Backpack woes are over! Thank you Kymit and Go2outfitters!

Yes that's right! My issues with my backpack have been resolved! Gary over at Go2outfitters saw my post and immediately contacted the Klymit rep Tanner. From there they sent me a new pack in Damascus that just arrived! The new one has thicker shoulder straps and stronger seams. Very happy with the level of customer service Klymit has shown me! Thank you Go2outfitters and Klymit! The level of support some gear companies and retailers show to hikers is very impressive.

Yes I'm wearing a tye dye Dollywood sweater and an elementary school gym outfit. They were loaner clothes while I was doing laundry.

Rescue on the mountain.

The mountains can teach a person. The lessons can come hard and easy. Occasionally, the lessons are life threatening. That's the kind of lesson three men experienced the other night on top of Thunderhead Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

-Thru hikers, section hikers, and park rangers on horseback the next morning updating each other on what was happening with the trio.

I was fast asleep in Spence Field Shelter. I was uncomfortably huddled close to the wall due to a leak in the roof that splashed next to my head. Around four in the morning the rain had slowed and the leak was no more. I awoke and noticing this I decided to take advantage of it and stretch my cramped legs. As soon as I had finished my stretches a very wet and cold man burst into the shelter and announced,

" Hello?! Is anyone awake? Please. My dad is hypothermic from the cold and stuck on the mountain!"

Being already awake and knowing the dangers of hypothermia I immediately jumped up and grabbed my backpack. I dumped everything on the floor and started grabbing everything that I could spare to help a person with hypothermia. I grabbed my Mylar emergency blanket, my thick down snow jacket, and a packet of hand warmers. I put my windbreaker, down vest, and poncho on. As soon as I had jumped to act another thru hiker and three section hiking college kids followed my lead. Someone asked if anybody had a jetboil so I threw mine into my pack. I donned my pack and quickly asked the man what his dad's name was. 

He replied, "Brad". 

I turned and headed out of the shelter. When I got outside the fog was so thick that I couldn't see the end of my trekking pole if I stuck it out straight. During the .2 miles of side trail to the AT I played with the high, low, and off settings of my headlamp trying to determine which was best in this fog, it was low. As I hiked the next few miles I was stepping in puddles almost shin deep. Thousands of thoughts were running through my head at this time. From the effects and dangers and cures of hypothermia to whether or not it was stupid of me to head out alone. But I'm a thru-hiker and as such I'm prepared for all the conditions because I WILL face them all. So mentally reassuring myself I hiked on a little bit faster. Just as I was thinking that there was no chance of finding him I turn a corner and see gear spread out everywhere and a red sleeping bag on the ground. The sleeping bag had a sleeping pad and a person in it, except the pad was on top of the person instead of underneath. 

I approach the bag and say loudly "Brad!". The man wakes up and starts crying tears of joy at seeing my headlamp shine into his face.

"Are you Brad?" 

"No. My names Jason. Brad is my father in-law. I'm so happy to see you. I thought I was going to die out here." 

"Well its okay Jason your brother in-law made it to the shelter and sent me and some other hikers out here to help you and your father in-law. I'm here to help."

In the next five minutes I took off his soaking wet cotton jacket and replaced it with my thick down jacket. I also wrapped him up in a mylar emergency blanket and cracked open some handwarmer packets and told him to stick one between his legs and under his armpit. As I got out my Jetboil to try and get some hot tea going two other hikers from the shelter approached me and Jason. I informed them of who this was and that the father was still out there somewhere, probably in a worse condition. They pushed on together to find the father. Just after they left two more hikers showed up this time it was a thru hiker with an EMT background named Frye as well as a section hiker coming to help. The section hiker pushed on to help his friends find the father and me and Frye stayed to assist Jason. We discovered he had fallen on his knee and it was pretty badly swollen. On top of that he was diabetic. So we warmed up some hot tea and had him drink it slowly. During this time he was in quite a traumatic state explaining he had a 5 month old son whom he thought he wasn't going to see again. After we warmed him up we grabbed his diabetes medication out of his pack and had him put one arm over each of us. We wanted to get him moving as fast as possible for three reasons. One, we were on an exposed ridgeline. Two, we wanted to get him to shelter and warmth as fast as we safely could. Three, once he started moving his body that and adrenaline would naturally warm him or at least give him a mental advantage. The next hour or so we made very slow progress over the rough terrain that is the Appalachian Trail in the smokies, the puddles were about shin deep and the fog was still very thick. By the time we made it to the shelter we found it was about 7 o clock in the morning. 

After we made it to the shelter I immediately started making him a hot dinner, Chicken Fried Rice. The other people in the shelter had hot chocolate going for all the rescue hikers and the hypothermic ones as well. Tric had been on the phone with 911 and the ranger station down in Cade's Cove and was organizing the search effort as best she could with the limited amount of working phones that we had. The rangers were coming in on horseback and we were told they would be getting here at 9:30 am. While waiting, one of the hikers came back with word of the father. The first two hikers had past him without seeing him and went to the next shelter and were warming up there. The solo and last hiker discovered him and did everything he could to warm him up but with no real tools or experience he did the best he could then came back with the information so we could do more. At this time some thru hikers starting their day came to the shelter and Frye asked them if on their way north they could keep an eye out for the father. They agreed. 

Over the next few hours we had to keep Jason awake and warm; he was shivering non stop hours after the incident. The other thru hikers found the father, as did one of our hikers coming back this way from the other shelter. The father was in no condition to be moved so they kept him warm right there on the ridge until the rangers arrival. The rangers arrived at about 1 o clock. When they did they had already got the complete story as it happened through Tric and were up to date on the situation. They were very professional and a great man and woman. Jason was taken out of the backcountry on horseback, the brother in-law hiked out with them, the father was evacuated out with a helicopter.

Knox news article.

--------------------------------

What can we learn from this?

Plan your hike.

          Research weather. Research terrain. Underestimate the amount of miles your going to do everyday. Once you do enough planning, coordinate your gear accordingly. Take rain gear and a shelter, even if regulations say you can't tent. Bring one for emergencies.

Get the right gear.

          These guys had a 30-40 degree sleeping bag, no shelter, all cotton clothes, seven bottles of iodine, no tent. PLEASE plan accordingly, if you don't know, call the park service and ask! Your local outfitter would be glad to help! No Cottons!!!

Don't plan to accomplish more than your ready for.

           For two of these guys this was their first or second hike. They bit off a lot more than they could chew.

Be safe while hiking in the backcountry.

           They chose to skip a shelter with nightfall coming and an intense thunderstorm. They were also hiking onto a ridge. I know VERY experienced mountaineers who would not make the call to push on that night. Bad choice.

Help can be a LONG way away.

           They were very lucky it was peak hiker season. Lots of us experienced hikers were there to help. Had we not been they would have been waiting it out alone for about 10-15 hours until the rangers got there. IF they were notified at all. Also, us thru-hikers are living very specifically out of our gear and food bags. Because I made him dinner, I was a dinner short for the week. Because I hiked in those crazy puddles I need new shoes. I took the chance of my nicest warm layer being ruined by offering it to him. I'm happy to do this, but for another hiker to offer so much is really, really hard to do.

Family Emergency Update and New Game Plan

So I had to get off the trail again to celebrate the life of my wonderful grandmother. I left Wednesday morning and will go back Friday morning. She was such a wonderful woman and extremely supportive of everything I've ever done. I would like to thank everyone that has supported me or my family during this time. It has been difficult but it makes it easier when you have such a loving family to go through it with you.

Me and her had a special bond. But then again, she had a special bond with everyone in her life. That's what made her so special. I was her birthday present on January 23, 1991. Ever since then we have shared a birthday full of love and tater tot casserole (our traditional birthday dish). Only a couple of years ago I found out that when I was an infant I almost got sick and it could have been very dangerous for me. She stayed up all night with me and made sure I was ok. She would have done anything for any of her 29 grand children. She was a spectacular grandmother, and that's how I'll always remember her. Now I hike the trail not only for myself, but also for her. She made me promise I would finish the trail for her. She was always ao encouraging! I love that lady! :)

                            ~~~~

On another note. I have decided that the town visits I've experienced so far here in the beginning section of the trail are a bit to full of the greed and consumerism that the trail was created to help you escape. So I am going to stretch the time I go between towns a little farther. Instead of 4-7 days between I hope to do 10-14 days between towns. This will help me get in touch with a little more nature. And  a little less of people that just want to profit off of hikers. But it also means that I have to carry almost double the weight in food. 

Virtual Hike: Hiking in the clouds. (and rain) AT Mile 60.

Because of the low lying clouds in the Appalachian range on rainy days you usually end up hiking in an eerie fog. But that fog is actually a cloud that has shrouded the mountain your on. It makes for a very interesting hiking experience. Because of this nature of storm, its rare when you actually end up in a drenching thunderstorm, like what you experience often in Florida. Most of the time its just this very wet fog.

Hiking all day and getting sweaty and wet can be very dangerous in the mountains. You have to be prepared for unexpected wind chills and cold fronts in these conditions. For safety I hike with all of my gear and dry clothes in waterproof containers (Dry Bags). I always have a warm dry pair of clothes to get into after hiking, as well as a very stable tent, and warm goose-down sleeping bag that will keep my dry and warm as I sleep.

A good example is last year coming out of the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). After the NOC it is about a 6-mile uphill section of trail. I hiked this in a light drizzle, during my hike my rain jacket got me sweaty and my hands were wet from the rain. On the trek uphill it was partly cloudy, with the sun peeking through at steady intervals. Once I reached the top of the mountain, and got on the other side of it, everything was frozen. The trees were leaf-less and icy, an eerie contrast from the bright green foliage on the other side of the mountain. I started to worry because I immediately began to shiver and my hands began to feel extremely cold due to the wetness and the wind hitting them. I started clenching and unclenching my hands on my trekking poles to keep the blood flowing. I zipped up my rain jacket tight even though I was wet underneath; to keep in any warmth I had. Fortunately the shelter was only a half mile down the trail and I made it there in only a few minutes at a slight jog. I was able to immediately change and get into my sleeping bag. After I warmed up a bit I cooked some hot food and was back to normal. I stayed up for quite awhile and watched my first experience with snow drift out of the clouds and gather on the trees and ground. You don't get any snow in Florida. :>

After that day I learned my lesson about how fickle the weather in the mountains can be.

Ron Haven and The Budget Inn

The following is my opinion based on personal experience:

Ron Haven...

Owner of the budget inn in Hiawassee, GA and Franklin, NC.

Ex wrestler. 

Ex? Macon county commissioner.

We were trying to find our way to the budget inn from the microtel we were staying at. So we walk to the nearby three Eagles outfitters to ask them about shuttles around town. As soon as we ask, the budget inn shuttle pulls up to the parking lot. So at this point we are thinking "great!". We hop on the shuttle and say hello to the driver which turns out to be Ron Haven. We sit down and before we drive off he asks us if we are staying in town. We reply yes. He says "are you stayig with the budget inn?" And we honestly reply "no we are staying with the Microtel but we have packages at the budget inn." And he immediately says "well than you can get off." I ask him if we can pay for a shuttle to the budget inn so that ghost and nine can get their re supply boxes that were shipped there. He says "no." So we had to walk two miles to get to our re supply boxes.

Now this guy has "trail angel" painted on his van. As well as a sign that says "free hiker shuttle". Also, his van is the same exact van the local public transportation uses, and after asking locals they tell us that the city gives him things like that van to help hikers and get them to and from town. 

A trail angel is an angel. They help hikers when their needed most and never for their own gain. They are amazing men and women that build the community on the trail into what it is.

Now let's examine the services he offers:

Our hiawassee budget inn room had a cold shower, a tv with only 2 buttons (volume up and channel down), dirty sheets and chairs. And our room was missing light bulbs (because apparently "people use them for drugs" according to the house maid) Cost-$55 ("rates vary")

Much the same room if not worse offered in Franklin. All of their rooms have a history of bedbugs according to everybody I asked. Last year at the Franklin Budget Inn my roommate and I were so worried about getting bedbugs there, we covered the beds with our tarps. Cost-$55 ("rates vary").

Microtel: 

Free continental breakfast (x2 if you check in early enough). Hot clean showers. Clean rooms. Clean sheets. Good tv and channels. Professional staff. Cost-$66

My advice:

Do not patron Ron Haven or the budget inn. You will not be helping anyone and will most likely have a bad experience.

Macon county does a three dollar shuttle that runs around Franklin and winding stair gap all day.

In hiawassee stay with either the top o Georgia hostel, or the holiday inn.

In Franklin stay with the Microtel.

Sorry Ron, but you should treat all hikers (and people) with respect. Not just the ones filling your wallet.

Inspiration

During my hikes on the trail I have met some very inspiring people. And I thought this deserved its own post. 

In today's world many of us tend to complain about a lot in our lives. And it's the same in hiking. We complain about the roots, the rocks, the heat, the cold, etc. But then there are a select few that just make all of us look like jerks and can really make you grateful and humble. There are have been blind hikers, wounded veterans, the youngest was 5, the oldest was 81, there have been people with cancer, and People that have had knee operations. So many examples.

When I tell a lot of people what I plan on doing its accompanied a lot by "Oh! I'd love to do that but....". What I have learned from the amazing people I've met out here is that you only have one life, and before you can't do them anymore  do the things you've always dreamed of doing; and don't forget that it could always be worse! Whether it's hiking or not you should do it!