Days 9 & 10: April 12-13
Deep Gap to Standing Indian Shelter - 20.2 miles
Day 9: April 12, 2021
Deep Gap to Plumorchard Gap Shelter – 8 miles
I woke up early and began packing my things quickly; I had places to be! The plan for the day was to get to Dicks Creek Gap, four miles away, by 9:30am so I could get picked up by the free shuttle that takes hikers to Clayton, GA. I left camp at 7 so I would have plenty of time to ramble my broken knees and feet towards the road. Thimble hiked with me for a little while; I really enjoyed his company. He was kind and slowed to my pace to chat. Thimble was about the same age as me. He carried a giant red-orange backpack that, if I remember correctly, was 80-liters! His water filter system was the biggest I had seen on trail. Every other hiker out there was so worried about carrying small, lightweight things, but not Thimble. He liked comfort and function, even if it cost him a few ounces. He was from Ohio, and one of the sweetest people I knew out there. Eventually, he got a bit antsy since he usually was such a fast hiker, and he left me to speed down the trail.
The shuttle was at the gap right on time and took us to Clayton. A large attraction in town, and the main reason I wanted to go, was a gear store called Outdoor76. After hiking 70 miles on the AT, I decided it was time to make a few changes to the things I carried. My water system was a nightmare, and it needed to go! I started the trail with a 3-liter water bladder that slid into a hydration sleeve in the body of my backpack. There was a hose that I fed through a small hole at the top of my pack so the hose was slung over my shoulder. While I liked how convenient it was to drink water while hiking, it was a disaster to deal with in every other way. I couldn’t tell how much water I had without taking the entire bladder out. I also couldn’t refill it without taking it completely out. That may not sound like a problem, but the issue is that you can only put a bladder back in the hydration sleeve if there is nothing else pushing against said sleeve. Since my pack was always full of all my gear, which was definitely pushing against the sleeve, I couldn’t put the bladder back in. So multiple times a day I would have to take everything out of my pack so I could put my water back in the sleeve. Not only did this become a pain in the ass, but it also increased my risk of losing pieces of gear. In addition to that ordeal, it wasn’t easy to fill my pot with water when it was time to cook. I had to squeeze the mouthpiece and hope there was enough pressure to send water out of the hose.
I walked across the street from Outdoor76 to the Post Office and I got a box. I packed up my bladder and my knit cap from trail magic to send home. A lot of people will drop unwanted items in things called hiker boxes. Most hostels, outdoor gear stores, or other places strongly associated with the AT will have these. They are small boxes that hikers can leave gear, food, or anything they don’t want to carry. I chose not to drop my bladder in a hiker box in case I would want it for another adventure later.
My new plan for my water system was much simpler. I bought two 1-liter Smart Water bottles. I kept the “dirty bag” I had from before, so it wasn’t a huge change. My “dirty bag” was a 3-liter soft nylon Hydrapak bag that I filled with the “dirty”, unfiltered water. My water filter, Katadyn brand, screwed onto the bag and allowed me to filter water into my “clean” bottles. I never let unfiltered water touch my “clean” bottles so there was no cross contamination. This new system was a game-changer. I could easily reach my bottles from the side water bottle pockets, and I always knew how much water I had.
I walked to the Chick-Fil-A in town and ate lunch with Pickles, Stache, and Pissbag. Yes, that was really his name. I believe he got named because he peed into a Ziplock bag not once, but twice while he was sleeping in a shelter, so he didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night. Anyway, the restaurant wasn’t allowing anyone into the dining room, so we stood in line for the drive thru. With nowhere else to eat, we sat on the sidewalk out front of the restaurant and enjoyed food we didn’t have to add water to. After lunch, we walked across town to the grocery store. In my resupply I got two knee braces, stool softener (the lack of a proper bathroom was causing some issues), glucosamine, cream cheese frosting, cookies, pop tarts and ramen. I had noticed I was disgusted by my dinners most nights. I had been eating with no problem up until the last five bites or so when I would suddenly get grossed out by the food. It was all too hot, too similar in texture, and every bite tasted the exact same. There was no differentiation between flavors and textures. During this resupply, I focused on buying a variety of things I could eat, so I wouldn’t get burnt out on my dinner.
After all the town chores were out of the way, I walked back to Outdoor76, where I had left my pack. Cowboy and I were able to score a ride back to trail from a local couple. I took it easy for the rest of the day, enjoying as many breaks as I wanted to take.
As I hiked, I heard rustling in the plants around me but every time I looked for the culprit, I found nothing. I began to imagine hiking through a forest full of fairies, gnomes, and trolls, all of them curious about my movements but careful to stay out of sight. As my imagination went wild, my spirits grew, and I started to feel the magic of the forest. The woody vines that climbed all the way to the tops of the trees amazed me just as much as the small clumps of moss that had started to grow in.
At the end of the day, I sat in my tent journaling about the day and planning the next one. In the morning, I would be leaving Georgia and stepping into North Carolina. I took my Garmin out of my electronics bag and turned it on to send a message to my parents. I didn’t have cell service, so I sent one of my preset messages saying, “Looks like I’m going to be out of service for a while, I’ll send a message from my phone when I’m in an area with cell service. I love you.”
My dad sent a message back after checking where I was on the AT that said “Love you too. Less than 5 miles to NC! Sleep good.”
I packed up my journal and changed into my sleeping clothes, gagging slightly at the stench that emanated from my body. It took 9 days, but the hiker stank had developed, and it was there to stay.
Day 10: April 13, 2021
Plumorchard Gap Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter – 12.2 miles
One state down, thirteen to go! At 11:30 Pickles, Yogi, Cowboy and I left Georgia and crossed into North Carolina. We took our time crossing the border, celebrating the accomplishment. Pickles played music, Sweet Caroline obviously, and we all made sure to take pictures with the sign.
Shortly after crossing the border, the trail got steep. I remember my knees coming up to make a right angle on some of the steps, that was how high they were. Surprisingly, I wasn’t in too much pain. I wore both of my knee braces, which were more like compression sleeves rather than braces.
Even though the entire 12-mile day felt like it was an uphill climb, my body felt strong. It seemed like everyone else in my tramily was struggling with the uphill climb. At the risk of sounding selfish, that made me happy. Their strong suits were flying downhill whereas the downhills were tearing my body apart. I had spent the past 10 days being passed by my tramily, it felt nice finally being able to pass them. Closer to the end of the day, I passed Yogi while he was stopped to filter water. He was shocked to see me zoom by, especially after I had been hobbling in pain the days prior. He looked up from his task and exclaimed, “Damn! Did you put Nitrous in your tanks today?” That put a smile on my face!
I called my parents at camp after dinner that night. I tried to maintain communication with them regularly. For the most part, my phone had pretty good service and I could call or text whenever I wanted. My mom and I talked for a while; she told me about what was going on at home and I filled her in on trail life. After chatting for a little she asked, “did you bring period supplies with you?”
“No,” I responded, “my doctor said the pills I was on would stop my periods, so I didn’t bring anything.”
Before I had left Colorado, I had an appointment with an OB-GYN to get me started on a birth control pill that would stop my periods while I was hiking. I wasn’t interested in dealing with periods while I was on trail, and I figured pausing my cycle for six months would be OK.
She clearly didn’t agree with my choice to bring any supplies. “I just don’t want you to have a hard time. It would suck to get your period and have no supplies to feel clean.”
“I’m sure it will be OK,” I brushed it off and finished getting ready for bed.
Next time on Packing It In: I face one of my first challenges on trail, and I need to figure out how to handle it without any help.