Running Downhill until Total Dark

Rolex demonstrating his technique


Running Downhill until Total Dark
Groundhog Creek Shelter to Deer Park Shelter: 24 miles

Last night the two cats who rolled in, turned out to be four cats; young fellas from North Carolina. There were no spots in the shelter and they had no tents. They spread out a big tarp and slept out in the open air on that thing. It drizzled a little in the night but they didn't seem to mind. I stayed in my hammock and it was a very comfortable night despite the rain. It was warm enough that I didn't even zip up my bag.

My socks smell so bad; every pair I have smells like wet dog and stale popcorn. I can't figure it out, that's just what they smell like. When I hang my wet socks on the pack to dry while I hike, I keep getting whiffs of wet-dog-popcorn and the hoagie-like smell of my armpits. My ex-wife used to say my BO smelled like a delicious, Italian hoagie and when I take an honest sniff with an objective olfactory, I have to agree with her. Such as it is, I find that it only makes me hungrier as I motor down the trail.

We started off pretty early for us and I quickly degraded from neutral to foul mood. I encouraged Cyclone and Rolex get up ahead of me. My legs were hurting and I was having an unusually tough time climbing. In reality, I'm probably climbing three times faster than I was two weeks ago; but, today it feels really slow. I knew my brothers were going to be running down hills again today and I'd be far behind if I didn't keep up. I reluctantly started jogging on a sore calf and a questionable knee.

I sometimes get grumpy and cranky while I hike for no particular reason. I don’t know where it comes from but I go through some wicked mood swings. This one was particularly violent. I was going through this aggressive fantasy anger thing and I was concocting all these plans that were really unhealthy and disturbing. I was livid at my brothers, the hill, my pack, the air, gnats, God, my sweat, you name it. I was getting very distracted while plotting the murders of hundreds of people. I'm not sure if it helped my hiking or not. The initial climb of the morning was tough; but then, once I summited, I started running the trails again and actually caught up with Cyclone and Rolex. Fortunately the ill conceived notions had passed, and I didn’t stab them with my trekking poles like I had planned earlier. I later found out that the only reason I caught them was because they had been filming an idea for a commercial for Leki that involved Rolex, flying down the hill, about 20 miles an hour, swinging his trekking poles in a marvelous demonstration of dynamic trekking pole application.

They keep taking off on the uphills. I'm just not as fast as them yet. With the extra weight in my pack and on my stocky body, I just don’t have the cardiovascular power to maintain the pace they set. Downhill is another story. I haul ass on the downhill sections; but, it’s pretty rough on my knees and feet.

We decided we were going to go all the way to the Deer Park Shelter because it was only three miles away from Hot Springs, a town right on the AT. The fact that here have been several instances of bears taking packs from hikers recently had nothing to do with it… Sure it didn’t… My right calf was really locking up and it hurt pretty badly before we got about 13 miles. We had to stop at the Walnut Creek Shelter to resupply our water. There was a sign that said, “Don’t leave your packs unattended at this shelter.” I guess the bears were getting smart here and waiting for people to drop their packs. We cooked some dinner because we knew we wouldn't get in to Deer Park until after dark and didn't want to have to cook and clean in the dark. We ate and rested and my leg felt much better so we moved on.

At about six more miles we stopped again. My calf was killing me again but the light was dying and we had to keep moving. I felt like the muscle was actually ripping off of my leg. I took the lead since I was going to be the slowest but everyone was tired and we started hauling up the hill. We were running the hills again and as the light fell, Rolex missed a root and went down hard. We were pretty sure he had hurt something but he expertly rolled onto his pack when he went down, so everything was cool. In fact, the only reason we knew he went down was because his pole hit Cyclone in the leg. We decided to slow it down and hike it in. The trail was hard to see even though the darkness came on surprisingly slow. We managed to get in to the shelter area just after total dark. We ran into the four guys from NC. They had passed us while we were eating dinner at the other shelter. We set up camp, hung the bear bags and went to sleep. Town is tomorrow; full of the promise of fresh, laundered clothing and proper meals. Maybe my socks won't smell like wetdogpopcorn; not at least until Monday night.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic

Cyclone preparing DiGiorno in the Standing Bear Kitchen


Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic
Davenport Gap Shelter, Standing Bear Farm, then to Groundhog Creek Shelter 10 miles

No bears came during the night and it stayed warm. I had a rough time sleeping on the hard wood floor of the shelter but at least I wasn't cold. A bunch of people showed up and it was no surprise that everyone stayed in the shelter. I had hung up my tent to dry in the night so it wouldn’t be so heavy. Everything is basically wet.

We got out on the trail a little late ‘cause me and Cyclone were sufferin' from the 20 the day before. The GPS said we did 24. We gave the GPS a trail name. His name is now "George." A few miles later, we finally got out of the Smokies. We passed under the I-40 after a few miles and passed over a river and back into the woods. At about 4 miles we saw a funny fluorescent bear paw on the rocks. Somewhere in the dark recesses of our memories we recalled someone talking about the Standing Bear Farm; so, we decided to take a little trip up there (it said 200 yards) and we knew they had some Internet and other stuff (like toilet paper, cokes and DiGiorno).

Standing Bear Farm is kind of like a rustic hostel with minimal amenities; but it’s clean and neat and they do have resupply food, laundry and internet so I guess it’s not that limited. Standing Bear was started a couple of years ago by this cat, Curtis Owen who is also a Former Marine. We got along great after I heard that. We spent an eternity there and figured we wouldn't have a chance at making the 17 miles to shelter. We would have to stop at Groundhog Creek Shelter. We ran into Daniel and his sister Brittany at Standing Bear and a few others came by like HaHa. We ate DiGiorno and frozen microwave barbecue sandwiches, blogged and I bought new Croc knock-offs. I guess you could call them Croc-offs.

We got back on the trail and Cyclone decided to turbo up the hill, passing even the hearty Daniel. I don’t know what got in to Cyclone but he went faster than I have ever seen anyone hike up a hill like that. The trip was fairly uneventful except for the fact that I sweat about two gallons going up this bastard of a hill. Cyclone got in to the shelter about an hour and a half before me and Rolex; but my calf was all messed up and my kneecap was still acting funny.

I set up my hammock and we got some Internet service so I'm updating blogs. The sun is totally down and I can’t see the keyboard. I'm sitting at this picnic table as Cyclone tends the fire and Dixie Dawg is playin my guitar. Kansas brought marshmallows and we're roastin’ some s’mores and playing songs with Daniel, Brittany, Rolex, Cyclone, Me, Dixie Dawg, Kansas, a former Marine, his buddy, and two cats that just rolled in who will probably sleep on the floor. I have a headache from staring at this screen and I'm signing off...

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

20 miles and almost out of the Smokies

Not Davenport; but, an example of a fenced-in Shelter

Peck's Shelter to Davenport Gap Shelter 20 miles

We decided that we would make it a long one today. I had a great night's sleep for once and although I got a little wet, I was really warm and woke up completely refreshed. I took this opportunity to get out of bed at 6:00 and harass my brothers. We got out on the trail early and hauled ass. It was overcast almost all of the day and we started out wearing nothing but our rain gear and underwear. After the first climb, the rain gear came off. I hiked the rest of the day in my underwear and it was great. I'm going to climb every day like that. At the end of the day you just take them off and put on your regular clothes and you are totally dry. It was great!

We got in to the shelter and it had fencing and a gate door to keep the bears out or the humans in, one. There wasn't a bear hang and someone had a fire going already when we got there. We supped and I changed, washed my legs with a bottle of water and decided to stay in the shelter for once. Dan and Brittany were there, they don’t have trail names yet but we’ll think of something. They are brother and sister and they are doing the trail. That’s gotta be even tougher than three brothers. Then again, I’ve only just gotten to know what it’s like to have sisters so maybe it’s easier. Just kidding buys, I know how much you love that one…

It was a killer long day and my knee was doing this thing where it would randomly feel like someone chopped it right in the middle with an axe. I’m not sure if it’s really a problem or if it’s just a random pain but it doesn’t seem to have a reason. I can’t duplicate it by moving my knee in a certain way, it just randomly does it.

I left my Crocs at the former shelter and I'm really pissed about it. First of all, they were completely unique Crocs that I got when the company first came to San Diego. No one had Crocs like this, they were boat-shoe style Crocs with leather uppers and they kept all the pebbles out. Regular Crocs have low backs and whenever you’re walking to go get water, the pebbles and sticks and dirt get in. If one of you is reading this and you find my Crocs back at the Peck Shelter, please mail them to me at PO Box 12070 San Diego 92112. I want those bastards back, bad! Secondly, I don't want to have to run around in camp in my soaking wet, sweaty boots. I need to give my aching feet a rest.

I was pretty worried about bears as I crept out to hang the bear bag with Rolex. It was after dark and I know there are bears around; otherwise, they wouldn’t have a damn, chain-link fence covering the opening of the shelter! We eventually found a tree and I hung the line while Rolex kept his eyes open for Ursas Major, sweeping the dark landscape with his headlamp like a Stalag 13 guard on crack. I thought we were in a disco or something. It was like the grand opening of a downtown restaurant, Hey Rolex, there aren’t any bears up the trees, already!!! Just kidding, he was as emotionally steady as usual; blithe and unconcerned, except for the availability of cell reception so he could call his lady. I hope the bag is high enough...

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Rain in the Smokies, as usual.

Rain in the Smokies, as usual.
Coming out of Gatlinburg to Peck's Shelter, 11 miles

Last night we Karoke’d and ate the Feast of Kings at Peddler restaurant in G-Burg. We changed hotels when we decided to stay another night and ended up staying at the Microtel which was cool; they gave us a double room for $40. We got up early and ate all of the muffins and bagels that they had in the little complimentary lounge thing there. Blue Blaze was going to give us a ride to the trailhead in his truck. This is why we called him Blue Blaze, since he was helping us take side trips on the trail.

It was raining; of course. We stayed in Gatlinburg an extra day to avoid the imminent rain and then it held off and waited for us. We piled in to the back of Blue Blaze’s Pickup truck and headed up the mountain to Newfound Gap to resume our quest. It was a nasty hike and the shelter was full when we got there. That didn’t really affect me anyway because I always stay in the Hammock. Tonight would be the first night I would test it in very rainy conditions though.

I wanted to get water and the brothers wanted to sit around in the shelter (not to mention I wanted to keep going and get to the next shelter, but they didn't) so I started to get cranky and a little bitchy. I began to chastise them a little unfairly. I decided I would go get the water by myself. I was having a little tantrum and getting the water is really a three man operation. You can get by with two; but one guy, well it was going to be a real pain in the ass purifying 12 liters of water in the rain, from a little stream, holding and filling and purifying. Being stubborn and angry, I didn’t care. In front of all the people huddled in the shelter I stingingly quipped, "This is great, I always wanted to know what it would be like to have sisters!" Cyclone was not pleased. I later found out he was so ticked off, he was planning on leaving the trail right there. Rolex said, “You don’t have to be such a dick!” That was the strongest language he’s used with me in his life.

I huffed off to get the water and it took a while but I didn’t care; in fact, the harder it was, the better I felt that I was getting it done alone. I was lost in a full, grumpy crank fest. The exertion gets me a little salty at the end of the day and I sometimes take it out on the boys. We keep having little spats but all in all we've been having an amazing adventure. It's a grueling experience though. These hills are no joke; and we're still packing heavier than 99% of the people out here. I’m kind of proud of that; but, people keep advising us to lighten up. You can imagine how I feel about that. My body will adjust. I’ll be stronger than all of them soon.

Cyclone came down just as I was finishing and we kind of made up. He helped carry the stuff back up. I washed off my muddy legs near the stream and put on all my clothes to go to bed. It's been cold in that hammock so I'm trying to get as warm as possible. I keep going through periods of sweaty freeze and then hot mugginess in my sleeping bag. I haven’t figured out how to do it correctly yet. Not having good sleep really takes its toll on you and it’s affecting our ability to get in the miles.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Zero In Gatlinburg

The Crew watching Cyclone Sing

We got up and went to get some breakfast at this pancake place we heard about and ended up walking all over Gatlinburg before settling on a Burger King. It was horrible; we just kept getting mad at each other and not being able to decide on a place. Hiking with three brothers can really suck. Right after we left the hotel, we ran into a whole crew of people we knew including Cubit, MMM, Jill, and MacGyver. We found out they had been here last night too and they went to Karaoke, so we missed them, DAMN! That would have been fun. They were contemplating staying in town again tonight and that was making a Zero Day seem very nice.

Our bodies are still messed up but we really want to get down the trail. At this point we’re getting angry at each other all the time and part of it is because we aren’t meeting our goals in mileage. I keep reassuring the fellas that we are going to speed up at some point; it’s only been two weeks. It will take a month just for us to get our hiking legs. That’s not helping though. I’ve never done anything like this before but it seems to me that we’ll be able to make a lot of time once we get used to it. No one else seems to agree with me. Money is looking like it might be an issue as well; but, I’m trying not to think of that and let God handle the worrying. I’ll handle the hiking.

We couldn’t decide on a place to eat and we ran into Dixie Dawg and his partner Kansas. I think that’s his name. We saw them walking down the street and they looked like a couple of rough characters. I imagine the three of us look equally seedy and tentative. No wonder people keep getting out of our way; maybe we smell too.

During an Indiana Jones inspired breakfast at Burger King, we decide to take a Zero and get a cheaper hotel that we heard about up the street from Stoplight number 8. The stoplights are all numbered here and you can find anything by asking what stoplight it is next to. I heard about this when I was reading about Gatlinburg in the trail handbook and I thought it was funny so I wrote a song called “Stoplight Number 3” I will sing it for you sometime.

The hotel was a bargain and we ended up getting a double suite for the same price as a single. I borrowed the front desk’s computer and sat up there for hours catching up on blogs while the girls there were taking reservations and stuff. It was weird; I was just hanging out behind the counter like I worked there, uploading pictures and blogs and trying to answer my email. We’ve been getting a few donations from people and that is really nice. It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something in light of our substandard mileage attempts.

Later that evening we went out in town, had dinner two friends of Cyclone’s who came down to hang out with us. We would later give him the trail name of Blue Blaze and her name was Stephanie. We ate a great steak dinner. Cyclone quizzed the waiter on his Meat Knowledge since Cyclone used to be a butcher and we all had delicious cuts of fine beef. We cruised over to the Karaoke bar after that and met up with all the hikers. Everyone sang. Cyclone did this great ray Charles tune and Rolex and I were surprised at his soulful voice. We’d never heard him get that “urban” before. We left the bar in stages related to our preference and the night ended in the way that nights like that tend to end. If it sounds like I’m not really saying anything; well, that’s because I’m not.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Spreading Ginny's Ashes

Clingman's Dome Trail

Spreading Ginny's Ashes
Siler's Bald to Clingman's Dome (highest point on the AT) then down into Gatlinburg, TN

A wet and chilly morning yielded to crumbly breakfast bars while standing around in my sleeping bag. Someone re-started the fire from the night before and it really helped to lighten the murky mood. What a great idea! I sluggishly awoke and stood around with aching leg and feet, procrastinating, while Cyclone and Rolex took off early because there was rumored to be a Privy at the next shelter only 1.7 miles away. There was only a shovel and an arrow on a tree at this shelter.

The people who had come in from the north last night were talking about a couple of dead Boars just off the trail. I later ran into one of them. It was HUGE! I was freakin’ out thinking that something like that was running around out here just waiting to make a meal out of me and my two brothers! It was the size of a small cow! I hope I don’t run into one of these guys on the trail. They are deadly and unbelievably big. It was scary just looking at the dead carcass which was humming with flies and stinking in the sun. There are hunters here in the Smokies, hired just to try to eradicate the wild boar here. Boar are not indigenous to this area and they tear up everything; so, these guy go out with shotguns, machine guns, sub-atomic particle generators, and a water bottle to track the bastards and cut them down for the good of all humanity. All I can say is that I'm glad there aren't more of them running around.

Just before the shelter I came across a very friendly deer who wouldn't run away. I filmed it for a few and then went to the shelter where the guys there told me about that particular deer who had been hanging around all day. I later learned that two unfortunate hikers were killed by lightning in this shelter back in 1980 and I wondered briefly if their spirit hadn't manifested themselves as a friendly deer to comfort thru-hikers on their journey. Can you believe that? I must be going crazy out here!

Rolex was just clearing the privy when I got there. We headed for Clingman's Dome. The hike was cake even though we were going up to 6600 feet. We hiked together which was rare. We haven’t been doing too much of that lately. We keep getting into arguments. When we go to Clingman’s Dome, there were a ton of dead trees and we discovered that some European insect had ravaged them all. Cyclone and I went around to a secluded spot and spread Grandmom Patrone's ashes; Virginia Wilson Patrone, may you rest in peace. Here she was with us all the time and we forgot to give her a trail name! I think she used to like to be called "Ginny." Maybe we would have called her “Dusty.” We read the first part of Psalm 90 and filmed it so we could show the family. I plan on spreading my portion of her ashes up on Mt. Whitney in California next year, that way she'll be at the highest point on the east and west coast trails.

We dropped down into Newfound Gap. It was a pretty crappy climb down. I’m glad we weren’t going southbound and would have had to climb UP that bastard. We hitched a ride from a man and a woman who were very nice. I'd tell you their names except for this: She had just gotten out of a 90 day recovery facility and we talked a lot about that, coincidentally, I ran into a guy who had 17 years sober a couple of nights before at a shelter and we talked about recovery on the trail. I was glad to get to talk a little about it, especially before going into a town like Gatlinburg. These anonymous cats are EVERYWHERE!

We checked into the Grand Prix Hotel. After showers, we went to some steakhouse and chowed down. I took some of the steak back with us and we stopped at a grocery. They didn’t have the supplies we needed so we were going to have to take the trolley out to the supermarket. The entire town of Gatlinburg is serviced by these trolleys which only cost 50 cents. Rolex and I got on one to go out to a supermarket to resupply and the trolley took FOREVER to get there. Cyclone was back at the hotel doing all of our laundry so once again Rolex and I were naked under our rain suits, frantically streaming through the aisles of the Food City, grabbing our necessary supplies. The checkout girl told us she had done the AT twice with her father and we were dubious; but, far be it from me to dispute the authenticity of a 2000 miler. We tried to get all of our stuff as fast as we could so we could catch the trolley on the return loop but we didn't make it and ended up standing in the rain on the curb for 20 minutes. The food ordeal took us about three hours instead of the twenty minutes it should have and we didn't get to go to Karaoke. Cyclone and Rolex did the breakdown and divvy of food while I caught up on blogs. I’n finally getting to sleep and it is 3AM. Guh, we have a murderous climb tomorrow to get back up to where we were. Unless, of course, we take a Zero Day…

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Thunderhead and on top of old Smokey

Is this Rocky Top, Tennessee?


Mollie's Ridge to Siler's Bald on top of old Smokey, Rocky Top and Thunderhead 17 miles

We passed a series of shelters in a short time and then climbed up the three peaks of Thunderhead. It was weird how there were no trees up there on top. It looked kind of like a nice, groomed, picnic area with exotic grasses and trimmed bushes; yet, it was all done naturally. They say that the Native American Indians had a lot of legends about the bald tops of these mountains. I think it’s aliens… We got up top and there was a Japanese guy I tried to talk to; but, he was pretty quiet even when I greeted him in Japanese. Maybe he was one of the Alien gardeners! Two girls came climbing up from the other direction and told us where we were, overhearing us arguing about it. It turned out we were at the World Famous Rocky Top. You know, the one in the song.

We stopped to get water at an unusually large shelter that seemed to have been built recently. I got a little extra and washed my feet. It was soooo nice. I'll have to remember that... Afterwards I lay on the grass and watched the chipmunks try to pretend they weren;t trying to get into our backpacks. It was a hot day and we went through nearly two gallons of drinking water each as we trudged through the Smokies. Grasshoppers were all over the place and I wanted to eat them.

We put in at Siler's Bald Shelter and met a bunch of section hikers from Alabama and other places. We pulled out the guitar and harmonica and played until we finally hit the sack. We want to get up early to get up Clingman's Dome and then down into Gatlinburg to resupply. The Guidebook states that “Gatlinburg is a full fledged tourist Mecca that overwhelms the senses.” Sounds like my kind of place. Where's the KARAOKE!!?? It's going to be cold and wet tonight... Grrrrrrr.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Fire Tower Climb and Glowing eyes in the Night

View from the Shuckstack fire tower


Fontana Dam, enter the Smoky Mountain National Park 2200 ft up to rickety fire tower and on to Mollie's Ridge. 12.5 miles

We woke up in the hotel room and packed up. We had to get out of there quick or we were at risk for taking another Zero Day. We headed up to check out and get a big buffet breakfast at the lodge. As we were coming in for breakfast, all of our erstwhile cronies showed up from the trail to check in to the hotel (or at least get some breakfast). We all ate together and then we of the Brotherproof crew headed off to the post office to mail out some more extraneous gear and pick up a few last minute items from the general store before we caught a shuttle back to where we came off of the trail the day before. There should be a name for this. I’d like to call it the Punch Point or the Resumption. That’s it, I like it; “The Resumption.” I’m going to call it that from now on. “Let’s get back to the Resumption, Fellas!”

It didn’t rain yesterday in accordance with The Prophesy as ordained by our Lord and Savior, The National Weather Service and texted to our cell phones by the Father, our Dad; but, it felt like it might today. It was muggy as we hiked over the Fontana Dam and into the Smokies. It’s a huge dam and we got a lot of pictures and wasted a lot of time at the visitor center where they had an enormous relief map of The Smoky Mountain National Forest as well as the projects accomplished by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). We finally got out of the air-conditioned visitor center and someone pointed off to a barely visible fire tower on a distant mountaintop and informed us that we would be there in only 3 or 4 miles. It looked like an eternity both away and up. That’s what matters out here in case you hadn’t figured it out yet: Distance and Elevation. I couldn't believe we were supposed to be there in just over an hour. We were about to embark on a journey on the life-sized relief map of the Smokies. Scale of one foot = one foot.

In two day's we'll be at the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. At Fontana Dam we stood at 1700 feet, going to 4000 feet in just over three miles, then up and down several times over the famous “Rocky Top” and “thunderhead” to 6600 feet in a couple of days at Klingman’s Dome. Then we planned to resupply again in some town called Gatlinburg Tennessee. Today we would cross into the third state on our journey of 14 states. We hoped to reach the Tennessee/North Carolina Border today and follow it all the way through “The Smokies,” which also boasts the highest concentration of Black Bears in the World.

We made it up the legendary Shuckstack climb to the fire tower and precariously negotiated its rickety, rotten steps. We were there with the Walkens, parents of one of the thru-hikers we'd been seeing occasionally. After taking some pictures from what seemed to be a very unsafe perch, we then moved on. We had intended to get past Mollie's Ridge shelter; but by starting so late, it looked like we would have to settle there for the night.

When we got to Mollie's Ridge Shelter, it was pretty full and the ridge runner, Jim, was waiting on some reservations to show up. You have to make reservations to stay in the shelter in the Smokies. We planted our stakes out in the field and set up camp. I met some cool guys from Tennessee and we continued to see some of the same folks we’ve been running into for the past several days. We ate our usual meal and after dark, as I was going to my hammock, I saw a pair of eyes shining yellow out there in the dark. They were tracking me and I didn't like it one bit. I couldn't tell, from my headlamp, how big or just what the creature was but it moved like a cat and I shuffled out loudly toward it and yelled a little to get it to run away. It kept moving a little and then hunkering down. I thought I heard it hiss before it finally took off, I hoped for good. Later that night some thru-hikers came in and said they heard something running toward them and growling at them; which, would explain why the bastards were singing so damn loudly as they strolled in at 2AM.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Fontana Dam and My secret GORP Recipe

White Blaze on Fontana Dam


Brown Fork Shelter to Fontana Dam 13 Miles

Early rise: 6:30 and I’m up with the birds. The birds always wake me up. They are really annoying. It is good for the bird population that I am not armed while out here.

We split camp about 7:37 and headed out with Dad texting us the threat of afternoon rain. We originally wanted to get in to Fontana Dam and resupply while it rained; but after a phone call, we decided to stay at their hotel because they had such a good deal. That sounded all nice and fuzzy but we were going to have to get there first. There was a big altitude drop into Fontana Dam, which meant knee and foot punishment. We had to get down to 1700 feet and big drops are sometimes more painful than tough climbs. My feet are already throbbing when I put on my “in-camp shoes,” let alone my boots with a 50 lb pack on my back. We're getting faster though, and it feels good to leave camp before anyone else for a change.

We rested at the first shelter we passed and then got back on it. I bonked on the next big hill and we took it easy until I got my blood sugar back up. This bonking has got to stop. It makes me weird for the rest of the day. The climb to "High Top" was a bear but we kept good time and got in to the visitor center by 1330. We called the shuttle and used the bathrooms while we waited for it to take us into the strange town of Fontana Dam.

The hotel was awesome! It was reminiscent of an old hunting lodge with boar heads and bears and bobcats up on the walls, with a modern quality. The whole town was actually a resort of some sort. There was a pool, actually two, and tennis courts, several places to eat, a Laundromat, post office, general store, etc.. It was weird, like some kind of compound. We weren't complaining though. Our room was sweet like a Vegas Suite and the burgers were proper and meaty.

We roamed around, naked under our rain gear as our clothing washed and dried. Cyclone and Rolex both picked up new Big Agnes inflatable floor mats for under their sleeping bags. I was envious. The town of Fontana Dam had nearly everything except for Cell Service on the whole compound; nothing, nada, zip. It was weird, we had Internet though and I posted some GPS stuff but didn't have time to type out blogs. Cyclone and I played a few rounds of Big Game Hunter in the arcade and I got to play the guitar a bit. We watched a lot of TV in the room as we ziplocked our resupply.

About Re-supply; in case you were wondering, this is what we eat:

Wake up:
Two Breakfast bars or oatmeal breakfast or Pop Tarts, something or other at least 450 calories

Throughout the day we eat about a pound of GORP or Trail Mix to keep blood sugar up and to avoid having to take a lunch (From Wikipedia: Backronyms for the word gorp, an alternate name for trail mix, are Good Old Raisins and Peanuts, Granola Oats Raisins and Peanuts, or Gobs Of Raw Protein. These probably are folk etymology. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1913 reference to the verb gorp, meaning "to eat greedily".)

1 clif bar or similar energy bar if available (230 cal)

Dinner:
One Pound of Spaghetti and 1 Pound of sauce split between three of us (650 cal)
One Pkg of Ramen (190 cal.)

So we prep all of the spaghetti beforehand by breaking it all up to fit in the pot and we make spaghetti sauce packets by putting 8oz of tomato paste in a bag with some seasoning. We mix up all the GORP and divide it up into 1 bags per day. We remove as much packaging as we can and we pack it up in our personal Bear Bags. You have to be able to separate anything that smells like anything so the bears don't get curious and start sniffing around your pack or tent. We mix all the GORP in the hotel ice bucket and use the plastic cup to scoop into ziplock bags. We do all this sitting in our underwear on the floor in the hotel room. Now there's a picture for you before you go off to bed... Sweet dreams.

Oh yeah! My GORP recipe:
When I was a kid and we used to hike in Boy Scouts, your GORP recipe was a point of pride and investigation. Gorp recipes were legendary in their complexity and secrecy. In this trip we’ve tried to keep it simple so that we don’t spent too much time trying to resupply, not to mention we don’t usually have a kitchen so we have to be able to mix our GORP on the fly.

My Long Distance Hiking GORP recipe is simple:

1. Two big bags of M&M Peanut (dark Choc when I can find it)
2. Three 12oz cans of Honey Roasted Peanuts
3. An equal amount of Sesame crunch as peanuts (If no Sesame then Pretzels)
Sometimes
4. 2 small boxes of raisins or Craisins
Separate this up into 12, quart-sized freezer bags and snack on this all day (12 bags @ about 1100 calories per bag). Keep in mind we are making this for three people for four days each guy eating one bag per day.

Don’t get too fat!

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Orchestral Snoring and lots of marshmallows

Throne with a View


A.Rufus Shelter to Brown Fork Shelter Stopping for breakfast and showers at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) 17 miles

It was a tough day. Sleep was jacked up too. Everyone in the shelter was snoring loudly. This normally wouldn't phase me one damn bit; however, I happened to be sleeping next to MadMtMike who kept poking me all night to try and get me to stop snoring. Actually, he was trying to get everyone to stop but I was the one next to him. I need to get him some earplugs or something. All night I'd be awakened by his poking finger, even when Longtoe, who was on the other side of me, was snoring, Mike would poke me. I finally grumbled, "Mike, it isn't me!" At one point, I heard him yell out, "OK! Everyone stop snoring!!" I think it was answered by Cubit letting out a long, gurgling blast. I was just laughing, except for the fact that I couldn't get any sleep while Mike's poking finger was at work. Shortly after that I heard Mike making a bunch of noise; a cacophony of zippers and rustles and grunts. Some time later I rolled over and he was gone. That cat split the shelter to go sleep in the grass and he didn't even have a tent! Wow! We shouldn't have fed him all those marshmallows. In the morning he was pissin’ and monain’. At least it wasn't just me, everyone was snoring. What do you expect? We're roughing it!

We got on the trail to go down the 0.8 mile to the NOC where we had breakfast and I tried to upload GPS logs, but they wouldn't work. I was getting really irritated at the situation. We packed up and went to go take some showers. I washed some of my clothes while I was in the shower and Cyclone was on a conference call. Our clothes dried in the sun and we got on the trail late, around noon. It was a mother of a hike too; the hottest day yet. I bonked hard on the Cheoah Bald climb. I hate it when that happens. You're chuggin' along and suddenly it seems like the world is about to end and your chest is exploding and you can't breathe and sweat is pouring out of you like you just jumped in a lake. We took a little break and I gathered my composure before the summit

Later that day we got the marvelous opportunity to climb a hill that was unbelievably steep. You could reach out and touch the ground in front of you as you climbed. Cyclone and Rolex kept calling out for switchbacks. Cyclone was trying to analyze at what steepness of grade the trail maintainers thought it was appropriate to start using switchbacks.

We finally got in to Brown Fork Shelter and it was packed. There must have been twenty tents around the shelter. We arrived after nightfall and I set up my hammock in the dark while Cyclone and Rolex cooked dinner; spaghetti again. We've really got this Spaghetti thing down pat. They have been sleeping in the shelter mostly and I have been out in my hammock tent. I don't have a nice, thick pad to put under my sleeping bag so I'd rather freeze in my tent than sleep on hard wood floor in the shelter, especially after the Snoring Incident last night.

We broke out the rest of the marshmallows and Cyclone and I had toasted, white dessert while Rolex talked to his girlfriend on his cell phone out by the privy; which, by the way, had no walls. All it had was a roof; just a throne in the middle of the woods with a great view of the mountains, the trees, the birds, oh yeah and all of the hikers cooking breakfast. Hey! Somebody pass me the paper will ya?

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

The Overshooting Shelter, Blow-down Blues

There is a trail in there somewhere!!


After the Clearing process


It was a cold, cold morning, again. I slept amazingly well; however. I think I’m getting the hang of this hammock; no pun intended. We got packed up, got water and took off. We shouldn’t get water in the morning. It takes too damn long

Trailfox was ahead of us and we didn't know it. She must have left at like 5:30 AM. We got a kind of late start due to the water gathering, but we were cruising along at a good clip for us. Footing was very slippery and we finally caught up with all of the people who had left the shelter before us. At some point, me and Cubit took off. She's a pretty fast hiker and I was huffin' and puffin' before long. I kept asking her to slow down. She has these ridiculous hiker legs and her pack is something like 25 pounds. For a short girl, she somehow steps it out and moves very fast.

The wind and rain over the past few days had been pretty crazy and there were blow-downs everywhere. A “Blow-Down” is when heavy rains loosen the soil and the combination of loose soil and heavy winds sends a tree crashing to the ground, lifting out its entire root structure including the boulders that the roots have grown around over the years. It’s a marvel to see and frightening to hear in the middle of the night. It sounds like a train wreck with explosions as one big tree dominoes the smaller ones it hits on the way down. You'd be hiking long and suddenly an entire tree was laying along the trail, impassable. You'd have to bushwhack it up crazy steep slopes to get around it, while slippin and falling and sliding back down through leaves and bugs and mud and snakes and stuff. Then you'd be alright for a while. There would be small blow-downs you could step over, and then you'd be huffin up a big hill and SLAM! You run into a monster blow-down.

Cyclone and Rolex, we found out later, spent a half an hour clearing the first one that me and Cubit just scrambled through. They cut it up and peeled it off and threw it down the slope. They have "before and after" pictures but Rolex left the Sony cable adapter to his camera up at his school and we can't get any pictures off of the camera until we get a hold of one of those.

Somehow, Cubit and I caught up with Trailfox . We got into a killer pace and totally missed the shelter we were all going to meet at. We hiked all the way down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) which is this pretty cool rafting center on the Chattooga River with an outfitter, convenience store, lodging, restaurant, etc.. It’s right on the trail. Normally that would have been cool; however, I knew we'd have to walk back up the 300 feet in elevation to the shelter, so we ate dinner and picked up some marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers and brought them back up with us for the fire we had texted them to make. For dinner, Cubit and I had pizza at the NOC but it sucked. I should have known it would

After we got back up the hill, having to climb back over a few blow-downs that we had already negotiated, I decided to sleep in the shelter so I wouldn't have to set up my tent. I stayed up late watching over the fire and trying to play this E minor blues progression that was in my head for a few hours before retiring to the shelter which was packed with five other people: Cubit, Just Lyle, MadMtMike and Longtoe. I was in between Mike and Longtoe which will be pertinent to tomorrow's post.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Slackpacking and the Wolf

Wet Climb



After our first real “Zero Day” (so named because it is a day in which you go zero miles), we woke up late and ate breakfast at some place called Wilson's in Franklin, NC with a bunch of other Thru-Hikers. When we got back to the Budget Inn, Ron Haven was there with his thru-hiker short bus. We got a ride up to the trailhead with a bunch of the folks we've been hanging with.

When, in desperation, my brothers and I came off the trail two days ago, we got a ride from Dave at the road about 3 miles before most people get off to go to Franklin, so the other hikers would be starting ahead of us. While we dropped them off, Ron suggested we stuff our packs in the Mountain Laurel off trail a ways and do what is called “slack-packing” to make up time. Slack-packing is when you stage your pack somewhere and get a ride further up or down the trail, and then you hike the section between without a pack; or, with a significantly lighter pack, carrying only daily essentials. Our hiking speed was dramatically different. We slack-packed Rock Gap to Winding Stair gap (about 3 miles) in less than an hour and then picked our full packs up (reluctantly) and picked up where the others had started earlier that day..

The climb up to Wayah (“Wayah” means wolf in Cherokee) was horrible and I was constantly on the verge of bonking; but we were still making good time until somewhere in the middle of the day when it started to rain again. Soon came hail and torrent while lightning was striking the mountains all around us. There were times when the lightning would strike less than a thousand feet away. The “Wolf” was definitely howling. Thank God our Mom used to take us out on the porch when we were young to "enjoy" the summer electric storms in Pennsylvania. It was kind of like that, only scarier and a lot wetter. At times we were walking in ankle deep rivulets as the steep trail turned into a flowing stream. The good thing is that we got hit so hard the last time with rain that we went to an outfitter and upgraded our gear. I can’t express how glad I was that we did that. It could have been so much worse.

By the time we got to Wayah Shelter, the rain had subsided; but of course, all was wet, the shelter was full and so were all of the campsites. A girl named Trailfox was there along with two guys named HaHa and Slow. There was this crazy, old Army Ranger dude who admitted he hadn’t been taking his meds and we encouraged him to do so (especially after discovering his vast collection of combat cutlery and enthusiasm for demonstrating its use) we met Longtoe from Austria, and the rest of the crew was there, like Cubit, MadMtMike and others.

It was COLD... AGAIN! Our spaghetti was damn good though. We just came up with a new method and I’m really happy about it. We mixed up some tomato paste and some sauce mix and cooked up a pound of angel hair pasta to split between the three of us. It was DAMN GOOD! I hung my hammock from two trees on the side of a crazy hill while most of the guys looked on with dubious curiosity; uncertain of the hammock’s feasibility. It’s good I had that thing ‘cause I wouldn’t have been able to put up a tent anywhere. It was hard enough hanging it between two trees on this crazy slope with wet leaves sliding everywhere. Everything was on a hill and everything was wet. The night was dreary, it rained some more and sleep came none too soon.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 9: Franklin my dear...

Budget Inn Bus
MMM, Ron Haven, JB, Rolex, Cyclone, Cubit, Lyle

We woke up in another hotel. The weather really took us out yesterday. The push to get to Franklin last night took its toll on my body. I think have shin splints and some lung congestion that is a little unsettling. We're bone tired and beat but feelin' good. We did a hundred miles this week and we're moving twice as fast as we did in the beginning so we hope to be up to our schedule in a few weeks. We stopped in Franklin to resupply and it looks like it's going to take us all day. I wanted to be moving on today but I woke up with my lungs gurgling like a faulty snorkel and it kind of freaked me out; so when Doug said, "maybe we should take a zero day?" I pretended to reluctantly agree from under my Budget Inn Bedding, while rubbing my splinted shins and hacking a few raindrops from my saturated lungs.

Dave drove us all around Franklin to take care of some business; including, mailing my hotel key back to the Hiawassee Inn. Of course it turned out to be a beautiful day full of sunshine and commerce as I upgraded my rain prophylactics and got a new bowl and some Gold Bond for the Chapped Ass Syndrome. An interesting side note: Gold Bond medicated powder is a little scary at first when applied to open wounds but the mentholated goodness never gets past a 6 on the pain scale before the benefits kick in :) it also doubles as deodorant if you don’t want to carry a stick of the Old Spice.

We got some dinner at a peanuts-on-the-floor steakhouse and we answered Jeopardy questions on a silent TV while some 19 y/o girl got the Happy Birthday song from the whole crew. I was only staring at her because she was right under the TV, honest, no really, honest...

As we got back to the budget in it was like another reunion; Doc was on the computer, Lil Cubit, Mad Mountain Mike, Just Lyle, and even the secretive guys came walking by. The only one missing was Dances and Wolfie. Maybe the hotel didn't like dogs. Anyway, we met the charismatic owner of the Budget Inn, Ron Haven, toured the town, and watched a lot of really stupid television about crocodiles, hippos, M*A*S*H, Dancing with The Stars (kristy yamaguchi is my pick, although that dance partner of the tall bald guy is unbelievable), Family guy and Adult swim. I can't wait to get back into the woods... TV sucks these days. I managed to get my hands on some Genuine Moonshine so my brothers could try it out. I have never had American Moonshine but I dipped my finger in and dabbed my tongue. I recognized it instantly as the same stuff I’ve had from on of my Serbian Buddies. It tastes like kerosene and knocks you out quicker than Vicodin. Ahhh Memories…

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 8: The Hypothermic Haul

Albert Mountain View


We got up and Rolex was buggin’ to go. It was a freezing, windy night and getting out of the hammock was reluctance personified. I should have trusted my instincts about the bear hang, my food bag got chewed into by some ingenious raccoon and although he didn't get far, he did enough damage that I’ll have to get another food bag. Doc took off early, said she wanted to take it slow, bein’ Sunday and all. We split the shelter at 8:45 and HAULED! After we crested Standing Indian Mountain, the road was EASY GOIN’. Soon the rain started to fall and it got COLD. Finally, we were making some good time. For the first time this trip, we were killin’ our schedule and then; Mount Albert happened.

There was this bad-ass fire tower up on a high mountain. People had been talking about how great it was. We saw it as we came up to the mountain and although the climb looked a little rough, we heard we’d be able to see China from the top. As we climbed, the rain got worse and the rocks were very slick and steep. It was tough, dangerous and anti-climactic because, by the time we got there, the fog and mist had enveloped the mountain and there was no view at all. We were freezin’ so we pressed on. Somewhere along the line we decided we were going back into the next town and we had to make the road to Franklin. It would be a long, cold, wet one; 21 miles, but we'd get it done. We were flying.

We got to a road where we got cell service as long as we stood in this one spot out in the open. It was getting dusky and they referred us to Dave, the shuttle guy. It took a while for Dave to pick us up but he finally got us as the hypothermia was getting ready to set in. I was soaked to the bone and miserable. We had no shelter and the wind was blowing cold and wet. It seemed like an eternity waiting for him to show up and I was really worried I would start to go into shock right there. My body was exhausted and I had nothing dry to wear; nothing to keep the wind from cutting right into me. Cyclone and Rolex weren’t any better. We tried to shield each other standing by the road but we had to stay in the five foot by five foot area that the cell phone had reception or we might miss Dave’s call. This storm made it clear that I have to get some new gear tomorrow, a new set of raingear at least. I had decided to use a poncho ‘cause it fit over the backpack but it just doesn’t shield me form the driving rain and wind

Dave arrived and took us to the Budget Inn, a place that caters to hikers. I washed our clothes and blogged while Rolex and Cyclone ordered a couple pizzas and Coke. Dominoes ripped us off for 28 bucks but we were desperate. We gulped it down and warmed ourselves with the room heaters on Warp speed. I slogged through Internet uploads until they closed the office and I was forced to succumb to sleep, sweet sleep while Indiana Jones solved puzzles and fought Germans on the small TV set in the corner.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 7: Continental Breakfast

Bear Warning

Me and Rolex shared a bed. Cyclone slept in the other one. He and I had a little spat last night about cutting down weight and I was having none of it. I’m not happy about their attitudes about dropping gear. I know we can live without some of this stuff but for some reason I’m willing to suffer to carry what I have. I know it’s going to slow us down but I feel like a Caspar Milquetoast when we talk about cutting down weight. People hiked this trail with much heavier packs than we have now and they didn’t cry about it. They just did it. I’m not into the ultra-light hiker thing. I want my body to adjust to the weight I have. We have some extra gear to be sure but I want to shoulder the burden and keep moving. I want to get stronger. We definitely overestimated the amount of fuel we would need, and we probably only need one stove. Cyclone and I got to arguing about mailing stuff home. I was getting really perturbed that he kept asking me to do another shakedown of my gear. He was going to carry my fuel bottle until I told him he should trim his straps to cut down weight and so he threw the fuel bottle back at me. I know what I’m carrying, if I thought I wouldn’t need something I wouldn’t have brought it! If I had to guess, I’d have to say this is probably going to be a problem area in the future.

Sam in the lobby was a real firecracker. I got some footage of him in his pyjamas. He treated us to a spectacular breakfast in the lobby/kitchen/living room of pastries and orange juice and toast and coffee and then we brought out the Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Sally came back with Fliver and we got a ride up to Dick's Creek Gap to start out a glorious day of climbing to Standing Indian campground. Lil Cubit showed up with Mad Mt Mike just before we took off and the BSA crew (some Boy Scouts we met the night before) was there too; so we all loaded up and took off together. There was joyous singing and talking and fast hiking of an ordinary nature until we got to Plum Orchard Gap. Cubit hung back and we took off to the next shelter. There were some other guys, kind of secretive, out hiking too but we flew them all. We took a breather and dry Ramen at Muscrat Creek and then as we were filling up our water, the secretive guys showed up then Lil Cubit and an Eagle Scout or two. We were trying to make some miles so we didn’t stick around. Doc took off and we were shortly to follow.

We got in to Standing Indian Shelter pretty early and had done about 18 miles; but there were no Bear Bag lines up so we would have to string our own. The stream was nice and I decided to try to wash up a little bit. Everyone stayed in the shelter except me. My hammock is way more comfortable than the shelter but I set it up a few feet away. We cooked up some food and I couldn’t eat the Lipton Sides thing I made. It was disgusting. I was trying to choke it down but I just couldn’t finish it. I was retching while trying to swallow it. We were having trouble finding a good place to hang the bear bags. Cyclone hung the bags up kind of half-assed and too close to the tree for my taste; but, I was exhausted and didn’t care enough to go through the trouble to move it. We lit a big fire, broke out the guitar and sang a few. Doc was damn adept at starting a fire and although there wasn't much wood around, we figured it out and had a blaze roaring before long.

Earlier, I had gone down to the privy and there were these mice hanging around. One of them was shakin’ like a leaf and he didn’t show any concern for the fact that I was right there. I shooed them out of the privy ‘cause I didn’t want no crazy mice starin’ at me while I took care of business. I guess that’s what they mean when they say, “Crazier than a Shithouse Rat.” It must be the fumes that gets them all jacked up. When I finished and went to throw some dun on the pile, they were already down there, eating the fecal matter I had just deposited. It was more than a little disturbing.

Eventually, the fire died and we retired. I got into my hammock and tried to sleep but there were a lot of ominous, shuffling-leaf noises in the night. There had been a lot of signs warning about bears so I slept with one eye open. Bear thoughts are freakin' me out.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 6: Hiawassee Bound

Hiawassee Inn Uniforms


It rained through the night; but, when we got up it was quiet. Still, everything was wet and damp and nasty. My soaking-wet underwear was bouncing in the wind on the makeshift clothesline I found on the side of the shelter where I had hung them last night in hopes that the wind might dry them out a little bit. No deal. I don’t care about the wetness except that wet things weigh a lot more and if you don’t dry things right away, everything will be wet before long and that’s a lot of weight difference.

I had some good sleep for a change; but, a town was sounding really good to us right about now. It’s only day 6 and we are in dire need of some civilization. We consulted our handbook for a local phone number, got cell phone service and arranged a ride to meet us at the road. It was only about an hour’s hike away. When we got to the road, Sally showed up in a sky blue, 1970 Volkswagen Bus that was completely restored. She called it “The Fliver." It transported our wet, muddy crew into the town of Hiawassee. On the way we sang songs and watched the miles fly by. She told us about blueberry trees and took us all the way to the other side of town where we grabbed some Mickey D's and Rolex ran across the street to get a new cell phone charger at a Radio Shack.

I tried to dry my boots off in the Mickey D’s Bathroom using one of the hand dryer things. A double quarter pounder with Cheese never tasted so good to me. She recommended that we stay at the Hiawassee Inn, an inexpensive motel in the middle of town. It sounded good to us so we went and soon Sam greeted us in a gruffly warm manner while spitting out the well-rehearsed list of services they offered to hikers. It was amazing; we were in heaven! They did our laundry including sleeping bags, and then they gave us sweats to wear so we could go over to the pharmacy and stare at all the pretty colors in the Hallmark Aisle. We looked like three Heaven’s Gaters getting ready to take their last sip of Kool-Aid. After spending hours in a the neighboring Rite Aid and somehow getting through our first real resupply without buying everything in the store, we got a little rest, fresh clothes and met a bunch of other thru-hikers that were staying in the Inn.

Sam lent us the van and Cyclone drove all of us over to Daniel's Steakhouse which had an all-you-can-eat buffet. I opted out and got the "Best of Both Worlds" T-Bone. We met even more hikers from previous shelters and they all joined our table. It was like a little reunion there. It seems everyone was waxed after that rain and needed the comforts of the town. We ate dinner with Lil' Cubit and Mad Mt Mike and even Dances showed up! After eating, we found out that the Dairy Queen is the only place that had Internet so we got some Scrumpdillyishious and Googled, uploaded and blogged. It turns out I deleted all of the track data from the past couple of days from my GPS and irretrievably lost it all. You can probably imagine how I reacted. We went through some of the toughest days of my life thus far and I lost the $!%&*$$ track data! DAMN!! The town folk of Hiawassee knew all about it shortly after I did. We walked back over to the hotel. It was time for bed; all that angst wore me out.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 5 Blue Mtn - Deep Gap: Chapped Ass Syndrome

Blue Mountain to Deep Gap Shelter 15 Miles

We got up early and made some hot oatmeal and got on the road about 8 something. Rolex was champin' at the bit ‘cause he's really worried we aren't going to make it on time. His impatience really gets to me. It’s tough because he doesn’t realize he manifests it in his actions and his comments but when I start to feel behind schedule I start to feel old and weak and it really bruises my ego; which makes me want to attack him in the only way I have the power to do so, verbally and emotionally. The thing is, I’m too conniving to explain all that to him, I just passive aggressively dig into him in an effort to make myself feel better. I have to stop it. This trail is going to really bring out my character flaws. I keep tellin' him we're going to be getting faster as time goes on and that Cyclone and I can only go as fast as our bodies allow us; but, he can’t help the signals of impatience that he gives off any more than I can help picking them up.I have to stop throwing little jabs his way to relieve my feelings of inadequacy.

Somewhere along the hike yesterday I got renamed to "Jukebox" and I think it's going to stick. I like singing while I hike but some of these hills are downright painful and I can’t breathe, let alone sing. I nearly passed out today. We hit this one hill and it just went up and up and up and up and then it kept going up. The fog was thick so you couldn’t see where the hill was ending; or, it would look like it was going to end but then it would turn a corner and there was a whole lot more hill to climb. I got to the top of one and even after stopping for a few minutes I couldn’t catch my breath. I was in so much pain that seemed to be coming from everywhere in my body at once and I couldn’t stop breathing a hundred miles an hour when I started to pass out. It was pouring rain and even though we're wearing rain gear, everything is getting wet from sweat and exertion so as soon as you stop, you're freezing. Rolex stayed with me while I recuperated on a wet log that crossed the trail. I didn’t want him to see me like that, I just wanted him to go on up ahead and let me die alone. Of course, if he had left me I would have been cursing his name, the bastard!

I never thought that Georgia would be this cold in May. My sleeping bag isn't really heavy enough and it gets cold enough that it's hard to sleep; and I could really use a good night’s sleep right now. We'll get adjusted, but this certainly no walk in the park, especially trying to knock out 20 mile days every day. I just tell Rolex, we'll get as far as we can and if we don’t make it, we'll finish it next summer. I don't want to have to do that but if it happens so be it. We stayed in a pretty cool shelter though. It had an upstairs area and we met back up with Doc. She went ahead, cause she was freezing too and I had to stop. I had no air at the end of that one hill. I have never experienced anything like it.

The Steri-pen has some rechargeable batteries and we charged them up with the juice from Cyclone's Solar Panel, thank God; however, those batteries don’t last as long and we're going to have to stop in town again. There is a road three miles after Deep Gap but we simply couldn't go any further today, at least, me and Cyclone couldn't. Rolex seems to be doing better but I know he's hurting too. Because of the constant wetness, I'm dealing with a major case of Chapped Ass Syndrome and I see no end in sight (pun intended). We cross a major Highway tomorrow and I think we're going to try to get a ride to Hiawassee and pick up supplies and batteries for the water purifier. Maybe we’ll stay in a motel or something. God, that would be nice!

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 4: Neels Gap to Blue Mountain

Mouse Hang at Blood Mountain


Wild Boars and No Water

I got up and my mouth was so dry I was choking on my tongue. I didn't realize they had an air dryer running all night to keep condensation down from the hikers' gear. It properly dried everything including my salivary glands and sinuses right through to my eye sockets. Luckily, I discovered no holes in my pack so the cats had done their jobs well. We got over to the Walasi Yi outfitter and picked up a ton of food. This place was built back in Roosevelt’s Conservation Corps days and was saved from demolition in the 1970’s but some tree-huggers saved it and now it’s privately owned and it is also the only place on the entire AT where the trail passes through a building. There was a pack scale by the front door and my pack weighed 55 lbs after food and water even though we’ve been steadily dropping gear off at post offices along the trail. We sent home some more stuff, ran into a guy named Billy and picked up a few necessaries. Food selection was tough. We spent way too much time jawjackin’ and eating hamburgers and stuff so Doc went ahead (about an hour ahead) while we deliberated over pop tarts and ramen noodles and the various caloric values of all foods versus the weight and so on. You should have seen the faces of the people around us as we dickered over tuna and Ritz or pre-made Fettuccine Alfredo. We finally made it out of The outfitter at Walasi-Yi and ate breakfast back at the hostel where we heated up frozen barbecue sandwiches in the microwave, once we headed out on the trail it looked like rain and we donned our rain gear. It was a grueling day, our longest yet.

As I was hiking down a particular stretch in Cold Springs, we came upon a section where the earth was torn apart; like some mad Appalachian farmer had dragged one of those roto-tillers up the mountains and went to town on the wilderness. At first I thought it was the work of some kind of tractor or something yet I couldn't understand how the hell it had gotten up there. The footpath to these mountains seems impenetrable by modern machinery. It was crazy. It was almost like I could hear the earth screaming in protest at the carnage and destructions; however, the saplings and trees were relatively undisturbed. The leaves were torn up and the earth was all turned over. Everything but the trees and some plants had been torn up. I was in a kind of surreal daze a few minutes later when I was startled back to consciousness as ten or twelve HUGE brown monsters ran uphill across the path about a hundred yards ahead of us. I abruptly halted as my mind was trying to figure out what they looked like and I realized it was wild boar! "Holy SHIT! BOARS!" I yelled. My brothers were behind me and hadn't seen them. I didn’t know if they even understood the danger of wild pigs. I was pointing down the trail and telling them what happened when suddenly, another ten boars, a little smaller, ran across in the same place! It was terrifying! One boar will kill a pack of pit bulls in a few minutes. 20 or so Boars running around as we weak little humans lumbered along with cumbersome packs was horrific. I’ve rarely felt so vulnerable in my life. They are vicious attackers and I was totally freaked out. I yelled, "Get out of here pigs!" and kept moving, nervously looking from side to side and banging my trekking poles while looking for a good tree to climb in case they came back. I warned my brothers to keep an eye on the trees so you would have your escape planned. Then an epiphany: The boars are what tore up the earth! It was everywhere! I couldn't believe the destruction they caused. WOW! I had a newfound respect for these powerful animals. We cautiously hustled along and warned everyone we saw.

The Sterilizing instrument we brought to use on our water died later that day and we were out of luck. We got in to Blue Mountain Shelter hungry and wet with no clean water but there were already a bunch of fellas there and one of them lent us his Steri-pen. More rain was coming but we all fit in the shelter and sat by a campfire until everyone retired. The mice were everywhere and we hung our packs with some 550 cord and cut up Doug's Frisbee to make a mouse stopper on the cord. I hung my hammock from the shelter beams to stay out of the rain. I realized that the thing I took a picture of at Blood Mountain which I thought was a bell was actually a Mouse stopper innovation called a “Mouse Hang”. I'll post the picture later. We need to get some of those...

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Day 3: Gooch Gap to Neels Gap

We hiked our asses off today. I mean literally, I was looking for my ass and it's gone; hiked off, all the way! We got in to Neels Gap Hiker Hostel just after dark. There were some orange sodium lights creating this strange glow over the stone-walled compound as some kind of bell or chime thing was “donging” in the gentle breeze. I felt like we were walking in to a monastery. We needed food pretty bad. Dances gave us some food last night but we knew we were going to have to go into a town so we tried to hitch into Suches. It didn't work. Doc came with us and we walked an extra two miles into town which brought our GPS total for the day up to 17-point-something miles. Thankfully we got (by “got” I mean paid for) a ride back to Woody Gap from this guy Wes. Just as I was turning to walk up the trail, someone from the general store came barreling down the highway with my water purifier charger thing. Thank God for that guy! We would have had to bite the bullet and drink straight from the dirty trail water. We quickly started up the path on our way to Neels Gap so we could stay in the famous "Hiker Hostel." We heard it would be pretty damn nice by our current standards of living. I let Cyclone and Rolex get up ahead ‘cause they were pissing me off already.

We would catch each other periodically and the hike was tough. Eventually we climbed Blood Mountain and met two guys who were section hiking. I was talking about our gear and I pulled out my guitar. One of the guys started playing it and then said, "who woulda thought I'd be pickin' a guitar up on Blood Mountain." it sounded so good I had to have him say it again from the film. The climb down Blood Mountain was worse than the climb up. (Note: We didn’t realize it at the time but five months earlier, a tough, young girl named Meredith Emerson had walked this same path and had been tragically abducted, brutally murdered, decapitated and abandoned nearby by some sick bastard who has since been implicated in several killings in the Southeast.) Doug’s knees were hurting him really badly and Michael stayed with him as they came down Blood Mountain at a snail’s pace. I kept waiting on them but they were taking forever. Doc kept counseling Cyclone on knee injuries and assuring him that if he just took a steady dose of Ibuprofen, he would be alright. It sounded like back when I was in the Marines. No matter what you had wrong with you, you walked out of sick call with a scrip for 800 milligrams of Motrin.

I filmed some of the night hiking as we came in to Neels Gap.There were a couple of people already there and Cyclone and Rolex caem downt he trail a short time after. There were hundreds of pictures of thru-hikers on the wall from this year alone. it seems we're probably the last of the thru-hikers trying to actually make it to Maine. Everyone keeps telling us we aren't going to make it to Maine by August 24. I have two words for them and I'll bet you can figure out what they are... Besides the dramatic décor, there were showers and a laundry room so we did our business and Mike cooked some Spags but we got the wrong kind so it took forever to cook

Mike got pissed at me; you see, he’s not much used to cooking for himself and he was asking me a question about the spaghetti sauce; only, I wasn't paying attention to where he was in the process, I was clipping my toenails or something like that. I thought the spaghetti was already finished and strained and so when he asked me what to do with the sauce, I absently told him to just pour it in; so he did. He poured it in to the boiling water with the spaghetti and everything. He got all pissed at me because I was the one who told him to do it. After we all tried to figure out how to handle that fiasco (imagine three brothers watching a pot of uncooked spaghetti, boiling over in a mixture of water and sauce that was foaming and getting all over our whisperlite stove). We finally came up with a solution and ate, grumpily conversed and slept on bunks while the two house cats (and I use the term “House Cats” loosley) lurked and protected our packs from the ravenous mice. Tomorrow we resupply at the outfitter they have here. Neels Gap Hostel is a very neat place where the Appalachian Trail actually rolls right through the middle of the compound while some archaic sounding wind chime tolls away. It doesn't chime, it TOLLS! When we came in tonight it was still dark and that thing was tolling and creating the weirdest atmosphere.

David AKA "Two-Tone"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Suches General Store

The intersection that determines Suches


Hey guys, we just pulled in to the Suches General store, well, walked in really. We've done about 30 miles so far and we ran out of food last night so we had to hike another extra couple of miles into this town called Suches (pronounced such – as) Georgia. It’s actually more an intersection than a town; but, it has its own post office so I guess it’s legit.

Hopefully we can hitch a ride back to the trail head so we don't have to walk the 2 miles back. I washed up a little in the bathroom. I rinsed out my underwear in the sink and hung it out on the back of my pack to dry. I’m already chafing and there won’t be any breaks to heal.

Please forgive any typos; there's this rubber, flexible keyboard and some of the keys don’t work all that well. I'm just going to type now and edit it when I can. It has been a grueling hike so far. I am having trouble editing the website so to see our GPS logs you have to go to http://wbafinc.motionbased.com (I think that will work) there is a link on the website. You can click on the Google Earth file and get a better idea

We got to the road after hiking a few miles this morning and decided to hitch/walk down the road for two miles to get to Suches. Our first Hitchhiking attempt was a miserable failure. No one picked us up and we had to walk the entire way to the Suches General Store (like a 7/11 but with more stuff) where they had some barbecue sandwiches cooking up in a pot on the counter. They were delicious!

After that, we walked next door to the Post Office to send home a bunch of gear, 11.3 pounds of gear, to be exact. We've met up with some very interesting people so far. My body hurts! Everything hurts; my earlobes are frustrated and my nose is tired. I have been fully exhausted. I "bonked" on a hill after Horse's Gap yesterday and I nearly had to be carried to water. “Bonking” is when you don’t eat enough while you are hiking so that your blood sugar drops way low and you literally feel like you are going to die.

It looks like this schedule is going to be rough to maintain and I'm wondering if we'll even make it. We're running thin on resources already; but, I think things will work out unless we run into any serious emergencies. I never noticed how expensive it is to eat on the road! I'm going to sign off and we’re going to try to get back up the street a ways. I'm sending another video tape back today. We're all excited ‘cause we got some more spaghetti! Woooo Hooo!

David, AKA "Two Tone"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com