The trail: the great communicator... a.k.a dames and trail names

Welcome to Hiawassee, Georgia population: 800 length of town aproximatly 2 miles, number of stop lights: 2.

You know when the church is the tallest building in town, you're in the south. But getting in to town is really great, all be it a little disallusioning. Wait so your saying i can just buy any food i want right off the shelf? like anything? If there was any advice i could give to those attempting a thru-hike it would be to get a water filter. Those who know me are aware that there are 3 things i am afraid of: spiders, anything floating in my water, and commitment. and boy do those water tablets leave a crap ton of floaties, sometimes mica and minerals and sometimes whole mosqiuto parts. Also ill be damned if after filtering a tiny muddy trickle of dirty and smelly stream water a water filter will have it coming out tasting like an ice cold bottle of poland springs. Anyway one week on the trail! huzzah break out the cheap champagne and double cheesburgers. I would say i've got a pretty good taste of trail life, which usually consists of a plethora of different people and beautiful views as well as a scheduele that has me in bed by 9 and awake by 7. There's the meandering snail who i met on my first night at the shelter. A 5'10 280 pound hari-krishna who had just come back not 14 days ago from a 6 year stay in an ashram in india (basically a monastery for krishnas). He was on his 12th day of a 30 day fast and had made it about 11 miles in those days. But not 5 feet away from him sat blues clues, a psychotherapist with his own practice in Boston. The trail is the great equalizer, you could have a harvard degree or a 2 felony record and by the end of the day everyone is cooking there ramen and discussing all of their aches and pains. How much mileage we are planning on doing tomorrow, the beautiful views and that bastard of a mountain who almost broke my ankle! Surprisingly the trail is about 70/30 guys and girls which is great because from experience i know that too much testosterone in one place is not a good thing.

from left: sink, ultra violet, button, and naked ninja at the mountain crossing hostel at neels gap. But i need to share with you the greatest 4 words that any thru-hiker can hear. its not "warm bed and shower" or "lookin like no rain" no its all you can eat. And eat all i could i did oh me brothers, i ate and i ate until i couldn't make up me rasoodock what to do with myself.

that first bite of real food was.... indescribable. and by the end of the meal, the taste of butterscotch pudding and whipped cream still rich on my tounge. I was grateful, i appreciated, and i knew there was nowhere else i would rather be then at that table with my friends, pure bliss. As far as my trail name(s) go i have gone through about 3 first was while in a shelter with Jason and Linda (two hippie folks carrying a ukelele and a fiddle whom i got along with real well until we split ways at woody gap). I wasn't sure whether to go on to the campsite or call it a very early night, and of course i lucked out as this was the day i landed that great spot on Justus mountain. So as im re-packing/un-packing Travis says jeez so what the hell are you going to do? I said yeah i'm an indecisive bastard and almost immediatley linda says, hey theres your trail name! I'll call you indecisive bastard steven I.B.S -__-. Then theres sink and his group who i've been keeping steady pace with pretty much a big group of farm boys. When i told them i'd come from Jersey and had lived there for quite a long time he thought i looked like quite the Jersey boy and so the name "Jersey" stuck. Then came a name i was actually happy with.. I loves me some canned cheese and my plan was to get a bottle every week and just suck down the plasticy goodness for some quick protein and calcium. However, my pack had other plans.. The end of the bottle ended up depressing with the force of my hiking and i opened up my food bag to find a greasy, wet, ball of cheese through the entirety of the bag. This was 3 days away from town mind you and dumping anything thats not poop onto the ground is very frowned upon. So i had 3 days of picking out bags of ramen noodles, slim jims, and chocolate from the gooey mound of mess i had created. When i had finally reached the hotel room dumping that cheese out was the only thing on my mind. My three bunk mates washed as i globbed out the sticky yellow paste like a waterfall into the trash can. But this was not enough, the cheese seemed to have lined the bag entirely and the only relief was to flood it with shower water. After leaving a slime trail of cheese behind me and generally pissing off everyone in the room the name "cheese wiz" was born.

Bonus shot: thats firewalker in the "casino" (really a backroom with poker chip table clothes stapled to the wall, 2 video slots and a battery powered disco light) in the back of a thrift shop.

I'm dirty, sweaty, chafing

and i love it, ok well not the chafing but i'm working on that. Fortunately i made it to mountain crossing shelter in time to get a bunk, a shower, and a meal. So here's the scenario for you readers: It's the second day and after spending the night at a shelter with justin and linda i had made it 5.5 miles to the next shelter, it was only 1 p.m and they wanted to stop there for the night, so i ate lunch and set up my sleeping bag. But at a point i realized its 5 hours till dark, i wanted to tent and i still had some more hike in me. So i notice the next campsite is 6 miles away, hmm i usually average close to 2 miles an hour... challenge accepted. So I head out. However i hadn't yet been familiarized with the elevation chart in my book. So it turns out i had to hike 2 gigantic mountains. I reach horses gap, the spot between the two mountains and its right next to the road. Hmm momma always said not to camp by a road, i notice 2 guys sitting in there truck in the parking lot. He asked were i was from and we started talking, i realized the guy in the drivers seat was shooting something up and i saw the fresh needle hole on his forearm. "we'r pickin roots out of the ground fer the park. We get 20 bucks for erry hundred" . So either i could stay here and risk them finding out the sticks i was holding was worth 130 or hike up the next 3,300 ft mountain. .... So i reach the next gap and decide to camp at the next spot i see. It just so happens that is this:

3,300 feet on top of justus mountain. There was still some daylight left and so i could see an entire town (insert name here when remembered) unfortunately a picture couldn't do justice to the glory of the view.The best part about this is, i had it all to myself. My fear of the trail being crowded was apparently quite unfounded. I have just about as much time alone as i do with friends and i can choose more or less of either. The days usually end up with me and the group of 4 or 5 people i started with getting our gear un-packed, trading moonshine (thanks sink!) and stories around a fire till we are all so exhausted we curl up in our bags and fall instantly asleep. So its been 4 days and i can confidently say that i love it out here. It's also fun to adapt to the ways of living in the woods. Because the woods are definitely not going to adapt around you. Bugs trying to get at your sweet eye juices at night? Put a bandanna over them. Is your ipod doing barrel rolls in your tent? Put a bandanna on that bitch! As you can tell my bandanna has become a part of my head.

^this is my kitchen sink, mind you this is not some run off down stream this water is literally shooting out of this 4,400 ft tall mountain. I have yet to encounter any terrible weather while hiking (although about 20 minutes ago it was hailing out). So maybe the gods will stay on my side and not serve up anything terrible.. that would be nice. maybe some offerings to zues so i dont get struck by lightning. Anyway, i could sit here and write for hours on all the people i've met and things that have happened but its time to get back on the trail. It also appears this computer has managed to pick up every virus ever made since 1999. But i'm alive, i'm happy, and i'm ready for whatever the trail has in store for me next. Bring it on.

The world shines as i cross the macon county line.

Its all coming together now, i leave tomorrow to begin my journey. I'm in Dawsonville, Georgia  at the luxury super 8 (mini fridge in room constitutes luxury in these parts) and just seeing all of the trees starting to bloom on the hills is making me want to wander out towards the woods. I must say i was fortunate enough to have a great group of family and friends behind me (that means you mom and dad!), if it weren't for all of you guys i wouldn't be able to do this.

Its funny to see all of the planning that has lead up to this and just how beneficial that has been. I'm more focused and excited than i have ever been. I've seen a spike in my interest for meeting people, i've become a better listener not only to others but to myself. I know that this time that i will have to explore will be a huge point of growth for me. Who knows whats around the next hill, the next horizon. I leave for this trip not only with the knowledge that i will be seeing and inviting new people and experiences into my life, but that i will be saying goodbye to what i've held so dear in these past few years. Goodbye to the internet, to the comfort and familiarity of my friends, family, and warm cozy bed, the instant gratification of a delicious big box from tacobell while drunk. Goodbye to my adorable little puppies, more importantly.... goodbye to me.

Of course none of that means dick if i can't actually hike the beginning of the thing. So its a good thing i've got some people to hike the way up with. My sister, and mother will be hiking the approach trail located at Amicalola Falls State Park to springer mountain. The 8.1 mile approach trail is touted by many as a very difficult hike, even by those who thru-hike. Perhaps  its difficulty has to do with it being the first long stretch of hike with elevation change (2,000 ft) that many hikers have done, including myself and entire hiking party. So will we all give up and retreat to the  hotel, back to the stale pizza crust and busch light- the answer to this and more in the next installment of the inexperienced hiker!

4 days to go

I ended my time in jersey as most do, in a hotel with gastroenteritis. But being a 2 minute drive away from rei has put me in a comfortable place with what i'm bringing.

Home till September

So with 2 months of what i would call training, i end up with a 35 pound backpack, a whole new level of anticipation and few(er) worries. I hope that my strategy of rolling with the blows and reminding myself of why i'm doing this will keep me going.

So, why am i doing this?

I realized that i have a passion for adventure, the new and unknown experiences in life. I also think that accomplishing goals and working hard towards something gives great insight into yourself.
So i throw myself at the mercy of mother nature with only the belongings on my back. 6 months of new challenges, new highs, new lows and hopefully no bears. 

psh i aint afraid of no bears