Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 13, Tuesday, 3/29 – Sprite and I woke up at 7:30, and were out of camp at 9:00. We had a 12 mile hike into the Nantahala Outdoor Center, otherwise known as the NOC. The NOC is right on trail, has an outfitter, and also a restaurant. I didn’t eat enough for dinner yesterday…

Day 12, Monday, 3/28 – I woke up early this morning, before the sunrise. I was motivated to get moving, so I started packing up. Running bear slept in her car, and she brought out donuts and bananas for all of us. I cooked some oats and ate a banana. Bananas are great when you…

Day 11, Sunday, 3/27 – I woke up in the hotel at 7:22, Liz and Genie also happened to wake up at the same time. Genie reminded us that there was a shuttle leaving at 7:30am for all-you -can-eat pancakes. The First Baptist Church of Franklin hosts this event every day for about a month…

Day 10, Saturday, 3/26 – I woke up face down on my sleeping pad at 8:30 this morning, in a puddle of drool. I guess i slept well. I hiked 7.5 miles with Sprite this morning to Winding Stair Gap, which puts me at mile 109.5. We ran into Liz and Genie along the way…

Day 9, Friday, 3/25 – I woke up before dawn this morning. Steven was breaking camp early and I’m a pretty light sleeper. Since I was awake I started packing up too. I left camp at 8:00am, and started my hike solo. The hiking was great today. The view from the summit of Standing Indian…

Day 8, Thursday, 3/24 – Fortunately no rain, so my gear is actually starting to dry out. It was a tough hike today. The extra food weight was starting to hurt my shoulders. My feet were also starting to hurt. Todays hike felt like a trudge more than any of the other hikes. It’ll get…

Day 7, Wednesday, 3/23 – I did not thrive in the rain last night, it really stormed. A good amount of water made it into the tent. The ground was compact, so the rain would hit the ground, and bounce into the tent. I also realized I should pick up a footprint for the tent.…

Day 6, Tuesday, 3/22 – I was cold sleeping last night. Even with a 20deg quilt, I had to put on my puffy jacket. Once I had my jacket on, I was plenty warm. But, it does make me thankful that I didn’t start a few weeks earlier when temps got down to 15deg and…

Day 5, Monday, 3/21 – I went to sleep at 7:30pm yesterday, and slept a full 12 hours. It was glorious. I ate muesli with craisins for breakfast, broke down camp, and started hiking at 9:00. I didn’t run into another person until about noon which is as much alone time as I have had…

Day 4, Sunday, 3/20 – I said early on that I would share the good and the bad. I didn’t get much sleep for the past two nights. I was very nervous about my knee. I hated the thought that my hike was at risk of ending in the first few days due to injury.…