No Rain No Pain No Maine on the Appalachian Trail; JagHappy's Undaunted Journey

By Don R. Morgan

In 2011, this civil litigation attorney was diagnosed with cancer and decided that despite his healthy lifestyle, he could not realistic manage the stress of his career. Four years post sepsis and prostatectomy, Don sold his home, his law practice and most of his possessions to hike the 2,189 mile long Appalachian Trail. It was a journey that would test his physical, emotional and mental stamina. With humor, sadness, anger, and spontaneous joy, JagHappy connected with the sights, sounds, and characters on the AT.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don R. Morgan
• Release date: May 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736975800

Don R. Morgan

In 2011, working as a civil litigation attorney, I was diagnosed with cancer and decided that despite my healthy lifestyle, I could not realistic manage the stress of my career. Four years post sepsis and prostatectomy, I sold my home, my law practice and most of my possessions to hike the 2,189 mile long Appalachian Trail. It was a journey that tested my physical, emotional and mental stamina. With humor, sadness, anger, and spontaneous joy I, JagHappy, connected with the sights, sounds, and characters on the AT.

Book preview

No Rain No Pain No Maine On The Appalachian Trail

JagHappy’s Undaunted Journey

Don R. Morgan

Copyright © 2021 Don R. Morgan

All rights reserved.

Ebook: 978-1-7369758-0-0

Print: 987-1-7369758-1-7

While my words may draw a picture for you, without the personal experience of the reader, all you have is words. Without your experience, my words are empty. Be the experience.

Contents

[FOREWORD]

[INTRODUCTION]

No Rain No Pain No Maine on the Appalachian Trail

Epilogue One

Epilogue Two

[APPENDIX]

[FOREWORD]

It’s time to get busy living…

While recently walking on the streets of San Francisco, I had a strange epiphany: what if I am not really in this lifetime that I think I’m in?

Nothing I see or hear is real. I’m living a life that doesn’t include me, as I know me. The car rollover at 18 years old without being secured by a seatbelt, going 50+ mph; the scuba diving accident, when I ran out of air as waves were continually hitting me and being weighed down by my foraged sea life and my weight belt, while my buoyancy compensator was malfunctioning, bobbing for air, after each successive sinking of 4-6 feet under the ocean’s surface; the truck in which I was literally a split second from stepping in front of, as it was traveling about the speed limit of 35 mph; the sepsis that landed me in ICU for 4 days; and my prostate cancer that had been growing undetected for years were all part of this flashing epiphany. Did I truly die and I’m not really in this life? Is this just another dimension or is this life just a dream? What I feel at this moment, as I’m about to hike 2,189 miles on the Appalachian Trail is this epiphany and why the hell not?!

Life is precious and a mystery. Let the mystery of this fantasy unfold…

Soon it will be midnight rendezvous on the Appalachian Trail 2016. Follow my trials, the trail, bohemian folly and spiritual exploits as it happened. My life purpose is happiness, namaste.

[INTRODUCTION]

My name is Don Morgan, though these days I prefer my trail name, JagHappy. In 2017 I completed a hike of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine; and the whole thing started by reading a book kind of like this.

I may not really be who you would immediately think to be a thru hiker, the term given to someone making that trek. I was a lawyer in Seattle Washington, had a successful practice and nearing what many consider retirement years. I have always enjoyed hiking and backpacking, but a long trip would be a week, not seven months. Seven months backpacking I would have considered to be approximating eternity. Per trail nomenclature, I became a LASH, when a personal matter to help another took me off the trail in 2016, continuing and completing my trek in 2017. Oh, LASH = Long Ass Section Hiker.

While in Seattle a friend of mine suggested reading a book Walking for Sunshine, about a young man’s journey along the Appalachian Trail. I was immediately taken with the concept, however secure in the knowledge I would never make the time to actually do such a thing. Until one day, walking the streets of San Francisco, I had my life changing epiphany that went like this:

It’s time to get busy living…

Let me share my journey with you,

Pre Hike, First Journal Entry: My Hiking Stuff:

As boring and anal as this part is to read, it didn’t take me long to appreciate my supply list, as well as to discover, in many hard ways, that this will be a never ending list. There will be no end to the adding, subtracting and keeping it in mind with every step that I will take in the mountains.

Shopping has never been my idea of a good time, with one notable exception, which is shopping for hiking gear. Oh baby, did I ever hit the motherlode of excuses to visit the REI store, Sports Basement and a few other outdoor supply stores and websites on a weekly basis. I had done a great deal of research by reading books, blogs, manuals, etc, etc. The fact that there were many differing opinions told me I was going to screw up somewhere. However, blissfully, I had to do the best I could, then adjust as needed, and adjust I did.

So, I was going to need some things to survive, yet maintain a backpack of sufficient weight to enable my initial goal of averaging up to 17 miles per day. To more quickly get to my hike, My Hiking Stuff is in the Appendix of this book.

So, after my anal task of gathering and listing the stuff, I needed to get it all in my pack. With all laid out on the floor, how in the hell was I getting it all into my pack and how the hell could I expect to carry it all on a flat trail, never mind up and down mountains?! While I puff out my chest and let my past experiences put a glow on me, I lingered with some doubt about my success.

As I threw caution to the wind, I went from buck ass naked to armed to the teeth, and I’d found a happy medium. My journey began with boarding a flight from San Francisco to Atlanta, to begin my trek. If at least four near death incidents couldn’t kill me, the Appalachian Trail damn well couldn’t either!

No Rain No Pain No Maine on the Appalachian Trail

Honor and Remember

February 29, 2016

Well, here goes my Leap of faith in the AT and me. On February 28, after spending a few days with my Georgian cousins Pam and Ken, they drove me to the Hiker Hostel outside of Dahlonega, GA, where I spent two nights, preparing the start of my 2,189.6 mile AT trek. The hostel owners will shuttle me to the trailhead on March 1. I settled into one of their bunks and felt fortunate that I’d made a reservation for two nights, since they were overflowing, and made available their sofas for additional hikers. Welcome to the AT’s big bubble of hikers! Despite my intention to hike solo, it looked like there would be lots of company on the trail, until the self-weeding out process began. I’d been told that approximately 1/3 of those who began would be off the trail within the first 33 miles, with Neel’s Gap being the first and biggest dropout point.

The owner of Hiker Hostel was a former AT hiker and he gave a good lecture on what to expect on the AT. I paid closest attention to his advice on equipment needed to prepare for the cold and wet weather. If I didn’t know it before, I then knew I would likely have to supplement my gear or replace some things as the hike progressed, but on the first night?! Yes, on the first night. I was convinced that my optimism about my 30F-degree bag was unrealistic, despite it having been my Mt Rainier summit-climbing bag. I wanted to give myself the greatest chance for success in completing the 2,189.6-mile hike. Therefore, I bought a 16-degree bag from Hikers Hostel and sent back home my 30-degree bag, along with a few odds and ends, to lighten my load.

I donated my large bag of GORP (Good ‘Ol Raisins and Peanuts) to the hiker box. It weighed two pounds and I really didn’t need it, considering my meal replacement bars, snickers and turkey jerky for midday snacks. Besides, my anxiety was increasing, as I considered the weight of my pack. The agonizing over calories and weight will haunt me every day and through all 14 states. I will vacillate throughout my entire trek over my decisions to bring or not more food. The hiker box, which will be in every hostel, was a free resource for giving and taking in this hiking community.

Since it was my rest and organize day, before I began my journey, I, along with others preparing for their hike tomorrow, relaxed and communed. There were several, many of whose names I can’t recall, hanging out on the back deck and in the two living rooms. I recall ‘Pop’ and ‘The Kid’ (70ish ultra-marathoner father and his 18 year old son), Chris (a vet on his 2nd thru hike attempt), Vera, and ‘Rambo’, in addition to about 20 or so others.

Rambo engaged me in conversation about the AT and life. He had come through the intensity and sadness of war, protecting his brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the support and courage of older veterans, Steve ‘Rambo’ wanted to share with other returning veterans the connectedness that saved him. He wanted to help them before they found life unlivable and unable to meld back into life as it once existed for them, before the effects of war.

This was Steve’s story in his words, which he asked me to put in my blog: My name is Steven Rambo Lesage. I grew up in a small town in CT and spent 8 years in the Marines and this is my friend [name on the flag], who I am honoring by carrying his flag from GA to ME. To follow along with my journey, check out Rambo Helps Fallen On The AT on Facebook to find out more about the organization, Carry The Fallen, as well as Honor & Remember. Though I have a picture of Rambo and the flag and know the name of the fallen veteran in whose honor Rambo was bearing this flag, I will not mention the veteran’s name, since Rambo’s own writing failed to mention it.

I fell asleep, knowing that my life had been less violent and dangerous than what many of these military veterans had to face and live through. I honored them and hoped that war could become a fight between politicians (though some/few politicians do try to resemble the values of the people they represent) and not between people who had no say in starting the destruction of human life, others’ livelihood, and the very basics of survival for innocent victims in these war-torn countries. These innocent victims are sadly and disgustingly called collateral damage. There is no connectedness in the destruction of war.

Goodnight

Reality Bites

March 1, 2016

I arrived at Hawks Mountain Shelter, after what will be a typical day of hiking up and down mountains and along ridges. It was a good start for the more than 137 hiking days to follow, based on an average of about 16 miles per day. However, in the wee hours of the night, I suddenly woke from a dream, which details I couldn’t recall. However, it brought me back to my last night at Hiker Hostel, when I woke in my bunk at 3am. I was paralyzed with anxiety, unable to rest in the total darkness and unable to sleep for over an hour. I felt panicky and thought about staying another night to try and deal with the sudden fear. I knew it was fear of what I did not know. After about 45 minutes, I took Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search For Meaning from my backpack. His story of survival in a Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz, taught me to calm my mind, since his initial words were about survival even in the worst of life’s conditions. I was able to sleep another hour.

While the wind shook my bivy tent and water collected inside, I calmed my mind with thoughts of the community of AT thru hikers, members of this community I met at the Hiker Hostel and on the trail to Hawks Mountain. They inspired me in the yin and yang of their lives of sadness and courage, which brought them to the AT. I felt love for each one for who they were. These thoughts were part of what I used to calm my mind, as I took single digit notes inside this physical and emotional tunnel I’d created.

As darkness came with the winds and rain, I, along with all of the tenters, sought the shelter of our little homes. Tonight on Hawk’s Mountain, as the anxiety returned, I looked for refuge in Viktor Frankl’s book, as I did at the hostel. This time the book contributed to my feeling of anxiety, as I laid in my bivy type tent, in which I barely fit. Though the heavy downpour of rain and sleet was soothing, neither the roaring sounds of the coming gusts of wind nor the reading in Frankl’s book was so. My feeling of claustrophobia added to the drama. These waves of winds moved quickly from what I assumed to be miles away and approached with amazing speed into and past our camp. Nature truly rules and I felt fortunate to be able to live with these forces, despite my anxiety. After an unsuccessful attempt to mediate, I sought the comfort of Frankl’s book. However, while the first third of Frankl’s book, which I read the previous day, was about his pre-Nazi life and initial experiences with the Nazis, this night I read about the horrifying violence of the Nazis in and out of the concentration camp. It was a perfect storm of the violence of nature going on outside my tent and the violence inflicted by the Nazis. My anxiety was becoming acute, as I tried to get comfortable in my cocoon-like tent. My IPod rescued me with the guided meditation by my friend Friedemann Schaub, M.D., Ph.D. and hypnotherapist, sufficiently calming my mind to sleep.

To think I left my more appropriate tent in San Francisco for this, despite feeling thankful for this thoughtful gift of the bivy from my nephew, Aaron. Due to the heavy downpour and a full shelter (a double decker building enclosed except for a fully open front), the bivy was my only available shelter from the storm. Due to the barely adequate size of the ‘tent’, I was unable to get all of my stuff out of the weather, so I surrounded myself with all I had room for: my hiking pants and shirt, fleece, book, headlamp, reading glasses, IPod, and IPad, putting my hiking shoes and socks in the tiny vestibule. My pack with its rain cover remained outside my tent. What the f*#k was I thinking leaving my real tent behind?!

Despite the challenges of my first night on the trail, I felt exhilarated by my wonderfully simple life. As I accepted the cold weather, my weary muscles and my anxiety, I knew I was up for this long trek.

Goodnight now, I think.

In It Alone, Yes and No

March 2, 2016

I learned much about myself, following my first night on the AT. After waking from last night’s sleet and snowstorm, with high gusting winds, I rose from my bivy tent with symptoms of hypothermia: nausea, cloudy head, and chills. I was unable to do anything but sit on the edge of the emptying shelter, trying to get warm and hoping to relieve my nausea. After about an hour I was able to boil water for coffee and oatmeal. The hour was spent just sitting in the quickly vacating shelter, wrapped in an emergency blanket, which got me bodily warm and centered in my head. A hiker, who was discontinuing her hike, feeling unprepared after the first 11 miles, gave me the emergency blanket. She hiked the approach trail to the AT, adding 3 miles to her first day’s hike.

There were several hikers in the shelter, when I initially took my hypothermic refuge there. Those hikers, none of whom I’d previously met, were finishing their packing for the hike to the next camp. There was also a trail runner or such, who was headed out to the location of another future campsite near Hawks Mountain Shelter. He was the last to leave, telling me that if I was still here feeling badly upon his return, he would arrange to help me get off the trail. I’d only hiked 8 miles and there was no f’n way I was quitting, further inspired by witnessing the first victim of the AT.

Though I left Hawks Mountain Shelter about 2 hours later than the last of the others, my hiking time to the next shelter, Gooch Gap Shelter, was in line with everyone but the 20-somethings. However, before I began this day’s hike, I respected my body by considering the option of leaving the trail for a day to recover, if necessary. Also, several of us discussed getting off the trail tomorrow night, before the forecasted snowstorm, getting back on the trail the following day.

As I arrived at Gooch Gap Shelter, I noticed that there was still enough space in the shelter for my mattress and sleeping bag. After my failed bivy tent during the storm, I could not/would not sleep in that tent again. One of the thru hikers was setting his bedding in the shelter and proclaiming that he snored like a freight train, but was staying inside anyway and giving [us] all fair warning. I later discovered that he meant business. It was the sound of a big locomotive! But for my lack of an adequate tent, I would have chosen to stay in my tent and not in the shelter. I expected it to be a long night. Being quite tired, I had no problem falling asleep. However, my concern was for the difficulty of getting back to sleep after my need to pee in the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, it was much better than hypothermia.

There were trail angels at Gooch Gap Shelter, my first experience of such! Two couples hiked a mile to the shelter from a side trail with a huge multi-gallon thermo of hot tea. It was wonderful. I mean REALLY wonderful! Trail Angels are folks, often former hikers, who go out of their way to help and support thru hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

A couple of hikers made a fire in the existing pit, so after setting up my bedding in the shelter and eating my dinner, I headed for the blazing fire. I met three ladies, who appeared to be hiking together, Mama (Traci), Mama’s daughter (Amanda), and Reese Witherspoon. Mama or Amanda, while communing at the fire, mentioned some doubt about their food supplies being sufficient before their planned resupply. I felt that I could spare one of my Backpacker Pantry 2-serving dinners, so I gave it to them. One of the ten essentials is to carry extra food. I was carrying 6 days of food for a planned resupply on the 6th day. Mama was very appreciative, expressing to me how very generous I was. I was glad that she thought so, but I try to live by staying connected to all life about me. There was no centered reason for me not to share my meal. As I sat at the fire, Reese sat by me and said she was very cold and couldn’t get warm in her sleeping bag. I don’t recall the temperature rating on her bag, but it obviously was insufficient on this very cold night. Since I had the emergency blanket that was given to me earlier in the day, I took it out of my pack and gave it to Reese. These emergency blankets are often called space blankets. They are essentially perfect for keeping the body heat from escaping. So, wrapping up in one will maintain the body heat. It will also make you look like a giant baked potato, but the warmth is worth it.

After an hour or so at the fire, I headed to my bedding to get warm and to fall asleep before the freight train arrived. I slept in my 16-degree sleeping bag with 3 layers of shirts, two pairs of socks and a facemask. As I began to fall asleep, I felt thankful that I was not in my bivy tent, especially since last night’s storm resulted in dampening the bottom of my sleeping bag.

Goodnight

Snowed In

March 3, 2016

After 5 miles and up and over two small mountains, the forecasted snowstorm was obviously going to be. So several of us called for a shuttle and headed for a nearby hostel at Woody Gap. It was on the way to Woody Gap, after hiking out of Gooch Gap Shelter, that I met my second trail angel, Pirate. He said that his buddy, Wolf, and he were Trail Devils. They had set up their truck on a gravel road at the base of one of the mountains. He had donuts, pop and beer. As soon as Pirate heard my name, he said that he’d heard about me, but expected me to be off the trail. He was told that I looked quite ill at Hawk’s Mountain. I told him that I managed, on my own, to relieve the hypothermic symptoms, and left about 2 hours later than any of the other 20–30 hikers.

It was a kind of surreal moment. He had heard about me from other hikers this morning, who said that I was ashen gray in facial color and several of the prior passing hikers told Pirate that they had thought that I’d be off the trail, due to my illness. He was surprised how good I looked. While I was proud of myself for having the wherewithal to diagnose my symptoms and adequately treat them, before the symptoms persisted and got worse, I felt disappointed in the hiker community. If those hikers were concerned for my health, why did they leave me, before knowing I was recovering?! It was a lesson for me, to not treat this 2,189.6-mile trek as simply a destination of Katahdin for me, but primarily as an opportunity to work on my connectedness to life, including hikers in urgent need. Despite this, the trail magic was wonderful and I still felt connected to this community of hikers and former AT thru hikers, who were each my student and each my teacher in this journey.

Just as a dozen or so of us reached Woody Gap in the brewing storm, the trail angels, who brought the tea to Gooch Gap Shelter, were waiting in a bus fitted with sleeping capacity for 20. They had tea, tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, and energy bars, as well as seats inside to get out of the cold, while we waited for the shuttle van to take us to the hostel. Both soups were made from vegetables and chicken meat raised on their communal farm. I loved these people. ‘Salt of the earth’ fits everyone here. I will again meet this Twelve Tribes group months and over a thousand miles later in Vermont, where they owned a hostel.

Once at the Woody Gap hostel, I lucked out and got a great larger tent, a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, from Trekker, who decided to get off the trail. Trekker, who I first met at Hikers Hostel, was on his second hike of the AT. He was in his 80’s and unwilling to mention his exact age, telling us only that he planned to break the record of the oldest thru hiker of the AT. However, after 3 days of hiking, Trekker realized that he wasn’t up to the task. I saw him today on one of the mountains. As I approached him from behind, he stopped frequently and appeared to gasp for air. The cold and snow were likely contributors to his decision. I paid Trekker’s asking price of $150 cash and gave my bivy tent to John, later given the trail name ‘Shadow’, a young 20 something hiker, who said that he had no tent. Despite being a gift and John expressing his appreciation, I warned John that the tent was too small for me and my 6-foot height and that it would be even more so for his 6’2" height. I knew that it was only through the giving that we truly received. It reminded me of Mama and Amanda, to whom I gave my extra meal. In the morning at Gooch Gap, they gave me a water filter that was smaller and lighter than the larger and bulkier MSR I was carrying. I will likely send the MSR water pump back to San Francisco with a few other things, depending on upcoming weather.

Tomorrow will be an 11 mile day, up and over two mountains, one being the very vertical 5,200 Blood Mountain, which is reputed to demotivate hikers, causing them to give up their Appalachian Trail ambitions. I will end up at Neels Gap, where there resides a resupply and outfitter store, as well as a campground. As I headed to bed to replenish my body and mind, I was filled with feelings of love for my life here.

It’s A Sleep-over

3/04/16

I rested well after a very atypical, as I was told, snowstorm of 3+ inches at Woody Gap in Suches, GA. I was back on the trail by 10 am. After reading about the upcoming section of the trail, I felt that I may not be up to the task. It would be a day of proving the strength of my commitment. Several of us began the 11 mile hike to Neel Gap, over the snowy and daunting 5,200 foot high Blood Mountain, but we soon spread out along the trail and I was back to my solitary hiking.

Blood Mountain was named after the war between two Indian tribes, who fought at the top of this rocky top with such viciousness that blood flowed down the mountain, covering the rock top with each other's blood. It turns out that the build up to this section was overblown or I felt like I was truly up to this journey in all ways needed to complete the challenges over the 2,189 miles. I knew I could do this walk in the woods.

I spent 5 blissful hours, mostly alone, hiking in paradise. All day, as I encountered hikers, I heard several give me a trail name. It was Mick Jagger, McMacy (Mick Jagger and actor William Macy), then M&M (Mick and Macy). After thinking of the apparent similarities of my looks to Mick Jagger, my mind captured the Rolling Stones concert in 1972. It was their Exile On Main Street tour, which I attended with my then soon-to-be wife and eventual mother of my three children. We each had help from one of our friends, which provided us bizarre visuals and complete enjoyment of the concert, which opened with Stevie Wonder. One of my favorite Stones songs was Happy from that concert and that album. This day my trail name became Happy, though there were a few who preferred Jagger. I was quite happy with the implication of Jagger and more so knowing that through this song I channeled the spirit of my kids and my wife through the memory of Happy. However, as I continued hiking on Blood Mountain, I was told of at least one other hiker named Happy.

Once at Neels Gap, 11 of us rented a 10-person cabin, before heading back to the trail the next day for the 11-mile hike to Low Gap Shelter in GA. I was quickly approaching my first state border crossing into North Carolina. Though the bedding space accommodated 10, there was floor camping available. I chose the floor space over sharing a bed with another hiker, whose sleeping habits were unknown to me. Also, my-middle-of-the-night activities made for more respectful solitary sleeping.

Coming off the trail brought to mind refreshing cold beer. However, since this was a dry county, there was no beer to be bought at the Neel’s Gap store. Our shuttle driver offered to take me the 10 miles to the county line, where a store existed just across the line. I bought three 6 packs of various beers and one six pack of root beer. My fellow cabin mates expressed great joy.

My final thoughts, as I bedded down to sleep, were how happily in love with my life I felt.

JagHappy I Am!

3/05/16

It was a hard 11 miles today, from Neel Gap to Low Gap. However, was it really hard if each day I expected to climb up and down mountains all day?! Gap in GA meant each mountain hiked up will be followed by a downhill hike to the bottom of the mountain’s other side, before heading immediately up the next mountain. I hiked for 7 hours, with most of the trail thick with deep mud. Considering that I missed hiking and camping in the snowstorm, I didn't mind one bit of the slow and slippery trail. Heaven tonight was being in the new larger Big Agnes Fly Creek tent that I purchased from Trekker, which was a veritable mansion compared to my bivy tent.

When I started my day and as I hiked, I thought that I was finally getting more efficient with the equipment and supplies I needed for this long adventure. My goal was to hike with a maximum of 35 lbs. It will be easier on my body and I could cover more miles, as my body got more toned and into the rhythm of the daily hikes.

Once again, I was greeted at a road crossing by a trail angel, Scott, a fireman from Georgia, whose son, Scooby, was hiking this year. Scooby was one I'd come to know at the campsites. He was also at Low Gap for the night. No brag but fact, other than the very young hikers of 18-30ish, for the most part, I’ve been keeping pace with the other hikers. I was often one of the earlier arrivals each day. OK maybe a little brag there.

After setting up my tent, bedding and eating dinner, I got my food and toothpaste hung on bear cables, as I do each night to prevent food thieving bears getting used to eating hikers’ food. It would be irresponsible and heartless to not protect our food from the bears. Bears, like we humans, will take the easiest route to food. We go to the grocery store, instead of foraging in nature for our food, just as bears will take accessible hikers’ food. Sadly, once a bear becomes a habitual scavenger at hikers’ campsites, the Forest Service will hunt them down and euthanize them for our protection. There is no good excuse for being lazy and not protecting our food from the bears. Though I'd not seen a bear yet, I hoped to. I expected to see a few black bears in The Smokies, where I would be hiking in the next week or so.

John ‘Shadow’ was hilarious this day as he arrived into camp late in the afternoon. He was one whipped boy and immediately headed for the shelter, threw his bag to the ground and laid in the shelter. This morning, when John had opened the refrigerator in the cabin, he noticed and then announced that there were 6 beers left. I told him that it would be a good treat for whoever next rented the cabin. There was no way! that John was leaving beers. He proceeded to fill each of his two water bottles with the remaining beer. I felt so astounded by John’s action that I decided to take two canned beers in my pack, despite not wanting the weight. Once I got to camp, I took them out and shared them with a few of the hikers. John told us that he had drunk all of the beer on the 11-mile hike to Low Gap Shelter. What a stud! What a dunce! He earned his exhaustion!

Oh, yes, after several attempts by hikers to give me a trail name I was named JagHappy by AT hikers. I wanted a name change after hearing there were at least two other hikers using the name ‘Happy’. Several still wanted me to be named Mick Jagger or Jagger. After I told Mama, Tracy and Reese about the Exile on Main Street concert, JagHappy was unanimously chosen. It had great meaning on a few levels. I hoped it added to the connection my family will make with me on the trail. Each day I will move with and through the spirits of their lives. These hiking community connections helped me to hike with lovingly connected thoughts of my entire life. This hike was becoming what I’d hoped it would be, a meditation connection. I felt Zen-like, which ironically became a precursor to meeting Zen in Franklin, NC.

During my chill time in camp, I anxiously anticipated my first zero hike day, after tomorrow’s 11 miles of climbing up and down mountains. The most difficult had been the miles of paths covered with fallen rock. Each step had to be carefully taken to avoid twisting an ankle or pounding too hard on my knee joints. Before I began this trek, I thought about my need to stay aware of each step to avoid a preventable injury. Severe injuries had taken many past hikers off of the AT for days of recovery, if not having been forced to hike another year. Be it for a day or another year, it would be hard to leave the trail with so much beauty to take in.

I slept so very well last night in my new tent. By comparison to my bivy, I slept in a mansion last night. Without it, last night’s wind and rainstorm would have left me discouraged, if not also ill. After eating, climbing the hillside with my sturdy shovel to make my personal privy, I dried my tent from the frozen rainwater, packed and began the uphill hike from the blue blaze side trail to northbound AT. A blue blaze was a secondary trail off the AT. It will lead to a campsite, shelter, or just another trail going through a section of these mountains.

After hiking past Blood Mountain shelter, where I left behind some recent campmates, I came off a very rocky mountain to Unicoi Gap, where I caught a ride to the hostel 12 miles away. What was waiting in the parking lot?!!!…trail angels of a father and daughter with a BBQ set up, cooking bratwurst and hamburgers! I loved this community of people and towns, on and off the AT. As I sat to eat my angelic food, I reflected on the daily miles I hiked up and over mountains and I recalled the quote from Nietzsche: That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.

My first resupply package was to be in the town of Hiawassee, GA. I felt like a Christmas present was waiting for me. Since Top of Georgia was several miles from town, I intended on getting a ride to pick up my resupply box and find the library in this small town to download my photos.

A shuttle van from Top of Georgia arrived and picked up several of us from the Unicoi Gap parking area and trailhead. Top of Georgia was owned and operated by ‘Packs A Lot’, a former AT thru hiker. It had a large dining/living room space, which could be used throughout the day until about 8pm. Those who helped operate this hostel stayed in rooms inside the main building. In addition to the main building there were two bunkhouse buildings, one with a kitchen and living room and the other with just 8 bunks. I took a bunk in the smaller bunkhouse, where I thought it’d be quieter and less chance for me to disturb anyone, when I got up to take care of my business during the night.

Before I headed to my bunk, I became reacquainted with or newly befriended many here at Top of Georgia Hostel. As I hiked northward, I expected to see many of them. Gillian (who was on his second thru hike attempt), Alon, Yair (Alon’s father and both from Israel), ‘Frosty’, ‘Steve Perry’ (Sherry, who is a huge fan of Journey), Rumpus, Traci (Mama), Amanda (Traci’s daughter), ‘Happy’, ‘BBone’, ‘Broken Hammock’, ‘1/4 Cup’, Carlton, Lookout, ‘Radar’, ‘Transporter’, ‘Lone Ranger’, ‘Pops’, ‘Rambo’, ‘Aquaman’, Matt, Dave, Jessica, Evan, Scooby, ‘Reese’, John, Vera, ‘Wolverine’, ‘Highlander’, Bob, Stefan, Devin, ‘Wolf’, ‘Pirate’, Lino, ‘Lucky Charm’, ‘Dreamcatcher’, ‘Ramen Noodles’, and ‘Wrongway’. I could only imagine the stories behind a few of the trail names. Perhaps I’d find out on the trail.

Yes, I Packed Too Much

3/06/16

Waking in the morning, knowing I was zero'g today, was a great relaxing reward for a successful and challenging past 52 miles. I will also need to rejuvenate for tomorrow’s hike over two successive and very vertical mountains, one being Tray Mountain. Shortly thereafter, I will head into The Smokies, which will begin near Fontana Dam from about 1,700 feet in elevation and climb to about 6,000 feet. Also, once I cross into North Carolina in the next day or so, the wet tropical climate will begin. My next stop will be Franklin, followed by NOC, near Bryce City, then onto and into The Smokies.

As Jacob and Jamie (my youngest son and his fiancee) knew, especially with my 3rd equipment box being mailed to them today, this adventure was changing my lifelong assessment of what is necessary and what is luxury for a trek of this magnitude. My initial sleeping bag was underrated for the cold, despite my body heat generation. In my 2nd box, I sent back my saw, my compass and some clothes. On the advice of Packs A Lot, today's box to San Francisco included my rain pants, my rain jacket, extra lip-gloss, extra AAA batteries (I would be carrying 3 extra now instead of 6) and my tent stakes. The rain gear was replaced with a lighter and less bulkier coat and pants. But for one, my light metal tent stakes were also in today's box. At Packs A Lot’s suggestion, I will use the one stake for privy making, replacing my small plastic trowel. The seven replacement stakes will be sturdy sticks that I will find at each campsite. I was learning in great detail that this long trek would be about weight and bulk.

However, I will find out ‘down’ the trail that Packs A Lot was not an expert on all equipment. After all, who could be?! I will need those tents stacks, which were specifically made for my tent. It became a tough learning experience before I got it. Considering that I bought the tent along the trail, without instruction from Trekker, I forgave myself. At the time, I felt jubilant and appreciative of Packs A Lot’s advice, with my carrying weight reduced from 48 lbs to about 35 lbs, not including food. Minute incremental reductions in pack weight occurred when I transferred some meds from their glass bottles to lighter plastic, as well as by switching to several matches in place of my lighter (hey, every ounce counts!).

Before I packed for my return to the trail, Packs A Lot did a shakedown of my food supply. I learned to carry only the food required to get to my next resupply. I diverted from this a bit by adding an additional day’s food, as part of my ten essentials. The shakedown resulted in me being able to provide some food for one poor hiker. Not long afterwards, I was able to return Packs A Lot’s packing gift by working with ‘Mountainman’ to change a flat truck tire on one of the shuttle vans. The giving in the hiking community felt truly altruistic.

Sleep came easily, as I dozed off with thoughts of my 14-mile big mountains day tomorrow.

To Peace, love & understanding

My First Hiking Partner

3/07/16

Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! Everything was about mountains, over which I hiked several today. Today, I finished 14 miles of what someone told me were considered the toughest on the AT in Georgia. Despite my occasional overblown self-confidence, today’s accomplishment positively energized me. Today was strenuous and literally breathtaking, as I sucked air all day, as nature gave back with spectacular scenery and a lesson in conditioning my lungs for this terrain. Once I got into a rhythm, it became meditative. My training included taking deep and steady breaths, instead of gasping for air from my shallow breathing. It reminded me of pressure breathing when on long and steep mountain glaciers.

I also received an opportunity for an injury lesson or two. I felt both dull and occasional sharp pain in and around my left knee. My hiking partner, my first AT hiking partner, Socket, had a knee brace he loaned me for the last 2 miles to Deep Gap Shelter. I'll buy one in Franklin, NC. I should be there Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. I would get the added bonus of arriving in Franklin in time to miss the forecasted rain showers. No matter, since it was the rainy season. I will get used to the rain. Nevertheless, I will not minimize the effects of my injury in this 2,189-mile trek. To think that I began this trek just a few days ago!

After dinner and before heading to bed, I hung my food bag, which I stuffed into my Ursack on the bear cables near the shelter. Bear cables consisted of several cables attached to a smooth metal pole and made for food storage. They were easily hoisted up about 20 feet or so. I'd not yet seen a bear, but I expected to do so in The Smoky Mountains, where I will be in the next week or so. Yes! Crawling into and settling into my tent here at Deep Gap was made difficult with severe leg cramps. With the cramps added to my knee pain, I needed some help from my little friends. I took 400 mg of ibuprofen, 6 mg of Melatonin and 2 Motrin, after crawling out of my tent with my knotted leg muscles. Despite the agony of moving my legs to get out of the tent, I needed to stretch. It was a trail habit that will help get me to Mt. Katahdin. I was slowly learning the lesson to take precautionary measures for my knee symptoms and late night leg muscle cramps. Time will tell if I was sufficiently aware to learn my lesson at this first opportunity. I can always hope.

Didn’t work…that quick and easy sleep thing. I was in heavenly nature, listening to the howling and barking of a pack of coyotes, which were accompanied by the music of the wind and the light show of a star-filled sky. I loved this all too much to be quickly lulled to sleep, as I laid snug in my tent, wrapped in my silk cocoon-like bag liner inside my cuddly sleeping bag. I thought about how much I had to learn out here where life is basic, peaceful and always spectacular.

The stars! OMG, the stars were in their complete glory. The air was so fresh and clean that when in the small trail towns, I noticed the relatively stagnant air. As I made my second attempt at sleep, the winds increased their howling, providing melodic sounds for my sleep, as I deeply breathed in the deliciously marvelous air. This is where we humans once lived: in and with nature. This love affair between humans and nature is so strained and muted by the artificial lives we tend to build, like walls to keep others out, while nature adds trees and mountains to connect this diverse life and provide so much pleasure. Yes, we have much to learn out here where life is basic, peaceful and always spectacular.

This life of forests, adventurous positive hiker energy and the giving nature of the communities could never feel boring. I continued reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning before dreamland did cometh. Much love to you all.

To Peace, Love & Understanding

Over After Only 66 Miles?! And Staying Green

3/8/16

What a great mountain slumber I had! It was 6am and I decided not to get up at first light with the air having what was becoming a typical chilly bite. I heard a distant barking coyote, while lying on my back snuggled in my sleeping bag. The breezy night helped me sleep for about 10 hours, after my final crawl into my tent about 7:30pm.

In the default world, in which I lived to make my money and life, I’d not slept 10 hours in bed unless I was sick or drugged from a doctor’s pain meds, following surgery or a biopsy. What a relief! I was wiser last night than the previous tent night at Low Gap. Last night, I got out to pee each time I needed to do so and thankfully fell quickly back to sleep. Previously, I stayed in my tent suffering not to pee, to avoid the cold, damp and dark night. In the morning at Low Gap, I woke with a full bladder. The pain was almost unbearable as I worked to put on my pants, socks and shoes, before trying to quickly crawl out. I stressed about the possibility of pissing on myself, especially since I needed to do double duty, as I walked uphill with my roll of paper and trusty tent stake serving as a trowel.

The trail today will cross a road above Dick’s Creek. As Socket and I took our pace, I realized that my conditioning was improving, and I was able to more thoroughly absorb the surroundings by not concentrating on the physical task at hand. The landscape appeared more spectacular, as the constant steep climbs up and down mountains were getting my physical body in sync with my mindset for this long journey. I began to move with the rhythm of my breathing. Once I took a pace I was able to stay on it, no matter the steepness or length of the up and downhill trail. This gave me the freedom to look through the filter of my emotions at the unique and ever changing scenery of my home. It brought me to tears, while hiking about 50 yards or so behind Socket. I felt one with this pure beauty.

Despite self-promoting my