We had some rough, high temp days with weather warnings and long water carries. Trail angels left water caches to help out hikers, which was very appreciated. We slack packed (hiked without a full pack) a few days to help mitigate some of the water and heat pressure.

Rio (Roly Poly) had a bear encounter as he crested a hill in a blueberry patch after crossing into New Jersey, but Tick didn’t lunge at it or anything. All is well.

I’ll update more next time I get some good service!

We started the day at BearFence Hut. When we got to a Wayside at about mile 6, the Bubble (and Rio) was already there. BlackBerry Ice cream and tomato soup. Yum. 

We set out our mats and laid in the shade for a few hours, chatting with other hikers. Trail magic in the parking lot as well. Everyone was nice and the weather was perfect.

After that, we had some miles to get to Rock Spring Hut. 

We had a very long but language barrier-y conversation with the French guy. We all pulled out our limited French vocabulary to try and make it work. Rio busted out of his hammock in the night and rolled down the hill, earning the trail name “Roly Poly.”

Day 6- Saturday, Rock Springs Hut to Byrds Nest Hut.

I woke up to a deer right next to me. It was a beautiful camp site and it was nice to sleep away from everyone else, so that when I woke up I didn’t have to worry about bothering people with my pack crinkling. 

It rained briefly. The trail was lovely. When we made it to Byrd’s nest, it was crowded. The bubble has arrived in Shenandoah.

Tick ran off and caught a baby fawn and brought it to Rio. I heard it yelling from my hammock! Luckily, it didn’t get hurt. Eek.

Here video from the last few days:

Days 5 and 6

and

Days 3 and 4

Pinefield Hut to Hightop Peak

Wednesday morning we woke up to Windbreaker talking about how she had some excitement with a mouse in the middle of the night. No bears, though! You can see the nice bear poles at this shelter in the picture above.

Partially through the trail this morning, we decided to retroblaze along the park’s rock wall to get some good views in the lovely weather.

The guys were well ahead of me (as usual), so I took a side quest to Hightop Hut to make a drink and eat a snack. There, I chatted with the hiker from Paris and a few ladies on a day hike. They’d already met Rio and Palerider up ahead and, of course, had good things to say about Tick.

We decided to camp at Hightop Peak instead of a shelter. Beautiful scenery and a nice, scenic spot next to a rocky overlook. We had a dinner of new growth smilax shoots and rice with pesto and salmon. The weather was so nice that I didn’t even have to put up a rain fly.

Day 4 Resupply

We made breakfast and walked an easy 3 miles to Swift Run Gap to meet Mother and Charles. Trail magic was set up at the road.

We went to the hotel where we showered, charged electronics and things like that. The guys went to the sporting goods store to try and replace Rio’s water filter. We went and ate Mexican at El Jalisco and then to Kroger to resupply food.

We were dropped back at South River Picnic Area and walked 6 miles to BearFence Hut.

The NOBO hiker bubble caught up to us, so the shelter was more of a party than anything. Still, even partying hikers are in bed by dark, so it wasn’t bad.

Mom dropped us off inside of the park, since she has a pass.

Perfect weather, upper 60s. Easy trail.

Rice with chicken, plantain and sassafras leaves.

We met other hikers at camp, and had some great conversations. There was even an impromptu music theory lesson. Everyone loves Tick. 

It was chilly enough in the evening to wear a puffy. 

According to my fitness tracker, sleeping in the woods agrees with me.

Climbed to the top of Blackrock as a scramble. It was gorgeous, with 360 views. 

We stopped at Loft Mountain Camp store for blackberry milkshakes. Hiking in a national park is so fancy!

A deer followed us. Someone must have been feeding them. The trail was mild with a few climbs, so yeah. We are already spoiled.

We met Point Five and Barney from Germany at the hut. Also a guy named Tim, a girl named Windbreaker and Vincent from Paris. There was some fun conversation.

I did make a little video of the first few days here if you’re interested: AT Flip Flop Days 1 and 2

Stay patient! I don’t have access to a lot of internet service at the moment, so I expect to get a little behind on updates.

A few years ago, I went to Flagg Mountain to meet Nimblewill Nomad so that I could chat with him, photograph him and paint a portrait of him for the Pinhoti Outdoor Center. Nimblewill was already “trail famous,” but was about to become even more so by hiking the AT again at the age of 84.

I painted a few pictures of Nimblewill.

When I was there meeting with him, he found out that I wanted to hike the AT when I retired.

“Don’t wait for someone to give you a trail name, he said. “Pick one yourself. There is no reason to be saddled with something terrible.”

Indeed, trail names are often the result of an embarrassing event or personal characteristic. It’s not uncommon to come across a hiker named something like Booger Eater or Chiggerpits.

Still, I decided to just see what name came to me. My hiking friends joke that I’m cursed. If anyone camps with me, a whippoorwill will appear and yell all night next to the campsite.

My buddy even texted me one night to tell me that she was camping with someone and just mentioned my name and a whippoorwill showed up.

My dad always loved to hear a whippoorwill call. One of my childhood memories is of him loading me in the car and driving me out to the woods to hear a whippoorwill. As it grew closer and closer to 8 PM, I became increasingly anxious that I was going to miss The Patty Duke Show, but we did sit out there until we were able to hear one. I missed the show.

So my trail name became “Whippoorwill.”

The other night, a group of us hikers was sitting in the shelter, trading trail names. I explained that my previous name was “Whippoorwill,” but that I was just waiting to see if that name followed me to the Appalachian Trail.

As we all dispersed to our various sleep sites, a whippoorwill began to call out. On the trail the next day, I ran into Windbreaker (a hiker from the previous evening). “I’ve not heard a Whippoorwill like that for the entire trail, so I’m thinking that’s definitely your name.”

As I type this up from my hammock, I can hear a whippoorwill calling right now.

I walked out of my classroom for the last time on Thursday. Since then, there has been a flurry of last-minute preparations. At the top of that list was finding Rio a larger-capacity bear bag to accommodate all of the dog’s gear and getting Tick to the vet.

Tick has her own backpack. She can’t safely carry more than 3–4 pounds, but she can carry her own sleeping bag, water bowl, and a little tube of paw wax.

Tick is ready.

Rio got an under-hammock dog tent. When he told her, “Get in your kennel,” she climbed right inside. Granted, this happened in our living room and not in the woods, so we’ll see how that goes.

Adding a boy and a dog to this adventure is a wild card I hadn’t planned on.

Now we are Virginia bound!

Most hikers are halfway finished by the time they reach Virginia because they started the trail in Georgia back in March, while I was still at work.

Virginia is where a lot of people get antsy and leave the trail. They call it “The Virginia Blues.”

People starting the trail this time of year generally have two options:

1. Southbound: Start in Maine and hike south. The advantages are fewer logistical complications and getting the hardest part of the trail out of the way first. The disadvantages are colder nights, peak black fly season, and tackling the toughest terrain before you’ve developed your trail legs.

2. A flip-flop: Start somewhere in the middle and head north to Maine. Then return to your starting point and hike south to Georgia. The logistics are more complicated, but the weather is generally better, and you have time to build up to the more difficult terrain

We’ve chosen option 2.

There’s another advantage, too. Since my mom is sticking around town for a few more days, she can meet up with us about 30 miles down the trail. If we discover any gear that isn’t pulling its weight, we can send it home with her.

One thing I’m a little concerned about is that we’ll be stepping onto the trail right where the northbound hiker bubble is. On the other hand, those hikers have already been walking for several months and will be moving much faster than we are. They probably also don’t stop every 2 seconds to look at a plant.

I’m hoping that means the crowds won’t last long.

So that’s the plan. Of course, the Appalachian Trail has a long history of laughing at people’s plans. Now we just have to start walking and see what happens.

It’s exam week and this is on my board. I answer this question about skin walkers multiple times per day. Must be a Tik Tok thing.

The next question is, “Are you going by yourself?”

Well, the original plan was for my husband to hike with me. But then he bought a coffee shop.

It’s a place called Black Warrior Brew. It’s in a tiny town nestled in Bankhead National Forest. We’ve been open for a few months. I’m in charge of artwork, tea blending, herbalism and making dangerously good orange pine marmalade. He’s in charge of roasting beans, making biscuits and bagels and… well, being at the shop. So he stays.

At first, this meant that I was starting the trail with my best adventure friend, Esther. We’ve backpacked together a lot. But then life stuff happened, and she will have to meet up with me at other points on trail.

So then I was going alone. But just a few weeks ago, I was teaching at an herbal conference when I got a call from my son. “Hey, uh… so can I hike the Appalachian Trail with you?”

“Well… yeah. But what about Tick?”

“I’m bringing her with me.”

So now, my mom will ride with us to our starting point in Virginia and drive my car back. The plan is to hike to Maine NOBO and then travel back to Virginia and hike SOBO to Georgia.

So the next thing people ask is, “Will you be vlogging it? Can we keep up with you?” The answer is… sort of, but don’t expect too much.

I do a lot of artwork and nature journaling, I write a series called “Folklife Fieldbooks” and I’ll be documenting a lot of plants for my herbal and art projects. So I will be taking tons of photos.

But, the thing is…

I just taught for 25 years at the same school. Teaching does have its joys, but have you ever read the book Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman? That was not a work of fiction. Let me tell you about Friday.

We are on a new and confusing “A day/ B day” schedule. Friday, we’d combine these two schedules so that all students could see all teachers and get exemption forms signed. Ok, fine. I can do that.

We were also told not to sign anything early. Students need to be in their designated time block. Ok, I get it. We do want to know where everyone is. I dutifully turned away the first few students who knocked on my door.

“But we have Field Day from 10–1!”

“And Awards Day practice at 1:30!”

“I have yearbook pickup during lunch and won’t be here Monday!”

“Tech school leaves early. Cheer is gone too!”

Chaos. Obnoxious bangs on the door. A chorus of people chanting my name too many times. Kids shoving papers at me.

“I know this was due in March, but will you grade this right now so I can exempt??”

No, no I cannot.

I see some boys huddled in a corner, clearly doing something questionable. Before I can investigate, the phone rings. While I’m answering the call, an administrator walks in to escort someone to ISS. The bell is about to ring. I still haven’t finished anything.

Then my watch buzzes: High stress detected! Would you like to do a breathing exercise?

My point is, I need a break from multitasking. I don’t want to find myself sitting in a shelter somewhere with soggy feet and blisters, bone tired, feeling obligated to make a video.

Though I’ll be working along the way, I don’t want “trail homework” and I don’t want pressure. I’m not a content creator and the only camera I’ll have with me is my phone. I don’t even have a selfie stick.

So I might do some videos when it’s convenient, write some notes about what is going on and most likely share lots of photos. Maybe more, maybe less. That’s all I can promise at this point.

So if you’re good with that and you’re interested in keeping up with what is happening, this is where I’m going to put my trail updates.