View Full Version : Jan. 1 starters
As far as I could tell, there were two Jan. 1 starters this year. Trek was one. The other is a young fellow from easter PA, trail name Rocks. They both reached Neels Gap yesterday.
white_russian
01-03-2010, 08:17
Hope they stay warm. I just slept in my back yard last night and it got down to 13.9 degF in the piedmont; the trail must be frigid.
i met them both new years eve on springer! good luck guys! happy trails! :)
kayak karl
01-03-2010, 09:07
As far as I could tell, there were two Jan. 1 starters this year. Trek was one. The other is a young fellow from easter PA, trail name Rocks. They both reached Neels Gap yesterday.
what is this Trek's 10 or 11th time LOL
I wish them both well:)
KK
Thrasher
01-03-2010, 09:41
I met Brenda and Tom at stover creek shelter on the 1st. They said they are going to go at a slow pace to start. They both just retired from teaching at Auburn University.
modiyooch
01-03-2010, 09:48
What about the trail in GSNP? I understand that there was alot of damage before Christmas with downed trees. Do any of these hikers have trailjournals?
No slow start for these guys! Fifteen miles a day right out of the gate.
kolokolo
01-03-2010, 17:50
What a great way to start the year!
:banana
Good luck to everyone on the trail!
what is this Trek's 10 or 11th time LOL
I wish them both well:)
KK
Not quite that many. 7th or 8th, I think.
Trek told me several times to say hi to you, Karl. He plans to miss the Ruck by a couple of days, unfortunately.
I met Brenda and Tom at stover creek shelter on the 1st. They said they are going to go at a slow pace to start. They both just retired from teaching at Auburn University.
Trek mentioned he had seen their TJ, but we didn't run into them New Year's Eve on Springer.
Good luck to them! It was cold the night of the 1st, and brutally cold last night, with several more days of the same predicted.
Bulldawg
01-03-2010, 18:16
Good luck to them! It was cold the night of the 1st, and brutally cold last night, with several more days of the same predicted.
The wife and I usually do the Blood Mountain on the 1st. Well when we got to Neel Gap Friday morning and sat in the hostel with Pirate we started to rethink it. It was like 26F with winds whipping through there Mount Washington style. In fact, Pirate really talked us out of it. We ended up doing a short little hike over to Whitley Gap Shelter and back. It was brutally cold with the wind chill, even in the middle of the day.
Hey, Al, where's that Global warming dude??:eek::eek::-?:-?
Lone Wolf
01-03-2010, 18:21
The wife and I usually do the Blood Mountain on the 1st. Well when we got to Neel Gap Friday morning and sat in the hostel with Pirate we started to rethink it. It was like 26F with winds whipping through there Mount Washington style. In fact, Pirate really talked us out of it. We ended up doing a short little hike over to Whitley Gap Shelter and back. It was brutally cold with the wind chill, even in the middle of the day.
Hey, Al, where's that Global warming dude??:eek::eek::-?:-?
temps in the 20s ain't brutally cold :D
Bulldawg
01-03-2010, 18:22
temps in the 20s ain't brutally cold :D
With no wind it isn't, no. But a wind chill of between -5f and -10f is cold. Too cold to be hiking when you don't have to be.
There were scads of dayhikers on Blood Mountain yesterday (1/2/10), which was even colder than 1/1/10. Some were a tad underdressed for temperatures on the summit. (There was a boy wearing jeans, a Florida Gators sweatshirt, and no hat or gloves.)
It was totally gorgeous up there. I'll put a couple of photos in the gallery in a minute.
Well, one advantage to starting this early if planning on thru-hiking, they can stop a lot more if the weather turns really nasty. Good luck to them.
Cabin Fever
01-03-2010, 19:27
What about the trail in GSNP? I understand that there was alot of damage before Christmas with downed trees. Do any of these hikers have trailjournals?
There are downed trees all over the place in northeast Tennessee. In another thread, I mentioned clearing 50+ blowdowns from my 7 mile section over the holidays.
I believe it was Rocks that Alpine was working with today.
He's lighter and warmer now. :D
Hikers starting this early wont see leaves on the trees until reaching Pa. If there prepared for cold weather , snow and blowdowns the trail wont be as crowded. In the smokies today over 5000 feet the temps. barely got above 0 without windchills and still 6-15 inches of snow on ground. I dont enjoy hiking in the cold weather so I started my hike on May 5th.
stumpknocker
01-03-2010, 22:30
I had a feeling Trek would be starting on the 1st this year. :)
This will be his 8th year in a row for a thru hike!! And most of them have been off the "normal" season....starting in winter.
Good luck to you Trek and to Rock. Here's hoping you both have a good walk!! :)
I believe it was Rocks that Alpine was working with today.
He's lighter and warmer now. :D
Great! We walked with him off and on yesterday. He'd lose us on the flats and downhills (young knees!) and we'd catch him on the uphills, and while he was resting. By the end of the day he was very eager to get a pack shakedown. Very eager. He mentioned a machete, three thick books, several jackets, and a few other things he might be able to jetison.
takethisbread
01-04-2010, 05:47
Petr started on the first.
I have only
The Solemates
01-04-2010, 11:22
we were near cosby knob in the smokies over new years. mt cammerer firetower was breathtaking, literally. It was in the single digits without the windchill....and probably a good -10 or so with the windchill factored in....it was a cold few days out.
Petr started on the first.
I have only
Not sure if you're referring to me but, if so, you're off by a few weeks (did I write that somewhere?). I'm planning on hitting Amicalola on the 28th...if anybody remotely cares.
Petr
Thrasher, are Tom and Brenda planning on a Thru? From one of their TJ entries it appeared that they had very little experience hiking at all.
My hat (balaclava) is off to those that can start January 1st or any time in January or February. From the little cold weather hiking I have done I have found it extremely difficult. Waking up to frozen gear, frozen shelter or frozen fly. Trying to make or eat breakfast, lunch and dinner takes a long time. Getting enough calories throughout the day to stay warm. Walking in snow, ice, frozen ground. Carrying extra gear and weight to survive the long cold nights and the short daylight days. The wind blowing you off the trail. You have got to be tough to do that for week after week. I know some people don't warm up until well into Virginia. MG it's still cold in March.
Good luck to all that are brave enough to get that early start. And Please keep everyone up to date with the struggles you come across that that us setting at home in 68 degrees can only imagine.
.
Thrasher
01-04-2010, 21:59
Thrasher, are Tom and Brenda planning on a Thru? From one of their TJ entries it appeared that they had very little experience hiking at all.
Yep. My wife and I met them at stover creek shelter on their first night and stayed with them there. Tom said they've been planning on thru hiking for a while. Hope they're staying warm.
MedicineMan
01-04-2010, 23:06
at their pace they will deal with sig. snow in the Smokes...i've still got 10 inches from last week and added 3 more over the last 24 hours and i'm just shy of 4000 feet.
The blowdowns in the Smokies weren't that bad. There are always some and there were some a week before Christmas. We went thru just after the 100mph winds and got out a day before the snow. Beautiful!!
300winmag
01-05-2010, 02:23
In the 90's, when I lived in Erie, PA, I backpacked sections in most of Virginia and some in Pennsylvania and saw that most thru hikers were sleeping in the shelters and did not carry tents.
With the revolution in lightweight gear, especially tents like the TarpTent Contrail (which I used to own) and even lighter TT Sublite, etc., do you guys see more thru hikers tenting these days?
(I now live in Nevada and do all my backpacking in the spectacular scenery of the west so I don't get to do the AT anymore.)
Eric
takethisbread
01-05-2010, 07:17
Not sure if you're referring to me but, if so, you're off by a few weeks (did I write that somewhere?). I'm planning on hitting Amicalola on the 28th...if anybody remotely cares.
Petr
Sorry
Maybe I will see you out there then. I will be a little behind you, maybe a week behind. Good luck
kayak karl
01-05-2010, 08:20
I, do you guys see more thru hikers tenting these days?
Eric
NO, hammocking:D
Rockhound
01-05-2010, 08:28
what is this Trek's 10 or 11th time LOL
I wish them both well:)
KK
Just his 8th I believe. Think he still bothers with maps? Hiking the A.T. for him must be as about as familiar as walking to the end of ones driveway. You would think he would pick a different trail by now. Even hikes it the same time every year. Leaves Jan 1st from Springer every year.
Just his 8th I believe. Think he still bothers with maps? ...
Actually, when we were talking this weekend he specifically mentioned that point. He carries maps when he's travelling in the above-treeline, snow-covered areas in New Hampshire. When under snow, the trails are not obvious there, and he also needs to have information about all emergency exit routes readily at hand. Otherwise no maps.
Interestingly, though he normally stays in shelters (which are almost always empty), he does carry a tent.
Sorry
Maybe I will see you out there then. I will be a little behind you, maybe a week behind. Good luck
No worries, just clarifying. It'd sure be awful if WB got cluttered up with misinformation...I can't even imagine!
Good luck to yourself as well. I intend to hike at a relatively fast pace, but who knows really? Hope to run into you.
... ... ... ...
So it just kind of dawned on me that my flight to Atlanta leaves in exactly 20 days and I'm sort of freaking out. In the next three weeks I am: 1) going to 2 job interviews 2) spending a weekend in Boston with a friend 3) seeing patients in AM clinic 4 days a week 4) acclimatizing my dog to his home for the next 4 months 5) studying and taking the final exam of my entire academic career 6) packing up everything I own and moving it into my parent's basement 7) saying goodbye to my family (who, if all goes well, I'll see in 4ish months), friends (same), and my colleagues at school (may never see again) 8) flying to Atlanta, and, finally, 9) walking through that gate at Amicalola of which I've seen so many pictures.
I'm alternately excited, terrified, elated, anxious, full, hungry etc. etc. etc.
I ain't sleepin' so hot.
traildust
01-07-2010, 11:50
Don't worry about the lack of sleep. You will catch up on the trail. Enjoy the chaos. Quiet solitude coming in big doses.