Tracking Zero and Tennille

Woke up this morning, and sad to say, I will be leaving Kevin's for the last time.  He has been a wonderful trail angel and great friend.  Last night after hiking, he had a barbecue, and I got to meet his entire family.  Today proved to be a battle of wills: mine versus the extremely hot and humid conditions.  The air was so thick it was hard to breathe.  On top of that, there were no trees and not a hint of a breeze.  We were excited at midday to come to our only restaurant.  Our hopes and dreams were "dashed on the rocks below" because it was Sunday-- the only day of the week the restaurant was closed!  Water was a problem as well.  I carried 5 liters with me-- much more than I would normally take, because I knew there were only a couple of churches where I could refill.  After being out of water for over 2 hours, we stopped at a church to refill our bottles, only to find that the spigot handle had been removed!  We had to finish out the last 2 hours of our day without water.  Tennille did better than I, as there were a number of puddles-- she seemed to enjoy drinking out of them more than her bowl.  We had to stop many times because of the heat so Tennille could cool down.  She turned several of the roadside puddles into her personal hot tub.  Even though it was slow going and miserable, we managed to pull 17.8 miles today. Laine again came through in spades.  After a lot of exhausting and time consuming work on her part, she found me 2 new trail angels, Donna and Jerry, who are simply wonderful.  They picked us up off the trail, took us to a campsite, and while I was setting up, Donna ran to Hardees and brought back a plethora of food: a super deluxe bacon cheeseburger, a regular bacon cheeseburger, a large order of fries, 2 apple pies, and 2 Cokes.  After having had no lunch, this was amazing.  They will return in the morning with bacon, egg & cheese biscuits and a large coffee before they take us back to the trail.  They even brought Tennille some ice cubes.  I simply cannot thank them enough. The weather, unfortunately, is expected to be even hotter tomorrow as we head to Cove City.  We will be getting an early start.

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Spent the night at the Hampton Inn in Goldsboro.  The tropical storm had passed.  It was replaced by very hot temperatures and high humidity. Kevin came around 6:30 am and took us back to the trail head where Tennille and I started out.  I really wish they had not clear-cut this area-- trees were few and far between.  There were lots of clouds in the sky and it did rain; however, not a drop hit us.  It seemed we were just a few steps behind the sprinkles, which would have helped cool us down.  The only thing we got from that was added humidity from the rain evaporating off the roads.  Navigation was pretty easy, as we only had to make 4 turns; too, there is no shortage of people who seem to be baffled that we are walking by choice!  Several people stopped, and were quite insistent that they would be more than happy to take us where we were going.  By afternoon, hiking had slowed to a crawl, and we stopped  at every shady spot that Tennille could find.  At a couple of stops, people came out of their houses with water for Tennille and me.  That was greatly appreciated.  We made another 18 miles today and are now over 700 for the trek.  Kevin picked us up and took us to his house so we could camp in his yard once again.  Cheryl and Terry drove to Goldsboro from Wilson and brought me a resupply.  They also stopped at Starbucks and got me a cappuccino with an extra shot.  Very much appreciated!!  We lightened our load once again so I can carry extra water for Tennille.  I sent back every extra piece of clothing possible and Tennille's sleeping bag-- we'll share from here on.  Tomorrow is expected to be about the same as today, weather-wise, and we are hoping the forecast for the Croatan when we reach the area is incorrect.  It is supposed to in the 90s and incredibly humid.  If anyone is planning on joining me in this portion of the hike, please give Laine a call or leave her a message. We expect to hit just south of Kinston tomorrow. 

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I should have expected this, because I have hit nearly every "out of the norm" weather event on this trail. We had to err on the side of caution today.  Currently, we are in the Hampton Inn in Goldsboro after spending the night with our new trail angel, Kevin.  Yesterday evening, we had some interesting entertainment in between the rain bands.  We were staying not far from the Air Force's Top Gun training school.  About every 20-30 minutes, we could hear the airplanes flying over, doing dog-fight training exercises.  Tennille wasn't sure what to make of the noise, just that she didn't like it.  I think it reminded her of the wind during the storm were caught in during our trek through the Nantahala Forest.  Our stop at the hotel was unexpected and a last minute decision, due to the tropical storm that came through.  We thought it best, since Tennille couldn't see the cars for me and I couldn't hear them-- not a good combo.  Decided it would be safer to stay, dry out our gear, and head out again the morning. Tomorrow we hope to go over the 700 mile mark, and Kevin has offered to pick us up from the trail again and bring us back to his house for a cookout.  He also came and got us from the hotel and took us to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  Thank you VERY much, Kevin.  We are hoping today will be out last "zero"  before the end.  The storm is expected to be out of here by morning, and it's supposed to be sunny, extremely hot, and humid.  I really hope we can get our miles in before the afternoon thunderstorms they are predicting.

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Woke up today in Cheryl, Yvonne and Covert's back yard.  Had a great night with them.  Thanks so much, Cheryl, not only for the bacon, eggs, & toast, but also for the hot coffee.  She took me to the trailhead.  The weather was sunny today, but not as humid as it has been.  It is amazing how the topography has changed over the last few days.  The experience I had today could easily have been found in Iowa, Kansas, or Nebraska. The roads are long, straight, and flat, and are surrounded by fields that stretch for miles with crops of all varieties.  The towns are small, and not much has changed since the 50s or 60s.  The people are wonderful and friendly, and it is much like stepping back in time. The miles didn't tick off as fast this morning because we had to cross some major highways.  We stopped at a little store, had lunch, and Tennille got to enjoy the air conditioning and the tile floor.  The sad thing about this area is the lack of trees.  Almost every square inch has been clear cut for the fields.  I can definitely feel that we are nearing the coast.  At the end of the day, we racked up 18.1 miles.   Cheryl picked us up from the trail and brought us to her friend Terry's house for a wonderful barbecue.  He made ribs, drunken chicken, filet mignon, and just about every side items one can imagine-- a feast fit for a king.  I gave an interview to the Wilson paper this evening that can be viewed online tomorrow.  We'll post the link.  Special thanks to Marmot and Exofficio.  The new clothing for hot weather conditions is working great.  I don't know what colors I'm wearing, but I've gotten many compliments on my color scheme.  Special thanks also to Buff.  My new Buff with insect shield is definitely performing well.

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Today we woke up in our cozy, comfortable and dry church.  We got an early start in surprisingly cool weather with overcast skies.  This is our kind of weather.  The miles ticked off quickly and we even got to stop in both of the convenience stores on the route.  There were Cokes for me and ice chips for Tennille.  Today we had many close encounters with off-leash dogs, and for an added bonus, we got to play slalom with farm equipment.  The tractor and the pickup truck seem to be the preferred mode of transportation in this section.  We also had an exciting encounter with the big machine that paints traffic lines on the road.  That was very confusing for both of us, but we managed to get through the area without being painted!  Our total for today was a little over 17 miles. The cooler temperatures made for less breaks for Tennille.  We got good news from Cheryl, Laine's friend, who allowed us to stay with her.  Her sister, Yvonne, told us tomorrow's weather is supposed to be much like today and there should be rain through the rest of the week.  We hit a milestone today: we now have less than 300 miles to go.  Even though the end seems so close, there is a lot to be done before we make it to Jockey's Ridge.  We have had to make some changes, and are now looking for angels to give us assistance in finding places to camp.  I want to give a big shout out to the folks at Granite Gear.  My new back plate is perfect!!  Thank you again for getting it to me so quickly.

The interview I gave to the Raleigh News and Observer made the front page of the paper on Monday.  Link: www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/03/2935317/shaffer-blind-hiker-and-trusty.html.  Tennille and I really excited about that, because when were walking today, a number of people recognized us and came off their porches to talk to us.  One woman in particular (Sylvia) came out to the road when she saw us coming by.  She had read the article, but was convinced we would never walk down her street.  She was very excited-- even offered for us to camp on her lawn anywhere we wanted.  It was great to meet you, Sylvia.

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Whe we woke up, it was raining, but it didn't matter to us because we were in a motel.  Thanks again to Jesse for coming to our aid and getting us back on track with our directions.  Laine's friend, Monty, picked us up, took us to the trailhead and hiked with us again today.  As always, it is nice to have company.  We hiked through the scattered rain showers, which made the temperatures much cooler-- a welcome reprieve.  At about midday we stopped for lunch at a little grocery store, and I received a call from a gentleman named Allen de Hart.  I felt privileged to get the phone call; Allen is a living legend in the hiking community.  One of his accomplishments was hiking and laying out the original MST in the early '80s with a surveyor's wheel.  If not for him, I would not have this trail to be hiking on right now.  Furthermore, when I told him where I was, he stopped by and introduced himself in person.  It was my great pleasure.  Our afternoon was muggy, but not as uncomfortable as the previous days.  We made it 16.3 miles to the Pine Ridge Baptist Church near Lawson; the last 2.5 miles were spent hiking in a torrential downpour.  People at the church were so kind--they opened the doors of the church so we didn't have to sleep in the rain.  I continue to be blown away by the kindness and generosity of others.  Thank you so much.

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Today we started our last 7 miles of tail walk for a long time.  We did some filming with Chris and Amy and ran into 5 dogs, luckily with no incidents.  After we hit the road, the excitement began for the day.  Instead of calling this leg "Section 28," I'm giving it some new names: "Where in the hell am I?" and "How did I get here?"  As it turns out, there is a new Falls of the Neuse Road AND a Falls of the Neuse Road, both of which connect different parking areas of the dam.  We mistakenly got on the wrong one, where none of the markers on the road corresponded with the directions. . . a blind person's worst nightmare. We downshifted to Plan B, which was to ask the locals how to get back on track.  I am really surprised that so many people in Wake Forest are also unaware of the changes.  We asked several people, and after sharing our dilemma, they gave us what they assured us was the solution to getting back on track.  Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case-- it cost us many miles.  During this time, News Channel 14 called me for an update.  I gave an interview, but due to my distractions, it was not one of my better ones.  The news guy gave me another opportunity to solve our problem. I asked him how to get to the roads I needed.  He also had no idea.  Next came a call to Laine, who was baffled and in a rush, as she had to be somewhere and couldn't be late.  She consulted Chris and Amy via smart phone and they called me.  They thought they had a solution; unfortunately,  it didn't work for me, as I couldn't follow the directions from where I was.  After hiking 12 miles, we were left with no option but to hike back to the dam. We then called my Trail Angel extraordinaire, Jesse, from last week.  He came through for us-- dropped everything he was doing to jump in the car and came to our aid.  By this point Tennille and I had one 20 miles in some very hop weather, and were spent.  Jesse has lived in this are for 30 years; he explained that the area has changed dramatically and streets have changed names, been added, and some simply don't exist anymore.  We drove a route to my final destination, but it differed from the Scot Ward book and the interactive Mountains to Sea Trail site.  I had hiked a combination of trail miles from all sources, yet none led to the planned end.  We attempted to connect with the church for permission to camp, but no one answered the phone during the day, and no one was there when we arrived.  Following that, we called it a day, went to a motel, and are hoping to get back on track early in the morning.

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This was our last full day in the woods.  When we woke up, it was hot and humid again.  Even though we got on trail a little before 7, we had to fight for each mile.  By 9, it was in the upper 80s and there was no breeze to cool us down.  Thank God for  tree cover!   We're going to miss that, as we start the long section of road walking tomorrow. Chris and Amy (the film crew) met us a couple of times along the way with water and a Subway sandwich. Much appreciated!  Trail conditions were great, due to the fact that it was National Trail Day, and the maintainers were out.  I even stopped and talked to a few of them-- thanked them for what they did, and was surprised (once again) that they didn't know they were maintaining the Mountains to Sea Trail!  The tick situation has gotten better.  I only had 4 or 5, and Tennille was down to less than 20 a day.  I can't wait until they're gone, because it is adding an extra hour to my evening chores picking them off. At the end of the day, I was surprised to find that we did 16.1 miles. It felkt like 13, because the hiking was slow; however, once I realized we had crossed the same road 3 times, it all made sense.  Needless to say, we missed our campsite, so wqe drove back to Shinleaf Campground and stayed the night there.  Tennille are on our own today, as Chris and Amy are returning to Charlotte.  Special thanks to Thorlo, Ahnu, and SOLE.  The new socks, shoes, and insoles, coupled with the dry conditions, are enabling my feet to heal.  Temps are expected to be in the mid 90s with humidity at the beginning of our road walk section-- we're not looking forward to that.  We're leaving Raleigh today-- will be over the 600 mile mark, and have our sights set on New Bern.

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When we woke up today, it was already hot.  Spent my last night with Jesse, Rachel, and the kids.  We are really going to miss them. Went to the trail head and met Chris, Amy and Charlie Peek from the Parks Department.  I then gave a talk to some mobility instructors (for the blind) and several students from the Governor Morehead School for the Blind.  Meeting these kids was a wonderful experience for me.  They had great questions for me-- I hope in a small way we were able to impact their lives.  My sincerest hope is that one day I will read about one or all of them doing extraordinary things, and  I would be able to think back about our meeting.  They gave me a shirt and a pin, and are making a donation to Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Everyone loved Tennille and was very impressed with her.  Next, I was interviewed by a reporter from the Raleigh newspaper.  It will be coming out in the Monday edition-- we'll be sharing the link.  After all of that, we started hiking around 11am.  Laine's friend, Monty, joined us for several hours of the trek; it was great talking with him about his plans to do the Camina in Spain.  Ironically enough, Tennille and I are considering that very same trail.  Thank God we were under tree cover for most of the day-- temperature was in the 90s.  Water was a bit more plentiful on this stretch, and even though it was extremely hot, Tennille and I pressed on through the afternoon and made it to our campsite at 14 miles.  We met new trail angels today.  Will and Donna came to the campsite, bringing with them lots of Coke, G2, and bacon cheeseburgers and fries from Red Robin.  I can't thank them enough.  They invited us to a trail gathering tomorrow, but sadly, we had to decline, as it's in the opposite direction from where we are going, and Tennille and I have to start out early in order to make our miles.  We are hoping to come back after we finish the trek to meet everyone who's been working on the trail.  If anyone knows of any trail angels along the trail in the direction of New Bern, please let us know.  Thanks to everyone for your continued support, well wishes, thoughts, and prayers.  It means a lot to us.

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Woke up for what I believe will be the final time in Jesse's and Rachel's back yard.  Jesse again drove me to the trailhead, but this time, he took off work so we could hike together.  When we started out, the temperature was already toasty and the humidity high. After we had hiked about 5 miles, Charlie Peek from the Parks Department called and met up with us so he could take some pictures for their website.  He also confirmed another interview, this time with the Raleigh newspaper, for tomorrow morning.  Too, William from the  school for the blind in Raleigh will be coming out tomorrow morning, along with some of his mobility instructors and students so that I can meet them.  Bot Tennille and I are very excited about this.  After a few miles taking pictures with Charlie, Jesse and I pushed on so we could make our goal of 14 miles.  It was nice to be under tree cover for most of the trek because it made it more bearable for Tennille, but after about 10 miles we still had to stop frequently so she could rest and cool down.  We discovered an added bonus on our trek today: ticks.  The woods are infested with them.  I ended up with 16, but poor Tennille was covered with them.  Rachel painstakingly removed about 49 of the pesky things from Tennille--took about 2 hours.  Tennille didn't seem to mind, as she fell asleep and started snoring during the process.  Chris and Amy are returning to continue filming tomorrow and to bring me a much needed resupply.  With today's miles, we are now at 564.  Should this be my last evening with Jesse, Rachel and the kids, I have to say that I will be very sad to leave.  They have been extremely wonderful and generous to us, and I now consider them good friends.  I plan on staying in touch with them from now on.

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Today consisted of the good, the bad, and the ugly: not necessarily in that order.  When we woke up this am it was already warm.  Jesse took me back to the trail, and Tennille and started hiking a little before 7am.  We had a little road waling to do before we got to the Falls Lake Trail section.  This was the ugly part of our day.  We started off by having top hike down 501. I don't know who decided to route hikers down a busy highway, but I think it's a terrible idea.  Traffic was horrible, and there was literally no shoulder to walk on.  I hope the hew section of trail eliminates the need for this road walk.  I found it to be extremely dangerous and slow going.  When we finally got to the actual walking trail, that was the good part of our day.  It was already very hot-- around 88 degrees and very humid; the tree cover was helpful, however.  I want to commend whoever designed and maintained the first 4 miles of this section. It was a joy to hike.  I only wish the entire MST was like this section.  After that came the bad.  The next 5.4 mile section was simply dreadful-- full of 3 foot high overgrowth, brambles, and weeds.  Navigation was very difficult.  I only wish I had come to this section later this week, as it is my understanding that trail maintenance will be this weekend.  Nonetheless, Tennille and I achieved our goal for the day, adding another 15 miles. We are currently at 549.5 miles.  I appreciate everyone who has reached out and offered assistance through this section.  Logistically, it has been very challenging for us, but we'd love to meet everyone before we leave the area.  Please bear with us-- we're trying to come up with a plan.

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Before Jesse took me back to the trail, we made a quick atop at Starbucks so I could get a cappuccino.  Man, that was good!  We were able to get an early start.  Finally got on trail around 7:30 after making necessary phone calls.  Had to get a new lifeproof case for my phone over the we3ekend because I broke the other one and this one isn't performing well.  It's very difficult to read my email. The morning started off fairly cool and overcast, so for the first couple of hours, Tennille and I were able to make good miles. At about 10am, the skies cleared, the sun came out, and the temperature soared like a rocket. That slowed us down big time-- we had to go back to hiking a mile and stopping in the shade so Tennille could cool down.  We are getting back into civilization, so we have more opportunities to get water.  About mid-day, we stopped at Little River Regional Park, and met Michelle, the Ranger.  She gave us water and let Tennille lie on the cool tile in air conditioning for awhile. After heading bac out into the heat, we stopped at both convenience stores on the route so Tennille could rest in their air conditioning, too.  It is now official: I'm hooked on G2 Gatorade, so I had to buy one at the first store.  After we made our final turn onto Mason Road, we hit rush hour, which ground our hiking day to a crawl. We literally hiked 100 feet, stepped off the side of the road (which had no shoulder), waited to 19 cars to pass, and then repeated the process.  After a mile and a half of this, both Tennille and I had had enough.  We were bot hot, tired, and really sick of playing chicken with cars.  We stopped at a church and waited for Jesse to pick us up.  At the end of the day, we managed to make our goal: we had hiked another 14.9 miles.

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Woke up to a cool morning, but the sun very quickly came out and showed its true colors.  Soon after we started hiking, the cloud cover went away and the sun started to bake us.  The cooldana is working, and so is my light grey Marmot shirt that I donated to Tennille.  Halfway through the day, the cement got hot enough that I had to put Tennille's boots on her.  All of that seemed to help-- however, we still had to take numerous breaks.  Dog encounters are starting to get old.  Unfortunately, we haven't even entered the sections that are noted as problematic in the guide book.  Today, I had to fend off a very large aggressive dog with my trekking pole.  Both Tennille and I came out unscathed, but we're certainly not looking for more incidents like that.  Even with the heat, we managed to hike another 14.2 miles, bringing our total to 518.2 for the trek thus far.  If we can keep our mileage close to 15 per day, we could be finished before the end of June.  Tonight I'm staying with a new trail, Jesse, and his family. who contacted me through FaceBook and offered support for the Durham section. They are, quite simply, one of the nicest families I have ever met.  Their young children even drew me pictures, complete with stickers so that I could feel what they drew.  That meant so much to me.  Jesse will be taking me back to the trail around 6:30 in the morning.  Weather is supposed to be hotter tomorrow, so an earlier start will be greatly needed.  FYI: Tennille and I made the front page of The Charlotte Observer today (Tuesday)-- get a copy, or read online. 

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Woke up to my second day of slack packing.  Tennille and I headed out solo once again.  We really miss Dave's company.  The weather was good, however, with mild temperatures and sun.  We hiked 7 miles and had to stop at the Red Top convenience mart.  We met a woman named Kim who gave us some water and a Coke.  After talking with Laine and Sherry the day before, she called the media.  We gave an interview to Carolina 14 News.  After that, we continued walking and stopped at a really cool place called Shacks, where once again, Laine and Sherry had stopped the day before to tell them we were coming.  The ladies there were really nice.  We also got a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a G2 Gatorade that Dave had turned me on to.  Thanks, Dave. After eating real food and having a nice break, Tennille and I pressed on. She is really falling back into her town duties with her harness on-- she's not missing a beat.  We ended the day with 14.2 miles and hit another milestone: we are now at 504.2 miles of the trail.  Tomorrow we will be heading out with a full pack.  I sent Tennille's pack home because she will be doing street work for a good portion of the rest of the hike.  Thanks so much to Rick Mende (Thorlo), Jef Judin and Sandra Second for being my trail angels, hosts, personal chef, and personal shopper.  We appreciate it so very much.  Things will be changing logistically, because we have now outhiked Laine's ability to drive resupply each week, and we will be moving our central location of base operations.  The weather seems to be holding-- we'll take good weather as long as we can get it.

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Last night  I stayed with Jef Judin from Thorlo and woke up to another beautiful day.  Temperatures were mild and the day was sunny.  We also got an unexpected treat-- we were able to slack pack for the first time on the trail.  It  was a great relief to be able to hike without all the weight on my back.  With new shoes from Ahnu and new socks from Thorlo, it gave my feet a break-- they are starting to heal.  Thanks so much!!!  Also, I got new clothing from Marmot.  The new rain jacket is going to be great-- it weights half as much as the last one, and since I am now going to be alone again without Dave's help carrying Tennille's food, shaving off every ounce will be crucial.  We are back on the road, and will be there for many miles.  I was worried about Tennille and how she would handle having her harness back on (she's been wearing her pack for a month and a half).  It didn't take more than an hour for us to fall back into our old rhythm.  I am so proud of her.  It looks like with Guide Dog's help, we have managed to train a dual mode dog.  The hiking was great, but it is really hard to believe that Dave had to get off trail and return home.  The time went by too fast.  Thanks so much Dave for coming to hike with us.  We enjoyed your company and appreciated all your help more than you'll ever know.  You are a good hiking partner, and more importantly, a great friend.  An interview I gave to Carolina Outdoors on Friday aired on the radio this morning.  We'll be putting the link on our website so those who missed it can hear it.  We added 13 more miles to the total and are closing in on 500 miles.  We're heading towards Burlington and the Raleigh Durham area, and expect to be there within the next few days, and then heading on towards the beach. 

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