Date: 2011-05-14
From: Wilson Creek Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: light rain

(In which I contemplate electronic gadgets on the trail)At night the rain intensifies and I am glad that the shelter roof doesn't leak. I think about how lucky I've been with shelters the whole trip, without any problem with leaky roofs or driving rain yet.I get a late start in the morning, continuing my relaxed hiking style. As with the previous few days, the clouds and mist are everywhere, and trees only a few yards away start fading into the soft eerie glow. The trail criss crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway, and scenic view placards sit in front of views that are comically blank white, like a webpage with a missing image.As I hike I daydream about music and my iPod Touch, which should be arriving in my next mail drop. While I was planning my hike, I debated how much electronics to bring with me. My brother and sister, who have both hiked the trail before, were in the anti-electronics camp. "Part of the whole point of hiking is to learn how to live without being constantly plugged in to all these gadgets", my sister Inferno said, generally indicating my iPod, Kindle, four computers and myriad of lesser used devices. "The only thing that really bugs me", my brother FastLayne said, "is when your hiking behind someone and they don't let you pass because they have their headphones blasting in their ears." For my part, I never had any intent to cut myself off from modern technology, and left most of my devices at home simply for the practical reason of weight and battery life.Those who prefer to get away from technology will find it easy and pleasant to do so on the trail (ignoring the fact that nearly all hiking gear is actually relatively sophisticated modern technology). But I think that those who are used to and enjoy the convenience and connectedness that modern gadgets provide will will find them at least as desirable and useful on the trail as they were off of it, and will be able to share their experience more easily with others.For those who in the pro-gadget camp and are wondering what to bring on an upcoming AT hike, I would recommend a Verizon smartphone -- iPhone or Android -- provided that you can afford the monthly bills. Verizon, with its CDMA signal, gets much better coverage than anything else out here in the mountains, and a smartphone provides the best web and journalling tools for the lowest weight. A smartphone can also be used in place of a point and shoot camera (some phones have particularly good cameras) and even potentially in place of the guidebook, with a pdf of the Thru-Hikers' Companion or AT Guide. Battery life is an issue with smartphones on the trail, and most people who have one carry either extra batteries (for Android phones) or an external battery pack (for iPhones, which tend to get the best battery life but don't have a removable battery).For those like me who are unable or unwilling to pay high monthly cell phone bills, the options are more limited. The Kindle 3G, with its free AT&T cellular data connection is the cheapest way to stay connected, but AT&T coverage is spotty on the trail, the web experience is painful at best and simply doesn't work for much of the internet, and the Kindle's battery life -- one of its most touted features -- rapidly disappears as soon as the wireless connectivity is turned on. (An even bigger problem when trying to use as a journalling device is that there is no way with a stock Kindle to compose entries offline and post them when you have service, but I fixed this problem at last with a custom app.) I knew all of these limitations ahead of time, but chose to stick with the Kindle to save money.Other devices without monthly fees, like the iPod Touch, are typically limited to wifi connections, which are usually available in towns but nowhere else on the trail. These are still useful, as computers are much rarer than wifi connections and nearly always have long lines of hikers waiting to check their email. An iPod Touch can also be used as a music and offline journalling device on the trail, but being able to connect to the outside world once a week is a very different thing from connecting several times a day.In the end, of course, it's all a matter of personal preference and what your budget will allow. You can also try hiking with and without gadgets, and if you prefer one way over the other, then who is anyone else to tell you how to hike your hike?* * *Stopping for a break, I have to step around a large black snake on the side trail to the shelter. Having seen quite a few snakes by now, I don't even bother to take this one's picture. I read and write in the shelter log, use the privy, and when I come back I find that the snake is in the shelter, weaving itself into and out of the shelter walls. The snake is at least six feet long, and I imagine what it would be like to roll over at night and hear a hissing noise just above your head. Then I think about all of the mice a snake could catch, and decide that a resident snake might not be a bad thing for a shelter to have.* * *The shelter I stop at is one of the nicest ones so far, a huge two story structure with a large covered porch that includes a picnic table. The book says that it holds 20 people -- all of the other shelters for miles having been accurately listed as housing 6 -- but with the porch and landing area, more than twice as many could easily stay dry and have enough room to sleep. I choose a spot on the upper loft for the novelty, but there I plenty of room for the seven of us who are here, and every spot is well sheltered against the coming rain.* * *Coming up next: Tomorrow, in honor of the Pittsburgh marathon, I will attempt to hike at least 26.2 miles.