Day 50: Daleville, VA - 724 miles

June 30, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

11 days ago, something out of the ordinary happened. I arrived at camp that night and nobody else showed up. I mean, there were other people there, just not people I knew. It had been a comparatively difficult day. The terrain had been unusually rocky and I had almost succumbed to the temptation to stop at the prior shelter. I'm pretty sure that's what Voldemort, Forager and Fiddlin' Jim did, especially since they were all still just waking up when I rolled out of camp that morning. I haven't seen them since.

This does not by any means imply that I have been alone. I spent about a week hiking with Dingo, Hungry Horse and Johnny Oak. The four of us put in many long days, pushed through some shitty weather, and enjoyed a relaxing stay at Woods Hole Hostel, an oasis so refreshing that we actually shuttled backwards on the next day to enjoy another night there.

One day back on the trail and now I was the one who had fallen behind. And during all of this my good friend Lemmy disappeared and reappeared a total of three times. It's like when you're stuck in traffic and you keep seeing the same red Volkswagen over and over, thinking, "I thought I passed that guy a long time ago." This is the nature of social life on the trail. Your friends are usually ahead of you or behind you, sometimes both, but never for very long.

During this brief period of social limbo I decided to take a vacation from Trail Life and go on a backpacking trip. I have found myself getting into a routine recently, one that centers around efficiency and maximum mileage. Just for a change of pace, instead of spending the night at a shelter, I decided to put the tent on the first good site I encountered at a reasonable distance to that day's target. It felt nice to not have to rush the final miles in near darkness to make it to the shelter. As my fire died down that night, I realized that that was the first time I had been truly alone in nearly 6 weeks.

Rather than base my daily targets on the seemingly random distances between shelters, I was now free to start or stop wherever I like, my only constraint being that I had to make it to Daleville by Saturday at 6:00 PM because I was expecting a package at the local outfitter. I would need to hike nearly 100 miles in only five days, and I had just finished hiking 100 miles in five days.

Everyone always says, "Virginia is flat," or, "Virginia is where you'll really start cruisin'!" The reality is that both of these things are true, but not until you've already passed the first 300 miles of the state. There are wide open meadows and rolling hills, but those hills are almost 1,000 feet tall and there's no shade. It is 90°. The climb up to every ridge is steep, and every ridge is a never ending treadmill of jagged rocky triangles, snaked with roots, thorns and sand.

Water has been scarce, sometimes miles between sources. And when I say miles I don't mean 3 miles or 5 miles, I mean like 16 or 18 miles without water. When you have to walk that far with only the water you can carry, you start playing games with rationing. "When I get to that tree, I can have one sip!" Water is precious, but it's also heavy. 2 liters weighs 4 pounds and that's just enough to stretch for 10 miles.

So the day before yesterday I found myself hard-pressed to make my self-imposed deadline of reaching Daleville by 6:00 PM on Saturday. I had to push through all of the above conditions while maintaining an average of 2 mph for 10, sometimes 12 hours per day. At one point I reached real dehydration. I was dizzy, stumbling, and had stopped sweating. My heart was pounding, and I found myself easily frustrated. I was thirsty enough to drink pee. But not my own, someone's who is more hydrated than I.

And at no point during any of this has the idea of quitting ever crossed my mind. Thinking about Mount Katahdin this early in the hike is pointless. I'm only one third of the way there. But in order to continue propelling oneself forward through such conditions some short-term motivator is necessary. At the start of each day this week I looked forward to taking a day off in Daleville. By the end of each day my short term motivation consisted of, "If I could just make it to that rock … I can let myself have … a Snickers bar!" And sometimes on the way to that rock, it reduces to, "Just one more step." According to my sister-in-law Priscilla, someone with an average stride will have taken approximately 1.5 million steps by this point, and I feel every single one of them.

My arrival into Daleville consisted of 19 miles by 3:45 PM, with plenty of time to spare before the outfitter closed. As usual, my Zero Day consisted of many chores: laundry, shower, food, phone calls… all tying for first place as top priority. And, as usual, I felt rushed. After a brief internal struggle, and with some encouragement from Lemmy, I decided to take the rare Double Zero. Today is my second consecutive day of not hiking, and it feels really weird. On the other hand, it's been 50 days, 724 miles, and even though I have Zeroed twice, I've never spent one full day really relaxing yet. Until now.

Hikers have been trickling in at a steady rate for the last two days. One brought news of Voldemort, Forager and Fiddlin' Jim. It looks like they will be arriving a few hours after I leave town tomorrow. It would have been nice to see them again, but it's also nice to know that they're not that far behind. One thing we all learned early on is that you never say goodbye on the trail.

Day 45: Woods Hole Hostel, VA - 621 miles

June 23, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

[posted by Katie, Gary's Trail Boss]

Gary has spent the last five days in a very remote area without any cell phone service, and will spend the next five days in the boonies as well.

It's a good thing he and his trailmates are far from civilization. Saturday, June 21st was the summer solstice, also known as Hike Naked Day...

Thank goodness for the strategically placed hat.

Day 35: Damascus, VA - 467 miles

June 13, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

About a week ago I made a two word entry in my notebook: Trail Legs. It's a phrase we hear quite often, for example, "After about a month you'll get your trail legs," or "Once you get your trail legs you'll start knocking out 20s like nothing." Personally, when I first started hiking, the idea of a 20 mile day seemed unattainable.

When my average went into the double digits I thought I had my trail legs. Shortly after that I started doing 15 mile days. While Voldemort and I were separated from our trail family, we made a few attempts at a 20 mile day but never really had much success. We hit 19 a few times but always had to stop because we would run out of sunlight. Finally, right at the one-month mark, we nailed our first 20.

That was the day before our arrival into Erwin (see last post). After eating KFC all-you-can-eat we loaded up on trail food and made the short trip north to Curley Maple Gap Shelter. The next day, we learned what the term trail legs really means.

We reunited with our trail family and set a goal for the Clyde Smith Shelter 21.9 miles away. I was feeling really good the whole way, and somewhere around mile 18 I had an idea.

I was the last person to reach the Clyde Smith Shelter, and when I arrived Voldemort was making dinner and Forager was talking to his dad, Fiddlin' Jim. "Who wants to do something epic?" I asked.

Without even hearing what it was, Voldemort and Forager both said yes. "Right now, our current plan is to rest our bodies for eight hours and then walk 17 more miles, right?" I asked. "Does anyone else feel good enough to rest for two or three hours, and then start walking?" I continued.

Forager said, "You want to do a night hike?"

"Will we get to see a sunrise?" Voldemort exclaimed, her eyes widening. "I love sunrises!"

"That's the plan," I answered. "If we leave around 10:30 PM we should get to the top of Roan Mountain just before sunrise." Two more of our friends, No Filter and Snail Trail, stepped out of the shelter and announced that they would like to go too.

"Wow," I thought, "I expected more resistance."

The five of us ate dinner, repacked our gear, turned on our headlamps and stepped out into the dark. The hike up Roan Mountain climbs more than 2,500 feet over 8 miles. I think that everyone was very excited to do this because we started out much faster than I would've liked. Shortly after we started I was huffing and puffing and my shirt was completely soaked with sweat.

We toiled up the side of the mountain, carefully placing our feet into the small pools of light cast by our headlamps. We stubbed our toes, and stumbled forward, and each of us had our own personal cloud of moths around our heads. Around midnight visibility decreased. We were in the clouds.

By 2:30 AM the wind had begun to pick up, and it became apparent that a storm was approaching. The strengthening winds combined with our sweat soaked clothing forced us to shiver uncontrollably. It wasn't long before we found ourselves huddled behind a rock, teeth clenched and questioning the sanity of our plan. Still four more hours until sunrise.

"I have a tarp we can use to block the wind," Snail Trail yelled over the gale. The wind disagreed and blew even harder. Now instead of moths, clouds of suspended water droplets encircled us.

For two more hours we climbed, stomping stumbling and cursing the whole way. When No Filter yelled, "I see an overhang! I see an overhang!" I thought he was referring to one of those stations that show a map and a Do Not Feed the Bears sign. I pictured the five of us huddled behind one of these things, and I was strangely okay with that idea. When Snail Trail added "It's a bathroom!" I was even happier. "And it's unlocked!"

"We have running water!" Voldemort added.

We moved to the side of the building that was out of the wind and sat down against the concrete wall. It was nearly 4:00 AM and our bodies were beginning to shut down. While some rolled out foam mattresses or got into sleeping bags, I leaned against the wall, pulled my knees against my chest, closed my eyes and tried to sleep a bit. After this failed, I entered one of the restrooms, sat on a seat, put my forehead into the crook of my elbow, and actually dozed off for about half an hour.

At 5:30 AM we resumed our quest and began hiking again. By then the clouds were so thick we could barely see the hiker in front of us.

At 6:30 AM the sun finally rose and turned the dark mist into an ethereal ambient white glow. Previously hidden from us, all of the plant life surrounding the trail began to reveal their true deep green.

Roan Mountain is world famous for its views from the balds in the surrounding area. For miles, you walk along exposed grassy knobs with unobstructed views of the horizon many miles away in every direction. On this day we hiked surrounded by white mist occasionally broken by the pink explosions of blooming rhododendrons.

"I think I see a hint of blue sky!" I exclaimed.

Forager corrected me, "That's just wishful thinking."

"What time is it?" Snail Trail asked.

When Voldemort confirmed that it was 8:30 AM, we calculated that we had traveled 33 miles in the previous 24 hours. We found a flat slab of rock to sit on and enjoyed some breakfast in the mist. As we sat and ate, we were treated to a parade of day hikers and through hikers who had only recently awoken and begun walking.

Motivated in part by our full bellies and in part by the prospect of staying at Overmountain Shelter, we pressed on. Overmountain Shelter is an old two-story barn which has been converted into an Appalachian Trail Shelter, and is widely regarded as the best shelter on the AT. The lower level comfortably sleeps 10, and each hiker gets their own view of the valley below at their feet upon waking each morning. The upper level also accommodates 10, and provides something which no other shelter does: four walls and a roof. There is a large fire pit in front of the shelter and a wide open space very nearby with room for many tents. Water is convenient and as an added bonus, just before we reached Overmountain Shelter, the clouds dissipated and we were greeted with sunny blue skies and white fluffy clouds. Because we had braved the weather the previous night, we arrived around noon. Our reward was an extended stay at the best shelter on the AT.

Our total mileage, having started the previous morning, was 36.9.

Trail legs.

The above story took place one week ago. Since then much has happened, and our trail family has had still more adventures. We arrived in Damascus, Virginia this morning. A significant milestone. I'll be taking my second zero day of the hike here tomorrow. Because it has taken me literally two hours to compose this by phone, I am going to stop now. There are beers to be had and burgers to be eaten.

Day 28: Erwin, TN - 340 miles

June 06, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Hiking, Appalachian Trail

Leaving Hot Springs was tough because my pack weighed five pounds more and so did I. The day after a resupply is always like that. Including today.

For the last four days Voldemort and I have been a day behind our "trail family" reading messages from them in the shelter logs telling us to hurry up. Well we are back here guys... Slow down!

Two nights ago, while debating whether to stay at a shelter or press on, we encountered a runner who warned us of incoming bad weather. Lightning, hail and gusts up to sixty MPH. It was a crazy night and the next day we summited Big Bald minus the view while getting hammered by the continuing storm. Two days of walking in the rain and mud had us both joking that we were done. Time to go home!

I arrived in Erwin this morning and much to my surprise Dave and Barb were waiting on a log beside the trail about 2 miles from resupply! They saved us from having to hitch into town and took us to KFC all you can eat.

Random stuff:

I'm on my second pair of shoes. I can't remember what day it is. I'm a month in and still finding ways to lighten my pack. I have lost 15 pounds despite eating Snickers coated in peanut butter. I sleep like a log. Blister count: 0

PS. I swam and did laundry in a river today.

Day 23: Hot Springs, NC - 272 miles

June 01, 2014 by Gary Sizer in Appalachian Trail, Hiking

[posted by Katie, Gary's Trail Boss]

Gary asked me to post an update to let you know he's still making miles on the trail. He took a Zero Day in Hot Springs, NC to rest, resupply and let the swelling go down on his left ankle (not a super serious injury, it's already much better). Hot Springs is a quaint town good for food, hospitality, and Civil War reenactments, but not good for wi-fi or cell phone coverage. So far most of the trail has had poor AT&T coverage, hence the few updates. Supposedly it gets better further north.

Dave, Barb, Barb's mom, Travis, Mark and Sue all came to Hot Springs to cheer Gary on and hear stories from him and Voldemort. There is never a shortage of stories! Many calories were consumed, and I wish I had a dollar every time a thru-hiker declared that they couldn't possibly eat another bite, only to be hungry two hours later.

Two business matters:

The Kickstarter project funded today. A huge thank you to everyone that supported Gary on this adventure! It's very humbling, and he's been thinking nice thoughts about all of you, believe me. He's still flabbergasted by the support. You guys are amazing. His notebook is already chock full of stories, and he's only been on the trail for three weeks. I can't imagine how he's going to whittle it all down to fit in one book.
I wanted to remind you of the other sections on this website: Images and Where's Gary Now? Photos will be added every couple of weeks as I get them, so check out Images every now and then. Where's Gary Now? is a map of where he's been and where he's going, and is updated every two to three days so you can see his progress along the 2,180 mile trail with a glance at his giant floating head.

I wish I was half the writer Gary was, so to distract you from my lackluster update, here are a few pics from the trail...