My name is Victor, and I've wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail since I was a Boy Scout some 50 years ago. Growing up in Delaware meant that the AT passed nearby in Pennsylvania, and our troop organized annual week-long hikes on the AT in the summer. These hikes were always great adventures, and I dreamed of hiking the whole Trail sometime. During high school I organized spring-break hikes with my friends along the AT in Shenandoah National Park and the Great Smokies. In college I organized a hike with our dorm. In later years I hiked sections of the AT in almost all of the states that it passes through with family and friends. But I never had the time to hike the whole AT all at once. Starting as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, where I worked as a National Parks Specialist, I made a career as an environmental specialist, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean. But now that I'm retired, and more or less healthy, I'm at last doing a flip-flop AT thru-hike: northbound from Springer Mountain, GA, to Harpers Ferry, WV; and then southbound Katahdin, ME, back to Harpers Ferry. My wife Brooke will cherry pick section hikes with me. Aside from hiking I love to bike, garden, birdwatch, x-country ski, cook and play classical guitar.
Posts
Days 30-36: Hey, Hey!, HEY!!!
My last post ended on Day 21. With this posting, I'm writing up 7-day posts instead of 5-day posts. However, I’m skipping ahead as I lost all my
Days 16-20: North Carolina, Mountain Laurel, Rattlesnakes and Reptiles
Day 16: Rufus Morgan Shelter (2184’, 135.9) - Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC, 1732’) 5-19-22 Number of miles hiked: 1.0 Total AT miles hiked:
Days 11-15: AT Culture (Papa Smurf gets his name) and Off-trail Attractions (Sunshine Grocery)
Days 11-15: AT Culture (or Papa Smurf gets his name) and Off-trail Attractions (Sunshine Grocery) Day 11: Carter Gap Shelter – Rock Gap Shelter
Days 6 – 10, or Trouble with Trilliums and Black Bears
Trouble with Trilliums Having a tough time telling types of trilliums apart? Me too! Treeline, one of the ATC Ridge Runners in the Smokies, told
Victor’s AT Hike: First five days
Day 1: Amicalola Falls - Springer Mountain Flower photo of the day: Flame Azalea, Rhododendron calendulaceum, Heath Family (Ericaceae) What an
Victor’s AT Hike: Prep & Equip
Preparation The Long Trail I feel like I’ve been preparing for a thru hike on the Appalachian Trail all my life: Initial forays onto