“Let’s hike on the Appalachian Trail when we go to Tennessee in September!”
That was my suggestion earlier this summer. My husband was a bit skeptical, but I was excited. We made our plans, filled our backpacks, and told all our friends and family about our plan to hike seventy miles through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Appalachian Trail.
Never mind the fact that we had never hiked more than two or three days before, and this would be six nights in a tent in the mountains. I was sure it would be fun to camp out.
Never mind the fact that I wasn’t in peak physical shape. I started walking up and down our basement stairs and I strapped on my pack the week before we left and walked five miles with it one day.
Never mind the fact that there are lots of black bears in the Smoky Mountains and we heard disturbing stories about some bear encounters. We picked up a can of bear spray on the way to Tennessee.
We spent a day with my parents, and then my dad drove us over to Fontana Dam where we would start our adventure.
Gary had wisely suggested we start our first day with six miles.
It took us six hours to get to Birch Spring Tentsite. We set up camp, hung our food bag on the bear cable, then set up camp again after we found a better spot. We got all snug in our sleeping bags…
And then we froze!
It was the oddest sensation. First I got sweaty and then I would start to shiver violently. I lay on one side for a while, then I would turn to my back, then I would wiggle onto my other side. We had condensation on the inside of the tent, so every time I got close to the wall I would get a little water on my face or in my hair. It was so annoying!
We got up before dawn and packed up our things so we were ready to start hiking when it got light.
It took us from 7:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to go the 11.4 miles to the Spence Field Trail Shelter. We were averaging about one mile per hour.
As we hiked, I was thinking about the rest of our week. The daily miles for the remainder of our hike were 11.8 on Tuesday, 15.3 on Wednesday, 12.6 on Thursday, and 14.6 on Friday (and then just a couple of miles to the pick up point on Saturday).
I couldn’t do it! One mile an hour meant we’d have to hike in the dark part of the time. And five more nights of freezing cold misery? No way! If we could have, we would have gotten off the trail right then and there, but we figured out that we had to either go back twelve miles or forge ahead seventeen miles to a good pickup spot.
We called my parents after we got our tent set up. “Umm, Dad, do you think you could pick us up at Clingman’s Dome on Wednesday?”
Mom and Dad laughed. They had been expecting a call because they had heard it was going to rain on Thursday and Friday (something we hadn’t realized). They also knew it had gotten down into the thirties on Sunday night. They agreed to pick us up.
I hadn’t truly counted the cost of hiking in the mountains. I had thought I was prepared, but I was miserably unprepared for the ups and downs of the trail. I thought I was in good enough shape, but I should have been training harder for our experience.
I think we do this with our faith at times. My Life Application Study Bible has a challenging note about Luke 14:28–30: We must carefully count the cost of becoming Christ’s disciples so that we will know what we are getting into and won’t be tempted later to turn back.
We have to count the cost and be all in as we follow the Lord. No turning back.
I’m glad we had the option of getting off the trail after we figured out that we weren’t ready for an entire week in the Smokies.
We still had to endure two cold nights and a day and a half of tough hiking before we finished. I’ll tell you more about that next week.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:28–30, 33 NIV)
Have you ever neglected to count the cost before you attempted something? How did it turn out? How can focusing on God help you to keep going as you follow him?
Here are a few pictures of our first day on the trail:
hikers hadn’t told us to watch for it.
I just finished reading about your adventure and the one thing that you didn’t count on is ELEVATION CHANGE. You probably walked around at Fontana Dam with no problem, but once you started up the mountain you are going to be getting thinner and thinner air supply for your lungs. You also picked the hardest section of the Smokies to do first. It is a constant upward flow all the way to Clingman’s, which is the highest point on the AT at 6,643 ft.
When you go back out and I am sure you will, start at Clingman and continue Northbound. You will have a much better time for the 2nd half of the Smokies, than the first half!!! Another hint is to walk Every Day and to use the Stairs instead of the elevator. This will help a lot without even thinking of it as exercise. Also listen to the podcast of MIGHTY BLUE on the APPALACHIAN Trail by Steve Adams and hear what other Hikers have done over the years. I am episode number 6 and I talk about Planning and Preparation for my 2nd Thru-Hike in 2014 at the age of 62.
Have fun and Safe Travels, from the Grizzly Bear from Maine
Grizz,
Thanks so much for your comment. I just listened to your episode on the Mighty Blue podcast. So interesting! Hope you’ve recovered even more from the lyme disease in the years since the podcast.
I don’t know if we’ll hike a long section like that again, but you’ve given me encouragement if we do decide to try it sometime.
Happy hiking to you!
~Robyn
Thank you for the kind words and I will have to live with Lyme for the rest of my life. You never get rid of it, once you have it.
As for the Trail, think of it as a Marathon, not a Sprint!!!
There have been people who have hiked the Trail in sections and completed it over a 35 year period.
Take care and Stay Safe.
GRIZZ
Hey Grizz, this is Morning Glory also from Maine 😊 I did a NOBO in 1996 and am hoping to do a 25th anniversary thru hike starting next April fool’s day. Great to hear your comments and will listen to the podcast. Any suggestions for an old lady? Actually I’m a young 69 😁
Hello Morning Glory, I started my first Thru-Hike in 1996 with Trail Snail. Any chance that we met in the early days of your Hike?
I am in Auburn now, keep in touch, at. sjmartelli2186@gmail.com
GRIZZ
Robyn, I am so proud of you for so many things! For your attempt! For your positive attitude. For your willingness to endure the unknown. And for your wisdom in knowing when to stop! I’m living vicariously through you, so please tell me more. The pictures are beautiful and inspiring-just like you!
Awww, thanks Susan! I feel like I learned so many things while we were hiking—about life, myself, and God. I’ll share more in next Friday’s blog post (maybe I’ll actually post it early in the morning this week) and I’ve been sharing some thoughts on Facebook live in my group: Catch Your Thoughts with Robyn Mulder.
It’s always nice to hear from you…take care and God bless! ~Robyn
I’m so impressed you acted on that inspiration to take the challenge! To try. I suspect I would have given up on the first day.
Did you happen to see The World’s Toughest Race (Amazon Prime)? It chronicled last year’s Eco Challenge in Fiji. I think you would appreciate the challenges and hardship the competitors faced.
Thanks, Ann! I am proud of us for going on and enduring two more cold nights (we really had no choice – there wasn’t a good place to get picked up until Clingman’s Dome).
I’ll check out The World’s Toughest Race. It sounds interesting! (And I can watch from the comfort of my couch in my warm house.)
Have a great week! ~Robyn
Love this! Robyn, I’m just impressed you attempted it, went for it, “trained” on the stairs at home – all of it!! And then how it turned out, sharing it and the lesson which parallels so well with your message about our journeys of faith and walking/hiking with Jesus. The hiking metaphor is so good, and your photos are fab!
Thanks, Jenni! I’m so glad you liked it. I had lots of time to think about spiritual analogies while I was putting one foot in front of the other on the trail. ~Robyn