It took me a little while to recover from my bout of sciatica and disc compression from my 2015 AT Nobo attempt. I decided a shorter, less intense re-introduction to thru hiking was necessary. The Pinhoti Trail seemed to be a good candidate, being relatively close to where I lived and I knew people close to the trail along other sections. I actually did some planning and prep work for this one. Meals were dehydrated, vacuum sealed and mailed to me at 3 strategic locations along the trail. I had to use a printed map to approximate and mark in my journal where water locations would be. I laminated small cards with the guidebook I found online and used that alone with a compass for my navigation. I got turned around on a few occasions, but ultimately had an amazing 19 day experience.
25 Nov. 2016- 1745 Start. 1841 arrival at shelter for 2.1 miles on the evening. I forgot my headlamp and had to borrow Tina’s flashlight. The flashlight battery is currently dead, so I’m stuck with the light on my external battery until tomorrow.
26 Nov. 2016- 0430 wake up. 42* by my watch. Breakfast is oatmeal. 0530 start. 0723 arrival at Capertons Old South General Store. Bought a Dr. Pepper for .75 cents., Thanks for the change Tina! 0930 @ Dollar General. H2O, batteries, 1 dollar flashlight and a Kickstart. I met Jupiter at mile 18, he’s doing the Eastern Continental Trail. What a bad ass, very nice guy. 1150 - lunch stop. 1310- reached Trammel trailhead. That’s a 20 to there already and it’s early. I’m just glad that road walk is out of the way. This part of the trail coming up is supposedly closed but Jupiter said it’s ok, onwards!
27 Nov. 2016- I’m 5 miles along the Trammel section of the trail. I made it 23.1 miles yesterday by the data book. I actually feel pretty good other than general soreness in the hips, knees, general legs and back area lol. It’s 0430 and I’ve been awake an hour already. It got colder than expected last night. Glad for the secondary pad. 0850- made it to Bulls Gap and found a cut open gallon of H2O and filtered it. I was close to empty. Currently drinking coffee and eating oatmeal. That freeze dried fruit is awesome! Currently at trail mile 34.3. The ground beef re-hydrated nicely last night. I’m excited to try chili tonight! Water for sections 1 and 2 were easy. Section 3 is dry as a bone and 2+ miles are charred to a crisp. **thank God for the random cut gallon*, it was probably some dogs water, too bad for him! From Bulls Gap, I made it to Wormys Pulpit, where I am currently encamped. That puts my mileage for the day at 20.1. I’m sore in the knees mostly, so I’m slower on the down. No road walks today. I got another H2O blessing on top of Horn Mountain when some day hikers parted with over 2 liters of water! Made Chili for dinner, delicious.
28 Nov. 2016- Up and walking by 0530. Water stop at 0700 by Scott’s lake. Nasty but will have to do.I had to take my shoes off to get into a marshy area to access water. 0853- section 4 done. Got to Porters Gap trailhead at 0849. I emptied my trash into a feed bag in the parking lot and cleaned the rest of the lot as payment. Fair trade I say. 52.3 miles done so far. 1410- Clairmont Gap. 1640- mile 65 and camped for the night. Called and was able to talk to the boys. I’m pretty sore. Just took another pill in the hopes that I’ll feel better tomorrow. Less than 3 miles to my first actual H2O drop at Adams Gap. 14 miles to my first mail drop at Cheaha State Park. 20 mile day.
29 Nov. 2016- 0023- It decided to rain tonight at about 2130. Ive found 3 places, all at the head of the tent, that leak. I think I overlooked them because all 3 are anchor points for the cross beam. Every other seam is holding great./ It’s been a long wet day today from the leftover rain. Made it to Heavens Gate at 1030 and to Cheaha State park at 1500. Free shower, my resupply box and a mellow yellow. Then a 2 mile hike to my current location at Blue Mountain shelter. 16.2 miles today over 4 big mountains and a resupply stop, not bad.
30 Nov. 2016- Out of the shelter by 0540.Started raining at 0800 and rained the whole way to Hwy. 431. When I got to the trailhead I made a .6 mile road walk to the Cheaha Country Store. Switched from my wet shit to dry shit and had a can of ravioli and a kickstart. Larry came by to get me and took me to his place where I currently am. He fed me gumbo and tacos. I took a shower and did some gear maintenance. I am going to borrow his truck to go to Auburn for the night. Gotta make a quick Columbus trip and then it’s home to bed with my awesome wife and our new kitten. 15.5 miles on the day.
1 Dec. 2016- Woke up and took Avi to school. Cooked breakfast and headed back to Larry’s. He dropped me off at the 431 trailhead and I resumed hiking at 1030. By 1645 the sun started to go down and I’d only done 12 miles. Decided to night hike to Lower Shoal Shelter after a dinner stop of Chili with a movie. 18 miles for the day.
2 Dec. 2016- 0330 wake up and it’s cold! The watch says 33.8 degrees. My top half was warm, but from mid thigh down, I froze. That 3/4 foam pad is good for added insulation but I need a bigger one for sure. Definitely need a better one for shelters where there’s an under draft. Decided to make coffee and oatmeal to warm up and then made a hot water bottle. I have a good deal of residual soreness in my right ankle. I definitely mildly sprained it. Thank god for trekking poles. 0900- Made it to Pine Glenn campground. Mile 119.8. My right leg has been nothing but problems. Sore knee, rolled ankle, and I noticed yesterday that my bone on the ball of the foot behind my big toe was hurting. Today, same thing. My bone sticks out further than the foot box of the shoe. I’m used to barefoot shoes now and my feet have changed. I trimmed a piece of my ass pad off and stuffed it in my shoe. Instant relief. Made it to a sweet outhouse just in time to utilize it. Done with section # 9, my least favorite section so far honestly. Mostly winds between hills, bunch of PUDS. Continued until mile 129 for a 15 mile day.
3 Dec. 2016- It’s 1500 and I am at mile 145. Made 16 miles today. The rain picked up, which prompted me to stop for the rest of the evening at Dugger mountain shelter. I started this morning rushing from my stealth camp spot and trying to meet my Dad at the section 11 start point, Burns trailhead, by 0900. I got there by 0930 and linked up with him. He had a personal pepperoni pizza and a Pepsi. Awesome!!! We hiked to Turkey gap and stopped for lunch. We parted ways and here I am at this writing. Made it to the FS 500 trail head/section 12 start and met Sherpa. He gave ,e some trail magic!! An apple, 2 peanut butter packets, 2 packs of cacao, 3 mini snickers and a diet Mountain Dew! I love calories. I met his friend Barbara and got her number in case I need anything when I get to Rome Georgia.
4 Dec. 2016- Went to bed raining and it still is. Up at 0400. Awesome oatmeal breakfast with the addition of the peanut butter given me by Sherpa yesterday. I’ve noticed a better sleeping trend for me if I elevate my head and feet. I use my shoes under the head of my mattress and my pack for the feet. The back mesh panel of my Osprey zeros cradles my pad nicely. 7.8 miles to the Chief Ladiga campground. I spoke to the caretaker yesterday when I caught a signal. My box is on the front porch of the office. He was going to have his wife Google the return address because he’d had the box for a week. I’ve been hiking 9 days!, just glad it’s there. 1909- Sitting in Davis mountain shelter eating a big ass bag of chili. It rained and misted and blew like crazy all day. I didn’t get to the Chief Ladiga campground until 1300. I couldn’t find the trail at a certain point on Oakey mountain. There was a blaze and then nothing. I went a half mile up a forest road and then back to the last known blaze. I accidentally backtracked almost another mile before I admitted to myself that I got turned around. I finally came back to the last blaze and did ever larger circles in the mist until I found a new, Nobo blaze. The actual Chief Ladiga pick up went smoothly. I pushed on into the dark for another 2 hours to get to Davis mountain shelter, mile 163.1, giving me an 18 mile day. My feet were prunes when I got my shoes off. 13 hours walking with wet feet will do that.
5 Dec. 2016- 0643- still in bed. Finished my oatmeal and Starbucks instant coffee. Good stuff. I slept pretty hard last night. It’s so wonderful to get dry and sleep that way after a long, wet day. 18 miles to get to Cave Spring, Georgia. About 7 miles to the state line. No clue if I’ll do a big push or come up short and do breakfast in town tomorrow. Eggs, sausage, yummm. 1145- Crossed the Alabama/ Georgia border. 1230- Spring Creek shelter for lunch. Ramen, hickory tuna, a honeybun and coffee. 1630- Made it to Cave Spring. Got a cheap room at the Creek motel. Dropped my gear right off and straight to get dinner. Chicken sandwich, fries, chocolate mousse cake and a coke. Got back to the room, showered and hand washed clothes. It’s been raining for 2 days and everything I own smells. Gotta go grocery shopping tomorrow a.m. Got 2 big beers to drink down tonight. My Dad may bring my shoes to me Friday. 18.2 miles for the day.
6 Dec. 2016- Woke up multiple times having to piss. The dry air is deadly to my sinuses. I’m all stuffed up and snotty. Breakfast at the diner, sausage omelette, 2 biscuits with gravy and coffee to wash it down. Cover everything in hot sauce. More questions from diner staff. Went grocery shopping and repacked everything into hiker friendly containers. Packed up and dropped my key off. 1240- At a Baptist church for lunch. Pepperoni cheddar wraps. I have my foot out of my shoe. I’m trying to stretch it and pop my ankle. Back to road walking. Mack called me at 1500 so I pulled off the road and decided to camp in the same spot! Noisy but I’ll make due. 2045- My foot has been killing me. Had to call my wife and she found a wonderful lady named Jan to drive out of her way to bring me Tylenol, snickers and a 2 liter of Pepsi! Already loving the pain relief and the sugar rush.
7 Dec. 2016- I slept ok and the Tylenol took the bite out of my pain. We will see how things go today. 1153- Stopped for lunch at the section 19 trailhead, mile 207.3. There sounds to be a gun range very near. A lot of large caliber weapons being fired, a little trippy but the sunny spot by their sign is perfect to dry my tent. 1800- Mile 215, so an 18 mile day. Would’ve been a 20 miler if hadn’t missed my turn by the rail trail and overshot it by a mile. All of a sudden the trail was overgrown and I smacked dead into a barbed wire fence. That’s a sign you’re going the wrong way if I’ve ever seen one. This time the guidebook led me astray. I need to read the trail better.
8 Dec. 2016- Got another late start today. Hit Mack White Gap at 1330. Stopped at mile 228 today for 13 miles. Trying to time meeting my Dad tomorrow and finishing the trail next Wednesday so Tina can pick me up. We shall see.
9 Dec. 2016- It was cold last night when I went to bed and it stayed that way. The watch said 22* but that doesn’t factor in wind chill. I woke up at 0100 freezing and burned the dregs of my gas can to get a warm bottle of water to snuggle with for the few hours it lasted. Up for good at 0430. Ate some cold oat meal and hiked on…the wrong way…for a half mile. I finally turned around and restarted at 0630. Small amounts of trail with a lot of forest road walking. The trail sign is very sparse in certain areas and I got lost again. Wrong way for a mile…backtracked to “switchback” with the last trail blaze and pulled up my map app from Google And figure it out. Thank God I had service. It’s 1455 and I’m at East Armuchee Road trailhead waiting for my Dad. He’s got my shoes, a gas can and a ride to a store. 13.6 miles on the day.
10 Dec. 2016- Decided to go home with Dad and take my only 0 day. Reasons: clean myself and my gear, get extra groceries, new movies, rest my leg, calorie up and give myself no reason to stay at I-75. Maybe pass through and grab a soda, but then I’m planning to roll. Under 100 miles to go.
11 Dec. 2016- Dad dropped me off at East Armuchee Gap road at 0645. Made it to Johns mountain super quick and got a good picture of the overlook. Then I went the wrong way and ended up doing the Johns mountain loop trail. Extra mile added to my trip. UGH. Currently sitting at mile 262 so that’s a 20.6 mile day. Definitely missed my barefoot shoes. Thanks to my awesome wife and Dad I’m now reunited with them again. I also ran into the Georgia Pinhoti Trail President today at Pilchers pond. He was on a mountain bike and older than I expected. He gave a Pinhoti trail sign. He spoke of plans to have a prison crew come in and clean the Hematite lake area which is good news. The place was trashed when I came through. They are currently building new trail to divert some of the existing road walks. Pilchers pond was also in a horrible state. The pond was dry and there were tires strewn ever which way. I walked on the ponds bottom and it looked like a cracked desert LOL.
12 Dec. 2016- Woke up at 0350 to rain on my tarp. Packed and threw a snickers into my side pouch. Out at 0445 to start hiking. Rain all the way to Dalton where I am currently sitting at IHOP. Someone bought my meal and I’m so full I could puke LOL. Returned to the “trail” and walked to the 4 Corner Drive Up Diner. Ate a chicken sandwich and tater tots for dinner. On the recommendation of the waitress, I walked an extra half mile to an abandoned school and slept on a side porch. 28.3 miles for the day.
13 Dec. 2016- Woke up to a super foggy morning. Packed and rolling by 0545. Stopped at a gas station for a coffee and the lady just gave it to me. I final,y got away from town and back into the mountains. Hit mile 300 and saw a cool commemorative plaque. I’m officially back in the Blue Ridge mountains. I feel like it’s a good way to end the year. 16.3 miles on the day and currently at mile 308.5.
14 Dec. 2016- 0430 wake up. Cold and wet start by the creek junction. Packed up and rolling by 0530. Foggy and the inside/outside of my tent is wet. 1145-Just climbed to a high spot and was able to contact Tina. She is coming to get me tonight so my 20 mile plan just became a 30 mile plan. Night Hike, 2030- I finished the trail. Hit the Northern Terminus. The last 10 miles were rough with numerous blowdowns, creek crossings and the steepest climb on the trail all wrapped into 4 1/2 hours of hiking. 2.2 miles to the top of the mountain via the Benton Mackay Trail to meet Tina next to a cemetery. ☠️
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