Photo update

Ben getting ready for the 4 state challenge. 47 miles later, he finishes.

The official halfway point!

A hostel

Boiling Springs to Memorial Lake State Park

My dad recently joined Ben to hike from Boiling Springs, PA to Memorial Lake State Park. The following is his account of his epic hike with Ben:

The Adventures of White Fang and Jim Dawg

Greetings to all from Ben’s Dad:

I just returned from a 4-day “walk in the woods” with Ben in Southern Pennsylvania. We hiked from Boiling Springs to Memorial Lake State Park and covered almost 60 miles beginning on Easter Day. This was a perfect time for Ben (White Fang), as his hiking partners (Renaissance, Bundy, and Three Stoves) had pulled off of the trail for a couple of days to spend time with family and friends. So his partners would catch up with him by covering the same mileage we covered between Easter Day and Wednesday in a couple of days. Ah-the vigor of youth!

I left home on Friday afternoon, April 22. I drove through the night, passing very close to where Ben was spending the night on the trail, and arrived early Saturday AM in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. I fell asleep at about the same time that I had set my alarm for on the day before, a work day. After a few hours sleep, my priority was to determine where roads crossed the Appalachian Trail so that I could provide a little “trail magic”. Trail magic consists of unexpected surprises that hikers find along the way. I determined a couple of points, and rushed out to leave some drinks on the trail at one crossing, and some yogurt at another point. I left a couple of cold soft drinks at point 1, but Ben had already passed that point. About 15 minutes after I left the yogurt at point 2 with a note for White Fang, I got a cell phone call from Ben, and we confirmed our meeting time and place in Boiling Springs.

At around 3:20PM on Saturday, I arrived at the parking lot of our meeting point at exactly the same time that Ben walked up. First impressions were that he had not lost a tremendous amount of weight on the trail, had more facial hair than I thought possible, appeared moderately sane, and smelled very bad.

Back to the weight loss concerns, a hiker moving at the pace of Ben’s group can burn off between 5,000-10,000 calories per day. To put that in perspective, if Ben had two light to moderate days (6,000 calories per day), and “only” consumed 4,200 calories each of those days, he has lost one pound! Ben’s hiking partners had lost 10-15 pounds, but Ben has lost approximately 5 pounds. For those of you that know Ben well, I am sure it is no surprise to you that Ben is treating caloric intake as a priority. It is virtually impossible for a hiker to carry enough food on the trail to hold his weight, so off trail “binges” are critical to maintaining weight. As an example, Three Stoves’ father met the group the day before I met Ben. He brought each of them 4 double cheese burgers, a large fries, and an apple pie. There were no leftovers!

Now that we have covered the “intake”, here are a few comments about the “output”. Having a crazy and sometimes unpredictable GI system, this was a concern of mine. I conducted thorough research and discovered the following. Performing this act in a natural setting can be a challenge. It requires creativity, a fair amount of athleticism, good balance, and careful planning and calculations. The various methods I learned about were the grab and face the tree, back against the tree, over the log, between the rocks, unaided dead squat, half squat, etc. Other variables include pants off, hung over one knee, around the ankles, etc. You can see how poor planning, miscalculations, or a loss of balance or focus could lead to a hiker having to deal with a load other than their back pack. Fortunately my stomach behaved and I was able to confine my sessions to privies and rest rooms.

On a serious note, can you imagine having a GI issue on the trail? One of Ben’s hiking partners, Three Stoves, had to take some time off of the trail after contracting Giardia, a parasite sometimes found in untreated or poorly treated water. According to the CDC, it is tolerant even to routine chlorine disinfection Ben is rigorous about always treating his drinking water with the aquamira system, which hopefully providers better protection.

I had spent months of preparation for this trip. However you need to understand that substantially over 99% of this preparation was mental. My “training hike” consisted of a 3.6 mile hike in southern Alabama. A primary purpose was to test out my boots, and see if my feet remained blister free. I was concerned about the 3 ticks who caught a ride on my body during this hike. By my calculations, that would equate to providing transportation and full meal service for 49 ticks on the hike with Ben. Apparently an Alabama “tick magnet” is not always a Pennsylvania “tick magnet”, so these were not an issue during our 4-day hike. I wish I could say the same about the blisters.

Our shuttle driver dropped us off at Boiling Springs at around noon on Easter Sunday in Boiling Springs. Half way through that day, I managed to tweak a calf/hamstring muscle. It was minor, and I am sure with a little ice and rest, it would have quickly improved, but I had over 50 miles remaining. Obviously ice and rest were not an option, and it did not improve. I did find that massive doses of Alleve gave some relief. In addition I used my trekking poles like crutches at times during the remainder of our hike.

We ended up the last part of the day in the rain, on a pretty good climb through the rocks. We finally arrived at Darlington Shelter after 14.3 miles, where we spent the night. There we met Iron Sergeant, a 71 year old who had retired from the Italian Army. We shared the shelter that evening with him. We would see Iron Sergeant a couple of more times. He had a pack that appeared to approximate his age in pounds-a lot for even a young man to carry.

Early afternoon on our second day, we entered Duncannon in search of the Doyle Hotel. At the Doyle, it became apparent that if you do not give yourself a trail name, you are christened with one. This is usually based on an embarrassing moment in your life or an unusual personality trait. I have experienced more than a few embarrassing episodes. And according to some, I have some unusual personality traits. So just to be safe, and not to end up with names like Puddles or Bubble Toes, I took the initiative to name myself. I am now and forever Jim Dawg (as in Go Dawgs).

Bubble Toes, White Fang (Ben), and I were sharing some beverages and stories on the balcony at the Doyle Hotel. I asked Bubble Toes about the origin of his trail name, and he rolled back the duct tape and mole skin (staples in every back pack) to show off the most horrific foot blisters I had ever seen. Little did I know that by the end of the next day, I would see a similar grotesque situation on my own feet!

We stayed at the Doyle Hotel because of the experience. We had read about it, and received a recommendation from Challenger, a hiker we passed going south bound. He said, “It has clean sheets, no bugs, great food, and the owners, Pat and Vicky are great.” Between those comments and the fact that it was $25 for a room, and $7.50 for each additional person, you have probably figured out that the Doyle would not make “Pennsylvania Living” magazine, based on the quality of the rooms. However, Challenger was dead on with his recommendation about the food and the owners.

Within a few minutes of arriving at the Doyle, Pat gave us a ride to the grocery store, where Ben and I were on a mission to purchase either knee high hose or trouser socks for blister prevention (too little too late for me!). The ladies that assisted us apparently had limited experience with cross dressing hikers, and were still chuckling about our interaction when Pat paid for his groceries.

Challenger, the hiker that recommended the Doyle, was a 53-year old retired Air Force veteran from San Diego. He is divorced and his kids are grown. He sold his car, his motorcycles, quit his job, and hit the trail. With no house and virtually no belongings, he can get off of the trail anywhere. He is more into the journey than the destination.

Tuesday AM, we left Duncannon. This would be our longest hike-17.5 miles. To put that in perspective, Ben and his group average 20-25 miles per day. But with a big uphill climb out of Duncannon, a strained hamstring/calf, and blisters percolating beneath mole skin, duct tape, and my sheer, taupe, knee high hose, 17.5 miles was quite enough challenge for me.

This day was our “nature day”. Before this day, Ben’s big three animal sightings included a wild pony in southern Virginia, a bob cat, and numerous deer. Before this day was out, Ben could add two rattle snakes, a porcupine, and two coyotes to the list. The Pennsylvania portion of the trail is known as “Rocksylvania” and is home to numerous timber rattlers. One of the snakes was approximately 4 ½ feet long while the other was somewhat shorter. Ben probably passed within 6-12 inches of the shorter one. I spotted it coiled up underneath a rock, just after Ben had walked past that rock.

This was my only night of tent camping. We had quite a thunder storm that evening, and our tents held up quite well.

Wednesday was our last day together. With the end in sight, I pushed through my various discomforts. We covered about 15.5 miles through some beautiful wilderness, some of which reminded Ben and me of the Jacks River Falls area in the Cohutta Wilderness in North Georgia. Unusual sightings that day included coal, some of which was on the trail, and some salamanders that were almost florescent orange with small spots on their back. In addition, we paralleled a beautiful stream, with multiple waterfalls cascading into it, early that afternoon.

At the end of the day, we come to a point where there was a white blaze on one side of a creek and a white blaze on the other side. A creek crossing- 200 yards from my car! I suspect the trail Gods are still laughing about that one.

We ended up the day in the parking lot at the state park, recapping our time together. A pleasant surprise was meeting Angel, the park ranger at Memorial Lake State Park. I had spoken with her on the phone, letting her know of our plans, and asked her to please watch my car. She dropped by Wednesday afternoon, in hopes of meeting Ben and me, and we had a nice conversation. At around 4:50, I left Ben. He still had 8.7 miles to walk to reach William Penn Shelter, and there was a tornado watch in the area. I had 740 miles to drive home.

My time on the trail provided a time for reflection, and taught or reinforced some key lessons. It reinforced that we all have LOTS of “wants” and most of us have bought or obtained many of those. But in actuality, we have very few needs. And our truest and deepest needs are not things you can buy.

“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens.

They neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.

Of how much more value are you than the birds!” Luke 12: 24

Other lessons learned or reinforced:

· Trekking poles make good crutches.

· Wear trouser socks or knee high hose on day 1.

· “Brand” yourself or you will end up with a trail name you do not want.

· Alleve works.

· Do not judge a man (or laugh) at a man until you have walked a mile in their blisters.

· Duct tape and mole skin-don’t leave home without it.

Ben now has a little less than 1000 remaining on his trip to Katahdin, Maine. He will likely average 20-25 miles a day during the rest of his hike. As a comparator, the 59.6 miles we covered together during our 4 days represent less than 2.5% of the Appalachian Trail and we averaged approximately 15 miles per day. And I left the trail exhausted! So my hat’s off to all hikers, especially the through hikers, for their resilience, focus, and sheer determination.

Here’s to Iron Sergeant, Miss Universe & friends, Tabasco, Challenger, Puddles, Bubble Toes, Three Stoves, Bundy, Renaissance, and to the five ladies we met on our third day, all of whom started hiking after their 50^th birthdays. In addition, here’s to all of the hikers I have not met or will never meet.

And here’s to White Fang for being the same person on the trail or off the trail, with friends or with strangers, at UGA or at work. Thanks for the invitation to take a walk in the woods with you, Ben. See you in Maine.

Post script:

Apparently Ben’s colleagues, Three Stoves, Renaissance, and Bundy met him at the 501 Shelter on the evening of Thursday, April 28. Back together, they hiked 23.4 miles on the 29^th and ended up in Port Clinton.

The 4 state challenge, made it halfway, and now hiking with my dad!

     Hello to everybody!  I hope you are all doing well at home and to my college friends I wish you luck as finals approach.  I want you guys to know I pray for you and I will be praying for you with the upcoming craziness that you will have going on! 
     I'm still having an amazing journey out here full of stupidity and spontaneity at points.  One example I'm going to describe is what 3 stoves and I did all Wednesday.  It is called the 4 state challenge.  The challenge is you start in Virginia 2 miles south of Harpers Ferry and pass through West Virginia, Maryland, and finally make it to Pennsylvania.  All in all, this is a 45 mile endeavor, something that is not in the least bit healthy for someone to do.  3 Stoves and I decided it would be a good idea to try and complete this challenge.  After making it to Harpers Ferry and registering at the ATC, we had to hike 2 miles south.  That's right I had to hike south, it was terrible covering ground that I had already been over that was primarily uphill and rocky.  So this is already a stupid idea if you haven't already picked up on it.  But we hiked south and cowboy camped around 9PM for about a 3 hour nap until 12:30AM when we began our challenge with headlamps on.  It started out poorly when we were going through the Harpers Ferry historic district a little after 1.  There were not many blazes in this area and seeing how it was dark, we spent a load of time looking for where the trail even went.  After an hour or so of frustrating navigation, we made it to a footbridge that crossed the Potomac River.  It was an amazing sight to see with the light reflecting off the river from the full moon.  When we began to ascend from the river we hit an extremely dense fog that made hiking extremely difficult.  We pushed on at a comfortable pace and felt pretty good despite the conditions.  But around mile 15 I began to get stiffness in my left calf which has not gone away since (which has also led to what I hope is a temporary trailname "peg leg").  Luckily the hours seemed to pass by quickly and we were greeted with the sun around 6ish.  Headlamps off finally.  We reached a free shower off the trail around 9AM and had to partake seeing how we had hiked 20 miles by this point.  We felt refreshed and amped up for the rest of the miles until around lunch time, 12PM, when we began to feel the lack of sleep hitting us.  We had already hiked 27 miles but we still had 18 miles left on the day and our energy was lacking.  All I can say about the next 8ish miles is that they were not too fun and I tried to zone out for most of them because they were not too fun.  We stopped for dinner at a shelter 10 miles from Pennsylvania because we were exhausted and made the last push for the line.  Right after the sun set and we had our headlamps back out, we made it to the Mason Dixon line.  FINALLY!  Then the next few minutes afterwards involved setting up camp, eating, making a couple delirious phone calls, and then I was asleep.  I never ever want to hike that far again, it is not fun and I do not suggest it or wish it upon anyone lol.  That's it for my stupid adventure but like the Smokies, I'm glad I did it and I'm glad I won't do it again.
     I'm so excited that I have finally made it past the halfway mark and that my dad is here with me in Boiling Springs to hike for 4 days.  I've got my second pair of shoes that will carry me the rest of the distance to Katahdin.  I have mixed emotions passing the halfway point as I realize that I still have 1090.5 miles to go to the end.  That is no short distance to walk but I'm happy that I've been blessed with the health and support to make it as far as I have.  I look forward to the miles ahead and hope that I can find joy in every step of it. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

Almost to the Unofficial Halfway Point!

     It has been a while since I have had access to a computer but I finally can post an update!  I've had great weather for the past week or so except for the occassional downpour but that is to be expected.  The saying goes, "No pain, no rain, no Maine!" lol.  We are still trying to push fairly big mileage at this point and a 20 mile day has become an easier day these days.  Unfortunatelly Gadget is no longer hiking with our group and we are not exactly sure where he is but we really hope to see him again soon.  He took a night off at a hotel in Daleville because of a sprained ankle and we haven't seen him since.  But we will be in Harpers Ferry, West Viginia in 4 days which is considered the unofficial halfway point on the AT.  I am still in great health and feeling as good as you can feel out here on the trail.  I'm still amazed I can feel so exhausted and sore by the end of the day only to wake up and feel ready to hike another 20-25 miles.  I thank God every day for the strength and willpower to get out of my sleeping bag and put my boots on for another day of hiking.
     I have met a few interesting people over the past few days that are necessary to note here.  The first, named Bastard Catfish was a guy who had hiked from Springer to Damascus 5 times but had never thru hiked.  He hiked with his dog trash guts and apparantly lived off unemployment so that he could keep hiking, lazy guy.  Then we read about Atlas in the trail logs at the shelters and were excited to catch up to and meet him.  Unfortunately by the time we caught up to him he had bought an 80s beach cruiser from Goodwill, strapped his pack on the back and his boots on the handlebars, and was attempting to ride 160 miles to Richmond to party for 3 days with his girlfriend and friends.  But one individual we finally caught up to that seems very cool is Marathon Mouse who is from New York trying to finish around the same time that we plan to finish.  Hopefully we will see him again and hear more of his story.  Also looking forward to catching up with a guy named Renaissance who apparantly graduated from my high school in 2003.
     We are finally in Shenandoah National Park though.  Being here has been beautiful but a little too touristy for me.  We have crossed a road called Skyline Drive too many times to count and if we haven't been crossing it, you can hear the cars driving by not too far away.  Other than that factor it has had some great views and the hiking has been quite easy.  The thru hikers refer to the trail in Shenandoah as a sidewalk because the climbs and descents are very gradual with few rocks and roots compared to the trail we have covered so far.  This afternoon I drank one of the famous blackberry milkshakes of SNP not far off the trail at a cafe that was very tasty.  I have seen a lot of deer in the park most of which are not afraid of people.  I walked to within 10 feet of one deer to take a picture before it walked away uninterested.  This morning was an awesome sighting as we saw a bobcat running up the trail ahead of us.  Overall the weather has been great so I am in good spirits.
     Tonight I have access to a computer because Bundy's (Nicholas's) family friend has taken us in, fed us, let us take a shower, and given us beds to sleep in for the night.  Trail Magic to the max.  I'm excited to be making such progress on the trail and will hopefully have pictures up tonight or by Harpers Ferry!  Unfortunatelly we have not had the nicest technology to work with so uploading pictures has not been possible since Hot Springs.  If the pics aren't on the blog because i didn't have time to upload them, they will be on my facebook hopefully.  Sorry I can't document in more detail what has happened out here but im exhausted and am headed to sleep.  Gotta hike in the morning!  Thanks everybody for the prayers and encouragement, I pray for you much and am thankful for your support.  A verse that Bundy gave me has encouraged me in my travels and I hope can do the same for you wherever you are.  The verse comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ then I am content with weaknessees, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamaties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Update 4/13/11

Yesterday, my mom received a call from Ben who was eating breakfast somewhere near Waynesboro, VA. Ben, Bundy, Three Stoves (who recently rejoined them after being hospitalized during a bout with an unknown waterborne illness) & Gadget were planning on eating at an all you can eat Chinese buffet in Waynesboro that day. As you can imagine, hiking 25-30 miles a day can give one quite an appetite. I'm sure they got their money's worth.

Every time contact is made with Ben, I learn of some new eclectic person that he met on the trail. Four names come to mind as a write this post, namely, Red Riding Hood, Indiana Jones & Samurai. Samurai got his name because he actually carried a Japanese Samurai's sword. Ben said that he and his three companions did their darnedest to leave Samurai in their dust as they found him to be quite annoying. Not to mention, the guy carried a Samurai sword! As for the other two, I can't recall the source of their trail names. Ben also mentioned a notable hiker, whom he never met, that had Cystic Fibrosis. If you don't know anything about Cystic Fibrosis, click the hyperlink and read a little bit. To be brief, Cystic Fibrosis is a disease which causes an overproduction of mucus in the lungs. Given that one of my best friends has the disease, I can tell you that hiking the Appalachian Trail with Cystic Fibrosis would be a truly epic journey and accomplishment. Odysseus ain't got nothin' on this guy!

Though it doesn't compare to the Smokies, Ben is still battling the elements. When I spoke with him last Tuesday, it was snowing. Despite this, my mom sent Ben his 30 degree bag and he sent back his 15 degree bag. The weather is slowly warming and he's convinced that a 30 degree bag will keep him comfortable for the rest of the trip. Ben also said that he was expecting Virginia to be much easier. I'm not sure if his travels in Virginia have been more difficult than he expected because of the terrain or the fact that he's hiked up to 37 miles in a single day.

Ben said he is enjoying every minute of his journey, from feeding apple sauce to the wild ponies of Grayson Highlands, to the waist-deep snow on the ridge lines of the Smokies, to unforgettable friends and acquaintances. Pray for his continued enjoyment of his journey. Not only so, pray that he would spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples, through Jesus Christ!

Update 3/28/11

As I'm sure you've heard, Ben is now in Virginia and moving along at a much faster pace than he had originally intended. Ever since the Smokies, he has been hiking with his three companions Three Stoves, Bundy, and Gadget. However, Three Stoves has since had to leave the trail with "digestive problems." Ben didn't specify what these "digestive problems" were, but I'm assuming he acquired said problems from a tainted water source. Also, on the subject of water, Ben's filter has broken and my mom is on her way down to REI to express mail him a new water treatment system tomorrow morning. He's also requested that his old bag, rated at 30 Fº be sent to him as well. To be honest, I kind of question his judgement on this one given that it snowed 2-3" on him today. I'll try to post an update soon.

Made it to Virginia!!!

    We made it to Damascus, Virginia and we are fueling up to get over Mount Rogers tomorrow.  The guys I'm with have been going pretty fast and I've luckily been able to keep up with them.  For the past 8 days we averaged a little over 24 miles per day from Hot Springs to here so its nice to take a break for the day. 
     A little recap of the past weekish, we (3 stoves, Bundy, Gadget, and I) did something really dumb by leaving Hot Springs with a 10 day supplies of food.  All of our packs weighed 50+ pounds which made our days of hiking extremely strenuous.  When we got to a road crossing near Erwin, TN a few days later we decided to hitch into town which completely defeated the purpose of leaving Hot Springs with such heavy packs.  This upset me a little bit until I was able to scarf down a huge Mcdonalds meal and I forgot that lugging such a heavy pack for the first few days was completely useless. It was also nice to be able to make some phone calls on my own cell phone because I had service for the first time since before the Smokies.  AT&T stinks.  We hitched a ride back to the trail and were going to embark on what we called the Super Moon Super Saturday hike because the moon was supposed to be really close that night, but it ended up being cloudy and we slept in until 6:30.  Fail lol.
     The next day or so, we hiked to a shelter only to find that a crazy homeless man had made it his home so we decided to hike a little further to stay at a hostel that night for the safety of our belongings.  From that hostel, we hiked to another hostel named Kinkora Hostel that is a famous hostel on the trail because of a man named Bob Peoples.  This guy had some has been running the hostel for 17 years and had housed over 17,000 hikers over the years.  He has dedicated over 6000 hours of service to the trail and has some great stories about people he has met, his military service, and his own adventures that he has taken over the years.  I was so glad to meet such a legendary person of the AT and enjoyed reading some comments on shelters nearby like, "Bob Peoples gives his boots blisters" and "the mice bring Bob Peoples food at night".
     The next few days involved heavy mileage and interesting weather.  Two days ago was quite an epic day as we walked through a short but intense storm.  The weather had been threatening rain all day and around 5:00 it got really dark and started lightening.  The rain began and then we started noticing the rain began bouncing off of our jackets.  It was definitely hailing.  In about 60 seconds the small hail turned into large nickel sized hail that was pelting us and felt like a bunch paintballs hitting you all over your body.  We were all laughing at first at how crazy the situation was until the hail kept pouring down and it really started to hurt to get hit in the head and the hands.  Bundy attempted jumping into a mountain laurel for shelter and I would have followed him but the tree provided him no shelter from the hail whatsoever.  We didn't really know what to do so we just continued hiking.  If it had gotten any worse, 3 stoves would have pulled out his ultralight tarp and we could have taken shelter (hopefully that would have worked).  About 10 minutes after the onslaught of hail began, it ceased and we couldn't help but be amazed at what just happened lol.  It was exciting and miserable at the same time.  When we made it to the shelter that night after walking through a mix of rain and sleet, I couldn't have been happier.  We had a great story to tell and now we were a day away from the TN/VA state line and Damascus.  The hail came again later that night while we were sleeping in the tin roofed shelter and was so loud that it hurt my ears when i didn't have the sleeping bag over my head.  I couldn't have been more thankful for shelters on the trail.  The next day involved more rain and small dip n dots sized hail, but nothing could stop us from getting to Damascus by the end of the day.  We made it by 4:30 and took shelter/dried our stuff at a hostel last night.
     I still don't have cell service in Damascus but at least I have access to a computer for a while.  I have had some great adventures once again and I look forward to more along the way.  I can't upload pictures here, but hopefully I can in the next town I come too with Internet access.  I really can't believe I have come 460 miles, but it's exciting and I can't wait for the next week of travels.  I get to go to Grayson Highlands State Park where there are miniature ponies roaming around and I get to climb up and over Mt. Rogers.  I plan to teach one of the ponies to carry my pack to make the next few days a little easier in case anyone was wondering haha.  I hope you guys are doing well back home, thanks for the continued support and I will hopefully talk to ya soon!