Sunday, March 22, 2020 7:37 pm 3.9 mi
AT 65.6 Deep Gap Shelter → AT 69.2 Dick’s Creek Gap
Resupply in Hiawassee, GA for the next ~15 days
Weather: Cool AM, warm sunny PM
Trail Conditions: Good until we started walking on cruel unforgiving sidewalk
My Condition: Way less smelly than I was. First time walking back into room after shower, odor was pretty offensive!
Short trail day. Heard last night that Franklin was pretty much a no-go for resupply and that they were pretty much closing down due to two cases of coronavirus. Maybe we were being jumpy, but Which Way, Brent, and I took a shuttle into town to resupply for the next 14-15 days, which ought to take us through the Smokies. We are planning on mailing that food to 1. NOC 2. Fontana Dam 3. Gatlinburg or Cherokee, in addition to the food we will carry when we get back on trail tomorrow. Of the 7 or 8 people that we shared the shelter site with last night, only 1 is continuing onward. A German couple is bailing while they still can. The rest are just worried about resupply logistics moving forward, and I get that. Right now, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. Try as I might, I could not find a lick of info to support the idea that Franklin was shutting down. So much of what’s being put out there is misinformation, speculation, and fear. The online thru hiking community is...less than supportive right now, to put it gently. I've seen posts bashing hikers still on trail. Plenty of former thru hikers have gotten on their soapboxes and talked about how we all need to make sacrifices and how the trail will still be there later and that by continuing to hike you are putting the reputation of the trail, and the safety of the trail town’s residents, at risk. Everyone NOT in the thru hiking community is quick to tell me things like “great social distancing” or “probably the safest place you could be.” At this point, I don’t believe I’m any safer, or less safe, here on the trail than I’d be at home. I also don’t believe I pose any more, or less, threat to folks around me here than I would at home, especially if I take coronavirus seriously and take appropriate precautions. The reality of self-quarantine is people go stir crazy not working just sitting around, and do anything they can to keep their sanity intact – go to the grocery store, even though you’re already stocked up, walk around the block, go for a hike. I imagine that local trails are probably more packed than ever, yet governors implementing state wide shutdowns are advocating for hiking, while maintaining social distancing. Sure, day hiking and thru hiking are totally different beasts. Hygiene isn’t always easy to maintain on the trail, but precautions can be taken. Shelter sites have been packed, but the shelters themselves have been empty. People are staying in their own tents, and are keeping their distance as much as possible. Folks have their own gear and aren’t sharing stoves, or water filters for example. During the day, I might see a handful of day hikers headed the opposite direction, and might pass or be passed by a few thru hikers, but more days than not I’ve walked in solitude for the majority of the day. For 4, 5, 6, even 7 day stretches, thru hikers ARE isolated and are not posing any danger to trail towns. In towns, I don’t know that we are any more dangerous than the rest of the people shopping there. It’s a scary time to be hiking, but I plan to continue northward until my heart, or somebody, tells me to stop. I am looking to sites like The Trek and Nutty Hiker for verified, trustworthy info by which to base my decision making. Trail angel Ladypoles, who hiked last year, said 2019’ers are out in force, and that there are “eyes and ears all the way up the trail.” He said they have not seen anything yet that would cause them to urge us off the trail. Rather, he said they are more ready than ever to help carry any hiker gutsy enough to be out here right now all the way to Mt. Katahdin. Also at van – Ginger Bear.
Post Trail Analysis
Definitely not 5 star accommodations at the hotel, but at the time it felt like true luxury. Running water, air conditioning, soft bed and pillows, a grocery store within walking distance. I remember getting these packages returned to my house, and one of them was particularly gross. You could see the big grease mark on the outside of the package, and upon opening it it seemed like the bag of pepperoni had popped. I hit the nail on the head with my analysis of the COVID situation – we were wearing masks, washing and sanitizing our hands frequently, and limited our trips into public places, and I still maintain my belief that I don’t believe thru hikers posed any more significant a risk than anyone else shopping at the grocery store with proper precautions taken. The shelter area, in hindsight, really wasn’t crowded. Brent, Which Way, and I were camped close to one another, and the next nearest tents were probably 40 yards away. I really only interacted with Brent and Which Way, and even then we were careful about maintaining our distance. I’m glad I got off the trail around this point, if only because it got me away from the fearmongering and constant checking of closures and switching up of schedules. COVID, and closures, and are you going to keep hiking were about all everyone was talking about, and it was exhausting. Still is, but it was too.
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