It wasn’t only the places we went, it was the people we met

On our way to Trail Days, before we left Hampton, TN. I wanted to see what it would have been like to grow up in Hampton. So I drove around a trailer park at the base of the mountain. Slowly driving past broken-down trailers and deserted back yards, I didn’t really know what to think. I wanted to knock on one of their doors and interview the people inside to see what an average day was like for them. However, I felt as though I would not be so welcomed.

A lot of people go through their lives without even setting foot in a place like a trailer park, while others wake up in one every morning. This really helped me understand how fortunate I am. And convinced me of how I shouldn’t let my potential go to waste because I have the ability to do brilliant things in this world. It was very depressing yet very empowering at the same time.

Driving through the trailer park really made me want to help people in need. Being in such a deserted town makes you think about what goes on in those towns that no one will ever know about? Is there someone people/children can go to for help or guidance?

Trail Days: Day 1

Pitched our tent  on a ton of sticks...

bridge to get to our tent.

We made it to Damascus, VA! With just enough time to set up our tent before it got too dark. We each paid $5 to camp in Tent City it was worth every penny. Damascus hosts Trail Days once a year and I bet they make out pretty well, charging $20 for parking (which we didn’t have to pay) between that and what they make off the mass amount of hikers the vendors attract. People from all over come to celebrate with the hikers or to just enjoy the events and vendors.

Inside Tent City

Outside Tent City

Tent City: Camp Bring It

This year was the 25th anniversary of Trail Days, meaning a lot of people showed up. Tent City is where most people camp for Trail Days. When hikers camp they do it right, some set up tent out on a field but most hiked in, setting up tent up on the mountainside. You couldn’t even see the tents from the road. The hikers broke off into their own “camps” there was:

Camp Bring It had this awesome rug I want

Camp Riff Raf

• Pirate Cove - people our age hiking the trail
• Riffraff- a generation older
• Billville - much older people
• Camp Bring It (unofficial)- where Heather and I hung out with the “Dudes of the Mountain”
• Wonderland – where Tambourine camped

There were a few more camps but these were the ones I remember/went to. It was cool seeing how the hikers split up into different groups. It was usually based on whom they kept up with on the trail, age and body build played a role. Watching the hikers interact was very interesting some embraced each other, seeing each other for the first time since they started the trail. Others told trail stories and talked to hikers who already completed the trail relating their experiences. Overall, everyone had so much love for one another, they all acted like a big family.

The Hikers: Homeless to Extreme Outdoors Men

Hiker's exhibit in Damascus.

The trail brings the strangest of people together. Everyone starts the 6 month trek for a different reason. Some are on it because they’re homeless and don’t have anywhere else to go. Some are “yolkes” or the “town folk” from the towns the Appalachian goes through, that have nothing better to do than hike the trail and see the north/south. A lot are outdoors men, or extreme hikers that are truly passionate about backpacking through the mountains with the latest and greatest in equipment. Some are just plain adventurers, who love to travel and can’t stand being in one place for too long. Some come far and wide from different states and countries just to hike the Appalachian Trail. Others are discouraged workers that got laid off or are looking for work. Some abruptly quit their jobs to start the trail. Some are college graduates or current students that decided to spending their summer on the trail. A few end up on the trail because they are running away from something, Heather and I heard a story that the FBI took a guy of the trail in the beginning. A few are on the trail detoxing, they know if they pick up drugs again they can’t hike as well or at all, depending on what they are detoxing from. I feel like most on the trail get a spiritual experience whether it be because they are looking for one or not. It’s hard to be out in the wilderness by yourself for approximately six months and not have some sort of a spiritual experience.

“The women always pass us”

Among the hikers are the very few women that hike the trail; they are extremely strong, independent, inspiring women. We heard from the male hikers that, “The women always pass us on the trail.” Heather and I made a point of talking to the women hikers. After our experience in Hampton I was getting a nervous on the trail.

Guinness, one of the first women we talked to reassured me not to be scared of the trail but to be skeptical of the towns the trail runs through including the “yokels” that live in the town. She said, “Once you start out you instantly find people to camp with,” she highly suggested camping with person you meet and know. She also told us, “to trust your gut, if something is off or you get a bad feeling about a person keep on hiking, there can be some wacky people on the trail. Don’t stop hiking until you feel safe.” She recalled a night she didn’t feel safe setting up tent until a fellow hiker she knew came along and she was relieved to finally relax and stop hiking. Guinness traveled with her beloved dog, she pointed out that it does help a lot when you’re on the trail by yourself. She told us of a book that a woman who hiked the Appalachian Trail wrote and really inspired us to take on the trail.

Guinness’ friend told us it was harder for the women on the trail because they are the minority. This brings the “trail sisters” even closer together, “Because when you see [a woman on the trail] you get so excited since you’re around men most of the time.” She told us it can be difficult for a woman on the trail because the men don’t understand women’s needs as much. “After a while your like, ‘God, won’t someone just give me a damn tampon!’” she stated trying to voice her frustration. She told us the men on the trail are the best of the men out there, the men LOVE the women on the trail because they are usually hiking with strictly men for months. They told us they made their best male friends out on the trail. “It’s fun to live with them, [the male hikers] especially when you joke around with them about farting and taking dumps.”

The men do put on their manners for the women on the trail, “they will give us plenty of space if we have to go to the bathroom.” It's probably breath of fresh air for the male hikers to see a woman on the trail. They give the appropriate respect, probably because they like having women hike with them on the trail and don’t want to scare them away. One advantage is that there are a lot of mountain men to pick from. =]

“Listen to Your Body”

The physical aspect of the trail is tremendous, it is a full body workout. The hikers average 15 to 20

People who have finished the AT

miles a day depending on the terrain and the hiker’s body. “You will get in shape very quickly,” one of the Dudes of the Mountain told us. “At first it’s rough but once you get past that you’ll be impressed with how far you can hike in one day.”

All the Dudes of the Mountain agreed with that statement. The guys said at the end of the day most of them crave meat. Most hikers don’t even desire junk food because they know eating it will highly impact their progress on the trail.

One of the women we talked to gave us some great advice, “Listen to your body. If you feel like quitting take a few zero days and think long and hard about it. If you give up you will most likely regret it.” From the hugs I received from the through hikers, your body can get pretty freaking ripped. However I did realize the muscle that I did build makes a woman’s body look slightly like a caveman’s. Not so attractive…

Tent City on the mountain behind the port-a-potty's, not even visible from the road

Trail Names

Everyone at Trail Days goes by his or her trail name. Heather and I didn’t have one but we met some hikers that tried to christen me with one, which was pretty funny, but I refused to accept any trail names because I wasn’t a through hiker... yet.

I did meet some hikers with some pretty awesome trail names, Tambourine was one of them. She was a tall, slender 40 year old with dreads who had completed the trail a year ago with a trail mate that had unfortunately died after completion. Of course, everywhere she went was with a tambourine. She was so artistic and had one of the coolest Appalachian Trail tattoos. She taught me how to make dreads and I was ready to ask her to adopt me as her child haha.

That night Heather and I met some pretty inspirational people, heard some really interesting trail stories and got pretty close with the original 3 mountain men: Greg, Kyle, and Jed we met them up on the mountain our first night out. We also met the 2 kids we passed on our way up the mountain that day. They were our age, from Massachusetts one of them, Fat Z is probably one of the funniest people I will ever meet.

Heather and I are seriously considering taking the Spring semester off, depending on how fall goes, getting a job and then leaving for the AT in early April ‘12.

It might be what we both need.
Just a thought.