Guest Post by Jake "Solsbury Hill"
This post is part of a Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers. If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information. If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.
Note from Jill & Serial: we hiked with Solsbury in 2012 and he was part of a group that we saw regularly. We shared many laughs with him and are so glad that the trail made him our friend. We split up from that group somewhere in VA, but we always kept up on where they were on the trail and we were so happy for Solsbury when he finished in Maine. Many congrats to you, friend. We are looking forward to our paths crossing again!
What is your trail name and what year(s) did you hike?
Solsbury Hill - 2012
Where did you start your hike?
Amicalola Falls state park, GA
Where did you finish your hike?
Baxter State Park, Maine
Did you start with a group or solo?
Started solo, but in the first night accumulated a tiny group that would expand very quickly.
What’s the best thing about hiking?
The best thing about hiking for me is just being outdoors with people you love to be around. Out in the wild nobody is judging you or watching you and it is the most comfortable place for me, all of my sense's felt anew unbound by the bullshit of today's world and i felt like a wild man which is great. dancing like a fool above everybody else with out a care in the world.
What’s the worst thing about hiking?
You get discouraged sometimes when you think about your home and your friends. You cant hit up your favorite fishing hole's, drive around the back roads and smoke a doob, none of that. Also you cant make money hiking and i love to make money. Anyhow you get discouraged but when you return to these things you realize nothing has changed and they will always be there.
Describe your best day on the trail.
It would be impossible to pick a favorite day. One that comes to mind is the day Octo, Mr. Brown and I took a road to this little market to get hotdogs and tobacco for everyone in our group, it was raining the entire day, we left our packs by the road much like serial did in the past. we got our little supply and went back to hike over roan mountain in the mud and rain just slipping, sliding, and laughing the whole way up. We just all three stayed together and talked the whole way up and had a great time. We got to the bottom of the other side after having zero views on top (we couldnt even find the shelter the visibility was so bad) when we got down it started lightning and we sought refuge in a little bathroom for 30 minutes smoked some cigs then headed up in the Roan highlands. We were meeting everyone at overmountain shelter which we were a long way from, we hiked until 1030 that night and surprised the hell out of everyone there. we all ate dogs laughed our asses off and tried our best to dry our completely saturated shoes. PURE JOY.
Solsbury Hill - 2012
Where did you start your hike?
Amicalola Falls state park, GA
Where did you finish your hike?
Baxter State Park, Maine
Did you start with a group or solo?
Started solo, but in the first night accumulated a tiny group that would expand very quickly.
What’s the best thing about hiking?
The best thing about hiking for me is just being outdoors with people you love to be around. Out in the wild nobody is judging you or watching you and it is the most comfortable place for me, all of my sense's felt anew unbound by the bullshit of today's world and i felt like a wild man which is great. dancing like a fool above everybody else with out a care in the world.
What’s the worst thing about hiking?
You get discouraged sometimes when you think about your home and your friends. You cant hit up your favorite fishing hole's, drive around the back roads and smoke a doob, none of that. Also you cant make money hiking and i love to make money. Anyhow you get discouraged but when you return to these things you realize nothing has changed and they will always be there.
Describe your best day on the trail.
It would be impossible to pick a favorite day. One that comes to mind is the day Octo, Mr. Brown and I took a road to this little market to get hotdogs and tobacco for everyone in our group, it was raining the entire day, we left our packs by the road much like serial did in the past. we got our little supply and went back to hike over roan mountain in the mud and rain just slipping, sliding, and laughing the whole way up. We just all three stayed together and talked the whole way up and had a great time. We got to the bottom of the other side after having zero views on top (we couldnt even find the shelter the visibility was so bad) when we got down it started lightning and we sought refuge in a little bathroom for 30 minutes smoked some cigs then headed up in the Roan highlands. We were meeting everyone at overmountain shelter which we were a long way from, we hiked until 1030 that night and surprised the hell out of everyone there. we all ate dogs laughed our asses off and tried our best to dry our completely saturated shoes. PURE JOY.
Solsbury Hill (left) and Mr. Brown in the Grayson Highlands. "20 minutes after we left our bathroom shelter when the lightning storm passed, that was our first view the whole day at anything. We walked like a 1/4 mile into the highlands and were amazed at this."
Describe your hardest day on the trail.
For me it was right outside of Pearisburg at the next shelter. It was when i had that damn dog ginger and i had to face the fact that I had to let my friends go on and figure out how to get rid of the dog. I got really depressed and mad at myself for the rest of that day. It all turned out okay, i went to "the captain's" where Hot Pants Michael Moore and Chief showed up and waited with me for a couple days until my brother came to take the dog home. He drove us to 4 pines hostel (yellow blazed like 40 miles) where we had an amazing time my little bro slept in a hostel when to the Homeplace restaurant and then us four would go to Mcafees knob, tinker cliffs and so on to Daleville.
Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
At the end in the 100 wilderness i really was tired of it all and wanted it to be over. I wouldnt say i wanted to "quit" but definitely wanted to be done. Ghost Smoke told me very early on what a lady told him when he was in Georgia and she said " If you ever feel like quitting, just give it a week. " which made me laugh, its like " damn! i gotta give it a week? holy fuck" which it was awesome advice.
How did you prepare for your hike?
I prepared very poorly, I didn't have a clue what i was doing. We have a really nice trail in my hometown that a lot of people use to prepare for the AT so i hiked that a bunch, did a little research and brought way too much shit like everyone else.
Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
I stay in contact with a lot of them and talk to them very often. I miss them all dearly and cherish the moments we all had together. There will never be a nicer, more loving group of people i could possibly find.
Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Yes absolutely! I am in the process of saving for the PCT for this spring of 2014. I can almost comfortably say it is almost come to fruition.
Would you thru-hike the AT again?
Yes I will redo the AT later in life but no time soon.
Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Don't take it for granted, take plenty of pictures, save your money, and enjoy it while you can.
For me it was right outside of Pearisburg at the next shelter. It was when i had that damn dog ginger and i had to face the fact that I had to let my friends go on and figure out how to get rid of the dog. I got really depressed and mad at myself for the rest of that day. It all turned out okay, i went to "the captain's" where Hot Pants Michael Moore and Chief showed up and waited with me for a couple days until my brother came to take the dog home. He drove us to 4 pines hostel (yellow blazed like 40 miles) where we had an amazing time my little bro slept in a hostel when to the Homeplace restaurant and then us four would go to Mcafees knob, tinker cliffs and so on to Daleville.
Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
At the end in the 100 wilderness i really was tired of it all and wanted it to be over. I wouldnt say i wanted to "quit" but definitely wanted to be done. Ghost Smoke told me very early on what a lady told him when he was in Georgia and she said " If you ever feel like quitting, just give it a week. " which made me laugh, its like " damn! i gotta give it a week? holy fuck" which it was awesome advice.
How did you prepare for your hike?
I prepared very poorly, I didn't have a clue what i was doing. We have a really nice trail in my hometown that a lot of people use to prepare for the AT so i hiked that a bunch, did a little research and brought way too much shit like everyone else.
Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
I stay in contact with a lot of them and talk to them very often. I miss them all dearly and cherish the moments we all had together. There will never be a nicer, more loving group of people i could possibly find.
Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Yes absolutely! I am in the process of saving for the PCT for this spring of 2014. I can almost comfortably say it is almost come to fruition.
Would you thru-hike the AT again?
Yes I will redo the AT later in life but no time soon.
Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Don't take it for granted, take plenty of pictures, save your money, and enjoy it while you can.
Solsbury on the iconic McAfee Knob.
