Cactus Jack

21/07/2024

It's been a year since I (John W. Sone) wrapped up my Appalachian adventure. It sure was a great time. Gratitude to family, friends, fellow hikers and Providence for allowing me to embark on it.

28/06/2024

In the woods . . . these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign. . . . Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

18/02/2024

Physical therapy has performed its miracle once again (along with the body's natural inclination to heal itself). And the alpha galactose allergy has subsided. Still, other pursuits beckon. I won't finish the thru hike, but will seek great segments from time to time. This article touches some highlights of my experience. I urge everyone to find their own immersive adventure where they can get to know themselves a little better.

I always knew I'd be a thru-hiker. But things change. Here's how I found peace in the process of abandoning my lifelong goal.

21/07/2023

800 miles complete. Farewell Appalachia. Cactus Jack signing off. PS If you'd like to see this story of my AT hike in chronological order you'll have to scroll all the way down to the page creation in February 2023 and then scroll up one post at a time.

14/07/2023

Winding down my AT adventure. Meantime, my inactivity on my personal page has induced someone to impersonate me on Messenger and possibly clone my FB account. Please be on the lookout for an impostor and report it promptly should you have the opportunity. Thanks in advance!

13/07/2023

Starting the final 70 miles of trail to make 800 at Buena Vista. This has been a fantastic experience, one of a lifetime. I'm unplugging from social media from here on out and will sign out as a wiser trail hiker and man. Thanks to my wife Linda Haddock, son and daughters, and many friends for all the encouragement along the way. It has made a difference for sure.

12/07/2023

Passing through a couple of trail towns today. Always a morale booster, particularly after trail like this nursing aching knees and a throbbing hip. More on trail etiquette also.

11/07/2023

Having completed the Virginia Triple Crown yesterday, feeling pensive this morning. Rarely does the AT (or life for that matter) offer such a smooth path as this one. Realizing that the life turning point I imagined has already arrived as I ponder the finiteness and relative inconsequentiality of my existence. I am feeling like the Toby Keith song, "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." Hoping I have a few more good climbs left in me, with pleasant views to follow.

10/07/2023

Hiking past McAfee K**b.

08/07/2023

Joined the 700 club.

07/07/2023

After climbing a few thousand feet for an hour and a half what should I find on top of the ridge but a park bench for a weary hiker. Wow! But after Wind Rock Mtn I think this trail owed us a break. (Note the high temp here.) Last but not least is the moving Audie Murphy monument. Do you see that Lone Star flying over Virginia?

05/07/2023

Gorgeous hike in Mountain Lake Wilderness today. And, good news for hikers and bears: the blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are ripening.

04/07/2023

Happy Fourth of July from Wind Rock Mountain, VA.

04/07/2023

It looks like I passed through WV briefly yesterday. More rhododendra, once a cash crop to English gardeners in the 18th century. Still in the Virginia Blue Ridge. Three more daunting climbs left until the Shenandoah.

01/07/2023

After crossing the New River I just couldn't pass this delightful spot. Besides, I had just finished a brutal climb, was running out of water and a storm was coming. Rice Field Shelter. Hope there are early fireworks shows.

30/06/2023

Supplied up. Lost and recovered my phone twice in the process. Checking my maps to head north in the morning and really feeling this image from the cover of Boy's Life by Steve Pietzsch, an artist EchoinBlanco is extremely proud to represent.

30/06/2023

Resupplying in Pearisburg, 170 trail miles into VA right near the WV line. Looking through the smoke you can make out the mountain. Angels Rest, my hostel is named after. The town dates to 1808 and as you can see from the map has many if not most of the conveniences of modern life (including a DQ). In the bunkhouse as usual.

28/06/2023

This would be a much better view without the Canadian wildfire smoke!

28/06/2023

Right after the daily rain this bear came to tell me good night last night at the campsite. Sunny day to hike to Pearisburg today. Love sleeping in fresh (cool) air. Life is good for all, especially hikers.

27/06/2023

Today was the gentlest hike since I left Georgia. Highlights were several bear sightings and meeting a mother skunk and her babies. Capped it off with the crossing of this suspension hiking bridge near Bland, VA.

26/06/2023

Time for a second month's observations. Weight holding at 20 pounds under start. Left knee with one fully functioning ligament no longer slows me down, just gets numb going downhill, which is half the time. New unwelcome companion is recurring sciatica on my left side. But I scamper up slopes much faster, and am always pleased to be greeted at a campsite by familiar hikers with "Hey Cactus, good to see you again. You're the Energizer bunny."

I pitched camp early yesterday due to a thunderstorm. As I finished reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods in my tent while it rained I had a strange foreboding. The rain renewed at 5:30 this morning but a sense of peace had replaced the forboding. I allowed myself to accept the likelihood that I won't be able to hike all 2200 miles this year. Just like Bryson had to. So today I transition from thru hiker to section hiker, or as I prefer to think of it, AT hiker. Where it ends is too soon to forecast yet.

Here's my campsite on the day I reached 600 miles. It has stopped raining and the sun is just peeking over the treetops. I won't stop posting but there won't be much excitement for a while. Just meeting good hiker company and Appalachian folk in the woods and occasionally on scenic mountain tops.

24/06/2023

A light rain and a rainbow to end the day. Good night all.

24/06/2023

Mountaintop means good signal but this kind of weather. Five more days of rain ahead. Must get lower. At least I'll start seeing sun each day. Welcome to Beartown! (I wonder who the mayor is?)

23/06/2023

Three straight days of rain. Had to ford Lick Creek today because.the bridge washed out. Crossed many fence ladders yesterday, always tricky in the rain with a loaded pack and muddy shoes. A section of high meadow the trail took me through. Finally a beautiful high pond where I am right now listening to banjo frogs, eating lunch, and shivering from being soaking wet.

21/06/2023

The trail to Mile 600.

21/06/2023

Musing of a fine artist and philosopher on our need to wander. I'm taking the day off in Marion, VA, to give a recent bout of sciatica a break. Doing exercises for each of a compressed piriformis, herniated disk, and DJD to see what works. I hope it's mainly just the muscle.

“Wander where you will over all the world, from every valley seeing forever new hills calling you to climb them, from every mountain top farther peaks enticing you… until you stand one …

20/06/2023

This section of trail is an information and communication black hole. So, posting my next days' itinerary here in advance while I have a signal. The forecast calls for rain all week. Notice that there is very little level path. :( In other, better news the temps are
unseasonably cool, unlike my home state.

19/06/2023

I'm really loving the Grayson Highlands! Look for the wild ponies in the background. If you look close you'll see a sign that reads "No Horses". These ponies are pretty gentle and apparently have a sense of humor. The rhododendron blooms here are magnificent and drew a lot of tourists yesterday. A seredendipitous trail offering was cheerful.

18/06/2023

Happy Father's Day! Starting it on Mt. Rogers, temp in the 40s. Other sights from yesterday included.

17/06/2023

Really enjoying being back in my home away from home state. Bridge is the Virginia Creeper trail, which parallels the AT for a while. It's a rails to trails project named after how the old locomotives would slowly creep up the mountains.