Category: Appalachian Trail
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A zero day in Franklin
Two weeks of hiking is a lot of walking. 105 miles of walking, actually. And after the cold ascent over Albert Mountain, we were more than ready for a hot shower, dry hotel room, and a chance to restock our dwindling food supply. We’d found a dirt-cheap hotel within walking distance of everything we needed…
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Standing Indian Mountain and Albert Mountain
Today’s prompt from WordPress: Write a letter to your 100-year-old self. Dear Sparks, I hope the small things still make you smile. I hope you still find moss fascinating. I hope you still wake up for sunrises and pause for sunset. I hope you still look up at night, trace the outline of the stars,…
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The weatherful ups and downs of entering North Carolina
The wind is gusting tonight. We’re on a ridge, Shane’s tent beside us. I used one of the guylines to provide some extra support. It’s warm inside the tent, but as soon as you step outside, the wind strips away any heat. When we got here, we hurriedly set up camp, cooked food as fast…
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#hikeawassee
Yesterday was our first resupply. We finally ate down our week’s worth of food (down to the last couple of granola bars), which made it the optimal time to head into town. The town of Hiawassee is incredibly AT-friendly. They have a free shuttle for hikers at Unicoi Gap and Dick’s Creek Gap. We’d already…
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Fifty miles in
It’s day eight and we’ve passed mile 50. (This doesn’t include the Approach Trail since technically it’s not part of the AT. This means we’ve actually hiked about 60 miles at this point.) This past week has been full of firsts for us: It’s overwhelming almost to think about all the new things we’ve done…
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Hi, I’m Sparks
The first night after Mountains Crossing found us at a campsite at Bull Gap. In addition to a bear can restriction, Blood Mountain Wilderness also had a fire ban. While hiking in Vermont, a thru-hiker named AKA told me that on the AT, they’d just make a fire every night. So far, there had been…
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Blood Mountain and Mountain Crossing
Hidden Pond Hostel was a welcome retreat. Rainbowz and Johnny were incredibly sweet to the four dripping, cold hikers who showed up on their doorstep, and let us in with warm smiles, dry clothes, laundry and showers. As the worst of the storm crashed down around us, we sat on the couch and chatted with…
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The rain pants that were three sizes too big
Our second night, we stayed at the Hawk Mountain campsites despite the call for rain. We’d had a lazy day of hiking, starting late and wandering to the next shelter. We’re both fast hikers… but we don’t have much milage yet. Because of that, we were at the camp with plenty of time to set…
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The Approach Trail to Springer Mountain
Despite the issue with our first train, the reroute through Philly worked perfectly and still got us to Gainesville on schedule. We didn’t get the layover in DC that would let us explore the city but my friend met us there with two containers of his girlfriend’s chili and we got to chat for a…
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Why we’re hiking the Appalachian Trail
When I was 11, I talked my dad into taking me on my first backpacking trip: Virginia’s Triple Crowns. That trip was wild: We trained all summer, I got injured before even stepping foot on the trail, we set a lofty goal that our Ohioan body was not prepared for, we ran completely out of…