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30 Mile Days on the Appalachian Trail
This morning I got up around 6am and began packing up pretty quickly. Monarch was going to come pick us up in about a half an hour to bring us back to Woody Gap. Where we got off trail and got picked up just the other day. I chugged a bunch of chocolate milk before we got moving. Then we were good to go!
It was absolutely freezing as we loaded into the car with Monarch. And because we had so much climbing to do this morning I didn’t want to wear too many layers. So I just tried to stay warm with 2 pairs of gloves, a buff around my ears, and my montbell wind gear. But it was frigid. I was utterly uncomfortable once we got walking again. The trail began to climb immediately though and I felt better after that. There’s a tough balance between wearing too many layers on a climb and not enough. Today I was pretty cold whenever we weren’t going straight uphill. But I was sweating like crazy even in my wind gear on the climbs. There’s no way I could have kept going in my alpha layers.
Watching the sun rise at the top of our first climb of the day.
The trail was covered in snow and crunchy ice as we walked along. The sun had just started to come up when we began walking. And even though it was cold out, it was still really beautiful. Within the first hour of the morning we began the gradual climb up Blood Mountain. Last time around I loved this climb. It wasn’t very steep and instead just slowly but surely brought you up to the top. I knew once we got to the shelter up top I was going to add more layers on. Because I was uncomfortable when I wasn’t climbing. And leaving the mountain we would begin a long descent down to Neels Gap.
The snow covered trail was cold but beautiful.
I have a couple boxes there that I need to pick up as well. A hiker named Firefly actually reached out to send us a resupply box! She’s a triple crowner, but we’ve never formally met before. We just follow one another on social media and she asked if she could send us a box with a lot of her favorite hiking goodies. How sweet! And a resupply box packed by a thru hiker sounds like a dream. I’m sure she knows exactly what hikers actually want to be eating.
Rhododendrons covered in snow!
At the top of Blood Mountain I got all of my layers on and was so dang comfortable! For the first time all day I felt great. I have a high tolerance for cold and was doing fine. It was worth the suffering so that I didn’t overheat while climbing. But by no means was I comfortable for the last couple of hours. Now I was feeling amazing and was ready for a long and potentially slow descent. The north side descent of Blood Mountain has a lot of large slabs of rock. So the question of the day is whether or not those will be slicked with ice. That would certainly make things much harder and slower going. We got lucky though and the bits of ice were few and far between. That allowed us to get down off the mountain pretty quickly. Along the way we passed a guy going south who was doing a slack pack. He recognized us and chatted us up for a bit. That was cool and he was a super nice guy.
A picture of me on top of our first climb of the day.
Once we got down to the road we headed over to Mountain Crossing, the store at Neels Gap. There’s an outfitter and a hostel there. I picked up my two boxes and then went outside to go through them. One contains packets of coconut oil. Which is how I keep my hair manageable in real life and on trail! I ran out over a week ago so I haven’t washed my hair and it’s been getting pretty tangled. The oil helps to keep the tangles away and protect my hair.
Mountain Crossings at Neels Gap.
Then I went through the box from Firefly! Which was loaded with delicious ramens, candy, bars, snacks, and a bunch of unique stuff. She was so nice to send this box to us and it was loaded to the brim! I packed away everything I could and then there was a ton of stuff leftover for Punisher. It worked out perfectly to get this here. Now we won’t have to resupply again until Franklin. But we will be stopping off at Around the Bend hostel, because I have a couple small boxes there for some branded content that will be coming out in the next week or so.
The contents of the amazing resupply box from Firefly!
Katie who works at Mountain Crossing came and talked to us for a bit. She had been expecting us because of the boxes. And even hooked us up with some hot chocolate, which was perfect on this cold day. Then we continued along the trail, with a whole lot more miles to get done for the day. We’re still aiming for 30 miles a day if the trail will allow it.
A huge chunk of ice right on the trail.
I kept my layers on when we left there. But realized immediately that it was a mistake. The sun had come out so I warmed up super quick on the next climb. Then had to take the alpha layers off and just keep on the wind gear. Which at times was probably too hot as well. There was a lot of elevation gain over the remainder of the day. So I would get super hot on the climbs and then be nice and comfortable on flat trail and descents. These wind layers have been absolutely perfect for this trail.
In the afternoon we enjoyed some sun and bright blue skies.
We saw one other hiker named Jackson at the store. And then caught up to him along one of the climbs. Then just continued on for another 8 or so miles before getting to the next road. As we began descending we could see a trail magic set up in the parking lot! That was so exciting. Our first trail magic feed of the Appalachian trail!
When we got down to the parking lot we were greeted by the friendly folks doing the feed. They had tons of chairs set up and asked us if we wanted cheeseburgers! Who on earth could say no to that. While they cooked we made hot chocolate, then sat in the comfy chairs and relaxed for a bit. The people at the set up were so nice and asked us about our hike. When it came up that we had started in key west they were so surprised.
Icicles forming right beside the trail.
I ate a delicious cheeseburger that I covered in chilli and had to eat with a fork. It was absolutely perfect. Then we thanked them for everything and continued along. With about 12 more miles to get to get to a shelter where we planned to end our day. Leaving there we had some more climbing to do. But it was fairly gradual. Then just had a handful more climbs over the next few hours. The occasional climb was quite steep and slowed me down a bit. Especially heating up so quickly in the layers. I always feel slower when I’m hot and bundled up like that. Maybe it’s all in my head, but it makes me feel super slow in comparison.
Today I listened to a new audio book, Into Thin Air by Jack Krakauer. It’s about the 1996 tragedy on Mt Everest, which as of then was the most devastating single event that ever took place on the mountain. I watched the movie about it on the CDT and have been dying to read the book ever since. It’s incredibly well written and the narrator does a great job with different accents and what not. The story is absolutely wild, as the author himself was there. He summited and managed to descend just before the worst of the storm hit. Over the course of the day I pretty much listened to the entire 11 hour audio book. Only leaving myself maybe an hour or so to enjoy tomorrow. I’ve been loving listening to audio books! They pass the time in a way that music never could. And it’s nice to actually retain something and learn something. I prefer to listen to true stories, personal accounts, or books that you would either call spiritual or “self help”. I’m not the biggest fan of fiction, and prefer to learn something if I can.
I’ve so enjoyed being back in the canopy of rhododendrons.
For the remainder of the day we just continued along. There were more hills to climb. And many relatively flat sections of trail as well. Even though we did thousands of feet of elevation gain today, it still felt like a relatively easy day. I know there will be bigger and more challenging climbs ahead of us.
As we walked along we passed by tons of massive icicles alongside the trail. And some big patches of ice right on trail. There was also alot of mud from all of the melting. So every now and then your feet would slip out from under you. But I managed to stay upright all day long. The snow covered terrain made for some beautiful hiking today. And though it was cold, the weather was still quite nice. There wasn’t any wind and we got a good bit of sun today.
Right around 6pm we came to a water source and filled up for the night and morning. Then continued on to the Blue Mountain Shelter. After stopping even briefly to fill up on water I got super cold. I was excited to get to camp and be able to put all of my layers back on. The shelter had a handful of guys inside, so we opted to just tent nearby. I didn’t want to squeeze into a packed shelter at the end of a long day. Plus I know we’ll be up early, and I don’t want to be “that guy” in a full shelter.
Blue Mountain Shelter.
We got our tents set up quickly. And there was service so I was able to do a little video work quickly before retreating to my tent. I always try to my audio recording and vlog style videos at night when I have the chance. That way I’m all caught up for the following day. Then I got my camp situated and made a ramen for dinner. It was one of my favorites too! Tonkotsu ramen is super delicious and Firefly packed a ton of them into the box.
Then I did my stretching and got comfortable in my sleeping bag. It’s frigid out! I wore all of my layers to be sure that I was comfortable and slept well. Then wrote and did some blog editing before finally calling it a night around 8:30pm. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow!
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Comments 15
Stunning sunrise shots! Sophie Strand might be an author you enjoy- she’s frigging magical. Really loved seeing the snowy rhododendrons. Happy dance for firefly and cheeseburgers!
Peg,
I would like to buy you, Punisher and Long Shot ice cream at the Bellvale Creamery. My fear is that you are going to fast and will get here before it opens on 4/1. If do we can make other arrangement or you can slow down.
Thx for the post.
Have a hard time with books on tape, my attention waivers. But two books I absolutely LOVED listening to: “The Art of Racing in the Rain”, told in the first person by a dog, and “Water for Elephants”. Great stories, both books made into movies, wonderful narrators. The art of racing in the rain is really about maneuvering through life’s twists turns bad roads and breakdowns, for what little I know about you I think you will like it. It’s not a true story, but it certainly could be.
You helped me learn 2 things over the last week. I’d never used a pay app until you left Oxford and now I know about coconut oil. Do you carry a brush as well? I’m always wondering how you keep your hair so nice.
OMFG, Now I’m so mad at myself. Coulda met and had some good times, I was supposed to stay at Blue Mtn shelther Fri to Sat but I called my section trip off due to freezing temps and the fact this FL boy don’t know what to look out for in regards to icy roads!
Looking great, Peg Leg! I hope all that ice melts before I get to Blood Mountain in a month!
Wild to do 30s in snowy N GA. Reco: borrow from Stevie, start putting “CYTC day __” in your titles here. Helps everyone… i think.
When I knew I wanted to hike the AT, I googled, “how to not die on the AT.” (lol). In a round about way it led me to the 1996 Everest storm. I read or listened to anything about that event. It taught me that Nature is in charge, and I am only a guest in her backyard. So, I need to be very wise and respectful about weather because Nature will win every single time.
Oh PL you never cease to amaze me. BTW, that’s an awesome book. I got into everything Everest in the 70’s and still enjoy hearing about the incredible journey.
I love that firefly sent you a package of goodies. What a brilliant idea. I’d love to do that for you and Punisher but I’d need a list 🥰. I only add Punisher in here because I/we love listening to his play list 🤣.
Hope you stay cozy warm in your layers tonight – I HATE being cold at night, and like you, I hate being hot when I’m hiking 😁. I’m sure this elevation and different terrain takes a bit of getting used to, but knowing you, you’ll have it down in no time.
When we were on the AT in MA last May – 2 feet of snow descended on the MA/VT border. The trail was unrecognizable and very difficult to navigate – not a white blaze in sight 🤣. We just sang Christmas and snow songs the whole day – it was truly beautiful ❤️. We only enjoyed it because we knew we would be off trail in a few hours 🥰. No way I would intentionally camp in that 🤣.
Stay safe – so very proud of you ❤️
I’m a newbie. I just started day hiking and I’m interested in doing my first thru hike April 1st. I’m going solo and doing sections of the mst closest to me. I’m in Durham NC. I’m so impressed with 30 miles a day. I could only aspire now. Any tips to prepare mentally and physically? Am I nuts for going alone?
Hi Alta!
If you have time, there are a couple of books that are great to read to prep for the AT mentally. Appalachian Trials by Zach Davis (he actually started this website for thruhiker bloggers), and Pushing North but Trey Free. I read both and feel much more ready mentally than I did before reading them.
As for physically preparing – I haven’t thruhiked yet, I’m planning to start in just a few weeks! The best preparation is to load up your pack and go on hikes (or at least walks around the city). There’s really nothing like carrying weight on your back for a few hours going up and down hills. This is what I learned from other hikers and what I have been practicing myself.
Follow some other bloggers too! I’ll be blogging my experience on the AT and I may be able to provide a beginners perspective compared to Peg Leg’s incredible 30 mile days. 😁 (I’m planning to do 8 miles my first day)
Good luck! And one more book rec if you’re worried about starting alone, The Unlikely Thruhiker. If you check out any of these books you will notice none of these guys had experience thruhiking before the AT, and with Derick Lugo’s story he starts alone and quickly makes a coup of friends to hike with.
Blood Mountain is one of my most favorite hikes of all time as my son and daughter shared that hike with me once. And, at the same time, it is sad a time when I think of Meredith Emerson.
Hey there, love the posts! Hiking the AT is on my bucket list! I listen to and read LOTS of books, always non fiction. My fav from’24 was When the Game is Over, it all Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg. I read it like 6 times last year 😂
Keep hammering!
Nice of Firefly to give u some goodies! I looked at my notes and I met her for the first time last year in the Smokies. Saw her off and on after that for a bit-she was amazing.
Coconut oil??? LOL…. That’s a new one for me. Awesome. Well, you’ve got great hair. No amount of coconut oil can help me!!!
Very much enjoying your journey.!!! Thank you for all the hard work sharing your life with us.