Trail Days

I've been hiking for a month and 10 days now and I've reached my first big resting place on the trail. Damascus, Virginia. What's special about Damascus is that between the 18th and 20th of May this is the place where Trail Days is celebrated. Trail Days is a festival made for hikers of the Appalachian Trail. All the hikers that are hiking it this year or have done it in past years come together to celebrate the great trail that nearly covers the entire eastcoast.

So there is all sorts of cool stuff going on at trail days. There was a lot of free stuff being given to hikers, eating competitions (I finished 3rd in the hotdog eating competition) and a hiker parade where all former and current hikers of the A.T. walk in a parade and get splashed with waterballoons and waterguns. It was a great weekend with a lot of fun activities. And I've also been seeing a lot of the guys I've been hiking with for the past month.

Unfortunately there was also some bad news when I got to trail days. It turned out Andreas had to quit the A.T. because of personal reasons back at home, I wish him the best of luck with what he is going through.

At trail days I met a belgium guy who lived there and saw me in the eating competition and remembered I was Dutch. He told me he hiked back in '92 and he has been living in Damascus ever since. I had also heard stories of two dutch brothers that where supposedly hiking the A.T. this year, well I met them that weekend! They are about the same age I am and they are a view days behind me, I think I will meet them on the trail soon enough.

The next big milestone will be Harpers Ferry which is the official halfway point of the A.T. I Think I will probably be able to get there before July.

More in the next blog....

Will upload more pics soon


Me, not impressed by the competition at the hotdog eating contest

Routines

Today marks the end of 4 weeks of hiking on the Appalachian Trail. The last week has really been about getting used to the trail. I can feel my legs are getting way stronger now, and I don't have difficulties doing big climbs as much as i used to. I've been complaining about my pack weight quite a bit lately, because I think 35 pounds (15 kg) is to much. It got pretty bad at one point, for example a man offered me an orange when I got to a random parking lot once, and I asked him how much it weighed in stead of just taking it. But even the pack weight is not so bad anymore, my body is getting used to the weight now.

So I'd thought I would talk about how a typical day on the A.T. goes for me. Well it starts with getting up in the morning. If I am in my tent I will usually sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00. If I am in a shelter, I share my sleeping space with often 5 or more people so when the first person gets up, most people get up as well, which is around 6:30 to 7:00. After I get up I brush my teeth and get my bear bag down (you hang your food bag in a tree to prefend bears from getting to it) and have a little breakfast, usually noodles or candy bars.
After breakfast I check the map to see what the elevation gain for the day is and what the terrain looks like (if it's good I smile, if it's bad I cry in fetal position). Then I start hiking, usually I will hike for about 2 hours between stops unless there is a big climb ahead, meanwhile I will eat A LOT of candybars/stuff you don't need to cook. When I pass a shelter I will usually go in to see if there are people there and talk to them for a bit and maybe cook some lunch, you usually pass about 1 or 2 shelters a day. On an average day I hike about 15 miles (24km). My highest has been 23 miles (37km) and my lowest around 5 miles (when I get into town and stay there). Average hiking time is around 7 to 8 hours including breaks.
When I arrive at the campsite or shelter it's usually around 17:00 to 18:00. After that I cook dinner and set up my tent if necessary, build a campfire and hang my bear bag again. I usually go to sleep around 20:00 (we call 20:00 hiker midnight).

That's a little story about my daily routine. As for the people I hike with, I've been hiking with a bunch of people on and off now. Two of which I met on the day I started. If you read my earlier posts, Tim is still with me at this point, although he is now known as "King of the Hill". As for Andreas ("Sex Panther") he was with us for a couple of days before moving ahead again, he's quite a fast hiker. Other then that there is "Trooper" who is from Germany who I also met on the first day and "Hot wheels" from Chicago who I met on day 3. We are on the same pase right now so we have been sticking together pretty much every day for the last 4 weeks. But I see a lot of people on and off every day, sometimes I go a little bit faster and sometimes they do.

Miles done: 341.5 (550 km)
Miles to go: 1842.5

Ok here are some more random pictures for you all.

King of the Hill smiles as he is enjoying some trail magic

These nice people set up three days a year along the trail giving away drinks/food, we got lucky

What about second breakfast?

23 days on the trail and I find myself in Hot Springs North Carolina. Big things that have happened since the last time I updated my blog:
- I have now done more then 10% of the Appalachian Trail
- I have crossed the Smokey Mountains
- I am still having fun
- The dutch government cannot function without my presence.

About that last point, for you non dutch people, apparently this week the dutch government disbanded, because they couldn't agree on economic cut down rules, and obviously I was unreachable to help them out because I was in the middle of the Smokey Mountains with no cell service.

Ok back to the trail. The Smokey Mountains where hard but provided with some of the best views I've had so far. Beforehand someone told me the Smokey's where easy and it was all ridge walking. He/She couldn't have been more wrong. The first two days where only uphill and we had rain/thunder/hail and fog, lots of fog. Thankfully it cleared up after those days, right before we reached the highest point on the entire A.T. trail, Clingmans Dome (over 2000 meters). After that it got very hot and humid on the trail, but I prefer that over the rain. Besides that the wildlife in the Smokey's is supposed to be pretty amazing, and people rarely go through it without seeing at least one bear. Guess who was one of the few people who did not see a bear in the Smokey's......

Other then that wildlife that I have seen until now include:
- Turtle
- Lizards
- Snakes
- Deer
- Millipedes/ Centipedes
- Turkey's
- Squirrels

I found out that getting enough food every day is very important. When we left to start the Smokey's I had packed for 7 days of food, but I didn't bring quite enough for all of the 7 days so I had to ration it. Basically for the first 2 days I ate 2000 calories a day, which is good for normal life, not if you are hiking mountains 20 - 30 km a day (you need between 3000 - 5000). I noticed I moved a lot slower after the first day already, and things weren't looking very good. Then I got a lucky break, I found out there was a hostel with resupplying options only 4 days away, so I was able to double my rations and I immediately noticed the difference performance wise. You could say I found out the importance of a second breakfast!

I've seen more of my new trail friends quit the trail which is a shame, but I guess unavoidable since only 10 to 20 % are supposed to make it all the way to the end. I still feel good and If the weather is kind on me I think I will make it. The next goal on the list is Trail Days in Damascus, which is 200 miles away from here. Trail Days is a gathering of old and new hikers who are doing or have done the A.T. at some point. I hear up to 30,000 people show up. It starts on may 18th and lasts 2 days. I hope to be near Damascus when it starts so I can hitchhike in easily. I can't wait for it!

Hopefully I'll get to update the blog again in 5 days.

Miles done: 273.7 (441 km)
Miles to go: 1910.3

Shelter life after a big storm

A new hiker buddy

The view from top of Clingmans Dome

A long way to go!

Is this the end of the world?

Mountain snake!

Horses on the A.T.

An awesome view after a long hot day!