(MY opinions/views/advice, everyone has a different hike)
HYOH
Hike your own hike
After the seasonal store that I manage closed up for the winter I immediately packed up my apartment, put all of my belongings into storage, and joined my best friend for a month and a half long backpacking adventure on the Appalachian Trail (AT)Going from Bland, VA to the end of the trail at Springer Mountain (approx. 600 miles). It was one of the the best experiences of my life.
It can be hard to find information on solo female hikers going southbound on the Appalachian Trail so between this and a link to my friends trail journal who completed the entire trail, hopefully this is helpful.
Link to Magnet's trail journal here.
Kissing the Blaze
The white blaze marks the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. It is very well marked and relatively hard to get lost.
Overview
The Appalachian trail is approximately 2,180 miles stretching from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. On average it takes about 6 months to complete but this is completely up to you and what you aim to get from the trail. Kaleigh completed the trail in 5.5 months and when I was with her we covered 600 miles (ish)in 40 (ish) days.
My best friend, Kaleigh began the trail in Maine going southbound on June 10th. She had been wanting to do it for years and decided to go solo besides family members that would join her for small sections. Going southbound is much less common than going northbound so she chose to trek in this direction for less crowds and because some say that it is the more difficult way to go. Most people end up going southbound because of scheduling. Southbounders or "SOBO's" aka MEGA (Maine to Georgia)typically start in june, while Northbounders or "NOBO's" aka GAME (Georgia to Maine). This is because of the weather and it is of course not absolute. Many people begin in the time surrounding those months, and some crazy people go balls to the wall and do a winter through hike.
White on Wood
A white blaze in an open field with Virginia mountains and a setting sun in the background.
One charming aspect of the trail is that everyone gets a trail name. For the most part these are bestowed upon you, but some choose their own. Most people love this tradition and everyone is really only called by their trail name. We would do "real name mondays" where you try and call people by their real names. I will be referring to people by their trail names so expect some unconventional monikers.
Kaleigh's trail name is "Magnet" mine is "Revolver" or also "Revo" (which I love) Both of us had our trail name given to us and there is a story behind every trail name. Long story short - within the first few days of being on the trail we had the opportunity to shoot some guns. I shot 3 different types and the last one was a revolver which I did very well with for never having shot a gun before. Our friend Turtle aka Turl later dubbed me revolver.
Although Magnet began the trail by herself she met many amazing people along the way and was hiking with new friends for the most part. I was lucky to join the adventure after she had established a group of amazing friends that gave me a warm welcome. We hiked the entire way with a group of the same 6-9 people. Our group was the trail kittens and the trail pups (pick a side if you dare)and included ...
Revolver *NY/MA/RI* (Me) - Revo, Biscuit bandit, Poptart, cheesn kitten
Magnet *NY/MA* - mamma mags, magme, chickn kittin
Furprittius *NY* - furps, fruitapuss, pretty kitty
Smithy *ME* - miffy (shhhhh he gets mad), smittn kitten
Honkey *AK/MA* - ups, hunky kitty
Spits *VA/CA* - spit pup, spittn kittn
Maverick *TN* - Oh Maverick, mavy, mavy kitty
Turtle *NJ/CT* - turl, squirtle
The Scary Gun
(not the revolver)
Taken at Fort Bastian in Bastian, VA.
Into the Woods
Hiking back into the Smoky Mountains after our 2 night escape into Gatlinburg.
Smithy, SurpriseSurprise (Magnet's boyfriend out for a visit) Maverick, Magnet, Furprittius, Revolver (me), Spits
The Painters Cabin
Outside Maverick's Grandparents cabin that they let us stay at for the night. It was incredibly cozy. We rented a movie, got pizza and had a grand old time.
Spits, Magnet, Turl, Smithy, Me, Furprittius
Drive Montauk, NY > Wyckoff, NJ (where my aunt so graciously let me store all of my belongings, let me use her home as a home base during my "homelessness" period, and helped me out with transportation. Hi Susy!) > taxi to Newark, NJ bus station > Greyhound (much cheaper than a plane and only 10 hours) to Roanoke, VA > picked up by the fabulous Tru Brit and the amazing Magnet > 2 hour car ride to Fort Bastian.
An ode to Fort Bastian
I was Lucky enough to come in at Fort Bastian. A wilderness camp in the process of being built by Nigel "true brit". it did not have cabins but it had a tarped fire pit and true brit would cook the hikers breakfast and dinner at no charge every day. We had so much fun there that we ended up staying there for 5 days and having him slack pack us (slackpacking - someone drops you off and you hike your miles for the day without your entire pack load) Tru Brit is an amazing guy and extremely knowledgeable. For anyone interested in wilderness training I highly suggest that you go to fort bastian once construction is complete. Here we shot guns, did archery, sang around the camp fire, and went to this crazy high tower where you could see 5 states from the top. woohoo!
Pups on top
True Brit, his dog Baron, and Gem a fellow section hiker at Fort Bastian.
Fire Song
Singing songs around the fire pit. 2 Guitars, one banjo, moonshine, and a bunch of singers. Not bad! - Smithy's leg, Honkey, and True Brit.
Ramblin' Man
All packed in the back of True Brits truck on our way to a day of slack packing. - Smithy, Nectar, and Dream Wolf.
Shake em' Loose
A tower that True Brit brought us to where we could see 5 states from the top.
For a 6 second 360 degree view from the top of the tower click here
Mountain Mamas
View from the top! And Magnet and I striking a high-fashion pose.
Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee.
The Typical Hiking Day
Wake up between 6 and 8 (depending on how many miles we plan to hike)
Change, pack up, breakfast and brush teeth
Hike an average of 15-23 miles, usually around 17 or 18. This will also depend on the terrain for the day, if we have plans to go into a town, or spacing between shelters.
Take a few short snack breaks throughout the day, usually all meet up at a shelter half way through and take a longer lunch break.
Get to a shelter before dark, set up your sleeping space (after it is assigned to you by furps), change into camp/sleep clothes. Make dinner, hang out, go to sleep.
Sometimes we would hike all together, sometimes split into a few smaller groups, and sometimes I would hike by myself. I found that for the most part I enjoyed hiking at a slower pace except for when i would occasionally be feeling a high speed kind of day.
Shelters
Shelters are typically 3 sided raised structures with a roof. It is easier to find a shelter to sleep in so that you don't have to set up and break down a tent, especially if it is raining. Though a tent may actually offer a warmer sleep. We probably only tented 3 or 4 times. Shelters are built every so often on the trail. In the south where I was there were usually at least 2 each day so getting to a shelter was never a problem. Thru hikers are supposed to have first rights to the shelters. Sometimes our group would have the shelter to ourselves, sometimes there would be many many people there like at the barn shelter in the roan highlands. Towards the end of the trail in georgia the shelters seemed more crowded but we were never put out. When deciding what shelter to hike to make sure it has a water source nearby and a privy is always a plus. Shelters have bear lines to hang your food bag when there are bears in the area, or hooks to hang your food bag so mice can't get in. There are always mice in shelters, and the one time I didn't hang my food bag a mouse literally ate my cheese. Spiders, snakes, skunks, and bears have also been known to wander into shelters.
A Home; Divided
A typical 3 sided shelter. Me, Furps, Turl, and Mavy
Men at Lunch
Another 3 sided shelter also typical with an upstairs loft. Spits, Smithy, Maverick, Furprittius, and trail legend Cody Coyote hiding up in the loft.(top right)
Movement and Location
A view looking out from inside the shelter still cozy in my sleeping bag with smithy asleep accross the end. This Shelter had an overhang with a picnik table under it. Fancy! You can also see all of the food bags hung up away from the mice. This was the second to last shelter we stayed at before the end and it was a full house with an additional 15ish people tenting around the shelter. The weekend hikers were very generous with their snacks.
The Motherload
The only shelter I stayed at that was completely enclosed and had wooden bunks. what a jem! Here is my journal entry from that day...
"Day5: Hiked 6 miles out of Fort Bastian, Planned on hiking more but Nick and I are a bit slow and Furprittius is sick with kidney stones and we came across this awesome shelter. My tentative trail name is revolver given to me by turtle but Kaleigh said it should be renegade of funk. We started shouting hiyooh! (HYOH hike your own hike) The shelter here is completely enclosed and so cute it's on top of a grassy mountain but the only downside is Kaleigh and I had to hike 1.8 miles and back to get water from a really annoying pond. The weather today was beautiful and tonight it is very windy luckily this shelter is legit. The sunset was amazing. Here with the kittens nick, turtle, maverick, and gem."
This is the sunset that night.
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Hostels and Motels
We would try and stay in Hostels whenever we were going to happen upon one. Some areas have a bunch of hostels and some have none. The Hostel owners were some of the craziest and kindest people I've encountered. Hostels range from free church hostels with wooden bunks, to makeshift bunk houses, to just straight up staying in someones crazy cluttered home. In Damascus, Virginia we stayed at Crazy Larry's hostel. I could barely understand what he was saying. Damascus is a trail town (the trail goes right through the middle of town) with a couple of good outfitters, and is home to "Trail Days" a giant gathering of hikers.
Crazy Larry and his pup
We also stayed with Connie at the Greasy Creek Friendly. Getting to her house was a long and confusing voyage of side trails and we were immediately greeted with a long list of house rules. She turned out to be so so nice and taught us to butter our pop tarts. She did make some comments about her ex husband liking kiddie porn but hey, she ditched him for good reason I guess. All of the hostels that we stayed at were experiences in and of themselves and I would recommend taking advantage of a nice shower and some crazy southern entertainment.
Elmers Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs, NC was built in 1840 and had so many rooms and rooms behind rooms i never really figured out where everyone slept. It was furnished and decorated to fit the time period.
elmers sunnybank inn
Elmers sunnybank inn
When we would get into town and there were no hostels we would have to stay at the local crappy motel. 2 rooms and 4 to a room was the usual scene. Our stay at a hotel in Helena Georgia was by far the most memorable. The rooms were huge and clean and split 4 ways turned out to be less expensive then most dive motels or hostels. We were having a great time and being silly and ended up getting into an epic 5 person pillow brawl. We were attacking each other relentlessly for at least 10 minutes when there was a knock on the door and the front desk had been called and had to call the police because someone thought that there was a person being raped in our room! 2 cops came and we explained that it was just a pillow fight. Were just too damn fun I guess.
How to collect supplies / shower
In the south it becomes pretty easy to get into a town to resupply. The Dollar General is the mecca of AT resupply. We would usually be able to resupply every 2 or 3 days, I think 4 days was the longest. every 4 or 5 days when we would get into a town or make it to a hostel we would have the chance to shower. motel accommodations would be the cheapest option available and 4 to a room.
What I ate
Getting my food routine & planning down was one of the hardest parts for me, probably because it takes time to figure out what works for you. I started off with 3 dehydrated meals and still had one to ditch at the end of the trail 40 days later. I started carrying way too much food and its really nice to carry just what you will need until you can resupply because food is the heaviest thing in your pack. I found that carrying more snack type food and less cooking type food worked out the best. Also carry what you want to eat because if its not something you actually like you wont eat it and its just dead weight and wasted money.
Typically....
Breakfast: Oatmeal or cream of wheat and coffee. Sometimes i would put trail mix in my oatmeal which was really good. Sometimes a packaged pastry
Lunch: Usually i would just snack throughout the day on anything and everything. Honey buns, beef jerky, crackers, peanut butter, cliff bars, trail mix, poptarts. Toast your cinnamon sugar pop tarts and put butter on the back side. Then thank me later. Sometimes i would make cold cut sandwiches. I think I would do this more next time.
Dinner: Dehydrated meal. Magnet showed me the way with these. They were actually really good. For real. Good ones: chicken fajita, chili beef with mac, shepherds pie, bangers and mash
Odds and ends: Maverick carried a huge bag of various kinds of m&ms and a plethora of delicious sauces that all came in handy and he shared with everyone. Candy and sauces (chipotle mayo) are great to have. I am a cinnamon fiend so i carried some in an empty tic tac container and put it in coffee, oatmeal, PB sandwiches.
Towards the end I stopped eating anything that I would have to cook. This was because it was too cold to cook / too cold to clean my cooking stuff for me. I would have packaged pastry for breakfast, snacks throughout the day, cold cut sandwiches for lunch or dinner. It was cold enough that meat and cheese kept fine.
A tasty and colorful treat for the mouth! Hot cocoa.
My supplies
What I began with - Shared tent and propane stove with magnet
Pack - golite
Pack cover - golite
Trecking poles - rei traverse
Sleeping bag - big agnes 26 degree
sleeping bag liner therm - a -rest
Sleeping pad - therm-a-rest neoair xlite (amazing)
Bowl - plastic
Mug - titanium with lid good for when its cold
Fork and spoon - titanium. i hate sporks.
2qt aluminum pot - to share with Magnet
Clothing:
1 ultrathin merino wool legging
1 wooly sweatpant sleep pants
1 baseball tee camp shirt
1 columbia back beauty quick dry wind proof pants (amazing)
2 sports bras
3 smartwool socks
1 merino wool tee shirt
2 merino wool long sleeve shirts 1 light weight 1 medium
1 shorts
1 fleece zip up
5 underwear
1 rain pants (never used gave to magnet to use as windpants)
1 merrell hiking boots (amazing)
1 flip flops (ditched immediately cant wear with socks so i would just wear my boots loose at camp)
1 helly hansen rain and wind jacket
fleece Buff
Gloves ice breaker and a pair of wooly ones
wooly hat
Utility knife - classic swiss army
Head lamp
Ziplock bags
Band aids & Neosporin
Ibuprofen (lots)
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Glasses & contacts
Razor
Lighter
AWOL sobo guidebook
Whistle
Pepper spray
Stuff sacks for clothing and food
compression bag for sleeping bag
Water tablets (usually used magnets pump or drank from springs
Camel back
Toilet paper
Hand Sani and wet wipes
Pack towel
4 charge Phone charger
Memorable Days
The Grayson Highlands - Home to wild ponies, beautiful balds, and great rock faces to climb. The weather got sketchy up there so we had to abort and go into Damascus and then continue on. The mud that day was so frustrating from the melting snow. One wild pony was named Fabio and looked exactly like Fabio. Fabulous.
Fabio
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Revo says "come here little pony"
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All the pretty little horses. See them prancing ... dancing!
The Roan Highlands
Atop the Roan Highlands
Overmountain shelter
Smoky Mountain Snowstorm - Hiking into the Smokys it was gorgeous, green, lush, and pretty warm (or at least not crazy cold).
Entering the Smokys
Hiking up into the smokys
We woke up at a shelter in the Smokys planning on doing a 23 mile day to get us into Gatlinburg for that night. We knew it was supposed to snow but didn't realize how quickly it was all going to happen.We woke up bright and early to get started on a long day and the sunrise looked like this ...
Warm and toasty right?
Part way through the day it started to snow and then more snow and then more snow. It was lovely for a while, until mile 20 when everyones right side of their face was completely frozen along with all of the water we were carrying. We still had 3 miles to go to get to the access road where Mavericks mom was going to pick us up to bring us into Gatlinburg but the park was closing the acess road because of the storm. After a lot of communication between the ranger station and Mavericks mom we got the go ahead and raced the last 3 miles (happily downhill) to the parking lot and huddled in the bathroom waiting for her. It was such a fun experience and i feel so lucky to have been in the Great Smoky Mountains for a snow storm but I am also very grateful that we didnt have to stay at the shelter in those freezing temperatures.
The snow is coming
Its getting really freezing.
We're frozen. But happy.
But yeah, frozen.
Trail Magic / Trail Charm
I consider trail magic to be anything that you come across on the trail that brightens your day. Most widely people use it to refer to gifts left and favors done by "Trail Angels" along the way. You could be hiking and find a cooler full of sodas and snacks that someone left for a through hiker. The most extreme trail magic we had happened when our friend Honkey sliced open his leg while we were hiking near Johnson city TN. A local couple that our friend Nectar had been hooked up with came and got us all and let us stay at their beautiful home for days while he recovered. They drove us places, let us use their car, and kept us very well fed the whole time.
Another famous trail legend, Ms. Janet met up with us in Hot Springs, NC and slack packed us for the day. We met up at a road crossing and we set up a big tent and fire and she made us all chili.
Ms. Janets AT Hippie van
Lounging inside Ms. Janet's van
Zero Day Expeditions
Occasionally we would take a zero day (or 2) and go explore some of the awesome citys in the south.
Gatlinburg - Almost like a disney land meets ski village meets vegas. very strange but lots of fun. Turl and Furps competed in a spicy chili eating contest and Turl won! They were both sick for the rest of the night but he got a pretty sweet trophy.
Turl for the win! The girl next to him was also an absolute beast.
Raccoon pets = normal?
Ashville, NC - My absolute favorite! It was the morning of Magnets birthday and it was rainy and foggy at the shelter we had stayed at. She goes to the privy and comes back with a genius idea! Lets get a shuttle and go to Ashville for her birthday!! We met up with Spits friend JungleJim and had a grand time brewery hopping but i think we started a little too early because the bouncer asked me to remove Magnet from the bar at about 9:30 because she was sleeping on a table. Happy Birthday Magnet! Ashville is so cool with tons of great music, local interesting food, and tons of breweries.
A very blurry night in Ashville
Found me a new man in Ashville, NC!
Why I did my section hike and why people do the trail
I did the trail because I like hiking and love adventures. My Hike was definitely inspired by Magnet and the reason I thought to go in the first place was to meet up with her. She's a great friend and we are very compatible for adventuring.
Other people did the trail: for the same reason as me or, their friend talked them into it or, to find themselves or, to challenge themselves or, to see part of the country, or because they are athletic etc ... there were many reasons.
What I loved
All in all i think what most appealed to me about the lifestyle on the trail was being able to be in the woods living a simple life, but still being constantly stimulated with new experiences, sights, and adventures. I would say that this is something that is unique to long distance hiking, especially on the AT.
> The people: 95% of the people I met were exceptional treasures of human beings.
> The feeling of a true family
> The sense of community. People helpn' People. Trail magic.
> Hiking! It surprised me how many people on the trail didn't like hiking.
Magnet, me, and Turl
> Being in the moment. When you (kind of) know what your days are for the next 600 miles it becomes very easy to live in the moment.
> Rock climbing. I'm a mutha fuckn monsta
> Getting more in-touch with the south. The kind people and the kind biscuits.
> Not giving a fuck what you look like. its incredibly liberating. I simply avoided mirrors for most of the trip and was happy about it
> Putting on the same thing every day and not wearing makeup. so simple.
My everyday outfit
> Having very little belongings. Freeing.
> Feeling unjaded, getting de-jaded? something like that ...
> Constantly singing and acting like a 5 year old. Nothing makes me happier then letting the silly out.
> Cramming way too many people in a car.
> Beards
> Browsing through outfitters
> Cute dogs
What I didn't love
Going into it i knew i would be living "uncomfortably" during this time. Hiking steep graded terrain, Sleeping on wood, not showering often, not being able to the eat what i want when i want ... etc. none of this bothered me at all it was really just part of the adventure. the only thing that i really ended up despising was ....
> The cold.
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The struggle is real for Furprittius
When your hiking its fine, no matter how cold it is. Even in a snow storm in the smokeys. But when its really cold out and you stop hiking you cant do anything. All you can do is get in your sleeping bag and completely close yourself in it and try to fall asleep even though its only 6pm.
It makes everything difficult. You dont want to cook, change your clothes, go to the bathroom, Clean your self up, socialize. It just sucks.
Trailamorph
A collection of photographs showing the many faces of the AT
Into the mystic
Page One
Timber
Crunch crunch crunch
Weildy Field
The gap
Colorshow
When trail goes Road
Planting the seeds of life
Stair down
Cingman's Dome, highest point on the AT. Elevation 6,643. Magnet and Spits at the top
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Walking far from home
I hope anyone who could make it though this whole post enjoyed learning about my time on the AT.
Congratulations to all my friends who completed the journey, sections and through alike.
I love and miss you all!
Love,
Revolver
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