Date: 2015-06-24
To: Looking Back - Final Thoughts
Miles today: 0.0

Our hike this year was much better than last year's. Last year everything was too new to us. We had never hiked and camped out before, so our expectations, to hike the 1012 miles from Springer Mountain to Harper's Ferry in three months, were unrealistic. The reality of our actual hiking pace made us have to continually reevaluate our goal. Also, because of our slow pace, our naive belief that we could properly resupply in towns as we hiked along proved wrong, which led to our premature departure from the trail at Fontana Dam after only one month.This year we set out with a new attitude and a better understanding of what to expect. Our goal was to just hike along for as long as we could and enjoy every day as much as possible. We sent food drops ahead to Gatlinburg and Standing Bear Hostel to ensure that we'd have the supplies to make it at least as far as Hot Springs, NC. And with the outfitters in Hot Springs, NC and Erwin, TN, we knew that resupply issues would not be the thing that stopped us this year. We also did mini flip flops this year, which worked out very well. By splitting the distance from Hot Springs to Erwin into two sections, one southbound and one northbound, we cut our food burden in half and could rest and resupply in Hot Springs twice before reaching Erwin. If we had stayed on the trail after reaching Erwin, we would have done the same between Erwin and the Mountain Harbour Hostel near Roan Mountain.As with any worthwhile endeavor, we learned some things.I am not as strong as I thought. Although I could feel my fitness building week by week, age and environment reminded me of my limitations. During our steep climb out of the gap where Mom's store was located, it was extremely hot. When we got to the spring to refill our water bottles, I began to feel light-headed and dizzy each time I stood up from filling a bottle. Woofie knew that the heat had lowered my blood pressure, and being dizzy in the mountains can be very dangerous. She told be to stop taking my blood pressure medication, as I've had to do in the past in hot conditions. After that day, I didn't have that problem again. My only problem then was having to reassure Woofie many times a day that I was OK.Woofie is stronger than I thought. She didn't just regain her fitness level from the hiking. She found a new level of confidence in her strength and in her newly replaced knees, which haven't bothered once in the 343 miles we've hiked the past two years. She stopped needing me to help her down over big steps. She stopped needing me to help her put on her backpack. And after my dizzy spell, she starting helping me put on my backpack, refusing to let me do it by myself as I had done. I let her help me. She was happier knowing that I was OK. And when the wife is happy, everyone is happy.Rain is our friend. We had a lot of very nice weather during our hike, with many gorgeous sunny and cool days. But with the sun eventually came the heat, and heat was our enemy. We discovered that walking in the rain was quite pleasant. Rain kept us cool, fighting the heat and covering the sun. We began to wish for rain when it started getting hot. In fact, we began to revel in walking in the rain, our ally against our common foe, the heat. Our favorite places:My favorite place was camping in the tent on the night when there was a steady rain all night. The tent was dry and cozy, and the sound of the rain on the tent was the only music we could hear. Every time we'd wake up, the music was still playing. Easily back to sleep.Woofie's favorite place on the whole trail was Big Bald Mountain. Better than Blood Mountain, Clingman's Dome, or Max Patch, Big Bald Mountain is the one place she hopes to see again. The day was magic. And not just because the weather was perfect for fabulous views in all directions. The fields were full of yellow daisies, being visited by teams of honey bees. They reminded her of her dad, who had been a bee keeper, and who had called her Woofie as a child. To nap there in the breeze blown flowers with the sound of the bees under the noon sun made her hike a dream come true.        We had hoped to see the ponies in the Grayson Highlands, as well as the trail in VA that is supposed to be "easier" than in the first three states. But we knew that June and July in the South can be very hot. And the "easier" trail in VA is often through rolling grassy fields without the sunbrella of the forest canopy as a shield. We knew the heat was always going to be the show stopper, just not when it would hit. Judging by the extreme heat advisories issued by the weather services for the southeastern states this week, we escaped just in time.The best part of this year's hike is that we did what we set out to do. We hiked at our own pace. We enjoyed being with the people we met. We enjoyed our time on the trail, whether hiking or resting, in camp or in town. And we came home again, satisfied that we'd done enough.