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Written by Dusten Harward
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Jun 23, 2008 at 07:36 AM |
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Hi, we are the Harward Family. This site is an ongoing blog about our adventures on the trail. This is a story about our adventures as a family as we take on an experience that we feel everyone should have at least once in their life. We are planning to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin, Maine over the next five years. As we embark on this long journey we are going to continuously post here on the site to share our adventures. Also on this site we will have resources available for free as we find them. We would love to answer any questions or comments that you may have, simply click the Contact Us link in the menu, If you would like to receive a notification next time we make a post please sign up to our Mailing List. Here on the home page you will be able to read our last 4 posts, if you would like to read about or adventures from our beginning post please visit the “From the Beginning” section. ********************************************** Our Story Begins ********************************************** |
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Telico Gap to Stecoah Gap |
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Written by Dusten Harward
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May 17, 2011 at 01:48 AM |
Fri.- April 22, 2011
We all head to Charlotte for final pack-up. The guys all stay in Charlotte. Renee' takes all the female folk to Hickory. Most of our camping equipment is in Charlotte and I just got a new backpack. Also, we're getting a van from Renee' parents. On a happy note, we eat supper at Recah's house - very nice!!
Sat. - April 23, 2011
Guys get up, shower, dress, breakfast, and head out to Hickory and arrive somewhere around 6:45 a.m. Girls are not ready. Start packing the van and checking the fluids and tires. Get gas for the van and the pump shuts off at $75 - van 3/4 full. Go to Advance Auto and buy needed fluids. Leaving Hickory, there is a slight drizzle and dark clouds overhead.
Arrive at N.O.C. around 11:30 a.m. - sunny skies and not a cloud visible any where. Do lunch and then head to trail. Only take a few backpacks with water and snacks. Dusty and I hike south to pick up vehicles while everyone drives to Telico Gap and hikes north. Seems weird to be on the trail and no heavy backpack. Funny how map shows mostly uphill and there are ups and down everywhere - deceptive. Steady climb up until we reach 200 yards of steep rock climb to reach "Jump Off". Fantastic views - 2 BIG mountain ranges with several rolling hills surrounding them. Unable to look at the view without seeing God's creative hand in His wonderful creation. Pre-trail conditioning paying off. Dusty feels out of shape with his mostly indoor desk job.
We run out of water!!! Slightly warm and we thought 4 liters would be more than enough. We meet rest of our crew about 5 miles down the trail. To my surprise, Dawn-Marie is with the front crowd. Everyone like hiking without heavy backpacks. Alex tells us there is water nearby. We hike on and visit the shelter. No water but we do meet a Canadian hiker with his dog, Micah. Looks like Micah made the trip but no Elizabeth. We refill our water bottles and continue. Reach Wayah Bald Observation Tower. Another Fantastic 360 degree view above the treeline. Take lots of pictures.
Dusty likes using his trail G.P.S. and has also purchased a solar powered charger. I rename Dusty "Gadget Boy". I take the small backpack of water, snacks and stuff for the final mile and half. Dusty agrees - it feels weird hiking with no backpack. Finish up and take the two vehicles back to the N.O.C helping a stranded hiker along the way.
Upon arriving at the N.O.C., pure chaos erupts. Most do not want to hike anywhere to camp. Renee' changed the menu and then did not bring some replacement items. I had wanted to drop two vehicles at our ending point to make the morning less stressful, but can't get a third driver to help because everyone busy doing something and some of the younger one want to sleep in the van. I finally make needed decisions and find a place to set up tents, will take vehicles in morning and go to convienence store and purchase cooking oil that was needed and everyone get supper and to bed.
Sunday - April 24, 2011
Have breakfast, pack our stuff, and Dusty, Renee' and I drive vehicles to endpoint. Sunny morning. Have Easter morning devotions. Alex and Dawn-Marie did a good job of getting everyone else packed up. After posing for picture, we start off. Lot different with loaded packs on. Kenderick and I in the lead as usual. Fairly steady ascents. Tree had fallen across the trail, but Alex and Ty enjoy clearing it to make it easier for crew behind to pass. Encountered a couple of switchbacks going up the "Jump Up" and then the trail got hard with steep inclines. This is where actually hiking and looking at a map can mess with your mind when the two are dramatically different. Was expecting some hard climbs but then hit a flat area and level off. Found the flat area only to encounter another steep climb - NOT ON MAP. Finally begin slight decline to shelter. Everyone glad to be done. Area around shelter was hilly - no real flat area. Wherever one puts a tent you are going to sleep on a slight incline. We get a fire going and boiling water for our roman meals. Everyone eats hardily and enjoys smores for snack. Alex even tried roasting a marshmellow PEEPS. Carmelized nicely. Kinda chilly, but we all sleep good.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Yesterday was hard. I breathed a lot of God's clean oxygen. Breathed so much my nostrils hurt. The Canadian and his dog, Micah, was at the shelter. His dog has a habit of stealing people's socks and burying them. Dawn-Marie noticed a sock missing and Dusty found a sock chewed up - not happy people. Another interesting point about yesterday. I find usually that where there is water there is usually a small breeze. I felt God's presence when low on water, looking for a water source and campsite on my map, I felt the wind blow as if God saying, "keep going, you're almost there and I am here with you." Sure enough, there was water and a place to rest.
Breakfast was quick - coffee and breakfast bars. I started with Susie and Autumn. Seemed like everyone else would be soon be leaving behind us. Somehow, Dawn-Marie went the wrong way. It was quickly discovered and got her turned around. Meanwhile, the rest of us were slowly climbing a Cheoah Mountain. When we got to the top, there was a cloud covering, slight drizzle and wind seemed to be picking up and temperature dropping. Alex even got a report of possible hail storm. Everyone took a break but didn't stay long - we needed to get down this mountain.
It didn't take long to get to the other side of the mountain. Drastic weather change 2 miles down in a small gap - sunny, no clouds, no wind. Ate lunch, refilled water bottles, and then happily back on the trail. Took some good pictures of girls in hollow out tree still standing. Tough hiking over rocks on way down. My knee was hurting on the way down but was glad when I heard and finally saw cars/trucks driving on road through gap that was to be our take-out point. Everyone very happy to finish. First stop - Sonic - I want a Route 44 fruit slushy!!
On a sad note, Micah and Liz called to say that our house had been broken into. Good note - the van rides good. Grandma Toney calls to say she is fixing supper for us all - Spagetti. Alex, Autumn, Ty and Susie drive on to Fayetteville. Kenderick and I ride with Dusty to Charlotte and spend the night. The rest stay in Hickory and everyone returns to Fayetteville the next day.
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Trail, Tests, & Perseverance |
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Written by Dusten Harward
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May 15, 2011 at 05:10 PM |
This is the Blog Post that came way late from last years hike in August!....
Sat. July 31, 2010
Had a ambitious plan to hike 9 miles a day so we could take some new people rafting, but ran into some problems right away. Did not get an early start as planned due to packing some new people up the night before. Dropped everybody at the starting point while Micah and Dusty ran vehicles to our take out point. Was amazed at how tall the grass and weeds were overgrown and coving the trail. couple of miles down the trail, I ran into a rattlesnake. Hard to see because it was black and grey and sitting the shade about 10 feet off the trail. Snake not in any position to hurt any one, but scary none the less and would not go away. I waited while the rest of the crew caught up and walked each one slowly by until all had passed. Water sources were few and many were dried up. We had to take a side trail to the shelter near Siler Bald just for water. Dusty and Micah finally caught us after we got back on the actual trail after our 1.1 mile diversion to get water.
A bald is grassy area near or on top of a mountain. Most made the hike up to Siler Bald to see the view. I hiked on to find us a camping spot because of time and realizing we were not going to make mileage to planned camp spot - new people were walking slow. About 2-3 miles down was Wayah Gap and an nice picnic area with grassy camping area. Made camp, had supper with tin foil banana splits for dessert.
Sun. Aug. 1, 2010
Woke to a beautiful sunny morning but needed to get water - no water at camp site. Dusty and I hiked a half mile back for water and filled everyone's water bottle. Good hiking but water sources were dry. Finally found water only to discover there were hundreds of dead centipedes in it. Even with filtering, we did not feel safe drinking it. Tried to redistribute with everyone and keep moving. Elizabeth felt sick. Renee' tried to nurse but we had to keep moving. Elizabeth never did get to feeling better. Made it to the top of Wayah Bald and Elizabeth had decided she was done for this trip. She called parents to meet her and Micah in Franklin, NC and then hitchhiked a ride with a kind elderly couple visiting Wayah bald. Another slow moving day, but we kept on and hiked as far as we could before dark. Water source at the next shelter was just a trickle. Someone put a pot to catch it. We filled 3 water bottles, but moved on because it was really slow filling the pot.
We were very concerned of snakes with the overgrown grass and very thirsty. I was out front and found a good water source just before dark. Renee' and the girls stopped a half mile back - could not go any further. Dusty and Kenderick brought all the water bottles and we filled up. I hated backtracking but had no choice. Supper was good but rain was threatening so we got our tents set up. Shortly after finishing supper, it did rain. Sleep came quickly for everyone. It was obvious that finishing on the next day was going to be a 15 mile day or we hitch-hike out at Telico Gap.
Mon. Aug. 2, 2010
We got up early. I decided if we could hitch-hike out at Telico Gap, we would. Did not want to hike to midnight and then go rafting the next day. Beverly, Emily, and Erica really wanted to go rafting because they had never been. This was not a fun trip for me because I was too concerned with trying to make tracks and look out for dangers on the trail. Kenderick and I got out front and discovered that we had communication problems going around mountains. Lost signals with those behind us. Had good water sources for the day. At Cold spring shelter, the shelter was right beside the trail. There was flower field just below the shelter - very beautiful. Kenderick and I had a rest and snacktime at the shelter. Moved on before the rest caught up.
About a mile after the shelter, Kenderick nearly stepped on a rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail. Almost thought it was dead because it did not move. After Kenderick walked around it, it caught Kenderick's scent and moved off the trail and under a log on left side of the trail. I left my bandana on the log on the right side of the trail. Could not reach Dusty or Renee because we were going around a mountainside trail. Ken and I stopped before going around another bend. Had to wait 2-30 minutes before finally reaching Dusty. We warned him of the area of the snake and the left behind bandana. Kenderick and I took 2-3 steps and there was a third rattlesnake, warning us not to come too close with his loud rattle. This was getting irritating. This snake was huge, too. I called back to Dusty to make sure he got everyone safely by the second one and then proceed out front to find the third one. I back up to put some warning sticks on the trail.
Kenderick and I moved on. About 15-20 minutes later, we heard gunshots as Dusty found the third rattlesnake who not leave. Matter of fact, it started moving toward Dusty and he had no choice but to shoot it. Fired 22 shots and hit it 5-6 times. Kenderick and I got to Telico Gap around 2:30 p.m. There were some cars there but no people. Dusty and the rest arrived 20 minutes later. To finish we had 8 miles to go. Next vehicle came along and Dusty able to hitch a ride. Felt good to be moving and off our feet. the gentleman dropped us off at the N.O.C. put-in place for rafting. We hitched another ride with one of the bus drivers. Took us almost 2 hours to get Dusty's car picked up from starting point and back to Telico Gap. Everyone showers at N.O.C. Buy everyone a big cold drink from General Store and eat our roman meals at picnic area in N.O.C. We grab our 3 tents, sleeping bags and pads, rain coats or ponchos and head back to Rufus Morgan Shelter about 8/10 mile back on the trail to sleep for the night. Slight rain and scary hiking in the dark on very small trail over some wet rocks. Girls can't find their flashlights, but we make our way slowly to shelter area. Glad to be done hiking and sleeping.
Tues., Aug. 3, 2010
Awake to a sunny day and head back to N.O.C. for breakfast and pictures on the big rocks around the Nantahala River near the N.O.C. Rafting company picks us, helping to save us some time when we finish. We have fun splashing people as usual, but we do miss having our Tide buckets. Surprised to find out that we could have taken our dogs, Diamond and Reece, with us rafting as well.
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Springer to Dicks Creek Flyover |
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