It’s been a month since we got back from our backpacking trip on th Appalachian Trail. It was epic! I have not had time to write about it because I have been busy with work and trying to get fully staffed. It’s been rough-ish as I am hiring in 3 of my 5 divisions right now. The holidays are a hard time to hire, too.
On Tuesday, October 14th we parked at the Damascus Public Library and took a shuttle to Dickey Gap. We arrived at the trailhead at about 11:30am. Spoiler alert: we backpacked 50 miles by Sunday morning at 11:30 am. 5 days total. Two half days and 4 full days to complete 50 miles isn’t too bad. Once we completed this journey, we knew for certain that we could complete the 100 mile wilderness in Maine next July.
Marty had to work the weekend of the 11th and 12th, which made us cut the number of miles, and then I ended up needing to go to Arizona on the 21st. So with 5 days cut, we had to cut 50 miles. Marty is working nights, so working the night of the 12th meant that we wouldn’t be getting to the trailhead the day of the 13th.
It’s all okay– we work so we can afford to play hard on the trails. Before I get into the details of our backpacking adventure, I’ll let you know my favorite part of this last week. My 5 year anniversary at my job was on the 20th. I got a little extra on my paycheck. I had forgotten about the 5 year bonus! Woot. I wasted no time using it to order a custom made ultralight backpack! It’s a handmade backpack that takes 12 weeks to arrive. I had Marty and Sean measure by back to be sure I got the right size. This pack has more options than any of my other backpacks. The Osprey that I have been using for multi-day backpacking trips is adjustable, but the LiteAF has more options for size. This backpack is 3.6 pounds lighter than my Osprey. THIS IS EXCITING. For the last many months, we have only been able to save ounces and not pounds – save trading out the air pads for the lighter sleeping pad.
We have decided that we won’t bring Ghost with us to Maine. Since he is not allowed in Baxter State Park and we have limited time to complete the 100 miles, we decided it best to let Sean watch him. I have a management meeting on the 7th and will need to work around this– we will need to complete at least 10 miles a day minimum. Summiting Katahdin’s 12 miles will have to be done in one day. We will be able to get further in better time without having to carry Ghost’s provisions. There is a warning at the beginning that you need to have ten days of provisions before starting the wilderness. We struggles carrying the 6 days for ourselves and Ghost on this trip.
On the first day, we hiked 5.6 miles. It was a little rough with my eustachian tube dysfunction. Whew. I am hoping that the surgery at the beginning of the year helps the nausea and vomiting when I climb. Thankfully, I brought emergency steroids to help the ear swelling. I started taking them day two, but it took some time to open the tube and stabilize. We hiked 9 miles the second day. The views were gorgeous!
By day 3 and continuing to take steroids, I felt normal. The dizziness is worse descending, but the pain gets worse as we climb. As we go downhill, I look at the ground more and it throws off my equilibrium more. On the 3rd day, we hiked 10 miles and I was dreaming of the ultralight backpack on my wish list. The day after we completed the 50 miles was my anniversary and the Thursday I was in Arizona, the money popped into my account. We hiked 10 miles on Day 3 and made it through Fat Man Squeeze. We camped at Thomas Knob Shelter Thursday night.
On Day 4 we backpacked 11.1 miles. We saw Buzzard Rock and some beautiful scenery. Water sources were DRY and we were almost out of water when we finally made it to a pipe stream where we loaded up with water. It was slow running, but we were thankful for being able to filter plenty of water. Just as we were getting to camp (hiking downhill), I tripped over a rock, landed on my left wrist. It was a weird sprain. I was holding on to my hiking pole and landed on the front of my hand, shoving my wrist. It smarted.
The next morning, Marty helped me wrap my left wrist with KT tape. I needed help lifting my pack, but as the day went on, I tried to use the wrist normally. It was really sore to begin with, but improved as the day went on. The following morning, I was able to move it and as long as I wasn’t;t lifting heavy things or pushing myself up, it was okay. By the end of the trip, it was almost back to normal.
On the 5th day, we hiked 13.3 miles. We wanted to get closer to Damascus to make Sunday a short day. The Shelter we had planned to stay at was 1/4 a mile off the trail and we decided it would be best just to keep hiking to get back to the Creeper Trail. We decided to sleep next to the Creek. This change meant we only had 7.7 miles on the last day.
The damage from Helene was amazing. The side of Whitetop Mountain was decimated. It was sunny and bright where all the trees had been washed away. So many large trees! Pictures do not do it justice. When we got to the Creeper Trail, parts of it were just washed away. A railroad that had been there and in operation since the late 1800s– just gone. Railroad trestles and bridges washed away and in the trees.
It felt great completing this 50 mile trip. Ghost did an amazing job, too. He is such a good hiker and loves sleeping in the tent with us. He gets into the tent and settles down for the night quickly. The biggest reason we decided not to bring him to Maine with us is due to time constraints and weight. When you enter the 100 mile wilderness, you need 10 days of supplies. Even with lighter backpacks, trying to carry food for him and ourselves for 10 days will be very difficult.
We were thinking that for Christmas we would get a bigger bear bag for Marty and Ghost, but have decided that our Christmas gift this year will be a lighter backpack for Marty. He’s looking at a backpack made by a small company in Utah. If he gets the one he is looking at, it will be a 3.6 pound difference in his pack weight, as well. This will hopefully balance out the weight of the extra food we need to pack in. On our overland trip, Marty tried out the Nemo Switchback and really liked it. This will take some weight off his pack, as well.
It’ll be sad not having Ghost with us, but Sean will take good care of him. We have limited time off from work and will need to get big miles n each day. While Ghost does an amazing job with hiking, he does like to “snifferdoodle” a lot. Stopping for his water breaks are very necessary and take a lot of time, as well. We don’t mind, but backpacking while you still have a job means we have time constraints. One day, we won’t have those constraints.
My Little Red Bike 