May 06, 1999

Greeting from Damascus Virginia.

My fourth state. 10 to go.

This is a long one.
633 miles to go through Virginia.
4 completed today.

I will be here several days, if you care to reply.

Statistics to date
     36 days on the trail
     452 miles
     3? nights of some snow.

I am having a little bit of trouble with my pack, which I hope
to get fixed tomorrow. 10 days or so ago, I had the velcro straps
on the aluminum frame re-enforced with snaps so that the frame
would not come loose.

The water filter ( Pur Hiker ) is working well.
I had to replace my hiking poles, because one had a broken tip
and a missing basket.

My biggest problem has been the cold rain. the old reliable wool
shirt and/or the Zephur jacket could not handle the cold rain,
even when I was hiking as hard as I could.

I am now using a coated nylon rain jacket to see if I can prevent
the coldness from getting through.

My appetite is somewhat stronger, but only because I have found
some food s that I can eat and "will" eat. I am still carrying
some of the food that I started with, because I never felt like
eating it. My last town stop I left some Ramen noodles and some
Lipton dinners in the hotel room, because I was sick of carrying
them.

Tomorrow I am going to take a good hard look at my pack contents
and see what I can ship ahead in my "bump box".
Some things I know that I will ship ahead will be:

     gaiters
     sunscreen ( I burned the first week :-) )
     several of the cups that I am carrying along.

Typical day

      alarm goes off at 6:30
      try to wake up, put in contact lens, listen to NPR.
      try to start hiking by 8:30 at the latest.
      take several breaks during the day
      stop by 6:00
      set up tent, eat some supper, filter water, go to bed.


It is hard to describe the condition of the trail.
I have divide it into three design classes:

     Marines: go over the top and down to the next gap
     Army:    switchback to near the top and then switch back down
     Air Force: Traverse around the whole mountain.


Their are three classes of trave on the AT:

     First Class - supported hikers who put in about 11 miles a
                   a day or so and are then transported to the
                   nearest hostel or campground where they spend
                   the night. These people usually only carry
                   some sort of lunch and no tent. There are
                   other versions of supported hikes.

     Business Class people who travel on foot the whole trail,
                    but will get off whenever it is convenient
                    to spend a night in a motel and resupply

      Tourist Class walk the whole trail. stay in shelters and
                    campgrounds and hostels. Similar to students
                    at many colleges in their spending habits.

I consider myself a member of the business class. I have probably]
spent seven or eight nights in motels and bed and breakfasts.

As I said earlier, I will probably be here through saturday morning
if you have any questions.




"Mike on the AT"
"No Rain No Pain No Maine"

I hike alone sometimes.Its during these            Mike Aken
solo hikes that the number of  arrogant             N7OUJ
and ignorant people I have  to deal
with is reduced to one.
                         Jack Hampson

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