On February 24, 2019, my older son, Gavin, and I set out on the adventure of a lifetime from the summit of Springer Mtn., GA, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. We aimed to hike the trail to its northern end at Mt. Katahdin, ME, nearly 2,200 miles distant. As those of you who have followed my blog know, we ended our hike nearly six months and 1,325 miles later in Vernon, NJ, just a few miles south of High Point State Park.
Looking back on it, we knew why we were no further along. Though we intentionally started the trail slowly, hiking only 6-8 miles each day to prevent injuries and to allow our bodies to adjust to the stress of daily hiking, we never picked up the pace to the point we should have. A scan of our hiking log shows that in the final month or so of hiking, we only covered about 300 miles. Our daily average was just over twelve miles, and we spent five or six days in hotels or hostels taking zeros, days when zero miles were hiked. Over the whole of the hike, we took about 30 zeros, not counting twelve days when we were off trail due to injury and waiting on our hiking partners to catch up with us. Counting only “hiking days,” our daily average was just short of 10.5 miles. Forgive my sudden purge of numbers and statistics. As you likely know, I taught math for 29 years, and even though I’m now retired, the use of numerical evidence is a hard habit to break. The point is, posting totals like those, it would be difficult to make it to Katahdin in one season.
There are many reasons why we didn’t “hike harder” that I don’t need to delve into here, but suffice it to say we’re older and (hopefully) wiser now. With the benefit of five years of rumination and 20-20 hindsight, we’re excited to announce our 2024 Do-Over Hike!
We’ll be starting in February from Springer Mtn. and are looking forward to rejoining life on the trail. Since 2019, we have updated some of our gear and are focusing on the psychological aspects of long-distance hiking. When discussing this year’s hike, many have asked whether we are going to pick up in New Jersey where we left off. Though that may be the most sensible option, Gavin and I both want to earn the title of thru-hiker by completing all 2,200 miles from start to finish in one season.
We’d be honored to have you join us on our journey. As I did in 2019, I’ll be posting blogs on this site weekly, or at least as often as possible. I’ll also be posting daily videos on my YouTube channel (@WaffleHikes) which is linked in the menu above. I encourage you to subscribe to both this blog and my channel to receive notifications of new content.
On Sunday, we got a ride back to the Nantahala Outdoor Center from Beth and Griffin. Beth, Travis, and I had a nice lunch together in the restaurant by the water while Gavin and Griffin ate outside with Joy. I think it is great how well Beth and Travis got along, and she has reached out to his wife on Facebook. After lunch, we visited the outfitter onsite. Gavin and I were looking for a supplemental water filter that would work faster at stream crossings on the trail. I really love my 4L Platypus Gravity Filter, but it is a bit slow if we just need to get a liter or two on the trail. Fortunately, we were able to find just what we were looking for, and Travis got one as well. After a quick trip to the potty (unfortunately, the plastic, lined-up-in-a-row variety) we were ready to say our goodbyes and head up the trail/back up the road.
The hike out of the NOC was a uphill slog of almost 3,000 feet. Thankfully, most of the climbs in the south are graded with switchbacks. You walk up a more gentle grade for a ways, and then you turn 180° and continue walking onward and upward. Not only is this good for hikers, making the uphills less difficult, it is also a good way to control erosion along the trail. If the trail just went straight up, when it rains, the water would run straight down, bringing the mountain down with it.
Our destination for the evening was Sassafras Gap Shelter, 6.9 miles away. Along the way, we passed a monument to Wade Sutton, an NC Forest Service Ranger who died fighting a forest fire nearby in 1968. The monument was festooned with loose change, rocks, and other trinkets. This will not be the only such monument we will pass as we make our way to Maine. We made it to the shelter and met a few new hikers including a pleasant lady called Pushing 60. The shelter was situated so that the “cooking platform” had benches that allowed us to look out of the shelter and down into the valley below. Gavin and I both stayed in the shelter because there were so few people there that night. It was good to not have to hassle with pitching my tent.
The next day we set out for Brown Fork Gap Shelter. This was our longest day of hiking in quite a while, at 9.1 miles. Thankfully, most all the day was spent hiking in and around the bases of mountains with easy terrain. The climbs were few and gentle UNTIL…. Near the end of the day, when we were almost spent, we started a section of the trail called Jacob’s Ladder. This was a section we had been warned about early on by Santa from Atlanta. It was a tail-kicker. Never mind the switchbacks. It went straight up. And up. And then up some more. Just when we thought we were about to reach the top (silly us), it went up even more. This was hands-down the most difficult and vertical climb we have made, even considering the haul up Albert Mountain. I hope we don’t have to deal with anything like that again until New Hampshire.
When we got to the shelter, there was not much room left. Gavin was able to secure a spot, but I wound up walking down into a valley beside the shelter to find ground flat enough to pitch a tent. Thankfully, this spot was near the water source. Before I bedded down, there were two more tents pitched beside mine. It was at this shelter that I was able to catch my first marvelous sunset. It was truly phenomenal. The temperature dropped to the 20’s, but we all slept warmly.
By the time I got my stuff packed up the next morning and went up to wake Gavin, all the other hikers had gone except Travis. I am appreciative that he and I seem to operate on the same sort of sleeping and hiking schedules. I usually set my alarm for 8:00 and wind up hitting the snooze button for an hour. I’ve really got to get better about that. I really don’t understand why I can’t get going in the mornings after I’ve had 12-13 hours of sleep, but it is a challenge nonetheless. Gavin is a whole other story. It usually takes him about the same amount of time to get up and get moving. I appreciate the nights we are able to stay in a shelter together so that I can get him started a little earlier.
Before Gavin was up and around, another couple had walked into the shelter. They are from Dallas and were just beginning their hike. They did the Georgia section back in October, so they were picking up where they left off. Gavin didn’t even get to meet them, but we’ll see them farther up the trail.
Needless to say, after having made the climb up Jacob’s Ladder, we were still tired and a bit sore. Our day of hiking to Cable Gap Shelter was one of our shortest, at 6.3 miles. I haven’t mentioned the weather much, but with the fear of jinxing our next week, we’ve had wonderful hiking weather the past several days. Though it has been much cooler at night, the days have been sunny and warm enough to hike in a light shirt. Today’s trip was another meandering stroll through the woods. No big climbs or descents to speak of. It was the kind of day of hiking I’d love to have many of.
We reached Cable Gap Shelter much earlier in the day than we normally arrive at camp. The couple I met earlier in the morning was already there as were a few others including Scout, who was able to witness my first true fall on the trail. I had just finished videoing and putting my phone back into its holster on my pack strap when my left foot hit a slick muddy spot and I went down. I am grateful that I missed the jagged rock that was sticking out of the ground near where I fell.
No sooner had we arrived at the shelter then Gavin asked, “Does anybody here play D & D?” Looking around at the folks, I expected a chorus of no’s, but the lady from Dallas (Happy) said, “Funny you should ask— his trail name is D-20.” It turns out that her husband was one of the early creators of the game, and he is still actively developing parts of it. After camp was made, Gavin and I were treated to having him lead us on a short campaign. It was truly a magical moment for Gavin.
Though I wasn’t too tired to do so, I decided not to pitch my tent in favor of securing a wall spot in the shelter. Before too long, some of the folks there had a good fire going out front and it was nice being able to visit and swap stories with the other hikers who arrived later that afternoon. Pushing 60 was there, and we were also graced with the presence of Sam, Odie, and a few others. Odie thru-hiked last year, so it was helpful to hear of some his adventures up the trail. It sounds like the early parts of the Smokies are going to be a bit difficult.
We were able to get up and out a little quicker today. Oddly enough, Gavin woke before I did, but he wound up getting back in his bag for a while. We got our breakfast, packed our bags, and had one of our earliest starts of the trip, hiking by 10:30.
With the goal of making it to Fontana Dam and The Lodge at Fontana Village, we set out – uphill. The climb lasted only an hour, and at the top we were caught by some old friends: Kevin (Goat), MJ (Sunkist), and Catherine (So Far, So Good.) We met them in the early days of our hike and expected that they would be well ahead of us. It turns out that they spent a few days in Asheville sightseeing and nursing an injury. We hiked with them most of the day today. It was really neat to see Gavin mix back in with them. Goat and I took the lead (Travis is just too fast for me to keep up with on the uphills), and Gav and the ladies hiked behind. So Far, So Good is the one who gave Gavin his trail name early on. She was in one of our early videos (Day 7 to be exact).
We made it down to the bathroom area at Fontana Lake, but we decided to push it on another 1.5 miles or so to the dam so that we wouldn’t have to hike it tomorrow. It was a good decision, though Gavin didn’t appreciate it at the time. Along the way, we passed the shelter known as the Fontana Hilton because there are showers nearby, running water, and a solar-powered charging station for devices. Based on conversations we heard last night, I believe the shelter was going to be pretty packed, and probably with partiers, so it was just as well that we had planned to stay at The Lodge.
After touring the dam briefly, we eventually got a shuttle to the hotel. It took some doing, though. Down at the dam, there was zero cell signal. We had to walk a few tenths of a mile back uphill to make the call. In under 15 minutes, we were whisked up and were on our way to the great indoors!
And that is where I am now. We have all showered, had our cheeseburgers, and are charging our devices. Tomorrow we will cross Fontana Dam and enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is the only section of the trail where you have to purchase and carry a permit. I was able to use a computer terminal in the lobby to secure ours. I am going to try to upload one or two more videos tonight and then I’m going to bed. We have a steep day ahead of us tomorrow climbing away from the dam.
As always, thanks so much for taking this trip with us. It has been truly amazing for us to be supported by so many folks, some of whom we know, but many of whom we don’t. We’re hoping to get into Gatlinburg sometime mid-week where I hope to make another entry. I am also trying to get videos out as often as possible. We’re still hamstrung by the in camp/want to eat/want to sleep problem, but finding strong enough WiFi to upload videos has been a challenge as well. At any rate, know that you are appreciated and your comments are meaningful to us. Also, remember to just keep taking the Next Step…
On day 17 Gavin and I got a late shuttle back to Rock Gap from Franklin. We had all hoped to make the 11:00 ride, but since there were no hikers staying at Baltimore Jack’s hostel, they didn’t run that one. Instead, we took the Macon Co. Transit shuttle for $3/each. Our destination was 7.9 miles away at the Siler Bald shelter. We were very surprised to find not only Fresh Ground of Fresh Ground’s Leapfrog Cafe at the trailhead but also the complete Crawford family, who hiked the trail as a family of 8 last season. They are the first YouTube “celebrities” we’ve met on the trail- check them out. They were cooking homemade corn dogs, fried cheese sticks, and french fries. Even though we had a long day ahead of us, starting so late, we paused for a little while to enjoy the free food.
I am pleased to report that this day was far and away our best hiking day of the trip. Even though it was after 1:00 when we left for the trail head, with Gavin in his new shoes, we did almost 8 miles in just at four hours. The hiking this day was mostly uphill, with one stretch being a 1,000 foot climb almost to the top of Siler Bald. The shelter was one of the nicest tenting areas we’ve come across. There were only three folks staying inside the shelter, but quite a number of folks were tenting down the hill. Gavin had his first go at hanging the bear bag line and he did a great job. This was also our first run-in with groups of section hikers. There were two groups of three, one from UNC-Wilmington, and another from Auburn, that were out for a spring break trip. They were quite interested in hearing the stories that we thru-hikers had to share. At this shelter we met Coco, from the UK, and Snowbird and her new puppy who were from Oklahoma. We actually happened to meet her on her 52nd birthday.
On Wednesday we had a slightly shorter hike to the Wayah Bald shelter. This was our first day of multiple gorgeous views along the trail. Our first peak was the top of Siler Bald at just over 5,000′. Even though we had to walk a few tenths of a mile (without packs) uphill through a meadow to reach the top, the summit afforded us 360° views of the surrounding mountains. I pulled out the PeakFinder app on my phone to put names to the mountains we had crossed or are going to cross. The top of Siler Bald was our first place where we had completely unobstructed views of our surroundings. I was disappointed that we couldn’t see Wayah Bald, which was our next summit, but it turns out, it was tucked in a few peaks away.
At the top of Wayah Bald there is a covered, stone observation tower. I don’t believe it was ever intended to be a fire tower like the one on Albert Mtn., but we did have phenomenal views from the top. Along this part of our trip, we kept crossing back and forth with Wednesday, a lady around my age from Kansas City. Gavin was struggling a bit this day, and she was kind to stop and offer suggestions and encouragement. I hope we run into her farther up the trail. One of the most difficult parts of this day was thinking we were climbing up Wayah for quite a distance before we actually were. At one point, we saw a sign that indicated the distance to the top was “smudge.6.” The sign had been carved on and I read the “smudge” as a zero when in fact, it should have been a one. It was quite disappointing to go a ways down the trail and realize we still had over a mile to go. Thankfully, we powered through to the top. I only wish I had worn my puffy jacket up on the tower so I could have stayed longer.
We arrived at Wayah Bald shelter quite late in the day and there was no room for Gavin to camp inside. We pitched our tents in the best places we could find, but there were way more folks tenting at this shelter than we had encountered before. As a consequence, we had to settle for a couple of spots that weren’t as level as we would have liked. The way my tent was pitched, I had to be very conscious to not roll off my mat. Actually, I had about as good a night’s sleep as I’ve had, even though I remember several times waking up to make sure I still had an appendage hanging over the top of my sleeping pad to hold me in place.
We got a really late start out of the shelter the next morning. By the time we were up and around, the shelter itself had cleared out except for one gentleman who was a two-time thru-hiker. He was nursing a sore knee and said he was going to take a zero at the shelter. We wound up moving our stuff under the shelter and packing there. It was also nice to have use of the shelves/benches to cook and eat our breakfast. Just before we were ready to head out for the day, Travis hiked in. He took an extra day in Franklin because of a family emergency and it only took him a day and a half to catch up with us. It was great to rejoin a good friend. We hiked together for much of the day.
When we reached Burningtown Gap we were once again met with trail magic from the Crawfords and Fresh Ground. The fare was similar to that of two days before, but this time we hung around long enough to enjoy some blueberry fritters. Gavin also enjoyed playing with Rainer and Filia. It was really heartwarming to see Gavin pull out his stuffed dog to entertain Rainer. We were also treated to some great guitar songs by Kami. As I said earlier, it was an unexpected treat to run into “internet legends” along the trail.
The final part of this day was another slog. We had a 3.3-mile trek over the Copper Ridge Bald to the Big Branch Campsite and we thought we’d never get there. Thankfully, we found tent spots that were much more level than the previous day. As a bonus, there was a spring right in our campsite so we didn’t have to go anywhere to hydrate. We ate and went to bed pretty early after a long day of hiking. Unfortunately, we had some pretty loud thunderstorms through the night. On the bright side, we slept late enough that the rain had stopped so we didn’t have to pack our things in a shower. That is the down side to tent camping: it is absolutely no fun trying to get your gear stuffed into your pack inside the tent. Even though the rain had stopped, we still had to pack our tents wet. Thankfully, this was our final day of hiking, so we knew we’d be able to spread the tents out and let them dry when we got into Bryson City.
Our last day of hiking this week was our longest, at 9.6 miles. It was in many ways the most difficult because we lost nearly 3,000 feet in altitude with few uphills to “rest” our legs. Hiking down is often more challenging on the feet and legs because of all the pounding they take and because of the need to “hold back” from going downhill too quickly as to be reckless. Fortunately, we were able to make our destination, the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, NC. Gavin and I got there around 5:00, a little after Travis. We ate a light supper, and Beth and Griffin picked us up a short time later for our weekend in the Hummingbird Cabin.
On Saturday afternoon, Beth, Griffin, and I did a little reconnaissance on Fontana Dam, Fontana Village and the resupply options therein. The dam was truly an amazing sight. We were able to look down into the spillways that lead to the turbines. I cannot even describe how large they were. After walking part of the way across the dam (which is on the AT), we drove down to the bottom and took some pictures and videos from that angle. The amount of water coming out of the spillway and gushing into the air was incredible. It amazes me that such a structure could have been completed in 1945.
It was a thrill for Beth and Griff to meet Travis, having heard us talk so much about him. He has been such a positive influence on Gavin and a great hiking partner for me. It was our pleasure to share the cabin with him this weekend. We had a good time just relaxing around the cabin, eating, and going into the local Ingles to resupply. Travis also got to meet Joy, whom he has heard much about from Gavin.
Tomorrow morning we’ll head back to the NOC to start hiking again, and Beth and Griffin will head back home. It has been really great seeing them, and we also appreciate Aunt Sallie for making our cabin arrangements for the weekend. She is truly the queen of the VRBO! Our plan is to get to Fontana Dam by Wednesday and spend one night at the Fontana Lodge. From there, we’ll be hiking into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the next 70 miles. We hope to be able to get off for at least one night in the middle at Newfound Gap. From there, we can introduce Travis to the joys of Gatlinburg, TN!
“What are you guys going to eat out on the trail? Berries and ramps?”
It is a fairly common question and the answer is, “Yes.” At least the berries part. Blueberries are rampant (sorry) along the trail once they come into season. Actually, ramps are too, but I’m not so sure about those. Never had ‘em.
In truth, for most of the trip we will be able to get into town every 3-4 days. When there, we’ll shower (yeah!), do laundry, and resupply our food. We’ll also have the option of sleeping indoors in one of the many hostels and hotels in towns along the trail. Even though there are few grocery stores adjacent to the trail, hostels usually provide shuttle service into town for meals and resupply.
Gavin and I did our initial food trip today. I hope we got everything we need. Actually, I’m sure we did, and then some. So what do we eat? Here is our startup menu:
Breakfast:
Oatmeal
Carnation Instant Breakfast
Coffee/Hot Chocolate
Cliff Bars
Powdered Milk
Lunch:
Tortillas with peanut butter & raisins or pepperoni & cheese
More protein bars
Snack:
Peanut M&Ms
Snickers
Dried Fruit
Slim Jim’s
Cheese
Fruit Gummies
Nuts
Supper:
Knorr Pasta or Rice Sides
Ramen noodles
Summer Sausage
Spam
Chicken in a pouch
All the above is typical hiker fare which will be heavily supplemented with cheeseburgers and pizza when we get into town.
When on the trail, we’ll be burning 3,000-5,000 calories/day. That averages out to about two pounds of food each day. What I’ve learned about backpacking food is, the more calories, fat, and protein, the better. This seems incredibly wrong to me, but I’ve heard that even though a hiker’s diet is largely junk food (think honey buns for breakfast) for six months, all the extra exercise day in and day out makes it all okay. On a hiker podcast I was listening to today, the 50ish host said his cholesterol levels just off the trail were the best they’ve ever been.
Even though we’ll be eating tons of food that is high in calories and as light in weight as possible, I still expect we’ll lose a bunch of weight. It is not uncommon for a hiker of my stature to lose 40+ pounds along the journey, even while eating and snacking all day long. About a week into our trip, we will develop “hiker hunger,” which is akin to the “see food diet.” For all the demands being placed on our bodies, we will develop an insatiable appetite and will somehow still lose weight. I’m looking forward to that part. I just hope I can turn it off when we get off-trail.
“Are you going to sleep in a tent for the whole six months?”
Yes and no. As I mentioned above, we’ll be able to sleep indoors at least once a week if we want to. Our options in the woods are either our tents or shelters, which are 3-sided structures that are located every 8-15 miles along the trail. They will be a welcome site (see what I did there?) when it is raining or snowing, but my feeling right now is that I’d rather stay in my tent as often as possible. Shelters tend to be crowded, especially in inclimate weather. I’d rather not have to climb over and around folks if I need to get up in the night. They also tend to be a hotbed for norovirus.
“How far are you going to hike each day?”
We are intentionally planning to start slowly to mitigate the chance of early injury and to give our bodies time to adjust. Our stop/start locations will be largely dictated by shelter and campsite locations which are spaced fairly closely together early on along the trail. In the first two weeks, most of our planned days are less than 8 miles, but there are a couple that are 11.5ish. Since we usually hike at a pace of around 2 mph, this will mean 4-6 hours hiking each day. This will give us plenty of chance to acclimate ourselves to the trail. We will also be able to stop to rest and enjoy the views without feeling the need to push onward. Most important, we will arrive in camp with plenty of time to set up in the daylight.
Once we get farther up into NC/TN and definitely VA, we’ll develop our “trail legs,” meaning we will be in top physical shape and can do longer days. I expect that through Virginia, we’ll be able to put up 15-20 mile days with regularity. That will keep up until we get into New Hampshire where we will confront the White Mountains. Because of this section’s difficulty, most folk’s mileage is cut in half there. There is even one area, Mahoosuc Notch, which is called, “the most difficult mile on the AT.” Here, we will be climbing over, under, and around house-sized boulders. It takes most folks 1-2 hours to complete this single mile of the trail.
“How will you keep in touch with folks back home?”
Though there will be periods of interruption, we should have cellular service most days while we are on the trail. With luck, Gavin and I will be able to call home and check in, or at least send messages at the end of the day. We are also bringing along a SPOT Personal Locator Beacon which was loaned to us by a friend. It is a satellite-based GPS unit that will ping our location every 30 minutes. Beth will be able to “see” us on a map, and when we don’t have cell service I can have it send a precomposed message such as, “Made it to camp and are doing okay.” It also has an SOS button on it that will summon wilderness rescue personnel should we find ourselves in a dire situation. Hopefully we won’t accidentally hit that one! For that matter, I hope we don’t hit it on purpose either. With luck, we’ll have enough service to update the blog frequently, if not daily.
“What about bears? Are you taking a gun/bear spray?”
No. There is really no need for a gun for protection on the Appalachian Trail. If the bears have read the same books that I have, they know that they’re way more scared of me than I will be of them, though I’m not really sure that’ll be the case if I encounter one on-trail (mental note: pack extra underwear). The only real danger from bears is getting between a mama bear and her cubs. Bears only come around humans to get their food. For that reason, we will either be hanging our food from a tree limb or putting it in bear-proof containers provided at many shelters. Unfortunately, some people are careless with their bear-hangs, or they just don’t bother. When bears begin to associate humans with food, it usually ends badly for the bear. Last summer there was such a bear in the Grayson Highlands section of the trail, just across the VA line. Because of the bear’s frequent assaults on food bags, a 20-mile section of the trail was closed for camping in that area. Unfortunately, bears that become a nuisance are generally euthanized. Thus the saying, “A fed bear is a dead bear.”
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the bottom of another lengthy diatribe where I try to use as many big words as possible! Gavin and I really appreciate you for following us along the trail, and we hope you’ll send us comments with words of encouragement as we hike northward. If you would like to be notified by email when we post, just put your address in the subscribe box in the right margin of the page. Also, please check out our YouTube channel; subscribe if you like. It is linked at the top of this page.
In a previous post I described a trail name as an alias taken on by a hiker on the trail. People are more commonly known by these pseudonyms than by their real monikers. In that post, I waxed philosophic about the name “Next Step,” and how it may be a suitable trail name to use on my hike. On our December hike in the Smokys, though, Gavin suggested another trail name that I’ve been considering. It is truly incredible how creative he is, and he has a special mastery of the pun.
We were standing in the shelter packing up after a restful night’s sleep and he said, “Dad, I’ve got a trail name for you: Aftermath. Get it? After. Math.” For the uninformed, I have spent the past 29 years teaching high school and community college mathematics. My first impression was that it was a creative name, but I didn’t give it much thought because I was somewhat vested in “Next Step.” Since then, I’ve had some time to ruminate over the name and it has grown on me somewhat.
When I initially looked up the word online, the first thing I saw for a definition on Google was, “consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event.” That didn’t sound too good. Though I had some of “those days,” and a very few students over the years that I didn’t particularly care for, I certainly wouldn’t deem my teaching career as a significant unpleasant event. I also hope that I’m not a consequence or an aftereffect. Those seem to be quite negative terms. Then I looked on down the page for other definitions.
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aftermath) has “consequence” as the second definition. As Cliff Clavin, of Cheer’s Fame, would say, “It’s a little known fact that…” aftermath dates to the late 1400s and refers to a “second-growth crop.” It seems that in older British English, math refers to mowing a hay crop. Thus, in its originally used form, the word aftermath refers to the second planted crop. Further in the entry, it is stated that this second crop was often used for grazing, or plowed under, presumably to add nutrients to the soil. At least in this sense, aftermath seems to be a helpful thing.
I have to confess that I started writing this post on January 17, and it has been languishing on my hard drive since. I just haven’t been able to come up with a decision or a proper ending. While I truly want to honor Gavin’s creativity, I’m still somewhat selfishly stuck on Next Step. As I wrote in my Trail Names entry, I am partial to that name because of its multifaceted meaning to me and to my hike. I have discussed both names with Gavin, and while he is proud of the trail name he came up with, he understands why I like Next Step. Truth be told, it is still highly likely that I’ll do something dumb on trail and will become known to others as Wrong Way, Breaks the Wind, or something equally as embarrassing, and all the mental effort I’ve spent in this deliberation will be for naught.
At least for the present, I think my decision has been made. I am honored to introduce myself to you by my trail name: Next Step. Now I’ll turn the keyboard over to Gavin to share his thoughts about trail names.
Hi! This is Gavin again, and I’d like to share my thoughts on trail names. I really like the concept of trail names, because they are a way of getting to know someone. I feel like a trail name is more personal when it is given to you based on of your characteristics or actions on the trail. This makes it feel more meaningful to me when other people pick out your name, and that is why I’m going to leave the option of my trail name up to you, my readers, and to those whom I’ll meet along the trail. Whether or not I regret this decision remains to be seen. Do any of you have any suggestions? If so, post them in the comments below. Hopefully, I will be able to respond to all of your comments before the trip.
In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about the trail name Little Bear, because I’m so bad at throwing bear hangs and so good at climbing trees. If you’re wondering why this is funny see the article about the Pisgah National Forest trip. There, we got attacked by a bear. Well, we didn’t get attacked, but our food got attacked by a bear because he was really good at climbing really small trees. In closing thank you for your time. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated, and remember to just keep taking the Next Step!
