Day 9: Sleep Apnea and More German Diversions

March 16: The strange fellow who showed up the night before throwing his cans of food into the fire turned out to be more than an odd duck. As it turns out, he has sleep apnea—and ranks up there as one of the five worst people I've ever shared a shelter with. Now, I'll readily admit I'm no expert on sleep apnea, but when a guy completely stops breathing for a good 10 to 15 seconds, then suddenly sounds like he’s choking to death and is loud enough to be heard over a 747 jet engine, then stops breathing for another 10 to 15 seconds and repeats ad nauseam all night long, I'm calling it sleep apnea. I grumbled about it to myself all night not willing to get out and move camp, but gave him the benefit of a doubt. Maybe he didn't know his snoring was such a problem, but seriously—how could he not?!

In the morning, the rest of us in the shelter had long since gotten up. Jacoby—who slept on the other side of Mr. Sleep Apnea—walked up to me and said, “I can probably guess, but how did you sleep last night?”

“Not well,” I answered, shaking my head and looking at the lump of a being still in the shelter. “Not well.”

Eliot joined us at the table in front of the shelter for breakfast. He didn't have a trailname—I suggested “Red” for the red coat he was wearing that morning, but he pointed out that it was the only red item he had and he didn't wear it most of the time. I said, “Who cares! It’s a great name!” =)

But I digress…. Eliot said he heard the noise coming from the shelter—a couple of hundred feet away, mind you!—and thought it was a bear attacking the shelter. This amused me to no end, not the least of which because I suspected there would have been more screaming if it had been true. Calling the guy “Bear” didn't seem out of the question, though. (He already had a trailname, though—Wildcard. Yes, I’m calling him out by name!)

When Wildcard did finally get up in the morning, we mentioned his snoring problem. Some of the other hikers seemed to downplay the problem as being a “little” loud. “There’s nothing little about it!” I said. Don’t beat it around the bush. This guy needs to know his snoring is a real problem. He should not be allowed to sleep in shelters and keep everyone else in it up all night. And frankly, sleep apnea, from all I've heard, is a serious health risk. For all I know, the guy might have a heart attack the next big hill he tries to climb up.

I told other hikers that if he ever tried to sleep in a shelter I was using again, I'd poke him all night and make sure he stayed up all night. I might not get any sleep, but I wouldn't have gotten it anyhow and at least by keeping him awake, everyone else in the shelter might be able to get some sleep. Or maybe we should take shifts keeping him awake—at least until he got tired enough of us keeping him awake all night long that he finally left the shelter and camped by himself like he should have done in the first place.

I never saw him again after I left the shelter—thank goodness for that—but we did warn other hikers ahead that he was behind and to avoid sharing a shelter with him at all costs. Either kick him out or get out yourself.

It was along a stretch of trail like this where I twisted my ankle!
It doesn't look dangerous, does it?!

As for the day’s hike, it was largely non-eventful. The sun was shining, life was good, the trees still in a state of hibernation that looked like a wildfire had ravaged the countryside. About a mile or two from Unicoi Gap, I twisted an ankle and crashed to the ground in a lump. OUCH! It was a very unassuming section of trail, and for some reason, my worst sprains always happen on those sections. It was generally flat with few rocks or other obstacles in the trail to make things difficult. I probably let my guard down. Whatever the reason, though, I crashed hard to the ground with my left ankle screaming in pain.

I pulled myself up and limped along at a decidedly slower pace. I knew I'd be feeling that injury for a few days. I tried wiping the dirt and leaves off my clothes where I had crashed to the ground and bitterly cursed the trail.

A few minutes later, I finally got a signal on my cell phone and I gave Amanda a call. She was supposed to meet me at Unicoi Gap and I wanted to give her an update on my progress. About a half hour away. Or rather, it had been a half hour away. Maybe 40 minutes now with my new limp. =) She answered the call and said that she was already at the gap waiting and handing out trail magic to any passing hikers, although since she had arrived, none had passed by.

That didn't surprise me much. Everyone from the nearest shelter—the Blue Mountain Shelter—likely had already passed through. And everyone from the shelter where I stayed at—I was at the front of the pack. There might have been a few people camped between shelters who were between Amanda at Unicoi Gap and myself, but probably not many.

I did finally arrive at Unicoi Gap where there was another hiker who said that I was lucky to have my own personal trail angel.

“Yes!” I agreed. “Everyone should have one!” I imagined thru-hikers strolling down the “Trail Angel” aisle of the local Wal-Mart, perusing the selection.

“This one is last year’s model, so it’s on sale,” the sales clerk says. “This one over here, however, is a popular model because it’s a flight attendant that can visit you anywhere on the trail!”

I’d nod my head thoughtfully. “Oh…. Yes, that does sound tempting….” =)


I also learned that before my arrival, Amanda had dubbed the hiker Donut. Or maybe Doughnut. I’m not sure the spelling of his trailname had been settled or even discussed, but Donut is shorter to write so that’s what I’ll use. =) She’d given him a box of Krispy Kreme donuts to munch on and said he could be called Donut, but only if he ate all of the donuts in the box. She really wanted to get rid of those donuts! (He didn't eat all of the donuts, however, probably wanting to leave some for other hikers, but we’re still calling him Donut.)

I partook from the trail magic as well, and while standing around chatting, a few other hikers arrived off the trail who joined the Unicoi Gap party. To make the party even bigger, a couple of more hikers who had stayed in Helen overnight were dropped off at the gap to continue their hikes including… someone I recognized! After having took four zero days, I thought everyone I knew was far ahead of me now, but it was Bionic Woman! I guess the one leg was proving to be a major handicap in her hiking speed.

Knowing she was from Germany, I asked her what she thought of Helen—our Disney-ized version of it. She thought it was hilarious. She also said that she was getting a new leg in Charleston, SC, soon, which she hoped would work better for a thru-hike like this. Amanda thought that was particularly interesting. And how cool would it be to just replace body parts as they wore out or got tired. Blistered feet? No problem! Switch them out for these new ones! Knees hurting? There are spares in Atlanta you can try!

Unicoi Gap

But in all seriousness, I was glad to see Bionic Woman still going at it. Her handicap might be slowing her down, but she wasn't going to let it stop her!

Amanda still had a bunch of drinks and snacks for passing thru-hikers, but we were ready to go back into town and we decided to leave an ice chest with all of the goodies for the thru-hikers. We’d pick it up again tomorrow when she dropped me off on the trail again.

We drove back into the Bavarian town of Helen and checked into the Super 8 for the night. We were a little surprised when opened the door and saw the whirlpool tub next to the bed and mirrors on the wall. I thought we got a room for the night—not one by the hour! I stood speechless for a few seconds upon opening the door, not sure what to think. Amanda was still pulling her luggage out of the car and came in a minute later, as stunned as I was.

“Well,” I said. “That’s kind of funny, really…”

As it turned out, it was also a smoking room, which neither of us cared for. I hadn't thought to ask for a non-smoking room. I tend to assume rooms are non-smoking unless otherwise noted, but I know some hotels sometimes put thru-hikers in smoking rooms because we smell so bad. It wasn't a particularly strong smell of smoke, though, so we propped open the door for the rest of the afternoon and decided just to live with it.

In the evening, we ate dinner at a local German restaurant for Amanda’s birthday (happy birthday, Amanda!). She does like her German restaurants, and we were told this was the best one in town. Then we walked over to the small grocery store for me to resupply. Tonight would be my last night with Amanda’s support and I figured I’d need 5 nights and 6 days of food to get me to the NOC for my next resupply. And rain was in the forecast. *sigh*
Steps today: 25,303 steps
Miles today: 9.7 miles
Total miles: 61.7 miles

The newly dubbed Donut—the first trailname Amanda got to give somebody! =)

Amanda and I were pretty surprised to see this whirlpool tub and mirrors next to the bed in our room!

We ate dinner here at the Bodensee Restaurant for Amanda’s birthday. =)

Good times!

And watch out for bears!

Day 8: German Diversions

Helen, Georgia, had a cute Bavarian theme and
is a popular trail town just 10 miles off the trail.

March 15: The morning was absolutely gorgeous. An occasional stray cloud floated across the sky, but it was the first definitive sunny day since the first day way back on the Approach Trail. It was time to get back to hiking!

But before I did, Amanda and I wanted to check out our adopted home for the night: Helen. It's styled as a Bavarian village celebrating all things German--not unlike Leavenworth (the Washington state version, not the prison outside of Kansas City!) for those of you familiar with that.

When Amanda did some research, we learned the similarities with Leavenworth were even greater than we imagined. Helen had been an old logging town in decline and in the late 1960s, some businessmen noticed the steady stream of cars passing through the town but not stopping in it. They rebuilt the town with the Bavarian slant and the rest, as they say, is history.

So we stopped downtown to walk around and explore for the better part of an hour. A lot of shops were closed but that didn't stop Amanda from looking through windows when she could, perhaps taking the term 'window shopping' much too seriously!

But as all good things must come to an end, so did our explorations. I needed to get back on the trail!

We drove back to Neels Gap. I took some new photos of the area now that the weather was sunny and clear, and went inside to find Fireneck for the photo of him I forgot to get last time I was there.

Amanda and I parted ways. Just before I started the hiking, I was going to check my guidebook to see how far away my next targets were when I realized--it was still in the car! I had been looking at it on the drive up and when I had finished, it slid down the side of the car and under the seat. I couldn't get it out while we were driving and figured I'd pick it up when we came to a stop, but then forgot about it.

I rushed back to the parking lot hoping to catch Amanda before she had left. She was just pulling out and I jumped into the parking to block her escape. =)

Where's the schnitzel?!

She stopped, and I went to the passenger side where I fished under the seat for the runaway guidebook. Whew! Close call!

Then we parted ways again. Amanda drove off, and I started hiking again.

It didn't take long for me to catch up and pass other hikers, but I didn't recognize any of them. This wasn't surprising--I had been off the trail entirely for four full days and everyone I knew was likely far ahead of me. Some of them had probably even quit the trail in my absence. Rumor has it that about 20% of people drop off the trail at Neels Gap where I was starting the day.

A couple of hours into the hike, I found a group of hikers at rest near a viewpoint and stopped to take photos and rest myself. Not everyone had trailnames, and I'm not sure I even got everyone's name. One fellow who seemed to do a lot of the talking I later learned was named Silent Mike, and I asked about the trailname because he actually seemed to do much of the talking. Was it meant as sarcasm? =) Turns out, he's a quiet but fast hiker and tends to sneak up on people when he's walking, startling them when they realize he's right behind them.

Amanda's version of window shopping.

Also in the bunch was Yellow Jacket, a trail name that was allegedly self-evident on a cold day. She wore a bright yellow shirt which I had assumed was the reason for her name, but she told me that no, she really did have a yellow jacket. Then there was Something Tank, a trailname I had partially forgotten by the time I wrote it down in my journal. "Something" was not her trailname, but there was a word there that for the life of me I can't remember. She had her trailname because of her buzzed head.

"Hey! So did I!" I told her, taking off my hat so she could see my head properly.

"I took off 30 inches," she told me.

Wow. Okay, she wins. =) That must have been one of the most dramatic hair cuttings I'd heard of on the trail.

"I took off.... maybe two inches."

The shoe tree at Neels Gap.

We also talked about the weather. I had been curious how the weather had been for them, and they complained bitterly about the rain. Today had been their first dry day on the trail. Some of them had taken a zero day at Neels Gap just to get out of the rain. Yep, it sounded like the four days I had been off the trail were an excellent four days to have missed!

I continued onwards while they continued their rest. I caught up with an older gentleman named Bloodhound who was a Vietnam vet and apparently still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and he told me about some of his kills in Vietnam. It was a little odd. I've met war veterans before, but none of them seemed to want to dwell on the people they had killed--not that I ever really asked about it.

Late in the day I made it to Low Gap Shelter where I was surprised to find only two other people in the shelter. I had thought about cowboy camping tonight since no rain was in the forecast, but since the shelter was so empty, I just threw my stuff into it. Here I met all sorts of new other hikers, including one from Germany--the second hiker I had met from Germany on the trail.

I asked how he had learned about the Appalachian Trail, and apparently there was some sort of documentary about it (in German) that had played in their country and since then, the Appalachian Trail had become a mecca for many Germans. Allegedly, something like a hundred Germans had hiked the trail in one particular year. I have no idea if that's true or not or if that's just an exaggerated story, but there you go. 

He didn't have a trail name as of yet, and I thought about it and suggested, "You know, you could just use Germany as a trail name. I've never heard of anyone ever using the country where they were from as a trailname before."

He thought about it for a moment and said that yes, he could use that. Really?! I got to name a second person on the trail?! Cool! =) So now he's Germany. Assuming it sticks, of course. The name is still new enough that he could decide that he didn't like it and change it again.

I also suggested he maybe he should visit Helen. He might find our American version of a German town amusing. =)

Fireneck I had known online for years, but it wasn't until I reached Neels Gap where we finally met face-to-face for the first time!

A little after sunset, a couple of enterprising hikers started a small campfire which I wandered over to enjoy where we shared more of our war stories. I also told the Cremation of Sam McGee because, you know, that's my thing. =)

An hour or so later, a headlamp pierced through the darkness and another hiker arrived at the shelter. He was a large man--tall and hefty. Looking more like a football player than a hiker, and he asked if there was any room in the shelter. Plenty, we told him--only three of us had set up inside of it and it could fit seven. So he joined the party and threw a couple of heavy cans of food into the fire to warm them.

The rest of us thought that was a little odd. First, you don't see heavy canned foods on the trail very often. (When you do, it's almost certainly a newbie hiker that doesn't know how to pack light,) Second, we were all a little concerned about what the fire might do to the can. Would it explode as the contents heated up, raining down beans and who knows what else on everyone surrounding the fire then drawing in bears over the night?

These cans, fortunately, did not explode. Their ends did bulge outwards, as if ready to explode, but no explosion. After opening one and eating it, he found a plastic liner or something in the food, which seemed to confuse the guy. Was it edible? I guess he didn't realize that same canned foods do have liners, and throwing them into the fire did nothing for that. It wasn't an issue I had thought about either. So he ate around it.

Then it was off to sleep, another day coming to an end.

Steps count: 27,533 steps
Miles for the day: 11.5 miles
Total miles: 52.0 miles

'Twas a beautiful day for a walk!

A bunch of hikers at rest, enjoying the view. Yellow Jacket is the woman on the far left in the yellow shirt (but she has a yellow jacket that she's actually named after!). Silent Mike--who talks quite a bit!--is leaning against the tree on the far right.

I had a close call falling down a cliff, but fortunately, I managed to grab onto this tree to arrest my fall!

Tesnatee Gap. This is a popular area for people to ride motorcycles. They were all over the place and I could hear them from much of the trail!

It wasn't just a clear day--I was practically broiling in the sun!

Definitely not a whole lot of leaves on the trees as of yet!

Not sure what happened to this tree!

The Low Gap Shelter

The shelter campfire.