Lynn Setzer - A Season on the Trail: An American Odyssey

Copyright 1997, 2001 by Lynn Setzer

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

Published by Menasha Ridge Press and the Appalachian Trail Conference

Distributed by The Globe Pequot Press

Second edition, first printing, 2001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Setzer, Lynn, 1955

A season on the Appalachian Trail / Lynn Setzer;
[cartography by Sue Irwin]. 2nd ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-89732-382-3 (alk. paper)

1. HikingAppalachian Trail.

2. Appalachian TrailAnecdotes.

3. Appalachian TrailDescription and travel.

I. Title: Appalachian Trail II. Title.

GV199.42.A68 S48 2001

796.510974dc21

CIP

2001030804

Cover design by Grant Tatum

Cover photograph 1995 Brian Baley/Stone

Text design by Kandace Hawkinson

Inside photographs by Lynn Setzer, copyright 1997

(except for provided by )

Cartography by Sue Irwin

Selection from After a While reprinted here

with permission of Veronica A. Shoffstall, 1971.

Edward Abbey quote reprinted here with

permission of EarthFirst!

Menasha Ridge Press

P.O. Box 43673

Birmingham, AL 35243

www.menasharidge.com

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy

P.O. Box 807

Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

www.atconf.org

To Randall and Sumo,
who both cut me some slack.

acknowledgements

S ooner or later thru-hikers learn that a little help, either that which they give or that which they receive, is a wonderful thing. The same goes for a writer writing about thru-hikers. The people to whom I am indebted include:

Several members of the Trail community: the Amicalola Park Rangers, Jeff and Dorothy Hansen and their able staff at the Walasi-Yi Center, Mark Wiggins and Mark OConnor of the Nantahala Outdoor Center, Gina Sessons of the Great Smoky Mountain Diner, Damascus Dave Patrick of Mount Rogers Outfitters and 90 thru-hiker, Elizabeth McKee, mayor of Damascus, Virginia, Paul Lethcoe, caretaker of The Place in Damascus, and Laurie Potteiger and Brian King of the Appalachian Trail Conference, Father Fred Alvarez of Graymoor Friary, Steve Longley of The Forks, Maine, and Keith Shaw of Monson, Maine.

A pocketful of former thru-hikers: Squirrel 94, and the 1996 GATC ridgerunner, Bad DNA 94, Jester 94, Neill Ross 73, Bald Eagle 92, Tarkus 92, Zontian Granny 95, Full Moon and Celestial Spirit 95, and Lancer (do not recall when he thru-hiked). Sparkler 91 and 92: thanks for the postcard! I was very glad to get the 96 AT Trail Days postmark.

All of the class of 96 who talked with me, but especially Marmot and Allgood for your vote of confidence, and Craigmont, for the darn fine beer you treated me to in Port Clinton, Pennsylvania. (That was a hot day and a cold beer; it couldnt have been a better match.) Bloody Nose and Wildhair: thanks for the pictures of your summit. (Sorry I couldnt have been there on those days!) Nomad, Lea, and Ranger Dave: thanks for the special postcards you sent me. Kick-a-Tree and Trail Gimp: to you goes a special acknowledgment for having the courage to share your stories of a thru-hike that didnt quite make it. You probably speak for more hikers than youll ever know.

Lee Shapiro of the Morehead Planetarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for astronomical assistance.

The good folks back at the ranches I occasionally haunt: Jim Setzer, Edward Renfrow, Gwen Canady, Curtis Clark, Dennis McCarty, Gregg Kreizman, the Five Angry Women, Becky in Seattle, and, of course, Mom and Dad.

how this book was researched

I am not a thru-hiker. This is not something that one can pretend to be and get away with it. However, hiking on the Appalachian Trail is one of my favorite pastimes, and writing this book is partially an outgrowth of that. Lucky me that I was able to add to my accumulation of miles!

In researching and writing this book, I decided that my primary rule would be to impact the thru-hikers hikes only as much as I would need to capture and tell a legitimate story. They did not decide to hike so that I could write a book; rather, as they hiked, they were gracious enough to share their experiences and stories with me, different hikers at different times. My second rule was that I would collect their stories and observations either as they happened or very soon afterward. I did not want the romance of time to substantively change their stories. My third rule was, so far as possible, they would tell their stories in their own words. They did, after all, do the hiking.

I used several methods to meet hikers and collect their stories and comments. The first was to meet them face to face. I hiked portions of the Trail, introduced myself when I found a thru-hiker and asked if he or she would like to share their experiences. I walked in the woods with my notepad quite often: on the Springer Mountain Approach Trail and on Blood Mountain, Georgia; near Wallace Gap, Wayah Bald, Tellico Gap, the Smokies, and on Max Patch in North Carolina; in and around Mount Rogers, Grayson Highlands, throughout Shenandoah in Virginia; across Weverton Cliffs in Maryland; in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, in St. Anthonys Wilderness, and the Delaware Water Gap, in Pennsylvania; near Oil City Road in New Jersey; over Bear Mountain and through the Trailside Zoo in New York; above treeline in the White Mountains and near Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire; in the Bigelow Nature Preserve, Abol Bridge, and through Baxter State Park in Maine. Occasionally I stationed myself where the Appalachian Trail exits the woods and waited for hikers to appear so that I could strike up a conversation. These places included Stecoah Gap and Fontana Dam, North Carolina; Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap, Tennessee; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Gathland State Park, Maryland; Port Clinton and Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania; Hessian Lake, New York; and several Maine logging roads. Sometimes I visited the hostels and other places where thru-hikers bunk and stayed with them when there was room: Neels Gap, Georgia; Nantahala Outdoor Center and the Jesuit Hostel in Hot Springs, North Carolina; The Place in Damascus and the Visitors Center at Mt. Rogers, Virginia; Ironmasters Hostel at Boiling Springs and the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon; Graymoor Friary, New York; Mt. Greylock Lodge, Massachusetts; Zealand Falls hut and Mt. Madison hut, White Mountains, New Hampshire; and Shaws Boarding House, Maine.

Hikers I met in these ways include 007, Ajax, Allgood, Annapurna, Attitude, Bear, Beorn, Big Jim, Blister Free, Bloody Nose, Blueberry and Cat in the Hat, Bojangles, Bonnie and Clyde, Breakin Wind, Buc-Buc, Bull Moose, Bungalow Bill and Contrary Mary, Buzz, Cajun C and Screamin Knees, Calvin and Hobbes, Captain Chucky, Caspar, Catfish, Chomp Cat, Cold Finger, Cornhusker, Cough Drop, Cowardly Lion, Craigmont, CrossStone, Cub, Damn Near Bootless, Doc, Drooling Dear, Early Mon, FAS, Firefly, the Fru, Gearmaster, Gizzie, Golden Eagle, the Golden Kiwis, Gray Rabbit, Greyhound, Greywolf, Guildenstern, Gumby, Gwic, H, Hans Solo, the Hiking Vikings, Heavy Breather, Home Brew, the HoneymoonersRalph and Alice, Jabberwocky, Jarhead and Loon Lady, Jester, Johnny Quest (the northbounder), Julie McCoy Cruise Director, Kick-a-Tree, K-Posa, Kiwi, Lady Bug, Lazy Bones, Lemstar, Little Bear, Lobos pet, Lone Wolf, Lord Bacon, Mailman, M&M, Marmot, Medicine Woman, Midnight, Mr. Bean, Mr. Maine, Morning Glory, Mover and Mosey, Munchkin, Navigator (the nice one), Nomad, No Trail Name, Oak, Obe-1-Knobe, Out of Africa, Paw Paw, Pilgrim, Pirate, Plimsoul, Pokey, Pony Express, Poohbear, Q-Tip, Quid Pro Quo, Rafiki, Robohiker, Rogue Bear, Rumpel, Runaway Ralph, Sandman, Scamper and Rosey, Scout, Seadog, Silver Fox, Sisyphus the Happy, Skylark, Sluggo, Spare, Squirrel, Strider, Stringbean, SunSpirit, Sven, Sweet Dreams, Tricks and Crackers, Trigger, Tom and Millie, Trooper, Turdle, Turtle, Virginia Highlander, Walk with Wong, Wanderlust, Ward Leonard, Weightless, Western Canadian Geese, Wildflower, Wildhair, Will-Make-It, Woodsmoke, Woody Pop, Wookie, Youngblood, Zamboni Tow-Step, Zenwalker, Zipper, and Zoo.