Tag: mountains

400 Miles On The AT

Jori

Two posts in one day?! Who am I?? I’m a person who has a lot of time to kill in this town, that’s who I am.

Okay! Let’s get right to it.

One of the other hikers I met around this time was named FiiSH, which stands for “Fuck it I’m staying here.” I didn’t know how old this note was when I came across it, but I stupidly waited 10 minutes for her to show up just in case it was recent. It wasn’t. But I did have her contact information and made her feel sufficiently bad about not removing the note before she left. She also did end up buying me drinks the next time I saw her. FiiSH is rad, be like FiiSH.

One of the culinary creations I’m most proud of out here on the trail is this beautiful burrito right here. Rice and beans are a backpacking staple, especially for vegans, so I decided to dress it up a bit to make it a little less boring. In this burrito there is: white minute rice, seasoned instant refried beans, TVP (textured vegetable protein), dehydrated vegetables, 1/2 a bouillon cube, taco seasoning, and fresh red onion. Oh. My. Goodness. It’s magical and amazing and I’ve eaten so many of them since.

I’ll do an all encompassing recipe post at some point I’m sure, where I’ll talk about everything I eat out here on the trail and the recipes I come up with to avoid paying for expensive pre-made freeze dried meals.

The next morning I remember quite well. The morning fog hadn’t lifted yet and I got an early enough start to see rays of sun peek through the trees and glisten in the fog. It was absolutely magical, and it felt like I was in a real life fairy tale.

I get an extra boost of motivation every time I pass a sign that has mileage listed for the end of the AT. There was one at Newfound Gap that I took a photo with that didn’t make it into the last blog post, and shortly after passed another that had the mileage for Baxter State Park, the home of Mount Katahdin and the finishing line for the Appalachian Trail.

Also along this stretch of 100 miles I came across a bald that rivals Max Patch, and actually another hiker and I had a conversation about how we thought it had better views. (Sorry Max Patch, thanks for the cowboy camping sunrise still, though.)

I’ve come across so many new and beautiful plants on this trip! I always like to document when I come across something I’ve never seen before, here are a few from this section.

Continuing to head North I came upon this view of the Nolichucky River descending into Erwin, TN.

I made my way to Uncle Johnny’s Hostel where I waited for a friend I was really anxious to meet.

I had befriended this beautiful human being named Annie on Instagram the year prior, and when I decided to do the AT she mentioned it goes right through the town she lives in. Having never met in person before, she offered to pick me up from the trail, chauffeur me around, house me, feed me, AND let me shower and do laundry. She’s amazing and I’m so so grateful for her generous hospitality.

Leaving Erwin I picked up a new pair of shoes, hoping these would be the pair that would FINALLY work with my feet and (assumed) collapsing arches. When I hiked the John Muir Trail I wore a pair of Salomon Ultra Primes, and loved them, and didn’t experience any foot problems at all. So I ordered another pair hoping they would work just as well out here on the AT. I’m happy to announce that they got me all the way Blackburn Trail Center, just before Harpers Ferry. They would’ve gotten me all the way here but I found the exact same type of shoe in a hiker box and decided to snag them since they’re a 1/2 size bigger and my feet were feeling cramped in the other ones.

More trail magic! I had matched with someone on Tinder (Yes I have a Tinder out here, what of it?) who offered to bring me vegan trail magic, to which I said, “YES PLEASE.” He ended up following through with his offer and brought some amazingly delicious plant foods to the trail.

Next up I got to walk though more fog, which I actually don’t mind at all because out in Utah we don’t get a lot of it. It made me feel like I was in Scotland or something!

I still also appreciate the bright, sunny views as well.

I unfortunately was still having problems with my feet because I was trying to figure out the perfect shoe/insole combo. I ended up getting some Superfeet insoles back at the NOC that I was trying for the 983745489th time, and (I think) they ended up giving me quad problems. I don’t know what else could have possibly caused me to have issues with my quad muscle in my left leg, so I’m assuming it was the insoles because I haven’t used them since and I haven’t had any more issues. On this particular day though, I was really worried because I could barely walk on it. I couldn’t engage it and walked the trail stiff-legged like a pirate with a peg leg. I was hiking at a speed of 1 mph, which is agonizingly slow, but did end up making it to my destination.

Reaching the 400 mile mark wasn’t the happiest of milestones for me. I was worried about my feet, worried about my quad, worried that either or both would force me to quit the trail. It must have been apparent that my mood was in the dumps because the hiker behind me asked if I was alright and then offered to give me some time alone at the 400 mile mark.

I’m happy to report the next ~600 miles were much more enjoyable, and that not every post from now on will be a sob story. (Although stay tuned for my current woes that’ll get written about once my blog reaches my 1000 mile post.)

Again, thanks to everyone for following along and supporting me! Hopefully I’ll get the next post written sooner rather than later!

200 Miles On The AT

Jori

Y’all (I say y’all now, btw) I am t e r r i b l e at updating this. I. Am. So. Sorry. My Instagram stays current, but for some reason it’s been difficult to sit down and donate a chunk of time to updating my actual blog. I’m going to do my best to keep it updated from now on, but we’ll see.

So! Here’s what happened between mile 100 and 200. *BRB while I endlessly scroll back to the beginning of my photos..*

Franklin, NC! Mile 110, NOBO. We stopped at a restaurant in town and the only thing I could eat was two forms of fried potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some potatoes (boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew) but options would be nice.

We also stopped by Outdoor 76, I talked to Rob the foot expert, and we all got a drink from the bar in the back of the store. Queue a, “5 thru-hikers walk into a bar..” joke.

I elected to get a 6.9% hard cherry cider, which was so good I had to get another after finishing the first. It only took two before I was feeling pretty tipsy..

I stopped by the free pancake breakfast that the local church runs, but they didn’t have anything I could eat. I thought ahead and brought my own almond milk so at least I could have some coffee. They have a tradition of taking instant photos of every hiker and offering to send it wherever you’d like. Here’s mine:

Back on the trail! At this point my arches were really hurting, and heeding Rob’s advice, I decided to lower my daily miles. This also meant saying goodbye to my original tramily, which wasn’t easy. (Confession: I may or may not have cried.. more than once..)

During my time hiking solo, I accidentally crashed a wedding.

I was forced to zero at a shelter due to weather.

I got to see a rainbow!

And I got to walk through a magical frozen wonderland even though it meant surviving a freezing cold night the evening prior.

Coming down into the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) I FINALLY got to see some green, instead of the sea of brown I had been walking through the entire way so far. It was so nice it gave me reason to pull out my GoPro and use it for the first time since I started. I also passed by some cool plant life as well.

I ended up staying in Bryson City, a town about 15 minutes from the NOC. I didn’t realize when I booked my hostel stay that it wasn’t right on trail, so it forced me to hitch into town. I had never hitched before, especially solo. While I do admit I was slightly nervous, everything turned out just fine. It took me about 20 minutes to get a hitch, but once I did, the nice gentleman who picked me up drove me right to my hostel with no problems.

If you’re looking to stay at a hostel in or around Bryson City, I’d definitely recommend Smoky Mountain Hostel. The bed sheets were fresh and the washing machine actually cleaned my clothes, and neither cost extra. They had a “hiker box” of leftover food, and I ended up making this curry and vegetable quinoa dish which tasted pretty dang good considering what I had to work with. One of the things I’m finding I really like about being on the trail is getting to be creative with limited ingredients.

Next up was Fontana, which was bittersweet for me. I was dealing with some foot problems and decided to play it safe by taking a few zeros (days in which zero miles are hiked) at the Fontana Hilton. Do not be fooled, this is no hotel, but by AT shelter standards it may as well be. Bathrooms with plumbing, toilet paper (not always included in restrooms out here), AND showers were walking distance from the shelter. The shelter was large with room for about 2 dozen hikers, and was a great place to hang out and meet lots of new people.

After a few days rest I finally got back on trail and set out into the Smokies. I was fortunate enough to have impeccable weather, even though a few days earlier my friends had to deal with a snow storm. I was luckier.

Mile 200 lands at Clingman’s Dome, the highest point on the AT.

There wasn’t a resident “mile 200” landmark there, so I quickly gathered some rocks and made one myself. We all put a foot in and BAM, instant mile marker photo.

Every time I complete another 100 miles on the AT, my excitement grows. I’m sitting at mile 863.7 as I write this, about to enter Shenandoah National Park, eager to continue North and see what else the trail will bring.