Journey Day 180 | AT Day 3

Kneeling in a shelter. The trail runners I was wearing failed to provide enough for my ailing knees.

3/24/86

Up early, ready for resupply box. First repack goes well. Send notes to Eric Unger, my roommate in Texas, Mom and Grama, and Father Andrew, a Benedictine monk I’d met on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1985. Stop once more at another store, then up the road to Gooch Gap.

Hike ambitiously to Woody Gap. Stop, beat. Take a break. Meet Michael (Horst Michael Edig), a through hiker from Germany. “I am in no hurry to finish this trail,” he said in explaining his alternative philosophy and plans to take seven months to hike to the north end, the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. We also meet day hikers.

My knee problems are getting bad, but there are more climbs. They just keep coming, as well as exasperating downhills. Stop just short of Jarrard Gap. Jack hangs in well. We crash quickly, but Jeff, a weirdo night hiker awakens us. We crash again, a bit rattled.