Tag: nature

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!

300 Miles On The AT

Jori

I’m in Harper’s Ferry right now, after just having hitched to their public library with the intent of catching up on a blog post or two. So here we go.

After Clingman’s Dome we wanted to go into Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was the only morning of bad weather we had throughout the entire Smokies. It was cold, rainy, windy, and we couldn’t for the life of us get a hitch into town.

Finally we found out a church group does regular shuttles into town and all we had to do was wait for the next one. Well, with the weather being so terrible, I opted to wait in the bathroom (which was heated and actually quite nice).

We finally made it to Gatlinburg, and it was different than any trail town I had been in thus far. It’s a tourist town, so there were flashy attractions, gimmicky souvenir shops, and families on vacation filling the streets. While the flood of “city folk” were a bit annoying, I was grateful for the vast array of restaurant choices. I had (almost) a whole bag of cajun fries from Five Guys, a dairy-free milkshake from Ben and Jerry’s, and a vegan pizza from Mellow Mushroom. Definitely the best food I had eaten since the start.

While ordering at Five Guys, this conversation ensued:

Me: “One large cajun fry, please.”
Employee: “You know a large fry feeds four adults, right?”
Me: “Or one thru-hiker..”

I would like to say I ate the entire bag (it was sure close, though) but unfortunately my overfull stomach won over my need to prove him wrong. Instead I walked away with a stomach ache and had to immediately go back to the hotel and lay down, a mistake I’ve made only once.

At the hotel, once I was feeling better, I did some bathtub laundry, which is pretty much just soaking your dirty hiker clothes in hot water in the bathtub when you’re too cheap to pay for laundry services.

The next day we got back on trail and proceeded to enjoy the Smokies with impeccable weather.

I also found a tree stump the looks like an avocado!

I did, however, get to see the Smoky Mountains finally live up to their namesake.

After the Smokies I made my way to Standing Bear Farm where I was lucky enough to enjoy some tasty vegan food,

and then made my way to Max Patch! Max Patch was a pretty amazing sight.

We stayed until sunset, and sat there on the grass watching the sun descend behind the mountains.

That night we decided to cowboy camp, which is camping without a shelter – you just set your sleeping pad up right on the ground. I had never cowboy camped before, but this seemed like a pretty great place for my first time. I was sure glad I did because waking up to the sunrise the next morning was absolutely incredible.

Later that day I ran into some trail magic! Trail magic is when people bring hikers food and supplies out of the goodness of their hearts. I didn’t eat the burgers but I did make myself a nice veggie sandwich and partook in the other treats as well.

My mom also likes to send me “trail magic” in the form of tiny bottles of wine, which I am very thankful for.

The trail keeps on providing beautiful sights and I get to keep on appreciating them.

And there it is! 300 MILES! I look awkward in this photo because sometimes I don’t know how to stand but here it is nonetheless.

Thanks so much to everyone following along with me on my journey! I’ll apologize again for behind so behind on my posts but know that I’m working to get caught up as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience and keep an eye out for the 400 miles post coming up next!