Date: 2017-06-24
From: Skyline Drive mile 84.3

To: Skyline Drive mile 66.7
Miles today: 4.9

Yesterday I got a taste of what it must be like to be homeless.  I stayed in the hotel until six minutes before checkout time to get as much online research and phone calling done as possible.  I had left most of my belongings in the van, so what I had for the day was a double-bagged Walmart bag to carry my cherries and banana, my Bluetooth keyboard, my rain jacket, my book.  The hotel folks told me there was a bus that went downtown from Walmart.  I walked less than half a mile to Walmart.  I realized I'd put my toothbrush in the van, so I bought a toothbrush and toothpaste and went into the restroom to brush my teeth.  I felt very strange brushing my teeth in a public restroom.  Then I realized my double Walmart bag probably wouldn't hold the weight of what was inside, so I bought a sturdier reusable plastic grocery bag.  I waited about 45 minutes at the bus stop.  The bus was late, there was a major accident, and it took me two hours to get the two or three miles downtown.  Once there I found a restaurant and got lunch, then walked to the outfitter store about a mile away.  There I bought a few things and spent more time waiting around for my ride back to the trail.  It was a disorienting experience having no place to stay and no easy way to get from one place to another.  Today dawned cool and sunny.  I had previously hiked all but the last 4.9 miles of today's hike.  I rode north in the van, got out at Powell Gap, and hiked the 4.9 miles to today's end point.  I was finished by 9:15 in the morning.  A whole day off!  I didn't attempt anything ambitious but instead had a nap.  I was awakened by the telephone ringing (an unusual event because I nearly always have it set on airplane mode).  It was Scott calling to let me know that he has had more atrial fibrillation issues.  He still thinks he can come back, but he may be very slow on the uphills.  He's been walking ten to twelve miles a day, but they are "Iowa miles", that is, flat.  He sees the doctor on Monday and will text us to let us know how it goes.  In the afternoon I got out the schedule and AWOL (more on that later) to pick some days on the upcoming schedule that we could readily divide into two-day hikes.  I found two days that had road crossings near the midpoint - an 18.6 mile hike scheduled for July 13 and a 19.6 mile hike scheduled for July 17. Doing these in advance would give us two rest days spaced four days apart. We would have Diane drop us at the starting point, pick us up at the midway point, and take us back to wherever we're staying on one day, then resume the hike at the midway point the next day.  This would allow us to avoid two longer hikes and replace them with two rest days.  Rennie has decided he won't rehike the 123-mile section of Maryland and Pennsylvania that we've already done as prep hikes.  Instead, he'll take a break along with the rest of us.  He says he and Bill will drive the van to the endpoint indicated on the schedule each day, stopping to look at anything interesting and eating as heartily as possible.  How We Know Where to Go: We hikers have lots of resources to help us navigate the trail.  The basics are (1) the trail markings and signage, (2) the ATC Data Book, (3) The AT Guide 2017 Northbound (AWOL), and (4) the Guthook app.  Trail markings and signage: The trail is marked with 2-inch by 6-inch white blazes that are painted on trees, rocks, signposts, telephone poles, pavement, or wherever else is needed to indicate the route.  Double white blazes indicate a change, usually a turn.  The trail also has signs indicating mileage to shelters, road crossings, mountain tops, gaps, or other places of interest.  Typically they are found where trails intersect, in gaps, and at road crossings.  Blue blazes indicate a side trail, such as a trail to a shelter or a scenic overlook.  Most hikers have a rule of thumb about how far they will hike without seeing a white blaze, as absence of blazes may mean that you've gotten off the trail.  Hikers figure out where they are by estimating their pace and how much time has elapsed since they passed the sign.  The ATC Data Book: This book lists landmarks, mountaintops, and the like with mileage markers.  It lists the elevation of each entry and indicates which locations have water sources, groceries, restaurants, bathrooms, and the like. I haven't used it enough to say more.AWOL: This little book is worth its weight in gold.  It lists all sorts of features of the trail - streams, springs, mountaintops, gaps, trail intersections, places with good views, road crossings, parking lots, campsites, and shelters.  Each entry has a mile marker and elevation, and there is a profile of the elevation that runs vertically down the page so you can see how steep and how long each ascent and descent is. On the back of the trail pages there is information about the towns that the trail passes through - maps, hostel and hotel information, restaurant and grocery store information, shuttle info, etc. I use this to plan where to get water and sometimes just to keep me focused on a goal and moving from one to the next.   How We Know Where We Are: Guthook app: This is a wonderful resource.  My late husband would have loved this.  This app has maps of the AT, an elevation view showing water sources, road crossings, shelters, landmarks, etc. Click GPS and it puts a blue bubble at your location.  Click on the blue bubble to get your exact GPS coordinates and your mile marker on the trail.  Click on a landmark, and it tells you how far you have to go to reach it or how far you've gone past it.  This feature is wonderful when you get to the end of the day and just really want to know how many miles are left and where exactly you are. From this you can figure your ETA based on your pace.  We have three long days coming up: 19.9 miles tomorrow, 19.4 miles the next day, and 18.7 miles the following day.  I'm ready to get back to hiking.