THE END

The last three days of my thru hike were great! Thursday night I stayed at Tray Mountain Shelter. I was so happy to have clear, sunny weather that I didn't much care about the high winds blowing through all night. There was a nice couple tenting there as well. We chated around the fire most of the evening, and they gave me part of a Subway sandwich! People are so kind on the trail! There was also a great view that night off to the East from Tray Mountain. The stars were out, and the sunset was gorgeous.



Friday was really fun. I hiked from Tray Mtn to Neels Gap and the famous Walasi-Yi Center. The Walasi is a historic building with an outfitter, hostel and other stuff in it, and the people who run it are great. Pirate, who has been living and hiking the trail for close to 19 years now is a great old man that runs the place. Lumpy is the handyman around there, and talks just like larry the cable guy but better. Lastly there is Richard, who got emphazema at 19 and runs the cash register. I stayed up a little later that night hanging out with everyone. The other two in the hostel went to bed early, and after they were asleep the fellows came down and gave me beer and popcorn. Then we had "Fight Night." They didn't have fight night last friday because "there were a bunch of nerds" there. I could only guess what it was when Pirate pulled out the flower vase. He came in from the next room holding two separte jars of beta fish. So, lumpy rang a bell and fight night began. Pirate poured both beta fish into the same vase, and they started hollarin and slapping money on the table betting on the blue one or the red one. It was hilarious! The funniest part was their comments, especailly when they turned out to not do anything. Pirate goes "I seen em' on the youtube! They rip each uther up in bout 30 seconds." Anyway, that was a really fun night, and I was also glad to be indoors because it's getting pretty cold up in the mountains now.

Saturday I started the hike out of Neels Gap with Blood Mountain. Blood gets it's name from Native American History in the area. The top had great views, and I ended up running into a guy from my business fraternity at UT uptop! Here is a picture from the top. Do you see that brown line in the sky? Air pollution from Atlanta! Can you believe that! Blood Mtn. is 70 miles by road from Atlanta.



At Woody Gap, Saturday, I was eating lunch when another hiker walked up to my picnic table and started talking to me. He was finishing up a thru-hike too. His name was Ballhawk, and we had a great time that night at Hawk Mountain Shelter reminescing about the AT! It was great to spend the last night with another thru. We talked about all the hostels, trail towns, people and everything else trail related until late into the night.

Sunday morning! Time to finish the Appalachian Trail. Saturday afternoon I had come to peace with a lot of things in my head. I had some anxiety about finishing, and transitioning into the next phase of life. Stress is something I haven't really had to deal with at all since beginning the trail, so it was a little hard to manage. I got over it all quickly though. There have been several times during my hike that I have come to tears thinking about being done. The summit was suprisingly a little anti-climatic though. My parents came, and we hiked the last mile together up to the summit! It was great to have them pick me up, and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

At the top I yelled once, but only when prompted by Mom. It was just a really calm and quiet experience. I had pictured it being different, but when I got to the sign I just kinda stood there and stared. 'Wow it's all done now' I thought in my head. 'Time to move on to the next phase of life.' Don't get me wrong though, I was then and am still on cloud 9 from being done. It's just a different kind of cloud 9 than I've experience before. Maybe it hasn't all soaked in quite yet. After all, I did finish pretty quickly, but I think I came to peace with it all and had my own little celebrations all along the way. Dad said it well when we were driving back down from Springer. He said it just goes to show you that it's more about the journey than the destination.







Thank you so much for following my hike. Your comments, support and visits have enhance the entire experience so much for me, and I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate your interest! Thank you for letting me share the experience with yall. I hope you have enjoyed the blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it! This is something that I am going to keep doing as I make the move out West. Today I set up another blogspot that I will be posting on about my experiences out there. It's called Wyroaming, and I hope to make a post every week or two about whatever; job, interests, outdoor trips and whatever else. Thanks again, and let me know if you'd like me to blog about an aspect of the hike I didn't touch on.

THE END!

The Kid

www.wyroaming.blogspot.com

North Carolina - Georgia

Hi Everyone! I am home in Collierville now having finished yesterday! It feels great being completely done! I'm going to make two posts. This one is about my last week on the trail from the Southern Boundary of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park to mid Georgia.

The Smokies were amazing, and probably my second favorite section of the entire trail (behind Maine at number 1). Maybe it is because I was back in the home state, but it was awesome. The colors were great, I had some visits from friends, nice weather, and the views were spectacular! The Appalachian Trail in the park is really nice, and follows the ridge the entire way. Clingmans dome was packed on the Saturday that Nathan and I got there. I'm not a big fan of crowds anymore, but the view from the cement tower was great!

Saturday I hiked into Siler's Bald Shelter, and was so beat from doing long days that I slept from 7:30P to 8:20ish AM. It was glorious. There was a big ole crowd at all the shelters in the park, which made it fun. I met some nice sectioners who gave me fruit, some scouts who had just got back from a trip to Glacier last month, and a bear at the southern end of the park. It was dusk, my favorite time of the day to hike, when I turned the corner of the trail to find a big black bear standing in my way about 40 yards. It really startled me at first! "woah bear, WOAH BEAR!!" I ended up making it climb up this tree, and it wasn't a small one either! So, that was cool. I walked over Fontana Dam around 7:20P, and it was completely pitch black dark out already. There is a shelter there which took me a good while to find in the dark.

Sunday the rain started. All night at Fontana Dam Shelter it poured down rain, and when we woke up it was still raining. Luckily the rain died down for most of that day, but the ground remained wet. My socks weren't even dry for 30 minutes after I started that morning, and stayed wet until Thursday of this past week! I have been super fortunate with weather, having had mostly sunny days for the majority of my hike, and haven't had to deal with continuously wet feet for longer than a day. Well this past week was a dose of reality, or what I'd imagine most hikers go through. Wet leaves are super slick too, and I must have fallen at least 8 or 9 times a day while it was wet out.

The really miserable day was this past Wednesday. Rain, Rain, Rain. The wettest day I have had on the trail yet. My shoes turned into water pumps, and the trail turned into a creek bed. Every 5 to 7 miles I would stop and ring out my socks, which were usually holding a few ounces of water, so I could at least not have the squishing water effect for a small portion of the hike. But again, I is super hard to complain about it all. Thursday the sun came out, everything dried, and I had clear blue skies all the way to the finish. Thursday I also hitched into Hiawasee, Georgia for lunch and my last resupply. It was not the best hitch, but I got a ride from some nice locals after about 20 minutes of thumbing (the second longest I've ever had to wait for a ride). By then I was pretty beat. The rain takes a lot out of me, especially doing large mile days.

The trail has taught me so much. One of the things is being humble. I don't like to talk about miles too much, as some hikers really like to do, but I have to brag just once about this lower section. If I could have slowed it down, I would have without a doubt. I wanted to make it on the weekend though so Dad could come, and I would have more time to pack up, move and visit. Anyway, from Hot Springs, NC to Hiawassee, GA is about 203 trail miles which I completed in 7.5 days. That averages to 27 miles a day! I would have loved to do 15 miles everyday, and slowed it down. The Griswolds and I had this joke going about "slowing it down" which they were going to do after Hot Springs. Again, I don't like to brag about miles, but that I'm pretty proud of, and it is cool to know and find that I'm capable of doing it.

Dan and Summer (The Griswolds) were slowing it down a lot after Hot Springs. They had a friend doing the Smokies with them, and are planning on summitting Springer this upcoming weekend. They were probably my favorite people to hike with. We had a blast together, and I was sad to leave them. Antspants was I lot of fun to hike with as well as Guac and Queso. I have all of their phone numbers and will be keeping in touch for sure. There are some people I would love to talk to and/or visit from my Northbound section, but all I have is their trail name. Oh well, next time I know!

Crossing into Georgia was one of the best feelings I've gotten on the trail yet! There was a sign that simply said "NC-GA" and I let out a big ole yell when passing it; 76.4 miles to Springer from there. O.k. on to the next post about my last 3 days on the trail. Thanks for reading!!

Homestretch

He's in the homestretch! This post by Dad, since Sam has not had internet accress in awhile. The last 5 days he has covered 131 miles, which includes a short day of 16 miles for a visit to Gatlinburg and friends. Jeff and Gary drove up on Friday and met Sam at Newfound Gap. They went to Gatlinburg and ate, then from what I gather Jeff and Gary must have watched Sam eat and then eat again. They slept on the front porch of an outfitter in Gatlinburg, and Saturday went to Pidgeon Forge to watch Julie start a Triathalon. Shortly after the race began, Nathan Berger met Sam and they went back to Newfound Gap. Nathan was going to do an out and back day hike, but Sam talked him into hiking up to Clingsman Dome. At Clingsman, Sam showed Nathan the art of yogying a ride back to his car at Newfound Gap. The break and opportunity to see friends was a blessing. And yes, as Nathan gets older he gets even more like his dad!

The color has been amazing, with lots of reds and oranges from the trees. There has been some rain, and the trail gets a little slick from the wet leaves.

Current location is Nantahala Outdoor Center, 135 miles from Springer Mountain.Over 2000 miles down, and the end is in sight. Well, almost. The plan is for Sheila and I to meet him at Springer Mountain on Sunday for the trip home. I'm not sure if he will fit in the trunk, we'll definately have to find a shower somewhere. I don't know if Sam will have an opportunity to post on the trail again, but he will definitely post again to share his experiences on the last leg.
Sam, Sheila and I really appreciate the interest and support you all have shown in this life experience of his, it has enhanced the experience for all of us.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Hey everyone! I'm in Hot Springs, NC after 4 days of hiking from Greasy Creek Gap. The views have been great since then, and the trail great as well. The peak color change has come and gone I think, and now the forest floor is covered in leaves. Sometimes it's a little hard to see the trail with so many leaves on the ground. I'm enjoying the change of seasons though! You can see through the trees more and more each day to the surrounding ridge lines. I snapped a great picture yesterday of the ridges; one of those classic blue ridge mountain shots where there are 7 or 8 ridges that fade away into the sky. There have been a lot of fantastic views like that lately. One of my favorite times to hike is around dusk. The mountains look much more dramatic in color as the sun sets.

There are parts of the trail through Tennessee and North Carolina that are bald. They are awesome mountain tops with no trees; not above treeline, but just a mountaintop without anything on it but a big grassy meadow. The part of the trail I am hiking now is where most of them are. Sunday I hiked out of Uncle Johnny's Hostel at the Nolichucky River near Erwin. The hike was mostly uphill for 16 miles that day. It was a cruddy way to start the day, and at the time all I could think about was being done. Well, 16 miles later I summitted 'Big Bald.' The view was incredible; 360 degrees of mountains in every direction! AND guess who else was up there...the Griswolds! It was so nice to see them again! I'd heard they were in front of me, and had been looking for them all that day. It was a big lift for the spirits to have great company again. I've been hiking with Dan and Summer and their dog Otis since then!

Yesterday we hit some unreal trail magic! At Allen Gap, we saw a sign that read "Trail Magic: Belgian Waffles, Piccola, Beef Stew, Chili, Ice Cream. From 8A to 6P 10/18 & 10/19." Dan and I looked at each other in amazement. It was one of those things that is too good to be true. What are the odds that it would be this day? So, we followed the directions to this house 300 yards down the highway, and found the place. It was a super nice log cabin with a super nice couple that had thru-hiked in 1999. They lived in Missouri, but missed the trail so much after hiking it that they had to move closer! Now they do trail magic for hikers all the time. We had root beer floats, waffles, a Cuban rice dish and a banana split! It was too good for words! I just happened to be short on food that day as well. Wow!

I'm trying to think of what else. After staying at Greasy Creek Hostel, I got to see Bo on Saturday! It was awesome to see another friend on the trail. Thanks for coming up dude! My merino wool hiking shirt looks like it went through a shredder; something I'm pretty proud of. It is super nice to have new socks; I got them in Damascus. The end is really close, and I'm getting pretty anxious! It is 271.8 miles from Hot Springs, and I have hiked 1907.3 miles total. I will enter the Great Smokey Mountain National Park tomorrow, and pass over Max Patch as well! I have food for 3 days, and the only place to resupply is in Gatlinburg (15m off the trail). I'll be in Gatlinburg (or trying to hitch in) late Friday afternoon or early Saturday, so hit me up all you Knoxville folk if you want to do something in the Mountains this weekend! I ought to have good cell coverage on the ridge line the next few days. I'll make sure to check it. Thank yall so much for following! I look forward to seeing you soon!

-The Kid

Greasy Creek Friendly

Hey yall! I am at Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel near Erwin, Tennessee. The last few days have been great! I've been on the trail for 4 days now, and am cranking out the miles. I'm trying to get done by Halloween, but a few days later is o.k. too. The fall colors have been beautiful! The forest reminds me of fruity pebbles right now. It is especially pretty when it rains. Yesterday it rained for a few hours in the morning, and the water is flowing now!! Today I drank some water from a spring on the top of Roan; the best water I've ever tasted!

Today I hiked the Roan Highlands. Man was it windy!!! Dad & Mr. Bean, it was darn close to the wind in NH. The wind nearly blew me over, and gave me wind burn. The views were amazing though! I'm pretty disappointed that we never went up there, being so close to Knoxville. Anyway, it is an amazing place. I'd recommend it highly to anyone looking for a hike near there that hasn't been before.

I also received a box with cold weather gear today! Thank goodness! It was 28 degrees when I woke up this morning, and I could see my breath as I was hiking today too. Also, I have to brag about how much my friend and I ate the other night. I had 2 roast beef and cheddars, a large fry, 3 slices of pizza and a pint of ice cream. My buddy "Mud" had a #7 from Arby's and an entire meatlovers pizza! It's truely amazing how much we can put away, and I still feel like I'm losing weight.

Thanks again so much for following. I'm using dial-up to make this post! I laughed so hard when it was dialing; haven't heard that in a while. Hope yall are doing awesome!

The Kid

On the Trail Again

Hey Everybody! I made it to Knoxville last night, and am being dropped off tonight in Damascus, Virginia. Tomorrow I will start hiking towards Springer Mountain again!! Woohoo! It has been suprisingly easy once again, to get back to the trail. I have had a great time off, and thanks SO much to the Maxey's, my relatives out in Denver, for an awesome visit and help with everything during my time there!! Can't wait to see yall again in a month!

It is 460 miles until Springer Mountain in Georgia; Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail. I have a lot of drive now, being so close. I'm pretty ready to get done, but am also so grateful and excited to be able to finish! Thanks to all who are following! Until next post!

The Kid

Southbound

Beautiful trail on a beautiful day in Shenandoah National Park


Deer in Shenandoah National Park


Antspants and I


Apple tree in Northern Virginia


Sunset from The Priest


McAfee Knob


Old Orchard Shelter; just North of Grayson Highlands



A picture of the mountains just before Damascus, Virginia.