Stover Creek to Gooch Mountain

   I got a bit of a late start to the day of hiking wanting to wait for a number of the people i hiked with yesterday. The shelter was nice. I did see some old mouse droppings in the corner but i didn't experience any sign of rodents during the night.

   It was a long day and i eventually fell into a slow and steady pace which i found helpful for keeping the pain down. I developed a rash on the tops of my hands, the same one that i got the last two trips i went on to Isle Royale. I'm wondering if it could be from the hand sanitizer. Things all over my body keep rotating with pain. The one that stood out the most was my hip. I found that doing a light stretch here and there along the trail really kept me going. I also got a sunburn and my big toe nails are a bit... loose. I may be on the road to loosing them sadly. Something i really hoped would not happen. I think my shoes  (which i bought a full size larger than normal) are still too small.

   It was a 13 mile day and a lot easier of one than it was yesterday. Still quite challenging but i made it through. I find myself leapfroging, or taking turns passing over and over, with many of the people i meet along the trail. It seems most people are experiencing the same thing.

   Early on in the day we passed Long Creek Falls, it was a side trail off the AT which i decided to check out. It was worth it. I've never seen falls like that before.

   I've found myself hiking with Jake for most of the first half of today's miles then by myself for the second half, running into many others along the way of coarse but i ended up wanting to go slower for the sake of my feet.

   The scenery was a combination of everything I've seen yesterday. I did however see 3 trees with pink blossoms, possibly cherry trees? I did experience bugs including flies and 1 tick on my pack which i just brushed off.

Gooch Mountain shelter is absolutely crowded. Stover Creek was too but nothing compared to this. The 14 person shelter was full and there are 20+ tents and hammocks surrounding it. This shelter is officially only designed to house 4 tents in the surrounding area. It's like tent city in such close confinements. I was not expecting this. The only place i could squeeze in was on an incline and i just had just enough room. Everytime i lay on my mat or in my bag i just start sliding right down to the end of my tent. I'm worried about that tonight.

  There's a serve weather warning out for this evening, crazy thunderstorms all night. I've never slept in this tent before, not very good timing to test waterproofness. I'm worried about the incline with water getting in and me being scrunched down at the bottom.

Tonight at Gooch Mountain Shelter I'm at mile 15.8.

Approach Trail

The hostel offered a wonderful homemade breakfast then accepted payments and check out shortly after. The hikers in the hostel were split up into their starting points and shuttled off to the trail. A handful of us, i believe 7 started at Amicalola with me. I signed the visitors log and finally got to see the well known approach trail arches.

   Me at the arches 

   Everyone scattered hiking individually at their own pace, Mike in the back, me second to last and a number of others up in front. I'm glad that i did start at the approach trail because Amicalola Falls is beautiful. The stairs and hike up to Springer Mountain were quite tiresome.

Amicalola Falls

Springer Mountain Plaque 

   I caught up with Ben and Banked, who was from Germany. I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right but i hiked with them for awhile. We caught up with Jake and hiked with him. Banked fell behind and Mike kept playing leap frog with us! In the end were ended up hiking with Mike and someone we caught up to, Jole.

Me on top of Springer Mountain

   There's this sparkley dust scattered all over the place in the soil, probably from dime mineral. Some of the rocks and minerals along the way were quite stunning. It was quite chilly in the morning on the way but I quickly warmed up with my hiking and then the day got a lot warmer. I wish that i packed some shorts with, my legs were quite sweaty. I wasn't expecting it to get this warm so soon. Last week hikers were experiencing snow!

   I made it up to the top of Springer Mountain with plenty of time to spare! It was so rewarding to make it. I had a chunk of cheese that I bought with Ken called Appalachian so I decided to sit down and eat it right there at the top of the southern terminus of the trail.

The official first white blaze and AT Southern Termonous 

   The 5 of us ended up making it to the second shelter, Stover creek shelter, after we reached the trail head. The forest suddenly turned from this bare tall trees and dull colors to pines and these low twisty trees with large green leaves. The change was quite refreshing to see. Mike keeps going along with everything I say saying "well she's the leader". I feel very leader like.

   The shelter site was quite packed but most people were tented out and not in the 2 story shelter. I decided to try my first night out in the second story of the shelter. The pit toilets here are so clean and hardly smell compared to the horror show that is Isle Royale when talking about out houses.

   My body isn't doing all that great, I'm slightly concerned. All of my toe nails hurt. It feels like I'm going to loose a bunch of them in the future. I have a few deep blisters forming in the balls of my feet. My feet are very swollen and hurt too. I developed quite the pain in a tendon or something at the inside of my hip making it quite painful to lift my leg up when walking. My previous hip problems were from on the other side. I also have pain from the back of my knee halfway up my thigh with which ever tendon is there. I hope all of this goes away overnight. I've got a long day tomorrow.


Tonight at Stover Creek Shelter I'm at mile 2.8.

Getting There part 2

   I'm riding Amtrak's Crescent from Charlottesville, VA down to Gainesville, GA. It's thankfully a much shorter ride than the last train, another overnight train and significantly less crowded than the Cardinal was. I dozed off a few times which was better than the night before. I found out that there are 2 other AT hikers on this train. One of the guys headed straight for the trail after we got off at 7am in the dark. The other guy, Mike, and I were picked up in a shuttle and headed over to the Hiker Hostel.

   Hiker Hostel is such a wonderful place, I highly recommend it. We arrived when the group from the night before were getting ready to be shuttled out to the trail. The bunks weren't ready for us so we did a half mile loop trail around the property. When Duffy went to pick up the next group of hikers from Atlanta he dropped us off in town for a few hours. We went to this delicious seafood place in town, we browsed the local outdoors store, an antique shop, and we visited the towns gold mining and history museum.

   After getting back to the hostel i finally got a well deserved nap in. Later a few of us went to Walmart for dinner and supplise. The hostel is fully booked up with the max amount of people. I'm getting to know a bunch of people I'll be starting with. Everyone is so nice. There's a guy named Frank who brought his border collie, she is so well trained and very adorable. I keep watching her, she's so precious!

   I helped Lucy with a pack shake down, that took up most of the evening. One of the staff members did the official shake down but her gear was a wreck! I'm really worried about her out there not having the proper gear. She had only cotton socks, a children's indoor sleeping bag, and a children's tent, just to name a few of my major concerns. She's meant to start tomorrow but i think she should stay and get the proper gear she needs to be successful. Other people are helping her out with stuff, the hostel does have a small store with some gear in it so she was at least able to start.

   It's so nice to be in a clean bed and sheets for the night before i start. I'm so nervous- excited, i hope I'll get enough sleep. The staff here recommend 4,000 to 6,000 calories per day. I have maybe 2,000 per day. I think I'll be just fine though, that's a lot more than i normally bring on backpacking trips and i did put on an additional 20lbs in the past months before this trip. I'm expecting to loose about 40 to 50 lbs by the end of this trip. 

Getting there Part 1

The first step of my adventure is getting there. I'm on the Cardinal Amtrak train headed down to Charlottesville, VA. I got on in Chicago. My friend Renee walked me to the station to say goodbye. I was so nervous. I haven't taken Amtrak in years and i can't believe that it's already time to leave for my adventure. And so my 30 hour Amtrak adventure begins.

    I was assigned to sit next to this wonderful woman, Sarah. She was great company for the extremely long ride and has done a few day hikes of the Appalachian Trail. People came and went but overall everyone was really nice on the train.

    This train has a dining car and the food is actually pretty good. I've been indulging in the nicer foods. Dinner was salmon with a white wine sauce, green beans, garlic mashed potatos, and strawberries. Then the following morning a cheese omelet, cresant, and potatoes. I had a few other snacks along the way but it was nice to break up the long ride.

   I found that i had a hard time sleeping, the seats were not good for sleeping in a well as the other passengers snoring and talking, it was quite cold in the car and the train blows it's horn every few minutes. People came and went with the stops all night. Not much sleep was had. In the morning i found out there was a short leg rest that I could have used!

   In the morning we arrived in West Virginia, it was beautiful after seeing nothing but flat land. There were mountains everywhere and we followed a few rivers for the rest of the way. There were waterfalls coming down from all of the mountains we passed and the tunnels were my second favorite thing. We must have passed through a dozen or so tunnels at various lengths.

   By the end of the trip Sarah got off shortly before my own stop and it felt great to walk around and freshen up in the restrooms at the station.

   My boyfriend, Ken, is in the Navy and stationed in Virginia. I had a 6 hour layover before my second train and he was able to get a half day off to spend that time with me! It was such a wonderful way to start this trip. We got chocolates, went to a cheese market, drove around and found a small nature preserve with a trail which we hiked (yes, hiking before the hiking trip), then we ate a wonderful dinner at this place called Orzo. I would highly recommend stopping here for lunch or dinner if you are ever in the area because everything i put in my mouth was so deliciously perfect. Then we had to say our goodbyes because the next train was ready for boarding.

  I was surprised at how many people knew about the trail in the town. A guy at the chocolate shop through hiked the trail a few years back. I suppose the towns closer to the trail know more about it than other places in the country. Most people i talked to about the trail back at home haven't even heard of the AT.

Pack and Contents

The following is what I'll be bringing with me along with some weights. This doesn't include food, water, gas, or items that I'll have sent to me later such a summer clothing.

Pack - Hyperlite windrider 3400 2lbs
Quilt - Enlightened Equipment Revelation w/ hood -  1lb 11oz
Sleeping matt - Nemo Tensor insulated - 15oz
Sleeping bag liner* - 4.7oz
Sawyer Water filter and pouch - 3oz
Zpacks duplex tent - 1lb 5oz
Stakes plus pouch - 2 oz
Cooking -
Stove - Jetboil 8.5oz
Bowl
Spoon

First Aid Kit -
    Bandaids
    Emergency blanket   
    Alieve
    Eyedrops
    Allergy meds
    Anti-itch cream packets
    Neosporin
    Mini-vaseline
    Small tube of bug repellant
    Imodium
    Hand sanitizer
    Inhaler
    Small wilderness first aid book
    Dayquil and nyquil
    Cough drops
    Tums
   
Miscellaneous - 
    AT Guide (1/4th book)
    Pencil
   Head Lamp
   Flashlight
   Nail clippers
   Spade
   2 Smart water bottles
   Extra pony tail holders
   Mini brush
   Bandana
   Wallet
   Pocket knife
   Toothpaste
   Toothbrush
   Soap - Dr. Bronners
   Deodorant
   Bear rope
   Mini thermometer and compass
   Repair kit for sleeping matt
   Garbage - zip block gallon bag
   Floss
   Food bag
   Cuban fiber repair tape
   Pepper spray
   1/4th book

   Small towel for tent condensation 

Clothing -
   Light fleece jacket
   Down Jacket
   Darn tough socks - wearing
   Extra hiking socks
   Opossum down Sleep socks
   2 pairs of ExOfficio underwear
   Long underwear top and bottom
   Hat
   Balaclava
   ExOfficio tank top
   Rain coat
   Opossum down Gloves
   Hiking pants- wearing
   Sports bra - wearing
   Long sleeve synthetic top- wearing

Electronics -
   Ipod
   Headphones
   Cell phone
   Chargers
   Bag for electronics
   Anker battery
   Small speaker

My official base weight is 15.2 lbs.

With food, water, and fuel for the first section (3 days) is 24.3 lbs.

Carrying
Poles - REI Carbon fiber - 1lb 1oz

Intros

I'm Ashley, my friends often call me Ashes, and I'm planning to attempt a 2017 northbound (NOBO) thruhike of the Appalachian Trail! I'm going to use this blog throughout my adventure to let people follow along as i go!

A bit about me. I'm 23 and I just graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago last May (2016). I didn't graduate with a major, one of the many wonderful things about this school. I department jumped and learned a number of things.

I am a costume maker and an artist. I have a small buisness called Pocket Wolf. I make all sorts of things but I mainly work with fake fur.
You can check out my etsy store here:
Etsy.com/shop/pocketwolfshop

I am a volunteer at the Field Museum of Natural History. I work in mammal collections doing all sorts of interesting things like dititalizing old safari slides, skinning specimins, taking organ samples,  cleaning and numbering bones, stuffing animals for study skins, labeling specimins for installation into the collection, and helping scientists prepare to head out into the field!

I additionally volunteer at the Anti-cruelty society to help care for the dogs when i have the time.

Right now I'm living in Chicago with 3 cats, a bearded dragon, a gargoyle gecko, an axolotl, snail, a woma python, and 4 ball pythons. I have a handful of wonderful people helping me care for my animals while I'm gone.

I leave for the tail in March starting in Amicalola Falls State Park. I will be using drop boxes as my primary source of food. My mom will be responsible for sending those to me. I will be hiking solo. My mom and my boyfriend may join me for a week somewhere in the middle of my hike. I hope to make a lot of friends along the way and possibly hike with others.

My main concern about this hike isn't actually about the trail it's about missing my cats back home. That'll be rough, they are really close to me.

Tics and bears are my other concerns. The idea of getting tics horrifies me along with concerns of lymes disease and just having them on me. I've had them before, those were not fun experiences. I've never camped or hiked in bear territory before. Using a bear bag is new to me. I'm sure it'll all go well but it's still a concern I've never had to deal with before.

I'm so very excited!