Thank You

Mercer University recently featured me in a great new series called Beyond the Bear, which focuses on cool things faculty and staff members do outside of the classroom. Thank you, Mercer, for allowing me to share my story! Check it out below:

Dirty Rotten Liar's Thruhike Video!

Hello Friends!

I have created a video of my thruhike. Nothing can beat reading the blog for the full experience, but I think this is a close second. Watch in high quality. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sex5nomx5ZU

-- Dirty Rotten Liar

Days 188-189 (The Final Post)

My name is Dirty Rotten Liar. 

For the last 189 days, I have trekked more than 2,189 miles across 14 states on the Appalachian Trail. I have hiked through rain, and I have hiked through snow. I have hiked through 20 degree blistering cold, and I have hiked through 90 degree sweltering heat. I've walked through the streets of New York City, and kayaked across rivers, and even stayed with a cult for a few days. I have had incredible days, and I have had days so difficult that I thought about quitting and going home.

Today, on December 22nd, I completed my journey. This will be my 89th and final post.

I can't tell you exactly what happened in the last two days leading up to my summit of Springer Mountain, the very end of the Appalachian Trail. Everything from those past two days is blurry. All I know is that the miles simply slid away as I spent much of my time in quiet thought, reflecting on the last six months of my life that I've spent in the woods. 

And all of a sudden, on December 22nd, I was there. One mile away from Springer Mountain. It was a dreary, quiet day. I was alone on the Trail. I turned off my music-- I wanted to be fully present for this moment. I walked the final mile of the Appalachian Trail very slowly, making sure to take it all in and cherish each of my final steps. I had walked over five million steps in order to get to this moment.

And then there I was, standing on top of Springer Mountain, with the final white blaze of the Appalachian Trail next to my feet. It was.... nice. 

But it didn't really feel like an ending. 

There were no tears. There was no grand feeling of elation at having completed something so difficult. 

You see, I had made the decision long ago to hike the extra 8.9 miles of the AT Approach Trail down to the parking lot of Amicalola Falls State Park, home of the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi. 604 steps wind their way down Amicalola Falls to a large stone archway that marks the beginning of the Approach Trail. That was where most northbound hikers begin their journey, and that was where my true ending would be.

Therefore, standing on Springer Mountain was nice, but it wasn't actually the end of my journey.

I zoomed down the Approach Trail, and when I hit the beginning of the 604 steps in the final mile of my journey, that was when it finally hit me: I was done. The only thing left was 604 steps and a short walk to the archway. My victory lap.

I walked down several flights of stairs and stood on the bridge in front of the majestic Amicalola Falls, marveling at its incredible beauty and watching the water cascading down the rocks.

People who had walked up from the parking lot joined me on the bridge, laughing and taking selfies on their phone. They were wearing jeans and cotton t-shirts, a stark contrast from the dirty, disheveled hiker next to them. But we did have one thing in common: we would all be going home tonight. 

Nobody questioned my backpack, nobody asked me where I had come from, and I didn't care to offer any conversation. This was a moment for me to enjoy alone. 

I left Amicalola Falls and followed the remaining steps downward to the final .3 miles of the Trail.

And that was when all of the pent up emotions within me finally broke through to the surface. 

Remember the scene at the end of Pursuit of Happiness where Will Smith walks through the crowded streets crying because he finally achieved something he had been striving toward for so long? That was me. Tears brimmed my eyes as finally, after so many years, the stone archway of the end of the Approach Trail came into sight, marking the end of a dream I have thought about for over 10 years, and the beginning of the next great chapter of my life. On the other end of the archway stood my parents, clapping and cheering. I crossed the archway, and overwhelmed by emotion, my knees buckled. My father caught me and hugged me. I cried like a baby. My Appalachian Trail journey was over, and what an incredible journey it had been. It was time to go home.

Of course, my parents made me throw all of my smelly gear into thick garbage bags the second we got to the car. I'm surprised they didn't wear HAZMAT suits.

Yes, that's my mom, cringing away from her poor son, right after he had hiked over 2000 miles just to see her. She definitely wasn't cringing because I was waving my putrescent boots in her face or anything.

There are many things about the Appalachian Trail that I will miss. I will miss the innumerable beautiful sunsets and jaw-dropping views that I had been blessed to have the opportunity to witness. 

I will miss hitchhiking into and out of towns and meeting the most incredibly interesting, strange, kind, and unique characters. 

I will miss the genuine peace and serenity that only nature can provide. 

I will miss the amazing and selfless kindness shown toward me by strangers who quickly became close friends. Extra special shoutout to the Dresser family, who went far out of their way to take care of me and treat me like a member of their own family. I will always cherish that amazing dinner we had together.

I will miss my fellow hikers, with whom I've shared my blood, sweat, and tears with, and who shared their blood, sweat and tears with me for the last 2,189.2 miles. 

All of these people, all of these experiences, helped turn this Trail into more than just a dirt path through the woods, but into the absolute adventure of a lifetime. And I'm sure that as I begin to transition back to the real world, there will be so many more things that I will miss about my six month little jaunt through the woods.

The Appalachian Trail taught me many lessons, about how to be a truly good person, and how to be fully present in the moment, and how good things typically happen the more we step outside of our comfort zone and say "yes" to various opportunities instead our letting fear guide our hearts. It taught me lessons about how hard work and dedication always pays off, even if you can't always see the end result. It taught me lessons about struggle, and how struggle truly makes you stronger. But, more than anything, the Appalachian Trail taught me that the most important parts of life, beyond wealth, beyond power, beyond our own success-- the most important parts of life are the people we allow to share our life's adventure with us and the wonderful memories we make with them. 

I would like to thank everyone who called, wrote such kind letters, sent messages, came and visited, fed me, and just overall sent me so much love and encouragement over the last six months. You shined light on me during my darkest moments, and it was because of you guys that the completion of this dream was made possible. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I would like to leave you with a song from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, song by Bilbo and Frodo at different times throughout the course of their own epic journey:

The road goes ever on and on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

The road goes ever on and on,

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone,

Turn at last to home afar.

The road goes ever on and on,

Down from the road where it began,

Now far away the road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey now begin,

But I at last with weary feet,

Will turn toward the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Farewell, everyone. Thank you for reading. It's been the absolute adventure of a lifetime.

And that, my friends, is the damn dirty rotten truth.

Sincerely,

Josh Gaisser
AKA
Dirty Rotten Liar
Appalachian Trail Thruhiker '15

Days 184-187

You never know what can happen in life. One second, I'm sticking my thumb out at Unicoi Gap, hoping to hitch a ride 12 miles into Hiawassee, my final town stop.

Ten minutes later, I find myself in the hospital.

But don't be alarmed! I'm fine. The man who picked me up turned out to be a radiologist. I smelled so terrible that he called the hospital and had his assistants book me a room so I could take a free shower. Thanks.... I think!

Unfortunately, Hiawassee was deceptively larger than I was expecting, and I found myself quite far away from the Dollar General where I planned on resupplying. I ended up having to walk the 2.5 miles there because absolutely nobody wanted to pick me up. I ended up creating a song about my misfortune:

Everyone's got places to go, and people to see

So nobody loves me in Hiawassee

I begin touring next month.

Anyway, I finally make it back to the Trail and get some hiking in. I'm feeling great, and decide to skip this shelter and hike to the next one, an extra 5 miles further than what I had originally intended. 

Bad plan.

After an hour or so, night falls, the wind begins blowing fiercely, the temperature plummets, and I quickly realize that this was a terrible idea. I turn on my headlamp to begin night hiking, and my headlamp chooses this terribly timed moment to crap out on me and stop working. Thankfully, it's simply a battery issue, and I am eventually able to warm the batteries up enough to be able to get them working again.

I finally stagger to where the next shelter should be, grateful to be out of the biting wind in a few minutes. And that's when misfortune number twelve thousand hits me for that day.

You see, most shelters are within .1 - .3 miles of the Trail itself. Some are even located directly on the Trail itself. This shelter was located 1.2 miles off the Trail. It was the most distant shelter on the entire AT. There are entire TOWNS located closer to the AT than 1.2 freaking miles. 

Screw that, I guess I'm braving the wind.

I night-hike for another 3 miles before I eventually find a spot relatively sheltered from the wind. Grateful, I set up camp and crawl into my sleeping bag. It dropped down to a frothy 20 degrees. 

Andddd that's when the wind decided to change direction in the middle of the night and began violently gusting directly against my tent. My tent pole broke in half (again) and the entire tent collapsed on me, the walls battering against me. I run out into the cold to fix the tent poles. It breaks again 30 seconds later. The tent falls in on me, and I'm too defeated to fight it. 

"Just close your eyes, go to your happy place, and eventually sunlight will come around," I thought to myself. 

Suffice to say, it was a miserable night. I felt like the Trail had betrayed me on one of my final nights out here.

But as I awoke and stepped out of my shitty tent to witness a beautiful sunrise over the surrounding mountains, I realized that the Trail was merely giving me one final test-- and I passed. 

I smiled, soaking it all in, and began walking back to my tent to pack it up and prepare for today-- andddd slipped on a patch of ice, flew off of my feet, and landed flat on my back. 

"Okay," I thought, as I laid on the ground staring up at the sky, "NOW I passed the final test."

My tent was still drunk from the night before.

Thankfully in the ebbs and flows of life, everything always works out in the end. When I reached Neel Gap that morning, an awesome visitor came by and swooped me off to Knoxville for the night. 

Hi again Lightning! She loves pictures.

We had an awesome time in Knoxville, including an epic Punch Brothers concert and a dirty old man named Herbie, who tried to teach us sage life advice:

Josh: "So what is the one piece of life advice you would give to two mid-20s young whippersnappers?"

Herbie: "It's you, me, grass, or ass, baby."

Lightning: "Oh yeah? What does that mean?"

Herbie: "It's you, me, grass, or ass."

Lightning: "Yes, but what does it mean?"

Herbie: "It's you, me, grass, or ass!"

Lightning: ".......Still not quite following you here, Herbs." 

I tried to fit in and look like a normal human being, but I only ended up looking like the Unabomber. 

It was an excellent final vacation from my vacation. Thanks for being fantastic, Lightning. 

The next morning, Lightning dropped me back off at Neel Gap. Neel Gap is home to Mountain Crossings, most likely the most popular gear outfitter on the entire Trail-- after all, the Trail runs straight through their store. 

On the way home from the Georgia Housing Officers Conference this year, a few friends and colleagues from Georgia College and State University left some lovely trail magic for me at Mountain Crossings, including an AT pin, ice cream, a candy bar, and a nice note. Unfortunately, Mountain Crossings ended up misplacing the note, but it is the thought that counts. Thank you so much for thinking of me and wanting to leave some love, Matt and Desaree! I will wear the pin proudly.

As an outfitter, Mountain Crossings provides free gear shakedowns for hikers, and encourages them to wear lighter gear. The tree outside of the store is decorated with hundreds of pairs of heavy hiking boots discarded in favor of lighter trail runners that give less blisters.

Neel Gap is significant for another reason, as well. It is one of the first places a northbound thruhiker can get off the Trail to go home. At Neel Gap, almost 25% of intended thruhikers will quit. They have hiked a total of 30 miles at this point-- which means, for me, that I've hiked 2159 miles and only have 30 left to go. I left Neel Gap and hiked another 10 miles before setting up camp for the night. 

This morning, as I update this blog, it finally hit me: I only have 20 miles left to hike. I will officially finish the Appalachian Trail tomorrow. 

I've written 88 blog posts in the last 6 months. There will be only one more left to write: the grand finale.

Thank you all so much for walking with me on this journey. I'll see you on the other side, my friends.

-- Dirty Rotten Liar

Days 181-183

I have reached a new record, although not one I am particularly proud of.

I have officially not showered for the last 18 days straight. I haven't done laundry in 22 days. These numbers, and the fact that it has been relatively warm lately, have turned me into a walking, talking, scraggly-bearded septic tank. Flowers have begun to wilt when I walk past them. Birds flying happily through the air will suddenly drop dead when they enter the Bermuda Triangle of my stench. I no longer need to worry about mice at the shelters anymore because they all flee when they smell me coming, preferring to freeze to death in the woods rather than keep me company.

But other than that, life is good! I caught a nice view of the surrounding mountains on top of the fire tower on Albert Mountain, and officially have less than 100 miles to go! 70 miles left, to be exact. I am taking my time and truly enjoying this final week of hiking.

The southbound bubble behind me is beginning to catch up, as everyone has begun putting in big miles to make sure that they get home by Christmas. I've met Cheeseburglar and Soy Nuts recently, and am sure to meet a few more SOBOs before the week is over.

I ate lunch with a great hiker named Wildcat. Wildcat is a triple-crowner, meaning he has hiked all three of the long distance trails in America-- the AT, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. He is finishing up a southbound flip-flop hike this year on the AT. Wildcat is also a Trail Chaplain, which means he is commissioned by a church to hike the Appalachian Trail and provide emotional and spiritual guidance and encouragement to hikers out in the wilderness. He was a really cool dude, and I truly enjoyed our conversation.

I officially crossed into Georgia today! My fourteenth and final state. I must admit, I did get teary-eyed when I saw the sign marking the boundary between North Carolina and Georgia. My two home states. I'm home.

I took a long lunch break at the NC/GA sign, and was fortunate to run into Tao again! He is feeling much better, but unfortunately has to hike big-mile days because of his plans to finish on the 19th. We said our farewells, as it is likely I won't see him again. Thanks for the awesome memories, Tao! Hot Springs just won't be the same without you. 

I'm still in disbelief that this time next week, I will be back in the real world again. Updating my resume as I begin my search for a job. Driving my car through the streets, covering in 15 minutes what it typically took me all day to hike. Drinking water out of a faucet instead of out of a stream. Learning to pee in a toilet again instead of wherever and whenever I want. Aw, man...

But honestly, I simply cannot wait to wear normal clothing and sit in the nice, large recliner in the living room, relaxing as I  drink coffee and watch movies with my family. I'm excited for a real bed to sleep in, and for the opportunity to take a shower whenever I want to. It'll probably take about 20 showers in a row for my armpits to actually smell clean again, considering I haven't worn deodorant for 6 months now. 

But most of all, I'm excited to actually see my friends and family again. I'm excited to hit up the bar with Frantz and jam out to whatever live band is playing at The Hummingbird. I'm excited to drink wine and play the Pig game with Chelsea and Nate and catch up on old times. I'm excited to visit Melissa in her office and laugh until we cry as we reminisce on hilarious memories. I'm excited to see all of my favorite Mercer students and staff members again and walk across the beautiful campus that was my home for three incredible years. I'm excited to see Janelle and Katie and Ben and Peter and Brett and so many of my old friends again from all walks of life. I'm excited to celebrate Christmas with my wonderful family who has been so incredibly supportive and encouraging through this entire journey. One of the most important lessons that the Appalachian Trail has taught me is that it's the people in your life that turn your life's journey, your life's "trail", into an incredible and unforgettable experience. Without them, your trail is simply just another dirt path in the woods.

There are many things about the Appalachian Trail that I will miss. But that's enough reflection for now. I still have 70 miles to hike, after all. This journey isn't over quite yet.

Six more days. Onward we go.

-- Dirty Rotten Liar

Days 178-180

Today is Day 180, which means I have officially been hiking on the Trail for over six months now. I've spent over half of 2015 living in the woods. Yowza!

The next day after Fontana Village, I hiked with Tao for a little while longer before he was seized by some pretty intense stomach pains. He got off Trail at the next road crossing in order to get to a doctor. He texted me later with an update. His suspicions were confirmed-- He had giardia. Eek. Not enough to call it quits, but enough to knock you off the Trail for a few days. He's about 20 miles behind me now, but he's a much faster hiker than myself, so I'm sure I'll see him again. 

I reached the Nantahala Outdoor Center the next day, which is a huge complex with two restaurants, lodging, and an outfitter. I asked if I can hang out and charge my phone for a bit, and they said "Sure! Also, we have some leftover pancakes and eggs from the army troop that just left for morning training, so feel free to help yourself!" Heck yes! 

Today was a very special day, because my good friend Justin came out to hike with me for a bit! Before the Trail, Justin was my go-to hiking partner for years. Every summer, we'd do a weekend trip up to Grandfather Mountain and get our asses kicked by the terrain up there. It was awesome to have him join me for part of my Appalachian Trail journey. We had fantastic 70 degree weather today, so it was a great day for him to join!

We started off by taking our traditional yearly adventure photo-- him taking a photo of me while I take a photo of him. We have at least one of these photos from every Spring Break we've been on, a few bachelor parties, weddings, and so forth and so on, dating back almost 9 years now. Now, we have one for the Trail!

Justin was a kick-ass Trail Angel. He brought lunch for us, and even carried my pack for a few miles. That's a great friend right there! We caught a good view about 4.5 miles up, and that's when Justin had to turn around and go back because he had plans later that evening in Asheville.

He was pretty beat by the end of it.

Thanks for joining me on the Trail, Justin! It really meant a lot for you to come out here and hike with me for a bit. See you and Sarah soon!

After Justin hiked back, I hiked another 9 miles to Cold Gap Shelter for the night. The next day was a solid day of hiking-- I actually got up around 6 AM, and was out on the Trail by 7:30 AM, which was one of the earliest times I've ever begun hiking-- typically I roll out of shelters around 9 AM. The sun was still creeping out through the trees when I began hiking.

M

I caught a spectacular view at the Wayah Bald Lookout Tower, built in memoriam of a local Forest Supervisor who had unfortunately died young. 

Mountains on mountains on mountains. 

Currently in Franklin, NC. I was just picked up in the rain by a wonderful woman named Peggy. She is a retired high school chemistry teacher, which is perfect because she completely reminded me of Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus-- positive, exuberant, and full of life and energy. She was amazing! Thank you so much for the ride, Peggy!

Hanging out in Mcdonalds right now, waiting out the storm. This will be my second-to-last town stop. After tomorrow, I will have less than 100 miles to go!

But don't stop reading quite yet, because I'm sure there are many more adventures to come in this final week... including the return of Lightning!

Stay tuned!

-- Dirty Rotten Liar