NOTE: Trail mileage is the official trail mileage from the starting point of the AT in Georgia.
It is good to be back on the trail. I have a hard time believing I feel so good. I took it easy, and still had a good speed if just under 2 mph. That included 3 times taking the wrong trail and had to hike back. I started in Hanover, NH. It is thick forests and beautiful. The trails are good with few rocks, mostly dirt covered by leaves. There are some small boggy, wet areas.
My feet feel better than any other day of hiking in 2019. No boot concerns. Both knees are normal. My left shoulder is mostly pain free. Only a little pain when I put on my pack. A lot less than when helping packing for moving, or painting. 😁.
I feel that I am being blessed with a couple wonderful weeks before I give up hiking.
The only down side is that the mosquitos and flying bugs are out. I am prepared though, any way I thought I was. I had my daughter-in-law get me two bottles of the natural oil mosquito repellent. That is better for you physical than deet. I was ready. I put it on heavy before I left the hotel room. I smelled sickly sweet. I smelled like I put on to much men’s cologne. I didn’t care as long as the mosquitoes stayed off of me. I was afraid I was in trouble when a mosquito landed on my arm within a couple minutes of leaving the hotel room. Once I was in the woods it was terrible. It was like me being a popsicle and the mosquitos being kids on a hot summer day. After 2 1/2 hours I stopped, got out the deet, and sprayed myself down. That solved the problem. I didn’t notice any more mosquitos, thank goodness. It was as bad as Bear Tooth Wilderness area. Only Nathan and Sharlyn will understand that last sentence.😏. I even started wondering if Sharlyn was paying me back for what I did to them on our hike in the Bear Tooth Wilderness. I still feel bad about that. Ask them about it. They will have you either crying, or laughing.
I am at the shelter early, 12:30 pm so I have a lot of time to do my blog. I sat on the bench and typed away. Not much of a view as it was blocked by trees.
A girl and man stopped to have lunch. She was Cheer Leader. She was in shelter 501 the last night I was on the AT in May. It made me realize that I would be here if I hadn’t gone home. I needed to go home to support my family. I also wouldn’t have had a doctor tell me I couldn’t finish the AT because I needed my shoulder operated on sooner, than later. The next couple of days I met a couple other people that were at the 501 shelter.
A young couple came and stayed at the shelter. They hung hammocks in the tent area. I saw them a couple times over the next couple of days. She has hiked the entire trail. She did it in 2016. Who knows I could have seen her. Her name is Megan. His name is Pat. They met on the trail in 2016. He didn’t do much of it at that time. They are taking a month to hike the White Mountains. She said it was her favorite so that is why she wanted to do them again. Unfortunately, they are not married. I told them they should get married and have children. They just said it is a future possibility. She said they are probably going to get a cat. I told them that didn’t count.
See the picture.
Pictures:
1. AT survey marker. Start of my hike.
2. Dang, mosquito on leg, proof the natural oil didn’t work.🙁.
3. Moose Mountain. First mountain to cross. Many more, higher, and more challenging to come.
4. My new hiking shirt. I look pretty fresh, don’t I?
5. Moose Mountain Shelter.
6. Wild flowers. Tough to beat their beauty.
7. Privy at shelter. A hiker passing through said it was the worse on the AT that he had seen. Note no walls and no seat, just a hole in a piece of plywood. It was better than going in the woods.
8. Pat and Megan.
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