I think I am going to start a little Q&A to answer everyone's questions in the comments, and start a dialogue which is always nice!
So Q&A: How do we gain access to the Internet? We use the library. Some people have blackberries and other devices they use on the trail, but overall people try to limit the amount of electronics they use or bring on the hike. It is kind of the point to get away from our fast paced society. So about once a week we find a town and go to the local public library, which is free.
How did we get the idea of hiking the trail? Nick had a friend a long time ago that did portions of the trail, and it got him interested in it. He is the one that introduced the idea to me, so we decided just to go for it. We like the challenge ourselves...we get to learn about ourselves, others, and about our countryside. It is really nice!
Do we have to register or pay for it? The AT is completely free. They have a non-official registry at Mt. Springer. I think they are just trying to get an idea of how many people are doing the trail. The only thing we have to pay for is food and hostel rooms (about once a week).
Are we using a map? We have a book that is called the Appalachian Pages. It doesn't really give us a map, but it gives us mileages between streams and shelters and elevation changes. Some people do have nice topographical maps though...they are kind of expensive.
How do we defend ourselves from wild animals? So far we have not seen any animals that we needed to defend ourselves against. I think the scariest animals are the dogs people hike with...they will bark and act like they are going to bite sometimes. If we see a bear we are suppose to look big and make a lot of noise to scare it off. Nick makes a lot of spears to protect ourselves from wild hogs when we hear them. I have no idea if that would work though...I was just planning on climbing a tree. The other day in the park we saw three packs by the trail. Nick yelled for people, but nobody answered. Our imagination started running, and we started thinking about kidnappers and such...so Nick made a club out of a limb and planned to club an attacker with that. Ended up the packs belonged to three rangers setting up a weather station.
Here are the pics:
The river leading out from Fontana Dam. You can see the power station and electric lines. The trail goes right over the dam, and the national park starts on the other side.
An island in the dam. This shows how low the lake is. A couple people say this is because of the drought, but one person says this is normal and the dam is used for flood control. The spring rains will fill the lake back up to capacity.
Me standing on the dam.
The sunrise over Fontana Dam the morning we left.
Nick found his king's throne.
Our stove was malfunctioning for lunch the first day in the park. Nick worked on it and got it fixed though.
Nick in a bear trap.
Nick in his new home, living in a hollow tree. It would have made a great home.
Shhhhh...it is a turkey. The first day in the park we saw more wildlife than we have seen the whole trip. We saw a deer, two turkeys, and a couple of squirrels.
Us on top of Rocky Top.
This is the tower on top of Clingmans Dome. The dome is the highest point on the entire Appalachian Trail!!!! It is 6,643 feet.
Okay my pictures are a little messed up here, but I will try to make sense of this. So on top of the tower on Clingman's there were signs talking about acid rain. Everywhere we looked there were dead trees. This is the best picture I could take to capture how many fallen trees were covering the forest floor.
These are the signs explaining the acid rain. Just click on the picture if you need to enlarge it.
Another sign with more info about acid rain. This really inspired me to try to stop polluting as much as I do.
The view of Fontana Dam from Clingmans...we walked from clear down there in three days.
Me on top of the tower. As far as we could see behind me we have walked!
Peter on Clingman's Dome. Peter is hiking as far as he can get by May 15th. He is a house designer from Massachusetts. He is taking advantage of the lull in housing to take time to do this trip.
The camera did not focus on the right thing, but this is a picture of the tower from afar.
More hikers. Rachel and Justin are a couple from Chicago and New Jersey. And Gentle Ben...don't know where he is from, but we are all headed for Maine.
The bottom side of a tree that has fallen. We saw about 20 of these trees. I think they fall because the trees grow on rocks and then it rains so much and the wind just blows them over since they do not have a good anchor into the ground.
This picture is hard to make out, but the thing in the lower left corner is a little bridge over a fence. They are trying to keep the hogs out of this portion of the park so the Beech trees can grow. It is amazing to see the difference in the trees on each side of the fence. Hard to capture in a picture though.
The sign at Newfound Gap. 1972 miles to Katahdin Maine! Newfound Gap was a popular place for the tourists, and this is the first place we felt like rockstars. We were surrounded with people asking questions and wanting to take our picture.
The sunrise at Icewater Shelter.
Nick standing on Charlies Bunion.
Taking in the view from the Bunion.
Me standing on the Bunion.
The view.
It is cold out here!!
This is tri-corner knob shelter it was one of the nicest we stayed at in the park. The park had strict rules about using the shelters. They reserve 4 spots for thru-hikers in the shelter, so they have to be filled before thru-hikers can sleep in their tent. They are trying to minimize the impact to the ground by setting up tents. We stayed at one shelter in the park that had not been redone yet. I forgot to take a picture, but the front side was blocked off with chain link fence. It was kind of strange, but the guys started plotting about how they were going to put peanut butter on the fence so we could see a bear. Come to find out the park has been taking the fences off just because of that reason...at least we didn't really try it.
A brave squirrel. He kept running in the shelter...probably thinking about grabbing some of our food.
Maria and Beth, mother/daughter hiking couple. These ladies are incredibly fast!! They started 6 days after us and they have already caught up and passed us!! They average 18 miles per day.
Mt Cammerer Trail...it leads to a wonderful look out and watch tower.
This is the watch tower...it is really cute!!!
The view of the Smokies from the tower.
A beautiful waterfall right outside the park. We have officially completed the Smokies!
The Pigeon River. It is really nice!!
Snowbird Mountain had this weird building on top of it. The sign below explains it.
Air Traffic Control. It is scary we could have just cut the power to this building. The power lines were exposed and so were the phone lines. 
The view from Max Patch. In this area there are several balds on the mountains where the trees have been cut down. I read that a family used to live on this bald, but then the forest service bought the land to build the trail. Now they just keep it mowed for small planes to land, and to keep this neat appearance. I have also read that they cut the trees a long time ago for grazing pasture.
Nick on top of Max Patch. I think we can see you Olav, flying over the Patch.
This is how Nick really feels on top of Max Patch. It was a long day! We did over 16 miles, it was windy, and we were tired.
The view of the mountains from the Patch.
Okay, so when we were flying from Dallas to Atlanta I met a really nice pilot (Olav) that was sitting next to me. (No he wasn't the pilot for that specific flight). We talked about us trying to hike the AT, and he told us all about his experience with the trail. He's from Spain, and he was an exchange student in Florida in high school. His "American" mom hiked the entire trail in sections over several years, and she donated this particular shelter. When the pilot was talking about the shelter to me I was thinking in my head it would take forever to get this point in the trail, but here we are....the Roaring Fork Shelter!! This shelter had the best tent sites!!!
The privy at the shelter, which was very nice! It is amazing that I am perfectly comfortable going to the bathroom with people watching me now....weird.
The official plaque in the shelter stating the Mountain Marching Mamas (his mom and her friend's trail name) donated this shelter.
Sitting around the fire at the shelter chatting with other hikers drinking some "shine."
2 comments:
Wow You guys are doing good. You are really missing out at home though. We are having us a big time Blizzard. Jed left awhile ago and called and said there are cattle out everywhere, so I guess he will be busy for a while. They even canceled the cattle sale. Fantastic photos keep them coming. Take care and travel safe. Rita
Okay first we (Boyfriend and I) need to know if you have trail names yet? If not, we will assign you one each and then a group name you may determine your own country name. Please report back in your new Q&A section. That is so rad you found Olav's momma's shelter. What is shine? What is it made of at least? I want some. You guys are totally rocking out and looks like you are able to enjoy what is around you as well as make good time. It is important (of course) to enjoy your surroundings and at the same time get to where you are going in good timing. I love seeing your pictures, that is, getting to see your faces. I love you both.
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