The Appalachian Trail

Okay, So We’re Doin’ This

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I drove a rental car to Dawsonville, GA yesterday. I took a shuttle the last half hour to Amicalola Falls Lodge. I had my last pre-AT shower and bed. Amicalola is the start of the 8+ mile “approach trail” to the AT, where mile 0 is the summit of Springer Mountain.

I didn’t realize the lodge was at the top of the falls, and I’d have to hike down a mile to the visitor center first so I could check in and be assigned my hiker number. I’m #18 northbound (NOBO) thru-hiker for 2025 out of what should be ~3000 for the year.

In the first 5 minutes of my hike down, I had two competing thoughts occupying my brain. #1: “Should I put my spikes on now or wait until I really really need them?” The trail is covered in snow and ice in a lot of places. #2: “Should I ditch the rest of my cold brew?” It’s hard to hike while holding my trekking poles in one hand and the last 25% of yesterday’s giant 32oz coffee in the other.

They say the trail teaches you what you need to know. At least one of my Woods Hoke Weekend mentors, Clay “Pony” Bonnyman Evans, said that. I only have one bar of signal, so I’m not going to research it right now, but I think he may have even written a book on the subject?! [Thanks to WHW mentor RTK for adding a comment with the link!]

As I’m having these two thoughts and reaching no decision, my foot slipped from beneath me, and the giant cold brew went flying and splashed all across the snow and ice. I laughed out loud. 30 seconds down the trail I realized I had picked up the empty cup but the lid was of course missing. Like a forensic detective searching for bullet casings, I went back to the scene of the crime and recovered the lid. Leave No Trace, baby!

I don’t know how often I’ll be posting, whether they’ll include videos, or what my hiking pace will be. My mentors advise me for personal security reasons to lag my posts some number of days or weeks. But know that I’m out here, and so far I’m being an attentive student of the trail!

The Appalachian Trail

Thankful for Caffeine

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I’m bad at blogging and vlogging. I recorded this more than a month ago around Thanksgiving, and it’s already past Christmas and nearly New Years. I leave for Georgia in less than 3 weeks. If I can’t manage more than one post every 5 weeks, I’ll be lucky to squeeze in 4 updates between Springer and Katahdin! 😅

I wish I could say this post is worth the wait. Instead, I recommend you watch it at 2x speed and claw back 7 minutes of your life.

In mid-December, I spent the better part of a week near the AT in Tennessee testing my gear, and I tested the winning coffee, too. Turns out it’s readily available from Amazon, and it’s great on its own as well as when mixed into my morning cereal. All systems go! 🤞

The Appalachian Trail

Storm-chasing in Memphis

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Ramdino (Appalachian Trail YouTube celeb) suggested on his most recent video that I could have saved myself the trip to Quebec and just spent some time at a grocery store’s walk-in freezer. I also probably could have avoided this crash course with Hurricane Francine in September and just spent an afternoon walking around in a car wash. But like Ramdino says, “Luscious, he does everything to the max.”

Let me first take a moment to acknowledge our countless neighbors in Virginia, Tennessee, and especially western North Carolina, impacted by Hurricane Helene. I filmed this gear test during the relatively tame Hurricane Francine a few weeks prior, which by the time it hit Memphis was downgraded to a tropical storm. I was on an epic roadtrip to the Ozarks staying a few days in Memphis by chance anyway, so decided to take advantage of the poor weather. I don’t mean to be insensitive to the destruction these storms cause. I’m no stranger to them after 15 hurricane seasons living in the Outer Banks! Those of you in the process of mourning losses, rebuilding homes and businesses, you’re in my thoughts every day.

Gear tested by our lady Francine:

  • REI Co-op Minimalist GTX Mittens 2.0 (XL) 50g
  • Montbell Versalite Jacket (XL, gunmetal) 211g inc. 12g stuff sack
  • Montbell Versalite Pants (L, black) 104g inc. 10g stuff sack
  • Sealskinz (cold weather mid-length XL) 157g
  • Zacks pack cover (L) 47g w/ stuff sack

I didn’t follow up in the video about the pack cover, but it performed as expected. The material absorbs no water, so it just beads up. My pack is already fairly waterproof, so the added protection may be unnecessary, but at least in winter I’ll continue to inhabit better safe than sorry territory!

This weather event went a long way toward giving me confidence I’d be okay on windy AT summits, occasional rainy days, and probably random snow days, too. All of the items fit even when I’m wearing all available layers underneath… And you know that will happen, maybe even on Day Zero!

The Appalachian Trail

Luscious au Québec

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Apologies for the radio silence! For a while the most common questions I got from everyone I encountered were “When are you starting?” (January 2025) and “Which direction are you going?” (northbound) and “Are you going with anyone?” (no, just me!) But these days the most common question I get is, “How was the AT?!” So an update is clearly overdue.

I spent most of October doing training hikes 2+ days per week. Aside from a fun 3-day diversion on 50-mile Jockey’s Trail, all of my practicing has been in and around Nags Head Woods. It hasn’t been particularly noteworthy. Just hundreds of miles with an obnoxiously overloaded pack, doing laps around the same small loop trails in perfect autumn weather near sea level with elevation gain measured in inches. It’s kept me in good shape, but not brought me closer to Springer Mountain readiness with under 2 months to go!

And so it was time to get serious. I had two weekends worth of parties to attend in New England and a gap in between begging to be exploited. I got a headstart during the first weekend in Vermont (HBD, Mary B! 😘) where it dipped below freezing so I camped outside my AirBnB. But to get any colder, I knew I’d have to head farther north. And while this video is neither cohesive nor coherent, at least it gets me back in the groove of posting.

Notable firsts on this trip:

  • 1st time sleeping out in below freezing temperatures (24°F)
  • 1st time wearing my AT hiking clothes while actually hiking
  • 1st time needing my Kahtoola MICROspikes on icy trails
  • 1st time hiking with all this on an actual mountain
  • 1st time making video and blog posts without my MacBook: video editing with LumaFusion, and photo editing with Affinity Photo
  • 1st time thinking, “Wow, 38°F is downright balmy!”

I wish I could have experienced temperatures closer to 10°F on this trip for added confidence, but some things must remain a mystery until I reach the AT. Things like, “What does it feel like to freeze to death?” and “Will I poop more often or less often when it suddenly becomes much less convenient?” and “Where can I go hide out for 6 months while everyone thinks I’m still thru-hiking?”

The Appalachian Trail

The Birth of Luscious

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I was given a trail name last night as mentioned in the quick video below. I’ve paraphrased the scene for you below as best as I can recall how it played out. Apologies to my new friends if I didn’t get it quite right.

[A dozen prospective AT thru-hikers plus handful of veterans sit around a campfire at Woods Hole Hostel, Virginia, NOBO mile 625.]

RTK: “So, does anyone have any final questions or topics they want to cover tonight?”

Benj: “Well, I still need a trail name…”

RTK: “Okay. Look, everyone, it’s not often you get a chance to give someone their trail name! Let’s take a shot at it…”

Benj: “Maybe something to do with technology? Who was the guy who developed new tech for James Bond? Wasn’t it Q?”

Ramdino: “No, Q was from Star Trek.”

Pony: “How about Batman’s tech guy?”

Benj: “Alfred?”

Pony: “No, his name was Lucius. He was in the comic books.”

Benj: “Never heard of him, so that doesn’t bode well for a trail name. And people will think it means Lucius Malfoy.”

Pony: “It’s Lucius Fox. But more likely people will confuse it with the word ‘luscious.'”

Benj: “Hmmm. I don’t know about this… Any other ideas?”

Pony: “Well, you can call yourself whatever you want, but you can’t really control what other people call you. Sometimes a name just sticks…”

RTK: “And there’ll be such a great story leading to this one. Around a campfire at Woods Hole Hostel [of Platinum-Blazing Hall of Fame] no less!”

[Benj tries to control the narrative by submitting an edit to Ramdino’s 2025 Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Support List spreadsheet with trail name Lucius. Ramdino checks a notification on his phone and grins menacingly.]

Benj: “OK, I guess this is happening. I used the spelling Lucius, but you can pronounce it luscious, if you really want.”

Pony: “Luscious, Luscious!”

Everyone: “Luscious, Luscious, Luscious, …”

Ramdino: “I fixed the spelling on the support list to Luscious, and made it bold, all caps, and blinking. Oh, and I locked that trail name cell of the spreadsheet.”

Luscious: “I guess that settles it.”

[End Scene.]

I don’t know if this is already an Appalachian Trail aphorism, but it should be: “The Trail Giveth (my name), and the Trail Taketh Away (my dignity).”

The Appalachian Trail

Back to the Future

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I don’t know if this adventure is going to be strictly a vlog, or a mix, or what! I guess it depends on whether I have a lot to say that isn’t covered in my video footage, or whether I’m feeling camera-ready and/or wordy on any given day. But we’ll call it a vlog for now since this is all I have to say presently:

One more thing. (Clearly this will have to be a vlog+blog.) Comments and questions are welcome here or on YouTube. I guess I’d prefer them here because then they’re not owned by Google, but that’s a pretty weak preference. Whatever suits you! I’m guessing Migratory Pebbles will be populated more heavily by you few (but cherished!) long-time followers, whereas YouTube might have more random folks who love the Appalachian Trail? It’s all good.