An Empty Soul and Clear Slate on the Appalachian Trail

Day 24- 9 Miles today from Sassafras Gap Shelter to Brown Fork Shelter, 2,516 Feet Up, 3,117 Feet down, Total 207 AT miles

Bubble Bust or Butt?

If this was the hiker bubble where are all the masses of hikers I hear about each year? I expected a lot more hikers out here this time of year but the number of hikers we pass or pass us each day is 10 or less. Either we are ahead of the bubble or the number of hikers has drastically decreased this year, or both.

I slept good last night in the shelter with the other six of us in a 14 person shelter. Three tents were set up outside. Once again I had a hard time getting to sleep but once I was out I slept soundly especially as the temperature dropped from 60 to 30 degrees. We slept with our water filters and batteries just in case the temp dropped below freezing overnight.

The first task of the day was to climb Cheoah bald. The total climb was 650 feet over 1.2 miles and it started out with a nice approachable climb.  Then we hit the final climb which jumped up 200 feet over 0.1 mile (same slope as 1,000 feet per mile!). This slowed us wayyy down as we lumbered up the final jump.  At the top we ran into Seasonspass a triple crowner out doing the Benton Mackaye Loop. Our total up today would be 2,500 feet and within the first hour of our hike today we had already climbed a third of our total climb that day. 

We ran into more Helene damage in this section of the trail. Including the famous tree that has half an AT blaze on one section and the other half on another section during one of our arduous climbs.

An Unrealistic Plan

We are only into the first days of this hike so I was trying to limit us to 8 mile days as we build our trail legs.  It’s almost impossible to have exactly 8 mile days especially if you are hitting a shelter or milestone like a hot cooked hamburger dripping with cheese, and greasy onions.  So today’s hike was the Brown Fork Shelter about 9 miles away. After that our final leg would be an 11 mile day down to Fontana where our trail angel Don will fly in to take us to the Lazy Hiker for that burger and an IPA our first zero before we hit the Smokies.

We are still trying to dial in our food and the lengthy amount of time it takes to get on the trail each morning. Cooking food is definitely a PIA when thru hiking but we had plenty of time to hike today so I cooked a Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy which Knockerz hated so I ate it all and also threw in a packet of bacon bits my last piece of heavy food.  (see the food obsession kicking in?)

There are Angels Among Us

After more knife ridge hiking we started the steep drop down into Stecoah Gap. The construction site, passing cars, and raging winds were a blast to our senses that had calmed dramatically as we had enjoyed days of forest bathing prior to this. It was then that a trail angel jumped out of a van with soda and bananas. Angels are always with us but they pop up to show you they are present when you need them most or least expect them.

It was then that I realized my first water rationing was to be implemented.  A prior water grab had required a steep down into a ravine and then climb back to the trail. It was a 0.3 mile penalty to find the Stecoah Gap water source so we decided to ratio our remaining water for the 2.3 miles to the shelter as we climbed the AT detour out of the Gap.

An Empty Soul and Clear Slate

On this hike, for days 1 and 2 I didn’t listen to anything other than nature. I just was in my head decompressing from the real world and getting a full forest bathe to soothe my soul. However for day 3 with a fog dancing in the woods like a fog machine at a chill concert I listened to my cali reggae music all day. This chilled me out on the way into the NOC and pumped me up for the nasty climb out of the NOC.

Today was day four and I had apparently emptied my soul into the gift of God’s world over the past 3 days. It wasn’t an empty feeling but more like I was a blank chalkboard that now needs chalk. I felt hungry for more than just ramen and bite sized snickers, I felt a need to fill something up inside me that was now missing.

The past nine months of s**t we had been trough in our lives was interwoven into our attempted AT flip flop last year, my LASH in November, and the impossible NOBO hike we are now blessed with. A random mix of podcasts and meditations was imparting new energy into my empty soul. An appreciation for life, the ability to move my body through the woods, the sight that allows me to see the rising sun or setting moon.  Accepting God’s will and enjoying the gifts that God gave me. The trail is more than just an adventure from Springer to Katahdin for me. 

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