2-29-04 -- Karen departed at the Southern Terminus of the trail at the top of Springer Mountain, Georgia, at 11:35 a.m. on Sunday, Februray 29, 2004. 83 other hikers also departed the day before Karen and 60 more were expected the day after. She had prayer with her send-off crew Freeda, Chenoa, Judy, and Wayne at the top of the mountain. She was excited and in good spirits, although her pack was a few pounds heavier than she had planned for. (Must have been those steaks and potatoes she had hidden.) Chenoa, Wayne, and Freeda walked the first 0.9 miles with Karen and are now boasting that they are “section hikers” of the Appalachian Trail. (Judy recently had foot surgery and had to wait in the van.) See the Photo Page for lots of photos we took on this weekend when Karen began to live out her life-long dream (well, one of them anyway.)
3-3-04 -- At 12:30 p.m. Karen called in to report that she was at Blood Mountain in northern Georgia, near Neels Gap. She said she is plenty warm and plans to send some unneeded clothing home. She needs to lighten her pack anyway. So far, only one small blister on her heel. Rob and Robin, a engaged couple Karen met on start day, have already dropped out. They were planning to get married at the end of the trail. (No word on their marriage plans.) She says everyone on the trail is very nice, like one big happy family. The younger hikers are complaining of the same aches and pains as her, so she doesn’t feel so old now, she says.
3-3-04 pm -- Chenoa talked to Karen again this evening. A longstanding tradition of A.T. hikers is to take on a “trail name” soon after beginning. Karen had not yet picked one, but it turns out that her fellow hikers have picked one for her. Here’s how she related the story (and you know Karen’s not shy about telling things on herself!) Earlier today, when she thought she was alone, she was so elated at the realization that she was finally living out her dream of hiking the A.T. that she laid down her pack, took out her scarf, and began dancing. But... she wasn’t alone. Some of her new found friends saw her and dubbed her “Dancing with Scarf”. (Great!.... We knew Karen was a little weird.... now the whole world knows! Just kidding, Karen.) Anyway, she accepted their trail name (doesn’t sound like she had much choice), so now Karen is known on the trail as, “Dancing with Scarf”. (Fortunately, there were no wolves around.)
3-7-04 -- Karen called in today at 11:15 a.m. to report that she was at the road crossing near Dicks Creek Gap. She’s had a rough couple of days because her knees are hurting. Two other hikers (younger than her, she pointed out) already dropped out with knee problems. She sounded kind of down. Referring to her knees, she said “we ask a lot of these knobby things.” Friday night (3/5) was the first night she didn’t make it to a shelter and had to sleep in her tent. Unfortunately, storms hit that night with lots of rain and wind. “But”, she says, “at least there was no lightning. I was on top of a ridge. Plus, now I know I can make it ok in my tent if I have to”. Keep her in your prayers.
3-7-04 pm -- Karen called again about 3:30 p.m. and was in much better spirits than earlier today. She decided she was pushing herself too hard and needed to take the day off - even if it was a beautiful sunny day perfect for hiking. She’s at a wonderful place called Blueberry Patch Hostel near Dicks Creek Gap. She says it’s run by a hiker that knows what hikers need - shower, food, bed, and phone - and she’s feeling much better. It’s in the middle of a real blueberry plantation. She now realizes she needs to slow up and enjoy the trip (thanks to Chenoa’s excellent advice earlier today - Karen always listens to Chenoa - she’s so smart). Karen is excited about tomorrow when she should cross her first state boundary into North Carolina. Her trail guide book says look for a “gnarled oak tree” that marks the state line. (Hmm.... I wonder if that’s the same tree Daniel Boone used?)
3-11-04 -- (Listen to Karen) Karen called in today at 9:10 a.m. She was at the road crossing between Standing Indian and Wayah Bald in North Carolina. She recently passed the 100 mile marker. The past few days she has been hiking through three inches of snow that hit on Tuesday and enduring 20 degree nights. She has been very cold at night, but feels better during the day after she gets up and moving, although walking in the snow is difficult. Her legs are still hurting, but doing ok. Another hiker advised her to loosen her shoe laces... that helped... she thought tighter was better... but apparently not. Last night she got off the trail with her two new friends, Harrier and Cooker, section hikers from Pennsylvania. They got a ride to Franklin to eat at Shoney’s, a welcome break from trail food. She spent the night at a hiker hostel that offered $15 heated “yurts”. (I had to look that one up!) She described it as a small, one person teepee, but mainly, it was HEATED! She was thrilled about last night’s good fortune - a hot meal AND a warm bed. Oh, what we take for granted. Today she hopes to make it to Wayah Bald by tonight. Beyond that, the next shelter is 14 miles, so tomorrow (Friday) may be a rough day. Keep “Scarf” in your prayers. That’s what her hiking buddies call her.
3-13-04 -- Karen called tonight at 8:45 p.m. from a pay phone at the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Wesser, N.C., where she is spending the night at a hiker hostel. She got to take a hot shower and then ate out (out?... rather, in...) at a Mexican restaurant. She is doing well although her knees are still hurting a bit. She had to say goodbye to her section hiker friends, Harrier and Cooker, since they reached their end point today. Cooker is supposed to send us some photos of Karen which we will post on the web site. Karen is planning to meet her friends Leslee and Jimmy at Newfound Gap in the Smokies on Friday for a day off at a condominium. They also hope to take some photos to send us.
3-14-04 -- We received the following email and two photos from Karen’s friend and fellow hiker, Cooker.
“I had the pleasure of hiking with Karen for portions of the first 10 days of her hike. I'm not thru-hiking but I accompanied my friend "Northern Harrier" for the first 10 days of his thru-hike; he is now beyond the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We started the same day as Karen. We hiked with Karen for 3 days and camped together the nights of March 4-6. We pulled ahead on the 7th and she caught up with us on Wednesday the 10th at Rainbow Springs Campground. Snce my hike was over by design at that point and my car was awaiting me at Rainbow Springs, we all drove into Franklin for dinner that night. Anyway, here are two pictures featuring her. I apologize for the shaky quality but at least you can recognize her. Bill Cooke (Cookerhiker)” Photo #1 - Scarves and Satori at Deep Gap Photo #2 - Woods Hole Shelter
3-15-04 -- Chenoa reports that she talked to Karen this evening for about an hour. She gave no other details, but apparently Karen is doing ok. She hopes to talk to her again on Thrusday evening when Karen meets Leslee in the Smoky Mountains.
3-16-04 -- (Listen to Karen) Karen called in at 8:02 a.m. to report that she was at Fontana Lake at the start of the Smoky Mountains. It’s been raining for two days and lots of people are falling. Karen said she had not fallen down yet, but she was sure her turn was coming. She had a wet night in the tent two nights ago. She was unable to make it to the next shelter that night and it rained all night. She said she was trying hard to keep her spirits up. She plans to meet Leslee and Jimmy at Newfound Gap on Thursday afternoon and will call us again from there. She is looking forward to her first “zero mile” day on Friday. “Boy, do I need it”, she said.
3-18-04 -- Chenoa talked to Karen tonight. She is in Newfound Gap with her friends Leslee and Jimmy. They ate at Ruby Tuesday’s and Karen says she really took advantage of it! Ellen had given Leslee all the cards and emails people have been sending, so Karen was looking forward to reading all her mail tonight.
3-19-04 -- Karen called this morning at 11:20 a.m. and said she was “sitting in luxury”. She is enjoying a “zero mile” day off with Leslee and Jimmy at a condo at Newfound Gap. But, she doesn’t want to get too comfortable, she says. The last few days in the Smokies has been much rougher terrain than before - several thousand foot climbs and descents, rain, ice, and slush. She shared one of her snow chains with a fellow hiker who had none (yes, tiny chains that strap to your boots for better traction in the snow.) She said the hardest thing is the cold. The chores of stopping for the night, and getting ready in the morning are tough. One night, she was just too exhausted to fix her hot meal, which she tries to do each day. She just collapsed into her sleeping bag. But a fellow hiker insisted that she should eat her hot meal. So he walked to the stream to get water for her to cook. Karen is so impressed at how all the hikers look out for each other. Once she gets moving on the trail each day, she warms up and feels better. The last few days, she’s paired up with “Nails”, a 53 year old woman from Florida who had never seen snow and was convinced she was going to die on the mountain. Now, Karen was the encouraging, helping hiker friend. Wednesday was a 17.6 mile day - very strenuous, from daylight to dark. But, she said she had to do it to meet Leslie on Thursday afternoon. She has passed the 200 mile point. Finally, she rounded a bend in the trail about 5 pm yesterday and there stood Leslee in the middle of the trail, who promptly snapped her picture. We hope to get that photo to put on the web site. Later, they went to the grocery. Karen was looking for something different - she can’t stand any more nuts and dried fruit. She said she knew she was having a food crisis when even beef jerky looked good to her! (I think it was probably tofu jerky.) Leslee took her to the local library where she finally got to see this web site. She said her night at the condo has given her a new found appreciation for a pillow. She hasn’t been able to make a pillow out of her extra clothes because it’s so cold she has to wear them. I don’t think I’ll ever think of my pillow quite the same again either.
3-20-04 -- Karen decided to take today off also. Her friends, Leslee and Jimmy, had to leave so she stayed last night at a motel in Gatlinburg with her new trail buddy Nails. They expect to get back on the trail tomorrow, assuming they’re not too attached to soft beds, warm rooms, and restaurant food! They met two other thru hikers tonight in town and they all went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. Karen was craving vegetables while everyone else went for the steak. They plan to head out at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. Jimmy helped Karen lighten her pack by 9 pounds, down to 34 now, fully loaded with food. With the highest point of the A.T. behind them (Clingmans Dome, 6643 feet), it’s all downhill from here... so to speak.
3-21-04 -- Today, we received this report and some photos from Jimmy and Leslee Barna who spent this past weekend with Karen at Newfound Gap, NC.
“Here are a few pics (see photo page) from our visit with Karen this week. She is doing just fine. Karen has hooked-up with some other thru-hikers that are hiking at
about the same pace. She is in good spirits and good health with only one
small blister on her foot. So far her gear is holding up well and she has
not been sick. She said that several people (young and old) have already
dropped out due to various reasons, but she is doing well. During our visit
Karen said she plans on hiking with "Nails" as far as Damascus, VA, where
she plans on meeting Chenoah. Karen'c cell phone is not really working too
well so she gave it to us and ended her service. We took her to the local
library to see the web-site and she loved it. We also went to a Krogers and
restocked some food items. And lastly we went to the Happy Hiker gear store
were she got her picture taken (all thru-hikers do) and posted on the wall
and she also bought a good headlamp and some waterproof gloves.
Leslee met Karen at 4:45 on Thursday 3/18/04 at New Found Gap in the Smokys.
Karen had predicted she would be there on Thursday around 4pm (2 weeks
earlier), so we were pretty impressed she was right on time. She was hiking
with two other "thru-hikers" when she arrived (Nails and Bear Bag Hanger).
Nails is a woman from FL and Bear Bag Hanger is a guy from ???? somewhere I
cant remember. The picture of Karen hiking through the snow was exactly what
Leslee saw as she hiked out at New Found Gap (which was mile 203 for Karen).
Leslee gave all three of them rides two G-burg. The other picture of Karen
(with her arms out) is her expressing how nice it was to shed her 44lb pack.
I aslo included a picture of Leslee and Karen at New Found Gap.
Karen spent two nights with us in G-burg and she took some long showers, hot
tubs and ate all kind of junk food. We even took her to Krispy Kreme for
some doughnuts. The picture of me and Karen with all her gear was our
attempt to help her shed some weight from her pack. After an hour or so we
were able to get her pack down to a svelte 34lbs. That made life much better
for her.
The last picture is of Karen, Leslee and Isabella when we dropped Karen off
at Nails hotel on 3/20/04. Their plan was to wait out a rain storm and then
hike out the next morning (3/21/04). Karen is predicting to be in Hot
Springs, NC in about 5 or 6 days and then another 5 or 6 days to Erwin, TN.
If Leslee and I are able we might briefly meet her in Erwin, TN.”
Jimmy Barna
3-23-04 -- Karen called at 7:00 p.m. from Standing Bear Hostel about 3 miles past Davenport Gap. She’s fine now, but said she just had the worst three days of her life. When her and Nails caught a ride out of Gatlinburg and back toward the trail on Sunday morning, it was spring-like weather. Thirty minutes later and 4000 feet higher, it was freezing. After they got back on the trail and the day progressed, the weather turned to blizzard-like conditions. The wind was so strong they could not talk or hear each other while walking. It snowed heavily with bitter cold and wind. She fell once and slid about 15 feet down the trail in slush. That evening, the temperature dropped to 15 degrees with a minus 20 degree wind chill factor. She said it was the coldest she had ever been in her life. She could not stop shaking for hours after getting into her sleeping bag.
Monday morning, they skipped breakfast so they could get moving quicker and try to warm up. Monday’s weather was more of the same. Snow, wind, and bitter cold. In her typically positive fashion, she spoke of how beautiful the snow laden pine branches were. But opportunities to observe nature were rare since she had to concentrate on the slick ground in front of her to avoid falling. “Butt prints” in the snow were all along the trail, she joked. Karen and Nails would take turns encouraging one another. It seemed that when one was down, the other was up. So together, they pressed on until they made the next shelter. The open side of this shelter faced the setting sun, so a little warmth accompanied their supper time. Also, this shelter was at 4900 feet, a little lower than last night. But still, after sundown, it rapidly became another bitterly cold night. Karen woke up with the lower half of her sleeping bag covered in snow.
Today, they continued their pattern of ascents and descents, climbing a mountian to around 6000 feet, then back down to 4000 feet. Finally, they reached Davenport Gap, the official end of the Smoky Mountains. For the next five miles the trail winded steadily downward as they came off the Smokies and Karen said she was very glad to be leaving. She had been warned that the Smokies could be brutal, and they were. Shortly after crossing under interstate I-40 they encountered a side trail. The sign read, “Hostel, 1 mile”, down to about 1500 feet. The alternative? -- the next shelter was 4 miles up the trail at 4000 feet. Considering the past 3 days, that was a no brainer. Karen and Nails are comfortable tonight at the Standing Bear Hostel with a $15 bunk, shower, internet access, kitchen services, laundry facilities, but no heat. Karen says she’s not cold. I guess everything is relative.
3-26-04 -- (Listen to Karen) Late this afternoon, Karen arrived at Hot Springs, NC. She said the sun has been shining for three days. Before, she looked for a sunny spot to take a rest break to warm up... now, she looks for shade to cool off. The days have been gorgeous and she has been covering 15 miles or so per day. She’s been drinking much more water because of the heat. Tomorrow will be a rest day. Tonight she is staying at a hiker hostel in a beautiful old Victorian house. She is looking forward to their organic vegetarian meal for dinner. Also, she said the local area has hot springs that she plans to soak her tired muscles in tonight.
3-27-04 -- Karen called Chenoa to say she was enjoying her day off in the hot springs... at Hot Springs. But at $20 per hour, she decided to soak for only a half hour. She is sending her cookware home. One hot meal a day sounded like a good idea, but the little fuel containers for her cook stove only burn for 10 minutes. Not enough to finish the job. She said she was tired of eating half cooked meals. She requested that Ellen go ahead and send her some summer clothing because the days are quite warm. But, she’s still
