April 23, 1999 - Hot Springs North Carolina

Folks,

Lots of questions :-)

I am moving somewhat faster than I expected.

The original numbers were taken from a hiking guide 
as averages.

First 100 miles    April 10
First 200 miles    April 18 th
first 10% 216/2160  April 19 th

What's the trail like ???

This is like asking what are Washington's Trails like.
There is a lot of variety.

Best hiking - downhill on former logging roads  6% grade
              uphill on former logging roads     6% grade

Worst Hiking.

               lots of rocky steep wet downhill which requires
               a lot of stepping down, and fearing for your life.

There are a lot of wild Rhodies out here. I have seen more 
rhodies in a day than I have seen in my whole hiking career on
the Olympic Peninsula.

For those of you who don't know, there are three types of 
overnight accomadations.

     Shelters - 4-20 people sleeping on a platform, or bunk
                platforms - lots of snoring, lots of mice.

                worst mouse story. Mouse licking the lips of
                a sleeping hiker, who didn't do a good job of
                wiping his/her mpouth off.

      Tenting  at or near shelters. meet people, don't have the
               snoring or mouse worries

       Tenting remotely. usually near water sources. don't usually
               have a lot of company.

       Towns/motels  Taking a quick night off or a planned layover
                and staying in a motel. rates vary between $20 and
                40$. Quick night off means that you are on the trail
                the next day. usually means hitchhiking to the towns
                Mileage off the trail is between 0 and 4 miles so far.

I am always tenting. Sometimes at the shelters and sometimes along
the trail in established campsites. The rules do vary. In the Great 
Smoky Mountain National Park, you had to sleep or camp at the shelters
and store your food in the shelters overnight. This is because of the
bear problem.

I still have my loss of appetite, but the visits to town make up
for some of my eating disorder. I have lost some weight, but I don't
know how much. For those who want more people pictures, I have 
included a picture of myself on the last roll of slides that I am
sending in today for development.

I will try to get to the more specific questions in my next
message.

Mike Aken
"hiking the AT"
" No Pain  No Rain  No Maine "

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