A Story, of the Non-Fictional Variety

Last Sunday, I read a book. It was a good, inspiring book. And so Tuesday night, I found myself out of the city of Atlanta, and out on the fabled Appalachian Trail. What follows is a photo account of the events which transpired.

First, I had to drive up to the trailhead. This was no mean feat. It required driving up over 10 miles of Forest Service roads, up the side of a mountain. To give you an idea of what this was like, realize that it took approximately 45 minutes to drive these ten miles. In first gear. Had it been raining, I might still be at it.


Join me, as we follow the white rectangular markings all the way to Oz! Or Maine, at least.

Look closely at this picture. A nice picture of the woods, right? Look closer. See that blurry black spot in the center of the picture? Yeah, that's an adult black bear. Some people spend months and years on the trail and never see one of these guys. I walk less than 30 minutes, and scare the bejeezus out of both this guy and myself. It was literally less than 40 feet from me when we discovered each other.


After my encounter, I clapped a lot as I walked so as not to startle any other bears. I also carried a rock. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.


I was also convinced to follow the advice of, oh, everybody, and hang my food in a tree overnight rather than keep it safe in the tent next to me. Probably a good call.


The rain shield did its job - I stayed dry as a biscuit during the overnight showers.


It would be nice to eat breakfast by this riverside every morning. Alas, it cannot be.


Long Creek Falls: A great place for an early morning dip.


This fellers were everywhere. I discovered that eating one made me grow 2x in size, and eating a second gave me the ability to throw bouncing fireballs.


After spending most of my time in the cover of the woods, I decided to hike to the top of Springer Mountain, and got a great view...of the inside of a raincloud.


Oh well.



Recommended reading: A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson.

He also wrote A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Mother Tongue, both of which are quite fine reads as well.

A few more pictures here.