Downunda
01-23-2011, 20:52
I'm sure that you like me have many memorable AT highlights, but have you bothered to put pen to paper? I hiked the AT commencing in 2000 and completing in 2002. As a friend (Boomer 007) was going to hike the AT in 2010 I wanted him to live in the moment and cherish the memories. To help motivate him I sent him my most memorable AT highlights (below).
Downunda's Most Memorable AT Highlights
1. The wonderful people, young, old, rich and poor, on the trail, in the hiker hostels and in the country towns. I met some real characters all with a different life story, some of them sad and some compelling. Great times were had chatting and laughing around the campfire and in the shelter
2. Two episodes of shin splints and one painful knee. Injuries that collectively put me off the trail for a total of 15 days creating the fear that I may not be able to continue
3. In North Carolina I caught a glimpse of a number of marmots just before they dove into a stream (they saw me approaching)
4. One morning whilst hiking alone through the forest (on a gentle uphill grade) I noticed how absolutely still and quiet it was. No birds, no wind. The only sounds I could hear were the occasional creaking of my backpack straps along with my foot fall. I’m sure I could hear my heart beating
5. Stormy… I happened at night in a shelter in the Smokys during a wild thunderstorm. The shelter was packed, so much so that two young hikers (Hollywood and Chalkboard) lay crossways in the shelter entrance. It must have been about 8:00pm and out of the storm came a petite female “senior” hiker. She introduced herself as a retired FBI agent who’s trail name was “Stormy” The trail name came from the fact that each time she did a section hike the weather was atrocious.
Stormy announced that she was going to sleep outside in her hammock but asked for a little room at the edge of the shelter to cook her dinner. It was an almost unbelievable spectacle as she fired up her tiny Trangia alcohol burner and effortlessly cooked a three course meal no less (soup, mains and a desert). After the meal Stormy then disappeared into the night not to be seen again! After she left some a wag at the back corner of the shelter (Relic) said he wouldn’t have been surprised if Stormy had whipped up a sponge cake!
6. It was at Cow Gap Shelter in Virginia… After dinner I was in my tent by the pond and was totally exhausted and dehydrated. The amazing thing was the racket being kicked up by the Peepers in the pond. There must have been thousands of them. One would start peeping then another, then another until hundreds more had joined in. Then they would suddenly stop and a few minutes later it would all start over again. This must have gone on for over an hour! I never did find out what a peeper was.
7. The mosquitoes and the flies… how did I survive them!
8. Two extremely difficult northbound climbs, one was The Priest in Virginia (how many false summits can there be?). The other was the Mahoosuc Arm in Maine. Other climbs may be steeper or longer but these were the ones I really felt
9. Meeting up with my long time friend from Digital, Steve Webber. Steve took time off from work to meet me at Dalton Massachusetts. We spent a couple of days together male bonding and just relaxing. A time I will always treasure
10. Spending the night alone in “The Dungeon” at the Lake of The Clouds hut at the base of My Washington. I have never been so cold for so long. I had all of my clothes on and I still couldn’t stop shivering.
11. Amazing cloud formations seen during the northern Maine summer and meeting a family from Portland out in the middle of nowhere who were having a picnic at the side of a logging road
12. Camped alone beside Rainbow Lake in Maine… It was early evening and I was lying in my tent listening to the gentle rain accompanied by the haunting cry of the Loons. It was a magical experience never to be forgotten
13. Sitting on the trail on a mountain top in somewhere in Maine gorging on wild blueberries that were growing abundantly on the edge of the trail. It was heaven. I’ve not tasted blueberries like that since.
14. Pegleg (Richard Turcotte), the late manager of the Andover Hostel. I'll never forget his friendly welcome and the can of coke when he picked up us exhausted hikers from the trail. R.I.P. Pegleg.
Downunda's Most Memorable AT Highlights
1. The wonderful people, young, old, rich and poor, on the trail, in the hiker hostels and in the country towns. I met some real characters all with a different life story, some of them sad and some compelling. Great times were had chatting and laughing around the campfire and in the shelter
2. Two episodes of shin splints and one painful knee. Injuries that collectively put me off the trail for a total of 15 days creating the fear that I may not be able to continue
3. In North Carolina I caught a glimpse of a number of marmots just before they dove into a stream (they saw me approaching)
4. One morning whilst hiking alone through the forest (on a gentle uphill grade) I noticed how absolutely still and quiet it was. No birds, no wind. The only sounds I could hear were the occasional creaking of my backpack straps along with my foot fall. I’m sure I could hear my heart beating
5. Stormy… I happened at night in a shelter in the Smokys during a wild thunderstorm. The shelter was packed, so much so that two young hikers (Hollywood and Chalkboard) lay crossways in the shelter entrance. It must have been about 8:00pm and out of the storm came a petite female “senior” hiker. She introduced herself as a retired FBI agent who’s trail name was “Stormy” The trail name came from the fact that each time she did a section hike the weather was atrocious.
Stormy announced that she was going to sleep outside in her hammock but asked for a little room at the edge of the shelter to cook her dinner. It was an almost unbelievable spectacle as she fired up her tiny Trangia alcohol burner and effortlessly cooked a three course meal no less (soup, mains and a desert). After the meal Stormy then disappeared into the night not to be seen again! After she left some a wag at the back corner of the shelter (Relic) said he wouldn’t have been surprised if Stormy had whipped up a sponge cake!
6. It was at Cow Gap Shelter in Virginia… After dinner I was in my tent by the pond and was totally exhausted and dehydrated. The amazing thing was the racket being kicked up by the Peepers in the pond. There must have been thousands of them. One would start peeping then another, then another until hundreds more had joined in. Then they would suddenly stop and a few minutes later it would all start over again. This must have gone on for over an hour! I never did find out what a peeper was.
7. The mosquitoes and the flies… how did I survive them!
8. Two extremely difficult northbound climbs, one was The Priest in Virginia (how many false summits can there be?). The other was the Mahoosuc Arm in Maine. Other climbs may be steeper or longer but these were the ones I really felt
9. Meeting up with my long time friend from Digital, Steve Webber. Steve took time off from work to meet me at Dalton Massachusetts. We spent a couple of days together male bonding and just relaxing. A time I will always treasure
10. Spending the night alone in “The Dungeon” at the Lake of The Clouds hut at the base of My Washington. I have never been so cold for so long. I had all of my clothes on and I still couldn’t stop shivering.
11. Amazing cloud formations seen during the northern Maine summer and meeting a family from Portland out in the middle of nowhere who were having a picnic at the side of a logging road
12. Camped alone beside Rainbow Lake in Maine… It was early evening and I was lying in my tent listening to the gentle rain accompanied by the haunting cry of the Loons. It was a magical experience never to be forgotten
13. Sitting on the trail on a mountain top in somewhere in Maine gorging on wild blueberries that were growing abundantly on the edge of the trail. It was heaven. I’ve not tasted blueberries like that since.
14. Pegleg (Richard Turcotte), the late manager of the Andover Hostel. I'll never forget his friendly welcome and the can of coke when he picked up us exhausted hikers from the trail. R.I.P. Pegleg.