Just a Short Overnight Hike - the AT Approach Trail

 

 

It's taken me about three weeks to even think about starting to write this post.  At first, it seemed kind of silly since it was just 8.5 miles.  I could have easily summed it up as follows:  It was hard.  The end.  In the days since my brother and I returned from our whirlwind hiking trip, so many things have been revealed to me about the importance of that short hike.  So, here I am - to share it with you.

I actually hiked the Approach Trail with my sister way back in 2012 (I think).  It was our first section hike ever on the AT, and we were beyond excited.  I still laugh when I think about the first thing my sister said after we'd put on our packs and started walking across the parking lot.  She stopped, turned to look at me, and said, "I don't think I can do this."  I simply told her that we would give it a try and if we really thought we couldn't do it, then we'd just turn around and go back to the car.  Well, we did it - and since that day, we have completed 223 miles of the AT, with our last hike ending at Clingmans Dome in NC.

There's irony in that, because my brother said pretty much those same words to me as we stood beneath that iconic arch - not because he had doubts about whether or not he could do it, but because he knew that I had doubts that I could.  I'd been through some pretty tough times both physically and mentally over the course of the past couple of years, and I just wasn't sure that my stiff, tired, hurting body would be able to do what I would need it to do to walk 8.5 miles in the mountains, carrying a pack on my back.  He'd told me prior to leaving for the hike that he knew I could do it, but that the problem was that it sounded like I thought I couldn't.  He was right.  I had some serious doubts - but we decided to give it a try while we had the chance.  It's been five years since we stood atop that dome on Clingmans, after completing a grueling 4 days in the Smoky Mountains.  It was during that hike that my trail name, Headlight, was given to me - but in that moment before we taking our first steps of this little hike, it felt almost inappropriate - like maybe my "light" had gone out somewhere along the way.

There was a small group at the arch, being led by a guide of some kind, and they were kind enough to take our picture before we left.  I'd packed my little waterproof digital camera, but never took it out.  I didn't get very many pictures this time - I'm usually the one who pulls up the rear of the group so I can stop and take numerous pictures of things that will only mean something to me as I stand there in that moment.  Nope - that camera never came out of the pack.  

We had opted to take the trail leading to the lodge versus climbing 400-plus stairs with a pack on.  Turns out, that might have been easier.  The road was severely washed out in many places, making it not only treacherous but difficult to navigate.  We made it to the top, though, and had a snack in the parking lot before continuing.  One thing about us that remains a joke to this day is that whenever anyone passes us, we are typically eating.  I'm not sure where we were in this one, but we'd stopped to take a break and make a hot lunch.  We were joined by a nice man and his two young boys and one of them was gracious enough to take a quick picture of us.

Looking back, I wish I'd taken more pictures, but I was too preoccupied with simply putting one foot in front of the other.  You might laugh at this, but trust me - with my leg muscles being totally exhausted (both from the climb and from not being in the shape I needed to be in), I was asking the Lord to help me to keep moving forward because my own strength was failing me.  

We made the decision to stop and fill our water bladders at a source pretty close to the Black Gap shelter area.  It was a steep, slippery descent (of course), but once we got down there, my brother filled two water bottles for me that I immediately consumed while he was filtering water into our bladders.  We weren't sure how the water was flowing up on Springer, so we wanted to make sure we had enough to cook dinner with - oh, and to have that mandatory cup of Folgers freeze-dried crystals upon our arrival.  It's just what we do...

Just as he was finishing up the refill, the first rain drops began to bounce off the trees.  We were under the canopy, so we had enough time to pack our bladders back in our packs and to get those waterproof pack covers on before the downpour hit.  And hit it did.  Within a couple minutes (if even), we were soaked to the bone.  It was a cold rain.  Of course it was.  While we've never completed a section hike without being rained on, this deluge did nothing for our already low morale.  But we had just under 2 miles to go - we pressed on.

It took us 9 hours to go 8.5 miles.  That's not bad considering that I wouldn't even call my forward movement a turtle's pace.  I didn't think it was possible to go much slower than a turtle, but I managed to do so.  In our defense, our lunch stop was about 45 minutes, and our water stop took about 20 - so we kept true to what I typically allow when planning one of our section hikes: 1 hour for each mile hiked.  Sometimes the terrain allows us to pick up speed and make up for the slower pace (in this case, it was more like take a few steps, then stop and catch my breath while giving my burning leg/backside muscles time to stop complaining about what I was forcing them to do).  The rain stopped about 20 minutes before we reached the summit of Springer, but by that time, all we wanted to do was take the packs off and NOT climb up anymore.  

There were several people at the shelter area - folks of all ages are out in large numbers now.  We set up our tent on one of the spaces located behind the shelter.  For those of you who aren't familiar with what a typical shelter looks like, this is it:

I will add that they've redone the inside of the shelter to make it two floors now, and it's actually pretty nice.  Another change I noticed was the installation of bear-proof food storage boxes rather than the bear cables.  Apparently, the bears figured out how to work those.  While the shelter has its perks, we still prefer our tent...

Our typical shelter routine ensued, and it didn't take us too long to get the tent set up, change out of the wet clothes and shoes, and to get that steamy cup of colored water that we call coffee fixed and in our water-logged hands.  We stood in silence for a couple of minutes, and then I had an epiphany: "We could always call Ron Brown and see if he has space available to pick us up at the Springer Mountain parking lot rather than go back the way we'd hiked up."  (Ron Brown, by the way, is a shuttle driver who lives and breathes helping out hikers in any way he possibly can.  He's an outstanding person, so if you're ever in that area and in need of a ride, give him a call!)It took us about 5 seconds to agree on that, and within a few minutes, we had a ride arranged the next day.  Granted, we would have to hang around the shelter area for a while, but that worked.  We were pretty tired.

My brother hung some paracord for us to hang all of our wet stuff on, and that probably would have worked well except for the fact the the rain moved in again around 6am (or a little before dawn).  The stuff was already wet, so we made no move to climb out of the tent to try to save it.  We'd covered our packs but the wind blew off the wraps - needless to say, our packs were soaked on the outside.  I've used the tent we carried before and never had a problem with leaks - but water managed to come up through the floor, probably because we had to set up on a bit of a slant, so the rain ran between the ground cloth under the tent and the tent floor.  We stayed dry, which was the important thing, even if the bottom of our sleeping mats didn't.  

There was no drying out the gear, so we slowly packed it all up as we drank our morning coffee and choked down the oatmeal we'd taken for breakfast.  We were spent from the day before, so we moved slowly, but we did stop long enough to get one last picture before taking down the soggy tent:

We left the shelter area around noon - it was almost a mile down to the parking lot.  To say that every muscle in my body was groaning would be an understatement, but we had done what we came to do.  My brother can now cross this 8.5 mile section off his list, and I can cross it off twice.

I said earlier that looking back on this short hike, I can see that many things were revealed to me.  I've always felt "at home" in the mountains - and no matter how challenging the terrain might be, I've always accepted the challenge head on.  This time was no different.  What's different is that I can see it from a very different perspective than I ever could before. 

Some of you reading this may scoff at what I'm about to say, but when I look back at this hike through the eyes of my faith, I can see how the Lord used it as an example of His presence in my life.  He promises to be with us as we stand on the mountaintops as well as when we're walking through the valleys of life.  How does this translate into this hike for me?  Well - I was truly at the end of my physical strength, with the cold rain blowing in my face.  The path I was trying to follow under water and invisible, I was running on empty in terms of being hungry and having no energy.  I was tired.  I was cold.  I thought many times about quitting because in my own strength, I didn't see how I was going to make it through what I was walking through.  How many times, especially in the last couple of years, have I looked at the world around me and felt all those things?

And yet, I did make it.  I have no doubt that the Lord was with me - and that one of His purposes of allowing that hike to come to fruition was to show me that, with Him by my side, I can do so much more than I give myself credit for.  I pleaded with Him to help me pick up on foot and put it in front of the other.  I prayed that He would keep us safe.  He answered every single one of those prayers and blessed me in ways that I could only see days after returning home.  

Will I go out again?  Lord willing, yes, I will.  Will I have doubts in my abilities?  Probably.  My physical issues didn't just disappear because I went hiking.  Will I believe that, if He allows me to get back out on the trail that He will bring me through it?  Absolutely.  Will I see Him all around me as I walk those mountain trails?  How could I not?

Happy hiking, everyone!  Stay safe out there and be blessed!