Sat, Apr 9, 2016 Usual morning stuff.  I went out behind the shelter with my wide-mouthed bottle under my down jacket, a bottle of water and my toiletries.  I disappeared behind a big tree for morning relief and to empty and rinse out my nighttime assistant.  I brushed my teeth and headed back for the […]

Fri, Apr 8, 2016 Morning.  Snow.  Cold.  How do I explain the value in waking to a tent wall caved in by the weight of white?  I’ve said before that I love little things.  There’s something special about being in a small space created by thin fabric you transport on your back and expand to […]

Thu, Apr 7, 2016 I awoke in the “wee” hours of the morning and saw Theo lying so peacefully on the typical motel rug which I eliminated from the attached picture of my very good friend now suspended like an angel.  I do know that this buddy of mine is an animal.  But in a […]

Wed, Apr 6, 2016 I had decided the night before that I would not have breakfast at Hogback Ridge because it was only 2.6 miles to the main road into Erwin, Tennessee.  I’d have breakfast there – a big one!  On waking, we were up and out. It was an uneventful hike to the road […]

Tue, Apr 5, 2016 Oh what a blessing to have lived with very little in the environment of the birth of our species.  What a rock solid foundation for life – for living.  I type this at a 6-foot-long desk covered with stuff I hadn’t seen for the better part of a year.  The larger […]

Friends: I have added some video links to prior posts.  I am learning as I go.  This is definitely a work in progress.  My videos appear as blue, underlined text you can click on to run a YouTube video. Prior posts containing such links are Days 7, 9, 10, 14 (some have 2 or more), […]

Mon, Apr 4, 2016 The trail the next morning passed right by the 4-5 Germans who had camped on a knoll north of the shelter.  There wasn’t a hint of their presence as I began my day’s trek.  Somewhere I found a pair of shorts and assumed it belonged to one of them.  As hikers […]

Sun, Apr 3, 2016 Before leaving Hot Springs, I must acknowledge this day as I write, a year later.  I can’t imagine anyone undertaking the arduous adventure of an AT thru-hike and simply returning to life as if they had just been to the corner grocery store. The day I’m writing is a beautiful spring […]

Thu, Mar 31, 2016 – Sat, Apr 2, 2016  I’m not going to be able to delineate days at Hot Springs.  I can give you only a general recall of my time there. HLHL was on the left as you exited the woods.  It consisted of two buildings joined by a roof.  Walking between these […]

Wed, Mar 30, 2016 Morning requirements took me into the woods and on my return, the shelter stood sentinel on the barren hill and, back in camp, the wind was ripping through Ziggy-Doo’s hammock. I had breakfast and got hiking to get warm and get going – just  keep going. . . . We descended […]