Dad and the Girls

I remember when Tricia first became pregnant more than ten years ago everyone assumed I was hoping for a boy. "It doesn't really matter," I'd say. "I'll be happy with either."

I can't say exactly why people would assume this. Is there a general belief that dad's want boys and mom's want girls? If anything, I was probably a bit relieved when I found out we were starting with a girl. I felt I knew what to expect from little boys but a little girl would be something altogether new.

A few years later, while also looking into domestic adoption, Tricia became pregnant again. The question now turned into a statement, "I bet you're hoping for a boy," they'd say. "Otherwise you're going to be surrounded by a house full of women!" Again, I didn't really care. When Ainsley came along I was as thrilled to have two daughters as I would have been to have one of each.

Eight years later, we've since found symmetry - two boys, two girls. It'd be easy to say that parenting boys is different than parenting girls but the fact of the matter is that it's different parenting Harper than it is Ainsley and likewise with both Ty and Muluken. They are all very different, regardless of gender.

One thing that I do notice with the girls is that it's a bit trickier to spend time with them. The boys and I have baseball and backpacking. The girls and I have...well, I 'm not sure. We play games, read books, and wrestle around but I do these same things with the boys as well. I wonder if maybe we shouldn't have something special that's all our own?

A few weeks ago I planned a special day out with the girls. I packed our bikes into the van and told them we were going to head down to the trail that runs along the Congaree River for a bike ride.

"Are there going to be a lot of hills?" Ainsley asked.

"I was going to play at Madeline's," Harper said. "Could you pick me up from there later?" When I did pick her up she didn't necessarily look too happy to be leaving.

Thirty minutes into our ride we already had a bloodied knee, a scraped hand, and a blown out back tire. No one looked to be having any fun at all - with the exception of me as I tried my best to convince them both how much fun this was. We ended the day by taking off our shoes and socks and wading out into the river to rock hop. Being something we do as a family quite often, they giggled as they splashed their way out into the water. While I'm not sure this was enough to make the day all that special, we did at least make it back home without the glum faces.

A few weeks ago I came home to find a big banner the kids had made for my birthday taped to the dining room window. There among the declarations of "I Love You" Harper had written "I Love Backpacking - as long as it's not 80 miles!" I suddenly remembered that I had promised the girls we would go on a backpacking trip together over the summer. I scrambled to put it together.

Backpacking with kids who are not necessarily big fans of heavy packs or doing their business behind a tree is a challenge. It needs to be short. There needs to be water to play in. And the pace needs to be s-l-o-w with plenty of breaks and snacks. I decided to take them to Virginia's Grayson Highlands State Park. We had visited the park for a day trip last summer. GHSP is well-known for the wild ponies that roam the mountains grazing on grass and any other items a nearby hiker may offer. The girls love horses so it seemed like the perfect fit.

We hiked four miles each day and although our only water source turned out to be a dud and I badly sprained an ankle, we had a great time.

Harper measuring out our food for the trip.

The trail was often quite rocky.

This short stretch was nice, soft grass.

There were many rock outcroppings to climb along the way.

A happy hiker.

These were the first of about twenty feral horses we saw.

Ainsley found some flowers for she and I to place in our hair.

Harper logs us in as we head out of the state park and into the National Forest.

A "cave" - the boys will be SO jealous!

Ainsley follows the blazes.

Rocks really kill your feet - and your ankles.

Our destination - Thomas Knob Shelter - was a disappointment. No good water.

We boiled the gross water and backtracked to a nice grassy spot to make camp.

A pretty nice view from the site. Sure beats a crowded campground.

At 60 degrees, the girls were COLD.

Bedtime atop the mountain.

Proof that Harper can, in fact, wake up with a smile on her face!

There were many gates to pass through along the way.

See the white blaze at the top of the wall? Up we climbed.

This was the other side of the that same rock wall.

Excited to be finished. The girls were ready for some indoor plumbing!

On the Appalachian Trail: Unicoi Gap, GA to Cheese Factory Site, GA

These next five posts are probably going to be a bit lengthy for most people who check in with this blog. If so, feel free to glance them over and wait for a more typical post next week.
However, I'm still posting these stories here to help preserve the memories of our hike together. Should we someday finish this hike together I think it would be cool to take all these posts and have them bound into a book to give the kids. A history of our hike. And their childhoods.




Last summer I suggested we might set out to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trial - 2,175 mountainous miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. The boys quickly took me up on my offer. The girls weren't so interested; although, they did mention they'd like to do smaller bits of the trip along the way.


I quickly went about devising a plan that would allow us to finish the trail by the time the boys graduated from high school. It was gradual yet ambitious. We'd begin with 50 miles that first summer, grow to 100 within a year or two, and eventually take on 300 - 400 miles a summer once their legs grew a bit longer and their backs a tad stronger.

We did our 50 miles last year with the girls, and Mom, joining us for the final twenty. There were warm days, misguided directions, hard climbs, and a small rain storm. More than that, though, there was a lot of fun.

So this past week the boys and I set out to walk the next 32 mile stretch. This was an important leg of the trip in that we would be passing our very first state border - from Georgia to North Carolina. This would mean one state down and just thirteen more to go.

Each night we sat in our sleeping bags and wrote about our day in our journals. As with last year I'll let the boys help share our journey.


Day 1 Unicoi Gap, GA - Cheese Factory Site, GA (Miles Today: 3; Trip Miles: 3; Total AT Miles: 53)

We left the house this morning around 10:15 to make the four-and-a-half hour drive. Ainsley was sad we were leaving but trying hard not to show it. Along the way we stopped at a rest stop for sandwiches we had packed to bring along, stopped by Ingles to fill up on salad for the night, and hit the outfitter for some last minute supplies.

As always, when we neared the trail head I became lost. I didn't recognize the road we were on from last summer. I had already driven about fifteen miles down the road and feared going fifteen more only to find I was on the wrong road. So I turned around and went back to Neels Gap to get directions. Winds up I was going the right way all along. What a waste.

We arrived at the trail head about 5:15. Someone in the parking lot agreed to take our picture in our nice clean clothes and then we were finally on the trial. About five minutes up the mountain I couldn't remember if I had locked the car or not. ARGHHH. I dropped my pack and ran back down to double check. In what was quickly becoming a theme for the day...it was already locked. I should learn not to doubt myself!

Today was a quick three miles. There were a few climbs but we were fresh and excited so they came and went with little effort. Ty was exceptionally strong. He kept a good pace for us up front and was in great spriits.The sun was quickly dropping below the jagged horizon and the air was getting cool. We had wanted to make it to the old Cheese Factory site. In the mid-1800s an eccentric New Englander established a dairy near Tray Mountain, about 15 miles from the nearest farmhouse. Other settlers eventually sold their land and moved away. The cheese factory remained and evidently did pretty well. There are no remnants of the factory now. Only a story.

As we neared what we thought to be the general area of the factory we were running out of light. We found a small clearing near the top of Tray Mountain and made camp. In the morning we found out that we actually were at the old Cheese Factory Site and didn't know it.Finding out we had hiked more miles that we thought was a nice surprise.

As we sat in our tent Muluken read back through the journal entries we wrote last year as well as what each of us had written about today. Ty had the biggest grin on his face as Muluken read from his own journal "[The climb] kept going up and up but we didn't give up because our good leader Ty was strong and we only had two or three breaks I think."

"I liked the part about our 'good leader Ty'," Ty said.

"Hey man, you were a good leader," I assured him. "You were so strong today!"

(Dad, age 36)

We hiked three miles today. We said a mountain was crying. First we drove to Unicoi Gap. We turned around. We asked two men that had bikes in their truck. We went the right way the next time. Muluken said Dad should have been patient.

(Ty/Flash, age 7)

We drove to Unicoi Gap. There we got our picture from a man. We were in a gap so that told us we are going to go up. AHH! We teased the mountain on the way. Then we thought that we were up to the top. We got fooled and it was not the top. We got fooled twice. That's called stupid. We were aiming to get to the Cheese Factory. That's a cheesy name.

One thing that bothered us was the wind. When we set down it would make us freezing but when we got up it stopped. That's weird. When we had passed a road and a stream we thought the top was close but it wasn't. It kept going up and up but we didn't give up because our good leader Ty was strong and we only had two or three breaks I think. We played [games] on the way up.

(Muluken/Jolly Roger, age 9)

On the Appalachian Trail: Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC to Deep Gap, NC

Day 5 Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC - Deep Gap, NC (Miles Today: 4; Trip Miles: 32; Total AT Miles: 82)

Snow on the trail. Just two days ago it was in the 80's and I was getting a sunburn and now there's a bit of snow alongside the trail. Crazy.

When I woke up this morning I was afraid to uncover my head. I knew it was going to be frigid. Sure enough, I was right. I climbed out of my sleeping bag and told the boys to stay put until I had all my things packed and the food bags down from the trees. I didn't want them getting packed up too early and sitting around waiting for me with nothing to do but shiver. While there are far worse temperatures to deal with in the mountains than 32 degrees it's still not all that fun to stand still for too long.

Once we were packed up one of the older guys in the shelter, Snake, watched the boys walk off toward the trail and commented to me, "You've got two tough men right there to want to be out here in this."

"Yeah," I said. "They really have a great time."

The first two miles were as flat as any we've encountered on the trail. We didn't bother to remove any clothes before taking off this morning so we each hiked in three to four layers. Ty and I became hot within an hour or so and stopped to shed some layers. Muluken was content to stay bundled.

In the four miles to the gap there was only one climb. By this point in the trip it seemed pretty easy. We knew the drill - go slowly on the steepest parts, take short but frequent breaks, and take advantage of the easier pitches by picking up the pace. After the first two miles we had doubled our normal pace to 2mph. This was due in large part to the fact no one was all that tempted to stop for more than a few seconds at a time because of the cold.

As we headed down our final descent toward Deep Gap I heard Muluken up ahead calling, "It's Harper! It's Harper! IT'S THE GIRLS!!!" Harper started laughing and rushed up to meet Muluken. Happy to be reunited, everyone offered hugs or kisses. The girls took the backpacks from Ty and Muluken and carried them the rest of the way down. In the van was a cooler of cold Gatorade, grapes, and cheese. We packed up our stuff, grabbed a drink and snack for ourselves, and left the rest at the trail side for the other hikers who would be coming behind us. We were happy to repay some of the good karma that had found us days earlier.

We all drove back to a cabin we had rented near Blood Mountain in Georgia. After a shower and some lunch the six of us headed out for a four mile hike to a nearby waterfall. No pack, no boots, no jackets. It was warm and we were enjoying the sandals on our feet and the sun on our shoulders. The kids splashed around in the base of the waterfall before heading back. The following day we all hiked up Blood Mountain and enjoyed the fantastic views together.

As we packed up to go home I found a note in my suitcase that Ainsley had written me while we were gone. She started writing it right after we loaded into the car six days earlier - when she was trying so hard not to look sad. The note began, "Dear Daddy, I miss you. I hope you have a great trip. I love you." She added to the letter each day I was gone and admitted to crying a few nights. We're headed back out in June for 80 more miles. This time we're coordinating it so the girls are nearby and welcome to come out and hike as much as they'd like with us. The more the merrier.

As for our future plans, we'll get through the Smokies next year and maybe all the way up into Hot Springs. From there I realize now we'll have to start doing some serious miles. We'll probably need to get over a thousand miles in the next five or six years and then make a push to do the rest all in one or two summers. The costs and time demands of breaking our hike up over too many summers may be too great.

On the Appalachian Trail: Plumorchard Shelter, GA to Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC

Day 4 Plumorchard Shelter, GA - Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC (Miles Today: 7; Trip Miles: 28; Total AT Miles: 78)

Last night's storm was crazy. I looked up at one point and saw a big just of wind pick up the coals from the fire pit and spray them into the woods. Orange sparks flew everywhere but thankfully there was no fire. With all the rain that was falling from the black sky I don't know how there could have been. The winds howled, bending the trees back and forth as lightning filled the sky all night long. Finally the storm passed around 4 or 5 in the morning and by the time I woke up everything was calm again. I pulled my sleeping bag around my head and propped the back of my head against the back wall of the shelter so I could look out at the woods and watch the first few people get up and retrieve their things that had blown off the table during the storm.

It was cold, cold this morning. My hands were freezing as I gathered up my stuff and worked to make oatmeal for breakfast. We all headed out of camp at pretty much the same time which is a bit of an oddity. The cold morning had everyone dragging just a bit. We all said our goodbyes and hit the trail. The boys and I wore our rain gear, hats, and gloves to stay warm. After an hour of hiking we stopped to brush our teeth but still couldn't take off any of our layers. It was just so windy we couldn't completely warm up.

Around midday we came across the sign we had been waiting for. Coming into Bly Gap we had finally reached the state line. We were forever leaving the Georgia trail and entering North Carolina. This was to be the highlight of the trip and it did feel pretty great. We climbed up a rock ledge to have lunch. I sat in Georgia. Ty in North Carolina, and Muluken straddled the two. As we sat and ate three other hikers passed through and we enjoyed yelling down the trail to them that they were about to cross the state line.

North Carolina greets you with some crazy hard climbs. They aren't so much long as they are steep. It feels as though they go straight up. By this point we were pretty used to climbing so we took them in stride and enjoyed taking short breaks and laughing at the absurdity of such a steep climb.

As we neared the base of a more steady climb two older gentlemen said "There you are! We've been looking for you." I didn't recognize them and had no idea how they could know who we were. I assumed maybe they had us confused with someone else.

"We came across Zach and Alex a little earlier today and they told us to keep an eye out for you three," they explained. "They told us to tell you guys hello. So 'hello.'"

"How about that, guys?" I asked the boys. "Zach and Alex sent a hello back to us from further up the trail. That's pretty cool." They were both around my age and had kids at home. I hoped we would meet up with them at the next shelter but they wouldn't be there. They had decided to hike on further.

We reached Muskrat Creek Shelter a little before 4. It was far too early to be in camp but we were only four miles from where Tricia would be meeting us the next morning and it made no sense to sit around there all morning and freeze. So we stayed at the shelter and waited for others to come. And come they did. A new group of hikers, many of whom we had seen two nights ago at Deep Gap Shelter before their trip into town, popped up a tent in every clearing to be found. We decided to stay in the shelter again so we wouldn't have to pack up our tent in the morning. The overnight temperatures were supposed to be below freezing and I assumed the morning would be just as cold.

It wound up we didn't have to wait until nightfall for the temps to drop. By five o'clock it was bone-chilling cold. With nothing to do we sat and shivered. Bored and miserable we decided to fix an early dinner and desert, do our camp chores, and bundle up in our sleeping bags to wait until nightfall. With every layer of clothing we had on our bodies we crawled into our bags around six o'clock. We warmed up quickly and Muluken and I even decided we could brave pulling our arms out of our bags to journal. We were asleep before nightfall and each took a turn getting up in the middle of the night to water the foliage. Of the six people in the shelter only Muluken and I didn't snore (the two old snorers from last night were here as well as a younger one we hadn't met before).

(Dad, age 36)

We hiked 7 miles. We passed the state line.

(Ty/Flash, age 7)


We hiked a few miles before we passed the state line to North Carolina. Dad stayed in Georgia to finish his last lunch there and I sat in the middle so that I'd be half and half. Flash sat in the North Carolina for his first lunch there. We sat up a hill under a rock that guarded us against the wind.

After lunch we hiked up a huge and steep bunt not long mountain with the angry wind on us. We had on our rain gear to keep us warm from the wind. The weather was weird today because the sun shined and it was warm but then in a few minutes the wind would be on you. The worse way to go is flat because it has nothing to guard the wind and the top of the mountain is the worse. We said it wasn't as windy in Georgia. That 's a nice way to welcome us.

(Muluken/Jolly Roger, age 9)

On the Appalachian Trail: Deep Gap Shelter, GA to Plumorchard Shelter, GA

Day 3 Deep Gap Shelter, GA - Plumorchard Shelter, GA (Miles Today: 8; Trip Miles: 20; Total AT Miles: 70)

I didn't sleep all that great last night. Both boys woke me up a couple of times to go to the bathroom and Ty woke up crying a few times that his leg hurt. He does this from time to time at home as well. The doctor says it's growing pains and that they're more likely to occur after a lot of activity. Exactly how much activity is a lot for a seven year old?

We were the last ones out of the shelter this morning. Everyone else here last night was thru-hikers and they were anxious to hike three miles up the trail to Dick's Creek Gap. There's a truck waiting there to shuttle hikers into town at 9:30 for groceries, laundry, all-you-can-eat buffets, and a night in a hotel or hostel. We're not going into town so we weren't in any hurry.

A little into our hike we passed Margaret. Margaret is a woman in her mid to upper 50s who's hiking the trail solo. She wanted her 17 year old son to come along but he decided he didn't like to hike all that much any more. Her husband doesn't like to backpack and even went so far as to try to guilt her out of doing this five month trip. He researched the effects of prolonged separations on married couples. She assured him they wouldn't get divorced and came out to hike anyway. I would think that after thirty years of dreaming about this trip she deserves the chance.

As we passed Margaret and her gimpy knee on the trail she gave each of the boys a hug. "This'll probably be the last I see of you two," she told them. "You take good care of your dad out here."

We hiked on with Muluken going far ahead of Ty and I on the trail. As Ty and I made our way down into Dick's Creek Gap we saw Muluken sitting on the side of the road with a Gatorade in his hands.

"Where'd you get THAT?" we both yelled.

Muluken pointed across the street to an old white van parked at the trail head. "The old guy in that van gave it to me," he explained.

Generally when your kids take something from a stranger in a van you get very worried. In this case I wanted to know if I could have some too. We made our way across the road and ducked our head into the open side door in the van. The old guy inside had a long bushy white beard and didn't get around too well. He asked what flavor of Gatorade we'd like and fished them out of his cooler. As he pulled the lid open we saw he also had pudding cups and a variety of other snacks. He was spending his day passing out treats to hikers as they made their trek north. This was our second experience with "trail magic" and we again very grateful. We thanked him about five or six times and rushed over to eat our lunch near the creek. I can't say enough about the people who volunteered their time and resources to us. They were amazing.

The boys stopped to play in three different streams today. With only eight miles to hike we were in no hurry. Getting to camp early just means more down time to fill. We'd rather spend this time on the trail playing around on fallen trees or in the water. You'd think that stopping more often would make the hiking easier but it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes it slows you down to the point that you feel like you're moving at a crawl along your path. As we hiked up out of Dick's Creek our energy was lagging. The sun was high in the sky and it was getting hot. We also knew that everyone else had headed into town for the night and that we were alone again.

A few miles up from the gap we came across a sign that read "Vista." It was a side trail leading upward toward an unseen lookout. I laughed to myself for some time. Why in the hell would I possibly hike up yet another climb to see out? There were more than enough climbs already without adding another. Pretty much unless there was an ice cream shop up there we weren't veering off our course.

Our last three miles of the day were really tough. The temperatures were up into the 80s and since the trees had yet to leaf out we were exposed to the sun pretty much the entire time. The climb coming out of Coward Gap lasted well over a mile. We climbed and climbed and climbed some more. We took many breaks and lamented the fact we didn't fill up on water at the last creek. We were all just about out and there was still a ways to go before we reached camp for the night with no water sources listed between.

Finally we reached Plumorchard Gap Shelter. It was a small shelter but with three levels it slept about 14 people. We generally prefer to stay in our tent but with threats of electrical storms and perhaps even a tornado moving in we decided the shelter was our safest option. We set up our pads and sleeping bags and the boys went down to the stream to play and throw rocks down the mountainside.

The people at the shelter tonight were great. There were brothers Alex and Zach who were section hiking the trail like us. Nineteen year old Woodstock and Cool Cat were thru-hiking after Woodstock's mother drove them all the way down from Michigan and tearfully said goodbye. There was a young couple celebrating their six-month anniversary with a three-day trip on the trail. They had a mixture of borrowed, bought, and home-made gear that worried me a bit about their safety. There were also two older guys, Snake and Two Steps Back, who didn't say a whole lot but snored really, really loudly all night long. After dinner we all sat around a campfire and talked for a long while. Woodstock let Muluken borrow his headlamp so he could write in his journal as the sun disappeared over the treetops. I've come to realize that the people you meet along the trail are just as remarkable, if not more-so, than the trail itself. This bunch of guys and girls are the kind you hate to say goodbye to.

(Dad, age 36)

We hiked 8 miles today. When we hit 8 miles we came to a shelter in Plumorchard Gap.

(Ty/Flash, age 7)

We hiked up a couple of mountains and got to Cowart Gap and then we went up the highest mountain ever. It went very high and was the hardest mountain we climbed. We drank lots of water. We played in the streams on the way and had lots of fun. At first the water was freezing on our feet but we got used to it. It was good playing in the stream. It cooled down our feet a lot.

We got to Plumorchard Shelter. We got water for the crab chowder for dinner. It was very good. Then we went down for water for the hot chocolate. Very warm and good. I would like a lot more than a little bit. Then we went to the privy and went out to play. We threw rocks down the hill to see how long it will go. It was fun. Then it started to pour and we had to come up. Someone made a fire later and cooked their food. The rain was weird because it kept going on and off. We did 8 miles today. Yay.

(Muluken, age 9)

On the Appalachian Trail: Cheese Factory Site, Ga to Deep Gap Shelter, GA

Day 2 Cheese Factory Site, GA - Deep Gap Shelter, GA (Miles Today: 9; Trip Miles: 12; Total AT Miles: 62)

The winds howled throughout the mountains last night. It's kind of eerie sounding - like the black smoke from Lost. Even when you can't feel it you know it's near.

Within a few minutes of our walk this morning we passed a group of about ten tents with food bags hanging everywhere in the trees. We thought we were alone last night. Guess not. I stopped to talk to one of the guys. He was college-aged and wearing camouflaged leggings under his brown shorts. In town this would look ridiculous but pretty much anything goes on the trail when it's cold. We found out that he's a thru-hiker (someone planning to hike the entire trail this season). No one else in his group was up yet and we moved on.

Within an hour or so we walked into Tray Gap and came upon a truck with a large trailer behind it. There was a large tent set-up with stoves and grills. Someone called from the tent, "You guys want an apple?" We walked over and a middle-aged man offered us each an apple and a small chocolate bar.

"I've got a scout group out here cooking breakfast for the thru-hikers," he explained. They were cooking eggs, sausage, pancakes, and more. Hikers refer to acts of kindness such as this as trail magic. It's amazing. It was a great way to start our day - knowing all these people had come out help everyone along on their journey. We happily ate our apples on the way up the next mountain.

Ty was strong throughout the day today. There were a number of good hard climbs. Each of the boys are carrying about 13- 14 pounds in their packs and I have somewhere in the low to mid 30s. We could feel this in our shoulders but not too bad. There weren't any complaints. Our last climb of the day was out of Addis Gap. The climb had us gaining 900 feet of elevation in a mile as we made our way up toward Kelly Knob. The climb just felt like it went on forever. After finally summitting we made our way down the other side and into Deep Gap shelter.

There were a lot of thru-hikers staying here for the night with trail names like Baby Ruth, Trolley Stop, and Mountain Goat. We set up our tent, made chili for dinner and banana pudding for desert, and did our dishes. Doing all this for three people means a lot of runs for water. I've been amazed how easy access to water has been. In most cases trail maintainers have placed pipes to help direct the water right into our bottles. This is much easier than trying to scoop from a shallow stream. One problem concerning water: Our purifier went dead. The batteries are shot and I accidentally brought only one new one. This means we'll not be purifying the water here on out. I hope we don't get sick! There are people who hike the entire trail without treating their water so we'll probably be fine. If not we'll be visiting the woods a whole, whole lot over the next few days.

(Dad, age 36)

We had Pop-Tarts for breakfast. We hiked 9 miles today. There was a high mountain. I stopped 6 or 7 times on the mountain.

(Ty/Flash, age 7)

For the record, I'm leaning against a tree - NOT POSING!

We hiked a huge mountain. It probably was bigger and longer than Tray Mountain. It took us a long time to finish. We played "I'm thinking of a number" and still got bored and stopped. We had chili with our new cups and banana pudding for desert. It was fabulous. I cleaned my cup and I ate the rest of Ty's chili. I was filled then so that I couldn't have another helping of pudding.

We went up the trail a couple of times to get water but once we went up there the thing that cleans the water was dead. We had to ask a woman we saw a couple of times on the trail if she could clean the water for us. She did and we went down to tell Dad. He only had one battery but it was supposed to hold two. Dad called himself a dummy and we have learned a lesson.

(Muluken/Jolly Roger, age 9)

Virginia is for Drunken Murderers

A few years ago Tricia and I spent an afternoon in Hot Springs, North Carolina. We enjoyed a light lunch, picked up some trail snacks, and headed out to hike a mile or two on the Appalachian Trail. It was our first trip on the trail and we really didn't know anything about it other than that it was pretty long. All of our previous hiking had been on a variety of tame trails in heavily visited state parks.

As we approached the trail we stopped to check the map and message board. There at the center - in very large letters - was a warning: BEWARE: BEARS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THIS AREA. The sign went on to suggest that anyone hiking carry "bear mace" and plan to slowly retreat from any evidence of bear activity on the trail. This startled us a bit.

"Are we going to die?" Tricia half-joked.

"I hope not," I answered.

The first stretch of trail was nicely graded. There were many switchbacks but because of all the thick foliage it was impossible to see what was awaiting us around each corner. All we could think about was bears. We were certain we were only moments away from a certain mauling. I tried to make as much noise as I could to announce our presence.

After only about twenty minutes or so we decided to stop and head back down. The trail was still climbing steadily with no indication that we were anywhere near the top. We weren't necessarily in the best climbing shape, hadn't brought any water with us, and felt the time was ripe to call it quits with all of our limbs still intact.We walked back to the car, safe and sound.

In the following weeks I developed quite a fascination for the Appalachian Trail. I read a book or two and started reading the on-line journals of hikers walking the entire 2,100 path in a single season. I quickly learned that many hikers walk on the trail for weeks, or even months, at a time and never see a single bear. Not only do they not see any bears but they actually feel disappointed by it. The ones that do encounter bears do not run or cry or even drop and play dead. Instead, they stand in awe watching them gathering berries, scratching at a tree, or rumbling through the forest. Sometimes, if they feel unsafe, hikers will bang their trekking poles together to scare the bears off or they'll slowly retreat back down the trail and wait a few minutes before returning.

So it seems our perceived danger was a bit exaggerated. Our deaths were not imminent. We were just ignorant to the reality of the wildlife and environment around us. This isn't so uncommon. It happens all the time.

In fact, it happened just this past weekend. Tricia and I were back on the Appalachian Trail, this time in Virginia. We drove up to Damascus on Saturday morning, hoisted our backpacks onto our backs, and headed north on the trail for a short two-day trip to see the fall colors. After a full afternoon of hiking, and with the temperatures quickly dropping, we searched for any campsite we could find. We passed on a few larger sites because they were located too close to road crossings. There's nothing that kills the feeling of being away from it all like the constant hum of cars and trucks motoring a few hundred yards from your tent.

So we turned back up the mountain in search of a site we had remembered seeing a half-hour earlier. When we finally found it the sun was just beginning to drop below the trees to the west. We pulled out the tent and found that the only level spot to pitch it, where we wouldn't be sleeping on large tree roots or rocks, was just a few feet off the trail. Even worse, there was another trail intersecting the AT another few feet away. But with darkness falling over the mountain and the cold temperatures setting in we knew we didn't have time to seek out a new spot. We couldn't even remember having seen any other spots for miles anyway.

So as we began to unpack our things and set everything up I heard a voice come out of nowhere.

"Hey."

Startled, I looked around but saw no one. However, I knew someone was there. Somewhere.

"Hey," I responded. Trying to mask my surprise and sound both casual and friendly. Just as I got the words out I saw movement just through the trees to my right. It was a hunter, dressed in full camo, toting a rifle over his left shoulder. Tricia looked at me, concerned.

"Are we going to be alright here?" she whispered.

I looked down the trail to see if he had passed.

"Yeah, we're fine," I assured her. "It's just a hunter making his way back down to his car."

She didn't look too convinced. It wasn't so much the hunter, I imagined, as it was the gun that made her uneasy. After hanging our food bag over a distant tree limb and getting our sleeping gear set up we climbed into the tent. I pulled out a deck of cards and we played a game of Rummy, working hard to keep our cards from constantly sliding down our sleeping pads and resting under our bags.

About fifteen minutes later we heard more footsteps approaching. This time, however, they sounded very heavy and unsteady, as though someone were in a semi-controlled fall coming down the mountain. A loud belch soon followed and the footsteps stopped. Just outside our tent. Tricia's eyes grew enormous. I looked out the small window on our rainfly and saw two more hunters standing outside the tent, about twenty feet away. I couldn't see one of them too well because he was hidden behind some bushes but the other was standing in a small clearing and staring at our tent. He began to talk to the other one in a drunken slur. The fact that he was clearly intoxicated and carrying a rifle did not make me feel too comfortable.

"Yehau thinkst thees is thu waaaay orrr du yehau thinkst weee otta go ovr thur?" he asked.

His partner gave some type of reply but I couldn't make it out.

I looked back at Tricia who was sitting very still. "It's just more hunters," I said casually.

"I don't like this," she whispered. "I've seen Deliverance."

After a few long seconds the two hunters continued on their way down the mountain, presumably on their way back to their car.

"I read an article about two girls who were raped on the trail twenty years ago," Tricia told me, as soon as the two hunters were clearly gone.

"Where did you read that," I asked.

"In one of those Trail magazines they had at the cabin last summer."

"That was twenty years ago," I said. "A lot of women hike the trail alone and are fine."

"Are you sure we're okay here?" she asked again.

"Yeah, we're fine," I answered. "They're gone. Besides, this is Virginia. Virginia is for lovers. I know because all the signs say so!"

"Hmm," she said, sounding unconvinced. "But what if they come back?"

"It's going to be completely dark really soon. Who wants to climb all the way back up a pitch black mountain in the cold of night?" I asked, seeming to believe that it would be the hunters' laziness that would be our saving grace.

We went back to our game and tried not to think about the hunters. As it turned out, those were the last we would see. We woke up in the morning alive - which sure beats waking up dead.

We were never in danger at all. We just let our imaginations get away from us a bit. I have this really great poster at school that lists ways to build global community. One of the lines reads: Don't confuse your comfort for your safety. How often do we do this? There have been many times in my life when I've found myself in an uncomfortable environment and, wrongly, felt felt that my safety was in jeopardy. Much of this is learned. Friends, family, books, newspapers, magazines, discussion boards, television, and movies share sensationalized stories that, if even accurate, are far from indicative of the norm. People do fall and die in the shower. Others are mugged or even killed by strangers knocking at their door. But these are not common occurrences. We should still feel safe. We should live life.

We have a friend that is fearful of the unknown. He hasn't seen all that much of America but watches a lot of television. Evidently much of his programming is about gangs and random murders. Any trip Tricia and I have ever planned has prompted dire warnings from him.

"Why on Earth would you go to Memphis?" he asks. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is there? All I can say is you better not talk to strangers!"

"Miami's terrible," he warns. "Do NOT roll down your windows - especially if someone walks up to your car door!"

"Don't even bother going to Detroit," he suggests. "It has the highest murder rate in the country. You'll die."

It's become a joke between us but, still, it's all rooted in truth. Not truth concerning the lack of safety in these places but the true fear Tim has of places unknown. I once took a trip with him and another friend when we were in college. One night we decided to sleep in the car at a rest stop. Tim insisted on sleeping with his head all covered up despite the fact that it was eighty degrees outside.

"Why do you have your head covered up," I asked.

"So if someone breaks into the car and kills the two of you I won't see him do it," he explained. "If I don't see him kill you two then there's no reason for him to kill me."

You really can't argue with logic like that. Thankfully no one killed us that night. Yet again, I survived.

As Tricia and I hiked back into Damascus on Sunday the thought of the hunters had gone from scary to kind of funny.

"Hey Tricia," I said. "I've got the title for my blog this week."

"What?" she asked.

"Instead of 'Virginia is for Lovers'" I told her, "I'll call it 'Virginia is for Drunken Murders.'"

"Funny," she chuckled. Perhaps she was just humoring me but I'm okay with that. I'll take laughs anywhere I can get them. I should laugh every chance I get.

I'm lucky to be alive.

On the Appalachian Trail Pt. 2: Neels Gap to Unicoi Gap

A few years ago there was buzz on the Appalachian Trail about a family who was undertaking a thru hike together from Georgia to Maine. With four children in tow, their small crew stuck out a bit like a sore thumb amongst the college-aged kids and newly retired seniors trudging along the five month trek north. They were not the first family to ever undertake this journey but they were perhaps one of the strangest. According to stories that traveled along the trail the mother was often seen breast feeding her two year old son at the trail side. He could walk right up for a full or self service fill-up. In chatting with them, soon other hikers learned that the family had decided, based on their interpretation of bible readings, to rid themselves of all bonds of identification - including last names and social security numbers.

In addition to daily downpours, the trail becomes saturated each March with an eclectic mixture of people that have come from all over the country, and even the world, to set out on a 2,175 mile walk. Some have spent months or even years meticulously planning for this trip. Others have thrown their things together at the last moment with little or no experience in the outdoors. They become a caravan of sorts, traveling shelter to shelter, town to town.

To want to spend what amounts to almost half a year squatting in the woods weeds out a large majority of the population. What's left is a combination of hard core hiking enthusiasts, hippie wannabes, and everyday people hoping to run away from, or perhaps toward, something. Like the family mentioned above, some stand out because they are an oddity among oddities. They're unique.

I thought of this family a few times over the past couple of days as the kids, Tricia, and I spent three days and two nights on the trail. We saw a number of people on the trail but few were women and none were families or children. Yet here were our kids strapped to bulging backpacks as they hunched forward laboring through each step, carrying them further and further up an endless chain of mountain summits. I wondered what they looked like to the other hikers. Did they look out of place out there? They must have because one of the first people we saw, a heavily bearded and tatooed guy who worked at the local outfitter, said to Tricia, "Well it's good to see they've got packs. Most parents don't have the kids carry their own shit!" Despite the colorful language in front of young ears, Tricia couldn't help but smile. It was a big task, a 20 mile walk spread out over the course of a weekend, and we hoped we weren't crazy for trying it.

Within seconds of starting I heard the first complaint of a heavy backpack. Just minutes later the darkening sky decided to make things even more interesting. What started as the gentle pitter-patter of rain falling on the forest canopy above became a steady rain that would last for hours. But the struggles were just beginning. Thankfully, we were each equipped with a journal to keep track of our travels.  As with our last trip into the woods, I'll use excerpts from everyone's journals to help tell the story.

Day 1: Neels Gap, GA to Hogpen Gap (6.4 miles today, 6.4 miles this trip, 37.3 total AT miles to date)

Ainsley, age 6
 We had lunch. Daddy took the van to the end of the hiking trail. Then we started hiking. It had a lot of uphills. Daddy helped me down the hard parts. I mostly carried the pack uphill. You have to bend over when you go uphill. I cried because I missed Grandma. We camped by a stream.

Muluken, age 9
 We started at Neels Gap and stopped at Hogpen. We did six and a half miles to get there. We had a couple of good views of the mountains on our way. It was great! We had to go up a rocky and steep, steep mountain but we made it! After we made the mountain we took a break and had to switch our backpacks to the next person. We went down a hill for a long time. After we started to go up a hill we got a snack and another break.

Tricia, age 35 (for a few more days, at least)
 Today we began a 3 day , 20 mile backpacking trip with the whole family. My pack weighed about 20 pounds, Chris' 30 pounds, and the kids shared two packs and each was about 10 pounds. We started hiking at about 1:00 and planned to hike six miles and stop at a shelter. Within the first half hour it began raining and rained for about two hours. After that the weather was nice, no rain, and not too hot.

 We climbed three mountains today. The first two seemed to be slow gradual climbs but the third was very steep and rocky. By that time the kids were getting tired and hungry and ready for a rest. We found a place to camp by a stream, fixed dinner, and went to bed. It is very dark and the insects are very loud. It was kind of a rough first day. Ty and Ainsley were tired and sore. I am sure tomorrow will be better.

Chris, age 36
After arriving back at Mountain Crossings (the endpoint of our last hike) I left Tricia and the kids to eat lunch while I followed the shuttle, a fancy name for Dartman's beat-up minivan, to Unicoi Gap. He then brought me back to Neels Gap and we headed out. Ty and Ainsley were sharing one pack and Harper and Muluken were responsible for the other. Each pack was really a bit too heavy but I was hoping that trading it back and forth would provide enough relief to make up for the few additional pounds. Before hitting the trail Harper and Ainsley were gung-ho to carry the packs. However, within just a minute or two Ainsley exclaimed "This pack is heavy!" But she persevered despite the fact that the trail started with a long steady ascent. We stopped every fifteen or twenty minutes to let them trade the backpacks back and forth.

Unfortunately, only moments later the sky opened up and what started as a light sprinkle turned into a steady rain. "I'm not to happy with you right now," I heard Tricia say from behind. I turned and gave her what I intended to be smile but probably looked more like a smirk. The three girls all pulled out their rain jackets and we covered up our packs with rain covers. A while later Muluken and I also dug out our rain jackets but Ty was content to get soaking wet. "It better not rain all day!" Tricia said. This time I didn't turn but kept walking.

Fortunately it stopped raining after about two hours or so. I decided to label it a "fun rain" because it was enough to make things interesting for a while but not so bad that we were all miserable. I tend to think I'm going to have to be a glass-half-full guy as much as possible over the next couple of days.

There were really no streams today which further complicated things. Despite the rainy summer we've had there just isn't enough to keep some of these smaller streams flowing. We were thirsty and hopeful of finding a good campsite with a water source.

Near the end of the day we came down into Low Gap, crossed by a road with very fast trucks passing, and headed up what must have been the steepest ascent we've encountered so far on the AT. There was a series of switchbacks that just kept climbing up and up and up at an incredibly aggressive pitch. Ty sighed and moaned and whined. Harper bent over at the waist with her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. Ainsley began crying that she missed Grandma but, though I'm sure she did, I would imagine she was just overly exhausted and maybe even a bit frightened by what still lie ahead. I wondered what I had signed my family up for. I worried about the miles and miles ahead. Muluken kept chugging away without complaint and I took comfort in that. I knew that if nothing else I'd be able to count on him to help the others along the way.

At the end of the day we finally reached the side trail that led off to the shelter we planned to stay at. However, the shelter was 1.2 miles off the trail so we decided to keep going. After a bit more walking we came into Hogpen Gap and pitched our tents near a very small stream. We are not too far from a road and we can hear cars and trucks pass by every so often. It's not ideal but the best we could do.

We made rice for dinner, brushed our teeth, and hung our food bags up in a tree about fifty yards from the tent. Our final few camp chores were completed by flashlight as the sun dropped down behind the mountains to the west. It was a really hard day.


Day 2: Hogpen, GA to Chattahoochee Gap (9.5 miles today, 15.9 miles this trip, 46.8 total AT miles to date)

Ty, age 6
We thought the water dried up. I hiked up a big big mountain.

Harper, age 9
 Today we woke up and had powdered milk. I kind of liked it. It was very watery. What we ate was one Pop-Tart. We packed up and started hiking.

We started hiking and suddenly went uphill. We walked a little bit and saw these guys at a campsite. We stopped and talked to them for about a minute. They said that yesterday they were doing Hogpen Gap, which we we had just finished, and they saw three or four wild hogs. That was cool.

We hiked on and played games as we went uphill. We played I Spy at Home to see how well you can remember your own house. You only get two clues: color and room. But if you have to you can give another clue.

We found a shelter and stayed there for about a hour to have lunch. We were playing in the stream and those same guys came by and got some water as well.

After lunch we kept on hoping to find some water in the next 1.4 miles but no. We kept on going but we did not have some water. Finally we found some coming from a pipe. Then we started to hike again.
At the end of the day we had hiked from 9:30 am to 7:15 pm. Nine and a half miles! It was a long day but we got a well deserved sleep.

Chris, age 36
We've heard stories from other hikers about wild hogs and bear cubs. This news scares the girls but the boys are itching to see something big. However, I'm not too sure this will happen because Harper has taken to humming loudly as she hikes whenever she fears there might be a bear nearby. Muluken, unhappy with this, turns to shoot her mean looks.

There were many easier climbs today. To pick up our pace Muluken has agreed to carry one of the two kids packs full time so that Harper, Ainsley, and Ty can share the other one and have longer breaks. I've taken three pairs of sandals and one of their sleeping bags and stuffed them into my pack so that their load will be lighter. This has made quite a difference. There's no more complaining about a heavy pack. They were really too heavy so it's easy to understand why they were struggling so much.

We had a scare today. A stream that was listed on my data sheet was nowhere to be found. It was getting close to 5:30 and we were miles from water and did not have enough left in our bottles to cook dinner. Harper was felling a bit panicky but held it together really well. We all stayed calm and just kept walking. Around 6:00 or so we came across a water source that hadn't been listed on my sheet. In fact, it was a spring running out from behind some rocks at the side of the trail. Maintainers had even installed a big pipe to route the water under the trail where it emptied onto some rocks down the pitch. Placing our bottle under the pipe almost made it feel like getting water from a faucet. How lucky!

Our luck did not run out there. We walked on for another hour or so and were amazed to find that we had walked much further than we thought. By 7:15 we were already in Chattahoochee Gap, 9.5 miles from where we started this morning. We couldn't believe it. We must have really been walking quickly.

We stopped and dropped our packs right next to the trail and proceeded to fix our dinner and eat right away. As we were eating a group of five or six guys came in behind us and sat to rest. They were moaning and limping as they collapsed onto the ground. I overheard them discussing whether they should stay here for the night or press on to the next water source and campground a little over a mile away. I told them there was plenty of room and they explained that they might need to move on to a more isolated spot because one of them had a backpacker guitar and that they stayed up until four in the morning singing the previous night. Given that, I was happy to see they were moving on.

After a rough first day, as well as a couple of rough hours this morning, it's nice to finish strong. Our dinner tonight was great and the kids had a lot of fun helping set up camp. There are three campsites here in the gap and they are set up shotgun style - meaning that you have to walk directly through each of them to get to the next one. The second site was already taken by two young guys who we've crossed paths with a number of times throughout the day. Muluken, Harper, and I scouted out the other two sites and elected to take the last one since it's set back by iteself and noone will be passing back and forth by our tent as they run down to the stream for water. As we made our way back to our site one of the two young guys asked me to hang back for a moment. "What do you need?" I asked.

"We were going to be lighting up a (recreational cigarette, let's say) a little later tonight and just wanted to make sure you're okay with it since you're with your kids." he said.

I almost laughed but caught myself. He was being very serious and I knew that regardless of whether or not I gave them the okay they were going to light up. Our campsite was at least a good sixty yards away and I really couldn't have cared less what they wanted to do as long as they didn't keep us awake.

"No, that's fine. I don't mind," I said.

"Cool," he responded. "Hey, and if you and your wife want to come back over a little later we'd be glad to share."

I couldn't believe it. This was getting more fun by the second. Again I suppressed a laugh and thanked him but explained that I was a little too old and had to get the kids to bed. Tricia enjoyed this story quite a bit.

The mood has changed over the past three or four hours. Everyone is having fun and excited to know that tomorrow will be an easy day. Just four and a half miles into Unicoi Gap where our van is waiting to take us for ice cream and lunch.

Chattahoochee Gap, GA to Unicoi Gap (3.5 miles today, 19.4 miles this trip, 50.3 total AT miles to date)

Chris, age 36
Today's four and a half miles were easy. Despite a few long climbs everyone did a great job. We came across a few day hikers who stopped to talk to us. One of them said that he tried to come out on the trail yesterday but that his dog chased a bear cub up a tree and he was hesitant to move on knowing that the mother would be nearby. Again we kept our eyes out for bears but didn't see any. Tricia and I heard a really loud cracking noise come from the woods once but weren't for certain it was actually a bear.

The trail today was extremely rocky. The going was kind of slow as we had to carefully plot out the course for our steps. Ainsley was hiking a few dozen yards behind me with Tricia and fell. She later rushed up to me to tell me all about it and show off her dirty scratched up legs. Covered in bug bites, scratches, and mud, her legs are definitely those of an outside girl.

After a little over four hours of hiking we emerged from the woods to find our van waiting for us. What a welcome site. We all rushed over to a large rock with an AT plaque to take group pictures commemorating the completion of this leg of the hike. After changing out of our dirty shoes and putting on clean shirts we drove back to Neels Gap for a celebratory ice cream. A perfect ending to a trip that started off very rough but finished wonderfully. Within two or three weeks the kids will have forgotten most of the trials of the hike and reflect fondly on the fun of being together in the wilderness.

We're now all back home and healed up from our hike. Tricia grimmaced a bit when going down stairs that first day back and my shoulders were a bit tight. Ty's feet were bothering him and Harper and Muluken were recovering from some type of bite or sting that had them near tears for a few minutes on the trail. After nice hot showers most of these ailments disappeared. Already everyone is back to their normal routines and games.

It was nice to get home but I miss being on the trail, too. It's hard sometimes to deal with the hike itself when you are trying to parent at the same time. There's always someone to encourage or a question to answer or a story to listen to. Though there are times when I would have loved to just put my head down and walk for a while I was appreciative of the time I had to do nothing other than talk to the kids and Tricia. Tricia was a wonderful cheerleader for those who needed it. She often hung back with whoever was struggling at the moment while I stayed near the front or middle. I've heard that parents spend an average of twelve minutes a day talking to their kids. Talking - not correcting or preaching or instructing. I'm thankful for the time we had to talk about books and friends and school and sports and nature and the trail itself.

We now have fifty miles down and 2,125 to go. The next leg, as determined by convenient road crossings where we can access the trail and get back to our car, will take us across the Georgia-North Carolina state line. I'm not sure who all will be coming along but I know that in time everyone will make it back out.