The AT is often talked about as being an intense roller coaster of many ups and downs. In general, the ups become more frequent and are the things you remember, while the downs become drowned out.
So far, my time on the trail has been at a constant high. Everything is new and fresh, and the minor imperfections don’t seem to matter. It’s much like the honey moon phase of any relationship. However, for some people disaster can strike early.
Last night a college girl on spring break was boiling some water to put in a Nalgene bottle to keep warm. If you don’t want to hear about burns, then skip to the next paragraph. She was sitting at the picnic bench next to the shelter and made a hand motion that knocked her pot of boiling water off her stove. The water poured on her lap, and her thighs were instantly covered in the worst burns I’ve ever seen. It was really, really bad. Like melt the skin off bad.
Thankfully, the shelter was close to Hightower gap which has a dirt road going through. Someone went with cell service and called for help. About 4 hours later a group of six volunteer firefighters I believe arrived with a gurney and some medical supplies. It was actually quite reassuring seeing how accessible the area is. Definitely not like the sierras.
All in all it was a really shitty experience that still makes me cringe. Tonight, I think everyone cooked on the ground…
Except me. I didn’t even cook. After I had lunch at the shelter, a trail Angel showed up letting us all know about some trail magic that was happening at the next gap. Beer and hot dogs, 1.5 miles down the trail. Having already set up camp, I didn’t want to pack up, but I decide a round trip of 3 miles was worth it. And it was. A big thanks to them, I wish I wrote down their names.
Tomorrow I’ll either be camping at lance creek or just go all the way to Neel Gap, my first resupply. It all depends on how I feel then.
-Orion
You should post your elapsed mileage in your entries when you think about it. (You could even total up your extra miles, like your extra 3 miles, and the hike up to the Trail head.) It might help your sense of progress.
We are going to set up a way for him to send his photos back for archiving. I will extract the GPS info from the photos and make a map which shows his progress.
That’s really too bad for the girl. She must be really disappointed to have that happen on the first few days. Stay safe.
Hi – Just want to point out that your shoe laces match my bike. I am glad that you are writing this blog so I can follow your adventures. I never knew that you were such a fan of hot dogs. Have fun (and stay safe).
Thank you for the updates, it is much fun to hear about your adventure. I don’t know if you read the comments but in Coho we’re getting ready for May Day – big ordeal. Did you see the new lawn before you left? it’s very healthy but strangely enough the weeds in the border grow about 6 times as fast as the ground cover that was put in so this week-end at the work party we have a lot of weeding to do.