Updates from the Trail...
[Hello, y'all, this is Jared. I've received permission to hijack Kim's blog and post excerpts from her letters. Here are a few from recent letters. I will add new ones as I get them. Cheerio! -jb]
3-9-2006
...onward with my adventures. My bus had a layover in GA, and at the Atlanta bus station I met Dave, who has been hiking on & off with me for the entire hike so far. He's a little younger than Spencer, & he knows a lot more about packing than I do, so he has been very helpful. I've met a lot of other really nice people along the way so far, too. So there is no need to worry. I have plenty of company.
The first day out, I did the approach trail to the top of Springer Mountain, which was approximately 9 miles uphill. It was draining, but not too horrible. I camped in the shelter area, so I made a few friends there. Day 2 was almost 15 miles to Gooch Gap shelter, where I camped again, and day 3 I made it all the way to Neels Gap, which is 16 or 17 miles I think. Neels Gap is the first real place to resupply, do laundry, etc, so I have some clothes in the dryer right now. They were getting pretty smelly. Eww.
Some of the views so far have been pretty spectacular. The best one was probably yesterday at the top of Blood Mountain, which is the highest point on the AT in Georgia. It was extremely windy & cold, & a tough hike, but well worth all of the conditions. It was beautiful.
Let's see. What else? On day 2, the first official day on the trail, I feel twice, and the second fall resulted in turning my ankle. I think I sprained it. You should have seen me. The trail was completely flat dirt, no rocks, no roots... nothing. And somehow I turned my annkle. I was down in no time. Dave turned around and there I was, lying on the ground in pain. I heard a crunch when I went down. But after a couple seconds of mumbling in pain, I said, "well, I just have to walk it off." So I got up and carried on. That was about to days ago, and it's still swollen & bruised pretty bad, but it really only hurts when I touch it & when I'm laying in bed. Hiking doesn't seem to hurt too much anymore. My trail name may become "Walk it off," but we're still working on one. We'll see.
3-9-2006
...onward with my adventures. My bus had a layover in GA, and at the Atlanta bus station I met Dave, who has been hiking on & off with me for the entire hike so far. He's a little younger than Spencer, & he knows a lot more about packing than I do, so he has been very helpful. I've met a lot of other really nice people along the way so far, too. So there is no need to worry. I have plenty of company.
The first day out, I did the approach trail to the top of Springer Mountain, which was approximately 9 miles uphill. It was draining, but not too horrible. I camped in the shelter area, so I made a few friends there. Day 2 was almost 15 miles to Gooch Gap shelter, where I camped again, and day 3 I made it all the way to Neels Gap, which is 16 or 17 miles I think. Neels Gap is the first real place to resupply, do laundry, etc, so I have some clothes in the dryer right now. They were getting pretty smelly. Eww.
Some of the views so far have been pretty spectacular. The best one was probably yesterday at the top of Blood Mountain, which is the highest point on the AT in Georgia. It was extremely windy & cold, & a tough hike, but well worth all of the conditions. It was beautiful.
Let's see. What else? On day 2, the first official day on the trail, I feel twice, and the second fall resulted in turning my ankle. I think I sprained it. You should have seen me. The trail was completely flat dirt, no rocks, no roots... nothing. And somehow I turned my annkle. I was down in no time. Dave turned around and there I was, lying on the ground in pain. I heard a crunch when I went down. But after a couple seconds of mumbling in pain, I said, "well, I just have to walk it off." So I got up and carried on. That was about to days ago, and it's still swollen & bruised pretty bad, but it really only hurts when I touch it & when I'm laying in bed. Hiking doesn't seem to hurt too much anymore. My trail name may become "Walk it off," but we're still working on one. We'll see.
3 Comments:
Hey Kimmy,
Glad to hear that the hike is going well so far, well except for the ankle :'/ It does my heart good to know that you have made some friends and hiking buddies along the way. I'll keep checking back to see what's happening. Always praying for God's traveling mercies to protect you. Love, Sue
By
Anonymous, at 1:46 AM
Sue,
I'll be sure to pass this on to Kim; don't know if she'll have internet anytime soon.;)
Everybody else,
Post comments! I'll add them to notes & packages as they come in.
By
Anonymous, at 9:24 AM
Thanks for posting these, Jared. I've been wondering how she's been doing. Need to call that girl...
By
Christi Lee, at 1:17 PM
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