Hiking the AT
(“Battle Hymn of the Republic”)
Conquered Georgian mountains in just t-shirts and shorts
Then the rain came pouring down and caused us all to frown
But we kept hiking on…
Refrain
Hiking, hiking on the Appalachian Trail
Hiking, hiking on the Appalachian Trail
Hiking, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, in sun, wind, rain and hail!
We started our second state and it began to snow
Trudging up the steep slick slopes with no switchbacks to show
Then ice chunks started falling as the wind began to blow
And we kept hiking on…
Amid the rain we climbed up in the Smokies National Park
Wading through waist deep snow, we got completely soaked
And every night in shelters it got real cold after dark
And we kept hiking on…
After Hot Springs we hiked into the sweltering heat
Sweat was dripping down us from our heads to our feet
Our packs were heavy with the food that we were gonna eat
And we kept hiking on…
We trekked across Roan Mountain’s grassy balds in the sun
More than three hundred miles on the trail we’d done
Enjoying panoramic views in every direction
And we kept hiking on…
In Tennessee, state number three, into the spring we hiked
Along a long flat ridge called the Tennessee Turnpike
While many tried the Damascus Dash I still had a good food cache
And so I moseyed on…
We crossed into Virginia at the start of April
We’d hiked four-sixty miles across the many hills
But VA is the longest state, 500 miles will kill
So we kept hiking on…
The scenic VA highlands where the wild ponies graze
They’d lick your hands and arms and legs, they were so salt crazed
A grassy trail but Fatman’s Squeeze—the rocks were quite a maze
And still we hiked on…
Virginia’s trail, it tracked along the tops of many a ridge
In valleys climbing stiles into cow pasturidge
Crossing streams and rivers there always is a bridge
And we kept hiking on…
I slack-packed parallel to the Blue Ridge Parkway
The trail was well graded and my pack had little weight
A home-cooked meal awaited me to end every day
And so I hiked on…
Pennsylvania's trail had lots and lots of rocks
Halfway to Maine, but we weren't allowed to gawk
Along the ridges soared up high many a large hawk
And so we stumbled on...
New Jersey and New York had a rocky ridgeline
Maintainers had not been out yet in states 8 and 9
We passed at least one deli every day so we felt fine
And still we hiked on....
Lyrics By Emily Zimmermann
Tune by William Steffe
Rock and Roll!
ReplyDeleteI remember years ago hiking the Mahoosuc Range with Em and staying at I think Trident Col because we didn't want to pay the AMC dues to sleep in their rich-man's playground (I mean White Mountains). Or should I say White Collar Mountains? And I am not just referring to the megalomaniac "huts" they've built in the alpine zones of the Presidentials, but every lean-to, privvy and tent site has a profiteering scalper there to charge you admission. Oh wait, isn't the AT corridor a National Park, owned by all us taxpayers?
But I digress...we stayed at Trident Col with a fellow who carried a homemade banjo, made from a large Royal Dansk butter cookie tin, with a board attached for a neck. The lid of the tine fit over the bottom to protect the strings and the bridge.