October 11, 2008
That’s right…THIS is the final post in my write-up/reflections on my 1993 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, which culminated on October 10, 1993.
I figured I should probably reflect a little bit, so I’ll do that in bulleted form:
- Towards the end of the hike, a common shelter conversation was, “Would you want to do the A.T. again?” I fell in the resounding, “Not really” camp. Fifteen years later? Yeah, I would like to do it again. But slower this time. I’d want to do it as a single-season thru-hike, though, which means it won’t be practical for the foreseeable future.
- If I did hike again, there would be three major technology changes that I would have mixed feelings about:
- Ultra compact digital cameras — I do wish I had more of a photographic record of the experience, and a digital camera would make that a lot easier
- Alcohol-powered stoves — this would just be a different fuel source, but akin to how the white gas fueled MSR Whisperlite was the “latest” stove technology when I hiked
- Cell phones — as a safety mechanism, turned off and stowed in the pack only for use in a dire situation would be okay; my fear, though, is that I (and others) would be drawn to using them regularly, which would be a shame
- I’d forgotten how much I wrote about Julie in the journal. But, it’s kinda’ neat to look back now and know that they weren’t just hormone-driven longings! Fifteen years later, there’s a high level of suckiness when it comes to being on the road and away from her for a week.
- Buck really was a neat person, and shame on me for letting us lose touch. She’s been married and living an hour outside of Raleigh for years, but I didn’t have her address or her e-mail address. I don’t really like talking on the phone, but that’s still just silly to not have given her a call. I finally did pick up the phone a few weeks ago and, after a short round of phone tag, we did manage to connect one night and had a really nice chat. And, we agreed that we’d do a better job of staying in touch
These days, five months goes by in the blink of an eye. The time I spent on the trail, however, remains a firmly implanted and rich set of experiences in my memory. I was fortunate not only to have had the opportunity to hike the trail, but the hubris to believe that I could pull it off.
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 
1 Comment »
October 10, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
This is my third and final “recollection” journal entry, as the journal itself stopped on October 7th. Thsi entry contains the story that I’ve probably retold more than any other story about my experience on the trail.
Sunday, October 10th was cold and misty. But, Mt. Katahdin was open, and we decided to head for the summit. It’s a ~10-mile hike, of which the second half (give or take) is above treeline. I was carrying my pack, but it was virtually empty. My plan was to propose to Julie at the summit.
The best laid plans…
We got above treeline, and it was cold. And wet. And windy. With limited visibility, so no particularly scenic views. And, there were places along the trail where rebar had been driven into the rock to give hand/footholds for the climb. Now, I already knew — and knew quite well — that Julie didn’t like being cold. I also knew she wasn’t a huge fan of heights…but didn’t realize exactly how much she wasn’t a fan of heights. As we were facing yet another scramble up a rebar-embedded boulder, she said, “You know, Tim, I think I’ll just go back down below the treeline and wait for you. You go ahead and finish.” She wasn’t mad or even upset, but she was uncomfortable.
And. Totally. Oblivious. To. My. PLAN!
I thought fast, realized that I’d be a total ass if I prodded her to keep going, and I figured that “close to the summit” was pretty darn close to “at the summit.” I decided I would propose on the spot.
There was a minor complication, though, in that I had been terrified that I would lose the ring ever since I picked it up from the post office in Stratton. I had wrapped it and re-wrapped it in a big wad of packing so it was a bundle that was a couple of inches across that would be pretty hard to misplace. I needed to get it unwrapped, so I told Julie to turn around and look the other way while I tore into my pack and started tearing off the wrapping.
I failed to realize that “the other way” happened to be “right into the teeth of a hard, cold, wet wind.”
It took me a good minute to extricate the ring.
I told Julie she could turn around.
Tears were streaming down her face.
From the…um…wind.
I proposed, she accepted, we kissed briefly, and then we temporarily parted way while I finished the trail. Yes, Julie did cry when I proposed…but she was already crying, and it was purely a case of tear ducts reacting to the environment. But, the facts are the facts.
As it turned out, the boulder where we stopped was the last actual “climbing” part of the trail. After that climb, there was a half mile of flat, easy walking to the summit (which was completely cloud-covered, so pretty unspectacular).
Meanwhile, Julie decided to wait for me where she was and do jumping jacks to stay warm rather than heading back down below the treeline. At least one thru-hiker who knew of my plan — Pooh Bear — came across Julie by herself and assumed the worst! But, we got that straightened out on the summit.
I was back within a half-hour, with a minor touch of frostbite on my nose, and we headed on down from there.
The End.
Or…the beginning…
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 1 Comment »
October 9, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
As mentioned earlier, my journal ended on October 7th, but I’m wrapping up the trip from memory to close things out properly.
On Saturday, October 9th…Mt. Katahdin was closed! Due to weather. So, we spent the day hanging out in town, with me frantically trying to come up with reasons that Julie should not call her parents if she decided she needed to check in. I was pretty sure one of them would assume that we were engaged and would let the cat out of the bag.
Julie didn’t try to call them.
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 1 Comment »
October 8, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
Well, actually, my journal ended yesterday, but I figured I’d recap the next few days just to finish out the tale.
On Friday, October 8th, it was cold and drizzly, and I was in a hurry. Not just because I was anxious to see Julie, but because this was pre-cell phone days, and I needed to make a couple of calls. The problem? The nearest phone was 5-10 miles down a road I was going to cross a couple of miles before I got to Baxter State Park.
I got to the road as fast as I could. It was a well-graded, wide dirt road, as I recall, that didn’t have much traffic. But, somehow, an older couple came by, picked me up, and drove me down to the gas station that had a pay phone. I called Julie’s dad and mom — and reached both of them, miraculously, and told them that I was going to propose to Julie the following day. Somehow, I then got back to the trail and then hiked the remaining couple of miles to Baxter State Park. Julie arrived shortly after I got there, and we decided to head into town to get a hotel room rather than staying in a shelter in the park (it seems like there was an issue there — they were really crowded, maybe?).
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 1 Comment »
October 7, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/7/93 – Thur.
Julie tomorrow!
Warmer today — hiked in shorts and T-shirt all day.
I’m staying with The Mayor, who I’ve been following since North Carolina, and Tom/”Trimmer,” who is just hiking The Wilderness.
We’ve been laughing a lot, and that’s about all I have to write. This may be it for a while.
Hmm. “This may be it for a while.” As it turns out…that was a lonnnnnngggg while. It was the last entry in the journal. I’ll do a “recollection” of the next two days just from my memory, and then we’ll call this little project done!
I do clearly remember this last night before I hit Baxter State Park. Specifically:
- The shelter was one of the “old” ones — called “baseball bat shelters” because the floors were made of 3-4″ logs nailed down next to each other; these were extremely uncomfortable, but were a throwback to the days when hikers (of which there were dramatically fewer) would cut down boughs of evergreens near the shelter and use them to make a mattress
- “The Mayor” was something of a sadist. I’d heard less-than-enthusiastic reviews of him all up and down the trail. Then, he spent all evening when I finally met him with a pile of small rocks that he used to try to throw at and kill mice. He cackled borderline maniacally every time he got a direct hit.
And, another late clarification: “The Wilderness” and “The 100-Mile Wilderness” — mentioned in the past few posts, and refer to the same thing. The last roughly 100 miles (northbound) of the A.T. are the most remote stretch of the trail. It’s the section from Monson, ME, to Mt. Katahdin, which crosses no paved roads (there are a variety of logging roads that the trail crosses). The terrain is relatively flat, and there are occasional sections of the trail where you can see Mt. Katahdin — clearly — which is pretty neat. It’s a great way to wrap up the trail
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 2 Comments »
October 6, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/6/1993 – Wed.
I did my last 20-miler today and am once again in my bag by 7:00 PM — it gets so dark so early.
I caught “The Graduates” (Greg? & ???) today. I saw them last just south of Kent, CT. They skipped ahead from Gorham, NH, to Caratunk, ME, so they could take it easy through the Wilderness. They are tented about 0.4 miles south of the shelter, but their Whisperlite crapped out on them, so they came to the shelter to use mine to make dinner. We’re going to try and fix theirs tomorrow morning.
My boots have already started to blow out, but I think they’ll last up Katahdin.
Julie on Friday!!!
I have zero memory of this night, so have no idea whether we successfully fixed their stove in the morning.
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 1 Comment »
October 5, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/5/93 – Tue.
I’m alone tonight but don’t feel much like writing.
It’s starting to get colder. I hiked all day for the first time without taking off either my long underwear tops or bottoms. The temperature was right at freezing this morning, and there was still ice on the ground at late morning on the top of White Cap Mountain.
I’m back to having aches & pains I had in Georgia — partly due to my heavy pack (food), and partly because my body has about had it. My hips were really hurting on Sunday, so I hiked with a couple of pieces of insulite pad over them, and they have bothered me yesterday or today. I have a small blister on my right heel which I’ve had since Monson and which I couldn’t get adhesive knit or moleskin to stick to (wet)., but it, too, was much better today. Finally, my right Achilles tendon is really sore, and that is not improving. It only really bothers me when going uphill, though, and I had my last remotely major climb today (excepting Katahdin, of course). Hopefully, that will not worsen. Three more days with a full pack is all I ask, then one day up and down the big “K,” and it will be R&R time for this body.
The mice through the 100-Mile Wilderness are horrendous. They are not stopped by conventional means (i.e., a string with an upside-down can on it), so I’m back to hanging my food in a tree.
So, maybe I felt like writing a bit after all. What else can a body do when it’s dark by seven o’clock?
I’m realizing now that, in my journal, I totally omitted my trip to the Dartmouth Medical Center (I think that’s what it was) in Hanover, NH (I think that’s where I was) for my hip. My right hip, in particular, had a swollen, tender knob on it that was a chronic bother. Ultimately, what I found out when a doctor looked at it was that I wasn’t doing any permanent damage, and the only “cure” was to stop hiking. So, I soldiered on. There is still a faint, discolored spot on my hip from the experience 15 years later. That would only qualify as “permanent damage” if I had tried to become a professional skivvies model…which was never a career trajectory for which I was within a million miles!
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 5 Comments »
October 4, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/4/93 – Mon.
Okay, to hell with the introspecting I had planned on doing these last few days. I’ve got other stuff to write about.
I forgot to note that yesterday I watched a tree fall down about a hundred feet off the trail to my left. At first I though it was a moose crashing around with typical gracelessness, but instead it was a tree, about 8′ in diameter at its base, that was returning to the earth from which it had sprung. It was kind of eerie. After 5 months of crawling over, under, and around downed trees, I actually witnessed one fall. There was a light rain falling, but virtually no wind. Quite an experience.
I am staying tonight with “Hobbit” (GA –> ME 1985), who wrote and recorded 10 songs about the A.T. on an album called Woodsong. I was going to give him $10 and have him mail me the tape, but he said just to give him my address and he’ll send me one free as a congratulations for finishing the hike. He’s a pretty neat guy. He & his wife manage a homeless shelter in Ellsworth, ME, and he’s working on a second album of trail songs. There were a lot more simillarities between his 1985 thru-hike and my 1993 hike than there were between mine and Glen’s (Mr. Excitement) 1973 hike. I think tonight would make a top 10 list of shelter company were I to complete one.
76.4 miles to go!
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 2 Comments »
October 3, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/3/93 – Sun.
Hey! I finally met “Slug,” although he is now the “Woodland Streaker.” He started the same day I did at Springer, but behind me, and I never met him. He was hiking with Turtle & Snail at the time, who have since dropped off. He is now the Woodland Streaker because he hiked about 600 miles down south in the buff — he stopped just south of the Shenandoah’s. he says it was kind of like opening his eyes and seeing more. He’s also a juggler — has actually done a decent amount of performing. He carries juggling pins and seven balls.
No long entry tonight — it’s getting cold in these here parts and my hands are not up for the writing.
I’d last wrote about Slug on May 16th — knowing that I ran back into him later. As I recall, we coaxed him into doing a brief juggling show. But, the cold bothered him as much as it bothered my writing!
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 1 Comment »
October 2, 2008
This is a 5-month long series of blog posts that are the entries in my journals written on most evenings as I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1993. The journal entry appears first — indented — and then any additional commentary from my 15-years-removed perspective follows.
10/2/93 – Sat. (Night)
People I saw in town today: The Last Ones Out (Wayne & Lise), Old Man Sundance and Terrapin Flyer (Chad & Hillary), Airplane, Pooh Bear, Roadrunner, Porcelain Dreamer, Toe Truck, Pan, Jumpin’ Jak Flash, Iguana Donna, Chow Hound, and The Seeker U.K. Wow! Of all those, Donna and I are the only two at the shelter tonight (except for a southbound section hiker named Darryl). I just met her today, but I had been following her entries for some time, and we got along really well. She recently graduated from Rutgers with a degree in Comparative Literature.
I am almost to the end now, and it hardly seems real. After tomorrow, I will be less than a hundred miles from the top of Katahdin. A hundred miles. Two years ago, a 100-mile hike would have seemed like a major undertaking, but after 2,000 miles, it seems more like a gently denoument (spelling butchered, I’m sure). So, where was the climax? On second thought, I think the real climax will be on top of Katahdin.
Although I am not there yet, I am confident that I will be soon. Did I ever really think that I would not finish? Maybe the answer is “No.” I remember thinkign that perhaps a thru-hike was too ambitious of an undertaking, but I also remember that I could never imagine myself making the decision to leave the trail. Perhaps that decision would have taken more courage than hiking on. Would that mean I am here now because I “wimped out?”
I have persevered — set myself a very difficult goal and then achieved it. That has given me some confidence that I think I lacked before. If I think I can, I can.
Before I go nuts and ramble all over the place, I’m going to make a start of a list of topics of reflection for the next week:
- Self-confidence
- People on the trail — meeting, interacting, & learning from them
- Religion
- Pushing myself to limits
- My future — what I want & what I expect
Posted in Appalachian Trail, Tim 2 Comments »
