Date: 2004-05-17
From: Hot Springs

To: Slack Pack or Not Slack Pack?
Miles today: 11.0

Today represented the first of five days of hiking without re-supply, from Hot Springs, North Carolina to a road crossing near Erwin, Tennessee. The distance is 68 miles. To reach Erwin, I am carrying a greater quantity of food than before, which means the load on my shoulders is heavier. I consider this stretch of trail as a crucible¢a test of my ability to hike long stretches of the Appalachian Trail without interruption. Leaving town, I walked along a road for a short ways and realized that I was not on the trail (which occasionally follows roads). It became necessary to backtrack and find out where the trail had gone; it had turned off the road by a guard rail. The hike back into the mountains was difficult with the heavy backpack and a steep ascent at the beginning. Even after the initial ascent, I felt a lack of energy which persisted throughout the day.I caught up with a section hiker named Wild Thing; he is a landscaper from California and is 63 years old.He told me that his experience on the Appalachian Trail has been wonderful but lonely. He said that whenever he gets to know other hikers, they inevitably hike faster than him, so he is usually alone. I told him how I had wrestled with the dilemma of trying to hike at the same pace of faster hikers¢people I had become friendly with¢or hiking at my own speed and being passed by. We hiked together for part of the morning.By myself again, I stopped at a seap to re-fill my water bottle. I took off my backpack, placed it on the trail, and ascended a steep incline in order to get to a spot where the water was most accessible. The slope was surrounded by rhododendron shrubs. As I filled the bottle, I heard a crashing sound nearby. Alarmed, I peered through the shrubs and saw Wild Thing sprawled on the middle of the trail."Are you okay?" I shouted. He replied in the affirmative. After getting back on his feet, he walked up and explained what had happened. While hiking, he had noticed up ahead my backpack lying on the trail. I was not in sight. He looked around for me, assuming that something bad might have happened. With his eyes off the trail, he tripped. "I fell flat on my face," he said.Fortunately, he was not injured.During the day, I was passed by several thru hikers who were not shouldering backpacks. Without the burden of packs, they were moving quickly. These hikers were "slack packing." With this approach, hikers give their backpacks to someone with a vehicle. Later in the day, the driver meets them at a road crossing further up the trail, and returns to them their backpacks. Yesterday in Hot Springs, a hiker had offered me an opportunity to slack pack. She told me that on this day, her husband would be driving a car and dropping off her backpack at a prearranged location up the trail. I declined the offer, preferring to carry my backpack over the entire length of the trail. Several generations of thru hikers have successfully carried their backpacks all the way to Maine. I want to share in that traditional aspect of a thru hike.   Late in the day, I arrived at Spring Mountain Shelter. It was a tiny and unattractive shelter. Several hikers were encamped there. One of them was lying inside and snoring¢definitely a scene I intended to avoid. I strung up my hammock on the top of a slope above the shelter. Some curious hikers wandered over to check out the hammock and ask questions about it. I told them that it was brand new and I was still unfamiliar with it.I hiked eleven miles today, but it felt like more. The extra heavy weight of the backpack was partly to blame for my lack of energy. The primary reason, I suspect, was the time spent off the trail at the hiker festival in Virginia. I hope that my energy will return tomorrow.