended up at Mountain Harbor Hostel just about 0.3 miles off trail. This evening we all showered and had a good dinner at a food truck on premise (except for MC who could only eat French fries). We look forward to a transition day tomorrow to try and get back to “normal” conditions. Today we passed over the North Carolina state line for the last time and will remain in Tennessee for the next 70 miles until we enter Virginia. Also, tomorrow evening my two brothers, David & Patrick (who live in NC) will meet me for dinner and it will be great to see both of them!

I have tried to be open and candid about the good and not so good aspects of this journey. Coming off of a bad virus a few days ago and hiking by myself for the past few days I have had a “battle royale” inside of me trying to decide if I want to continue this adventure or not. And, of all the risks I assumed could threaten my journey, this was never one that I considered. And it is simply the terrible sanitary conditions we live with every day on the trail. I have shared some of the milder hygiene issues we have been up against in prior posts but they are but a smidgen of what we deal with. While we all take as much care as we can to protect ourselves, viruses, infections, and poor hygiene conditions are rampant. Even when we get off trail the hostels are basically a Petri dish of germs and viruses from all the hikers passing through. Since I started this hike I have had 3 eye infections and norovirus and I feel lucky that this is all I have come down with. But, the daily reality of these hygiene conditions have begun to take a toll on my view of hiking the AT and I frankly do not know where I end up on this one. For now, I’m going to try to put the past behind me and continue on with the journey hoping that conditions may improve and that the next phase of our hike is more enjoyable. A special thanks to my wife and Doug & Derek Thomson for their counsel and encouragement over the past few days as I have wrestled with this topic.

A few pics from the past 3 days

I woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday, but still very washed out. Decided to stay one more night in Erwin and I have a shuttle picking me up tomorrow morning at 8:00. Was able to eat today and continued to drink a lot of fluids. Walked into town for food resupply and also managed to get a much needed haircut. Cobweb Rose left around noon today and was able to catchup with MC and Snapshot at their campsite. Apparently Snapshot became sick last night but with a milder version of what I had so he and MC took it easy today. I will eventually catch up with the rest of the team, though it may take several days.

We have known for weeks that Norovirus was making hikers sick up an down the AT. Last night, Cobweb Rose and I caught the virus. Nasty stuff. Snapshot and MC left this afternoon to get back on the trail while the two of us stayed behind another night to try to recover. We have been in bed all day trying to down as many liquids as possible. Not sure if we will be strong enough to return to trail tomorrow. Will assess in the morning.

Thanks for all the comments from yesterday’s post. Unfortunately, I think some of my comments were taken out of context as some readers thought I may be ready to throw in the towel. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a blog about hiking the AT – not about rainbows and butterflies. There will be positive blogs, negative blogs, aspirational blogs and everything in between. We have had many “difficult” days physically and we will have many more. What was different about yesterday’s challenges was they were self-induced, the result of bad and careless decisions. That’s it! so, while I appreciate the concerns and uplifting comments – I’m good!! 😊

Breaking camp this morning i had the pleasure of using the smallest and most disgusting privy so far on the AT (see pic below). There was vomit in front of the toilet and no door – no expenses spared on privy’s in the great state of North Carolina!! Today we hiked 17 miles into the town of Erwin, TN. The terrain was more forgiving than yesterday. Instead of 6,000 feet of uphill climb (yesterday, today it was just over 2,000 feet. The descent into Erwin was very pretty with a River view below and a train crossing the river as I was coming down (Bruce – I immediately thought of you and your love of trains when I saw that! 😊). I am writing this blog while sitting on a log at a local hostel while we await our shuttle to take us to the Super 8 where we look forward to showers, washing our clothes and getting some hot food for dinner. Tomorrow we will pick up food supplies for the next 3 or 4 days, pick up a few things at the local outfitter shop and then head back out on the trail tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, the bottom 3 inches of one of my trekking poles broke off before lunch today and I will have to buy a new set tomorrow.

Was finally able to upload a few pics from the past 3 days. I think they are mostly self-explanatory.

We left camp this morning with a decision that we would push to a shelter almost 19 miles away, over significant mountain climbs in very warm weather this afternoon. It was not a decision based on discussion or consensus. In short, it was a brutal day and my body feels wasted as I write this. Cobweb Rose and I made it to the destination, but we received a text from Justin and  Snapshot that they would likely not make it and would camp somewhere along the way. Up to this point I believe we have made good and smart decisions regarding our hikes, but that was not the case today. I hesitate to say more and will leave it at that. Near the very end of our hike Cobweb Rose and I crossed over Bald Mountain (Tennessee) and had nice 360 views. Other than that the day was too difficult to stop and take pictures. Cell signal still too weak to download pics from yesterday. Will try again later. Time to fix dinner and hope for a better tomorrow. 

We broke camp at 7:30 this morning with a goal of 17-19 miles, and ended up at 18.5. Our last 3 days have all been big mileage days and I’m concerned we are jumping to the 17+ miles per day when we should be in the 15-16 range for a couple of weeks. Something the tramily will need to discuss. Today’s hike was mostly uphill with some very steep sections and a tremendous amount of rocks that just beat our feet up badly. We had some beautiful views along the way and the weather was really nice cool this morning but quite warm this afternoon. The highlight of the day was passing the 300 mile mark just before lunch. It feels great to pass those 100 mile marker milestones. We are at a shelter site tonight and have another hard day of long steep climbs in front of us tomorrow. Unfortunately, there were no cookie ladies on the trail today!!!😬

(Weak signal tonight. Pics would not download. Will try to include in tomorrow’s post if possible)

We departed Hot Springs this sunny, windy morning at 7:30, following the AT markers down Main Street, over train tracks and across a bridge before we were back into the forest. Our initial climb was very steep and overall today was another day of significant elevation gain and loss. We ate our lunch on top of a fire tower on Rich Mountain with great views but very high winds and quite chilly temps. Our goal today was 15 miles and we ended up at 16.5 at a stealth camp site just off the trail. The next shelter is another 3.5 miles and a very steep climb so we opted to save that until tomorrow. Near the end of our hike today we passed the log cabin of the Southern Cookie Lady. Just a short distance from the trail, Peggy provides a free cookie, filtered water and trash collection for thru hikers. As we helped ourselves to the cookies and water, Peggy came out to speak to us. A retired Special Education Teacher, she was very sweet and spent 10 or 15 minutes talking to us about our hike. So far this year she has baked over 700 cookies for hikers who have stopped by. Last year she baked over 2,300 cookies. The first cookie is free, any additional cookies she asks for a donation of $2 per cookie. We all left her a small donation and thanked her for her generosity. The camp site we are at tonight has no cell service so I will post this blog at the next available opportunity. 

Just before going to sleep last night I read a very sad message from the daughter of a friend and colleague who died unexpectedly last week. Farshad Nozary was such a friendly and kind person who retired just a short time ago. It was always fun to read on Facebook about his travels and adventures and to see how much he enjoyed life. I’m almost sure that he was younger than me. My deepest condolences to all of Farshad’s family and loved ones.

Today was our second zero day in Hot Springs. I awoke around 7:00 am, showered and then walked a short distance to a small, but nice coffee shop and had a great cappuccino. I returned to the Inn just before 9:00 am as breakfast was being prepared by Elmer, the owner of the Inn. There were approximately 10 of us that shared a table and enjoyed the waffles, fruit and coffee that he prepared. We finished just before 10:00 am and I walked to a nearby Presbyterian Church to attend a service. It was a very small church with less than 20 folks in attendance this morning. I recognized 3 other thru hikers also in attendance. The “regulars” were very friendly and inquisitive. While I was away my 3 young friends went to a local “hot springs” location to rest and relax and they told me they had a great time. When we are in town together I try to give the 3 of them space to just be the young people they are. We all get along very well together but the age difference between them and me is so significant that I really don’t want to infringe on their fun times together in town. And, frankly, many of the activities that interest them no longer appeal to me. So, I think (hope) it’s a balance that works for all of us.

Cobweb Rose’s parents ( from North Wilkesboro, NC) met us for lunch and it was a pleasure to meet both of them. They paid for our lunch and then gave us some homemade cookies and some store bought goodies for the coming week. Very kind and generous people.

The last things on my agenda this afternoon were to finish my food resupply and hang my tent out to dry from the leftover rain from Friday night, both now completed. The first four days of the coming week look very favorable weather-wise, and I look forward to getting back on the trail tomorrow. Our goal this coming week is to average around 15 miles each day, which is almost double the daily mileage we started with just a month ago. Lastly, thanks to all of you who take time to send messages. I try to respond as best I can but there are many times that all I can do is to “like” what you send, but please know how much I enjoy reading your comments.

Pics – my friend Farshad, local Presbyterian church

Today was the first of two zeros in the village of Hot Springs, NC. After another night of rain in our tents we got up this morning and walked into the village with some other trail friends for breakfast. It was so great to have real breakfast food and hot coffee. Afterwards we returned to our camp site, washed and dried our clothes at the hostel, packed up our tents and returned to town for lunch, checking into our inn, picking up some resupply items for next week and just meandering through town. Mountain Crusher’s backpack was about to fail so he spent considerable time at the local outfitter shop trying on different packs before ultimately selecting a new one. Tonight and tomorrow night we are staying at the Sunny Bank Inn, a charming old house with lots of character.

Two days ago we crossed what, to me, has been the most beautiful spot on the AT – Max Patch. Our Tramily camped just below the summit and went up that evening to view the sunset. There were so many great shots that I decided it would be best to compile them into a short video, which is below. Please listen to it with the music. If you are ever near this amazing location, please take the time to enjoy a sunrise or sunset. I promise you, you will never forget it. There is actually a parking area less than a half-mile from the summit so you don’t have to do a thru hike of the AT to glimpse this piece of Heaven 😊. A brief summary/history of Max Patch follows (source: Wikipedia).

Max Patch is a bald mountain on the North Carolina-Tennessee Border in Madison County, North Carolina, and Cocke County, Tennessee. It is a major landmark along the Tennessee/North Carolina section of the Appalachian Trail, although its summit is located in North Carolina. It is known for its 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains, namely the Bald Mountains in the immediate vicinity; the Unakas to the north; the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the south; and the Great Balsams and Black Mountains to the southeast. Max Patch was originally cleared in the early 19th century by farmers seeking to use the area as pasture for cattle and sheep. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the mountain was used for a wide range of purposes including the site of an inn, a hostel circuit, and an airstrip before the United States Forest Service purchased the area in 1982 to preserve the historic site and prevent the construction of a ski resort. The Carolina Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and United States Forest Service worked collaboratively to relocate the Appalachian Trail to Max Patch’s summit and completed the projected in 1984.