Erwin, Tennessee

I want that beggars eyes
a winning horse
a tidy Mexican divorce
St. Mary's prayers
Houdini's Hands
and a Barman who always
understands

Hey guys!

Been about five days since my last post! I'm here in Erwin, Tennessee ('scuse me if I spelled that wrong, I'm on internet explorer and spell check isn't built-in-- so again, forgive any mispellings you might come across in this post).

I left Hot Springs on Saturday and it was a long climb up-- being the second zero day I've taken on the trail, it's become very apparent that the climbs after a zero day can be enfuriatingly difficult. About half way up, it started to rain. Fozzie, Bridgette (lady forward) and I were hiking together and we had to all put on our rain gear. I stayed dry, thankfully, at least for that day. We met up with Phil and Sam for about an hour and then they went off on their own path shortly after. I found out they relaxed back once the rain picked up and they hammocked by a lake we came across (the first real lake of the trail I suppose).

When we got to our first campsite at Spring mountain shelter, it was full-up already. It only slept five and shelters feel very quickly in the rain. I had to tent and I wasn't fond of it. Tents are great for repelling water but it must be remembered i'm out for three days or more at a time before the next town an drying out can be exceptionally tough. I met up with Pork Chop, a girl who I hadn't seen since my second day out on the trail and she was moving along quite well! I slept well, my tent didn't get wet but I woke up to some cold weather.

The day progressed to get cooler on Sunday until we came to Jerry mountain shelter where it was just too cold to go on-- it kept raining too. I got to Jerry cabin shelter and was frigid-- I couldn't even walk without shaking like a leaf. I got into the shelter which was of course full by 3:00 and was about to sleep under the sleeping spot when a guy named Pops from New jersey told me I should watch for snakes. He sounded like a mixture of Yogi bear and Fred Flinstone-- perhaps their love child...
I had to tent and while I was setting up my tent, my poor arms shook like linguini to the point I couldn't get my tent stakes into their respective spots. After much mental agony as well, I managed to get my tent up, I crawled inside, took off my shorts (which aren't rainproof and proved very cold), climbed into my wet sleeping bag and proceeded to sleep from 5pm to about 10am the next morning.
Through the course of the night it got much colder, I didn't realize the extent of the cold until I found the rain had stopped and in it's place, we had snow and hail. I woke up and my tent was covered in snow, the inner lining was frosty from condensation and my shorts and rain jacket were frozen solid. Fozzie left that morning and i would have gone but i was just too cold to go on.

Bridgette and i stayed at the shelter, unfortunately pops was still there and he liked to talk the entire time. I dealt with his constant yammering and found space in the shelter. Through the day, I talked to Bridgette more and found I had a bit of a crush on her-- she liked the same shows as me, she was cute and fun and quirky, there was just so much to like about her. I wasn't sleeping by her though so I needed a good excuse to get nearer to her for the night. A section hiker came in and said that it was supposed to get down too the teens that night and I told bridgette I was sleeping by her and snuggling. We laughed over it but I did get to wind up sleeping next to her. Maybe it is silly but I felt great that night laying next to someone who was a great friend and her warm personality made me feel a great deal better. I'm thankful for getting to know her that day.

We had a fire going and everything got unthawed and dried out. I zeroed at Jerry Cabin and then left bright and early in the cold on Monday morning. It was again exceptionally chilly and everything on Big Butt Mountain (yes, that's what it is called) was frozen solid still. I stopped to take a shit a few hours in and I didn't choose a good spot as some guy saw me. How embarassing!

I made it to Devil Fork Gap and everything was warm and sunny-- the plants were still alive there and everything looked fine. I saw a guy I call Tom Petty (he goes by Byline as he was a journalist) and he told me Fozzie was close behind-- he had hitchhiked out of Devil Fork Gap and gone to the super 8 motel in Erwin that night. Fozzie caught up with me and I was very glad to see him. We hiked together, meaning he kept my slow pace and we made it along the mountains to Sams Gap at the end of the day. The day had it's problems though, most notably snow. It would be sunny one minute, ten minutes later we would have horrific snow and ice storms and I had to keep pulling on and off my rain jacket. One time was especially severe and it was a whiteout for ten minutes-- by the time I got my rain gear on, the storm stopped dead and the sun came out. This happened at least five times during the day, it was wacky. towards the evening it began to rain. We found ourselves at Sam's Gap having covered 17 miles that day before 3pm and we wound up sleeping under I-26 under the underpass at the top of the ramp. Honeybadger, a guy who was in the army and is now a thru-hiker, wound up joining us.

Interesting side note, we tried hitchhiking into a spot called Wolf Creek Market and little Creek Cafe about 3 miles away from the trail. Fozzie stuck his thumb out and a state trooper passed by and said he didn't have room, he came back a few minutes later and took fozzie in to the gas station where he got me two chicken sandwiches. I normally wouldn't eat them but I have quite an apetite now and they hit the spot. Cheers, Fozzie!

Bridgette passed by during this and thought we were in trouble and she didnt' say much to me, I suppose my heart is too soft but I interpreted that she didn't like me anymore or was mad at me-- she was just afraid of the state trooper.

We slept under the underpass and i got a great night's rest out of the rain. It was a cool night but I kept myself occupied reading The Three Musketeers for a while-- beautiful tale of adventure, it always keeps me occupied. I slept well but I woke up from a semi driving over the bridge and thought it was a Hagraven from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim-- I had to pull out of my mummy sleeping bag quickly and found it was not anything but a semi truck driving over a bridge.

My dreams on the trail are often strange-- i won't hazard exaggerating by saying I have at least 5 dreams a night, I wake up often and the morning sometimes seems to come too soon.

In the morning, I was getting ready to leave when my wedding ring fell out of my pocket (I haven't worn it) and it rolled down the bridge ramp on the interstate and out of sight. I searched for it, a bit apathetic, for ten minutes and Fozzie told me it was a sign. Strange to note it was exactly one month ago on the 25th that I last saw Jess, so what a strange way to mark that anniversary by losing my wedding ring! I found the ring three inches away from the drainage pipe, picked it up and put it in a more secure pocket. Fozzie, honeybadger and I headed on to little creek cafe and walked most of the way-- got a ride about .2 miles to the diner after we had already walked quite far. I had a great breakfast, resupplied at the gas station and then was off on my way to Spivey Gap-- we stayed there last night and had a decent day without rain. Once i had my tent set up, it started to rain though (thankfully I didn't get wet at all for the night). I had trouble getting to sleep, knowing I'd be in Erwin soon and I was excited to be getting in miles after my zero day back on Sunday-- perhaps it was the caffeine and chocolate I had during the day but I was way too pumped to sleep. Eventually sleep came but it was well past 10 when it did. I got up bright and early this morning and hiked for two hours before it started to thunderstorm. Hiking in thunderstorms can be scary but I really wasn't terrified-- I just kept going on my own, stayed along the high bushes and avoided exposed ridgeline as much as possible. The trail into Erwin was a fun descent, got in around 12 and immediately got a ride from a man in a red truck to Pizza Plus for their all you can eat buffet (also saw Bridgette at Nolichucky's hostel). I ate 16 pieces of pizza, a salad and a few cinnamon stick things and soon Fozzie and Phil joined me-- also a redhead I found quite attractive. I told her my story on Jess as she overheard me talking to Fozzie and Phil, she listened to all of it and congratulated me on doing something for myself. I talked to Jess on the phone, she talked about money and her woes back home and I felt indifferent-- just found myself asking why I had even called her. Left Pizza Plus soon after but the redhead is still on my mind... I wish more girls were like her.

Fozzie and Phil and I were going to super 8 to get a room but it wound up being 80$, I had to tell them I didn't have enough for it, even split three ways, so now I'm at the library deciding what to do next-- I think I'll try the shelter about 5 miles up the trail, just need to get out of Erwin and on my way. Might make a stop at subway for something to keep in my pack for supper but honestly I just need to resupply at IGA and get on. :p

Thanks for reading-- hope you all are well!

"

I teach selfishness. I want you to be, first, your own flowering. Yes, it will appear as selfishness; I have no objection to that appearance; it is okay with me. But is the rose selfish when it blossoms? Is the lotus selfish when it blossoms? Is the sun selfish when it shines? Why should you be worried about selfishness?

You are born - birth is only an opportunity, just a beginning, not an end. You have to flower. Your first and foremost responsibility is to blossom, to become fully conscious, aware, alert; and in that consciousness you will be able to see what you can share, how you can solve problems.

Excerpt from "The Book of Understanding" by OSHO.

Hey guys!

I'm still in Hot Springs, North Carolina because I was anticipating some terrible weather last night and am still anticipating it for today. It wound up not raining last night, even with a 30% chance but today we are expecting thunderstorms (60% chance). However, if you look outside, it is very sunny and doesn't seem like it will rain. I'm torn between going out and hiking today or staying for another zero or near-o (nearly zero mile day). The next shelter is ten miles away but it sadly only sleeps five people, the next one after that is another 10 miles and it sleeps only five again. I prefer shelters when it rains because a wet tent is a real pain in the ass to have to deal with. Meh, i'm not sure what I'll do yet.

Last night was tedious-- I had set up down by the river to have a spot for free camping but it turns out there was so much poison ivy that I couldn't set up my tent taut enough less I wanted to risk my hands getting the itch-- on top of that, I had to get my tent JUST right to avoid the roots that were sticking up (I really don't want to get a hole in my tent). After struggling and getting it nearly decent, I heard from Fozzie, Sam and Phil that we would be stealth camping instead, so I ran the .25 miles down to my spot, got all of my shit together and on the way back up found Sam and Phil were going to try to hammock down by the river. I just wound up following fozzie and we decided to sleep in our tents by the river on the side where you'd have to pay for camping. The catch was, we wouldn't pay unless they asked us to. The night, oddly enough, went off without a hitch. Nobody stopped and asked us what we were doing and nobody said a word to us. I spent most of the last of the daylight reading The Three Musketeers-- a book I grabbed from Standing Bear hostel and I'm engrossed in the story again. The romance, the fights, it makes me want to read more and more. I went to bed sometime around 10, woke back up and started reading again-- I'm at about chapter 12 when the story commences the engrossing nature of most of Dumas' best works. Fozzie woke up and asked if I wanted to go get coffee with him so we commenced to pack up and go to the diner. I put my shoes on and walked for a while then felt something inside my left shoe crawling about on me (I had shaken them out, mind you, to make sure nothing was dwelling in there) and I found a huge, round green caterpillar had tried to take up residence in my vibrams. I shook it out and was thoroughly disgusted. Oh, what a sign of the bugs to come!

The diner food was no better for breakfast than it was yesterday. The pancakes tasted like shit and I paid $1.27 for two pieces of bacon that were gone within half a minute. I didn't tip, I wish I hadn't paid money, I should have just waited for the dollar general to open so that I could eat more tortilla chips ($2 a bag).

Sat outside the library and called my mom to talk for a while until the library opened at 10 and here I am. No sign of Sam and Phil at the moment, we'll see if I catch back up with them again soon!

I found some photos online of some of the neat spots we've slept the last few weeks but they don't do justice to the magnificence of them. In the smokies, you are only supposed to sleep in shelters but Phil, Fozzie and I wound up sleeping in some spots that were secluded and nobody wound up bothering us. Above all, they were badass spots to sleep. The first interesting spot is the highest on the entire trail-- Clingman's dome. The elevation is nearly at 7,000 feet and the vegetation is entirely different than anything I've seen on the east coast. The trees are largely spruces and the oldest ones are all bare and dead, like bones stuck in the earth and sitting as silent as gravestones-- the odd, eerie feeling they produce elevates the knowledge that you are quite high up in the mountains. We slept up in the tower of clingman's dome, a night that should have and would have been really fun aside from me getting a piece of dust in my eye and me spending the better half of the night trying to get a tear to form in 40mph winds so that I could get the sodding piece of nothing out. Oh yes, and it was QUITE cold. The next day my eye was quite swollen and everyone figured I just looked sleepy. We also had a few kids that came up to the tower at about midnight, they realized we were sleeping and they thankfully left us alone. The way down from clingman's dome getting to Gattlinburg is surreal in it's beauty-- you feel as though you're walking in a heaven of pine groves.

Second spot we slept was one of the old fire towers that was built in the 30's and has stayed supported, although getting into the tower, the floorboards were in want of reinforcement as they sunk a little at the entrance. It was a fire tower like the one I read about in a Jack Keroac book-- full of history but empty and holding a view that few could surpass. The night was spent with mice scurrying about and with them being so audible, it was eerie. I met Mary Poppins as he was going on for his 30 miler that day and the lights from the towns below held quite a bit of splendor. The next morning, the fog covered everything-- the fog here is not predictable but it can certainly be beautiful. My sentiments on walking in fog for a few hours and then coming to a stunning, sunny view are difficult to explain but it feels refreshing, especially if you start our day hiking at 7am and are just getting tired out-- then, the rays of the sun and a glimpse of blue skies can all but morph your fatigue into a feeling of valor and confidence. I get music in my head all of the time... beautiful triumphant things, other times I am just silent within but smiling without.

It was technically illegal to sleep in these spots but it was all the more fun. I prefer a quiet spot to the shelters in the smokies which were commonly full by 3pm.

Hope you are all in beautiful times! take care!

First post

hey guys!

first post coming out now-- I don't know how often I'll get the chance to post whatsoever considering internet is a wee bit sparse around these parts.

I'm on the Appalachian Trail-- started on the 28th of March and am writing to you today on the 20th of April from Hot Springs, North Carolina! I know it doesn't seem like I've come very far, but 270 miles is nothing to sneeze at my friends! :p

I thought I'd share a couple of experiences I've come across. One of which, certainly the most important, is the people. I've met up with a group consisting of Fozzie (Keith Foskett) and I may have just spelled his last name wrong but anywho-- he's a writer and an experienced hiker who I met my second day out. He's hiked the Camino de santiago in England and he's also done the PCT-- he has books about both out.
Also in the group is Sam, a kid from Raleigh, North Carolina who is a blast to hang out with-- he's a character and anything he says is honest but often very funny.
Phil's a quiet but very kind guy and he's been a blast to hike with. He's got a pair of Vibram Five fingers to hike in as I've been hiking in my KSO's the last 270 miles. It's been rough on the shoes, I've had one break in the fabric from a root that did in Phil's shoes slightly as well.

It's been tough sometimes due to rain-- not wanting to quit what-so-ever but the two rainstorms we have had just are a total mindfuck to deal with. When your gear is all wet, you can't exactly get it dry so you just kind of have to wait it out and wait for it to get sunny again. You get dirty a lot, muddy even more, it's quite a trip.

I've seen quite a few animals, most of which going through the smokey mountains. My first day in, I was coming up a switchback and I saw a bobcat which scampered off as soon as it saw me. I walk very quietly so I've surprised some wildlife as well. I came across a nothern copperhead my last day in Georgia, it slithered to the middle of the trail, stopped about 10 feet in front of me and just froze. I banged my trekking poles on the ground a few times and it finally moved but that is one creature you really don't want to get bit by!

I of course saw a bear as well! Out of gattlingburg, Tennessee for resupply and I was hiking at dusk when I heard a big brushing noise to the left of me on the trail. I turned and looked and saw a massive bear running away from me. They are definitely more afraid of people than one would first suspect.
I have to bear bag at night, mostly though because of mice. I came to a shelter in the Smokies (and the shelters are always crowded) and I had to sleep in the dirt under the porch of the shelter that night. Mice ran rampant everywhere-- a kid I was sleeping next to said one was on my pack and he brushed it off for me. I don't like mice, I don't want them chewing into my stuff.

Food and money are kind of being balanced right now-- not quite sure how to manage them but I'm getting a better idea as I go. Soon I should be able to go without spending very much at all.

I'm walking in memory of my dad, Peter K. Semo who passed away September 1, 2011-- I miss him greatly and am going to donate what I have leftover to PanCan in memory of him.

Some town meals are pretty good-- my favorite food I've eaten so far has been a chicken sherpa at the NOC in North Carolina-- it was a splendid mixture of basmatti rice, lentils, peppers, chicken and all sorts of little flavorings that just stacked up calories. I had breakfast this morning at the smokey mountain diner and had three pancakes topped with cinnamon apples and whipped cream. Everything was good but the pancakes themselves...

Having a blast making new friends as I go and enjoying a diet dr. pepper or diet coke every chance I can. ;)

Peace and love to you all, can't wait to update you more!

P.S. my mile average is around 16 right now-- the hostels are amazing and this is an experience I hope to share with everyone someday... just hope I can remember it all!