Page 9 - SMH 2017 2nd edition

The first month (January) I worked 3 days a week at the business I've owned since 2002
(Plug-it In Electrical Service, Inc) and hiked the other 4 days. This worked well for what I
was doing at the time. I was pushing out about 50 miles per week. I wasn't getting in any
kind of hurry at that time. I did all of the Cades Cove area and part of the Twentymile, Cos-
by and Elkmont areas during that time. It was during this month too that I experienced the
coldest temp of 6° degrees. I was camped out at CS#17 on Little Bottoms Trail in about 4"
of snow. This is why I absolutely love winter backpacking. Everything was frozen and
laced in white. It's the perfect setting for beautiful pictures. Not to mention the perfect
weather for a good #icebeard. I absolutely love have my beard completely covered and full
of ice and snow. There's just something about it that feels good to me. It also reminds me to
not get complacent and how extreme the conditions are that I'm in. Things can go very
wrong very fast in these conditions. A life and death struggle is just one bad decision away.

Around the 3rd week of January I decided instead of taking a year to do all the trails. I thought I could get
them done by the end of May. This would free up my summer to do family stuff. But a week later I got curious
as to what was the fastest time the 900-Miler had ever been done so I contacted the 900-Miler Club to find out.
They told me the current fastest time was 4 months and 12 days and the record was held by Sharon Spezia. I im-
mediately thought to my bearded self that this was in my time frame. Maybe this would be a good challenge for
me and I might be able to break it..... So that's exactly what I did. That's when #fastestgsmnp900miler was born.
This was the hashtag that I would identify my hike with.

In early February I began hiking with a determination to break a record in big fashion. I began doing bigger
miles and started making preparations to start hiking full time. I still had a job or two to wrap up then I was good
to go. My focus was strong and I wasn't going to be distracted easily. On the 4th of February I turned 44 years
old. You guessed it. I was out hiking that day. I did hike #17 and stayed at Derrick Knob Shelter that night. I
couldn't have imagined doing anything else on my birthday this year. It simply seemed perfect. And even though
I was getting older I wasn't feeling it in the least bit. In my eyes I was just getting started. As February got roll-
ing, so did I. The weather was unseasonably warm and I was going to take full advantage of it. Because I knew
we would probably get a good snow in March. I was just hoping to get done before it hit. I was starting to push
out some much bigger mileage. Doing 20+ miles was becoming easier by the day. And with the Tennessee side
about wrapped up, my focus was about to be set on the North Carolina side.

Now I only camped in the backcountry a total of 19 nights (15 in my
Zpacks Duplex tent and 4 in shelters). Which left me with day hiking the
rest of it. Instead of driving home which was 1 to 3 hours away (depending
on where I was in the park). I would drive to a store nearby and sleep in
my truck. This allowed me to save gas and to resupply if I needed to or
simply get some fresh foods for the night like milk, fruits and veggies. I
always made a point to purchase my dinner and breakfast from the store
where I was staying at. I felt like it was the least I could do for them not
kicking me out of their parking lot. Ha Ha.

Once March got here I was
steaming along and not looking
back. Everything was going good
and I was on schedule to finish on
the 19th of March. But I was on
my way home to visit for a night
when the motor in my truck blew
up. This wasn't what I needed
then. I was in Pigeon Forge and I
was 1 hour from my house. I was
able to drive it home, but the next day I had to pick up a rental car for my
beautiful bride to use while I used her vehicle. I got my truck scheduled for
a new motor while I was back in the woods. That was a close call. It
could've ended this hike. I'm glad we had the money set aside for such
emergencies. Having an emergency fund saved our butts that time for sure.

9 Smoky Mountain Hiker