This week, we’re straying from our usual weekly template to launch a three-part series written by a South Carolina couple who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. We’ll return to our usual format next week.
Committing to the Climb, Part 1
Introduction by the Backroad Portfolio staff
Story and photos by Ron and Kelly Gaulden
In 2005, Kelly Gaulden was teaching middle school. Her husband, Ron, was working for a print publication. Both graduates of Appalachian State University, the Gauldens enjoyed life in Charlotte, North Carolina, but weekend hikes along the Appalachian Trail inspired them to take their adventures a step further, literally.
“One evening while talking over dinner, we decided that if we didn’t set a date for a thru-hike, we’d never commit to it. So, we decided on March of 2007, which was about two years out,” Kelly said. “That gave us time to research, plan, save money, acquire new gear, and make it come to fruition.”
Over the course of those two years, they studied gear reviews and tested their purchases during practice hikes. “Our first overnight hike together on the AT was near Roan Mountain by Grassy Ridge Bald and Little Hump and Big Hump mountain in Tennessee. There were about two feet of snow on the trail, so it really tested our gear and our resilience,” Kelly said.
During another hike, some thru-hikers “flew by us,” Kelly said, “before we met up with them by a road crossing. They were out there for so long, but their packs were smaller than ours. Since it was our last day out and we were hiking back to our parked car, we offered them our leftover food. The way they ravenously accepted it with such appreciation really amazed me.”
On March 25, 2007, the Gauldens stepped onto the 8.5-mile Approach Trail at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia—their packs heavy with dreams and gear. Five and a half months later, on September 5, they stood atop Katahdin in Maine’s Baxter State Park, having covered roughly 2,175 miles northbound through snowstorms, rhododendron tunnels, and bear encounters.
Camping companions and experiences helped create their trail names: “GG” (Gentle Giant) for Ron and “Rhodo” for Kelly, thanks to her love of the Appalachian Trail’s rhododendron tunnels and “the fact that I would curl up tight in my sleeping bag, just like rhodo leaves curl up in the cold temperatures,” she said.
Here, in their own words—and nineteen years later—we share part one of Ron and Kelly’s experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. Now residents of Greenville, South Carolina, the experience still echoes through their lives.
Setting Out
We are so grateful to have shared this experience, for the wonderful people we met along the way, and the wildlife we encountered. This was our first (and so far only) thru-hike, but we had done small sections of the trail in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia while in college at Appalachian State. We’d go out for one or two nights on the weekends, and we were always curious about what was around the next bend, and contemplated how neat it would be to just keep going one day.
We did a traditional NOBO (northbound) hike, and back, then there were some SOBOs (southbound hikers) and flip-floppers (people who hiked to a point midway up the trail, then traveled to Maine, and hiked back down to their midway point).
It was a real treat to meet up with flip-floppers on our hike because we had met some of them at camp in the southern sections of the trail months earlier.
Exchanging stories was encouraging. By Vermont, we were also regularly sharing campsites with SOBOs. This was always fun because we could ask them about Maine, the infamous moose in the Mahoosuc Notch that we had been hearing about, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We were amazed by these hikers who had completed these strenuous sections, and they were amazed by us because we had so many miles under our belts by then.
An Average Day
We met a group of hikers along the way who became our friends. We arranged to summit Katahdin with them as well. One of them, Crazy Bear, would wake up each morning and ask, “What do you want to do today?” And we’d say, “I don’t know. What do you feel like doing?” And he’d say, “Um … Let’s walk north.”
But it definitely wasn’t like Groundhog Day. Every day was different, even when we got in our groove. We’d wake up to the birds and then do the hiker hobble to find a private spot to use the bathroom. Then we’d eat breakfast and break down camp.
We would usually pump water at our lunch stop, then hike to our anticipated camp spot. Sometimes we decided to go farther; other times we would cut it short because we were tired or there was a gorgeous campsite. From time to time we would sleep in the shelters, especially when the weather was really crummy. Usually, we opted to pitch the tent, though, since there aren’t mice or multiple snorers, like in the shelters.
We always looked forward to getting to camp, unclipping our hip belts and removing our packs for the day. We hardly ever camped without people around us, and it was awesome to eat dinner with them and chat. Sometimes we’d make campfires, which we called “hiker television,” because we’d sit around and stare at it.
One neat thing about campsite discussions is how, at the beginning, people talked about where they were from and what jobs they had left to be on the trail. Not too far up the trail, though, discussions were always about food, gear, and the next town stops. There was way less talk about “home” because the trail quickly became our home.
Kelly: I was always cold, so I’d eat a quick breakfast of granola cereal with powdered milk, or a bar, and start hiking once the tent was packed up. Walking warms you up quickly. During those first solo miles, I would say the Rosary on my fingers against my hiking pole, think, and admire the sunlight through the trees or the pitter-patter of rain on my jacket. After about an hour or so, I’d stop to take a snack break and wait there until Ron had caught up.
Ron: I’ve never been as much of a morning person, so I’d start the day slowly, boil water for coffee, and watch the moss grow. After meeting up with Kelly, we’d talk about what we had seen, who we had passed, and then continue hiking the rest of the miles that day together.
An Average Night
We usually got to camp between 5 and 6 p.m., but sometimes we did have to hike with our headlamps to get to a good overnight spot. The first thing we would do was set up the tent or lay out our sleeping mat and bags inside the shelter. We would get to know the other campers at the site and catch up with people we had already met along the trail.
We had read that the trail is more crowded at the beginning before hikers drop out, but we didn’t know how crowded the campsites would be the first week or so in Georgia.
Oftentimes, especially on the weekends, we met section hikers or overnighters. Then, we’d filter water from whatever source was at that campsite. Sometimes, the blue-blazed side trail to water was half a mile or so from the campsite, so we joked that cumulatively, we hiked way more than 2,175 miles by the time we reached Katahdin.
Dinner usually consisted of a Knorr/Lipton side of rice or noodles. We would add packaged chicken or tuna for protein and some olive oil for a little fat. Thanks to the advice from other hikers, we learned that pepperoni and a hard block of cheddar cheese would be fine unrefrigerated in our packs, so we often would roll that inside a tortilla. Whoever didn’t cook that night would wash the pots and spoons.
Hikers would often share food with each other, and the unwritten rule if someone offered you trail mix was to hold out your hands and let them pour it into them. This etiquette makes sense so a hiker’s dirty hands didn’t land straight into someone else’s bag of food. We would then chat with other hikers and dream about what food we would eat when we got to the next town. Nine o’clock is known as Hiker’s Midnight, so usually everyone was hunkering down for the night by then.
In the next installment, Ron and Kelly write about the people and wildlife they met while hiking the trail.
Thanks for reading, and remember to always … take the long way home.
What an amazing adventure!
This is so inspiring. 🖤