Loner Vids from Gatlinburg to Erwin, TN

My son, Jeff, known as Loner on the Appalachian Trail, has added Videos #13 through #20 of his trip on his You Tube website now that he's in about 400 miles.
 It sounds like he's had all sorts of adventures from the hail storms to having to put his shoes back together with duct tape!  He's got videos and photos of everything from Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard Museum and skateboarding in Cherokee to some big time Trail Magic, bits on the Standing Bear Hostel and a new hostel,The Laughing Heart Lodge, 360 views from Max Patch bald, snow, hail, old plane wreckage, Hot Springs,  rattlesnakes (!), town life and more.

Jeff has happened upon a number of places and events which tie in with some of the many interests he's had in his life.  In his younger days he built a race car to look just like the General Lee so the trip to the Dukes of Hazzard Museum must have been fun for him.  And he's an indie film maker (previously of skateboarding and arrowhead hunting video)s so the indie AT film showing in Erwin by Miss Janet was a  serendipitous event, as was the vintage car show. Especially since, one time, he was restoring both a '55 Chevy car and truck.  It's almost as events along the trail were staged due to his perfect timing.  I've heard all kinds of stories about Trail Magic and how serendipitous things happen for AT hikers, as well as the odd rattlesnake encounter, and Jeff is certainly experiencing it all first hand. 

It's great to see him after two weeks and hear him laughing on one of the videos. I can tell he's already lost a lot of weight, just from his face.A diet of Pop Tarts and  Ramen Noodles will do that to you, but he fills up in town, that's for sure.
It's good to know he's having a great time, even though he's having to rest his ankle. He's a bit disappointed a number of the hikers he's been leap-frogging with are getting off the trail. 
Maybe he'll even post a few more videos before he gets back on the trail.
Oh and by the way, if you do view his videos, please take a moment and leave a brief comment.  They mean a lot to him and keep him inspired to continue his journey - especially on the tough days!

Jeff aka Loner in Gatlinburg, Snow in the Smokies

I'm learning more about what was going on along the AT while Jeff aka Loner was in Gatlinburg.  he's fortunate that he and Lonestar happened to Gatlinburg on April  22 because up in the Great Smokies and Tennessee is was snowing!  He did a short film there.   Before reaching Gatlinburg, Loner had some close encounters with some very  curious deer but missed a bear sighting.   He also shows some footage of the  shelters in the Smokies, which are made of stone instead of wood.  They have two story bunks, sun roofs, built in stone fireplaces but Jeff didn't see any bear cables at the one he filmed.  In the Smokies At Thru-hikers must stay in a shelter unless its full.
Shortly after Jeff and Lonestar checked in the Grand Prix hotel was filled with At thur-hikers who rushed off the trail once the rain changed to snow as the temps dropped.  The place turned out to be a mecca for hikers and Jeff decided to spend an extra day in Gatlinburg waiting to head further north when the trails were clear and safer to travel.
One family who I follow on Facebook, Rain2o'S 2012 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike were trapped.  They are the Rainforests, a mother, father and two sons, Forest and River, who is the youngest and looks to be about nine years old.  They were hiking in Tennessee uphill when the rain started, got soaked, and then the temps dropped.  They'd already sent home all their winter gear and clothing because the weather had gotten so warm, so when they reached a shelter, many miles before their goal, at 2:00 pm.  They decided to stop, strip, get in their sleeping backs to avoid hypothermia. Good thing they did, the rain turned to ice, then snow.  Not good for hikers without the write clothing.
All day long, shivering shaking hikers arrived and did the same thing until eleven were crammed into a shelter meant to hold only six people. At night it was only 20 degrees, since most At shlters only have three sides. Among the videos and emails Jeff sent from his two zero days in Gatlinburg, Jeff sent this email.


Hey Mom,

"Right now the peeps around me are EZ Nomad, wrench, Pocahontas, John from Los Angeles, Flatlander, Atlas, Chris from New Hampshire, Glutenpuff, and just caught back up with LoneStar after a week.  He's a marathon runner but had a heavy pack at first. He's cool and collects arrowheads too.  
 I did Clingman's Dome yesterday and was pretty cool but foggy.  Love the Great Smokey Mts. Lots of people and missed a bear and her 3 cubs by 5 minutes but did get super close to some deer.  I'm past 200 miles and hit the first part of TN but it crosses back and forth to NC alot next week.  
 I'm staying the night in Gatlinburg and watching the race.  Crazy town and am at the famous Grand Prix inn just for thru hikers.  Country ghetto but clean.  The table in my room came out of the owners house.  There is a awesome empty swimming pool here and she said I can skate it!  Half way kidding but may check some thrift stores tomorrow when I explore the town and go to Cooter's place the Dukes of Hazzard museum. 
The candy was a tad melted but that's OK.  The salsa was fun but was afraid it would break.  I can always use almonds, dried banana chips, or maybe some more dried fruit.  If possible, please add a few brown rubber bands and extra zip locks.  There's some in the box in the shed.  
 am putting on some videos but the keys and screen are tiny so takes awhile and don't have time to edit videos or add music like I wanted but they should be popping up soon.  Slow WIFI here but trying.

 Thanks again for the support. Oh about trail magic, peoples sometimes leave gallon jugs of water at road crossings where there is little water and one dude left cokes and cookies."

Later, 
Jeff

Appalachian (AT) Trail Georgia

It's really odd before my son Jeff aka Loner left for the AT, hiking his way through Georgia, the 3rd most difficult state on the trail after ME and Ma, I  was just excited for him and a little envious because  I've never had an adventure such as the one upon which he's embarked. Although I do have an adventurous spirit. In the past, I flew hot-air balloons and was a photo journalist for national hot air ballooning and hang gliding magazines. When I couldn't afford my own hot-air balloon and chase crew, I switched to covering the goth, heavy metal, and industrial metal music scene for Edge Magazine and a lot of free-lance jobs in music mags during the 90's, traveled for six years up and down the East Coast. mostly living in a canvas pavilion. as a merchant (Black Swan Thieves Market) with the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).  Jeff also has an adventurous spirit despite the fact that he is a rather shy person, until he gets to know someone and then he is warm and funny, with a droll sense of humor.  But like me, he his both a people person, yet needs lots of hermit time.  His adventurous spirit was really riled up by his dad's family who were race car drivers on the amateur circuit going back to his great grandfather.  Every man Jeff knew: uncles, grandfather, great grandfather and dad, all drove race cars sometime in there life.  Most of them on asphalt tracks in the late model cars of their day in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. His dad specialized in demolition derby and Jeff was watching him crash cars on figure eight  when he was ten month old sitting on my lap with earplugs in his ears (from JoAnn Fabrics, the textile mill where Mike and I worked, as well as most of my family).  And so Jeff couldn't resist driving a race car as soon as he got his license.  When our family moved to South Carolina, Jeff was bummed out having to leave our tiny picturesque lakeside village, Dracut, Mass and all his friends at age 11 and moving to a relatively large city for him, Greenville, SC.
But on a drive through the nearby Piedmont Foothills on the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Jeff spotted a Dodge Mopar that was painted just like the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard and his car racing genes kicked into high gear.
Jeff was still only 11 at this time, but he got the bug and started off with his wheeled career on skateboards (but that's a whole separate blog.)
As soon as Jeff got his license at 16 he started building race cars in the back yard (his ancestors were also a long line of car mechanics) and it wasn't long before he started his four or five year career as a dirt track racer.  He raced at Williamston and Anderson, SC a shy guy, in rough pits where fights broke out often and drinking before driving was the rule often enough.  Jeff doesn't and never has liked to drink alcohol even though we are not a tee-totalling family but he still got a long and was well respected by the other rather rowdy drivers because on the first race his General Lee went airborne (not by Jeff's design) just like in The Dukes of Hazzard and everyone thought he did it on purpose to show off a bit while all the time he was shaking a good bit wondering if the car would ever land.
So I figure if he can handle racing and pit fights and cars crashing and breaking down, he can handle the mountains.