Paul's AT blog

Last week I had the opportunity to hike another 115 miles of the AT near Damascus, VA, through the Appalachian Mountain Club. After more than a month off the trail it felt like I had never left. That's because it rained like hell the first day. (Ah, the memories.) Fortunately, it only rained one more time over the entire week and that was while I was slackpacking* to a hostel in Roan Mountain, TN. So instead of camping in the rain, I had a warm, dry bed waiting for me. The trail though northern Tennessee and southern Virginia is beautiful but much of it is a long green tunnel with limited vistas. Hump Mountain and Little Hump are notable exceptions with a huge, open view from the nearly 6,000 foot bald ridge that rivals Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire. Several miles of the trail around Watauga Lake were closed because of aggressive bear activity but AT through -hikers are exempted from the ordinance. I suspect it's because the officials figure AT through-hikers smell too b

If you have been following my blog for the last three months, thank you for being part of my journey. I am honored that you found this stuff interesting enough to read. Sharing some of my thoughts and experiences from the trail through this blog has helped me clarify my own understanding and create a personal narrative of what I consider to be the coolest thing I have ever done. Some closing thoughts after nearly at week home... I am in awe of anyone who though-hikes the entire trail in one year. It takes a far greater level of commitment (or maybe it's plain mulishness) than I possess to spend day after day and month after month walking through the woods with a pack on your back. It's not the hills or rocks or trail food or lack of creature comfort that makes it so hard to finish. Those, in fact, are a large part of the attraction. Rather, it is the price you have to pay in forfeited opportunities that can erode the commitment. Taking five-million steps on one path require

When I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, my motivation was to spend six months on a personal journey in the woods removed from the distractions of “normal” living to help me connect with myself and find direction for the last third of my life. Hiking through the Smoky Mountains last week, I realized that I had already succeeded. So I came home yesterday. I learned a lot over the 800 miles I walked. I’m ready to start this next chapter of my life. I’ll probably write another post later with some details about the deeper learning that I experienced on the trail. But for now, here is the simple explanation for my decision to come home: There are other things I want to do. Over the last week as I walked through the majestic mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee in the best weather of my entire trek, I was absorbed in the exquisite beauty of the trail. It was as good as any wilderness experience can be. I was no longer thinking about me. I was in the moment. Yet as the day

Hiking Above the Clouds I’m sitting in the empty lobby of the lodge at Fontana, NC, with JusMel watching another thunderstorm blow through the valleys of the southern Appalachians. We booked a room when the forecast called for clear skies today through next weekend. Now we are elated with our decision. You just can’t trust the weather on the AT. I hit mile 700 of my hike yesterday. That kind of amazes me. It’s only 1/3 of the trail but by far the most I’ve ever walked in the woods. It’s kind of crazy when I think about it. So I try not to do that too often. Tomorrow we start our hike through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That will be incredible, I’m sure. JusMel is ending his hike after we leave the park. I plan to keep going but I am starting to think about  ending my own hike. I feel like I’ve accomplished all of the important things I wanted to do. The only major goal left is finishing the whole trail but that’s not so important to me. I have some pretty c

Our bear bags hanging high This happened Sunday night but was too late to make my last post. I was sharing the first shelter in NC with JusMel, and three others - a solo female hiker in her 40s and a married couple in their 50s. We all hung our food bags in trees as proscribed to protect them from bears. About 10:30 PM we were awakened by the sound of a branch breaking followed by a loud thud. The married couple and JusMel went to investigate and found the couple’s food bag torn apart on the ground with stuff strewn about the base of the tree. Bear slobber covered half their stuff. They picked up the remains and used another of their drysacks to rehang what they could salvage. Thirty minutes later we were awakened again by another breaking branch and thud. This time the bear got the solo woman’s bag and ran off into the dark with her whole bag never to be seen again. JusMel and I were lucky the bear didn’t get our bags. Who would have thought bears could learn how to get to

When I did all my research about hiking the AT none of the books, articles, or videos mentioned how beautiful the trail is in Georgia. I just crossed into North Carolina. I will be reaching the Smokies later this week and I'm sure they will be even more incredible, but I am blown away by the mountains and forests of northern Georgia. The trail is sometimes like walking on a carpeted hallway with walls of rhododendron and mountain laurel on each side. Often it is a gently undulating path winding along the steep sides of wooded mountains with carpets of ferns rising sharply on one side and falling just as sharply on the other. Sometimes it is as rocky and steep as anything in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It is a pleasant surprise to realize that the hundred miles or so of the AT in Georgia are not just something you have to get through to get to NC. They can be a destination of their own. It's that nice. Maybe the best part of changing my plans and coming to Georg