Date: 2017-03-14
From: Knoxville, TN

To: Knoxville, TN
Miles today: 0.0

3/14/17 Knoxville, TNMiles hiked: 164.4, Miles to go: 2025.4I enjoyed the zero day in Knoxville hanging out with Chris' dogs and visiting the local outfitter store. I heard from Antman. He headed up into the Smokies on Friday. He reached Newfound Gap today. He said it was gnarly up there. Snow, cold temps, high winds, and big snow drifts. When he and a couple other hikers reached Newfound Gap, the road was closed. Luckily, a snow plow driver took pity on them and took them the 15 miles down the mountain to Gatlinburg. They plan to zero until at least Thursday to allow the weather to improve. Since I don't have any trail tales to share, I thought I'd share some trail background. Hiking the trail is cool in one respect in that you generally don't have the worries of the outside world. Most hikers have put their outside lives on hold. No bills, no daily work grind, no rush hour traffic. I haven't even listened to the news in a couple of weeks. Your concerns are reduced to the basics: where am I going to find water? Where am I going to sleep? How steep is the upcoming hill? Generally, it's pretty nice; but, it's also a bit of a pain. The biggest pain is no running water. You don't think about how much you depend on running water until you don't have it. You can't wash your hands, you can't wash your food, you can't wash your dishes, you can't wash your clothes, you can't flush the toilet. We all have visions of drinking out of clear mountain streams; but, in reality, you need to treat all your water. Unless you can see it coming from a spring straight out of the ground high on a mountain, you have no idea what may have possibly contaminated it upstream. Believe me, with no running water, you don't want to get diarrhea in the backcountry. Most people carry either a filter or chemical treatment. If you carry a filter, you have to make sure that it doesn't freeze and crack. So, on cold days you carry it in your pocket and on cold nights you sleep with it in your sleeping bag. Keeping clean becomes a real problem. Baby wipes and alcohol gel cleaners become your best friends. Thru hikers don't shake hands (I know where my hands have been; but, I don't know where yours have been). Instead, thru hikers either bump fists or elbows in greeting. If someone offers me food such as M&Ms or trail mix, I politely decline unless I watch them open a new package (I know where my hands have been; but, I don't know where yours have been). If I offer someone something to eat, I pour it in their hand. I don't let them reach in the bag (I know where my hands have been; but, I don't know where yours have been).E-coli contamination is the issue. There are no bathrooms with flush toilets. Most shelters have privies; however, the privies are just a hole with a toilet seat. The privies have no doors and many don't have roofs. You just do your business there in front of God and everybody. You also carry your own toilet paper and wipes. If you are not camping at a shelter at night or if you are not at a shelter when you have to go, you find a nice spot in the woods away from water sources, campsites, trails, etc, and dig a hole six inches deep, do your business and cover it back over. Leave No Trace ethics require that you carry out the used TP. There's nothing worse than seeing little white TP flowers on the ground where some animal has dug up where someone tried to bury the TP. I have a special airtight, odorproof bag, called a Stink Sack, in which I carry out used TP and wipes for later disposal. Of course, the first thing every thru hiker does when they hit town is wash their hands. Hey, this thru hiking business is no walk in the park. Next time I'll tell you about hiker midnight, hiker boxes, and bear bagging.