Hi there!
I'm writing from a warm, clean, dry hotel room in Franklin, NC and I am showered and laundered and full-bellied. And significantly less itchy than I was last week. Feeling good, over all. It's been 11 days since I started hiking the AT, and I want to take some time now to answer many of the questions I couldn't answer before I started because there were many things I just didn't know before I got here. Today is a town day, meaning low miles (we hiked about 7 miles from where we slept last night to get here), so I'm going to sum up the previous 10 days to give you an idea of what it's like.
Over the last 10 days...
- We hiked 102.5 miles from the AT southern terminus at Springer Mountain. Add 7 miles to include the approach trail from Amicalola Falls State Park. The greatest number of miles in one day was 18. The fewest was 0. On average, we are hiking about 12 miles per day, depending on how challenging the terrain is.
- My pack weighs about 35lbs. including food and water. I haven't weighed it at "base weight" meaning gear only, no food and water. But food and water are probably around 10lbs. when full.
- Trail food is varied. There is a lot of sharing and trading. Examples of what Lili and I are eating are: oatmeal, dried mango, dried coconut, trail mix, pop tarts, lentils, cous cous, beef jerky, snickers, gummy vitamins, various types of nutrition bars, fruit leathers, and sunflower seeds. My favorite meal so far was mashed potatoes and miso soup (both from packets where you just add hot water).
- My favorite new piece of gear is my Big Agnes air core insulated sleeping pad. So comfy every night.
- What hurts the most are all my rashes (which are thankfully receding). Next are my feet and my shoulders. But I can feel my legs getting stronger every day.
- Our day begins around 7:30 or 8 AM, but we usually don't get out of our warm sleeping bags until around 8:30 when the sun gets high enough above the mountain ridges to feel warm. Getting dressed, making breakfast, and packing up sometimes takes an hour and a half, but we're getting quicker and more efficient each morning. And frankly, we're not in a hurry. We hike all day, taking one or two water breaks and one long lunch break each day, and we've been making camp around 6:30 PM so we can eat and get into our sleeping bags by 8 PM when the sun goes down. We lie in our tents/shelters for about 12 hours, but we actually sleep for very few of those hours, due to mainly to the cold and the pain, but also sometimes the sound of other people snoring.
- We have at least some cell phone service almost everywhere, and everyone has a cell phone. But usually the service is poor and there's no data, and the batteries drain quickly, so phone are mainly for quick photos and Facebook/instagram posts, then they get turned off again. If you want to reach me, I turn on my phone every other day or so, and if there's service, I can probably get a text or an email (no promises, but so far it's been pretty good).
- The water comes from mountain springs that flow right out of the ground, and we have a hand-pump filter that is very good. It is by far the most delicious water I have every tasted. We usually find water frequently enough that we only have to carry one full Nalgene between refills. Lili and I each have a spare water pouch, though, just in case.
- The wildlife is lovely, and I haven't seen any bears at all! What we have seen are birds and squirrels, two black snakes, millipedes, salamanders, luna moths, snails, and lots of harmless bugs. So far, no mosquitos. At night I can hear owls. There are many types of flowers all over the forest floor. Common ones are trillium, mayapples, and violets. There is also lots of poison ivy!!!
- The highest elevation we've climbed is Standing Indian Mountain, at 5498 ft. The most difficult climb came shortly thereafter at Albert Mountain. The summit of Albert Mountain is 5250 ft., but the final ascent is about 400 ft. in a quarter of a mile... nearly straight up! Didn't help that we climbed it in freezing, pouring rain...
- The days have been in the 60's (beautiful for hiking) and the nights have gone down to low 30's (brr). Some days have gone as high as 85 degrees, which for me is worse than the cold when hiking. Most days have been pretty good hiking weather, but we've had a few rain gear days. Especially yesterday, going up Albert Mountain. Sooo-o-o-o-o... co-o-o-o-ld...
And finally -- my next mail drop opportunity, if anyone wants to send me anything, will be in Gatlinburg, TN where I will be in about 7-10 days. I can receive mail as follows:
Nina Rogowsky
C/O NOC Great Outpost
1138 Parkway
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Please Hold for AT Hiker
ETA 5/5/2013
I'm writing from a warm, clean, dry hotel room in Franklin, NC and I am showered and laundered and full-bellied. And significantly less itchy than I was last week. Feeling good, over all. It's been 11 days since I started hiking the AT, and I want to take some time now to answer many of the questions I couldn't answer before I started because there were many things I just didn't know before I got here. Today is a town day, meaning low miles (we hiked about 7 miles from where we slept last night to get here), so I'm going to sum up the previous 10 days to give you an idea of what it's like.
Over the last 10 days...
- We hiked 102.5 miles from the AT southern terminus at Springer Mountain. Add 7 miles to include the approach trail from Amicalola Falls State Park. The greatest number of miles in one day was 18. The fewest was 0. On average, we are hiking about 12 miles per day, depending on how challenging the terrain is.
- My pack weighs about 35lbs. including food and water. I haven't weighed it at "base weight" meaning gear only, no food and water. But food and water are probably around 10lbs. when full.
- Trail food is varied. There is a lot of sharing and trading. Examples of what Lili and I are eating are: oatmeal, dried mango, dried coconut, trail mix, pop tarts, lentils, cous cous, beef jerky, snickers, gummy vitamins, various types of nutrition bars, fruit leathers, and sunflower seeds. My favorite meal so far was mashed potatoes and miso soup (both from packets where you just add hot water).
- My favorite new piece of gear is my Big Agnes air core insulated sleeping pad. So comfy every night.
- What hurts the most are all my rashes (which are thankfully receding). Next are my feet and my shoulders. But I can feel my legs getting stronger every day.
- Our day begins around 7:30 or 8 AM, but we usually don't get out of our warm sleeping bags until around 8:30 when the sun gets high enough above the mountain ridges to feel warm. Getting dressed, making breakfast, and packing up sometimes takes an hour and a half, but we're getting quicker and more efficient each morning. And frankly, we're not in a hurry. We hike all day, taking one or two water breaks and one long lunch break each day, and we've been making camp around 6:30 PM so we can eat and get into our sleeping bags by 8 PM when the sun goes down. We lie in our tents/shelters for about 12 hours, but we actually sleep for very few of those hours, due to mainly to the cold and the pain, but also sometimes the sound of other people snoring.
- We have at least some cell phone service almost everywhere, and everyone has a cell phone. But usually the service is poor and there's no data, and the batteries drain quickly, so phone are mainly for quick photos and Facebook/instagram posts, then they get turned off again. If you want to reach me, I turn on my phone every other day or so, and if there's service, I can probably get a text or an email (no promises, but so far it's been pretty good).
- The water comes from mountain springs that flow right out of the ground, and we have a hand-pump filter that is very good. It is by far the most delicious water I have every tasted. We usually find water frequently enough that we only have to carry one full Nalgene between refills. Lili and I each have a spare water pouch, though, just in case.
- The wildlife is lovely, and I haven't seen any bears at all! What we have seen are birds and squirrels, two black snakes, millipedes, salamanders, luna moths, snails, and lots of harmless bugs. So far, no mosquitos. At night I can hear owls. There are many types of flowers all over the forest floor. Common ones are trillium, mayapples, and violets. There is also lots of poison ivy!!!
- The highest elevation we've climbed is Standing Indian Mountain, at 5498 ft. The most difficult climb came shortly thereafter at Albert Mountain. The summit of Albert Mountain is 5250 ft., but the final ascent is about 400 ft. in a quarter of a mile... nearly straight up! Didn't help that we climbed it in freezing, pouring rain...
- The days have been in the 60's (beautiful for hiking) and the nights have gone down to low 30's (brr). Some days have gone as high as 85 degrees, which for me is worse than the cold when hiking. Most days have been pretty good hiking weather, but we've had a few rain gear days. Especially yesterday, going up Albert Mountain. Sooo-o-o-o-o... co-o-o-o-ld...
And finally -- my next mail drop opportunity, if anyone wants to send me anything, will be in Gatlinburg, TN where I will be in about 7-10 days. I can receive mail as follows:
Nina Rogowsky
C/O NOC Great Outpost
1138 Parkway
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Please Hold for AT Hiker
ETA 5/5/2013
Wonderful! (I know it says Saugerties Plaza - but it's really your very own Dad(dy))... Yay!
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