Another 57 Miles

It was a nice break in Hiawassee, followed by three straight days on the trail. I hiked from mile 52 to mile 109 (March 22 through March 24th). It was challenging terrain and it rained on the last day (and most of the night).

Milestones are critical to motivation, and this stretch saw me leave Georgia and enter North Carolina. It also saw me complete 5% of the trail when I got a ride into Franklin, NC this morning, after a brief two mile hike to a road junction. Franklin is about 10 miles from the trail, but I read in my guide book that the Macon County Government (Franklin is the county seat) subsidizes bus service for seniors, AT (AppTrail) hikers, etc.

The guidebook said the bus would be at the junction at 9:30, and it was right on time. The cost was only three dollars, and my guide book indicated that exact change was required. The smallest bill I had was a five, but the driver said he always carried plenty of $1 bills just for people like me, so he made change. Southern hospitality. We had a good chat on the way into town, since I was the only rider. He is retired from Hanes Mills and had a hand in weaving the cotton fabric of my favorite Hanes T-shirts over the decades. He pointed out some stunning flowering pear trees that flower only one week a year. I saw them in Georgia too and they are quite beautiful. I took a picture of a stand of them once I settled in town.

The three days on the trail were somewhat rigorous. I met more interesting people, including a Mexican guy, a group of recent college grads from Jersey, an older guy with a wonderfully dispositioned German Shepard, and an Australian woman who looked like she was ready to give up. That was late yesterday, when I came upon the last shelter that I would hit that day. It was 3.6 miles from the main US Highway junction where I eventually caught a bus into Franklin. When I arrived at the shelter I was dismayed to find that all of the usable overflow tent sites (the shelter spots start filling up in the early afternoon - so the late arrivals have to tent) were taken. The Australian woman took the last one. A couple of guys were helping her set up her tent when I arrived and they told me that she had spent the last 45 minutes trying to hitchhike into Franklin with no success. Several cars/trucks passed her right by in the rain. She looked ready to quit when I arrived at the shelter. Hopefully she had a better day today.

I kept going because darkness was only an hour away and found a flat spot on a ridge. The wind and rain were raging all night, but my tent did fairly well. I was at about mile 107, having hit mile 100 after a brutally steep and rocky climb up to Albert Peak. I actually had go put away the trekking poles and climb hand over hand for a little while. Another milestone. I ran into a couple of guys on top of Albert Peak who looked like they were in their late 20's. They asked me when I started the trail and I told them (March 17th). They told me they started on the 13th. As I left them I heard one mutter to the other "We won't see him again."

There is an often used phrase on the trail: "hike your own hike." What that means is that everyone approaches the trail differently, so don't judge the way someone chooses to hike, or try to compare yourself to others. It's you and the trail. I'm beginning to find out what "my hike" is. It starts early, about an hour after sunrise, and ends late, about an hour before sunset, sometimes later. I walk at a moderate pace, but I walk for several more hours each day than a typical hiker. I'm not going to change that; I just like to walk.

My right knee still acts up. It's not getting better but it's not getting worse. Sometimes it's very painful (steep climbs and descents) and sometimes it's fine. I remember reading about a wounded vet or two who completed the trail with a prosthetic leg though and that puts my occasional pain in perspective.

Several people have told me that 25% of the prospective thru hikers (Georgia to Maine) quit within the first 100 miles. No quit here, so maybe my odds just went up a little.