Day 2 May 17 Hawk Mtn to Gooch Mtn Shelter

First morning, waking on the AT is rather special. It's like a new life starting! You still feel rather fresh and I have no problem with body odors...yet. I brought a change of clothes, two pair of Under Armour underwear as well as UA leggings. That doesn't include night wear, shorts and a t-shirt, with socks.
I packed 8 dinner meals along with 8 oatmeal packs for breakfast. I generally eat a cliff bar for lunch. Surprisingly, when hiking, I don't have much appetite, which is fine for I don't have to pack a pantry full of goods to be get by.
One thing I noticed is that I burned close to 3500 calories the first day but my calorie intake was more like 1000. I was burning through electrolytes like crazy, taking note there, remembering I had a case of dehydration a few years back on the PCT because I wasn't packing electrolytes. The Oregon heat near Mt Hood really took a toll on me. I had to take a zero day at Timberline Lodge, where I had some of the most amazing pork chops ever!
I tend to prepare slower than most other hikers. I'm not as deliberate as I used to be. Please note I didn't say "slow". The first hiker to leave camp was Trilby, a 17 year old thru hiker from Dallas, She'd graduated HS just the week before and her dad had dropped her off at Spring Mtn earlier the day. before. She'd rolled into the shelter, set up her sleep system, cooked up a meal, filtered fresh water, bathed and brushed her teeth in like 3 minutes! Maybe I'm exaggerating, but shit, she was fast. While she cooked up a breakfast, I found out she'd been accepted to Stanford in the Fall. She had 3 months to kill and was determined to hike the the AT in that time unless....she found no joy! That in itself, I found rather profound for a 17 year old. One thing I dug about her was she had similar music tastes plus when I asked her if she had a clue what she was anticipating as a major at Stanford. She said Political Science with a minor in Psychology. There is hope in this country! Anywho, she left camp like she was shot out of a cannon. Her intention was to hike some 20 odd miles. She left camp with a trail of smoke behind her. Girl was moving!

I'd barely slept all night, infatuated with the adrenaline, being on the trail, thinking of my next stop and listening to the rolling thunder in the distance. It was pouring rain somewhere! Of course, there was some mice mingling in the shelter most of the night...but mice don't bother me. I've heard stories of mice running across a sleeping hiker forehead or a mouse dropping from the ceiling, landing on a hikers head. That's got to be rare.

Everyone left camp prior to my exit, I caught Melissa and Taylor, the mother and daughter team for a picture before they cut out. We hooked onto the AT together, taking on a vertical climb immediately. I was pacing myself and let the girls take the lead. Pretty soon they were out of sight and I was back to solo hiking.

My plan was to hike roughly 8 miles to the Gooch Mountain Shelter where I would meet Gaven and Garrett along with Carol "Wildflower". I figured I'd be the last hiker to hit the shelter later that afternoon.

About 1.5 miles in, I rounded a corner on a switchback and noticed an older fella in a tent, just rather nonchalantly relaxing the morning away. I greeted and introduced myself while "Turtle" introduced himself as well. We both gave indication of where we were heading that day. When he said, Gooch Mountain, he said it was a coincidence for that was where he said he was heading as well. I figured I'd roll into the shelter around 5:30 and when I surveyed what Turtle would have to pack up, considering his age to be 10 years my senior, I was already doubting his intentions. Turtle was a real treat! He offered me chocolate Oreos, as many as I like but I wasn't going to take the man's food plus I've been turning away from sugar for the last couple months...but I did accept 3 cookies from him, said my goodbyes and heading up the path. After devouring those 3 cookies, I thought...Damn, those are good! So I turned around and headed back that 100 yards or so, back to Turtle. "got any more Oreos?" Turtle smiled and said "Sure, take as many as you like". Feeling guilty for taking a man's Oreos, I asked how he was gonna get to Gooch Mtn and he said he might have some trouble because he'd turned his ankle the day before. I asked him if he needed any ibuprofen for his ankle and he lit up like a light bulb. So, I gave Turtle 3 Advils and he gave me 5 more Oreos. Pretty fair trade if you ask me. I left Turtle there and I never saw him again although other NB hikers that I came across later had said he was still in that same place.

The trail climbed some 4K feet that day. I stopped several times to snap pics of flowers and the trail itself. I walked thru some fern forests as the elevation upticked. It was much warmer than the previous day. My pack seemed heavier and for the first time, my shoulders were feeling a little ache from the pack straps. The trail was a thing of beauty though. People call it the Green Tunnel, traveling through thick rhododandrum forests. and some don't care for the fact that you can travel long distances without catching a view, allowing for your eye muscles to stretch out. That's no bother to me.

I hooked up with a guy named Todd, from FL about 3 hours after catching Turtle the second time. There was a waterfall that I stopped at, removing my pack to just chill next to the falls before heading onwards. I ran into Todd after I exited the Falls and we passed each other twice before we took a break together about an hour later. He said he had a couple weeks to kill, not sure where he was headed. We talked about nothing for a few minutes, then I mentioned I'd be hiking the Camino in September. Todd beamed with joy at that news, revealing he and his wife had pilgrimed on the Portuguese Coastal route, the same as my intentions. Todd was all about that wonderful hike. After I hydrated, I slapped my pack on and headed down the trail thinking I'd see Todd again but nope, that was it.

The shelter was tough to find. Matter of fact, I thought I'd passed it but couldn't understand how that could have happened. 3 hikers passed me and I asked them if they knew where the shelter was, and the one guy said he was certain I had already passed it. I reassessed my position and determined if I had indeed passed it, I was just going to head up the trail until I came across a camp site regardless if it had a shelter or not. It wasn't 1/4 later that I came across the shelter!

Gaven and Garrett were already there and set up the their sleep systems in the shelter. I set up my own when I arrived before setting up my dinner. It was almost 5:30 when Carol rolled in. She was fit with anger, anger at herself, for she had left the Hawk Mountain shelter earlier that day long before Gaven, Garrett or myself but she had turned southbound instead of northbound. She'd gone 1.9 miles out of her way, then when she realized her error, she had to make up that same difference...so almost 4 miles out of her way!

We settled down that night after I taught the boys how to play Crazy 8 to kill some time.

All in all, a pretty good day!Read more