30 miles to Springer Mountain! Zombie gains a fellow hiker... Dad/Chris !
The last few days, the last few miles... See the photo's (Click "What I've Seen" above) to tell the story from the past two days...The group shot is Dad/ Chris, Zombie, Six-String, P.I., Tiger, Smokey's Friend, and BroTucky. They will complete their hikes on different days, for different reasons, each one for family that will be meeting them. We will be seeing you Saturday at Springer Mountain :-)
Thanksgiving will be extra Happy having our hikers home! Mom/ Harriet
Andrew called from Hiawassee, GA yesterday, while he and 5 other hikers had come into town for a quick re-supply. He really sounded excited as he discussed final plans to meet his Dad, Chris, at Neel's Gap, south of Blairsville, GA. Dinner tomorrow night, then they will set out for the last 30 miles on Thursday morning. Russell, Scott and I will be waiting for them on Springer Mountain Saturday!
Zombie has been hiking with Tiger, BroTucky, Fugeo (it means fire), Six-String, and P.I. for the past while. Tiger plans to finish Friday, Andrew and Dad/Chris on Saturday, and I forget which day the others will come in, some are meeting folks as late as Sunday.
What a wonderful journey this has been! It has been a long time since I have "unfurled" the AT Map I got from the Park Service back in May. When I started looking at the map, about 8" by 4' in length, to get familiar with the geography of the AT, it seemed surreal. Then I folded it back up, and have kept it open to the section that Andrew was hiking on... Each day I put a little dot with the date beside the dot, that represents each Spot transmission we've gotten over the past 23 weeks. It was just easier to stay focused on the small section of the map... Today I opened it up, to show a friend, and I now see the map's length with a new prospective! Wow! It is really a long, long way!
(I hope you can view the AT map on the right side margin. I copied it from followers "Pat and Mark" blog and an error message is showing when I view the blog. Anyway, Mark's Trail Name is "Country Runner". He has some wonderful pictures and hiker notes. He's also a SoBo '09 hiker that Andrew has hiked parts of the trail with... in fact Mark has a picture of Ledge and Zombie/Andrew you might enjoy as well. :-))
Never would I have expected we (the friends and family back home) would make so many new friends on a hike we've barely walked on! One can only imagine how many friends the hikers have made! I can say, our lives are much richer because we've met as kindred spirits, by providence. Things happen when an eleven year old dreams and sets their heart on that dream!
Once again, let me say how much your interest in Andrew's thru-hike has meant to our entire family... Your thoughts, prayers and comments have been so supportive! Your inquiries, your sharing your stories while listening to our stories have kept the events exciting for us, which has given us peace for our son. Thank you!!!
We received a surprise call from Zombie/ Andrew tonight. He's staying at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (N.O.C.) Bunkhouse. He's still hiking with Tiger and they caught up with 6-String a few days ago. Andrew originally met 6-String back in VA before Andrew took some zero days in Blacksburg.
Since Zombie/ Andrew left Hot Springs Nov. 4th, he and Tiger finished the Smokey Mountains late Monday the 9th, when they arrived at Fontana Dam. He said the Smokies were simply beautiful and the weather was perfect! No, he didn't see any bears, and he was hoping he would... He did see a Park Ranger... the second one he's seen since he began the Thru-Hike. There was a clear view on Clingman's Dome, early Sunday morning. They could see for 72-miles and were even able to see Mt. Mitchell. There were only 4 people on the observation deck that early. Standing 6,643' the panoramic views were simply beautiful. They hiked 20 + miles a day thru the Smokies and made a quick trip of it.
The guide book did not give warning that the re-supply store at Fontana Dam closes early, so they arrived late in the day, and the only thing opened was the Post Office. There was no place to find and purchase food. Fortunately, a previous Thru-hiker by the Trail name "Hopeful," had decided to put on "a Hiker-Feed" and they were able to fill some hungry belly's. The rain started Monday night, and was non-stop until this morning. (We've had 5" of rain fall, and inch of it during the day today, and we're still getting rain on this side of the mountain, but fortunately theirs was a dry day, so his pack was able to dry out even though his shoes were still wet.) At least his clothes and sleeping bag were staying dry.
Once again, there was no warning that the NOC would not have food available "this late in the season" everything has closed early. So he and the two fellow hikers had to hike a mile down US19, a dark, curvy road with no shoulder, to the nearest gas station to get hot dogs. Poor Zombie/ Andrew... he hasn't eaten hot dogs since he was a little fellow... he doesn't like them what so ever...and that is ALL there was available for food. He managed chow down 4 and then said, enough... Guess home cooking is going to be a welcome change in about 11 more days?
Zombie/ Andrew planned out the rest of his trip, and knows exactly which shelters he'll be in each night. He will spend the night in Franklin Friday, but just an over night. He has no zero days between Hot Springs and Springer, so he's on track to start his hike with Dad/ Chris on Thursday, Nov. 19th at Neel's Gap.
BTW... National Geographic had a special on last night called America's Wild Spaces, the Appalachian Trail. Aunt Megan called to tell us about it, by the time we found it, it had been on about 20 minutes. Then Dad/Chris found we could view it on Demand, with Direct TV, so we got to see the whole thing. We've recorded it for Andrew to watch when he gets back home.
The last shelter on his last night on his Thru-Hike, is 8 miles from Springer, so they'll be able to have a leisurely hike and still make the summit by lunch time on Saturday, November 21st. I've called, made reservations at the Lodge, and verified there is indeed a Forest Road, that goes to the Parking Lot a mile from the top. It's a 32-mile drive, or an 8 mile hike from the lodge. Not sure about the brothers, but I'll be driving to meet the two of them on the summit. Friends and family are encouraged to join us.... We can't wait !!!
Hot Springs, North Carolina is last trail town for SoBo Hikers. Zombie overlooks the French Broad River just before getting to town.
When Andrew called on Friday, from Erwin, TN we were reviewing his schedule. When I heard him say he was going to take a Zero Day on Tuesday (November 3rd) I asked if he wanted to take a Zero Day at home??? (Zero Days are non-hiking days) He knew his Dad and I were planning all along to meet him for lunch in Hot Springs, but once I realized how close by it was, I told him we'd be happy to bring him home, and take him back. He said, "Wow! I never thought about doing that, but sure! That would be great!" I asked him if it was possible to let me know how many other Thru-Hikers he was traveling with might want to come too since it would determine if his Dad and I would travel together or only one come to Hot Springs that Monday. He said he'd try to get a cell phone signal and send me a text. (Typically he only turns his phone on when he resupplies in towns, but this was an understandable exception.)
7:00 a.m. I got his text message: It's just me and Tiger, so you and Dad can meet us in Hot Springs about 1:00 p.m.
Chris and I had a lovely drive discovering a new part of the state we had never been to. We arrived in this charming, quaint town, known for it's natural hot springs. Since we were early, we drove around to explore things a bit, then parked at The Smokey Mountain Diner, famous with the AT Thru-Hikers. The AT Trail is literally the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, in front of the diner. (The diner, and other places in Hot Springs were written up in the recent October's edition of Southern Living... read about it on page 26). We asked the waitress if we could wait on the front porch till our Thru-Hiker arrived, and were told "by all means!"
... Rocking on the front porch, I'm knitting, we're both waiting... then Dad Chris sends Andrew a text "Hurry up... I'm hungry!" (that's "love you, miss you, is everything OK" in guy-speak :-)) Shortly afterward, Andrew sends a text back "In town, but had to stop at the Outfitters...be there soon" Chris goes to the sidewalk with the "AT" symbol embedded into the cement and stands waiting... When I asked where was the camera, I discovered we obviously had a communications mix-up about getting it into the car before we left home, so my only pictures of the reunion hugs between father and son are on my cell phone, and written on my heart.
We get to meet Tiger (aka Matthew) from a town near Hershey, Pennsylvania... he gets hugs too, since he's adopted for these two days. We head on back to The Smokey Mt. Diner for lunch... now there are THREE hungry guys! It was a Chamber of Commerce perfect Fall day, so we found a sunny table on the back porch, and enjoy catching up while our "Hiker Specials" and a normal hamburger for Mom are being prepared. It was fun to watch these guys eat...everything, including half of Chris' too big hamburger, fries, and my too many onion rings. Good thing I knew to cook up lots of stuff on Sunday afternoon... There were feasts waiting for them at the house!!!
We headed back to Bluff Mountain Outfitters so Chris could purchase the few things he needs to be prepared for his 30-mile section hike when he meets Andrew at Neal's Gap in NE Georgia, to hike the last 30 miles with him to Springer. Andrew and Tiger had already purchased their permit needed for The Great Smokey Mountains, but they wanted to re-supply, and mail some food to the next mail town so they would only have to carry 3 days of food. The mountains surrounding Hot Springs are beautiful... and steep!!! A lot of up and down elevation changes lay between mail towns, so any lightness to their packs will be very helpful. Chris and I had seen the place where the trail leaves town to continue southbound... about a 300 feet off the road, it ascends to a ridge, looking more like a wall than a trail to me.
None the less, we enjoyed Matthew and Andrew's visit. Too brief, but great to have the unexpected fun in having them home. We thought Ledge and Country Runner would be joining us, but they were a half day and full day behind because Ledge was having shin splints and needed to ease his pace for a few days. Tiger and Zombie were hoping to meet them when they returned to Hot Springs, and checked in for their overnight at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, a hostel legendary to the AT hiker community since 1978. It's known for the delicious gourmet vegetarian, organic meals, where no one goes away hungry... (after splitting a pound of bacon and a pound of sausage for breakfast, with an inch of ham, pastrami, turkey with cheese for lunch, their bodies probably appreciated a vegetarian dinner! Ha Ha!) At the Inn, there are several big porches, a music room and extensive library and many other wonderful things to make a hiker feel at home. It was dusk, and too dark to get a snapshot of the lovely Victorian home when I dropped them off, but it was light enough to see it's quite nice. There's a historical marker out front, so I'm sure there is a wonderful story about it that we'll learn over Thanksgiving once his SoBoThru-hike is completed.
I caught a glimpse in Andrew's Trail Journal where he'd written 11/2/09 Trail Day + 145...
271.7 miles remain...
Look for a special adventure in your day today, and find blessings within the adventure, Mom Harriet
Happy Halloween :-) It was one of those days when it rained, and rained, and rained... and it looked to be raining all over the world. Zombie and fellow hikers were all hiking at a different pace, so it was as if they were all alone, in the constant cold rain...
As the afternoon progressed, a North Bound hiker was crossing paths with Zombie / Andrew and asks "Are you Zombie? Well there is something up ahead for you on the trail..." So four miles later, There is an unexpected surprise!!! Trail Kindness (I know... the AT hikers call it Trail Magic) decked out in holiday fashion :-)
Now how in the world did I find the trail way up in the North East Corner of Tennessee, where the trail keeps crossing into North Western corner of North Carolina??? I'd say it was by Providence! Like so many things that happen on the trail... Back in May, I was at Carolina Blinds in Hendersonville, purchasing blinds for our home. Some how it came up about Andrew hiking the AT... Wayne, the owner said to be sure to have Andrew call if he needed anything when he got into their town. The next time I was in the store, I asked if I brought a "surprise" would he be willing to put it on the trail that goes through his family property? He said he'd be happy to! I called the week before Halloween to see if it was still OK, and he assured me it was. Wayne and is wife, Sue, were both at the store the day I took a small cooler filled with two frozen dinners I had made and put up in the freezer... The dinners were stored in "boil-a-bags" because I thought it would be helpful after a long day of hiking. There were candy bars, packages of Nido dried whole milk, Slim Jims, an 8-pack of Gatorade, and a cute Halloween card tucked inside, along with a scare-a-crow mylar balloon, a bag labeled 'for Zombie', and another labeled 'for AT Thru-hikers' that might be coming by. I was aware of 4 hikers that may happen by, but one never knows, so I sent plenty for everybody!
Wayne and Sue had their nieces and nephews help make a sign for Zombie, and carefully loaded it all up on their 4 - wheeler, topped off the "surprise" with a cute scare-a-crow they had to go along with their sign and my Fall balloon motif. I had no idea they were going to help decorate the trail... but it was totally appreciated by all the hikers! A few hours after setting out "the Trail Magic", Wayne went back out in the rain to check on the first sign the kids had made, especially since it had been raining constantly all day. He decided to go make a second sign from plywood to insure it would still be holding up by the time Andrew came by... he noticed a few empty Gatorade bottles, so he knew the hikers were traveling through. Based on Andrew's SPOT location the evening before and knowing his usual hiking pace, I expected him to be by between 2 and 4 p.m.
When Andrew arrived, (at 4), he recognized our little cooler, and had fun checking out all of the goodies. He said when he saw the frozen dinners I'd made, he knew instantly what was inside (two of his favorites - enough for two people or one hungry thru-hiker!!) HOWEVER, unbeknown to me, he did no have enough fuel to boil water long enough to thaw them out and heat them up... and probably the most important reason, "the weight, Mom, do you know how heavy that is when you have to carry it 4 miles?" Of course I didn't realize that... The only time I have walked 4 miles, I wasn't carrying anything :-) We laughed when he was thanking me for the surprise. I was glad I had told Wayne and Sue before hand, "if for some reason Andrew doesn't take the food, y'all will have two home-made dinners that are our family favorites, Texas style Chili and Chicken and Dumplings, to enjoy if you want them..."
Once again, new friends are made by simply walking in the woods.... Many, many thanks to Wayne, Sue, and "their kids" for all they have done! Several hikers got to enjoy some Southern hospitality along with "TREATS" for Halloween!
May your trails be happy and filled with fun, Mom/ Harriet
Vandeventer Shelter is 428.4 miles from Springer Mtn. To put it another way, only 20% remaining miles for Zombie/Andrew to hike on the AT. It won't be much longer now, and for those of us who miss him, we are thrilled he is having this terrific, once in a life time adventure... at the same time happy to know he will be home soon. Zombie confirmed his original target date for Springer Mtn. is still the weekend before Thanksgiving... From how I see it, odds are looking very, very good for our South Bound Hiker #36 to meet his goal. Wow! What an accomplishment!!!
Family-and-friendsthat still want to meet up to section hike with Andrew, remember my new e(dash)mail address: @gmail(put the dot here)com just include the first part of my address, which is: hplewis77.... hopefully that makes sense to simply type the first part, then the last part.... :-)
Zombie/Andrew will be at a Hostel in Hampton, TN tonight, and I've updated his mail drops to give you and idea of his target dates. Andrew hasn't had e-mail time in ages, but he does call and get messages when he's in a town to resupply.
The days are simply fabulous in Western NC... as close as he is to us, I'm hoping Andrew's hiking days are just as nice! May your Fall days be as wonderful :-)
What a difference a few days can make in hiking conditions!
Zombie / Andrew arrived in Damascus (once again) mid-day Thursday. This time, arriving on foot, after enjoying a wonderful week hiking from Mt. Rogers Rangers Station...where he had hopped off trail for 3 zero days the previous weekend. Zombie hiked with Mr. Freeze and Trudger until Tuesday night. The other two hike faster than Andrew, so when they arrived at Hurricane Mtn. Shelter late afternoon, they realized it would be too crowded with 4 Section Hikers who had already settled in, plus the SoBo hikers that had joined them. The two went 5 miles further to Old Orchard Shelter. Andrew arrived after 6:00 p.m. and would have had to hike in the dark to catch them. "Ledge" and "Country Runner", two other fellow SoBo hikers he's seen several other times on the trail a few states back, were at the Hurricane Mtn. Shelter also, so these two hiked into Damascus with Andrew. Mr. Freeze and Trudger are at least a half day ahead by now. It will be interesting to see if they meet back up before Springer Mtn.
Resupply, laundry chores and a call home, Andrew reports that the weather had been "perfect" all week. It had been as warm as the low 70's some days. He said the snow that was on the ground on Monday wasn't bad, and his feet were fine... Zombie did appreciate his new shoes. No, his feet didn't freeze, get cold or wet from the snow that had fallen last weekend. He also appreciated his warmer gear that I had taken to him since the nights are getting "chilly". Zombie had a few hours to meet up with some other SoBo hikers that had come into Damascus the day before, so he was off for a bit of a reunion in town.
OCTOBER 23: ON TO TENNESSEE....AT Mile 1718.6 By late Friday afternoon Zombie arrived at the Abingdon Gap Shelter in the Cherokee National Forest, 8 miles inside the Tennessee state line. 11 states down, 3 to go... 451.1 miles in the next 4 weeks!!!
Notice the new map link in the upper right corner?I have found the postholer link very helpful, especially when the ATC Interactive Map was "down" last month. The lady at AT Headquarters in Harpers Ferry told me about it. It's easy to navigate. Click the center drop down space to 'Shelter/Campsites' and you'll see all the shelters on the AT. Zoom in, unless you have the book to know the shelter names. (I've given you some of the shelter names above 'to play with' how it works) It's fairly easy to figure out and cross reference The Spot GPS tracking info. (click his link "Where I am" on the Blog) I've really liked this map because I can pull the shelter info up, and then click the weather link to get the current weather and the week's forecast. The weather link is how I was able to realize last week that by Mt. Rodgers Ranger Station, he was heading into more rain, turning to sleet then an early snow storm last week. It was fortunate that I could reach him with a text message, and have him call just as he got into Atkins, VA. If interested, go to the drop down on the top left part of the link, and you can see all the big trails in the US, not just the AT... Enjoy :-)
Hope your Fall days are blessed and beautiful, Mom/ Harriet
Location: Mt. Katahdin --> Springer Mt., Appalachian Mountians, United States
Trailname: Zombie
I am out of the office right now living life and making memories. I have been waiting for this trip my entire life and plan to cherish every moment of it. When I'm on the trail I have a chance to figure out who I am and where I need to go in life. This is my therapy and this is my passion. GEORGIA OR BUST, BABY!
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