While I was in Duncannon I actually met Bilge Rat, the occasional hiker and merchant mariner whose favorite thing to do is to play pranks on other hikers. He was responsible for a fake electrical outlet and telephone booth in shelters in North Carolina. And, as it turned out, I hadn’t seen the last of his pranks.

On the afternoon of July 11th I actually left Duncannon to head up Peters Mountain, and after having lunch at the truckstop I went 2.9 miles or so out of town, across the Susquehanna River on the Clarks Ferry Bridge, and up the very rocky mountain to Clarks Ferry Shelter. My knees didn’t like this stumbling over rocks very much, and to this day they still bother me from time to time.

When I finally got up to the top of the ridgeline, I saw this water spigot, installed courtesy of Bilge Rat.

The next morning I made the mistake of turning on my phone before I packed up to hike out. There were four messages, all work-related. And that’s when I knew the hike was over.

So that Monday morning I returned across the bridge to the Park and Ride lot where a Harrisburg city bus stops, caught the bus into Pennsylvania’s state capital, and then a Greyhound bus home.

The Appalachian Trail, though I didn’t hike the whole thing, or even as much of it as I would have been satisfied with, has been an amazing experience. Even aside from the various injuries, the nature of my work simply won’t permit me to complete a thru-hike at this time, and probably not at any time in the near future. I do plan to get out to the Trail for section hikes as often as I can, though, hopefully beginning with several weekend hikes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire through the end of September. Some time in my life, though, when I don’t have to work constantly, I’m going to have to return and try it again.

On June 27 I left the Free State Hiker Hostel and crossed some nice Maryland farmland and got my first taste of what the rocks would end up being like in Pennsylvania. I hiked a very short 5.7 miles this day to Devils Racecourse Shelter. Funny how it seems the shortest days are those when I leave town.

June 28 I finally crossed the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania. I made it a short day again, 7.8 miles, and hitched into Waynesboro, where I holed up in a hotel again to try to finish some work. Wound up staying there two nights.

June 30 I finally left town and went back to the Trail. I wasn’t able to hitch a ride out of town, so I wound up walking the whole 5 miles back to the trailhead. Counting this, I hiked 17.5 miles to the Rocky Mountain Shelters.

July 1 I took another short day, hiked only 3.2 miles to Caledonia State Park, where I had lunch at the snack bar and then went to hunt down a motel room in nearby Fayetteville. Here I discovered that Pennsylvania has some bizarre laws about the sale of alcohol. You can only buy packaged beer from a beer distributor, in cases of 24 or more, or from a bar, where you can buy six-packs. There was a beer store but no bar that I could find, so I passed. I have no idea how you would go about buying liquor. I did get some more work done that day.

July 2 I left and hiked 10 miles to Birch Run Shelter. Along the way I passed Quarry Gap Shelters, which was one of the nicest setups I’ve seen yet.

Thursday I made 9.9 miles to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, where I took (and failed) the half-gallon challenge. Since this is the approximate midpoint of the Trail, hikers who come through here attempt to eat a half-gallon of ice cream at one sitting. I only saw one of four other people who tried it actually succeed. This night I stayed at the Ironmasters Mansion hostel, a former station on the Underground Railroad. Much of the Trail through Pennsylvania passes near or through private property.

For July 4th I hung around the state park that morning, waiting for the rain to let up, which ultimately it never quite did. I hiked out shortly after noon and made 7.4 miles to the James Fry shelter, where I got in from the rain. This aversion to getting wet accounts for a lot of my short days, though I guess I should get over it; it’s so hot that I’m drenched in sweat all day every day anyway. I saw the old midpoint marker (the actual midpoint is south of here now).

Saturday I left and, since it was raining on and off again, and this section was extremely rocky, went only 8.7 miles to the Alec Kennedy shelter. This section was the first time I had to throw the hiking poles up and climb rocks with my hands. I also saw a sign saying that the government had sprayed for gypsy moths, but ironically they have been everywhere for the last week or so and I’ve hardly been able to get them out of my face.

Sunday I passed through Boiling Springs and saw the (closed) ATC office, then hiked on to Middlesex Township, for 12.6 miles, where I got a hotel room, and stayed over Monday. Good thing I did since it rained virtually all day Monday, with lots of thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. This section passes through the Cumberland Valley and much of it passes next to active farmland. Hint to hikers: The Flying J truckstop here has an AYCE buffet at its restaurant.

Yesterday I left Middlesex after getting a late breakfast at the diner across the street from the hotel, and went 7.2 miles to Darlington Shelter. Along the way I ran across some bridge construction and chatted with one of the construction crew there about the Trail ahead. He advised me that the descent into and ascent out of Port Clinton were “knee-breakers.” I got in early in the afternoon, but minutes after I arrived the thunderstorms rolled in and kept on rolling, so I decided to stay. Wnen I arrived, there was a snake in the shelter. We had a chat and I convinced it that it would be best for it to leave, which it did. After it started raining I saw a frog hop by. As far as I know, the snake ate it.

Today I called it a short day again, getting into Duncannon early this afternoon after hiking 11.3 very rocky miles.

I’ll be spending tomorrow here as well, partly to dry out and partly to bleed off some time. There’s a method to my madness here: I have to be in New York City next Friday, and I’ll be catching a bus from Port Clinton to get there. But it’s only 70 miles up the Trail from here, so without the short and zero days, I would overshoot it, but wouldn’t make it far enough to get to the next town (Delaware Water Gap) where I could catch a bus into the city.

My next update will probably be from Port Clinton, or if I can’t find Internet access there, from NYC. Once this conference is over I’ll be back on the Trail and won’t have any other commitments to take me off the Trail, so I can get down to the business of hiking, and perhaps make up some of this very lost time.

Leaving the hostel in Knoxville on Tuesday, I first discovered just how rocky the ground is, though I was yet to discover it would get worse.

Around lunchtime I ran smack into Gathland State Park, home to the world’s only memorial to war correspondents, and near the site of the Battle of South Mountain, which took place September 14, 1862, three days before Antietam, a significant yet often overlooked battle in Civil War history. There was a soda machine here and so I had a Coke with my Mountain House freeze dried lunch.

Then I got my first taste of Maryland bureaucracy, and it was rather unpleasant. The state seems to want to keep us all unsafe.

And there was also some great scenery throughout the day.

I made 14.3 miles to the Dahlgren campground and discovered bathrooms with hot showers! That was a nice way to end a hot day.

Wednesday I had planned to go into Boonsboro and visit the Turn the Page Bookstore (owned by Bruce Wilder, husband of Nora Roberts) but they didn’t open until 10 am and I felt like making some miles was more important. Probably a good thing, too, since I almost immediately ran into fields and fields of rocks, which wouldn’t quit all day.

I did get some nice views, though, and saw and a deer.

Then I crossed I-70 and had lunch at the Dogpatch Tavern (it sucked, don’t go there if you can avoid it).

After that the day was rocks and more rocks for miles. It wore me out.

I hiked a total of 14.8 miles yesterday and wound up here at the Free State Hiker Hostel (which seems to be misnamed; Maryland is hardly a free state anymore). I took today off to get my legs back in shape after all that rock hopping, and tomorrow I’ll be in Pennsylvania to visit yet more underappreciated Civil War battlefields, do some more rock hopping, and maybe critique some more restaurants. (Though to be fair to them, it bills itself a tavern…)

I haven’t been on the Trail since Memorial Day weekend, about half of that time because I needed to catch up on work, and the other half I’ve been here at the fifth annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, or PorcFest, a summer outdoor event held by the Free State Project. This is a movement to find as many as 20,000 lovers of freedom who will move to New Hampshire and work toward “the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.”

In today’s video I go into some of the reasons why this is so important.

In short, government has gone off the rails. It is the cause of society’s worst problems, including environmental problems. And until government is removed from its interference in society, these problems will remain unsolved.

For more information on liberty, see also the following resources:

• Free Talk Live: Radio show where callers can bring up any topic. Broadcast on radio, Internet stream and podcast.
• Homeland Stupidity: Government screws up everything, not just security.
• International Society for Individual Liberty: Famous for its introductory Philosophy of Liberty introductory video, available in 20 languages.
• LewRockwell.com: News and opinion from a libertarian perspective.
• Liberty Conspiracy: Gardner Goldsmith goes against the grain, because freedom is not necessarily in vogue.

Stay tuned for Part 2 when PorcFest kicks into high gear this weekend! My hike will resume next week once PorcFest is over.

If you’ll recall, last week I was in Hot Springs, and I wound up staying there several days longer than I had anticipated, in order to catch up on work. Thus I left there Monday morning, crossing the French Broad River immediately.

The Trail follows the riverbank for a good half mile before starting up toward Lovers Leap Rock. Unfortunately the morning fog over the river blocked any views.

The only good views this day were of Mill Ridge, a former tobacco field now owned by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Trail then crossed U.S. 25/70 again at Tanyard Gap, and after that I started noticing grave markers.

I made 11 miles Monday to Spring Mountain shelter, where a hiker mounted an electrical outlet (which, of course, does not work).

Tuesday I crossed Allen Gap and went only 5.3 miles on the Trail, then 0.7 miles down a road to the Hemlock Hollow campground and hostel, where the soda was cold and the rooms quiet and peaceful. Even though it meant losing some time, I was glad to take a bit of time off here.

Wednesday I left the hostel and near Whiterock Cliff ran across a hiker’s idea of humor. First I saw this handmade sign, reading “Speed Limit 10 mph,” and as soon as I rounded the next corner, the trail turned rocky, and 2 mph seemed like a pipe dream.

This afternoon I climbed up to Big Firescald Knob (4,360 feet) over the ridgeline, which was over a mile of continuous rock scrambling up and down, including a couple of brief vertical ascents and descents. That night I made 10.1 miles to Jerry Cabin shelter. I was planning to go farther, but after all that rock climbing my legs were too sore.

Thursday I realized that I was running low on food, which is rather unusual since I usually bring too much food rather than too little, so I decided to step up the pace and get to town as quickly as possible. The morning started with a climb over Coldspring Mountain where there’s a nice meadow, followed by Big Butt at 4,838 feet.

Along the way I saw more memorial markers, including the famous Shelton Graves.

That afternoon I climbed up Frozen Knob (aka Lick Rock) at 4,579 feet. I made 14.8 miles this day to Hogback Ridge shelter. In a couple of places here, steps were built over existing barbed wire fences to allow hikers to pass over while keeping out animals. Though I still can’t figure out how animals can’t just use the steps to cross over.

Friday morning started with a brief climb to High Rock at 4,460 feet, then down to Sams Gap to cross I-26.

From there it was straight up to Big Bald at 5,516 feet. The views are absolutely spectacular from the top.

Immediately after Big Bald is Big Stamp, at 5,298 feet. It’s several hundred yards long, and has a few trees which obscure just how long it actually is.

That evening I pitched the tent and camped out at Whistling Gap, having done 13.5 miles.

Saturday I was down to a couple of energy bars and so I left camp around 8 am and decided to get into town as fast as I possibly could. Though the day started with a nice climb out of the gap to High Rocks at 4,280 feet, from there it was mostly all downhill into Erwin. Of note, there were a couple of miles where it looked as if there was a recent forest fire; I could still smell the charred wood. Some of the pictures didn’t come out because it was dark and raining on and off that morning.

I made 13.5 miles and got into town around 2:30 pm yesterday. Then I promptly went straight to Sonic and ordered the largest double cheeseburger I could find on the menu. I got checked into a hotel and also managed to get some laundry done.

Today I’m relaxing my legs and I’ll hit the trail again tomorrow. I’ll be pushing fairly hard since I need to make it to Damascus, Va. by next Saturday at the latest, in order to get back to New Hampshire for PorcFest. Along the way I plan to get some video at Roan High Knob, time permitting. I probably won’t have another update posted until I reach Damascus, because Internet options are fairly limited between here and there, and because I’ll need to be moving fast and won’t have much time to stop.

That’s all for now; I’m hungry again and need to go forage for food…

The first thing you do, on arrival in Gatlinburg, is to stop by the Happy Hiker to have your picture taken. Then get the hell out of there; they are one of those places with insanely jacked-up prices. They’re even more expensive than the so-called outfitter at Fontana Dam! Go to Smoky Mountain Outfitters instead. They have a better selection of the stuff you’re going to buy: fuel and food, and they’re much cheaper. Take the blue line trolley to Winery Square.

Speaking of which, you may as well become familiar with the trolley system, since you’re going to be using it.

If you need to pick up a package, the post office is also on the blue line trolley, and you’re going to go to that stop anyway, since Food City is across the street, and their prices are about what you’d expect from a grocery store. No jacked up tourist prices here. The Wash Tub laundromat is also on the blue line, and it’s open 24 hours.

When I went to Gatlinburg I stayed at the Grand Prix Motel, on the red line, for $45 a night, but with 100 motels in Gatlinburg, you could do better. Another option is to stay in Pigeon Forge, where motels start around $25 a night. To get to Pigeon Forge, take Gatlinburg’s purple line trolley to the welcome center, and change to the Pigeon Forge trolley there. You can also get to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Sevierville this way.

There is one restaurant in Gatlinburg which you cannot miss: Corky’s Bar-B-Que at light #3. And this is the reason: All you can eat ribs. Falling off the bone, melting in your mouth, all you can eat, juicy ribs. Because, let’s face it, you really need the protein right about now. It was $18.99 last week.

Finally, lobby your local A.T. hiking club to have one or more of these installed on the Trail.

Hopefully these notes will help you get in and out of Gatlinburg with a minimum of hassle. Happy hiking!

I left Gatlinburg on May 7, a week ago, aboard one of these Cherokee Transit shuttles. Notice the U.S. government plate. This shuttle runs hikers and tourists between Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Newfound Gap and Cherokee, N.C., where there’s a nice Harrah’s Casino in case you’re out hiking and suddenly get the urge to lose all your money. I had no such urge. The shuttle, though, has a rather inconvenient schedule, so I didn’t get back to Newfound Gap until almost 4 pm, and only hiked as far as Icewater Spring shelter, for 3 miles.

I spent the next few days finishing out the Smokies. There wasn’t nearly as much to see, so I didn’t do a video, nor take as many pictures.

The next day I crossed Charlie’s Bunion, at 5,905 feet, a mountain with a rock outcropping exposed in 1929 and discovered by, well, a guy named Charlie who had a very similar looking bunion. The National Park Service blasted out the path.

I climbed over two more mountains, Mt. Sequoyah at 6,069 feet and Mt. Chapman at 6,417 feet, before it started raining very hard. I pulled into Tricorner Knob shelter around 5, just missing the heavy rain that rolled in that evening, and making 12.6 miles.

Friday I hiked 14.8 miles to Davenport Gap shelter, just short of the park boundary. I would have exited the park, but by the time I got there it was getting dark and more rain was in the forecast, so I didn’t feel like pitching a tent. Along the way I did see a strange triangular formation in the ground, as if some structure had been there but since removed.

Saturday I rolled out of the park, crossing the boundary at Davenport Gap and rolling into Standing Bear Farm hostel, for 3.4 miles, at around 10 am. My feet were killing me so I decided to take the rest of the day — and all of Sunday — off the Trail to rest them up.

Monday morning I rolled out of the hostel and crossed Snowbird Mountain at 4,263 feet, where I found an odd structure at the summit. If you know what this is, please let me know; I’m very curious.

I stopped in at Groundhog Creek shelter that afternoon, because just before I reached the shelter my left knee started complaining painfully. So I cut the day short at 7.5 miles. This afternoon I pitched my tent, because the shelter floor was nowhere near level, slanting much more than the campsite I chose. I can’t imagine how the people who slept in there stood it.

Yesterday I decided to get into Hot Springs as quickly as I could, and so I climbed up to Max Patch at 4,629 feet, where I made some phone calls, including calling my friends up in New Hampshire to have my replacement debit card sent down by UPS Next Day Air. Oh, I didn’t mention that last week: I got notice that one of my debit cards was canceled because the number was stolen from a merchant. So the replacement card got mailed out to New Hampshire. Much of this section was fairly moderate, so I made 13.3 miles to Walnut Mountain shelter.

Last night around 11 pm a bear wandered into the nearby camp of three section hikers who were camped out near the shelter, grabbing one of their packs and dragging it off a hundred yards or so before realizing it didn’t have any food in it. The section hikers were so frightened that they struck camp and piled into the shelter, hanging their food from a nearby tree. Unfortunately they hung it too low, because the bear came back an hour later and grabbed all their food. Mine remained untouched. Around 2 am everyone woke up again when the bear came right into the shelter and went after the section hikers’ packs again. It was finally scared off when a log that someone had leaned up against the wall of the shelter fell onto the bear’s head. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of the bear; it was too dark and I couldn’t get to my camera anyway.

This morning I gave the three hikers a day’s worth of food each, or three days worth for myself, which should have been sufficient to let them get into Hot Springs. For myself, I hiked hard and fast, climbing Bluff Mountain at 4,686 feet in the morning, and got into town around 3:30 pm, making 13.1 fairly easy miles. At least for me; I passed those section hikers halfway up Bluff Mountain, and I have no idea whether they’ll make it into town tonight. I stopped in at the outfitters and picked up my debit card, and all is well there.

The highlight of the day, though, was spotting a Ron Paul sticker on a beer truck.

My knee seems to be doing much better; I haven’t really had trouble with it since that one day. That just about covers it for this section. I’m going to rest and resupply tomorrow and leave on Friday. Next stop will be Erwin, Tenn., about six days later.

I left the Nantahala Outdoor Center on Saturday morning after having spent six days there, and hiked some 6.9 miles straight up. The first big climb out of there was rather rocky and took me 3,000 vertical feet up to Swim Bald at 4,700 feet. That night I stayed at Sassafras Gap Shelter, where I called in to Free Talk Live with a trail update and a story about the idiots at the TSA.

Sunday was mostly cloudy and cold. I went up to Cheoah Bald at 5,032 feet which still had nice views despite the clouds and completed 9.1 miles to Brown Fork Gap shelter. The day was filled with occasional snow flurries and we got a good dusting overnight. Monday my foot was acting up again, and I didn’t feel like hiking through the snow, so I stayed at the shelter for another day.

And on Tuesday I hiked pretty hard the 12.7 miles to the Fontana Hilton. The hike was harder than it looked on the map, since many of the ridges it followed were very rocky.

I stayed at the Fontana Hilton (the somewhat tongue-in-cheek name for the Fontana Dam shelter) on Tuesday night, after making yet another call in to Free Talk Live. I split a hotel here in the Fontana Village Wednesday night with a couple of other hikers, and I was back at the Hilton last night. The wireless Internet connection here in Fontana Village has been slow and flaky so it’s taken me a couple of days to get all my pictures uploaded and this post completed.

In addition, those rocky ridges on the last day into Fontana twisted up my foot again, and it’s somewhat painful to walk. I am going to remain here for at least a week before I even think of moving on, possibly two weeks, since last time a week obviously wasn’t enough time for my foot to heal up. I’ll take some pictures of the dam, the lake and surrounding area while I’m here. I may even do a video, so stay tuned.

I will probably yellow blaze up to Hot Springs for Trailfest next weekend, and after that, I’ll decide if I can continue this hike or not. If so I’ll head back here to Fontana and pick the trail up again, and if not I’ll just go home. As much as I hate to give it up, I really will need my feet in the future.

I finally left Franklin, N.C., last Monday, from where I left off at Wallace Gap, passed through Winding Stair Gap and onward 6.8 miles to Siler Bald Shelter just below Siler Bald, when the bad weather started moving in. Or so it seemed. I took Tuesday off and stayed there, to wait out the expected bad weather, but it never materialized; it was sunny almost all day with just a brief shower around 8 p.m. A day wasted.

Wednesday I left and found myself moving a bit too slowly, but still made another 7.8 miles to Wayah Shelter just on the north side of Wayah Bald, where I caught some impressive views, including first sight of Clingmans Dome, 26.7 miles away as the crow flies but 78.6 miles up the Trail. At the shelter I saw my first wheelchair accessible privy. I still haven’t figured out how a wheelchair would get to it.

Thursday I left, despite predictions of rain, and made only 4.8 miles to Cold Spring Shelter. By the time I got there it had been raining hard for a good 45 minutes and I was soaked through. This is where I discovered my rain gear isn’t properly sealed, and so it leaks right through the seams. So I stopped there and attempted to dry out. On Friday morning my stuff was still wet and it was still raining so I stayed another day. Yet another day lost.

On Saturday I finally left, leaky rain gear and all, and got 5.8 miles to Wesser Bald Shelter without getting too wet. But I twisted my left foot climbing down wet rocks on Wesser Bald and it was hurting pretty bad, so I didn’t press on, even though I got to the shelter around 1 p.m.

And yesterday my foot was swollen and bruised, but I knew the Nantahala Outdoor Center was only a few miles away, so I toughed it out and hiked the 5.7 miles mostly down to the NOC as fast as I dared. This probably wasn’t too good for my foot, but I really didn’t care. I just wanted to get off it and get a shower and laundry done. After that I had a late lunch and stayed here overnight last night.

The A.T. runs directly through the NOC campus on the Nantahala River, which looks a lot like an amusement park for outdoor sports. Especially looking at it from above on the Trail. I could smell the food cooking at the restaurant a good half mile before I saw the buildings, and that really got me going down the hill.

The NOC’s specialty is whitewater rafting, which there’s plenty of in the mountains around this region. But they also cater to A.T. hikers and to other outdoor sports enthusiasts. The outfitter here, though, didn’t have a whole lot of selection for hiker food. It was either Mountain House or ramen noodles. Of course it was Sunday, so maybe they were just low on stock. I’ll check them out again this afternoon.

This morning I was planning to hit the Trail again but my left foot is still swollen and a bit bruised, so I’m staying here again tonight, and I may stay here several days to see whether it heals up or I need to go see a doctor about it. Either way I’m going to seal up my rain gear today and hope that, at least, is something I don’t have to worry about going forward.

As you’ll recall I left Unicoi Gap, Ga., on the 21st and intended to check in two days later from the Cloud9 hostel. I decided not to, after I got there, because there were a few people staying there that I didn’t quite trust with the knowledge that I was carrying around a laptop.

From Unicoi Gap on the 21st I climbed Rocky Mountain (yes, that’s its name) at 4,017 feet, and later in the day, Tray Mountain at 4,430 feet. I called it a short day at 5.6 miles.

The next day I took another short day, only going 8 miles to Deep Gap shelter, where someone, presumably long ago, left a funny comic.

On the 23rd I hiked 3.8 miles very fast to Dicks Creek Gap and caught a ride to Cloud 9 the same morning, which is on the site of a trout farm. For dinner we had fresh caught smoked trout. It was delicious, and you missed it.

The next day I left there and went 11.7 miles, passing the North Carolina state line and Bly Gap that afternoon. I took a picture of the famous gnarled oak tree, and then had two steep, rocky climbs before I wound up at Muskrat Creek shelter. That night the temperature got down to 21 degrees and there was a dusting of snow on the ground in the morning.

Then on Tuesday my feet were hurting so it took me almost all day to make the 4.9 miles to Standing Indian Shelter at the base of Standing Indian Mountain. I took a rest there.

And Wednesday I was feeling better so I climbed right up the 5,498 foot Standing Indian Mountain. Unfortunately I somehow missed the side trail which leads to the summit. I kind of regret missing it, since I hear the view is spectacular. That day I made 11.3 miles and camped out at Betty Creek Gap. If you wind up here and want some privacy, there are additional campsites down the side trail. I slept like a rock that night, much better than I ever do in a shelter.

Yesterday I climbed to the top of 5,250 foot Albert Mountain. The ascent was extremely steep and rocky and was easily the toughest climb anywhere on the Trail so far. There were a few times I wasn’t entirely sure how to get up the rocks, and later I heard one person actually fell backward off the rocks but managed to save himself by grabbing onto a tree branch. I was too tired after that climb to go up the fire tower.

Late yesterday afternoon at Glassmine Gap I saw an odd rock formation right in the Trail. It took me a minute to recognize that it was man-made.

I stayed last night at Rock Gap Shelter, having done 8.4 miles, and in good position to get into Franklin. This morning I hiked 0.7 miles to Wallace Gap where I caught a shuttle into town. So far I’ve made 104.5 miles up the Trail, and I feel pretty good.

Several days this last week I only hiked a few miles so I could arrive here in Franklin on this day. The reason is that this weekend is the Hiker Fool Bash, where hikers from all over, and especially thru-hikers, stop in and have an excuse to eat and party. As if I need an excuse to eat. I’m almost constantly hungry anymore and I’m still losing weight.

I may or may not have pictures and/or video of the party; I haven’t decided yet. Either way, I’m staying here through Sunday morning and hitting the Trail again then.

If I don’t post something about the party, the next update to this journal will be 8 or 9 days later when I get to Gatlinburg, Tenn., another 100 miles up the Trail and halfway through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I am sure to have some interesting video by then.