May 10th- Quite the view this morning.  Hiked 19 miles last night, trying to catch up to a girl I spent a couple days with in Fontana.  Lesson learned, hike your own hike.

May 11th- Made it to the 210 mile mark.

May 12th- Tonight should be my last in the Smokies. Stopping at Standing Bear Hostel tomorrow if they have room.

 

 

One problem I seem to have with zero days is insomnia.  I was up till 3am on the last one.  Currently, I am camped out at the only public computer in this hotel, on my third cup of hot tea (self-serve mind you) but it’s bugging the hell out of the lady at the front desk.  I’ve yielded my spot to anyone who needs the machine, but it’s safe to say I’m the only hiker still up in this place.

Internet access is beautiful!  Just being able to purchase EXACTLY what I need, and having it shipped ahead, versus being at the mercy of local shops is huge.  I missed a mail drop at the NOC, because for some reason I thought I sent it farther north.  That’s okay.  I’m going to try to get in touch with them tomorrow and have it bounced to Standing Bear Farm.

Fontana Village is a strange and beautiful place, consisting of the lodge, a couple of restaurants, and a general store with a laundromat.  I had to resupply out of the general store, and while I’m glad I can get what I need here, the prices were so high I feel a complimentary bottle of lube would best complete that shopping experience…

My diet for the next seven days will consist of Snickers, Payday bars, Fig Newtons, Nutter Butters, Knorr Sides, a couple of freeze-dried backpacking meals, and danishes with a whopping 450 calories each.  Sour cream and onion chips, pretzels, and oatmeal packets round out my extremely healthy, and balanced meal plan.

I’m mailing a bunch of stuff home tomorrow.  In hiker boxes (a place to leave items you don’t want that other people might be able to use) I’ve ditched a few things.  The case for my glasses was the first thing to go.  At nearly six ounces it had to go.  I only wear contacts in town, when my hands are clean, so they are on my face all the time anyway.  At night, they go into a pocket in my tent.  I also ditched my Inova flashlight, and a small pair of nail trimmers (my Leatherman Squirt does the job fine).

Tomorrow I’m mailing home the 10oz Nikon camera I’ve used twice, which cannot sync with my phone anyway.  Uploading pictures off of it is too much of a chore.  In addition I’m sending home my compass (GASP!) because it’s the AT.  You can go one of two directions, and you figure out pretty quickly which one is North(ish).  I’m ditching my mirror, my Sawyer filter (the bags suck, Aquamira all the way man!) and the back flush syringe for it.  I picked up a nice Sea to Summit cup ditched on the trail, so I’m sending that home too.  One pair of liner socks, my StickPic, and an emergency fire kit are going as well.  Total weight, somewhere around one to one and a half pounds.  That’s an extra day’s worth of food.  I can’t eat my camera.

I’ve purchased some things as well.  I bought a micro flashlight that weighs less than an ounce to replace the heavy Inova.  I bought a 1-liter Platypus bottle, Aquamira drops, and a Sea to Summit 20 liter daypack for town stops/hauling water to camp.  That day pack is a total luxury item, but at 2.4oz it folds down to a third the size of my fist.  It’s a winner.  I also caved and bought a pack cover…  Yeah.

I’m toying with the idea of having a bokken shipped to me so I can practice Eishin Ryu on the trail.  Spending time with my teacher after Maine is on my mind a lot.  I’d really love to have access to my Iaito, but it’s really not practical and would probably freak people out anyway.  Bokken are light and easy to carry.  I compare it to the many musical instruments people take on the trail.

I met a guy named Greg (Flannel Heart) who teaches Kung Fu.  He does his drills religiously before bed every night.  I’d really like to do some suburi every morning, just to start the day a little more focused.

You meet really cool people out here.  Some hike faster, some hike slower.  You have to enjoy your time with them while you have it, because we’re all going our own pace.  Going your own pace, and being okay with it is a huge challenge out here.  We’re two weeks in and already people are obsessing over trying 20’s.  Many have done multiple twenty-mile days, but really, to what end?  It’s so difficult to leave the rat-race mindset and ego behind.  Neither seem to have any place out here.

That’s it for this ramble.  Maybe one more cup of tea before bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey guys.  This is the first time I’ve had sufficient internet access to enter something on the site myself.  I came into Fontana Village around 3pm yesterday, and took a zero today.  Flo, Pretzel, and Hatchet have hiked on.  They pulled a 19 mile haul from Sassafras Gap Shelter to Fontana.  I had to split that journy into two days, due to what I now know is IT Band stress in my left knee.

Downhills are pretty much hell right now, and the earliest I can get a brace is after the Smokies, when I hit Standing Bear Hostel.

I’ve been bunked with Flannel Heart, his girlfriend Amy, and a girl named Caroline I met on Friday.  With the lodge costs split, we’re staying at a really nice hotel for $20 a night.  Much better and cheaper than Gooder Grove, let me tell you.

Thursday was really tough.  Pretzel and I opted for food and coffee over rafting (50 degree air temps).  On the way up to Sassafras Gap shelter, several SOBO section hikers told me it was snowing at the top.  I hit a difficult rocky section, and the sleet caught me, dropping thousands of frozen BB’s on me out of no where.  It was like having a cold shower turned on your back, at the worst possible time.  Then the rain hit, then the wind, and temps dropped below 45 degrees incredibly fast.

I realized that I needed to find shelter or pitch in a half hour.  I was already starting to loose a little bit of manual dexterity.  I got into the shelter on time though.  Pretzel told me it was his favorite day of hiking, and the sick/crazy/thru-hiker in me had to agree.

I split with my buddies the following morning and walked down nine miles to the next shelter.  It was 10-12 miles to Fontana Dam yesterday.  Several hikers, including Caroline, are having exactly the same knee pain.  Taking a zero seemed prudent, and gave us time to resupply, order knee braces, do laundry, etc.

“They will have to pull me off these mountains legs broken and crawling!”  –Caroline’s sentiment when I asked about her knee.

Some locals stopped by to chat and offered beer, which makes that my second Busch Light before 10am in two weeks.  One of them had found a phone in a Gossamer Gear pouch, which I recognized to by my buddy Blue Man’s.  I hit up some other hikers about his speed via text, and will carry it into the Smokies till I find him.

AT&T sucks here, and I will likely be completely off the radar for 1-2 weeks.  Many companies no longer slack pack food into the Smokies, so I am hauling seven days worth of food in, mainly to give myself a buffer on the chance I have to hobble out.

Spent an awesome day with a really awesome girl.  Fontana lodge is a great place to get away, and I might be back after the trail.  Time to get hiking again though!

Sending a lot of things home tomorrow, more after the Smokies I’m sure.  Will check in when able.  Thank you so much for your patience.  Keeping this updated has been much more of a challenge than anticipated.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 4, 2016

(Ryan hit the trail early this morning while everyone sleeping to experience some solitude. Got these shots around Wayah Bald.

Everyone caught up around noon. Tonight he is in Bryson City, NC. He is going white water rafting tomorrow! ~Kelly)

(Hi all! If you look on the map you will see Franklin, NC on the top in the center. That is where Ryan is as he writes everything below. I am pretty impressed with my little brother! Over 100 miles walked in a week 🙂 ~Kelly)

Day 8- May 1, 2016

Flo and I were closing in on the end of a 13 mile day with roughly three more miles to go. We stopped into a shelter near the Winding Staircase. The shelter was tiny and neither of us are fans of them anyway. We scoped out the limited tent space and decided we would pitch right next to each other making the most of the only pad with decent drainage.

Weather was rolling in fast and we were at the base of an enormous hill. A car zoomed past less than a quarter mile away and that sealed the idea to me that this was a really bad place to spend the night. We called Gooder Grove Hostel and they agreed to pick us up at the road below.

Sleeping close to roads is a fantastic way to add needless, drunken, redneck drama to any outdoor adventure. It’s just not worth it.

“Blueman”, a 57 year old retired hiker who had been leapfrogging us the past few days, joined us. Collin, aka “Zen”, picked us up despite the downpour and we piled into his small Kia. Blue, Flo and I in the back and Zen and “Glen” in the front.

Behind the head rest of the seat in front of me sat some kind of wasp desperately drying himself from the rain.

“Yeah man, I get it.” I thought to myself.

When we came to a red light, I had to scoot him out the window. I felt a little bad. The poor guy had just gotten dry. Alas, a Kia is no place for a wasp.

The first night at Gooder was rough. A full house. Zen is a really nice guy but too kind for business and too much of a space cadet to run it effectively anyway.

Flo and Blueman are northerners and unaccustomed to places like Franklin, NC which completely shutdown on Sundays. We all wanted beer and burgers but they were not to be had. We ordered pizza instead.

Zen runs the hostel out of his home with a few rooms converted into bunk spaces. He watched Kung Fu movies till 12:00am with the surround sound blasting. At this point on the trail we’re already on “hiker time”. Midnight is 8pm or so for us now. Zen never did a thru hike and that is as much as I’m going to say about that.

Shortly before bed I met back up with Pretzel and Hatchet, two hikers I’ve not seen since my second night out.

Day 9-May 2,2016

Flo and I were very intent on taking a “zero day” in town. Blueman shuttled out in the early AM. I woke up feeling guilty for taking a day off so soon and started to get a little stir crazy.

Pretzel, Hatchet, Flo and I headed out to the Kountry Kitchen for breakfast. The coffee was decent, the food was great and the roof construction going on overhead had a surprising similarity to the ill-timed movie viewing the night before. For a quiet town, no one has any problem at all with making a lot of noise.

I stopped into Outdoor 76 for provisions when I spotted Canadian walking by despite the fact that we calculated he should be about 50 miles ahead of us. Joe’s a big dude, (Built, not fat) with a broad smile and a magnetic kindness. We shared a handshake and a most burly man hug before going back to our supply procurement.

Pack covers seemed to be the item of the day. (At this point in my hiking experience, I know how utterly futile they are.) I blew both of my 64oz. Sawyer bags in a week and the nicer, folding water bags (Platypus) do not thread with the new Sawyer filters. I went with the Aquamira drops instead. We’ll see how that goes.

Over breakfast we found out that Hatchet is an extremely successful, young chef. We stopped at a farmer’s market and loaded up on items for dinner. I also got 3 avocados which I’ve been craving for days!

I did a fast resupply at Ingles and joined everyone for drinks at Outdoor 76. You read that correctly. The outfitter has a full bar in the back with seven beers on tap!

Interestingly enough, being on the trail has turned us all into light weights. Two IPA’s and we were buzzing quite well.

It started to rain again and the next thing I know, Flo’s got her long pants off and Pretzel and Hatchet are shirtless. They dart out the door for a mid-afternoon sprint. I manned my pint and continued the conversation on personal growth with a nearby couple. I still don’t know their names but we’re the only thirty year olds on the trail as far as I can tell.

Our wet companions returned to join us for darts. I decided that I am too old to go bar hopping so I walked home. Black Sheep met me on the porch. His back issue the other day was minor.

“The Canadians”–two girls from Toronto who are doing a 300 mile section, were there, too. Great girls with a great sense of humor to boot. I’ve yet to meet a girl on this trip who is actually single, but that’s a story for another time.

Hatchet and the others rolled in and he proceeded to cook the best burger I’ve had in my life! Grilled, garlic green beans and grilled zucchini with a mustard seed topping completed the menu.

Hatchet cooked dinner for at least a dozen. We ate like kings!

Another full night at Gooder. Only this time everyone’s in bed with food comas. Young and old, thru hiker, section hiker and a retired couple from Florida on vacation. It was quite the party. Today was a great day!

What scared me most about the AT before I started was resupply and the logistics therein. What scares me now is being alone on the trail. I know I need some solitude though and I need to get past this fear.

It’s only the first hundred miles and already I’ve had emotion come out of nowhere and slap me upside the head. Walking from sunup to sundown with limited distraction means you have to actually sort through those things in the back of your mind. Honestly, that is the main reason I am out here.

In coming out of a nearly nine year relationship, I’ve largely forgotten how to enjoy my own company. There are a myriad of things I need to address within myself before I can go down that path again. It’s not a bad thing or a sad thing. It is an exactly, natural thing. I’m just happy to be aware of at least a portion of the things I need to work on.

I had some truly excellent conversations today. The kind of interactions that really are the essence of what I want out of this adventure. Being a thru hiker is like being a part of a secret club. A club where people are a lot more open and a lot more honest because on some level, we all get each other.

“I’m kind of a weird guy.” I told Flo when I met her.

“We’re walking to Maine, Dirty Girl. We’re all pretty, fucking weird out here.”

Maybe that’s why friendships happen so fast out here.

Flo will be off the trail next weekend with her boyfriend, and honestly, I need to start hiking on my own hike again. A big part of that needs to be running solo for a while. If I keep staying in town like this, I’ll be too broke and too slow to make it to Maine.

The first rainstorm in a new tent, the first hitch-hike, hiking solo; these are all the same challenges. These are all baby steps outside of the comfort zone, which must be taken to achieve growth.

That’s it for this late night musing. Nearly 3am and Zero 7 is finally lulling me to sleep.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday-April 30th, 2016

Pictures from “RAIN”

(The Stream where Ryan and Flo relaxed and soaked their feet)

(The Georgia/North Carolina Line! There is the pipe that the tree grew around)

(RAIN!)

Sunday, May 1st 2016

(Ryan is staying at a hostel this evening. He is in Franklin, NC)

Cheers!

April 30, 6:51pm

Today marks 1 week on the trail. I think I had jumped ahead a day in my mind.

Yesterday, Flo-Mo and I crossed the GA/NC line and put our trail names in the small registry there. There is a small sign and the tree has a 1.5″ threaded pipe in the side. The tree has grown around the pipe. I got a picture with my Nikon, but will have to upload it when I get to town.

Yesterday was a pretty tough 16 miler, with one hell of hill at the end. We took a nice, long lunch at a stream though. Boots off, feet soaking. Between that and our breakfast pizza, it was an awesome day.

Today we pulled 13 miles over relatively easy terrain. We crossed over Standing Indian and had a cup of coffee up there. That was probably the highlight of my day. We’re trying to integrate something like that each day.

We’re camped next to Carter Gap Shelter for the night, with rain rolling in. The plan is another 13 miles tomorrow and then a shuttle into Franklin the following morning. I saw something about an espresso bar with WiFi there. Hopefully I can get some things figured out and improve my ability to update this site.

I’m running low on battery with limited connection, but I should have some content posted in a couple of days.

Also, cold mid-day oatmeal has become a favorite lunch item. I’m just too lazy to make it on the morning.

Take care and stay tuned!

Cheers!