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Lily's birthday was last weekend. Jon and Luna hiked into town and we celebrated Lily's 31st b-day the way she wanted: good eats, board games, hiking to harvest ramps and paddling along the French Broad. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to have married such a girl.

Jon and Luna's ramblin' ways inspired me to get out for a counterclockwise rePEAL this weekend. Due to our attendance at MEC's graduation Friday evening, I started in the rain from the house a little before 7 AM on Saturday. Uwharrie looked a little too comfortable in her armchair, so I set out solo.

After a drenching rain for the first few hours, weather conditions improved to mostly overcast on the ascent up Black Mountain. I had been slogging my way in the mud past dozens of mountain bikers participating in the Pisgah 111K race. Just as I wondered if I might bump into him, I spotted Charlie racing by.

Water levels up along the South Mills

The vantage point from the suspension footbridge across the South Mills River hinted at what could  be expected from the multiple fords to come. I didn't like what I saw at 11 AM, but decided to take a break and not worry too much about it.

One thing I looked forward to testing out on this hike was ~20-minute elevated barefoot "power rests" every 4 hours. I admit to once overlooking Beyond Backpacking, but was thrilled to discover that the Transylvania County Public Library has a copy. It's been a welcome recent addition on the nightstand.

Squirrel Gap Trail

Pink Lady Slippers along Bradley Creek

The crossings turned out to be no problem and I soon found myself back in the mud along the 111K route. Upon arrival to Yellow Gap around 5 PM, I continued to coincidentally follow the route up Laurel Mountain. I leapfrogged a couple racers hiking their bikes up this relentless climb.

Painted Trillium on Laurel Mountain

Dinnertime on the trail

Past the Pisgah Inn around dinnertime, the showers resumed. I startled a bear cub along the trail, but didn't see an adult. I was thankful to get a chance to cook and eat my dinner of Bulgar wheat chili along the trail before the rain. Camp was both set up and broken down in the drizzle.

Saturday evening camp along the MST

Sunday Morning along the MST

After ~42 miles in 13 hours on Saturday, I faced another 38 miles on Sunday. Once again, it started out rainy, but temporarily cleared just in time for me to enjoy the views from the 6000+' balds. In addition to a plethora of wildflowers and songbirds, I spotted a coyote, a copperhead and hundreds of snails and newts along the trail. I ended up making it back to the house by 6 PM after 11.5 hours of hiking.

Azaleas in bloom along MST

East Fork

Ascending Tennent 

Descending Black Balsam

Ferntastic

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It's been a rainy two weeks. The rePEAL and other AT planning got moved to the back burner. I spent a good amount of time on my first quasi-commercial sewing project: three tarp tents based off of a versatile design that Lily and I have enjoyed over the years. My grandfather passed away on April 30th. Lily and I travelled to FL to celebrate his extraordinary life together with family. His obituary can be found here.

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After work on Friday April 12th, I drove an hour and a half to the Appalachian Trail north of Hot Springs to find Josh Garrison on his thru-hike attempt (his hiking partner had to bail near NOC due to an ankle injury). We successfully met up and hiked on to camp for his 8th night along the trail. The next morning, I hiked with him over Camp Creek Bald and Blackstack Cliffs before wishing him well and turning back for home.

It was a lot of fun hiking with and getting to know Josh. He's a humble and honest athlete with a strong climbing background. I knew there were others curious to learn more about this young gun attempting a sub 60 day self-supported AT hike, so I spent a good part of my time playing paparazzi as shown in the video below:



On Friday evening, I observed that Josh was hurting from an Achilles injury, but he was moving well on Saturday. Given his relentless pace, I knew things could easily take a turn for the worse. Regardless, I left with a strong sense that Josh would be be able to pull through. On my hike out, I saw dozens of bloodroot blooms, which had not yet emerged when Josh and I passed through just a couple hours earlier!

Later in the week, I was surprised and saddened to read that Josh's Achilles injury had worsened and he had to cut his hike short- a sobering reminder of the difficulty of these attempts. This resonated in the back of my mind this weekend while I upped my training with a clockwise PEAL. Uwharrie and I enjoyed two sunny days in Pisgah, punctuated by a couple of chilly nights. Meanwhile, Lily flew up to DC to visit with Liz and Reevi.

A few notes from our inaugural trek, which will be rePEALed a couple weeks from now: Uwharrie and I left at 5 PM in the chilly drizzle and arrived to Butter Gap Shelter by 7:30 PM where we spent Friday night. We were hiking by 7 AM Saturday morning and made it to the balds by 11 AM where the icy trails and wind chased us down into Greasy Cove. After fording East Fork, we rejoined the MST and made it to Pisgah Inn by 5:30 PM. The dinner rendezvous with James, Lauren, Carl and Kim was somewhat successful. Afterwards, Uwharrie and I descended Laurel Mountain and arrived to Yellow Gap after dark, a 40 mile day. Sunday, we were hiking by 7 AM into the labyrinth of South Mills and endured several early morning fords before regaining the ridge and more familiar turf. After 32 miles, we arrived home by 3:30 PM. This is a great route.

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Running in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve

This past week, Lily and I flew out to the bay area of California for our spring break. We looked forward to spending time with our family and exploring more of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, which will someday form a 550-mile loop around the bay. Unfortunately the travel took its toll and we found ourselves feeling a bit under the weather during our stay. We prioritized spending the limited time with our siblings who were great hosts. Thanks Grant, ChenYee, Becky and Andy for the delicious food and good times!

The photos in this post show that we did get out to explore some more of the beautiful South Skyline Region. Feeling run down, I launched a puny exploration of "eleventeen" miles. Beyond physical setbacks, I was a tad paranoid about mountain lions due to local sightings and my experience six years ago. No lions, just a shy bobcat and several deer so I made it safely to Saratoga Gap to meet Lily and my dad. Before we knew it, our week out west had come to an end.

Upon our return to the Appalachians, we discovered more signs of life. On a sunny Saturday Plutonathon (shortened to 20+ miles), Uwharrie and I spotted several trout lilies poking up throughout the forest floor. As is now standard, I carried the pack on this trek and snacked on foods that will likely find their way into future drops. In this case, fritos and sesame snaps. With work and side projects, it will be a challenge to ramp up training over the next two months, but I'm going to give it a go, starting with the PEAL in two weeks.

This past Friday, two fellows supposedly started an attempt of a self-supported sub-60 day thru-hike from Springer Mountain, GA. I wish Josh Garrison and his friend the best of luck and eagerly await updates on his trail journal. This will definitely provide me with some motivation to train over the next couple of months. But first, Lily and I need to shake off the crud once and for all. Both of us are sick of being sick!

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Friday evening from the Black-Clawhammer Saddle

The old adage “no rain, no pain, no Maine” helped me and Uwharrie get out the door this weekend for what was certain to be a cold rainy counterclockwise LGLA loop. Of the four rounds completed this year, the January LGLA remains the warmest. Still recovering from the crud, I opted to once again carry the heavier half bag and poncho. I tweaked the menu to the saltier side and also went without poles.

The menu

A couple weeks ago, I cracked one of my homemade carbon fiber poles by stepping on it while setting up camp atop Pilot Mountain. Luckily the 1” Gorilla Tape wrapped around each pole allowed me to successfully splint it. However, this repair cost me some time, so my focus is to seek out reliable alternatives to the gear most prone to failure. My poles and air mattress are currently in the cross hairs.

Approaching the highlands along the MST

Hiking sticks in the Appalachians are abundant, free and organic. This has been my philosophy on my 2007 AT, 2009 BMT and 2011 MST thru-hikes, so why change now? Going without prefabricated poles for the AT may be the way to go. Sticks can always be picked up en route. Also, according to Jen Pharr Davis, hiking poles can be more of a hindrance than a help through Maine and New Hampshire.

Chowing on some snow

I recently received a copy of Jen’s forthcoming book Called Again chronicling her 2011 record-setting AT hike (due out this summer). It’s equally informative as it is entertaining. She does a good job of portraying how challenging it was and almost had me rethinking my summer plans! I’m thankful that I will be attempting 10 miles less each day, which will hopefully make this upcoming trek more enjoyable.

Heating up some miso in the clouds

After falling asleep gazing into a moonlit forest, Uwharrie and I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof of the Buckhorn Gap Shelter. The chilly drizzle came and went all the way to the highlands of the Great Balsams, but on our way down, the sun came out and it turned into a gorgeous afternoon. For variety (conjuring up memories from a summer seven years past), we opted to hike to Cat Gap via Farlow Gap and Long Branch: a 37 mile day in 10 hours and 10 minutes.

Thru the spruce...

Down the rocks from Farlow Gap...

Across many creeks...

Thru the pines and back home again

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The view north from Kevin and Kate's

Since we’ll miss the Dump 50K, Lily and I were excited to get an invitation to check out Kevin and Kate’s place up in Madison County last weekend. We got a tour of their awesome property and met their cows and chickens before heading back south through the flurries. Another snow day was called this Tuesday and Lily and I did our best to capitalize on it with a trek into Pisgah, but both of us have been feeling a bit run down.

I called in sick this Friday fighting off what may very well be bronchitis, but I wasn't going to let this interfere with the latest LGLA fast pack. Because of illness and the forecasted lows in the 20s, I chose to carry my 10 degree parka and half-bag, which occupied most of the real estate in my mesh pack and simulated a weight and volume more realistic to a four-day summertime carry.

Cedar Rock

Given the circumstances, Uwharrie and I were able to get started a little earlier than usual. By 2 PM, having chosen the clockwise direction, we were bound for the summit of Pilot Mountain from the house. We made it to the relatively calm summit a little after 6 PM and decided to camp on top to enjoy the sunset and sunrise. I fed and outfitted the dog with her new homemade jacket and cooked a dinner of fritos and frijoles. By 8 PM after enjoying the panoramic evening views, we were horizontal.

Sunset and shelter

U-dog with her new jacket

Sipping coffee and watching the sun rise

Sunrise from Pilot

I was up before sunrise enjoying hot coffee underneath 3+ pounds of down. Another goal for this trek was to continue to test the energy and edibility of a hypothetical daily menu, which currently works out to be about 30.5 oz. and 3700 calories. The takeaway is that although the energy seems sufficient, I could go for more salty snacks, which is a worthwhile lesson as I start to itemize the contents of my simple and somewhat boring mail drops.

The menu

The brainstorm...

We were hiking by 7 AM. It was my hope that the sunshine, fresh air and exercise would help heal me. The day eventually soared into the 60s and I made the mistake of going shirtless for the majority of it, something I’m reminded of whenever I rub my red shoulders. Although not hiking under full strength, we still managed to finish the 36-mile day in 10 hours and 45 minutes.

My favorite rhodo on the ALT

Snow lingers in the highlands

The icy Skinny Dip

Maroon galax

The Pink Beds

Looking Glass with Pilot beyond (from Clawhammer)

Rock house icicles below Black Mountain

As the days continue to get longer and warmer and the school year begins to wind down, I’ll hopefully find an entire weekend or two to upgrade to the PEAL (Pisgah Eighty Adventure Loop), which is essentially the LGLA with another 50K slapped on for good measure. We’ll see…