daviddavewoody

Author: woodmandavidm

  • “I’m Ready To Be Done”

    • Woody

    I said those words or something like them dozens of times during my last few weeks in the south as I finished up my thru-hike; the timing of my flip meant that the trail was nearly devoid of thru’s when I got back down below the Mason-Dixon. Starry-eyed section hikers and enthusiastic day-trippers were full of questions as I neared the end and, while I appreciated their interest, I couldn’t match their enthusiasm – not with almost 3,000 km under my belt. This section was my Scouring of the Shire (if you’re into the books), my fifth ending to Return of the King (if movies are more your thing). My last 3:55 of “Hey Jude.” An extended coda that was beautiful and moving and overstayed its welcome just a little bit. Come to think of it, this here blog post feels kind of similar. I’m wholeheartedly grateful to anyone who took time out of their life to read about my hike and look at my little pictures. I hope they inspire you to tackle some kind of foolhardy adventure of your own. Now that it’s all said and done, I think I’m ready to take a break from the internet for a while. Maybe I’ll go for a walk?

    The Stats: 

    Springer Mountain, GA: 0.0km/0.0mi

    Mt. Katahdin, ME: 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi

    Total: 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi

    Days: 124

    Mileage per day: 28.4km/17.7mi

    Zero mileage days: 17

    Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.9km/20.5mi

    Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

    Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

    The Details:

    September 5th – 551.2km/344.5mi Travel Day – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 6th – 551.2km/344.5mi Travel Day – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 7th – 551.2km/344.5 Travel Day – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 8th – 551.2km/344.5mi Uncle Johnny’s – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 9th – 512.0km/320.0mi Nature’s Inn Hostel – 39.2km/24.5mi

    September 10th – 471.7km/294.8mi Little Laurel Shelter – 40.3km/25.2mi

    September 11th – 440.0km/275.0mi Hot Springs, NC – 31.7km/19.8mi

    September 12th – 440.0km/275.0mi Hot Springs, NC – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 13th – 398.4km/249.0mi Groundhog Creek Shelter – 41.6km/26.0mi

    September 14th – 357.9km/223.7mi Tri-Corner Knob Shelter – 40.5km/25.3mi

    September 15th – 332.8km/208.0mi Gatlinburg, TN – 251.2km/15.7mi

    September 16th – 332.8km/208.0mi Gatlinburg, TN – 0.0km/0.0mi

    September 17th – 204.4km/184.0mi Spence Field Shelter – 38.4km/24.0mi

    September 18th – 253.6km/158.5mi Creekside Paradise – 40.8km/25.5mi

    September 19th – 217.8km/136.1mi Rufus Morgan Shelter – 35.8km/22.4mi

    September 20th  – 176.8km/110.5mi Tentsite – 41.0km/25.6mi

    September 21st – 137.8km/86.1mi Standing Indian Shelter – 39.0km/24.4mi

    September 22nd – 111.0km/69.4mi Stanimals – 26.7km/16.7mi

    September 23rd – 55.0km/34.4mi Tentsite – 56.0km/35.0mi

    September 24th – 0.0km/0.0mi Springer Mountain – 55.0km/34.4mi

    BONUS September 25th – Amicalola Falls State Park Approach Trail – 14.1km/8.8mi

  • “When You Get That First View of Katahdin It’s Going To Be Closer Than You Want It To Be”

    • Poet

    Shaw’s Hiker Hostel does a brisk business in Monson, ME at the gateway of the 100 Mile Wilderness. The proprietors Poet and Hippie Chick are devoted to the trail and live in service of the people walking on it. The hostel is the last town stop for most northbound thru hikers and the first stop for SOBOs. Every morning they serve a breakfast like you wouldn’t believe and shuttle exhausted, excited, nervous NOBOs back to the trail to begin the final leg of their journey. If you’ve made it this far in a thru the significance of the moment needs a poet to describe it and Poet understands this. The morning I took off into the 100 mile he joked with us as we loaded up, shared some trail history during the short drive to the trailhead, and recited a haiku to send us on our way. And he told us he was proud of us. I needed to hear that. I was proud of us, too.

    The Stats: 

    Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi

    Mt. Katahdin, ME: 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi

    Total: 2,967.4km/1,854.0mi

    Days: 104

    Mileage per day: 28.5km/17.8mi

    Zero mileage days: 11

    Mileage per day, net of zeros: 31.9km/19.9mi

    Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

    Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

    The Details:

    August 20th – 3,089.8km/1,931.1mi Grafton Notch – 22.4km/14.0mi

    August 21st – 3,117.9km/1,948.7mi Sawyer Notch Trail – 28.2km/17.6mi

    August 22nd – 3,149.6km/1,968.5mi Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To – 31.7km/19.8mi

    August 23rd – 3,181.8km/1,988.6mi Poplar Ridge Lean-to – 32.2km/20.1mi

    August 24th – 3,216.2km/2,010.1mi Hostel of Maine – 34.4km/21.5mi

    August 25th – 3,216.2km/2,010.1mi Hostel of Maine – 0.0km/0.0mi

    August 26th – 3,247.4km/2,029.6mi Hostel of Maine – 31.2km/19.5mi

    August 27th – 3,269.0km/2,043.1mi Pierce Pond Lean-to – 21.6km/13.5mi

    August 28th – 3,305.4km/2,065.9mi Bald Mtn Pond Lean-to – 36.5km/22.8mi

    August 29th – 3,334.1km/2,083.8mi Monson, ME – 28.6km/17.9mi

    August 30th – 3,364.6km/2,102.9mi Cloud Pond Lean-to – 30.6km/19.1mi

    August 31st – 3,403.4km/2,127.1mi Logan Brook Lean-to – 38.7km/24.2mi

    September 1st – 3,440.3km/2,150.2mi Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to – 37.0km/23.1mi

    September 2nd – 3,475.5km/2,172.2mi Rainbow Spring Campsite – 35.2km/22.0mi

    September 3rd – 3,509.3km/2,193.3mi Foster Field Campground – 33.8km/21.1mi

    September 4th – 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi Khatadin – 8.3km/5.2mi (BONUS Knife Edge/Helen Taylor Trail descent route: approx. 6.4km/4.0mi)

  • “The Trail Will Teach You”

    • Forecast

    That’s a pretty common trail saying but Forecast was the first one to say it to me so I’m gonna credit him. Like most clichés, it’s trite when you first hear it but reveals it’s depth when you start to live it. I’ve never been much good at learning a lesson the easy way, so it took me almost 2,500 kilometres and a couple weeks basking in the punishing glory of the New Hampshire AT to finally start listening to what the trail was trying to teach me – although outwardly my hiking style remained unchanged (I just kept charging ’cause I guess that’s just what I do), my internal experience underwent a noticeable and positive shift. I was able to let go of my preconceived notions of what I thought thru-hiking should feel like, and enjoy it for what it actually does feel like (knee pain and all). A dream deferred is a tricky thing, but as I walked I was able to reconcile the gap between what I thought wanted out of a thru hike when I first started fantasizing about it at the age of 25, and what I came to understand that I needed from it when I finally got out there and did the thing almost a decade later.

    (Forecast, if by chance you end up reading this – miss ya man, hope the rest of your time on trail was amazing)

    The Stats:

    Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi

    Gorham, NH: 3,040.0km/1,900.0mi

    Total: 2,488.8km/1,555.5mi

    Days: 87

    Mileage per day: 28.6km/17.9mi

    Zero mileage days: 10

    Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.3km/20.0mi

    Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

    Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

    The Details:

    July 30th – 2,521.6km/1,576.0mi Dalton, MA – 32.5km/20.3mi

    July 31st – 2,559.4km/1,599.6mi Williamstown, MA – 37.8km/23.6mi

    August 1st – 2,605.0km/1,628.1mi Goddard Shelter – 45.6km/28.5mi

    August 2nd – 2,635.8/1,647.4mi Stratton Pond Shelter – 30.9km/19.3mi

    August 3rd – 2,653.0km/1,658.1mi Manchester Centre, VA – 17.1km/10.7mi

    August 4th – 2,684.6km/1,677.9mi Little Rock Pond Shelter – 31.7km/19.8mi

    August 5th – 2,717.9km/1,698.7mi Governor Clement Shelter – 33.3km/20.8mi

    August 6th – 2,734.9km/1,709.3mi Rutland, VT – 17.0km/10.6mi

    August 7th – 2,762.9km/1,726.8mi The Lookout – 28.0km/17.5mi

    August 8th – 2,807.4km/1,754.6mi Norwich, VT – 44.5km/27.8mi

    August 9th – 2,847.0km/1,779.4mi Smarts Mountain – 39.7km/24.8mi

    August 10th – 2,879.0km/1,799.4mi Hikers Welcome Hostel – 32.0km/20.0mi

    August 11th – 2,894.2km/1,808.9mi Old Colony Ski – 15.2km/9.5mi

    August 12th – 2,920.3km/1,825.2mi North Woodstock, NH – 26.1km/16.3mi

    August 13th – 2,920.3km/1,825.2mi North Woodstock, NH – 0.0km/0.0mi

    August 14th – 2,941.1km/1,838.2mi Galehead Hut – 20.8km/13.0mi

    August 15th – 2,974.9km/1,859.3mi  Mizpah Hut & Naumann Tentsite – 34.9km/21.8mi

    August 16th – 3,006.2km/1,878.9mi Pinkham Notch – 31.4km/19.6mi

    August 17th – 3,006.2km/1,878.9mi Pinkham Notch – 0.0km/0.0mi

    August 18th – 3,040.0km/1,900.0mi Gorham, NH – 33.8km/21.1mi

    August 19th – 3,067.4km/1,917.1mi Tentsite – 27.4km/17.1mi

  • “My Morale Seems to Rise and Fall As Much As This Trail Does”

    • NoNo

    Truer words were never spoken. Before I started this hike, I read constantly that the mental challenge of a thru hike is greater than the physical; read on for details on the section of the AT that proved to me how true this really is.

    The Stats:

    Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi

    Upper Goose Pond Cabin, MA: 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi

    Total: 1,937.9km/1,211.2mi

    Days: 67

    Mileage per day: 28.9km/18.1mi

    Zero mileage days: 8

    Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.8km/20.5mi

    Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

    Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

    The Details:

    July 5th – 1,692.5km/1,057.8mi Ensign Cowall Shelter – 49.9km/31.2mi

    July 6th – 1.741.0km/1,088.1mi Quarry Gap Shelter – 48.5km/30.3mi

    July 7th – 1,768.5km/1,105.3mi Ironmasters Hostel – 27.5km/17.2mi

    July 8th – 1,812.2km/1,132.6mi Middlesex, PA – 43.7km/27.3mi

    July 9th – 1,841.12km/1,150.7mi Duncannon, PA – 29.0km/18.1mi

    July 10th – 1.887.8km/1,179.9mi Tentsite – 46.7km/29.2mi

    July 11th – 1,923.7km/1,202.3mi Hertline Campsite – 35.8km/22.4mi

    July 12th – 1,953.4km/1,220.9mi Hamburg, PA – 29.8km/18.6mi

    July 13th – 1,995.0km/1,246.9mi The Lookout Hostel – 41.6km/26.0mi

    July 14th – 2,034.1km/1,271.3mi – Delps Spring Campsite – 39.0km/24.4mi

    July 15th – 2,075.7km/1,297.3mi Delaware Water Gap, PA – 41.6km/26.0mi

    July 16th – 2,075.7km/1,297.3mi Delaware Water Gap, PA – 0km/0mi

    July 17th – 2,115.7km/1,322.3mi Brink Road Shelter – 40.0km/25.0mi

    July 18th – 2,155.8km/1,347.4mi Secret Shelter – 40.2km/25.1mi

    July 19th – 2,177.4km/1,360.9mi Warwick Drive In – 21.6km/13.5mi

    July 20th – 2,208.0km/1,380.0mi Fitzgerald Falls tentsite – 30.6km/19.1mi

    July 21st – 2,245.1km/1,403.2mi West Mountain Shelter – 37.1km/23.2mi

    July 22nd – 2,265.0km/1,415.6mi Graymoor Spiritual Life Centre – 19.8km/12.4mi

    July 23rd – 2,295.2km/1,434.5mi RPH Shelter – 30.2km/18.9mi

    July 24th – 2,336.2km/1,460.1mi Wiley Shelter – 41.0km/25.6mi

    July 25th – 2,369.6km/1,487.0mi Cesar Brook Campsite – 43.0km/26.9mi

    July 26th – 2,422.2km/1,513.9mi Sages Ravine Campsite – 43.0km/26.9mi

    July 27th – 2,458.2km/1,536.4mi Great Barrington, MA – 36.0km/22.5mi

    July 28th – 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi Upper Goose Pond Cabin – 30.9km/19.3mi

    July 29th – 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi Upper Goose Pond Cabin – 0.0km/0.0mi

  • “This Trail Tries to Dissolve You“

    Gazelle said that to me and Thomas and Tapo and Orange Aid on the third day of my Appalachian Trail thru hike. She was 640km/400mi into a NOBO FKT (northbound fastest known time) attempt and I was 50 miles into a flip-flop thru hike attempt which had started three days earlier in Erwin, TN. We were eating Little Caesars pizza in the Appalachian Station at 19E hostel in the midst of a storm that I’d pushed a 40km/25mi day through the Roan Highlands get out of. After a relatively pleasant first day on trail featuring a lovely sunset at Beauty Spot, it had started raining and not let up for 48 hours (it would continue to rain on and off every day for about another week). Despite my relief at being inside and out of the deluge, that kind of mileage is WAY too big for the third day of a thru, or at least the third day of my thru. Everything hurt, and I wasn’t at all sure I was ready to get back out there the following morning. I, to quote the mighty Dave Woodman Sr., “didn’t know whether to shit or go blind.” Dissolve you, indeed.

    I’ve thought about what Gazelle said that night a lot in the intervening 40ish days. In one sense it’s literally true: water is the universal solvent and this trail dumps a lot of it on you, at regular intervals. And when it’s not raining it’s so humid that between the water in the air and the puddles and the sweat you’re never really dry. Combine that with the perpetual movement of hiking and you have a recipe for physical dissolution. Not to mention the joint-grinding, tendon-fraying potential of a trail that features a degree of elevation gain and loss equivalent to 16 times up and down Mount Everest. But it’s also true in a metaphorical sense: all your unnecessary qualms about being wet and dirty and smelly and bug-bitten just kind of melt away in the face of the realization that, no matter what each morning brings, you just have to keep hiking; I don’t worry about the rain so much any more. And I hope Gazelle hits her FKT.

    The Stats:

    Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi

    Harpers Ferry, WV: 1,642.5km/1,026.6mi

    Total: 1,091.4km/682.1mi

    Days: 42

    Mileage per day: 25.99km/16.24mi

    Zero mileage days: 6

    Mileage per day, net of zeros: 30.3km/18.9mi

    Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi

    Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi

    The Details:

    May 24th – 569.3km/355.2mi Beauty Spot – 17.12km/10.7mi

    May 25th – 593.3km/370.8mi Clyde Smith Shelter – 25.0km/15.6mi

    May 26th – 633.0km/395.6mi Appalachian Station – 39.7km/24.8mi

    May 27th – 633.0km/395.6mi Appalachian Station – 0km/0mi

    May 28th – 662.4km/414.0mi Moreland Gap Shelter – 29.4km/18.4mi

    May 29th – 685.9km/428.7mi Boots Off Hostel – 23.5km/14.7mi

    May 30th – 700.8/438.0mi Vandeventer Shelter – 14.9km/9.3mi

    May 31st – 724.0/452.5mi Double Spring Shelter – 22.7km/14.2mi

    June 1st – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 29.6km/18.5mi

    June 2nd – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 0km/0mi

    June 3rd – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 0km/0mi

    June 4th – 779.2km/487.0mi Lost Mountain Shelter – 25.1km/15.7mi

    June 5th – 807.2km/504.5mi Wise Shelter – 28km/17.5mi

    June 6th – 839.4km/524.6mi Trimpi Shelter – 32.2km/20.1mi

    June 7th – 855.4km/534.6mi Marion, VA 16km/10mi

    June 8th – 889.8km/556.1mi Campsite – 34.4km/21.5mi

    June 9th – 912km/570.1mi Chestnut Knob Shelter – 22.4km/14.0mi

    June 10th – 950.9km/594.3mi Helveys Mill Shelter – 38.7km/24.2mi

    June 11th – 618.5 Wapiti Shelter – 38.7km/24.2mi

    June 12th – 989.6km/625.7mi Woods Hole Hostel – 11.5km/7.2mi

    June 13th – 1,019.8km/637.4mi Pearisburg – 18.7km/11.7mi

    June 14th – 1,051.2km/657.0mi Pine Swamp Shelter – 31.4km/19.6mi

    June 15th – 1,091.4km/682.1mi Sarver Hollow Shelter – 40.2km/25.1mi

    June 16th – 1,127.8km/704.9mi Huckleberry’s Hostel – 36.5km/22.8mi

    June 17th – 1,169.0km/730.6mi Daleville – 41.1km/25.7mi

    June 18th – 1,169.0km/730.6mi Daleville – 0km/0mi

    June 19th – 1,209.3km/755.8mi Buchanan View- 40.3km/25.2mi

    June 20th – 1,241.8km/776.1mi Harrison Ground Spring – 32.5km/20.3mi

    June 21st –  1.260.0km/787.5mi Glasgow, VA – 18.2km/11.4mi

    June 22nd – 1.292.2km/807.6mi Brown Mountain Creek Shelter – 32.2km/20.1mi

    June 23rd – 1,340.2km/837.6mi Harpers Creek Shelter- 48.0km/30.0mi

    June 24th – 1,375.7km/859.8mi Paul Wolfe Shelter – 35.5km/22.2mi

    June 25th – 1,383.4km/864.6mi Rockfish Gap – 7.7km/4.8mi

    June 26th – 1,416.5km/885.3mi Blackrock Hut – 33.12km/20.7mi

    June 27th – 1,456.2km/910.1mi  Country View Motel – 39.7km/24.8mi

    June 28th – 1,513.4km/945.9mi Pass Mountain Hut- 57.3km/35.8mi

    June 29th – 1,555.8km/972.4mi Mountain Home B&B – 42.4km/26.5mi

    June 30th – 1,593.6km/996.0mi Rod Hollow Shelter – 37.8km/23.6mi

    July 1st – 1,609.4km/1,005.9mi Bears Den Hostel – 15.8km/9.9mi

    July 2nd – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 33.12km/20.7mi

    July 3rd – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 0km/0mi

    July 4th – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 0km/0mi