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| Appalachian Trail, GA |
From PJ Early in the day:
"Good morning. It's April 6th. Wednesday, I think. I only walked about an hour so far. It's about 9 o'clock right now. I just stopped to take off my sweatshirt, because it starts off freezing in the morning, and then an hour into it, you're sweating. And in another hour, I'll take of this hoodie.
So, I just stopped, had a little snack, drank some water.
Um...last night was just another regular night in Low Gap. Went to bed early. Didn't really sleep. Haven't slept good at all out here, but that's just kind of the deal. Maybe get five hours total, but Probably half an hour at a time, or something.
Tonight, I'm going into Hiawasse, Georgia. We're gonna shuttle. There's I think six of us, and we're going to split two hotel rooms. Or, Motel rooms. Something like that. So it will be cheap. Under 20 bucks.
We'll go into town, and eat some real food. Take my first shower in six days! And charge all of my stuff, wash my clothes, all that good stuff. So that's pretty exciting.
And then tomorrow, I'm gonna probably have breakfast in town, and then head back out. Hopefully pretty early. I'm gonna start picking up miles soon. I'm not sure how long I'll be staying with this group, but we'll see. I'll check in with you tonight, because I should have wifi!"
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| Eastern Garter Snake - at least that's my best guest. |
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| This was from PJ's hike a few days ago - Blood Mountain. It was a strenuous hike - with an elevation gain of over 1,000 feet in rocky, difficult terrain |
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| Bloodroot - This is an early spring wildflower. It gets its name from the juice of the root. |
From PJ - a Little Later in the Day:
"It's been all ridgewalking today. Actcually, a lot of it has been pretty easy. This has been the easiest day hiking so far, and I'm almost done because I can hear cars in the distance. I'm going into Hiawasse. I'm way ahead of everyone else. So I'm probably just gonna go and sit down. Hopefully there's a little spot to hang out down there and just wait for people. Or if there's other people, I might be able to catch a ride into town early.
This is kind of what we're dealing with. Ridgewalking - all day. Downhills are the worst and the slowest. And I only have one hand right now, so I'm going really slow. [PJ was videotaping as he hiked] But like I said, this is actually easy compared to the last few days. Most of today was really flat. It wasn't rocky like it is now. It was all on the ridge, but it was nice, smooth...sailing. I don't know if you can pick up the cars. [I could in the video]. I can hear the cars and I know I'm almost there.
We're coming down Blue Mountain. I was just at Blue Mountain shelter, and I had a little snack. Chilled out with some people. Met some people from Texas. There were some people from, well I guess they're not from Antarctica, but they lived on Antarctica for the last 2.5 years. Then they came out here on the Appalachian Trail, it's pretty cool. I met a lady from Switzerland.
Hopefully I have about half an hour left. [Until he gets into town]"
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Many of these updates that I'm sharing are from videos that PJ sends to me. The videos are usually of the scenery and where he is. It is a helpful way for him to convey plenty of information without taking all of the time to text.
In the future, I'll probably include some of the videos, or at least footage from some, but for now, I'll just explain a little bit of what I saw and heard as he spoke.
In this video, PJ was walking along a ridge - as he explained earlier. It is a rocky, single-track ridge in the middle of a dense forest. The forest is still sparse and only starting to come back to life. The trail winds through the woods, and as he speaks to me, he is starting to make his descent into a nearby town.
When PJ paused for a moment, I could hear the cars that he talked about.
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| Hiking Town Decor |
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PJ did make it into Hiawasse. I spoke with him later the day.
Just to give you some context, Hiawasse is a small town about 8-10 miles away from the Appalachian trail. Many hikers will hike off the trail and go into this town to restock on needed supplies, shower, and get ready for another period of being in the woods.
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| Hiawasse and the Appalachian Trail Map |
PJ and his group of hikers made it into town, found a budget motel, and then went to eat at a buffet. PJ said it was one of the best meals he's eaten in his whole life. $8.95, all you can eat. He wasn't sure that the meal was so good because of the quality of the food, or if it was because it was the first time he'd eaten "real food" in a while. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
PJ is also being very judicious. It can be a temptation to put in big miles at first - you have so much stoke and gusto for the hike. But most people, even if they are "in shape" aren't really in shape for the challenge of this hike. There is more to consider than walking. He is hiking up mountains, down mountains, with a heavy pack on his back. He is sleeping outside in the woods. The nights are very cold and the ground is very hard.
All of this adds up, and it is better to simply take your time at first. Soon enough, things will get warmer, there will be more ridge walking (with less elevation gain and loss). He will be in better shape and used to the rhythm of life on the trail. Then, he'll put in big miles. It is wise to start off slow.
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| PJ and friends - PJ is on the right side - second one in the back. (wearing a backwards baseball hat) |
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