Progress

Just having a nice hot beverage by the campfire. Tough life.

The past three days have been fairly routine and uneventful, as far as good stories go. I hiked 28 miles from noon on Wednesday to about 10:00am Friday, which involved about 19 hours of actual hiking time. In general, the scenery was beautiful, as usual. Most of the hiking was in dense woods, climbing and descending pretty steep mountains with bare tops (called "balds," for all you forestry enthusiasts out there. The woods are incredibly green with all the rain that's been coming down lately, and all the little mountain streams are flowing freely.

This is where I get my drinking water from. If yours is from the kitchen sink you haven't really lived.

The scenery at the top of the balds made the long climbs and the dense woods completely worth it. There were two of note, because they had observation towers at the top of them for complete, unobstructed, 360 degree views. The first major bald we came to was Wayah Bald, which has apparently been a popular tourist destination for years. There is a very old stone tower there that was great fun to explore.

Wayah Bald Observation Tower...

...and an amazing view to go with it.

We camped right below Wayah Bald. It was a much colder night than previous nights out, but we had a nice fire and a hot beverage and all was well. The second major bald on the next day was Wesser Bald. It was an easier climb, but no less impressive at the top of the observation tower, which was a much more modern steel contraption rather than the rustic stone one on Wayah.Wesser Bald view.

As for me, I'm still sore, fat and slow. But I can feel myself getting a little bit stronger every day. It's officially been over a week since I started this adventure (not counting my spring break head start). They say it takes three weeks to get your "trail legs." I'm waiting for that to happen. We made it to our next rendezvous with the Trail Angel, Nantahala Outdoor Center (awesome place, Google it), on Friday morning, in a light rain, and were very happy to see the RV. And in my opinion, there is no better way to celebrate 28 miles well-hiked than with a huge, delicious burger...

Mamma and I enjoying some fantastic fine cuisine.

We spent the rest of the day resting up, repacking our backpacks and enjoying the very clean, but very cold pool at the RV park where we are staying right now. Since I have no interesting stories of other hikers or wildlife to report, I think I will take this opportunity to explain my trail name. The dictionary defines the term "nano" as "a prefix denoting the value of 1x10^-9." For those of you who, like me, are terrible at math, that's really small. So, at face value, I have chosen this name because, if you haven't noticed, I'm rather tiny. It's one of my defining features. Rather hard to miss. However, for me, there is much more too it than that. For my four years at college, I worked in a nanotechnology research laboratory in the chemistry department. It was probably the singlemost influential choice I made over my college career. I am fully convinced that nanotechnology, or microengineering, is the next big thing in science, and I am honored and proud to have been a part of it in some small way. It has proven to me, beyond a doubt, that the tiniest things, right down to nanoparticles the size of only a few atoms, can not only fascinate a budding scientist, but save lives and change the world. My research in that nanotechnology lab allowed me to grow not only as a scientist, but as a thinker, and the people I worked with, most importantly my supervising professor (who I'll just call Doc), touched my life forever. I'm carrying that experience and those people in my heart with me as I walk. In fact, in the pocket of my backpack, I'm carrying a small rock from a flowerpot in the science building of my college campus. When I get to the top of Katahdin in Maine at the end of this, I will leave it there. To Doc, and all the other budding "Nanos" out there - that one's for you.

Until next time, loyal friends of Nano. Many more adventures to come after this exciting first week.

Just a little Nano on a log in the woods.

Quote of the Day: "You've never heard of potted meat? You spoiled, rotten little brat." - Daddy
(during a diner of quick-cook rice one night when I was wishing for a steak and Daddy was talking about his childhood foods. My rice tasted pretty dadgum good after I figured out what it was...)