The trail and forest floor are, for the most part, covered in a thick blanket of leaves. Most of the trees are diciduous consisting of oaks, birch, and walnut among others. I've seen very few pine species. So the trees of the Appalachians look barren. There are many bushes, shrubs and smaller trees however, such as the ever present rodadendrun which are about to bloom. This gives some of the mountain slopes a bright green appearance among the stark, nude hardwood trees.
I've of course met many people on the hike. Everyone now has a trail name. Mine is Drifter which I feel coincides with my present hiking style and it sounds Texan. There's Sparkles from Kansas City, Tribute from College station, Hop Along from Florida, Recon from Michigan, Bismarck from Indiana, 4 snd 5 both from North Carolina, Stealth from Austin, and hundreds of others to many to mention. Everyone has their story and reason of why there doing it, what if anything they do for a living, etc, etc. And everyone is also very helpful and cooperative.
The three daily decisions everyone must make each and every day is how far to hike, where to camp, and whether to try and stay at a shelter or not. Staying at a shelter is similar to having a slumber party, with all of the noise that goes along with it as well as trying to fall asleep in close proximity to a stranger and the mice that frequent it. But you are out of any foul weather. So it's a trade off of tent camping or sheltering. As I mentioned before, many times the shelters fill up early so the decision has been made for you and you must tent camp. When it comes to water, another important consideration, with all of the recent rain as well as the perennial mountain seeps, finding it so far has never been an issue. I'm using a handbook for hiking the AT trail called The AT Guide which most thru hikers use and it's excellent. It walks you through everything from camping choices, water availability and resupply opportunities as well as distances and elevations.
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