May 22, 2023
What a gorgeous 200 miles it’s been on trail! Crossed into Virginia the other day. This is the longest state on trail with over 500 miles, 1/4 of the whole trail is here.
Unfortunately my phone bit the dust after mile 270 and I was without a camera for roughly 4 days but the weather scenery and company on trail have been fantastic. Have only been rained on a couple times during this section.
Attended the annual Appalachian Trail Days festival in Damascus this weekend, largest hiker festival in the country, 10,000+ hikers attending. Music, abundant food, and a parade among many others. Great time reconnecting with current friends on trail and a few from my AT thru hike back in 2019.
The bear photos from the woods were not taken by me but I was nearby when the bear event occurred. Parts of the trail are currently closed to camping due to aggressive bear activity. Luckily these sections are easy to hike through within a day.
Spring is in the mountains and so is the kindness of trail magic (when previous hikers meet current thru hikers at road crossings and give food out of the kindness of their hearts!)
.jpg)
New trail name given to me was “Sonic the hedgehog” as I wear blue and hike fast, pulled off a 30 mile day after the smoky mountains and was aptly renamed by another hiker. Most of us go by nicknames out here.
.jpg)
Looking forward to this next section of trail!
You can follow along with Iain on his Instagram Account.
https://www.instagram.com/sonichikes/
May 9, 2023
As of yesterday I’ve completed the first 275 miles (over 10%) of the entire Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain GA to Hot Springs, NC. To this point I’ve climbed and descended more than 60,000 vertical feet hiking over mountains each day. More than the equivalent of twice climbing and descending Mt Everest (29,000 feet above sea level!)
I’ve experienced weather ranging from 20 degree wind chills with snow flurries to 75 and sunny. Elevations have ranged from the highest point on the AT at 6600 feet, Clingmans Dome in the Smokies, to 1400 feet crossing under I40 in the Pigeon River gorge.
Have met folks from all over the country and world while on this trip so far. Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, England just to name a few. As the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, trail enthusiasts from all walks of life try to complete the challenge of hiking all 2200 miles each year but only 20% succeed in the end.
**************************************************
April 28, 2023
Iain Jones, a 2022 Driver of the Year winner, has taken some time off to pursue one of his passions. He is hiking all 2,198.4 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
He started this journey on Monday, April 24. He started in Dawsonville, GA and will end at Mount Ktahdin, Maine.
(Iain is in blue)
Iain will be sharing updates throughout his journey.
You can follow along with Iain on his Instagram Account.
https://www.instagram.com/sonichikes/