“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/pro.3.5-6.NIV
A little maintenance on an Indiana trail, before my big hike
My AT adventure for 2026 begins this week! I’ll probably just be posting at hostels or wherever I have time and signal. Hopefully each week, I’ll give you an update.
Thanks for following my adventures! I hope they inspire you to go out and have your own. I pray that your faith is strengthened and your hope is renewed.
Let’s go out and do big Kingdom business for God, whether this means at home sharing with your family and friends or at work or out in nature. Whenever you are, let your Light shine! To Him be all the glory!
The Smokies were the hardest thing I’d ever done but yet the most rewarding, so far. It was worth it to climb those difficult but amazing mountains, to see the grandeur and majesty, and to experience the wonder of this beautiful place.
Carla, my daughter -in-law and my grandson, Kenaniah came to pick us all up from Clingmans Dome at the parking lot. We walked down the paved trail and loaded into her Expedition. We all went to enjoy pizza in Cherokee, the nearest town, about 17 miles away. Then she dropped Suzie and I off at the hotel we had reserved. It was a much needed rest, but we had some regrouping to do. Kris, my weatherman, noted it was to get extremely cold the next few days in the Smokies- down in the teens. Suzie and I were not equipped to handle such weather. It was our intention originally to go back up there and finish. We stayed an extra day in the hotel as the worst of the weather came through. There was a strip mall near by and we walked uptown to explore the casino shops.
We went for a walk in Cherokee, TN, just to keep from getting board
With Kris’ help, we planned a new route, while Suzie and I hunkered down in the hotel in Cherokee. In the mountains up in the Smokies the nights were as low as 13 degrees and they’d had a few inches of snow. Suzie and I were not prepared to do that extreme of cold, nor did we have our ice spikes.
So we changed our plans. One has to be ready to switch it up when things don’t go exactly as planned. So it is with backpacking! Gotta roll with the punches.
We decided to start back at a lower elevation. We would get on the trail at the underpass of I-40 and go up the stairs to head towards Snowbird mountain and Max Patch Bald. With the elevation being a couple of thousand less, it should be more tolerable temperatures.
Resident cat in our hotel
We grew impatient to get back on trail . We couldn’t find a shuttle or even a Uber driver who would take us. Finally, we called our trail angel, Carla, and she drove over 3 hours to get us and put us back on the AT. Kris and Kenaniah joined us too, to see us off.
She dropped us off at the I- 40 underpass. It was pretty late in the day. Suzie and I were headed to Painter branch, a camping area not too far, about 3.5 miles. However, it was getting dark and we were getting nervous about finding camp. Down at the road where the hostel turn off was, a couple of miles back, there was a sign warning about bears in the area. We wanted to get settled in and find a good branch for a food hang before dark. We came upon a place near a creek we thought would work, but the campsites were very sloped. We took it anyway. We slid down in our sleeping bags all night. I woke up with my mattress half way up the side of my tent! I did get some sleep tho. The moon was bright and it was a quiet night.
My sleeping bag slid up my tent, the ground was so sloped!
The next morning I checked our food bear hang. It made it through the night untouched! It was not a good hang- we could easily touch our bags, they were so low. I prayed over it that night and asked the Lord to keep it safe.
I walked up the trail a little ways to find a good bathroom place, and lo and behold! Not 100 feet from our camp was the Painter’s branch! Flat spots to camp for several tents! 🤷🏻♀️
We hiked on that day through beautiful fall colors. The leaves were turning on the vegetation, bringing in the glory of autumn. Reds, yellows oranges and purples were on display.
One of many green tunnels Suzie, on our way up Smowbird Mt
Up and up we went. From 2865 feet to 4263 feet we climbed in 2.4 miles. We arrived around noon st Snowbird Mountain. The first thing one noticed was this odd white building. It is an FAA tower. One can walk all the way around it and get a 360 degree view. We could look to the south and see the Smokies and Clingman’s Dome. We noticed storm clouds brewing, so after lunch, we headed down to the shelter.
FAA tower on Smowbird MtFabulous views from Snowbird
1800 feet descent in 2.5 miles later, we arrived at Groundhog Creek Shelter. It was mid afternoon, but we decided since it looked like rain and was forecasted, we would spend the night here an enjoy the protection of a shelter instead of our tents.
We made a fire. An older man “Just Lonnie” came hiking in. He was a sobo hiker. He’d lost his wife to cancer and decided that hiking the AT was what he wanted to do. He was in his 70s. He’d hiked several miles that day. We enjoyed his company and got a good night’s sleep in the shelter. It did rain some in the evening and the night, but no rain on the morning.
Our home for the night. Ground Hog Creek Shelter
The next day, we hiked 8 miles to one of my favorite views so far of the AT, up Max Patch Bald. Wow! What a view. I cried when I reached the top and looked around at all the majesty of those mountains. Oh God, how great you are! Thank you for creating all this. You said in your Word, you create all things to enjoy! Thank you Lord, for allowing me to enjoy this majestic beauty!
Fantastic views at Max Patch Bald. Suzie walking in the grandeur of it all.More Max Patch.
I got word the night before that a good friend and sister in the Lord has passed away. I wanted to be at her funeral. I knew it was time to go home. On our way down from Max Patch, while we had good signal, we attempted to call shuttlers. We finally found one who would come to get us for $150 and take us to Suzie’s car. We decided to call our angel again! Carla and Kenaniah would come to the rescue the next day, to meet us at Lemon Gap.
Our last night, we camped at Roaring Fork shelter. This was a busy place. It was just a few miles from Max Patch. We arrived about 7 pm. All the tent sites were full, so we stayed in the shelter. There was a guy who slept in it too, on the other end, but he was nice. We hung our food bags on the bear cable. It was a cooler night, probably was in the low 40s by morning.
Bear cables the last night
We hiked down a beautiful trail along a creek to Lemon Fap, about 4 miles. Suzie had not fallen the entire time until she hit a patch of mud and fell face first. She was ok though! We made it to Lemon Gap about 11am.
On our way to Lemon Gap
The road Carla traveled up to Max Patch was no joke. No wonder Reuter wanted $150! It took Carla awhile to get to us. There was no signal so we couldn’t reach her. We said we’d meet at 11am. At 12 pm Carla and Kenaniah pulled in. We headed back down that arduous road and drove on to Hot Springs, where Suzie had her car parked. Originally, we thought we’d make it that far, but plans always change, especially the farther one goes. We found a restaurant open- Rocky Mountain Diner was closed. We were told due to COVID, the restaurants take turns who’s open when, because they don’t have enough workers.
Finally, about 3pm, Suzie and I part from our trail angels Carla and grandson Kenaniah, and we head for home. It was a long night, but we had lots of laughs sharing and reminiscing about our trail experiences and life in general. I met up with Kenneth at Culver’s in Columbus, IN around 11 pm. We still had 2 hours to go. It was 1:30 am when we got back.
Oh what a time I had, but so good to be back with my best trail angels and hiking buddy husband.
I came home to a house full of balloonsKenneth grows a beard while I’m on trail.
Total mileage for this year 2023- I hiked 130.8 miles.
AT miles so far hiked, counting the Approach Trail: 291.3 miles! It’s worth every step.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.11.28.NKJV
This was a fabulous year! I’m so excited to share with you my journey. Here it goes!
Kenneth and I at Mountain Crossings
Kenneth, my hubby and best trail angel, drove me from Spencer, IN where we lived to Blood Mt. Cabins at Neels Gap, GA. We spent the night there in the Bear cabin. Each cabin has its own animal theme. I hiked the next day the section from Jarrard Gap, where we got off trail last year to Neel’s Gap. There was a 5 mile section over Blood Mountain, that we missed, I wanted to see.
Blood Mountain
That section was beautiful! Blood Mountain is worth a day hike, if nothing else. It was a good warm up for the trail ahead. I hiked on into the cabin where we were staying, just a 1/4 mile from Neel’s Gap and Mountain Crossings.
Kenneth and I spent our last night together before I ventured off solo this time. Diane had planned to come, but couldn’t make it. I looked forward to others joining me later. I knew God was with me and I’d be just fine.
Kenneth dropped me off at Dicks Creek Gap. I took off up the mountain excited to be back on the AT. It was a pretty tough climb up those 9 miles with these Hoosiers legs, but I made it late afternoon to the GA/ VA border! Just a little farther was the cool gnarly tree and the camping area. A nice spring ran through the valley there. The camping area was up on the hill, of course.
The Bly Gap tree
God is sooo good! There were two ladies setting up their tents for the night. They were part of a Minnesota hiking group. One of them was the leader. We shared our evening together and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. Thank you Lord, for giving me someone in the camp the first night.
My camp companions from MN my first night. Bly Gap
The three of us had breakfast together, then parted ways. They were heading south and I north. The climb was pretty steep and rugged. I hiked through a beautiful field of touch-me-nots as I made my way to the shelter for lunch. The privy was memorable in not a good way- it was so small you could barely shut the door. The shelter was very old.
I hiked on to my place for the night, enjoying the views. The reward of hiking up mountains is there is often a break along the way that shows a spectacular window of those majestic Appalachian mountains. It is inspiring, to say the least.
Usually, I met someone on the trail each day, but almost all were heading south. I do have the exception of a guy from Costa Rica. He was doing a section hike for a few days. He knew very little English and I knew very little Spanish! He was very nice though, and we got along well. He hiked much faster than me, but I would catch up to him at lunch or the shelter for the evening. We would eat at the shelter for our evening meals and tent camped close by. This happened for a couple of days.
My Costa Rica hiking buddyThis was the best shelter this stretch on trail! My Costa Rica friend was there too that night.
Shelters- I didn’t have a liking for staying in shelters yet. They were hard for my mind to wrap around- They were 3 sided. Everyone around sees you lying there. Bugs. Potential bears and possible weird people. Don’t forget the Mice!🐁.
My tent was my private, hiding place.
My tent this section, a Marmot Tungsten 2UL
When he no longer was on trail with me, I hiked on. It always seemed like I was going uphill. On one of those treks I was starting my day as usual, with what was my theme song for the year.
The song, Abide” by Aaron Williams, helped me hike with a knowing purpose, and relax, in His Presence. As I trudged up another mountain, I saw myself doing a video presentation to a group of interested people about this AT trip. I thought that was cool, but had no idea how to do it. Once I was home, I told my daughter. She told me to try the I- movie App on my phone. About that same time, I received a call from an old friend. She asked me to do a presentation of my hike for her women’s Bible Study group’s retreat. Wow God! I knew to say yes! This was a God set up. But, that’s another story.
No one else was there at the next shelter. Oh, but what beauty was around me! The stars were brilliant. I had no rain! The barred owls sing and the whipporwills on the distance were whipporwilling! No bears. Cool nights and warm days. It was calm and peaceful each night, as I allowed myself to be still.
On top of Fire tower at Albert Mountain. 100 miles!
In 2021 for my birthday, in August, I decided to “ try out” a section of the AT I thought I could handle. Two brave ladies came along for the ride- Jenny and Tricia. My hubby drove us over to Waynesboro, Virginia so that the next day we could hike the first 50 miles of the Shenandoah National Park. My son Kris encouraged the idea that this stretch would be a good one to start, since the mountains are a little less aggressive through this section as well as there are plenty of ways to get off trail easily if one has a problem. The SNP has waysides too where one can get a meal, resupply and blueberry milkshakes!
We started hiking from Rockfish Gap in the fog. It was extremely humid. We were drenched in sweat, even at 75 degrees- It might as well been 100 degrees. We made it to calf mountain shelter the first night, just a little over 10 miles. We were excited to meet a flip flop thru- hiker named “ Clementine”. She passed us going up a mountain. Later we learned that she completed her hike. We also met “One eyed Jack”. He was also doing a flip flop thru -hike and was waiting for a ride into Waynesboro. (“Flip flops” is a hiker term that means they hike one direction, north for example, then jump up to hike south from Katadhin to Harpers Ferry and finish wherever they left the trail to flip flop completing all 2000+ miles, just not consecutively.). 🩴 🩴
We were learning how to navigate the white blazes. We were using AllTrails and I had an AT Guide book. We thought the shelter should be right around the corner. Ha! It was another 0.7 miles. It seemed like 7 miles in this terrain. We were Hoosiers! We don’t have mountains! We arrived soaked in sweat, tired and hungry, but happy.
A hiker came into the shelter some time later. He was doing the Eastern Continental Divide trail! He started in the Florida Keys. The trail joins the AT and goes beyond into Canada. His trail name was “LAP”. Another hiker joined who asked us if we minded him setting up his hammock in the porch part of the shelter. It was late and rainy. He helped us put our food bags up on the bear pole. Before going to our tents, we read Psalms 91 together. All in all a good day. Wet but good.
The Thinker
The second day, it was raining and we packed up wet. We met “ Easy Does It” who was a sea captain. We saw LAP again, who is a psychologist. Easy Does It asked for prayer to finish safe and strong. He was a sobo thru- hiker ( sobo means southbound and nobo means northbound. We were hiking nobo.).
🐝Bees! Not Really- was some kind of yellow jackets were on the trail too, swarming around a log that we had to climb over in the trail. Jenny went first and didn’t even see them. Tricia went next and ouch! She got stung. I waited a minute and thought I was free and clear when suddenly ouch! Right in the butt. ⛑️ Oh well.
Sweat. Wet. Stings. What’s next?!
I found it challenging putting medicine on my back side I couldn’t see. 😑
There were lots of tough climbs and descents. We ate lunch around 7.5 miles. Finally the sun came out and there was a breeze! We got to camp around 6:30 pm – Rock Hut shelter, a total of 13 miles. Kris had texted a storm was coming in but we should make it before it hit. We were all beat. I fixed a quick supper and before I was finished it started to rain. Tricia was eating in the shelter and I don’t know what Jenny did. Maybe she ate in her hammock and didn’t tell. All I know is we crashed after that. The shelter did have a nice privy, as far as privy’s go. LAP was there at the shelter for the night.
Our third day started with serenades from barred owls and whippoorwills! What a cool way to begin our next day of adventure in the SNP. We decided to change up our plans and not push so hard today. Instead of doing another 13 miles we opted to head to Loft campground, just 6.7 miles away. We were tired, smelled bad and did I say WET??? It was still very muggy and humid.
Wet!
We took our time packing up. We’d been sleeping in our tents but were close to the shelter. We had a group in there we called the smoking pot group. So far, every time we were close to a shelter, even before we saw them, we smelled them.
One of our shelters
While we were talking to some of the hikers, we saw there was a lady back in the shelter under a bench we didn’t see. She was just stirring from her sleeping bag. She was section hiking the AT. Her trail name was I.C. She joined us in prayer for the day.
We met Captain Jack on the trail. He was 67 and heading sobo. He said he met Nimble Will, who later we found out summited Mt Katadhin as the oldest thru- hiker. He was 82 at the time and had done the entire AT 3 times.
Nimble Will at 82 years old
There was also a 71 year old woman he met doing all 2190 miles, according to Captain Jack.
The best views of the entire trip seemed to be today. Gorgeous Mountain View’s at the Black Rock Summit! Then, when we reached the Ampitheatre near the campground, we sat in awe at the majestic display.
At our camp site #20. What a view!
We made it to camp and enjoyed a nice evening at this highly recommended campsite. We had a campfire. I toasted my spam on a stick over the fire. Kris texted that a pretty bad storm was getting ready to pass through our area. About 7 pm we headed inside our tents and hammock for shelter. It was blowing pretty hard and began to pour down rain. It rained all night with big gusts of wind. I had to get out and put my stakes back in- my tent was trying to blow away. The next morning , Jenny said she got out several times to place her stakes in to hold down her hammock. When we got up, the power was out throughout the campground. We packed up and headed for the camp store and shower, which we hit up and enjoyed the night before. We tried to charge our phones, but they were running on generators.
Did I say we were WET! ? Drowned is more like it. This is at the store and shower building entryway at the camp.
We were thinking we were tired of playing in the rain. Over it! We found out they named that tropical storm we just went through Fred. Well Fred, we survived in spite of your attempts to drown us!
We hiked in the rain over to Rock Hut Wayside. It was about 11 am. They just got back on their power. They said they could open in a few minutes, but they wouldn’t open the grill today. It had finally stopped raining. We were glad to get inside, get some nice sub sandwiches and a Coke. We hiked on to Pine Hut shelter. We were happy to have the sun shining on our way there! Jenny realized she’d forgotten her hammock straps- left them at the last campsite. We Geri-rigged her hammock using my bear hang rope. The shelters had either poles or bear vaults to place food bags in so didn’t need the rope. We couldn’t reach the husbands tonight- there was no signal. I used my In-Reach for the first time, letting them know we were ok and safe at camp.
We sat around our camp behind the shelter- a nice grassy area with a nearby creek. We talked about Psalms 91 and Jenny shared Zach Williams devotional on Isaiah 40:31.
There was a dog with a hiker there at the shelter. The dog’s name was Cricket. His owner was hiking a sobo thru- hike. The dog was very playful- liked to play fetch. The next morning, we were trying to be quiet getting out of our tents but Cricket saw us and ran under Jenny’s hammock waking her up. Jenny was always the last one up. Cricket was a good alarm. I slept like a log and still smelled like a dog, even though we were able to clean up some from water from the stream. I woke up early with barred owls singing. It was a nice morning packing up- took our time. I gave away some of my food to the thru- hikers. I had too much and only had a couple of more days to go.
We also met there a gal who was doing a LASH. I asked her what that was. She said “ a long- ass section hike!” I asked how far. She said a little over 100 miles. Wow! I thought. Little did I know that in a few years, I would be doing them too.
We passed a guy who looked like Ulysses S Grant. He was carrying an old external frame pack. It had patches sewn on it to keep it together. He said he was doing trail maintenance. He was carrying a big specialized rake. He said in 2 weeks he was heads to hike in Vermont.
We saw several deer today. I added it to my list of creatures seen on this trip- besides Cricket, the dog, there were BEES, a baby snake, crazy caterpillars that got in our tents just before Fred, an orange salamander, little toads, owls , pileated woodpeckers and a harlequin beetle.
Our camp spot behind the shelter. The sun came out and dried up the landy- landy!
We hiked across a meadow and decided it was delightful. Ate our lunch there. We made it to Hightop Hut ( shelter) for the night. Weather alert- It was supposed to start raining in 5 minutes. Jenny and Tricia decided to stay in the shelter but I said no way. They are known for having mice and I didn’t want to sleep with strangers. In 5 minutes I had my tent set up. And it rained. After the rain , I went to the shelter to eat our evening meal. We met “Ferrell”. She’d just hiked 22 miles. She was a sobo and was hoping to complete her thru hike before November.
We also met a rather odd couple. The guy was a tall Swedish man with a very small lady who looked Japanese. He was carrying a pack. They came and sat down with us and opened the pack. Out popped a beautiful Main Coon cat! They said they were just out for a day hike. When they were ready to go, they let the cat lead up the trail, the tall man next, then the little short lady. 🐈⬛ 🐱
We decided it was our last night on the trail. We’d hike out tomorrow. It was a rainy night. Water started pooling under my tent. I got up early, packed up and went to the shelter. While there cooking breakfast, we talked with Ferrell about her hike. She was rather discouraged. She’d struggled on the trail. Before we left, we prayed with her, and she started to cry. Jenny shared Isaiah 40:31 with her. She said she had done a flip flop and had already hiked 105 days.
There was a couple there celebrating their anniversary. They have a camp school they run near Rockfish Gap. They offered Ferrell a place to stay and gave her information.
A funny story Jenny shared later about the shelter. You see, Jenny is afraid of 🐍 snakes but Tricia is afraid of 🐁 mice. During the night, Jenny felt a mouse crawling over her. The mouse was headed for Tricia, who was laying beside her. Like a good friend, Jenny took her arm with the mouse on it and swung her arm across her body. Whop! She heard the mouse hit the side of the shelter wall. She saved her friend from the creepy crawly mouse with one swoop of her arm!
Our last day, we hiked to Hightop but no view. We hiked to the Skykine Drive then headed down the road. Lo and behold! Here comes our rescue! Jenny’s husband Bryan was here to save the day! Jenny had warned Bryan of the tremendous odor we were emitting. He gave us each a car deodorizer to hang on us and a trash bag to put our backpacks in. We loaded into the truck and headed to Big Meadows. We got our rooms first and took a shower! It was heavenly! Then we had a delicious lunch at the Lodge. I had peanut soup for the first time and blackberry cobbler for dessert.
The humidity was gone. It was in the low 70s but we were freezing! It was good to be back in civilization.
Bryan, Jenny’s husband, to the rescue!Our view from the Big Meadows Lodge while we ate our lunch on the patio.
It was the beginning of many more adventures! Thanks to God and to all who helped us experience it. So grateful for friends and family! What a wonderful birthday experience.
