Preface

It's difficult to know how to best start this journal. When I wrote my AT journal 20 years ago, it was totally for me. It was my observations, thoughts, and feelings, and there was never an expectation that it would ever be read by anyone but Ronald and me. Many years later, we decided to publish them in book form, just for our family. But, after doing that, the next logical step was to prepare them to share with a much larger family -- the hiking community on the World Wide Web. Ronald and I created this web site to publish the journals. From that moment, they took on a life of their own.

Now we've finally completed all the months of planning and preparation for our 20^th anniversary hike and have begun our journey. The stakes have suddenly become a lot higher. Or at least, the expectations. We've told so many people that we're doing journals for this trip, and have promised to publish them on the Web site. The pressure is on to produce award winning prose, and insights of a mystical quality. I do want this new journal to be an accurate portrayal of my experiences, my thoughts, and my feelings. I guess the only way to accomplish that is to once again write it for me, then simply share it with my family and extended Internet family. If I do it any other way, I'm afraid I'll get sucked into writing what I think others want to hear, rather than my true perceptions of the entire experience.

And so -- to begin.

The Departure

The alarm awoke us at 4:00 am on Friday. I was surprised how soundly I'd slept, since we didn't fall into bed until after midnight. Even with all the major details tended to, there were tons of little things that could only be done at the last minute. The last clothes and dishes washed, the fridge cleaned out. It's not easy getting a house ready to be left for the entire summer. Our neighbor, Beryl, rang the doorbell at 4:30, saying she was ready to load the car for the trip to the airport. Our only luggage consisted of three large cardboard boxes Ronald had made to safely transport our backpacks to Atlanta. We each had a small fanny pack to carry on the plane, and for use in towns along the trail. When you have to carry everything on your back, or somewhere on your person, you're not as tempted to throw in too many last minute items.

We took one last look around, turned off the lights and locked the door. Beryl dropped us off at the airport at 5:30. Bless her heart for driving across town at this ungodly hour, and for looking after the house all summer. Our flight was at 6:30, so after checking the boxes at the curb, we had plenty of time for one last latté for us, and a Wendy's breakfast for Brandon, the growing boy.

The flight was completely uneventful -- just the way I like them, and we arrived in Atlanta right on time at 4:30 pm. We were met by Milt Webb, one of the administrators of the AT Mailing List. He lives near Atlanta, and frequently volunteers to shuttle hikers up to Amicalola Falls State Park. We had a pleasant drive up to the park. Milt is a very interesting guy. He does a lot of hiking on the AT, so is very knowledgeable about the trail, and knows a lot of hikers. Plus, he's a computer guy, too. What a combo! We really appreciated his going out of his way to drive us all the way to Amicalola. We wanted to treat him to dinner at the lodge to show our gratitude, but he declined. Said he wanted to get back home in time to watch the Bulls vs. Jazz playoff game that started at 8:30. Apparently, he's a basketball fan, too.

At the park we stopped at the Visitor's Center just long enough for Ronald to sign us in on the AT hikers' log. Then Milt drove us through the campground to scope out the lay of the land, before dropping us at the lodge. We thanked him for the taxi service, and for bringing Coleman fuel to fill the bottle. He would only accept enough money to cover gas expenses, so his shuttles are truly a labor of love for the trail and hikers. We snapped a couple pictures to preserve the moment, then Milt headed home to his basketball game, and we strolled into the lodge. Checked into the campground, then headed for the all-you-can-eat buffet. We tried not to pig out too much. It's not like we've already been on the trail for weeks and have lost all our weight and gained voracious hiker appetites. But, there were barbequed ribs, corn on the cob, and stewed tomatoes with okra, among other things. We had to start getting a taste for the South again. It was our sworn duty. During dinner, we were also treated to some wonderful Southern hospitality from the waitresses, and a feast for the eyes from the huge picture windows.

We were instantly drawn back 20 years by the beautiful rolling green mountains with just a hint of evening mist, and the promise of a brilliant sunset. It was a perfect backdrop. After dinner, we donned our packs for the walk back to the campground. There was just enough daylight left to find a pleasant campsite and pitch the tarp. The evening might have ended there, but we were in for quite a bit more excitement. Just after dark, a large commotion started, and we saw lights flashing, and heard hollering, which could only mean a bear in the campground. Not having a car to stow the food, left us a bit vulnerable, so we walked down to the next campsite and asked the women there if we could toss our food bags in their car.

It turned out that the women were from Pennsylvania, and one of them, Beth Bailey (trail name Dream Chaser) was starting her AT hike in the morning. I wish her the best, and sincerely hope she succeeds, but, realistically, the odds are not in her favor. She had never backpacked before, hadn't really tested all her gear, and was madly trying to decide what to ditch to lighten her 55 pound pack. Plus, she is quite a bit overweight, and hopes to get in shape on the trail. I'm still carrying some extra weight myself, so I'm certainly not throwing stones, but I have been working out for the last six months, and lost 40 pounds before leaving home. We chatted for a while and gave her a few suggestions, but didn't want to try and tell her what to do. Everyone has to hike their own hike, after all. I'm sure she understands she's a long shot, but it was something she wanted to try. She's turning 40 on Sunday, so that's another milestone for her. Her goal is to hike home to Pennsylvania. Hope she makes it.

Back in our tarp, we were just dropping off to sleep when the excitement heated up again. The bear (and her four cubs) were being very persistent, and kept the entire campground awake, being chased from campsite to campsite. There are also several cabins just below the campground, which were full of partying college students. We had already been serenaded by them earlier in the evening. They were loudly butchering Jimmy Buffet tunes, most likely in a drunken state (wasting away in Margaritaville…). When mama bear and the cubs got into their trash cans, the revelers chased them straight toward us. We stood outside the tarp, trying to see where they were, and knowing we wouldn't get a wink of sleep as long as they were roaming around.

Ronald and I thought this a very fitting, if ironic, beginning to this adventure. In 1977, our first night out on the AT in Maine, we were driven out of our lean-to by a hungry bear who could smell the salmon we'd brought to celebrate on top of Mt. Katahdin. Tradition dictated that we bring salmon with us again to eat at the top of Springer tomorrow, which is why we were so anxious to put the food safely away in a car. Shortly after midnight, the bear dilemma came to a natural ending. A massive thunderstorm hit, and in the midst of torrential rain, thunder and lightening, the bears headed for cover, and we were able to drift off to sleep. The rain was comforting, and we knew our tarp and waterproof sleeping bags would keep us warm and dry. Surprisingly, we weren't nervous about the storm, and all slept soundly on our first night in Georgia.

We locked the front door of our house this morning at 4:45. As I turned, I had a funny feeling inside. If all went well, it would be another two and a half months before I'd be home again. Thus I began this venture feeling both exhilaration and apprehension. Our next door neighbor was kind enough to provide transportation at such an ungodly hour so we could catch our 6:30 flight to Atlanta. Deep down, I was hoping the fact that this is Friday the 13^th would not have any ill effects on our venture.

The flight to Atlanta was uneventful and we arrived right on time. I had already prearranged a shuttle to the trailhead with Milt Webb, one of the administrators of the AT-L mailing list. After a slight delay for traffic, we tossed our packs into his trunk and headed to the mountains. Milt was and excellent escort and provided us with lots of information about the surrounding area. After a quick tour of the park, he dropped us off at the Lodge. A few pictures later and he was off for home to catch the basketball playoffs. Meanwhile we stood there pondering what the next couple of months would mean.

To start the trip off on the right foot, we partook of the Lodge's buffet. I eagerly dived into the rich mixture of southern delicacies. Living in the Pacific Northwest, it's not often that I get to eat Southern food. Although not cheep, we justified the cost by spending the night in the campground. Fully feed with visions of the breakfast buffet dancing in our heads, we lumbered over to the campground.

It was after 8:30 and getting dark by the time we set up camp. With camp setup, we all took showers so we could get an early start in the morning. By the time I was finished, word was rapidly spreading through camp that a bear was in the campground. Having no car and with all of our food under the tarp, we were quite nervous about the situation. Linda went to the next camp to see if we could store our food in their car for the night. It turned out one member of their party was also beginning her adventure on the AT tomorrow morning.

They were quite willing to help. She was still in the middle of sorting out what gear to carry. At fifty-five pounds, she knew her pack was too heavy. She just didn't know what to take and what to leave. Despite request for suggestions, I didn't want to tell her what to leave behind. The only suggestion I could tell her was to send any gear home you haven't used in two weeks.

Back in camp we crawled under the tarp and left the door open to keep a watch out for the bear. No one was in much of a mood to sleep. People up the hill were making lots of noise to drive off the bear. Soon it got quite. Looking out the tarp, I could see something moving through the light by the bathrooms. Shortly we heard the rumble of a trash can at the cabins below us. Needless to say, by now we were all on edge. If we'd had a car you know where we would be.

By now it was after midnight. We'd been standing around the tarp too nervous to crawl in and too tired to want to stay out. Finally things appeared to calm down and we crawled into our sleeping bags. Soon the thunder and lighting storms that we could hear in the distance were upon us. When the rain hit with a vengeance, we lost all interest in the bear. We drifted off to sleep, safe and dry under our tarp.

We left home today at about 4:45 am, and Beryl (our next door neighbor) took us to the airport. We had a great flight, and got into Atlanta about 4:30 pm. Milt Webb picked us up after we waited for about 30 minutes, because he got stuck in traffic. He took us all the way to the Amicalola Falls Lodge, where we checked in for a spot in the campground and had a huge dinner consisting of rolls and barbecued ribs, salad, ice cream and peach cobbler.

We hiked down to the campground after dinner and chose a spot and set up camp. Later, we were at the restrooms and Mom was on the phone to her parents, and Dad had just come out of the shower. We overheard a guy mentioning a bear in the campground to his kids. We went back to check it out, while Mom continued talking on the phone. Luckily, the bear was not in our campsite, but we could hear people across the street banging cans and pots to get the bear out of their campsite. Soon Mom came back and we didn't hear about the bear for a while, but we walked to another woman's campsite to ask about putting our food in the car. It turned out that the person was a thru hiker who had some people visiting until she left the next day. We gave her advice about what to carry, since her pack weighed about 55 pounds! After we were done talking, we went back to our camp and went to bed, but it was not long before we heard signs of the bear, and Dad saw it cross the road with cubs behind it. We were all eventually so freaked out we got out of the tarp with our sticks and just stood there. Soon after, a park ranger came by and told us it was a bear and four cubs! About 10 minutes later, it started to rain, so we just ignored the bear and fell asleep. I slept through it all, but Dad told me there were about four different thunder and lightening storms that night, and the rain was coming down real hard. It was a great first day.