Fontana Dam 162.2 miles

Fontana Dam was built in the early 1940's by the Tennessee Valley Authority. It is also the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the AT goes through the entire backbone of the park.

Here I have decided to take my first "zero" day with the same group of guys I have been with for almost two weeks now. We are staying at the Fontana Lodge, which has all the amenities. Pool, spa, game room, library, bistro etc. About 50% of these amenities are currently out of order or closed for the season. Awesome. I can't complain though as it is only $25 to stay in a room packed with 5 hikers for two nights.

My trail name has become "slapshot." Obviously because of my love for hockey and constant craving for Capitals updates. Oddly enough slapshot is the name of the Capitals mascot.

Franklin, NC 107.7 miles

After a wonderful stay at the Holiday Inn express we hit the trail again. I am currently hiking with the same British guys, Al and James, as well as, Nate (an airforce guy) and a couple of guys from Massachusetts, Samurai and Twigs. I had seen Nate and his friend Tom at Springer and along the way. Today I found out Tom is a Phi Psi from Missouri. Small world. I also met a guy on the trail from Steamboat Springs, CO. This is a small ski town in the Rockies which I randomly drove through this summer. Small world.

Forrest Gump best describes the weather of the past couple of days. "We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night... " In this weather we reached the state border of GA/NC. The rest of the evening was cold and wet. By the time I reached the shelter I was drenched. Everything in my pack was drenched. Luckily there was no room in the shelter, as a group of high-schoolers smugly occupied every spot. Thus I set my tent up in the rain, cooked, and went to sleep. About 30 minutes later I awoke to a flash of lightning that appeared to strike just yards away from my tent. After awhile I got accustomed to the storm and feel back asleep. In the morning there were two inches of snow of the ground and on my tent. I didn't know it was possible to have a thundersnow storm but apparently it is. Fortunately my gear and clothes were no longer wet but frozen.

With a pack of frozen/wet supplies we decided to head back into a notorious trail town, Franklin, NC. This town is pretty much owned by a man named Ron Haven, who is a legend among hikers. He owns three motels in town and drives a hiker shuttle, which is a converted "short but," which looks like Ron painted himself.

Hiawassee, GA - 67.5 miles

Everyday I find a new injury that nags me while hiking. I am begging to realize this is normal and part of the process. After Neel's gap I was feeling much better and made it to the post St. Patty's day party at Low Gap. There was a group of former thru hikers that brought hot dogs and beer for all the hikers. B-Man brought a case of my favorite beer, Miller Highlife, and let me indulge. He has thru hiked twice and the past and now throws parties up and down the trail. His friend Geek was along helping, also a former thru hiker. I actually saw these guys a couple of times in the past few days. Both times Geek was taking a midday nap on the ground.

For the past three days I have been hiking with two gentleman from the Isle of Man, near the UK. This has been a perfect opportunity for me to perfect my British accent. Yesterday I had them speak in American accents while I tried my British tongue. Very entertaining. My favorite is their American pronunciation of the word "water", which we saw like "wadder."

We hiked to Dick's creek gap where we met a guy named Grits who had burgers waiting for us. Then we jumped on the back of a pickup and a man named Mike drove us down the winding road going 60 mph. We are spending the night in a small town called Hiawassee, for a resupply and hot tub.

Neels Gap - 30.7miles

The AT starts atop Springer Mountain, GA. In order to reach it you must hike the "approach trail" which is 9 miles straight up. It is more like hiking the Sears Tower than a mountain. There are literally over 500 stairs to climb just to get past the 1st section. After I reached the top of Springer I realized many people get a ride to a road that is just 0.9 miles from the summit. They are the smart ones.

I thought with my experience this summer I was a good hiker. This was until I saw my sister and her dog Taylor hike. Had we let the dog loose it would probably be to Katahdin by now.

One reason the trail is greater than the "real" world is the people. The kindness of everyone is overwhelming. I have gotten more free food than I did even in college. If you bump into someone at a bar or in the streets of Chicago you are more than likely going to end up in a fight or get shot. Here the response is, "sorry man", "my bad bro", or my favorite "no worries."

Thus far the hike has been much harder then I originally expected. After two days I finally got used to all the uphill climbs; however, my knees and feet are taking a beating. I have added Ibuprofen to my trail mix to help.

Currently I am in a hiker hostel and it may be the coolest place on earth. Bed, shower, dinner, breakfast, laundry and internet all for under $20. I am watching Moby Dick with a guy who has been here for a couple days. Fantasia is up next.

There is a St. Patty's day party at Low Gap tonight which I don't think I will be able to get to. In addition I had no green clothes to wear. Lucky the cover to my sleeping pad is green and I wore that on my head. Looked like a green version of the Pope's hat.

Tis' the Season

At this time of year, I would be making the final push at school and preparing for summer vacation. A year ago my grades were steadfast after 3.5 years of studying, barring a two month long academic meltdown. This meant I was anticipating mid-week trips to the Indiana dunes, bonfires, the 9am baseball club, and campus golf. Most of these activities required missing a class or an entire day of classes. This was acceptable. My senior year management professor told me the most important thing about senior year was building relationships. I cannot think of a better way to build a relationship than waking up for class, walking out the door, seeing a housemate return from class, replacing our books with gloves, and throwing the baseball around for 2 hours. Thank you Professor Stuck.

Ironically, I feel like I am beginning college for the first time all over again, not finishing it. Many of the same questions are going through my head. Will I like it? Who will I meet? Will I like the food? At least this time I am fairly certain I will not like the food.

I could not be more anxious. Obviously there are common concerns when hiking the AT. Bears, poisonous snakes, freezing temperatures, theft, injury, etc. My biggest fears are none of those. Instead I am worried about rodents. I have heard horror stories of mice and skunks climbing, in, over, and through peoples gear, including the bag they are occupying. If a skunk climbs into my sleeping bag while I am in it, I am dropping my gear and going home. Although it may be more repulsed of my scent than I of it's.

In a couple days I will be joining about 1500 others on the AT. Some have been on the journey for weeks, some are weeks away, some have already quit. I chose my departure time in order to avoid large crowds and the cold as best I can. My sister Sarah is graciously driving me to Amicalola Falls GA, and will join me for the first couple days of the hike.

Preparations

It may sound odd, but I am attempting to prepare as little as possible. Some thru-hikers send themselves 20-30 mail drops along the way in order to resupply. One reason the AT is appealing to me is the freedom. I don't want to be restricted to supplies I send myself months in advance, or to the towns I send them. I am avoiding mail drops. Instead I spend my time contemplating where I will be when the Capitals are in the Stanley Cup. Wherever that turns out to be, it will be near a TV.

I have spent a good amount of time planning what gear I will bring. The two biggest factors for me are weight and price. Weight means everything on the AT. I have heard that you can feel every ounce on your back, considering you must carry each one over 2000 miles. To reduce weight some hollow out toothbrushes, cut maps down, and remove wrappers from power bars to consolidate them into one bag (not recommended - bars will melt and mold into one giant bar). I am not sure I am to that level of obsessiveness but I am conscious of what I am stuffing in my pack.

Gear is already very pricey - lightweight gear, even more so. Luckily I have many of the major pieces needed, (backpack, sleeping bag, pad, etc.), most of which I received as gifts. My mother also has over 20 years of equipment stockpiled, and is allowing me to handpick anything I need. So I am very thankful for all the equipment I have received. Without the generosity of my family and friends I undoubtedly would be further in debt to the government.

For the past week I have been staring at all my gear, which I spread across the entire living room to my parents' displeasure. My pack weighs 25 lbs without food or water. Some "ultralight" hikers get their packs to 12-15 lbs. I can't imagine getting much lighter, without shelling out a few hundred dollars for state-of-the-art alternatives. Thus, I am content on having a slightly heavy pack. I can always change on the go if it becomes a problem. I also considered using the money I save on ultralight gear and hiring a Sherpa to carry my pack along the way. With unemployment still hovering around 10% there must be a decent pool of available Sherpas.

Adventure

For over a year now I have wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT). I came very close to taking my final semester of college off and attempting the trek last March. However my dad advised me to graduate first. So I remained enrolled and received my diploma in May like everyone else.

While staying in school landed me the diploma it did not land me a "real job". I like to go with the trend and blame the economy but I believe it is also due to my uncertainty of what to pursue. I am certain I want to hike this trail and figure since I am jobless I might as well be homeless.

Why do I want to hike? I really don't know. I guess I can say it was inherited due to many family vacations involving hiking/camping; however, I hated hiking when I was younger and would complain during the trip's entirety. That must have been extremely annoying for everyone around me. In fact I wrote a full page apology to my parents, that I didn't end up sending, for being such a brat on those trips, as I had to listen to similar children all day and everyday, while working as a backpacking guide in Idaho this summer.

One winter my family and I took a ski trip to West Virginia. While my sister was out skiing I was in the hotel room watching the main event of the Poker World Series. My mom got so upset that we left the same day. So it is very ironic that, thus far, all I have wanted to do with my adulthood is find adventure.

I can't think of anything much more adventurous than living in the woods and traversing mountains for 6 months. The plan is to start in Georgia and head north to Maine. A member of my church, Van (who I call Herman), advised me to start in Maine and go south, as to go downhill the whole way. Not sure it works like that but we'll see.