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Where's Funnybone?
Article 9
April 3, 2012
By Jim Dashiell, MD
Tribune Columnist
Hello to everyone from Funnybone on the Trail! This is my first report and everything is going very well. I’m doing great, although very tired. I have walked 54 miles in 6 days.
Sunday, March 25, Allen Stout drove me to the hiker hostel at Dahlonega, Ga. where we spent the night with a number of people who are going to attempt a thru-hike.
On Monday, I was met by a lady named Scribbles (Trail name) and her husband who transported me to the beginning of the Trail at Amicalola Falls State Park. There I signed in as the 559th hiker to begin the Trail this year. Scribbles walked the entire trail last year and out of the goodness of her heart, walked with me for the first four days just to teach me how to do certain things and to teach me some ways to take care of myself on the Trail! She was a great instructor and it was such a kind thing for her to do. She just showed up and walked with a total stranger for 4 days. Of course we became great friends and met a number of other thru-hikers that first four days.
Tuesday we put in some good miles, but Tuesday night there was a mouse running back and forth on my tent outside all evening long! That mouse ran back and forth until he found a way into my tent and ate two big holes in my pants pocket in an effort to get some trail mix I had left there. When I realized what was going on, he ran out of the tent and I had to clean up this mess in the middle of the night. There were also helicopters flying back and forth for what seemed like hours and I could hear gunshots all around. The Army Rangers apparently have a military base down there and they like to train at night.
Wednesday we hiked to Lance Creek campgrounds where we met some ladies across the street who are Trail Angels. They sit and wait for hikers to show up, then give them hot dogs, chips, sodas and fruit. They just do this out of the goodness of their heart and it was wonderful!
Thursday night I spent the night in a hostel at Neel’s Gap. A group of kids from a Christian college brought in all this really good free food and it was super to take a break, get off the trail, take a shower and sleep in a real bed. (Of note, my air mattress had a big leak in it, so after inflating it, it became flat in no time! I had basically been sleeping on the ground until Thursday night!)
The weather was perfect Monday through Thursday, but Friday I hiked in the rain all day. Today (Saturday) started out cloudy and rainy, but it cleared up and is now beautiful. I am sitting on Rocky Mountain in north central Georgia.
So far things are going very well and I am quite pleased with my progress. In two to three days I hope to go into an actual town, take a day off and buy some real food! Another day or so after that I hope to be at the border between Georgia and North Carolina.
N.E. on the A.T. is NEAT.
Funnybone