Today's the day our youngest son Dennis leaves for Baxter State Park in Millinocket, Maine. That's the home of Mount Katahdin, one of the end points of the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail. He's taking a hiking buddy and they drive up this afternoon. Me and MDW (my darling wife) are responsible for getting him and Michael from the other end of the trail, Springer Mountain in Georgia back to home when that happens much later this year. God willing!
They will be part of the Southbound Hikers that every year attempt the trail. About 80% of the people who make the attempt are Northbound Hikers: they start in Georgia around March and finish in the fall at Mount Katahdin. I think part of the reason for that is because just before Mount Katahdin is the dreaded 100 Mile Woods, a 100 mile stretch so remote you must pack 10 days of food to make it between resupply points. Better to tackle that after you're an experienced hiker/camper with a few hundred miles behind you. Plus Mount Katahdin is a real killer, you ought to take a look at it on Google Earth! It's 5,268 feet, an amazing height for an East Coast peak. And there are a lot of blood crazed black flies on that section of the trail. But for whatever reason, they've decided to start here. Good luck, Dennis and Michael!
Part of the reason for them choosing the Southbound option has to do with the time of year they are starting. It takes about six months to finish and you don't want to finish on the Northern part after the cold weather sets in. But they both had to finish high school and Michael was also waiting for his Eagle Board of Review. He's now an Eagle Scout but through a combination of procrastination and a busy school schedule, wasn't able to complete his Eagle project and write up until now. So they're leaving the end of June.
MDW and I spent much of this week preparing for the big day. Mostly, MDW dotes on Dennis and I try to call her off. And I do spend some time reassuring her that Dennis is an experienced backpacker and will be able to handle most situations. And that we are only starting him off, not responsible for his successful completion and every contingency imaginable. But I also ran the dehydrator, making a mountain of beef jerky.
Maybe one of the most useful things I did was Tuesday night's AT prep hike at the Ed Garvey shelter. This is the time of year most of the Northbound hikers come through Maryland so we packed our packs and headed up the mountain to the nearest AT shelter, the Ed Garvey shelter near Harpers Ferry, WV. The idea, as in most prep hikes, is to carry the same equipment you plan to take on the real expedition ahead and see if you're missing anything. And there was no problem there. The fun part was meeting and talking with all the other through-hikers we encountered. Michael and Dennis were able to talk about important things like what to take, resupply points, cell phones (everyone on the trail now takes one) and of course they offered a lot of unsolicited advice which is great because some questions you just don't know enough to ask.
One of the through-hikers offered that nobody ever leaves with too little equipment and that everybody ends up mailing stuff home or leaving it in one of the hiker boxes at a shelter or town. A hiker box is just a box where people who left the trail or misjudged their needs abandon equipment for others to use. Another offered that the black fly season in Maine was early and now mostly over, a cause for celebration. Another sang the praises of Body Glide, a balm that eases chaffage, a common trail hardship. Another advised hanging up all your equipment to dry every day when you get to camp, especially if you have a down sleeping bag.
One of the through-hikers I passed on the trail was named DreamCatcher. They all have trail names, like some secret faternity might. He had just finished from Georgia to Maryland and had taken off a month to scuba dive in Mexico. It was his first day back on the trail and he had lost a lot of his conditioning, which he bemoaned. He was carrying an iPod and playing music through its (modest) speakers while he hiked. We met him again at the shelter. He had brought a backpacker's hammock to sleep in and looked pretty comfortable slung between a pair of trees. Most people stayed in the shelter, choosing to sleep in their bag with a pad underneath. Some stayed in tents. A few guys built a fire and cooked foil packs. I played cards in the shelter for awhile, until it got dark and then wandered off to a hammock of my own. I always like sleeping outdoors and it was pretty fun (and educational!) talking with all the through-hikers.
The next morning we went into Harpers Ferry where the AT Headquarters is. It's the halfway point on the AT. We picked up some maps there and did a little sight seeing. And we kept running into through-hikers, everywhere! We ran into an older guy who was on his third through-hike. He did one when he was twenty, one at forty years old and he was now fifty and halfway through his third. When I asked him why he did it, he simply replied, "To get away from my wife!"
So we've done what we can so far. MDW will be sending him packages of food in the Post Office at regular intervals. I'll be visiting www.onepanwonders.com for ideas and keep the food dehydrator running. It'll be summer soon and we can send dried peaches and apples and pears and--who know what else?
One of the through-hikers said it takes two things to finish the trail: #1 is the desire, #2 is the intelligence to adapt. Between Michael and Dennis, I think they've got a real solid combination.
