Adventures on the Appalachian Trail (4/20/09)

[A year ago April 15th, I set out to hike the length of the Appalachian Trail, northbound from Georgia to Maine, with my 7 year old dog, Gracie. Almost nightly, I wrote journal entries about what I was experiencing. The demands of trail life with a dog precluded me from posting these entries during the hike. I've chosen to post excerpts to mark the anniversary of this life-altering experience. Enjoy the journey, I certainly did.]

20 April 2009 - Day 6 Mile 52.2 - Low Gap Shelter -> Rocky Mountain
Got Privy 101 from ridgerunner, Karunamiel - I asked because the privy at Low Gap shelter was full.
1. No peeing in the privy - pee in the woods.
2. Most of the Georgia privies are set up so there is a seat and a shelf. A privy exists under each space. While the open privy is in use, the one under the shelf is decomposing. Theoretically, in the time it takes to fill one privy, the dormant privy decomposes. The contents of the dormant privy are scattered, then the privy is opened, and the full one decomposes.

A ridgerunner's job (according to Karunamiel):
1. Walking information desk
2. AT census taker
3. Leave No Trace promoter

Camping away from a shelter for the first time with Geoff. We hung a PCT-style bear bag for the first time! Glad to not be alone out here - still exciting and scary. Weather was off & on rain all day. Finally the tarp dried enough to pitch when we got here (flat spot atop Rocky Mountain, ele. 4017ft.). Cold & windy atop Rocky Mtn, but rain should be past us for awhile. Sleeping bag is still wet in a couple places; may have cold feet tonight as a result (down bag loses it's insulating qualities when wet). Gracie is holding up well, but I'm struggling to keep her warm when we're not moving. Key in camp is to get tarp set up right away and get her on the sleeping bag ASAP. I'm also watching to make sure she doesn't get footsore. May put the booties on her tomorrow to help her out a little. She started getting a weepy right eye yesterday - seems better tonight, watching that as well. There are vets listed in the guidebook if I need them.

Took a 1 mile steep up & down side trail to see Chattahoochee Spring, source of the Chattahoochee River. Kinda neat to see where a river starts. Last night was tough - a hard rain that kept spattering through the tarp. Hiking was fun today. Nice & easy 5 miles out of camp, then an interesting 2 mile up & down over lichen-covered rocks. Looked like Lord of the Rings terrain. Steep & muddy descent to Unicoi Gap, then steep (but switchbacked) mile-ish climb up Rocky Mount. 1000 ft elevation gain in a mile. It's nice to be tenting in the woods, but I do feel much more secure with Geoff in the tent next door. I hope the bear bagging holds.

Recollections from last night's rainstorm: Hearing the wind rush through the treetops, then hearing/feeling it rush through the gap. The sound of the stream when the rain stopped. Birds chirping in the middle of the night after the rain. Hoot owls in the gap. Bear terror after the rain - surely it's time for them to check out camp and thinking every sound was a bear's footsteps and both bugged and relieved that Gracie just kept sleeping.

Felt like I only got 2 hours sleep last night, but I was ok energy-wise hiking today. Slept until ~7am (finally went to sleep around 4:30 and slept some prior to that). Lots of cool birds on the trail today, finches and a little bright yellow one. Pretty songs they have. Creativity & ingenuity are valuable skills out here. I'm short one tent stake, so I'm finding creative ways to stake or secure the doors (ha! I don't think you can really call these doors!) closed on the tarp and I'm using my rain jacket as a makeshift vapor barrier liner to help keep my feet warm in the damp sleeping bag

To Do:
wake up - make hot tea or mocha, eat a little something
keep Gracie warm
change to hiking clothes
break camp
hot lunch at Tray Mountain shelter
hydrate
hike to Deep Gap
call Gary Poteat
enjoy the day
spend time at the cliffs

Food:
B - Trail mix at camp & along the trail
L - oats & mocha (hot cocoa + instant coffee, yum!)
D - trail mix snacks, refried beans & polenta & veggies (quickly becoming a favorite)

Retrospective: Georgia privies also had usage meters. A study was being done and they were using pressure sensitive floormats that triggered a counter when they were stepped on to record usage statistics. After talking to the guys at Gossamer Gear, I think the "spatter through" was interior condensation that the heavy drops were knocking off the ceiling. Whatever the source, it wasn't fun to get rained on inside my only source of shelter. My to do list cracks me up today. For awhile, goal-setting for the next day was a nightly ritual. Eventually I just did that the night before I'd be in town, as I finally established a workable routine for making/breaking camp, and got far more laid back about when/where to eat, get water, and so on. To put this in context, this was my first time backpacking solo, and my first backpacking trip in over 15 years, so I had lots of stuff to learn/figure out. Like hanging a bear bag. I had every intention of at least practicing in the yard before I left, but it never happened. I did read the instructions several times, but didn't pack them, so when it came time to throw the bear bag, Geoff and I figured it out through trial and error that fortunately didn't include getting the line or or food bags permanently stuck in the trees.