Brewblazing

Sorry for the long delay in posting, but computers have been hard to find on the trail. Anyway I am in Waynesboro, Virginia which is 850 miles along the trail. This means I am nearly at the halfway point of my adventure now.

I am still sticking with some of the guys I met during the first days of hiking. The main four being 'King of the Hill' from Kansas, 'Hotwheels' from Chigaco and 'Trooper' from Germany. Since the last time I posted we have really been picking up the pace, going atleast a 100 miles every week which means a lot of the people we hiked with are now behind us but we also caught up to a bunch of people that we hiked with in the smokey mountains which was a pleasant surprise.

Hiking has been a lot of fun in Virginia. The scenery is very beautifull and the terrain is very easy compared to earlier states. The only annoyance now are the bugs which have been biting me like crazy.

As a change of pace we decided to go off the trail a couple of days ago to find a beer brewery. The owner of the brewery let us stay in one of the buildings on his property. We had a lot of fun there, and the next day we found out there was a vineyard close by so we went there and got a free wine tasting. Needless to say it was a lot of fun. The title of this blog is brewblazing and I will explain that now for all non hikers following this blog. On the A.T. There are white blazes on the trees as markers to indicate you are on the A.T. Now there are also blue blazes which are side trails that lead away from the A.T. or sometimes take you to a shortcut. When you are walking on those you are 'blueblazing'. Out of this came a whole range of types of blazing. For instance there is yellowblazing which you do if you go part of the trail by car. So we thought of our own for the brewery, 'brewblazing'.

For the next 50 miles we will be canoeing ('aquablazing') up the Shenandoah river. This will take 3 days, afterwards we will hitchhike back to Waynesboro and hike back on the A.T. And when I get to the halfway point (which is in about 2 weeks) I plan to take a few days off in Washington D.C. which I am looking forward to.

ALSO I SAW MY FIRST BEAR 4 DAYS AGO. BOOYAH!

A man let us sleep in his Dojo. It was awesome.

Wine tasting

More wine tasting/drinking

Ok, bye bye then.

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!

Trail legends

So I am 10 days into my adventure, and I'm currently taking my first zero (rest day) in Franklin, North Carolina.

I passed two milestones in the last few days. First I've passed my first state, Georgia which was a total of 80 miles. They say that 30% of the people who start the A.T. quit before making it out of Georgia. Georgia was a tough start but the views where spectacular.
The second one is passing the first 100 mile mark, which I did yesterday. I didn't really care about that one since it rained pretty hard that day. This is the reason I am taking a rest day in Franklin. I want to dry all my gear, and I also have to buy a new food bag because a mouse got through the current one last night (he was after my peanuts!). They say the rain gets pretty heavy around here and they weren't kidding, I haven't seen rain and thunder that bad for a long time. I was glad I stayed in a shelter and I didn't have to camp in my tent.

I hear a lot of stories about "trail legends", people who've made their name on the A.T. in someway or another. For instance there is a story about the "barefoot sisters" who did the whole A.T. from south to north and back again(!) on barefoot. And apparently a blind man completed the A.T. as well. They told me he trained his dog to detect white blazes (white patches on trees that indicate you are on the A.T. they are found every mile or so throughout the entire 2200 miles), and he always camped with his tent pointing north so he wouldn't get lost.
I've met a trail legend on the trail this year as well. His trail name is Gollum, and he is amazing. He is 76 years old and has done the A.T. multiple times. Other then that he has kayaked the Mississippi and the Missouri, gone to the Antarctic and after he finishes hiking this year he is going to go on a bicycle across Canada.
I keep meeting people who are hiking well into their 70's, it's amazing. Apparently the oldest person who started this year is 89 years old. As far as I know I'm still the only Dutch person this year.

America weirdness of the week: Drive through ATM's (cash points).

I've added some more pictures, they aren't that good because I've half broken my camera (I can take pictures i just can't see the pictures I take).

Miles done: 106.7 (171 km)
Miles to go: 2077.3

Mountain lizard!

Trail names from left to right: That Guy, Hotwheels, Jiffy Pop, Sex Panther, Sassafras, Aquaman, Tricks and Snackasaurus rex.

Foggy day

Looking down

Morning at one of the many shelters

Southern Hospitality

So I'm at day 7 now and everything is still going really well. I've met a lot of awesome people and the scenery has been amazing.

One thing you might not know about the A.T. is that everyone is given a trail name while they hike it. On day two I was given the name "Jiffy Pop" (american popcorn brand) because my sleeping matress made a lot of noise and gave someone dreams about popcorn. I liked it and I'm sticking with it. Andreas got "Sex panther"...don't ask.

The biggest thing that struck me was the hospitality I've been receiving from the local people here in Georgia. For instance when we reached the road that leads into Haiwassee we didn't have to wait longer then 15 minutes to get a ride from a very nice name named "Tater". After we arrived in town and pigged out at the all you can eat stake house we where offered a ride by another man to the nearest wallmart, which was 15 miles away! There are a lot of people here that give food to the hikers because they have either hiked the A.T. or done sections of it. We call it trail magic.

A funny "american" thing happened on day 5. We just got of some random mountain down to a valley with a dirt road in it. When we got to the dirt road a man in the biggest car pulled up and asked us where the nearest Mc Donalds is. We thought he was joking seeing as we are in the middle of nowhere and we all looked very hungry...he wasn't joking.

The next town stop will probably be in 5 or 6 days. And I will be leaving Georgia today, which took the first 79 Miles of the A.T. 71 Miles Done only 2113 to go!

Walking is hard work!

It's been 4 days since the start of my A.T. journey and I'm still alive! Although the last four days have been some of the physically most demanding of my life I think I am adjusting well to this sudden shock of living healthy.

The first day was the toughest no doubt about it. There where two options for the start of the A.T. You could either do it from a

parking lot 1 mile away from the actual start of the trail or you could do what is called the approach trail. Which is an extra 8.8 miles and includes 600 steps at the beginning. Stupidly I agreed with Andreas (the guy from denmark, read last blog) to do the approach trail. Two other people from the hostel we stayed at where also idiotic uh I mean brave enough to endure the extra milage. So the four of us began our A.T. There was Tim, an older guy about 40 from Kansas, Basil, 23 years old from New Hampshire and me and andreas. It was pretty clear Andreas had the best legs of all of us but I felt I kept up pretty good. Basil had a hard time because he had a 45 lbs (20 kg) backpack which is quite a lot. Tim and I had a good 35 lbs (15 kg) to carry and Andreas had the lightest gear with 28 lbs (12 kg). By the end of the day we had covered 12 miles in 6 hours and stayed at a nice wooden shelter (most shelters are like wooden cabins with one side gone).

I found out training at home was more then useless since at home everything is flat and here you are constantly climbing or descending.

The other days where less hard because we decided to take it a bit more easy because we had four days of food anyways and the next food stop (were I am now) wasn't that far away. I've learned a lot from other hikers about long term hiking, camping and looking out for bears (haven't seen any yet!) and I hear a lot of good stories as well. On day four we had to climb Blood Mountain (actual name) and on the way up we met a 76 year old lady doing the same! How amazing is that, doing stuff like that at that age.

Anyway I couldn't upload pics from my camera so I only have one I took with my phone on top of Blood Mountain.