Hiking northbound on the Appalachian Trail about two miles
from Bly Gap and the Georgia-North Carolina border. The Boyz and the
dogs do a walk over and leave me in the dust.
In the movie, Kori talks about her physical and emotional struggles on the A.T., the healing powers of long distance hiking, and what it’s like to film and produce a film while hiking the Appalachian Trail. She also gives us some insight in to the film industry and talks about her recent trips to various film festivals in the U.S.
For more information on Kori and her film, click here! For the audio interview click below.
Subject: Hard Way Home (via the Appalachian Trail)
Interviewees: Kori “Rocket” Fenner
Interview Date: September 29. 2014
Runtime: 1:02:31
Download Now: Hard Way Home (WMA format 45.2 Meg);
Hard Way Home (MP3 format 60.0 Meg)
You can follow or subscribe to this podcast if you click here (via Blubrry, Facebook, Google+, iGoogle, iTunes, RSS, Twitter, Stitcher, Yahoo, Zune). Or click this link for a complete list of N2Backpacking podcasts.
Just read an article at Appalachian Trials on “9 Things A Former Thru-Hiker Wishes She Had Known Before Hitting The Trail“. And what was on the list? My personal favorite….
#7 Listen to music:
” It will help keep you positive in the present as you hike and afterwards the music you listened to will become a time machine back to exact moments on the trail. You may not know the place or even the state but the song will bring back a perfectly rendered memory. “
Many go in to the woods to leave technology behind. I work in technology, and I promise you that when I go in to the woods there’s nothing more that I want to do than leave technology behind.
But when you are hiking ~ 2200 miles to Maine – it’s a long, long way to walk. Yes, music helps – believe me. Actually, everything helps – hiking in silence, listening to the birds, talking with a day-hiker or fellow thru-hiker, and ….. even listening to music for an hour or two. (It’s an 8-12 hour thru-hiking day, you get that.)
So this week, I’ve been listening to cassette tapes that a group of friends made me for my hike in 1994. I summited Mt. Katahdin 20 years ago this October, and the music does bring me back – as the article states. There truly is a soundtrack to a thru-hike (and your life.) And yes … all the memories do come flooding back.
Even if it originated on cassettee tapes that were played on a yellow waterprooof Walkman. On a thru-hike … the music does matter, maybe not today – but tomorrow.
Brett enjoys the view from the top of Burnt Island – and it’s a beautiful day as the Weasel and Muscle Jim motor across Beaverstone Bay to join us. Blue skies, blue water, and a cold Blue. All good!
It's 8ish, and time for breakfast. The River Gods have blessed us with a Waffle House just down the road from our National Forest campsite and off we go – albeit faster than Roger and I are ready for….so hold on!
In Episode 22 of the N2Backpacking podcast series, I speak with Ken aka “The Weasel” about our experience as extras in the soon to be released movie Walk In The Woods. It is based on the best-selling 1998 book by Bill Bryson, and stars Robert Redford and Nick Nolte – both who were on set for our scene in the movie which was filmed at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta, Georgia.
Ken and I record the podcast 2 years to the day of an interview we did on the Chattooga River Trail (Episode #5). We talk about what it takes to get the casting call, discuss life on the set, review some scenes from the movie, and talk about the impact this Hollywood production may have on the Appalachian Trail and other long distance hiking trails in the future.
Want a shot at your 15 seconds of fame? Hurry, because they are wrapping up production of Walk In The Woods in June. But you can follow this link to CL Casting to see the Atlanta casting calls that remain.
Subject: Walk In The Woods, Life As An Extra
Interviewees: Ken (aka The Weasel)
Interview Date: June 10, 2014
Runtime: 1:09:40
Download Now: Walk In The Woods (WMA format 50.3 Meg);
Walk In The Woods (MP3 format 66.8 Meg)
You can follow or subscribe to this podcast if you click here (via Blubrry, Facebook, Google+, iGoogle, iTunes, RSS, Twitter, Stitcher, Yahoo, Zune). Or click this link for a complete list of N2Backpacking podcasts.
You may have heard that Walk In The Woods is filming now in the Atlanta area, and Friday I was cast as an extra in a bunkroom scene with actors Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. True to the book, it was set at Rainbow Springs, N.C. after an April snowstorm. Needless to say, I had the Appalachian Trail on the brain and talked two friends in to a hike this weekend on the Trail. Took my backpack straight from the set, and arrived at Hightower Gap on the A.T. on a beautiful spring day.
We had sunshine and cool temps with mountain breezes all day and climbed ~500 feet to the shelter with leaves just beginning to break out on the trees.
Campsites are plentiful at the shelter, but with kids in tow – we opted to camp on the ridge at the junction with a blue blazed side trail. The bonus – many hikers passed by and had interesting stories to tell.
After setting up camp, we walked down to the shelter to chat with some of the other backpackers. Two were hiking to Damascus, VA but we only ran in to one thru-hiker this trip who intentionally waited until late in the season to start and miss the masses.
Then back to the campsite where the dog relaxed …
And the kids entertained themselves with making bows and arrows…
A great night in general and a beautiful evening in the backcountry – with a spring sunset through the trees and stars and a cresent moon lighting the sky. No wonder we stayed up until after 1am.
Hopefully, Walk In The Woods captures this kind of Spring magic on the Trail. And from what I've seen so far … it will.
The kid's were out of school for Good Friday recently, so we took them backpacking on the Appalachian Trail near Tray Mountain. Here they are at Tray Gap about a mile from the summit.
Even the dog was having a great time at Tray Gap and went straight for a mega muddle puddle at the cross-roads. Three 4×4 Jeeps did the same and entertained the kids before we hit the Trail. All got a good smattering of mud as you can see below… Uh, I gotta sleep with that?
We considered camping closer to Tray Mountain Shelter (where I slept during my thru-hike – 20 years to the day), but with inclement weather coming in opted for a campsite South on the A.T. with this view back to Tray Mountain.
We had about an hour to get our tents set-up, but the wind and heavy rain came as predicted. So off we went to Helen, GA for dinner – we might as well dine in comfort!
True to the Bavarian tourist theme, you can get a bratwurst and beer in this town. And we did…beats cooking in the rain, eh.
Then back to our oasis in the monsoon. Fortunately, Ken gathered and covered wood in advance of the storm. Damn that fire feels nice!
But will the kids make it through the night?? I'll let you guess on that one.
20 years ago today, I left Springer Mountain in North Georgia for a ~2200 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. Met these two guys (Bull and The Red Rainman) the night before at Amicalola Falls State Park and climbed 8.1 miles to the start of the Trail where we snapped this pic. It's the journey – not the destination. True on the A.T. and true in life…
After a unseasonably cool winter, the weather finally broke and we decided to take the kids out for an overnight hike. We did this one on a Friday night to avoid conflicts with spring sports and with spring break. Here we are at the parking area at Three Forks on the Appalachian Trail.
The dog is more excited than anyone and is hauling his own food, water, sleeping bag and sleeping pad. All in – the dog’s pack weighs about 8 lbs – nearly the same weight as my empty (and aging) Dana Design backpack!
Here we are climbing to Long Creek Falls along the A.T. and headed northbound. The trail is nice and wide in this area and it is a pleasant walk to the waterfall and junction with the Benton MacKaye Trail.
There is a father and son from Orlando camped here when we arrive, and three guys camped nearby at the junction of the A.T. and Benton MacKaye Trail. For a Friday, there’s a lot of action on both trails today. We see a number of thru-hikers, and a number of larger groups that are day hiking.
But once we break off on the B.M.T., the crowds diminish and we walk to our campsite without seeing a soul. It’s nearly 5:30pm when we arrive and there’s a group of four that are searching for lost items from the Army Rangers that train in this area. They spot a water cache down the hill and are convinced the Rangers are training later tonight.
With the sun dropping in the sky, Ira and I walk back down the mountain to get water while Rob and Ken collect firewood with the kids. It’s been in the 60’s today, but it’s due to drop in to the 30’s after dark. So a campfire is a must – and after we pitch our tents we start cooking a late dinner around 8pm.
The kids are showing no interest in sacking out after dinner, but a brief rain shower has them heading for the tents at 10pm. By now, it’s getting cold – especially away from the campfire. Time to “mummy” up.
And the dog is tired too, but not cold enough to zip up in his sleeping bag – at least yet. He’s content to sack out on top of mine!
But after a couple of rain bursts, it passes and the adults return to the campfire at a lower decibel level. We hang out while the kids sack out … and we pay for it in the morning. They are up early!
So after a quick breakfast, we are packed up and on the trail by 10:30am. Many of the kids have soccer and baseball games today – or we would have hung out longer.
And as we hit the trail – we find out that Friday night was the right night to be on the B.M.T. There is a 68 mile trail run right through our campsite this morning and many athletes and their supporters are in the area as we hike out. There are also a lot of day hikers and backpackers on the A.T. and it’s the busiest that I’ve ever seen it in this area. I feel fortunate that we had the last 14 hours with a campsite and the B.M.T. to ourselves.