My first "major" backbacking trip was in Decmber 1983 during a Christmas break from High Point College. My mom drove me and my dad to Damascus VA where we started hiking south on the Appalachian Trail (AT). Our goal was to make it to highway 19E near Roan Mt. City TN. approximately 75 miles away.
We started late in the afternoon and I remember it being cold. It got dark early so we hiked in the dark with our headlamps to Abingdon Gap Shelter 10 miles away.
The next day we hiked past highway TN 91 and made camp. I remember laying in the tent and around 10pm we heard dogs barking in the distance. As they got closer we saw flashlights and heard people talking. I was starting to get concerned as they were coming towards our camp. Turns out that it was a group of coon hunters. They stopped and we said hello, they were gone as fast as they had appeared.
Day three found us hiking towards Iron Mountain. We passed a grave for a hermit named Uncle Nick Grindstaff. His gravestone read "Born December 26, 1851 and died July 22, 1923 - He lived alone, suffered alone, and died alone". I remember thinking that must of been a very lonely man. After that we passed Iron Mt. shelter where we had lunch. After lunch the sky got dark, the wind picked up and it begain sleeting. You could hear it pounding the trees as it came down. We hiked until after dark again and made it to Vanderventer shelter. It was cold and windy as we got into our sleeping bags to make supper.
The next morning we found four inches of new fallen snow. It was a beautiful sight, as the shelter sits high above Watauga Lake, you could look down across the lake, and see the white snow covered mountains in the distance. We continued to highway US 421 where there was a small gas station/motel where we got a room. We had a warm night sleep and dried out our wet gear.
Pond Mountain was the next big climb on the AT, and it was steep. There was a spring on top, with water gushing down the mountain. We descended into the beautiful Laurel Fork Gorge where we camped at Laurel Fork Shelter. That night ,I went to a small creek to get water and slipped on a moss covered rock into the water.
The next day took us on Dennis Cove Road and up to Moreland Gap Shelter. My Dad said his knee was hurting him and he could not go on. He had injured it climbing Mt. Rainer a few years before. Since we had left my car at Roan Mountain City, we bushwhacked down the mountain until we hit highway 19E. It was a short road walk to the car, and then back home.
In retrospect, this hike is what started my love for backpacking. I fell in love with being out beyond a normal two or three day trip, and getting to experience new sights and sounds each day. When I returned home, I started planning my next hiking trip.