Eating caterpillars on the Appalachian Trail

The first hundred miles

Day 2

After camping at Stover shelter, about 3 miles on from Springer Mountain, I began my first day, proper on the AT. Starting cold, it turned into a warm sunny day which brought out the lovely white blood root flowers. An abundance of them just before Horse Gap, was followed by the appearance of trail angel Max Forrester at the road crossing in the gap itself. He had driven a long way to hand out drinks to thirsty hikers, and also gave me a tootsie pop (a lollipop – mine cherry- with chocolate in the middle) as I have never had one before. Other hikers told me that tootsie blows (lollipops with bubble gum in the middle) are even better. The calories were good!

Day 3

Because of camping restrictions in a section ahead due to bear activity, day three was either going to be a short day or a long day. I only decided on the morning itself to go for the long day, which meant 17 miles and 5000 feet of climb. This included taking on Blood Mountain (named after bloody battles between Creek and Cherokee native Americans), the highest point in the Georgia section of the AT. I started early, and after a mile or so came to a road crossing where a Medivac team were preparing a large, single tyred gurney, which they wheeled up the trail in the direction I had just come from. Either a hiker had fallen, or there was another noro virus case. Blood Mountain was beautiful, brutal, and wonderful. Down from the Summit, the mountain had a very different character with the big sections of slab rock, which would’ve made it very difficult with ice. It was difficult enough without ice and I was grateful to arrive at Neel’s gap, where I bought a few supplies from Mountain Crossings and a freezer to oven pizza, which I ate before heading up the final mountain of the day to Bull Gap camp, ground.

Day 4

I went into day four having slept badly. This was partly due to a slight fever and for awhile in the night I was wondering why it was so warm, when in fact it was not. I think it was the last traces of the bug I picked up in Charlottesville, leaving my body. The other reason I slept badly was because I lost my glasses when I did my bear hang the previous evening. I spent a long time in the fading light, and then with my flashlight looking for them amongst the carpet of leaves. The problem was that due to a scarcity of good branches for a bear hang, I had to go a long way from the tent, and so the search area was vast. In my sleeping bag, I kept mulling over the possibilities of where I could’ve dropped them. However, the new day brought a change of fortunes and renewed search found my glasses fairly quickly. In such a good mood, the forecast rain for the day could not dampen my spirits, and I brewed coffee and made a relaxed start. Once I got going, I moved fairly fast in what I knew would probably be a fruitless attempt to beat the rain. As the day went on, I passed more and more hikers who had set up their tents early to avoid walking in the rain, and putting on wet clothes the following morning. For me, it would be pitching my tent in the rain and wet clothes the following morning. But that was ok.  After 17 miles, I stopped at Blue Mountain campsite, and the only other person to do so was a fast young hiker called Cory. The wind howled all night and my tent stood up to it.

Day 5

Day five began following another night of not particularly good sleep due to all the drumming on the tent from the rain and the howling wind. This, and following a couple of hard-walking days, my energy levels were a bit down. But at least it had stopped raining just before the end of the night. So although I had to pack up a wet and heavier tent, things did not look so bad. Fifteen miles later including the climbs up Rocky Mountain (the name is a clue) and Tray Mountain, I pitched my tent at Addis camp.

Day 6

Day six may include the fastest miles I will cover on the AT. I wanted to resupply in Hiawassee, and the bus was leaving from Dick’s Greek gap at 10.00 am five and a half miles away. It took me about one hour and 50 minutes, and I got there in plenty of time. It gave me confidence to feel so strong in my legs at this point. The drive into Hiawassee was very picturesque and I was glad to see a bit of Georgia outside the trail. Unfortunately, because it was a Sunday, the diner in Hiawassee was closed and there was no return shuttle. So I picked up my lunch and resupplies from the supermarket and hitched my way back to the trail and did the short section to Plum Orchard Gap shelter, to complete a semi rest day of about 10 miles. As I got to the shelter, I was warned that somebody had just been stung by a wasp. It turned out to be Cool Breeze, the prison chaplain from the UK, who I had been in contact with in the weeks before leaving my job. It was good to finally meet up and he seemed to be having the time of his life. In the evening, there was a very convivial group around the fire in front of the shelter, with tales of hiker mishaps and characters encountered on the journey.

Day 7

A cold night with a chilling breeze was followed by a gloves and coat day. The day was marked by the milestone of passing from Georgia into North Carolina, and by the fantastic view above Sharp Top of Hiawassee and wave upon wave of mountains of fading blues into the distance. I arrived at Standing Indian Mountain shelter after a relatively short day of 12 miles but lots of climbing. This is the entry point for a bear sanctuary area and they were fresh notices warning of bear activity. A few days later, I heard that bears had  managed to get people’s bear hangs and all their food. I expect this all to be another area where you will have to have either have a bear barrel or hike the sanctuary area in one day beyond Betty’s Creek.

Day 8

It was another night of howling wind and rain arrived by the morning. So it was a wet tent pack again. It’s rained the entire day and the full 20 miles that I walked, but I felt strong. Most hikers seemed to have hunkered down to avoid the weather, and I only saw two all day, Joe and Myka, fast young men from Michigan, who are aiming to complete in four months. Today also saw the hundred mile point of the AT passed (that’s 109 miles walked!). But this was earned the hard way with the very steep climb up Albert mountain in the rain. Two weather related things I learnt today, my “waterproof “ overmits from Decathlon were totally useless in the rain but my Eurohike hands free umbrella was great. But nothing could stop the rain wetting me in a side winds and at times I had to speed up to warm up.

About those caterpillars.

Some butterflies are appearing but no caterpillars yet. However, I have been working my way through the Colin the caterpillar candy sours from my work colleagues (thanks Sarah!). Never heard of them in the US?! Tootsie pops and Colin the caterpillar candies seem a fair transatlantic cultural exchange.