"Weeping may last for the night,...

...But a shout of joy comes in the morning."
-Psalm 30:5 (NASB)


June 22, 2001


So, it was the scariest night on the Trail so far.


As I tried to go to sleep, some local campers (down the side trail on which I put my tent) blared Satanic music with guttural lyrics such as "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"


This, in the middle of nowhere, and I didn't even pack a knife.


And then, suddenly, a rabbit (?) slams into my tent, and I instinctively punch it.


Weird. Strange. No, I was not having a nightmare. It was real.


And then, it was morning...


The wicked sing chants of darkness in the night, but we who worship God sing songs of light and praise in the morning!  God be praised!


I quickly packed my tent and headed down the Trail and up to the top of a mountain before stopping for breakfast:

Breakfast on top of Fourth Mountain

Well, made a monster 14 mile hike over Third Mountain, Fourth Mountain, Barren Mountain, and Wilson Mountain.  Some great views and much cooler weather.  Tomorrow, Monson 2 days early.

I feel much better now that I found those straps on my pack and took the insoles out of my boot.

This was truly a unique way to spend my birthday.  Not a soul out here knows it is today.  I am almost done with the 100 Mile Wilderness.  A successful hike.  I guess I would rather do nothing else except be with family.  I am really looking forward to talking with my parents tomorrow night!!

Oh, yeah.  There was this territorial hawk we passed.  We heard this crazy noise and saw a hawk dive-bomb us. 


I remember that I waved my hiking poles above my head to ward the hawk away from me.


It reminded me of an Atari Smurf game I used to play (see Youtube Clip at time 1:19).


 Fortunately, he/she didn’t return even though we admired the nest.

Nest of the infamous "Territorial Hawk"

I did hear a few days later that one of my Trail friends was walking along this section just listening away to his music, and so did not hear the warning shrieks of the hawk as it flew toward him. While jamming along to his tunes, his head bandana suddenly flew forward. He put his hand to his head and it came away with blood.


He obviously freaked out and got out of there quick.  


Ended up being okay with a few scratches, but makes one pay attention to your surroundings a bit more!

"Do you always watch for the longest day of the year...

...and then miss it?"
-Daisy from The Great Gatsby


June 21, 2001

So, I was so worried about getting my food package from the US Post Office, but...

Oh, yeah!  I shipped my package to Shaw’s so I can get it Sat night.  I’ll take it a little easier.

"Shaw's" is the hostel I would be staying at in Monson.  It didn't matter when I got to it!

Last night was a full lean-to with Slowride, Paul, Chris, and Josh tenting.  Paul is walking to Vermont.  There was Devon and Phil from Ohio whom we stayed with at the last lean-to before Carl’s [Carl NewHall Lean-to].  There were two weird guys and also an Israeli named Rotem.  He talked a lot about his three years in the Israeli army in Lebanon.

Screw Auger Falls

8:15 pm
Today was my mom’s bday and the longest day of the year (still light out).  Happy Birthday, Mom!  Wish I could give a hug right now.

I hiked Chairback Mountain today which was very rough.  I thought I was at the top when I looked up and saw this huge cliff looming a bit away.  Sure enough that was the peak with a tight spiral stone stair cut into the cliff.  

Looking down from top of Chairback trail

The bad thing was I was out of water and had had a very small lunch.  Tired.


Tired as I was, the view from the top was well worth it!

Nothing man-made is visible to my eye from the top of Chairback Mountain. Pristine.

I climbed nevertheless and got to the lean-to just before Slowride moved on.  I stayed and ate lunch with Josh from NC (?) who just graduated college with a philosophy degree.  He is cool.  The weird guys arrived (Josh calls them “Tankers” because they carry lots of fuel and give it out free).  Josh and I set off to a lake 1.5 miles away and are tenting there with some locals (a father, 2 sons, and daughter?)

I prayed today for the NRVCC youth trip to FL going on like right now.  Also for mom and dad in moving their home.  I prayed for healing in my heels and back.  I found some straps on the hip belt that help take load off the back, and I threw out my insoles which gave more room for my feet and now my heels feel fine!  Praise God!

Tomorrow I try 14 miles and 10 next to Monson!

"LORD my God, I called to you for help,...

...and you healed me."

-Psalm 30:2 (NIV)

June 20, 2001

God performs miracles on me!  I asked that my lower shins be completely healed so I could continue (fearing not being able to walk the next day).  I awoke with my feet feeling great and [I was] praising God.

I literally had no pain or soreness whatsoever.  It was amazing!

I peaked four times today: [I drew this diagram below:]

               White Cap                       Hay Mt.   West End    Gulf Hagas

View from the top of White Cap Mountain

It felt good to do lots of climbs and feel ok at the end of the day.



I was facing a dilemma, however.

I had mailed a package to Monson that contained my food supplies for the next leg of my hike.  The post office closes at 11 AM on Saturday morning, and June 20, 2001 was a Wednesday.  Could I make it in time?  I started my figuring below (not sure how it all adds up, but you can see I was concerned).

I’m pondering when to get to Monson.  Either take it easy: 11 m., 11 m. and 15 m. but get in on Sat. night and have to wait through the weekend or book it there and get in Sat. morning before 11 AM.

I’m at Carl A. NewHall Lean-to.
It is (117.8 - 78.6) = 39.2 miles

Cloud Pond Lean-to 94.4
Carl NewHall    (minus) 78.6
= 16.8 (+0.3)

Leeman Brook Lean-to 111.5

Cloud Pond Lean-to (minus) 95.4
= 16.1 (+0.3)

Maine 15 114.5
Leeman (minus) 111.5
= 3.0


If I did two 16 or 17 mile days, I could sneak in with just 3 miles in the morning before Saturday 11 am and get my food package. Hmmm....what to do?

"You got to know when to hold 'em,...

...know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run."
-Kenny Rogers, The Gambler


June 19, 2001


Longest day.  About 17.5 miles.  The first section was the worst mosquitos.  Fortunately, they’ve gotten better as we got higher.

"this building" refers to the privy

My equipment - taking a break to Jo-Mary Road (logging road)

Lots of pain.  Pinched nerve by right shoulder.  Big toes sore but ok.  Base of shin right at foot were really sore.  Take it easy, baby.


It was in serious pain.


As I lay in the lean-to that night, I seriously considered the end of my hike. I could go back to Jo-Mary Road and hitchhike out, get medical attention, and head home.


I seriously thought I had overdone it. Done serious damage.


So, I prayed. I prayed that if God wanted me to continue, He would heal my pain.


And, with that, I slept.

"Happiness should be like an oasis,...

...the greener for the desert that surrounds it."

- Rachel Field

June 18, 2001

Black flies, mosquitos, mud, roots, sore limbs, sore toes...

And then...

Today is awesome.  3 miles to WHLWC [White House Landing Wilderness Camp].  You get to a boat dock and blow a boat horn and they come get you in their motor boat.  Bill, Linda, and their 4 year old Ben are all very nice people.  I had a huge ⅓ lb. cheesburger deluxe and root beer.  I watched happily as Barn Swallows and dragonflies ate all the bugs and listened to bats sleeping away, awaiting their evening feast.  I took a swim and played with their dog Pooh-Bear and also with Ben.

WHLWC from my 2006 hike with my dad.

Nothing like an oasis to change the attitude. Now, I was enjoying it all again...


We left and hiked a few miles to a sandy beach (total of about 5 miles on trail).  It was a beautiful sunset and all the sun-dried driftwood made an awesome-huge fire.

A large snake lived there.  We saw its tracks and it 2 times. We saw moose tracks and raccoon tracks.

Stars were visible for the first time.

Jo-Mary Lake from sandy beach

"Always the black fly,...

...no matter where you go"
- Wade Hemsworth


June 17, 2001


Today started very well climbing up Nesuntabunt Mountain and coming down to Wadleigh lean-to.  It was fast and furious and I covered my 8.1 planned miles for the day by 12:30 pm.

I started with a buzz cut and clean shave.  Wait 'til you see me at the end of the AT!

There was a note saying a bear was nearby and there were lots o’ bugs so I ate lunch and moved on.  I skirted around Nahmakanta Lake and headed toward Nahmakanta Stream Campsite.  

Pristine, not a ripple, Nahmakanta Lake ("many fish")

It was a hard ≈ 6 miles going through a thunderstorm (lots of rain, little thunder) - my first storm.  I got soaked but my pack seemed to stay dry under my pack cover.  Slowride arrived about 30 minutes later as tired as I am.

Good news is I am ahead of schedule!  Tomorrow I should make the White House Landing Wilderness Camp.

I set up my tent and cooked dinner that evening all under constant motion.  I even ate my food walking in circles because there is always a cloud of black flies and mosquitos following you in the 100 Mile Wilderness.  This is the disadvantage of being a Southbounder who hikes this section in the Spring, which is the time these malicious bugs swarm.

Once my meal was done, I retreated to the safety of my tent.

The great thing about Black Flies [info - not for weak of heart] is they aren’t very bright.  That makes them easy to kill.  I just killed about 20 in my tent because they just crawl on the ceiling trying to get out.  Mosquitoes are smarter and go for humans!  They also have those long-needle mouths which can reach through my web of hair.  Fortunately, it takes ‘em a bit of time to find a good sticking place so I feel them crawling and get them.

I thought the rain would thin out the bugs but it seems to have brought them on full force!  There are hundreds (a little less) crawling around on the outside of my tent.  Insane!

100 Mile Wilderness Tent Activities

• Black Fly Rodeo - open up the flap and let a swarm in.  Crack flap open, catch ‘em bugs and drop ‘em out.
• Bug Poppers - watch a bug crawl around on the tent and then flick the piece of tent under their feets.  Laugh at the bug.
• Silhouette Guessing Game - try to guess which kind of bug is walking around the outside of the tent.  Try to get all of one bug type on tent (see Bug Poppers.)

"Dear Lord, if you pick ‘em up,...

...I’ll put ‘em down." —HIKER’S PRAYER  


June 16, 2001


Day 3 Started out tired but early.  Peter, Dom. and I hiked a lot of the first stretch together ‘til Rainbow Lake.  We were so hot that getting in the water was heavenly.  Beautiful lake.  Should have taken a picture.  


I did, however, get a picture of the lake when I hiked the 100 Mile Wilderness with my dad in 2006.

It was harsh getting to Rainbow campsite so I napped and ate Ramen and drank Tang.  That helped incredibly!  The last 4 miles were much easier.

The hare in this picture wasn't as scary as it looks above with its glowing eyeball.   What was scarier was how rough these trails were.  Look at all the roots.  This would end up being a "dream" section of the trail too, being mostly flat and straight.

Lots of mud and mosquitoes and roots.  Deet rules.  Slowride, Peter, and Dom., and all made it to Rainbow Stream Lean-to.  It is beautiful with the stream running in front, lots of sitting room, and hopefully not as many mosquitoes (??).

Rainbow Stream Lean-to, one of my favorite shelters

"Hitch-hike a thousand miles to find...

...The Hesperides that's on their mind. "  – W. H. Auden


June 15, 2001


Now, I turned my face about.  Yesterday, I faced north toward the peak of Katahdin.


Today, I turn south.


And it was hot!  My brother was at this time in Gainesville, FL, and he said it was in the 80's down there.  Up here in Maine?  The 90's.


KSC to Abol was good 9.9 miles.  Abol to Hurd Brook Lean-to was bad 3.4 miles.  Too hot!  Too many mosquitos!  I was about to collapse, just drop my pack and walk so I prayed to God and said “if ever You hear me let it be now!  Somehow give me energy or accelerate me straight to the lean-to!  I need a miracle like Ann [wanderer at BMS] did.”  Lo and behold I took three steps, looked up, and there was the shelter.  I hurt, but I’m here.

Met Suzanne today.  Passed her near end of BSP.  She is nice and taking it slow.  Matt (Slowride), Peter, and Dominique are all here.  Matt came 15 minutes behind.  P. and D. much later - we didn’t think they’d make it.  I have doubts if I have enough food.  Ate lots tonight.  I pray I will have strength for tomorrow (God is with me - He will assure that.)  Must rest up.


On the second day of a Southbounder's hike, one enters the famed "100 Mile Wilderness".

Love the irony of foreboding tone followed by "Good hiking!"

Oh! I hitchhiked for the first time today!  10 miles to a phone and ten miles back to Abol.  It was easy and fun.  Left a message for mom and dad since I didn’t get to call at 6 am like planned.

"May your trails be crooked...

..., winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.  May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." - Edward Abbey

June 14, 2001


Day 1:  Katahdin was superb, a beautiful day.  3 hours up, 1 hour at the peak, and 3 hours down.

View of the 100 Mile Wilderness from Katahdin

I could not have asked for a better start. I was the first one on Katahdin that day, and the weather was a perfect, breezy 72 degrees. It was God and I on the mountain that day with myself worshipping the former the whole time.


Not to say that the climb was easy. It is about 4 miles of scrambling up rocks and a steep, root-filled trail through a narrow, rocky "Gateway" before reaching the resplendent tableland:

Passing the Gateway means you made it.


I thought of my parents seeing the pictures while I was at the Gateway and it made me cry...80% joy, 20% wishing they were there.


And I did make it.

And loved the views all around of the Knife Edge,

which I would come back with friends to hike several years later.


Views of Chimney Pond on the northern side of the mountian (with a campground hidden next to it that my friends and I would stay at for our Knife's Edge trek).

It was a beautiful start to my AT hike.

"Life is all about timing...

...the unreachable becomes reachable..." - Stacey Charter

Before I finish the story about my Greyhound bus trek to the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, I need to explain Baxter State Park (BSP) and Katahdin Stream Campground (KSC).

BSP is the park in which the almighty mountain Katahdin stands (exactly one mile high...they added a few boulders via helicopter to make it so) as the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

My first sight of Katahdin from KSC

Within BSP is the beautiful Katahdin Stream Campground, nestled at the southern foot of the mighty mountain.  If you want a camping spot in KSC, you need to reserve it at least 6 months early.

I had reserved campsite 16, the closest campsite to the path I would take to climb Katahdin, about 8 months before June 13.

And here is the crux of the issue.  Baxter State Park closes at 8:30 pm.  You are late = no entry = I lose my sweet campsite.

So, Greyhound continued to run late, and my buffer time to get into BSP quickly dissolved.  As we approached Medway, Maine, the end of the line for the Greyhound bus, and the place where I would call for a taxi cab to BSP, I was doubting if I'd make it.

Journal entry:

10:30 PM: In my tent in KSC [Katahdin Streams Campground]!!  I’ve met three other AT hikers: Peter and Dominique from Germany and a guy from Illinois [Matt or “Slowride”].  We all shared a cab from Medway to Millinocket (driven by Shawn).  I continued to BSP [Baxter State Park] and we made the gate at 8:30, just in time to get in the park.  We saw 2 moose on the way to KSC.  I don’t think I’ll find a phone to use to call in the morning.  Worried about that.  But excited to see Katahdin and tomorrow I climb her!!

Okay, so we actually arrived at the gate around 8:36 pm, but Shawn, the taxi cab driver, pulled some strings with the gate guard and got me in.  The first in a string of awesome hospitality by the fine citizens of Maine.

Tomorrow: I climb Katahdin! (and some sweet pictures taken from the top.)

"The journey of a thousand miles...

...begins with one step."   -Lao Tzu

I awoke on June 12, 2001 in my parent's home early in the morning (I'm talking before 5 am people!)  My parents, lovely people that they are, took me to the Greyhound bus terminal and waved me off on my journey.

From my journal:
Day 0-1: Said bye to mom and dad at about 5:20 am and boarded the Greyhound.  It was running late and was even later when it arrived in Roanoke so they switched us to an Express to D.C.  Already one bus transfer and not even to D.C.!


I have to disclaim, a long Greyhound bus ride is not for the faint of heart. It took well over 24 hours for the whole trip from Tennessee to Maine, transferring from bus to bus, sitting uncomfortably for hours on end, and going through bus stations that leave you wondering about your safety...


8:05 PM We switched to an express bus that got us to D.C. 1 hour early.  I’ve been hopping onto expresses before any scheduled time so I’m 4.5 hours early for my schedule.
I’m in downtown NYC right now - gonna watch...  We went by Central Park and through Harlem.  What a contrast this will be!  Here is mass humanity, structures and storefronts over huge tracts of squeezed, compact land.  How different will the AT be?!


As psyched up as I was for the quiet of the woods, the splendor of nature, and the beauty of mountains, it was quite a drag to go through smelly bus stations and be cramped in a bus for so long.


But one moment of this part of my journey lifted my spirits.


NYC's Greyhound station left me afraid for my life, and I was scheduled to have a layover there for 4 hours. This was to be avoided for survival sake. I found an express bus going to Boston, the next stop on my itinerary, and convinced the bus driver to let me on.


Boston's south station was much better, more of a cathedral feel. With lofty ceilings, clean marble floors, and only a few souls waiting piously, it was a much better place to wait for now 6 hours on a cold, hard bench.

+++http://www.southstation.org/southst.htm

I noticed a foreign woman sitting about thirty feet away on the opposite side of the station waiting on a bench like mine. This was not too remarkable, except that a homeless man wandered in and started to serenade her.


I mean, this guy was SERENADING her! He was giving all his gusto to sing love songs to this foreign lady, who glanced around nervously looking for solace.


I, apparently, was solace. She made her way over to my side of the station and sat on the other end of my four foot bench, causing the love-struck homeless man to wander after other Juliets.


The lady thanked me in stinting English, and explained she had arrived from Laos and was coming to visit her husband who was "in university".  


I explained that I was going to walk over 2000 miles through the woods. For a brief moment, I think she pondered if the love-struck homeless man was perhaps more sane.


I also explained how I found I wanted to be a teacher, and I wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, a dream of mine, before beginning this career. She said I should move to Laos and teach, because teachers there are revered and given a house and the highest pay of almost any worker. It was very tempting, but God would have other plans for me.


I continued on my Greyhound bus trek a few hours later on the way to Maine, but my heart was lightened at being able to be there for this lady from Laos, and to here the respect she gave to me as a teacher.


It was quite a blessing at the beginning of my journey.

"To be prepared...

...is half the victory."

-Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote).

It took longer to prepare to hike the Appalachian Trail than to actually hike it.

My best step in preparation was to join a listserve (remember those?) of veteran AT hikers or those preparing to hike like me.

I slowly created this list of items I planned on taking:

With eagerness, I researched and price-compared and waited for sales (loved CampMor and Sierra Trading Post!)

Arriving within days of each other, my one-man tent, sleeping bag, and headlamp all came.  I set up the tent in my bedroom and slept in it and the sleeping bag while wearing my headlamp!

I also started to plan out food.  The Trail goes through some towns with decent grocery stores, and other towns, well, your best bet is to have a box of food shipped to the post office.  After a long visit to Sam's Club, I packed up a whole bunch of food boxes and left them with my parents, and a list similar to this:

The die was cast (at least, a few hundred dollars had been spent).

The school year ended early June, and it was time.

I drove to my parent's house in Tennessee (at the time) to leave my car and went to bed planning on boarding a Greyhound bus to Maine early the next morning...

The Garden of the Mind

It was about fourteen years ago that the idea was planted.

 My parents, brother, and I all vacationed in New Hampshire with my sister-in-law's family to celebrate graduations and other various reasons to get away. We had a great time, playing card games, listening to music, eating great food, and enjoying the small village life of New England.

Alas, it all came to an end and all left, except that my parents and I had no rush to get home.

 So, where do you go in New Hampshire with spare time on your hands? Why, the beautiful White Mountains and its star, Mount Washington.

Picture I took in 2001 during AT hike in NH of Mt Washington

We did the whole tourist drive up to the top, had our picture taken at the peak, and then decided to take a stroll outside the "tourist" zone. We decided to hike to the next peak over, Mount Monroe. It was a fairly easy hike, over the cog railway, and to the peak.

 It was the return trip that got hairy.

 About halfway back, we found out why Mount Washington is called home of the worst weather in the world. Suddenly a deluge of rain came upon us, firing lightning shots at us on "machine gun" mode! We made our fastest pace back up Mount Washington praying intently for survival.

 We survived.

 And I was hooked.

 As Mr. Roger's says, "ideas can grow in the garden of your mind", the seed was planted.

 In 2000, I told my parents I would be hiking the whole Appalachian Trail, southbound, starting in June 2001.

 And I began my preparations...