Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 23, Friday, 4/8 – Genie, Liz, Sprite, Willow, Jet Pack, Birthday Sandwich, Ranger Randy, and I all woke up at 4:00am and started hiking by 4:45am. Snow was forecasted to start at 10:00am, and we had a 10 mile hike out of the Smokies. The night hike was a lot of fun, we all…

Day 22, Thursday, 4/7 – Sprite and I started the hike together today. I really found a great hiking partner, she’s a real friend. We speak openly with each other, and I feel like I can learn a lot from her. She has overcome a lot in life and still manages to start every morning…

Day 21, Wednesday, 4/6 – Sprite and I woke up at 5am and were hiking by 6:15. Rain was forecasted to start at 3pm, so we wanted to have camp set up before the rain started. It was still dark when we started hiking, so we were hiking with headlamps. This was my first time…

Day 20, Tuesday, 4/5 – Trout and Birthday Sandwich woke up at 4:00am. They wanted to catch the sunrise on Clingman’s Dome. There was also a storm coming through, so they wanted to beat the weather. I’m a light sleeper so I woke up when they started packing up. I couldn’t get back to sleep,…

Day 19, Monday, 4/4 – I got my trail name today! As I was about to leave the shelter, I was double checking for items that I may have left behind, which I always do. Sprite commented on this, and then coined the name “Double Check”. I love it. Double checking is a personality trait…

Day 18, Sunday, 4/3 – I skipped the all you can eat buffet breakfast this morning. I didn’t trust myself to not overeat before a big hike. Instead Ax Hole gave me granola and dehydrated milk that he was going to toss into a hiker box. I’ve never had dehydrated milk before this morning. I…

Day 17, Saturday, 4/2 – The lodge had an all you can eat breakfast buffet this morning. I ate enough for the meal to serve as breakfast and lunch. The lodge has an interesting vibe. There are a lot of people staying at the lodge driving performance cars. There is a road nearby called Tail…

Day 16, Friday, 4/1 – I hiked 5 miles to Fontana Dam which is at mile 164. We pulled up to the marina, which is right on trail and resupplied food. The marina was handing out free popsicles to thru hikers. There was a lot of disagreement as to the best flavor freeze pop. Its…

Day 15, Thursday, 3/31 – I stayed dry through the night in the shelter. The wind really was something, there were branches falling and hitting the roof of the shelter through the night. The stated capacity of the shelter was 14, but we ended up cramming in 20 people and 2 dogs. That includes the…

Day 14, Wednesday, 3/30 – I hiked 7 miles with Sprite today. It was a tough hike, the entire trail was uphill. There was about 3,000ft of elevation gain over the 7 mile hike. I was also sore and achy. My feet hurt and achilles felt tight. We ended the hike at Sassafras Gap Shelter…