Hello everyone, I hate to say this because it very disappointing, but I’ve had to leave the trail. I started the AT with a cold and it never went away as I had hoped. It eventually turned into bronchitis and pneumonia. I got off and went to a town to get better and realized I needed to go home and get some Dr. care. I’m home after a long and challenging adventure home. I’m glad to be home and realize that it was the only thing I could do to be safe. If I had continued I have no idea how sick I could have gotten. So over 150 miles with 19 days on the trail. I’m feeling better but will not go back to NC to continue for now. I’ve decided to do some hiking here in my beautiful White Mountains this spring and summer and enjoy what I can do and not focus on what I couldn’t finish. So because this is the end of this adventure I’m going to let the blog sit. Maybe some of my hiking buddies will find the blog so they will know what happend.
What an amazing adventure so far. I started in a mist that turned into a really big thunderstorm. That first morning I started walking 2 hours before the sun cam up so I walked with my head lamp. A very good day. I have learned a lot about how to make things do and how to keep warm in a sleeping bag that is not warm enough. I’m so glad I got a piece of fleece and the last cold night it dawned on me that I could heat up a bottle of water and toss it into the bottom of my sleeping bag and it will keep my feet warm for about 5 hours. Yesterday as I was making my way to Dicks Gap (11 miles car ride to Hiawassee, GA) the ground was frozen, snow covered, and very slipery above 2000 feet. Under 2000 feet it turned into a black mud pudding. I also found out why turtles don’t like to be flipped onto their backs. It’s damn dificult to turn over and stand up again. now for a list of booboos. 2 bad blisters on my left little toe that has gone to a bloody mess… so some work is needed to put that back right. also a poped blister on my hand where the trecking pole strap rubs on my thumb. Lots of hot spots on my feet so it’s good to stop and air them out a little. No snakes so far… to damn cold for them to come out of their holes. Walked in blowing snow yesterday morning (3 days of snow flurries) wondering where I was and if I could make it to the main road. and all of a sudden the sun came out in a grove of rodadendrons.(sp). It was beautiful all dappled sunlight and about a hundred Junkos (little gray birds with round white bellies) it was really a beautiful sight. I have to say that this is surely the most difficult thing physically I’ve ever done. It also leaves you time to think about things in detail. I’ve solved a few problems with a story I’ve been writing nothing on paper though. If nothing else there is lots of time to think. Thank you all for your support and good wishes … it really does and has helped. I will be in Franklin hopefully by Sunday, but time has no meaning and it’s hard to know what day it is after a few days in the woods. I know this is where I want to be and need to be, so I shall continue onward and upward with a whistle to the wind and a skip in my step. “If you believe you can your half way there” T. Roosevelt
This is my last entry before the adventure begins. I hope to be able to keep this going every week or 10 days to show what I’ve done and where I’ve been. I really didn’t think I would get this excited about going. I can hardly contain myself. I have 212 days to walk from Springer Mountain to Mount Katadin (they close Baxter State Park October 15th). That figures out to be 10.4 miles a day….. every day, so it’s not so bad actually. I bet I walk that much or more in my kitchen at Loon everyday.
Katie arranged a surprise going away party for me a couple of days ago. My daughter, Brenda and her new husband Mike, my daughter Bette with my grandson Jerran as well as my mother and about 35 friends and co-workers all to wish me well. It was a fantastic party filled with food, drinks and lots of laughs.
Today was my last day of work and it was a day filled with good byes and well wishes for my grand adventure. I’m blessed with all the friends and family that have supported me on my quest. Tomorrow at 4:30 a.m.; I will leave with Mom and Katie to Boston and then on the train to Georgia. Working up to the last day has been good for me as I haven’t had spare time to sit around and rethink everything over and over again. Wait a minute, I have been rethinking everything over and over again.
It seems I’m suppose to maintain a blister score/count. Keeping everyone informed as to the number of blisters I have should be fairly easy. If you wish to have a betting pool on the number, you have my permission. My pain could be worth big bucks if you guess well. There is also the mileage count and the state count. The AT is in 14 states and the mileage is 2186 or so. I probably will have time for a bear count and a snake count. Some have suggested I limit the snake count to just poisonous snakes, but as far as I’m concerned all snakes have teeth and bite so all should be counted.
If things go as planned I should be back in the White Mountains by the end of August, but with no planning other than to get up every day and walk northward, there is no way of knowing.
I’ve read a lot of inspiring quotes that can pertain to the trail and my walk, but this one seems to fit. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” -Henry David Thoreau
Things are coming together fast and it looks like it’s actually going to happen. Only 11 days before my start and one of the biggest fears has been that someone will step in and say “Oh, by the way, something’s come up and you can’t go.” I’m not afraid of the bears, the snakes (eeeks), the crazy mountain folk, or even the pain from blisters. I guess there is a bit of a concern about being cold and if I’m bringing the right clothing. I wonder how many thru-hikers have the fear of being cold more than anything else. The decisions made in planning and preparation has been good and sound; I hope. This coming week will be filled with work and saying good bye to friends and family. The biggest event will be Saturday; Brenda (my oldest daughter) is getting married. I’m so happy for her and it will be a good thing to take with me knowing she is happy. Mike is a good man and they will make a good life together. I’m so glad I will be there and share the day with her. Bette (my youngest daughter) will be the matron of honor and so they both will be dressed to the nines. I’m very proud of both of them. I will miss them and the rest my family, but this trip is something I have to do for myself.
If there is anything that you, my blog followers, want to know about me, the trip or want me to look into along the trail, please let me know in here and I’ll try to make it part of my blog and my grand adventure.
Everyone seems to think I should be getting nervous about going on my adventure, as if I’m going to have a second thought and change my mind about going. I’m committed, maybe certifiably, but committed none the less. As a matter of fact my departure date has changed and therefore my hike date has changed as well. The train ride south to Georgia will be on Sunday March 17th (St. Patties Day) and arrive on the 18th. Sometime on Monday afternoon I will give Mom and Katie a kiss and hug; turn towards the trail then fade into the mist. Now that has the making of a great movie beginning doesn’t it? The best part is I get to leave three days earlier and will be missing the rush of weekend thru hiker starts. In March close to 1,500 hopeful thru-hikers will start their adventure. The total that start the trip is somewhere around 3,000 with between 15 and 20 percent finishing.
I’ve given it a lot of thought as to what I’ll write about along the way. I’m sure I will see some amazing sights, beautiful vista, breathtaking waterfalls, and nature at its best….and worst. The recording of these sights will be good, however I’m feeling my story will have a lot to do with meeting the wide variety of people (hikers and town folk) along the way and give ear to their stories and maybe repeat a few here.
Oh, a bit of a correction or maybe and expansion on my last post that referred to Katie as my boss, which she is, however, she is by far a lot more that that. Most people gain family through either blood or marriage, they being a brother, sister, daughter, mother, wife and so forth, but every once in a while someone enters your life and heart and becomes family in other ways. Katie along with husband, Brian and son, Grant have done just that. So yes, Katie is my boss, but also a very dear friend and someone I consider very much part of my family. Thanks Katie…. Oh, and thanks Brian and Grant for letting her go to see me off on my grand adventure.
Time passes slowly, but I only have 40 days left to count. The last of the planning seems to be coming around. The train will be the transport to Georgia and I will have some company to see me off. Mom and Katie Kendrick (my boss) will escort me. I wonder if it’s to make sure I start the trip or if they just want to be sure I leave town. All kidding aside think it’s really nice that they want to see me off and it really is a big deal for me having their support. It will take about 26 or 27 hours to go from Lincoln to Boston and then the train to Gainesville, GA. Kind of exciting if you ask me. There will be plenty of time to do the last minute studying and planning changes on the train. Seems I’ve changed everything a few times, but the goal has remained constant. It’s like my pack; since I finished gathering all my equipment I have packed and unpacked my stuff over and over again. Now when I mention this to family and friends they all look at me like I have a second head. Only those that have done the AT or prepared for it know what I’m talking about. I look at every piece and talk to it to decide if it’s really needed to go on the trip. Now the tent and sleeping bag know they have a place, but the things like the extra Slim Jim or the bar of soap (I’m sure he will have to be cut in half at some point before I leave) or maybe the extra pair of socks will have to stay behind; it does weigh about 3 ounces you know. The excitement continues to grow so if you see me and I suddenly burst into singing or whistling it’s ok. I’ll be ok… I’m just letting out some of the excitement and I’m more than willing to share it with you so you can be excited as well. No, I’m not going crazy; well maybe a little. Oh yes, the cost of this mad cap adventure seems to be ever expanding. I know most people say it will cost about $2 a mile but I think that seems a little excessive. I was hoping for about a buck and a half a mile and that still puts the walk at three grand plus. Most hikers stay at hostels and low priced motels, eat at restaurants and drink at bars when they go to town once a week. I don’t think I will be doing much of that. A quick visit to town to pick up supplies (snickers, cookies, anything noodle or rice based) and back on the trail. A shower would be nice once in a while, but as summers’ warmth arrives I think the brooks and ponds have what I need. The pack has continued to grow in weight as I’ve been losing it and I’m not sure I like that. I hope to drop 35 pounds (started the beginning of January) before I start and now that I think about it that bar of soap needs cutting.
Actually I wrote the first posting about a month and a half ago and just never started the blog. Since then I’ve been working hard trying to make enough money to actually do the trip. The cost of things seems to jump from one day to the next. I’ve bought a tent, a Nemo Obi 2 that is made right here in New Hampshire (that’s cool) and is super light. It is supposed to sleep two but I can assure you there is no way, no how that someone else will be able to fit in it with me. I guess they measure really skinny people to make the sleeping number claim. I’ve also purchased a pack, a Granite Gear Crown 60; I know it really doesn’t matter to most people what kind of pack I have, but a few might. It’s super light as well and I think it will work just fine. A new sleeping bag, hiking shoes, a set of clothes and all kinds of little gadgets and things to make the trip do-able.
Oh, how could I forget, I’ve been dieting since the 3rd of January…. I will not bore you with the details, let’s just say it’s going good and I’m happy with the loss. I do have to say that being on the diet has cut some of my favorite foods and drink out of reach. The diet will end a week or so before the trip so I can party with friends and family.
I’ve been asked why I gave myself a new name. Well if you walk the Appalachian Trail you get a trail name. You can pick it out yourself or if you don’t the other hikers surely will. Now to avoid getting some name that is unflattering I figured that a name of my chousing would be better, so I picked the name “Gray Loon”. Actually a good friend picked it for me and I love it. The reason for Gray Loon is I’m defiantly going or have gone gray and I spend my winters working at a great place, Loon Mountain, a ski resort in the heart of the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. Loon Mountain has some of the best people in the world that work there and many of them friends that will have to listen to all my wild adventures over and over. Lets just hope there are a few wild stories to tell. I’m not sure if you can tell, but I’m getting really excited about going and the counting of days is something I haven’t done in fifty or so years, waiting on Christmas morning.
Well here we go. The adventure of a life time, but wait, life is an adventure. Life is also a journey, so I guess this will be a small snippet of my life and hopefully an incredible journey. With few responsibilities and working in seasonal jobs, I needed to do something for me. Something I’ve only dreamt about since the age of seventeen. I’m about to embark on an adventure savored only in my dreams; the Appalachian Trail.
What is it that draws people to walk over 2,100 miles it hostile terrain with only the things you can carry? I think everyone that walks the Appalachian Trail has different reason or combinations of reason for going, right of passage, leaving the parental nest, to figure out if you can survive alone, prove a point, get into good physical shape and a host of reasons as numerous and the people that trek it. I have reasons for going and I hope you can help me figure them out as the journey progresses. I’m getting a little long in the tooth as they say. I’m 58 and will be 59 by the time I start and finish the 2181 miles that is said to be about five million steps. Let’s start with that; I’ve been counting my steps, pacing and measuring. I know I had a lot longer stride when I was a younger man so it might mean I have to invest more steps than someone a third my age. If more steps are needed I will be happy to make them even if it actually figures out to more like 5.7 million steps. Who’s going to count them anyway? I will be a north bound hiker so it will start at the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia. I’ve never been to Georgia so that in it’s self will be a new experience. I’m not a shy person usually, but in unknown territory where good American folks talk a different language it might be a bit intimidating. Usually I combat that feeling with a big smile and a grand hello to all I meet. This trip will actually be a bit of an oxy moron (If my 12th grade English teacher should only see me using that wording). You see I’m going to get away…. Away from the hassle and hustle and the noise of people all needing some form of help, comfort or blessing that they are doing what is right. Yet I will be looking to meet people like me, learning their way and hopefully needing help, comforting, and a blessing that they are on the right path. I’m planning on going into the wood light and plan on coming out of the wood personally lighter than when I went in. I’m overweight and not in the best of shape so that is a couple of the more obvious reasons for walking thousands of miles. I’m not delusional as some of my friends must think; I think I know what lies before me. The cold, damp, parched, soaked, sores, pains, hunger, blisters, bites, stings, scrapes, burses and wetness through and through are the things I’m looking forward to overcoming with a cheerful voice and a whistle while I trudge forward. I love that word, trudge, like Geoffrey Chaucer said in A Nights Tail: “Uh… trudging. You know, trudging? To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.” I love it. It kind of sums up what the hike will be more like than anything. Yet don’t let me talk down the experience, though it will be difficult, it will also be the difficulty that makes it all the more powerful and desirable to do it. I want this more than anything at this point in my life and I hope it remains that way all the way to Mount Katadin.
The adventurous journey has to begin with preparations; the preparations of mind, sprit, body and of course equipment. I’ve read hundreds of blogs and studies one brand of equipment against another. Made some good purchases; made some bad purchases. I can see the cost will be more than I first expected. Going light on the trail is only measured in weight not in dollars. The lighter the more practical the better and more desired it is seems to have the bigger and grander pricing. That said I will try to balance the costs and the resources the best I can. I’ve picked an alcohol stove, titanium pot, aluminum trekking poles with cork handles for a starter.
Gray Loon's a.k.a. Byron's Trip 