Back to the trail!

So today’s the day! I’m heading up to Pearisburg right now with my folks and Beta. I’ve been off the trail for two and a half weeks and I’ll surely be rusty. But after a couple weeks, I should be right back to my pre-break form.

I’m now armed with a small digital camera, so I’ll be able to finally get some good pics of the happenings on the trail. Maybe when I run across another wild boar, I can produce evidence rather than it sounding like another hiker fish tale.

Time to get walking. Next stop, Catawba VA! Until then….

 

A Break from the Trail

So folks, i’ve had to take an unscheduled break from the trail. While hanging out in damascus for the trail days festival, I learned of my grandmother’s passing and have left the trail to pay my respect as well as be with my family. At the age of 91 (39 according to her), she was still a vibrant, fun-loving woman and will be sorely missed by all whose lives she touched.

Shortly after starting the trail, she underwent a shoulder surgery to restore the use of one of her arms. When my family dropped me off at the start of the trail, she was adamant that both of us would pull through our respective struggles and we even high-fived on it. As it turned out, the surgery left her body in a weakened state and she fell victim to a viral infection that was ultimately too much for her to overcome.

She was completely supportive of my endeavor, and always asked about my progress any time she saw my folks. For this reason I plan on completing the rest of the trail in honor of her memory.

I’ll be returning to the trail in a week or so following the memorial service and time spent with my family. Thanks again to everyone who’s sent me notes of encouragement while I’ve been on the trail. Swampfoot will return with a new sense of purpose.

 

The Long Walk Home

The other day I was walking when I came across a southbounder in his mid-50s hiking barefoot. I was immediately excited as I realized that this was a guy going by the trail name ”Tyvek” that someone had told me about quite some time ago. His trail name comes from the fact that he’s foregone all standard backpacking gear, Instead fashioning his kit from the Dupont construction material Tyvek. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it’s a thin, durable, weatherproof material used on the outside layers of building construction.

We exchanged the normal bit of trail banter before the conversation took a decidedly more serious turn. He informed me that he was walking to raise awareness for the issues facing military veterans once they return home from their deployment. I guess the standard debriefing a soldier receives upon returning home consists of little more than an explanation of benefits, rundown of job opportunities, and a swift kick back into the real world. What Tyvek is advocating is legislation requiring a mandatory two week debriefing period, including counseling, workshops, and other things to make the transition back to the ”real world” a bit smoother. It’s no great secret that easing back into normal life can be quite difficult for some soldiers returning home. Strains on their mental well-being can translate to substance dependencies, broken relationships and marriages, and all-out mental illness. Tyvek quoted a statistic that was pretty staggering to me: between 70 and 80 percent of the homeless in his homestate of New York are veterans. Clearly, something’s wrong with this picture. We’re sending these folks far from home, sometimes underfunded, underequipped and undertrained. The least the military can do is ensure they are able to have some semblance of a normal life once their voluntary obligation to the military is fulfilled.

Check out Tyvek’s website at: http://thelongwalkhome.org/
You can suppport him financially or by writing a letter to congress by clicking on the ”how to help” link.

Thanks for listening…

 

Nearly 25% Complete!

so yes indeed, I am still alive and kickin’! It’s been a pretty good 2 weeks since my last update. I’ve hung out with wild ponies, nearly been charged by a longhorn bull, did a short work stint at a hostel, and crossed the 500 mile mark.

Coming out of Erwin, I was kind of dragging my feet. I guess I had hit a period of being in the doldrums. My feet had been killing me and my body just didn’t feel right. Two fays out of town, I came across a hostel called ‘Greasy Creek Friendly’ (as opposed to hostile). The place was an old farmhouse turned hostel run by a friendly and energetic lady named Connie. Connie also worked another job, so she was not at the hostel during the day, when hikers typically arrive. It was pretty clear to me that she needed some help. With my body not feeling 100%, i was glad to take off a day or two and help out in exchange for a free stay. The best part of the experience was Connie’s crazy neighbor Bill, who was a little deranged and had a serious dislike of hikers. This man devoted most of his day and expended an incredible amount of energy just trying to annoy the hikers. His day usually began with a 5AM Harley ride down the road in front of the bunkhouse. The aim of this was not only to rev his engine while people were sleeping, but to also get his dogs to chase the bike barking. After his morning ride, he would start up his riding lawnmowers and let the engines run for 15 minutes at a time. He did this at least once an hour, or any time he’d see a hiker outside. Apparently, he used to shine a giant spotlight down at the bunkhouse all night. Gotta give the guy credit for annoyance creativity.

Once i finally escaped the GCF, i went through some incredibly veautiful sections of trail. Roan Mountain and the following mountain balds were amazing. On a mission to get to Damascus VA, the self-proclaimed ‘friendliest town on the trail,’ i kicked up my hiking a notch and landed there last tuesday morning. Damascus is a cute little no-stoplight town that is host to the wildest party on the trail, Trail Days. Typically most hikers attend. If you’re parting ways with someone on the trail, you almost always end with ”See you at Trail days.” Damascus was fairly enjoyable, but one thing that struck me while i was there was the number of people getting off the trail. Nowhere that i had been before had such a drop-off rate. People were leaving for all kinds of reasons, including injuries, finances, situations at home beyond their control, etc. Official numbers say that almost 40 percent of hikers drop out by Damascus. It’s kind od heart-breaking to see people leave the trail when they’re not ready. You can just see the struggle on their face when they try to rationalize or come to terms with it.

I started getting a little down and had to get back on the trail. Out of damascus, i went through Mt. Rogers national rec area and Grayson Highlands St. Park, an area people liken to Montana, with its grassy mountaintops scattered with sharp rock outcroppings. Easily the best feature of this area is an abundance of wild ponies. Unlike the horses outer banks of NC or Chincoteague in MD, these animals are tame and will come up to you for food or a had-scratching. I fed a group of 6 horses a fruit bar and they wouldnt leave me alone! One pony in particular took a liking to the salt on my arms and shirt from sweating, and it wouldnt stop licking me. Another pony kept trying to eat my hiking poles and chomp my backpack. They were incredibly cute! That day was easily the most beautiful and fun part of this hike so far.

So now, I’ve landed in Marion VA, at the 523 mile mark of the trail. Im headed back out today and i hope to be in Pearisburg in a week or so.

I hope everyone’s doing well back in reality. I’m having a wonderful time and am in no hurry to rejoin you. You’re all in my thoughts…

 

Erwin, TN’s Elephant Execution

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanchittick/472360612/

While natives of this region are all too familiar with this story, visitors are always surprised to hear it, or believe it. The town of Erwin is the only known town in history to have hung an elephant, and her name was Mary.
In 1916, the Sparks Brothers circus came to Kingsport, Tennessee and during a performance on September 11, Mary went mad and crushed circus employee Red Eldridge. The 30-year-old, 5-ton elephant, valued at $8,000, was tried, convincted and sentenced to death.
On September 13, 1916, Murderous Mary, who was said to have killed seven other employees before Eldridge, was hung in front of a crowd estimated at 2,500 people at Clinchfield Railroad Yards.

 

Jesus is Trail Magic

On my second day out of Hot Springs, I came down the trail to a road crossing at the NC border. Attached to a tree was a little sign saying ‘Trail Magic: belgian waffles, pork stew and pie. Go 300 yards right at the road and head up the concrete driveway. IT WILL BE WORTH YOUR WHILE.’ Not one to pass up free food, I head down to check it out.

I arrive on the front porch of a quaint log cabin style house bearing a plaque above the front door saying ‘Father’s Home.’ Immediately i was greeted by a man in his late 50s with an intense gaze. He says, ‘I hope you came with an appetite, because you’re not going to leave with one.’ I put on my crocs and head inside, eager to sink my teeth into some waffles.

Upon going inside, i meet the man’s wife, then head to wash up while she starts cooking my waffle. When i emerge, conversation starts off with typical trail small-talk. We talk of my experiences so far, their ‘99 thru-hike, and general trail lore. I finish up my waffle and the woman then puts down a bowl of pork stew for me. We start paging through a binder containing pictures of all the hikers that have come through their house this year. We recall stories of the familiar faces i see in the book. This is definitely shaping up to be one of the better trail magic experiences. To top things off, the woman fixes me a piece of apple pie a-la-mode.

At this point, they both fix a bowl of stew and sit down at the table with me. The man gets up to get me a small printout with their address on it. He tells me he wants me to end him my final summit photo when i finish the trail. The woman then pipes in to tell me to look at the poem on the back. As i’m digesting the poem, she tells me the poem was written for a friend who was mixing Buddhism and Christianity. Upon reading the poem, i realize what’s beginning to happen and my mood starts sinking with every bite of pie. The woman starts talking about her hybrid religion friend, saying that she’s likely going to hell because as she put it,we cant all be right, but we cant all be wrong,’ implying that true Christianity was the only way. The man, an ex-military man with that thousand-yard stare then looks at me and says something to the effect of ‘do you know where you’re going when you die?’ Uncomfortable with the line of questioning, I respond by saying I’ve never been a religious person and that i try to live life and treat people as best as I’m capable. This was clearly not good enough and they insisted i consider leading a Christian life. I then tried to deflect the conversation by asking how many people are offended when they bring this up. They give me a quick answer then turn back to their mission. It’s at this point where they start pulling out books they think i should read. The conversation takes another turn toward Intelligent Design. Genuinely interested in modern Christian thought on the subject, i start asking them questions about their position. The conversation starts getting heated as i begin to bring up my standard questions of human knowledge and that we at one point in time were absolutely certain that the earth was the center of the universe, yet as knowledge progressed, we were forced to rethink our cosmology with the church all the while screaming ‘heresy.’ The man wast really getting my argument that just because we didn’t understand the origins of the universe, that that meant it MUST have been created by god. He then heads over to the bookshelf and picks up a book entitled ‘I dont have enough Faith to be an Athiest.’ The book basically states that when approached logically,’ the evidence pointing towards God is so compelling that it requires much more of a leap of faith to be an athiest.

In a stroke of good luck, a fresh group of hikers approach the door, diffusing the tense situation. I agree to take the book and then make my move toward the exit. The man and the woman both awkwardly hug me, saying they hope to see me again. I strap my pack on and head back for the trail.

I was completely taken off-guard by this event and headed up the trail pissed off. I’ve never been all that comfortable discussing spiritual matters with others, so this all-out assault really set me off-kilter. I couldn’t be all that angry at the couple, because they did open their home and feed me. I think i was just struck by the deceptiveness of the whole situation. Every bit of trail magic I’d encountered this far had been done with the sole purpose of putting smiles on hikers’ faces. I assumed this to simply be the way of trail magic. I guess I had been naive.

The whole Evangelical movement seems like a pyramid scheme to get into heaven. The more converts you bag, the greater you’re doing God’s work, and the better your chances of getting into heaven. I realize that sounds demeaning, but i feel one’s spiritual journey, should they choose to embark on one, should be entirely their own. Failing to follow some pre-fab idea of what it means to be spiritual will not automatically guarantee your damnation. Then again, maybe I’m being naive once more. I’m probably going to miss out on eating apple pie with Gandhi in heaven. Oh wait, he wasn’t a devout Christian? Maybe not…

 

Back on the Trail – 340 Miles

so I finally made it back to the trail after 6 days off in Asheville. I had a great time, ate great food and got to see folks I haven’t seen in a long time. My friend Amanda and her roommate Dave were awesome hosts. Hopefully I didn’t overstay my welcome. I had the pleasure of seeing my old bandmate Chad, his wife Metta, and their awesome kid Eliot. Eliot fed me a banana, which, unbeknownst to me, had already been partially chewed by him!

My friend Becky was kind enough to come pick me up and bring me down to Greenville SC where i had the pleasure of reconnecting with my college buddies Taylor (who i hadnt seen in 10 years), his wife Christina, Julie and Will. It was good to see all my friends doing well.

Taylor drove me back to Hot Springs, and as we approached, the snow was blowing like crazy. I decided to stay the night and get on the trail in the morning. The days off put a serious dent in my hiking groove. The 9 miles out of HS felt like twice that. i progressively got back in the groove as my week culminated in a 22 mile haul into Erwin TN. Sadly, i was driven by the hope that i might catch game 5 of the Buffalo Sabres playoff series, which i did catch!

The week was a bit tougher mentally than previous weeks. I realized that the people you hike with can really shape your mood. With the time off from the trail, i effectively ‘reset’ the group of people i was hiking with. Without the comraderie i had built up with my pre-break buddies, i definitely felt more lonely. I’m realizing how much of the trail is mental, and that it’s really just a big attitude game. If i can keep my spirits up and walk slowly enough to not injure myself, the 2175 miles should be a breeze.

Next stop, Damascus VA!

 

Me, Beardy

Me, beardy

Originally uploaded by ryanchittick.

here it is. i know you’ve all been wondering what i look like now.

 

Food Ideas

Ok, so I’m getting fed up with my meals so far, so I’m sending a request for meal ideas!

Up to this point, my diet has consisted of:

Breakfast: Pop Tarts, Snickers, Oatmeal
Lunch: Summer Sausage, Snickers, Clif Bars, Trail Mix
Dinner: Ramen Noodles, Lipton Pasta, Mashed Potatoes and Stuffing

Here’s the criteria for the submission ideas:
The food must be
1) readily consumable or
2) prepared with water and milk

Please Help! It’s only been three weeks and I’m already sick of my food!

I promise I’ll cook you a pizza when I get back home!

 

Hiker Types

Ok, so here’s a little tidbit you’re not going to get from Bryson’s “Walk In the Woods”

There are basically 4 Types of hikers. For those of you unfamiliar with the A.T, the trail is clearly marked with 2″x6″ white rectangles painted on trees, called blazes. All along the A.T., they are white. This is the basis for the hiker categories

1) White-Blazers: The vast majority of A.T. Hikers. They wish to pass by every white blaze on the A.T., completing the 2,174 miles of the trail. This is the “purest” form of hiker
2) Blue-Blazers: Somewhat less ambitious hikers who use blue-blazed trails that skirt around difficult peaks, or cut off large numbers of miles from the hike. These folks are often looked down upon by the purists.
3) Green-Blazers: These are the hikers that take any and every opportunity to light up a joint or take a hit from their bowl along the trail. This can be done at camp, at mountaintops, at streams…basically wherever.
4) Pink-Blazers: These are the hikers that are just out on the A.T. to get laid. To me, this seems like a losing proposition, since the Male/Female ratio is easily 10:1. These guys are often a bit older and only ever talk about hooking up with some hot 23-year old hiker chick.

 

Trail Magic

So, I’m hoping to bring you some more insight into the Appalachian Trail than you might get otherwise. Those in my family have heard me talk about “trail magic” and I’m gonna go ahead and explain it to everyone.

Trail magic is when people go out of their way to do something nice for A.T. Thru-Hikers. It can be as simple as someone leaving a cooler full of sodas out in the woods along the trail, to someone giving you a ride around town so you can do errands,  to someone cooking full-blown meals for hikers at a road crossing, parking lot, or campsite.

The people conducting the trail magic are nearly always former thru-hikers, understanding of the difficulty in hiking the trail. They come from all over the country, sometimes driving as much as 2500 miles just to put smiles on hikers’ faces. They’re truly amazing people. I’ve met local GA folks, a woman who drove from Arizona, people from Tennessee, Ohio, NY, and beyond doing it.

The beauty about trail magic is that it comes at a moment when you’re not expecting it. You might be tired, cold, hungry, or thirsty and you round a bend and BOOM, your whole day is changed.

The instance I spoke of before where someone gave me whiskey and beer on the trail was an instance of trail magic set up in the middle of nowhere. The folks there were cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers for people, and effectively held a party in the woods for 3 days, inviting any and all hikers who passed to partake.

In one of the most elaborate instances, I had just come down a really hard descent, and as I rounded a switchback, I saw an RV down at the road crossing. There was a fire pit, chairs, a tent, grill, coolers…the whole works. I arrived at 12 noon, had a soda and hot dog, and was eventually convinced to stay the night at the site, because there was to be a big spaghetti dinner that night, and pancakes in the morning. All of my hiking buddies who were behind me were also convinced to stay, and yet again, it turned into a party. The folks running the trail magic were named Bear Bear and Jellybean, both former thru-hikers. Jellybean and her dog Bisby were the ones who drove the distance from Arizona just to hang out and cook for hikers for a week. Wow.

The most creative trail magic I’ve seen (well, heard of, not actually seen) was on a side trail off of the A.T. There was a trail leading to a small waterfall somewhere near Franklin, NC. Someone had hiked up to this waterfall and placed an array of Capri Sun drinks in the waterfall, so they’d be cold. Hikers coming upon the scene were initially struck by the thought that someone had littered in the waterfall, but closer inspection revealed cold fruit juice, free for the taking.

The amount of goodwill out here on the trail is truly amazing. Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming. People are so willing to go out of their way for you, it makes you want to come back and do something for future thru-hikers.

 

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Greetings, folks. I’ve landed in the great tourist mecca of the mountains. Well, it actually now plays second fiddle to Pigeon Forge, home of Dollywood. Imagine plenty of fudge shoppes, old tyme photo places, arcades, t-shirt shops and knife stores. Sound like paradise?

I crossed two big milestones yesterday!
1) I hit the 200-mile mark on the trail.  Woo-hoo! 10% done!
2) I crossed over the highest point on the trail, Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

The hike’s been great so far. I am definitely getting in shape and shedding a few pounds. My beard’s woolier than ever and my BO incredibly strong. While riding the bus around Gatlinburg, I managed to scare a group of teenage girls with my burly look and bodily odor. I felt good about that.

I’m planning on being in Asheville, NC by early next week. I’ll be taking a couple days off there, relaxing and hanging out with friends.

So, I vowed that this wasn’t going to be a high-tech hike, but i just can’t shake the techy in me. Once I get to asheville, I’ll be picking up a Treo or some other mobile device that’ll allow me to actually update my blog and do emails from mountaintops. Dorky? Yeah, I think so. I can already hear the scoffs of disapproval from A.T. purists, but there’s a oft-repeated mantra of the trail that says “Hike your own hike.” For me, that’s just gonna mean an internet-connected hike.

 

Quick Update from Franklin, NC

So I’ve spent the past day and a half in the bustling metropolis of Franklin NC…

I’ve broken the 100-mile as well as crossed my first state line!

One big disappointment so far is that I sent home my Digital SLR camera due to weight. The body, battery grip, lens and extra batteries weighed something close to 6 pounds and since I didn’t snap a single photo in the first three days on the trail, I decided to send it home…I’ll probably be picking up a small camera in the next few weeks.

I also now have my cell phone, so if you want to get in touch with me, feel free to send me a text message.

So I’ve had two “zero” days (days in town without hiking a mile) since I started and I’m definitely getting anxious to get on the trail for longer stretches. It turns out that I’ve been getting ahead of my planned itinerary and if my pace keeps up, I should be able to knock out some miles on the next few stretches. I’ve got a few days until I get to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has 70 mi. of the A.T. My next stop will likely be Gatlingburg, TN. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it’s an amazing (ly shitty) tourist town nestled up in the mountains. I’ll have my choice of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Mini Golf, Motion Master Rides, and Haunted Houses when I arrive. Can’t wait for the shock to the system.

That brings up something that became pretty clear here in Franklin…It takes very little time for humans to become re-sensitized to the sounds/smells/sights of daily city life. I’ve barely been out in the woods two weeks, but coming into this town of 4000 people, I felt like I was in lower Manhattan. I’m extremely anxious to get back on the trail….

Beard Update: Not quite Grizzly Adams length, but getting there
Bear Update: No bears seen so far, but some fellow hikers saw two cubs with no mother in sight. If I make it the whole way without seeing a bear, I won’t be disappointed.

Until Gatlinburg…

 

Week One: Amicalola Falls to Hiawasse Georgia

So, my first week is complete! The highlights so far:

Miles Walked: 76.4
Oldest Guy seen attempting to complete the trail: 89
My earliest bedtime: 5:30PM
Most Eccentric Hiker: Guy attempting to hike the A.T. barefoot
Nicest Surprise: Rounding the summit of a mountain and having a random person hand me a beer and a bottle of Jack Daniels

 Things have been good so far. The start was definitely a bit rocky, as it rained nearly 2 inches my first night on the trail. The next day, it was 50 degrees, with winds at 30MPH. Everyone was struggling to stay dry and stave off hypothermia…

The weather since then has been nothing less than perfect. The hiking has been harder than anything I’ve done before, but I’m starting to get into the swing of it. One thing I hadn’t really anticipated about the trail is the social aspect. I was never one of those 20 year olds who fancied the idea of backpacking across europe and staying in hostels. What I’m quickly finding out is that the A.T. is pretty much that same scene, with the exception that folks are a bit older. It’s taking a bit of getting used to, for sure.

Hikers are definitely a weird bunch. One thing that has been striking is the number of older hikers. I hiked for a few days with two guys in their 70s and two others in their 60s. Pretty impressive, as well as inspring.

Unfortunately, I have to cut this short, as the owner of the hostel needs her computer back. I’ll be in Franklin NC in about 5 days, and once I’m there, I’ll get a bit more of an update out.

I hope everyone’s well. You’re all in my thoughts.

 

My Itinerary!

Woo Hoo! Tomorrow I head up to Georgia to stay the night before starting out Thursday morning! Forecast: cold front with rain Thu-Sat, then nothing but sun for the next week or more! I can’t wait.

 I’ve put my itinerary up on Google Spreadsheets.  So far, it’s only been built out for the first 1000 miles, but that’ll surely change. I’ll be updating this as I go along too.

 

Mail Drops! Send me stuff!

So, a bunch of you have been bugging me for addresses where you can send me stuff. I’ve kept putting you off saying, “I’ll send it, I’ll send it!” Well here it is, my mail drop locations for the first 2 months of the trip.

All packages should be sent US mail only and addressed as follows:
Ryan Chittick
c/o General Delivery
City, State, Zip Code
“Hold For A.T. Hiker”

Here are the first four of my maildrops along with my estimated arrival date:
Franklin, NC 28734 – 3/28/2007
Gatlinburg, TN 37738 – 4/10/2007
Erwin, TN 37650 – 4/28/2007
Damascus, VA 24236 – 5/10/2007

Please send me stuff! I’ll be lonely and hungry.

 

for reals

ok, it’s really started to hit me. i’m so ready to launch off from Orlando. i’ve played so much Wii, my arm’s about to fall off. And I can only really suck down so much beer. It’s time that I leave. Too bad it’s two more weeks

 

T-Minus 13 Days, 10 Hours

Food Preparation

Originally uploaded by ryanchittick.

So, I’m finally getting my foodstuffs in order for the AT! Tons of summer sausage, beef jerky, mashed potatoes, and snickers (not shown here). I’m finally starting to get a little freaked out spending 6 months walking 2200 miles and eating only 5-6 different types of things…No La Corneta burritos or Addis Ethiopian food

I’m rather excited about the prospect of burning 6000 calories per day. There’ll never be another time in my life when i can eat so much crap and still lose weight. Hooray!

 

My New Home

Missle Base for Sale – Arizona

Originally uploaded by ryanchittick.

After I get back from being a faux recluse for 6 months, i’m gonna purchase this gem in Arizona along I-10 and REALLY become a recluse. Now I can finally start that compound I’ve been talking about.