'05 AT Thru Hike

“He might be to the Smokies by now. He was in Franklin, NC, when he sent me those entries, and that was on 19th.”

“Just finished reading all of NF's journals. Great writing, Ray! And Hyway's right! Very funny. Keep up the good work. Peace be with you...”

“Yep, you're doing good, nimblefoot.”

“Nimblefoot is a difficult man to catch. I have learned that he is liked along the trail and is a funny man. Of course, I already knew that he loves to pull peoples' legs.

Well, he did not sign the registry book at the Fontana Hilton Shelter. But he was seen heading into GSMNP on Friday, March 25th. Red Rover did sign the book. She said that she had a rough hike from the motel in Fontana and was heading forward in the morning. The entry was dated on March 24th, so that would have her entering GSMNP on the 25th, also.

It rained all night and more today. I was packed to hike to Ice Water Spring Shelter a day before my reservation, in hope of catching this character. But I don't like to start a hike in the rain, so I sat in my car at Newfound Gap. And I decided that I shouldn't take a space that a thru-hiker could enjoy. Finally, a hiker came from the Mt. Collins Shelter. A Trailrunner arrived, too, and offered the backpacker a ride into town. This hiker did not know Nimblefoot and said that he was not at Mt. Collins the previous night, but he did know Red Rover. He said that Red Rover had signed the register at Siler's Bald Shelter on the 26h and would be heading into Gatlinburg on the next day. Today being the 28th I assume she hit the trail again this morning before I arrived at Newfound Gap. If Nimblefoot hit the trail with her, then he is past any more chasing by me. It was starting to snow, so I headed to Pigeon Forge to get a motel room and shop at Walmart. At Walmart someone tried to break into my car througn the back window. They ruined part of the window molding, the inside of which is metal. This sort of thing makes me sick. The window will probably leak water now.

The rain probability drops to 30% this evening, so I decided against the motel. Tomorrow is scheduled to be sunny and 70 degrees. I went to Sugarland and cancelled my reservation for tomorrow night. No sense trying to sleep in a crowded shelter, since Nimblefoot will not be there to suffer with me. I returned over the mountains to Bryson City. It was snowing big, wet flakes near Newfound Gap that were melting on roadways, but accumulating on the evergreens. By late afternoon I should be able to backpack to CS#65 on Noland Creek.

If Nimblefoot stops at Mtn. Mama's, he may find a message that I left in the log book. I asked Mtn. Mama to look for him this week. But after I told her more about him, she thanked me for the warning and said she would put up the closed sign for the week.

Now I wonder, has Red Rover caught Nimblefoot? Will Nimblefoot still be single, when he reaches Maine?
last edited: 3/28/05 1:55:23 PM”

“Paul, how long will you be in and around the Park?”

“Until about May 18th this trip. And I may return for the month of June.”

“Sounds like Nowslimmer would have a better chance at catching Red Rover than Nimblefoot...”

“I just finished adding 5 more entries to Nimblefoot's Trail Journal. Y'all go and read 'em. Now.”

“Good work, Mr. Crap-pusher! :)

I'm following your adventures, Ray! Best of luck to you. You're doing great!!”

“Thanks! I'm still at the point of being excited when I see that journal letter in the mail.”

“I felt the same way doing it for Crash, Bit! I truly enjoyed it...”

“Based on the info in the journal, Nimblefoot entered the GSNMP on the 25th. I figure he'll be out either tomorrow or the next day.”

“SOunds like he's being released from prison!”

“Um, well, the rules in the GSMNP are a little more restrictive than the rest of the trail. Given that some of the shelters still have fencing across the front to keep the bears out, one could sorta get that feeling.

Anyway, the deal there is you have to camp at the shelters. On the AT, they average about 10 miles apart. So there's no such thing as doing a short day, or hiking until you feel like stopping. You gotta go to the next shelter. If you pass one, it's 6-12 miles to the next shelter. So hiking there is a little more regimented than the rest of the trail.”

“It sounds like he is having a lot of fun.

Roll on, Nimblefoot!”

“I just posted some of Nimblefoot's pictures from the trail on TrailJournals. You can view them here...please do so now.”

“way to go Nimblefoot..keep it up”

“Way to go bitpusher..keep it up.”

“oooh, I bet if Nimble is still in the Smokies right now, he's getting some snow.”

“Hi everyone. I'm sitting in the Blue Mountain Outfitters in Hot Springs. We literally got blown off Max Patch yesterday due to white out conditions. After climbing back down to the road (running is more like it) the first car picked us up and drove us all over until we scored the last available rooms. Last night I drank large amounts of ale while watching the NCAA semi finals at the Paddler's Pub. Let me tell you there is nothing like watching a North Carolina basketball game while sitting in a bar in North Carolina. I did manage to fall off a ridge the other day and luckily land in a very soft piece of mud. These things happen, but I may not always be so lucky. Tomorrow I'm hitting the trail again. Today is reserved for catching up on my journal and what is commonly referred to as screwing off. My next goof off location will likely be Erwin. I'll look at my travel guide and try to determine and post an arrival estimate later today. My hiking is getting more stable and predictable now so I should be able to figure out a few future arrivals. On the odd and sad side, the two guys who I was hiking with when I sprained my ankle are now off the trail, not to return. One an ankle and one knee. Young guys! Gotta go find some breakfast.”

“theres something wrong when the thru-hiker is watching the final 4 and im not.

rock on, stumblefoot!”

“Hey Nimble, ya missed Yellow River!!! ;-P

Good to hear you're doing well. Keep it up.. good job, bro, since you're sooooooooo dang much older than me.

Mom says, "Hi!"”

“Good for you Nimblefoot. Keep on truckin'.”

“Keep going man; Katahdin is a killer goal. Let me know when you hit New Jersey. I'll drive up to Kittatinny Ridge and hook you up with a cold one or 20...”

“GO NIMBLEFOOT!!!

-percious
www.percious.com”

“I just added Nimblefoot's latest journal entries to his Trail Journal. GO READ THEM.”

“Excellant! I just finished his others yesterday morning.

For those of you who haven't checked his journal out yet, it's really great reading. He's quite witty and a pretty durn good writter. I love trailjournals.”

“Sass, he really IS a fun writer.
This was my favorite. Gave me a good chuckle!


Shelters are often riddled with mice who will chew through your backpack while seeking food, eat through your sleeping bag while you're in it, and scamper across your bald head while you attempt sleep. It's not all bad though; they can be easily trapped and make the cutest finger puppets.”

“Good stuff.”

“I had to laugh out loud at that one tree, but the Nimblefoot speed gauge is the best. Especially the deterrent for a fellow 1.0 Nimblefoot”

“True enough. I liked that, also.”

“Its been a blast to follow a thru-hiker that I've actually met. Hike on, snake-eyes/nimblefoot!”

“Thanks Bit !”

“Hey, it's no problem. At least Nimblefoot's writing is good, so it's easy to figure out what he's writing and I can type it into the forms quickly.”

“You should have tried deciphering Crash Bang's stuff! His handwriting is not quite as bad as mine, though. I would pity him if he had to re-write my notes...”

“bit, there seeems to be a discrepancy between nimblefoots mileage and that reported on the journal website. Can you verify this?

-percious”

“I just type in the mileage that he puts on the journal entry. The website does the calculations.”

“Guess I goofed in cancelling my reservation at Ice Water Spring Shelter on the 29^th. Would have got to see my hero.

On the other hand I may not have made it. I'm still doing day hikes. I've only backpacked in for 1.4 miles. Stayed three days resting before the hike out. But my dayhikes have been getting longer, so I'll be backpacking soon.

Keep up the great hiking, Nimblefoot.

---

last edited: 4/07/05 5:04:11 PM”

“I've been enjoying his journal. he's a funny dude.”

“Hi folk,

I'm in Erwin, Tn, staying at Miss Janets. I got off the mountain at 6:34 after a 16 plus mile day. I also did a 20 last week, my first. There are now 25 pounds less of me than before the start. Nothing but a grey bear and a pair of pale white legs. Another zero day tomorrow to dry my gear, resupply and pig out. I was eating a double cheeseburger, fries and soda at about 7 pm. Two hours later I was whaling into a big steak and some eggs. Incredible.

Thanks for all the support.”

“Glad to hear your doing well! I hear Ms Janet is the nicest lady on the trail.

Hike on!”

“still following your journals nimblefoot. keep on.”

“Good Job Nimblefoot! I started redaing your journals the other day, thanks for sharing and enjoy the rest and extra food.”

“Me again, I just finished reading to Apr 1st. What a pleasure to read! I love the humor you bring to your writing and the story you tell, very good stuff.”

“Good for you. Keep on truckin'...and eatin'.”

“Still chillin' in Erwin; just got back from grocery shopping and I did a lot better job than prior to leaving Hot Springs. My daily diet from Hot Springs to Erwin consisted of 2 pkt of oatmeal for breakfast, 1 brownie for lunch and lipton noodles for dinner. That's about 1500 calories on days when I was burning about 6000. No wonder I've lost so much so quickly. Needless to say today's shopping excursion was a lot more concerned with high calories and more food. I've dissolved more of me than I care to for the present.”

“Just started on your trail journal. Am in January... yawn... LIKE I NEED TO FREAKIN' RELIVE WINTER. AACK!!

I'll catch up to ya though. :-) Good job and put some meat back on. Hate to see that woody shrink to nuthin!”

“Hate to see that woody shrink to nuthin!”
lizs
1:01:44 PM


LMAO!”

“I can imagine how cheeseburger is tasty!”

“NIBLEFOOT do you meet other through hikers?

I guess there are passing by you.”