Episode 5: A Half Marathon+

Can I be totally honest with you for a moment?? When I started prepping my brain to attack the Appalachian Trail BY MYSELF, which was a period of about 36 hours……I’m not gonna lie, I was really freaked!!! I was telling the truth about learning so much from Michael and from the week we spent outside, camping and hiking in the woods…But I still was feeling so overwhelmed to imagine myself moving forward solo. And SO anxious!!!!

This is where my One-Rep Rule comes into play pretty majorly. I’ve never tried to hike the AT solo, right?? So, as much as I was flipping out about it, I was also really excited to see what it was like. Which meant: AT, here I come, ready or not! (That last part was aimed towards me and I certainly hoped that I was ready!!!! Either way, it was GO TIME!)

Now, the morning of my solo hike was amazing. I had a huge breakfast with two awesome hiker friends, Anna and Hunter, at a restaurant near the hotel called Barney’s. It was the last real food for a bit and it was a buffet so we totally took advantage of that! Maybe I’ll have to go back here when super-strong hiker hunger kicks in and attempt this Barney’s challenge! (Can you imagine eating all of that in 5 minutes?!?!?)

Then I went to an outfitter, again right by the hotel, and I bought a new tent! Michael let me keep our cooking system that we were using, for the duration of my time on the trail, which was so nice and helpful!! But the tent that we shared was too big for just me so I purchased a new ultralight option. There were few to choose from at this outfitter but Bill, who was running the shop, helped me figure out the best choice for me. (Bill was awesome – thank you!!! ) And it turned out to be a Nemo Hornet Tent for 2 people, which weighed less or pretty equal to the 1-person options that they had available. So, that worked for me! Only thing was that I didn’t have time to play with this tent and figure out how to set it up by the time the shuttle was ready to take us back to the trail!! Talk about adding some more stress to a pretty stressful situation!! I was going to have to figure it out when the time came to set up my tent on the trail…wherever I ended up! Yikes!!

There were two of us getting dropped off at Unicoi Gap, where Michael and I had left off before going into Hiawassee, GA. To say that I was intimidated would be an understatement but I took a deep breath and started up these stairs.

Right away, there were two very noticeable things. Number One: It had rained during the night so the trail was soaked and the rocks extra slippery!

Number Two: There were about 5 people that I passed or met up with, along the first 200 feet of the trail! That was really great and encouraging…until I came across a sweet woman in her early 60’s who had slipped on one of the rocks and was on her bum! There were two hikers around her, checking on her and helping her up by the time that I had walked up. She was very emotional but uninjured from her slip, thankfully. But that did not give me a lot of confidence since I was on the trail for less than 5 minutes and someone had already fallen….(and I tend to be a klutz so inclines and declines plus slippery terrain seemed like a bad combination!)

Then the most wonderful thing happened!!!! I met the nicest people over the course of the next few hours! The first mountain to climb was called Rocky Mountain. The AT didn’t go to the top of the mountain but you will find a ton of side trails that you could take all along the Appalachian Trail – – they lead you to water by the blue blazes, lookout points, or trails that lead you to spectacular views!

I actually would have followed this side trail for a photo at the top BUT Mr. Fog was very present and I figured that the view would pretty much look like this from the top!

I met a hiker whose trail name is “Baby” and we trekked the slippery slopes down Rocky Mountain together. I couldn’t take his photo because I was too preoccupied with making it down the rock-laden mountain without meeting any rocks face first, if you know what I mean! It took a little time but I was successful. Phew!!!

Then there was Dan and Rosa, a day-hiking couple, who were there to take pictures, enjoy the trail and meet other hikers. They asked to take a picture of me as I was going up the incline, as a photo of what “thru-hiking should look like.” I asked for a photo of them, too, because they were so sweet!!! We chatted a bit and then I continued.

I then proceeded to meet more day hikers and day-hiking groups! Everyone being in amazing spirits and super excited to climb the next mountain: Tray Mountain! As I was ascending this mountain, I saw trail runners, who speedily passed me, running to the top and beyond! What a workout that would be, with Tray Mountain being at 4,430 feet of elevation!

THEN, I came across this phenomenal hiking couple that I had met previously on the trail. Michael and I kept playing leap frog with them, taking turns with who was leading whom throughout a big portion of the trail…at some point, earlier on – – – days start to blend together when you’re out here!! It was perfect timing to run into them and we carried on together: me leading the train, Justin charging in the middle and Grace kickin’ booty as the caboose! We trekked together for the rest of the day!

The three of us tackled Tray Mountain, which is my favorite scenic photo so far! It doesn’t even look real, does it????

After hearing that rain and possible thunderstorms were forecasted for the nighttime, we decided that we would push ourselves to summit a very challenging climb called Kelly Knob. At 4,126 feet up, it rises for a mile at a very steep incline. I had been warned about this climb on the shuttle ride over to Unicoi Gap by hikers who had climbed it a couple of days prior and called it “brutal.” Not exactly wishing to hike that taxing climb in the rain or even after it has rained and it’s like a slip-n-slide, so we went for it and got to the top!

This photo moment celebrates our Half Marathon distance and where we had originally decided to camp for the night. However, after resupplying our water and seeing how full the campsite looked, we decided to hike one more mile to the next campsite. “Just One More!!” for all my Warriors out there, which is what I often shout out during our workout sessions when we have one more set to go! And the three of us figured that after walking 13.1 miles, what’s another 1.1 miles??

The Powell Mountain Vista was our stopping point that day and we finished at 14.2 miles! We got to this campsite as the sun was starting to set.

Justin was the best and literally set up my tent for me, since I had no clue what I was doing!! I couldn’t have asked for better hiking buddies and I’m so grateful for our day together. They made the day more fun and worthwhile, by far!!!

And Justin set up my tent perfectly because it poured that night and all of my things stayed dry!! Unfortunately, Grace and Justin had a puddle in their tent from the rain and all of their gear was soaked! They knew that they had to go into town, which was less than 3 miles away, to dry out their sleeping bags and the rest of their things.

We hiked into Dicks Creek, another pickup site that takes you to Hiawassee, GA. Grace and Justin stayed there, to wait for their shuttle. We exchanged info, hoping to meet up on the path further down the trail (I really hope so!!!! They are just incredible people!!) and then I continued on my own once more.

It is my intent to show you how true it is that you’re never alone for very long while walking the Appalachian Trail. It really is a very well-travelled and busy trail, as you can see!!! I continued to run into a handful of hikers while moving along after Dick’s Creek and ascending Buzzard Knob. I actually met up with another awesome couple that I had seen previously on the trail, “Ghost” and “Shambles” and it was so nice to catch up with them again! They, too, are just the nicest, most compassionate and helpful people and they made the trail even more fun!

We traveled together for the rest of the day. One tall climb we scaled was called As Knob – – – and nope, it’s really not misspelled and missing an “s,” but it did kick the tush on the way up!

And we ended at a cute little campsite right by a spring and set up our tents. It turned into a 9.4 mile day for me, which was perfect because my legs were so tired by the last mile to this campsite!

All in all, I have had two successful days as a lone hiker who has found hiking companions all along the way!!! And it has been a really empowering and exciting experience, to handle things on my own. But it is also so comforting that there are the nicest, like-minded, and genuine people out here that are willing to help you if needed.

And to think, the only issues that I had along the way were these kamikaze bugs that kept dive-bombing my eyeballs! Seriously, what is up with that???? I couldn’t believe how many times it kept happening along the trail….like, why are you doing that, weird bugs??? But if that is my only real issue, then I am pretty golden!!!!

I’m so grateful to be here and to push myself in ways that I never have before. Here’s to getting stronger, more resilient, and living outside of the comfort zone!!!!!!!

Lots of love to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!