First half of the AT = Finished

Well, after a little over 2 and ½ months, 1,100 miles, and 25 pounds of body weight, I finally reached the Pennsylvania border. (The trail is 2,175 miles long so we are a little over half way) Since my last update I have seen three black bears (In the Shenandoah national park) and a huge rattlesnake (sitting on the trail in Maryland). None of the bears attacked me—in fact two of the three took off running the second they saw me. The rattlesnake coiled up and rattled at us and then turned and slowly made its way back into the woods. As many of you know, my house has been on the market in Fort Worth throughout the duration of my AT hike. I had set aside quite a bit of money for my excursion but as I will be heading to graduate school basically the day I was projected to finish my AT hike, I thought it would be wise to break the trip up into two sections. I hope to get a job in this two months before school starts and to some money. Many AT hikers hike the trail in sections and after talking with several who did the first half of the AT last year and were working on the second half this year, Applicator and myself decided to adopt that approach to our AT experience. I hope to start the second half of the trail within the next two years (summers)—time permitting. So far the hike has been an adventure of a lifetime for me and has changed the way I view the world I live in. It is hard to sleep on the ground most nights and then go back to sleeping in a soft bed again. It is weird to be able to take a shower daily and not worry about the weight of the things you are considering purchasing. It is odd to have reliable cell phone service and overbearing to look at the huge stack of unanswered mail sitting on the kitchen counter. My feet are slowly healing. When I arrived in Fort Worth, Texas I went to visit Micah and Lori Beck. Naturally they asked about my feet and wanted to see view these deformed creatures. As I showed them and they were shockingly exclaiming their amazement their daughter AnnaLee took a glance at my feet and burst into tears. That’s how bad my feet are/were.

Many of you were wondering how I got home. I rode the ever famous Greyhound bus. Many of you have heard about the infamous Greyhound bus ride experience I must assume. I had the privilege of taking part in a 35 hour venture from Hagerstown, Maryland to Fort Worth, Texas on my way home from hiking the Appalachian Trail. The only other white dudes on the bus were dressed in saggy matching pants and shirt outfits that had dollar signs all over them or something of the like. Most of the white guys on the Greyhounds look a lot like the white crack heads on the show "The Wire". One of the buses stopped to kick a guy off that was smoking crack in the bathroom. Another bus stopped to aid an elderly man that had stopped breathing. I was fortunate enough to sit by the girl that talks at top volume at all times while everyone and everything else in the general vicinity is completely silent. She proceeded to tell me how she hated her family. She said she wanted to kill them or at least superglue their mouths shut. I suggested she get a painting done of her family standing together side by side with their mouths glued shut. She liked that idea. She said her husband used to beat her and had the temper of a wet hen. She said she beat a lot of girls up that got in her way. As a black guy walked past us to ask the bus driver when we were stopping to eat she said "I swear they get everything they want and they rule this world." She also unscrewed the bindings on the back of the seats as we talked and basically tore the bus seats apart. She said she was thinking about drilling a hole in the bathroom window with her knife so that she could smoke a cigarette. She told me that I had no rear end and that she had been looking. I also sat by a blind lady who proceeded to tell me I was a very good looking guy. I was like "lady, you're blind." There should be a Reality TV show made about the whole Greyhound bus thing--I know I would watch it.

Thanks for keeping up with my trip and for all your comments, emails, phone calls, and prayers. I will keep you in the loop when I undertake the second half of the “AT Endeavor”.

Josiah “Respect” Smelser

Murderer in the woods

Greetings from Waynesboro, Virginia! I arrived here last night with about 4 other hikers and will be taking a day off to heal the hiking wounds. We just discovered that there is a muscle car exhibit this afternoon as well as a semi-pro wrestling match tonight involving midgets. With two events of such class, how could I possibly not stay?

The hiking has been great lately although we have had some excitement. In 1981 a man by the name of Randall Lee Smith shot and killed two AT thru hikers in cold blood at the Wapiti Shelter (on the AT) in Virginia. His plea bargain agreement arranged for a 30 year sentence with chance of parole in 15 years for the two murders. Smith was released from prison on parole after serving only 15 years around 1996. We hiked through and camped at the Wapiti shelter around the first week of May on our way to Pearisburg, Virginia. While we were at the post office in Pearisburg a local warned us that Randall Smith had been missing for about 5 weeks and was thought to be on the trail somewhere. Several days later Randall Smith shot 2 men in exact same area (2 square miles) of the Wapiti Shelter after having lunch with them. After shooting the men he stole one of the victim’s vehicles in attempted escape. The two wounded men (shot in the neck, face, and back) survived the shooting and drove one of the vehicles to a local gas station where they identified Smith as the shooter and called the police. The police spotted Smith in his stolen car and a chase ensued. Smith rolled his car over several times in the attempted escape and was taken to the intensive care unit at the local hospital while under the 24 hour surveillance of an officer. Smith was released from the hospital a few days later and was found dead of “natural causes” only days after being put in his jail cell. A book was written about Randall Smith’s 1981 killings titled Murder on the Appalachian Trail. As you can imagine, missing this killer on the AT by less than a week has provided me with a story that will scare people around the campfire from here on….. If you care to read more about the case here is a link. http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=104&sid=1400972

As for the hiking progress, I am about 160 miles outside of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Harpers Ferry is considered the “mental half-way point” of the AT and I am very excited to be approaching the 1,000 mile mark. Applicator is a few days ahead of me as he is hiking with a friend, but we plan to meet in Harpers Ferry. Hope you are all well!

Josiah

Wild Horses and Man on the Run

Hello from Pearisburg, Virginia! We currently find ourselves at the quality establishment of the "Holiday Motor Lodge" after eight hard days of hiking. We have knocked out 163 miles in the last eight days (averaging more than 20 miles per day) which we are very proud of. We usually shoot for the cheap motels while in town and many times get more than we bargain for. Our last motel (the "Relax Inn") had a broken window, holes in the curtains, no shampoo (we washed our hair with soap), and I had "clean" stains on my sheets when I turned the bed back. The good news is that hikers are generally so dirty that we are happy to be anywhere indoors. We cram five people in a room and pay about $12 a night per person. Great deal huh? I have several stories and characters to tell about this go round, so I will break them up and put pictures with the stories to help add to the tales...

First story was something really cool that happened while hiking through the Virginia Highlands. I heard rumors of wild ponies living in the Hurricane Mountain area for quite some time. These ponies are indeed wild and because of the protected park and trail area, it seems it will stay that way for quite some time. I hiked solo for a few days through the highlands but so no ponies. I camped in a shelter that night and some of the folks I camped with said they heard some of the ponies visit our shelter about 1 A.M. and then take off. I got a decent start the next morning at about 9 A.M. in a fairly thick fog that had settled over the mountain. As I rounded a corner I saw two ponies standing in the mist staring at me. I took a few pics and walked over and attempted to pet them. They let me get fairly close and would move just as I would get close enough to touch them. I took several more pics and then got back on the trail. I rounded another corner and found a larger pony standing alone in a field about 25 yards from me. I turned my video camera on and walked over towards him and he let me pet him! It was the coolest thing. He had a fro and let me pull his fro up and snap all kinds of pictures..... The video is attached. Click it once to activate controls and then again to load it.

I have to write about a couple of the guys I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to hike with during my tenure on the AT. The first guy's name is Dave. Dave is the definition of a drifter. He lives in the shelters on the AT and has no money or food to speak of. He lives off of what the hikers give him and basically milks the hiking community for all its worth. He claims he has healing powers and that his dad is a billionaire. He doesn't actually hike the AT at all---he hitches via county roads from shelter to shelter. The first time I met Dave he was sitting at a shelter smoking weed. "You guys got any weed?" he asked. "No" I said as I stared at him smoking weed..."but you do" I said. Applicator and I got a big kick out of that whole scenario. I stayed with Dave one night at a free place that the local church uses to house AT hikers. For dinner he cooked wild onions that he found in the woods and washed it down with about 3 cups of coffee while chain smoking. The guy is basically starving. The morning after staying with Dave I went into town early for breakfast and then hitched back to the trail head. Dave was standing at the trail head and came running up saying "Hey Respect! Guess what I found?! I just found a jug of moonshine on the side of the road on the way down!" "You didn't drink that did you?" I asked. "Yeah man, I sure did" he said as he burped in my face. "Hope it wasn't draino or something" I said. Crazy guy that Dave. He told me he had a good feeling he would see me again as I walked onto the trail and he walked towards the road to catch a hitch. I hiked about 26 miles that day and as I approached the last shelter near dusk he was sitting there smiling. "I told ya I'd see you again Respect" he said. The other hikers at the shelter told me he had been down at the local stream fishing all day with a safety pin. The safety pin, however, did not have any bait on it.

The last story is about a guy that we have been hiking with for quite a while by the trail name of "Moss". Hilarious guy from North Carolina. He hiked in tights and a long sleeve shirt and made his backpack out of ductape and a small bag liner. He cut his sleeping bag in half and didn't bother to sew or ductape the open end. Stuffing was constantly falling out of his half sleeping bag. His entire backpack and all of his gear weighed about 5 pounds. He also had no money and was originally trying to hike the trail on $300--which he told me he had already spent. He worked for stay at every hiker hostel we stayed at and kept everyone entertained with his unique stories. We stayed in Bland, Virginia with Moss a few days ago. While we were hanging out in Bland he casually told us that he was running from the police and that there was a warrant for his arrest back in North Carolina. He had been caught stealing food in a grocery store and then skipped out on his court date and got straight on the AT. He told us he was going to turn himself in as he was once again out of money so that he could get a free ride back to North Carolina to play some Nintendo and have some vacation time from the trail. He said the worst sentence the judge could give him would be mandating that he continue to hike the AT. Hilarious guy. We saw him off two days ago as he hitched a ride to the courthouse to turn himself in. The trail is a great place to run from the police in case you are ever looking. Moss is the guy with me in the picture above in case you are stupid.

Thanks so much for all of your comments, phone calls, emails, and prayers. I love and miss you all!

Josiah

The Road to Damascus

Hi all! We have arrived in Damascus, Virginia, after traveling about 460 miles through sunshine, rain, sleet, hail, high winds, and snow. We recently had several days of snow and freezing rain as we hiked along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. We are happy to report that we have three states (out of fourteen) behind us now: Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. I read that about 50% of thru-hikers drop out before reaching Damascus, Virginia. This seems to be accurate, as a lot of folks we have been hiking with have gone home. As you can guess, we are very proud to have reached Damascus in 40 days! We have taken 10 days off to rest thus far (which was anticipated) while hiking 30 days. This puts our average mileage at 15.3 miles per day. As you may remember, we are shooting for an average of 17 miles per day. So.....we have to pick up the pace. We are going to try and only take a break once every 10 days, even though this pace is very grueling. The challenge lies in trying to bring enough food to feed an army (as our metabolism has gone sky high) while not wanting too much weight in our packs. This problem is evident in the fact that both Tim and I have lost 25 pounds of body weight thus far. All this to say---this stuff isn't easy but we're giving it all we've got. If I didn't have a deadline of August 17th for MBA school at University of Alabama we would not have to push so hard. We are having a blast though, and I already have seemingly countless great stories to tell.

You meet all kinds of people on the trail---most of whom are characters. I have recently been hiking with a 60 year old man from New Jersey. He is a Vietnam war vet and spends most of our hiking time telling me Vietnam stories. Hilarious guy---he hikes in swim trunks, a tank top, and a "Get 'er Done" hat. His trail name is "Cricket" (he got that name b/c of the cricket sound he makes). Super nice guy too. We heard from other hikers that Cricket claimed that Applicator and myself are like his kids out here, and he is always coming back down the trail looking for us and asking if anyone has seen us. I say all that to tell you that when the most recent snow hit us on the North Carolina/Tennessee border, with temps in the teens and several inches of snow on the ground, Cricket was hiking in the same outfit. Said he wasn't cold. The pic above is of Cricket in the snow. I uploaded a video as well (of the same morning at a waterfall). To watch the video, click on it once to activate controls and then click the play button. It takes about a minute or two to load.

Love you all

Josiah

Through the Smokies!

Well—we knocked out some big milestones this past week. We had our first week hiking over 100 miles (108 miles) and we crossed the 10% AT mileage mark. We had two days where we hiked over 20 miles—one 20.4 and the other 24 miles. We also put the Smoky Mountains behind us—it rained 6 out of the 7 days we were there. These rainy conditions present some problems, some of which you can probably guess. One of those is the fact that once Goretex boots get wet they take a very long time to dry out. Once your feet get soggy in soggy boots—they get blisters. I got some nasty ones this last week...but it’s ok because we reached our destination and they’re almost gone. I took care of them by using moleskin and some bandages and duct taping them before putting my socks on. When we would stop for breaks (when we weren’t in the rain) I would take my shoes off and try to let my shoes and feet dry out. I went to the outfitter here in Hot Springs and bought some Chacos (hiking sandals) that I will be hiking the rest of the trip in. A former thru-hiker had a similar problem and switched from boots to Chacos and had no more problems with his feet. We’ll see.

While in the Smokies we saw a snake, a couple of turkeys (which I was successful in calling over to us—like a true hillbilly), and a lot of mice. No bears yet. When I say mice, I mean mice with an education. These mice collude to pull off some of the craziest stunts ever imagined. One guy hoisted his food bag 25 feet up in the air with this cable line, and when he checked his bag in the morning, they (the intelligent rodents) had chewed a hole in his bag. They also chewed a hole in my backpack for no reason—it was hanging on a nail with no food in it. They just wanted to chew a hole in it. You are required to stay in the shelters in the Smokies...so the mice have a captive audience for their games. I would wake up at 2 AM and just listen to the suckers doing Morse code on the rafters by my head as they pillaged our entire stash. One thru-hiker put a bounty of $10 on each mouse carcass that is brought to him; the dirty rats have chewed through his food bag twice. They chewed through Applicator’s (Tim) bag the other night and made a nest out of trash in it. I am thinking about buying an owl that will sit on my shoulder as I hike—just to watch the mice get what they deserve in the shelters.

We are staying at a really cool place here in Hot Springs, North Carolina. The place gets its name from the natural hot springs that it is notorious for. We just got back from swimming in these springs—great time. The town has about 600 residents, and it is a great little get-away place if you are looking for one. We are staying at a famous hiker hostel, the Sunnybank Inn—also known as Elmer Hall. The hostel is an old three story white Victorian house without central heat and air, no internet, and has not been updated in over 70 years. It has old hardwood floors and old wallpaper, and the original furniture and musical instruments of Jane Gentry, an old folklorist and singer. Elmer Hall is the owner of the place—an old Methodist minister turned Buddhist. The Inn is structured as a non-profit organization aimed predominantly at housing thru-hikers of the AT. He refuses to advertise, have a website, or grow the business. He believes word of mouth is the king of advertising. I asked him why he thought so—he said when businesses try to grow and are “for-profit,” 9 times out of 10 there is greed in the driver’s seat. He only cooks vegetarian meals and owned his own health food store before he bought the Sunnybank Inn. The place is considered a refuge for hikers of the AT and the food served there has been more than we could have ever expected. 

Elmer told me a story about a 17 year old hiker who came through and said he was really really hungry. They had finished their 4th course of the dinner, with the kid getting second helpings on everything, when they passed out the ice cream and pie. After the kid started into the ice cream and pie he turned a shade of blue and then collapsed into his bowl of ice cream. They pulled the guy’s face out of the ice cream and revived him---Elmer says the guy literally ate himself unconscious. Speaking of which---Tim and I have both lost weight. We weighed yesterday in the outfitter and I have lost 9 pounds; Tim has lost 10.

The funny story I have to report happened as we were on our way to dinner after hiking our 24 miles into Hot Springs. We left our packs in the Sunnybank Inn and headed for the only café that was open at 9 at night in the town. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I noticed a somewhat shady-looking character coming towards us. He stopped about 20 feet from us in the shadows and just stared at us. After a few moments of silence and no one moving a muscle, we heard "AAAAOOOOOO AAAAOOOOOO." The guy was actually howling at the moon. We crossed to the other side of the street and he just walked off….

Josiah (Respect)

Georgia is history--enter North Carolina

Well—friends—we are resting at the Fontana Dam Resort today. Quite a lot has happened since Helen, Georgia and I will try to hit the high points.

While in Helen, Georgia Tim (Applicator) and I went to this German restaurant to get our first decent meal in several days. We were greeted at the door by a middle-aged lady completely decked out in this huge German dress—a German maiden looking type dress. (If you don’t know what that is—I can’t help you) She walked up to us with two menus in her hand and said "I don’t know what’s going on" to which we replied "huh?" She again said with a smile on her face "I don’t know what’s going on." "Fair enough" we said and she then sat us down. The restaurant was basically deserted and Tim and I enjoyed a meal of smoking hot fixins with the German lady standing over us the entire time. Good times though. We got a picture with her---it should be uploaded into the picture gallery above. We waited out a tornado that passed pretty close to Helen, Georgia by the way….

After leaving Helen, we hiked several days and put our first state behind us as we crossed the Georgia/North Carolina state line. Our goal for the day was to cross the state line and after about 15 miles of constant uphill/downhill terrain—we decided to camp. We camped in a gap although it was really windy and the temperatures were dropping (in the 30’s). Getting inside your tent makes all the difference in the world though as it cuts the wind and retains some of your body heat. Rain was on the forecast for the next two days and we weren’t exactly sure when it would begin. We put our rain covers on our packs and our rain covers on our tents and cooked some rice with tuna (the meal we eat every evening—and glad to have it) and went to bed about 7:45 as the sun was going down. After an extremely windy night (winds up to 35 mph) we got up in the freezing cold to see clouds covering both mountains to our north and south and rain begin to fall. I took a little video to document the occasion and if you have facebook---you can watch it there. We proceeded to summit the highest point of our trip to this point in the pouring rain—about 4,500 feet. Luckily we didn’t see any lightning. I will have to give credit where credit is due—my boots (Vasque) kept my feet dry as a bone. We found the shelter we were looking for at dusk. A shelter on the AT is a 3 sided wooden cabin type building that provides a shield from some of the weather. These shelters are generally also an abode for rats and possums. As we entered this shelter we noticed that it was filled with people in their sleeping bags—packed in like sardines. Not an ounce of space for us. We got our headlamps out and headed back into the weather as it was getting dark in search for an "old out of date shelter" that was in the vicinity." We found the shelter—barely standing upright---a safeheaven for vermin and tetanus—and decided it would do for the night. As we were the only ones there—we set our tents up inside the shelter while avoiding rusty nails and rat poop. I was happy to be there and that little shack kept us out of the weather. I found a hole in my food bag that I had actually hung up the next day—these rats had some skills I tell you. We woke up to more rain and cloud cover and decided to make it a long day and try to reach the next town—Franklin, North Carolina by hiking the remaining 17 miles. We put on our last remaining stitch of dry clothing and set out once again in the now very cold pouring rain and climbed to the a yet higher point—Albert Mountain in a torrential downpour. We made the decent from the mountain top and making great time—hiked downhill a good ways (7 or 8 miles) in the pouring rain. We came to one shelter to stop for a snack and found a lady laying in the corner of the shleter in her sleeping bag. She said she had been there 3 days and wasn’t getting out of her bag in this weather. Her trailname was "The Bag Lady" as she was known to not leave her bag for extended periods of time if the weather wasn’t right. I heard 2 days later from some other thru-hikers that she was still in that bag—and that hadn’t seen her get out even to use the bathroom. Wonder what’s down in that big with ole Bag Lady….About two hours later I stopped for a few minutes to dump about a cup of water out of each boot—which were now completely soaked. Tim and I make it to the spot about an hour early where we luckily caught a shuttle into Franklin by a man named Ron. Ron owned the Sapphire motel and is a hiker-friendly sort of guy. He used to be a pro-wrestler under the name of Mr. X #2 or something like that. He took us wherever in town we needed to go---since Tim and my clothes were all drenched—we thought it would be a good idea to go to Wal-Mart and buy the cheapest set of clothes we could find. For two sets of flip-flops, pants (Tim had sweatpants), and a T-shirt we spent $11 each. Looking like vagabonds we proceeded to walk around Franklin doing laundry and scaring the locals. We actually found Grateful Greenpeace and Bronko again staying in our same motel and they joined us for a classy game of bowling at the local bowling alley that evening. Greepeace showed up three sheets to the winds and flashed peace signs about every two minutes for the rest of the evening. Those guys crack me up.

We headed back onto the AT a day later and a dollar shorter and headed for the Nantahala Outdoor center where we would meet Brandon Fox (Willie) and Peter Romano (Slipps)—college friends and thru-hikers from 2002. My phrase of the day that Tim had assigned me was "Man—I really wish these birds could eat some cheese!" As we approached a day hiker coming downhill who looked to be about 20 or so I heard him say "hey guys—what’s up" to which I replied—"Man—just wish these birds out here could eat some cheese!" He just said "WHAT?!" and kinda laughed as we passed. Didn’t say anything else to that guy. Think it’s better that way. We reached the Nantahala Outdoor center after two 16 and 17 mile days and got a hot meal at the restaurant there. We met up with Willie and Slips about 9 or so and headed down the train-tracks to camp by the river in a good free spot the locals let us in on. We found a great spot right along the river and got a good fire going and told some stories and just hung out. It’s was great to catch up with those guys. We packed up early the next morning and headed out. There was a 20% chance of snow on the forecast for Monday the 24th and we were hoping for dry weather of course. We hiked a very tough 3,500 feet straight up for about 7 miles before we took a break. We ate our Cliff bars and drank water from a spring we found and finished the last 4 miles at a slow pace. We camped in a low gap area and got a great fire going and slept pretty well—although the temperature dropped to below 20 and I woke up with ice all over my tent. That tent is awesome. We got going about 10 AM—always harder when it’s cold and hiked about half the day before it started snowing---and man---it snowed a lot. The woods were beautiful with all the snow falling. Everything was covered with snow---the trail even got very hard to see. We kept warm though by keeping moving—you freeze up when you stop. We decided instead of camping in the snow—to man up and hike the 19 miles into Fontana Dam, NC where we could get a room for $17. We put a long hard day in and finished the 19 miles right as the sun dipped below the mountains in the west. Never felt so good to get a hot shower and a good hot meal.

Some of you have asked about our feet—my feet have just begun to get a few blisters. I have been taking good care of them though—using moleskin and duct tape to patch up the wounds. We are all sore and are taking Ibuprofen when needed. Over all---we are having the time of our lives. Thanks for all the messages and phone calls! Keep them coming. We head into the great Smoky Mountains tomorrow! You can view the new pictures uploaded by clicking on the flashing gallery above.

Josiah

First week in the books

Well---the first week is history. We left from Amicalola Falls State Park with our huge, overweight packs--mine weighing in at 46 lbs and Tim's at 49 lbs--(Jamie's weighed 35 but he was only with us for a week, bumming a tent off of us, etc...) around 10 AM on March 9th. Lauren Smelser (my sister) and Micah Beck were nice enough to drop us off at the trail. We had a great time with everyone on the travel down to the trail. 

Our first day we climbed slowly up the 8.8 mile approach trail with snow on the ground and temps in the low 30's. It really felt good, though, as you work up quite a sweat hauling an extra 45 lbs straight up and down mountains. Tim and I have been playing a game every day to make things interesting: I create a random phrase and he has to incorporate it into a conversation with a complete stranger without laughing. If the stranger laughs, he has the green light to laugh as well. You can see how this could be somewhat entertaining for us...we alternate days as well. I gave Tim the phrase "cracked bowl never carried no rice" for his first line. We stopped in a little gully by a creek for lunch and as we were eating our beef jerky and food bars three guys in skirts/kilts came over the hill heading for us. First thing Tim said when they were within ear shot was, "cracked bowl never carried no rice huh?" to which one replied, "Umm..yeah". We had lunch with those guys--really nice guys--and headed on our way. On the trail you meet and talk with so many random people--not really too many dull moments. 

As we finished up the approach trail we rounded the corner of 3,800 foot Springer Mountain (the official beginning of the Appalachian trail) to see a host of people eating pizza and hanging out. They offered us some food and congratulated us on not having hiked any of the actual Appalachian Trail yet. We could see for miles and the hills of Georgia have never looked so good...We ended up finishing about 11 miles that day and camping outside of the shelter as it was pretty full. Jamie and I climbed up into the second story of the shelter to put our stuff out and noticed a family of possums living on the beam right above my head. We loaded up our stuff and climbed back out. We met a father/son duo that are thru-hiking the trail as well. Their trail names are Daddy-O and Kick-em or something like that, and they claim they are mainly eating Miso soup. They also had skirts on. I still don't know if I can take advice from a man in a skirt. Goes against my upbringing... 

Jamie was with us for four days and got the trail name "brown bear" (he has brown skin and some wild Indian in his blood). All this hiking has been in the Blue Ridge Mountains, by the way. The highest point we climbed to was Blood Mountain, at 4,450 feet. As Blood Mountain got its name from the bloody Indian battles between the Creek and Cherokee Indians, Jamie added a little blood from his own finger too the rock (does that surprise you at all? He used to ride the 4-wheeler naked). We have gotten some great pictures and keep meeting characters. My trail name is none other than--naturally--"Respect". Go figure. Tim's trail name is "Applicator". The story behind his name is somewhat off-color, but worth telling anyway. We were standing on the trail taking a break and he though he found a tube of chapstick..."What's this?" he asked Jamie---then he threw it down as he realized what it was....a used tampon. Nasty. Some people don't apply the 'leave no trace' idea to everything, apparently. Anyways--we pulled into Neil's Gap for our first shower in 4 days smelling like the inside of a trashcan. We got a spot in a crowded hostel--17 dudes and one girl---and settled in for the evening. Tim and I both made some adjustments to our pack and sent some stuff home. My pack now weighs 34 lbs and his 32lbs, with food and water. A huge adjustment to our original weights. Far more manageable. A stumpy old guy with a 3 foot long grey and black beard runs Neils Gap hostel. He has lots of tattoos and wears and head band almost like he's in Vietnam--which he was at one point. He goes by the name "Pirate". Pirate cooked up some really good meals and told us some really bogus stories while we were there. He told us the hostel was haunted and that ghosts take his pots and pans and throw them across the room. He also told me he was going to cook me a pickle omelet at my request and that he only sleeps 1 hour a night (both did not happen). Anyways, we left Neil's Gap slightly cleaner than when we came in. We entered the Shenandoah's. We put in a 17 mile day in there and camped right outside of County Road 75 where we planned to hitch into Helen the next day. I slept like a rock after the long day and woke up ready to get into town. We knew rain was coming and got an early start to try and beat it. We reached the road and starting walking, as we had a little trouble getting a hitch into town. After about 30 minutes, as the rain started to fall, an older man in a pickup told us to jump in the back. We rode, gear and all, 9 miles down the mountain with a beautiful view of what we had just been climbing. It has never felt so good to get rained on. We thanked the man and got a hotel room for our day off in Helen, Georgia. 

I am at the library right now with my buddy Bronko--a 55 year old hiker with a grey beard who plans on starting his own hostel on the trail at some point. His hiking partner 'Grateful Greenpeace' is a 60 year old Grateful Dead faithful fan who hikes basically all the time. Interesting guy. Anyways, we are very sore but having the time of our lives. Thanks for all your messages--they really do mean a lot. I am putting some pics on here, so enjoy!!!

-'Respect' (Josiah)