Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is based on his 1996 hike along the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz. It’s an excellent book with a good mix of Bryson’s dry humor and the history, ecology and geology of the trail.

This article takes a look and Bryson’s calendar skills. Specifically the correlation between day of the week and the number of days they hiked. It appears that Bill did not keep the best of records.

Saturday March 9th
“The date was March 9, 1996. We were on our way.” This is the first day of their hike. The start at Amicalola Falls and hiked to Springer Mountain. A quick check of the calendar confirms that March 9, 1996 was indeed a Saturday.

Sunday March 10th

Monday March 11th

Tuesday March 12th
“On the fourth evening we met a friend.” He also says that they had hiked about 8.4 miles beginning at Gooch Gap. The distance and number of days is just right given their hiking abilities.

Wednesday March 13th
“We labored four miles up and over Blood Mountain.” While this makes no reference to the date, it does confirm their location, which is consistent with their prior days finishing location. They hike about an hours walk beyond the Walasi-Yi Inn and camped.

Thursday March 14th

Friday March 15th
“It was two nights later. We were camped at a lofty spot called Indian Grave Gap, between two brooding summits-the one tiring to recollect, the other dispiriting to behold. We had hiked twenty two miles in two days-a highly respectable distance for us.”

Saturday March 16th
They hiked out at Dicks Creek Gap where the highway leads north eleven miles to Hiawassee. “They dropped us at Mull’s Motel in Hiawassee” where the spent the night.

Sunday March 17th
“In the morning we breakfasted at Hardees across the street and paid for a taxi to take us back to the trail.” This is the same morning that the met a man who told them “Supposed to snow.”

Monday March 18th

Tuesday March 19th
“The skies grew sullen and the air chillier, but it wasn’t until the third day that the snow came.” I make the assumption that this is the “third day.” That is, Sunday is the first day, Monday the second day and Tuesday the third day. It could be argued that Wednesday is the third day, but it seems like a weak argument and the distances traveled are about right considering their hiking speed.

Bryson tells us that the snow was coming down in a “tempest” as they crossed “a narrow ledge of path along a wall of rock called Big Butt Mountain” and that “It took us over two hours to cover six-tenths of a mile of trail. Clearly this was not a high mileage day. Later that day they went around Albert Mountain and stayed the night at Big Spring Shelter.

Given that the distance from Dicks Creek Gap to Big Spring Shelter is 31.1 miles and the fact that hikers often stay in or near shelters at night because of the water located there, it’s possible to guess where they stayed each day and approximately how far they hiked. When they started back on the trail at Dicks Creek Gap, they were clean, rested and well fed from having spent at night in town. They probably hiked about 11.8 mikes to Muskrat Creek Shelter and camped there on Sunday Night. They would then have hiked about 12.5 miles to Carter Gap Shelter on Monday. This would leave them with 6.8 miles to Big Spring Shelter on Tuesday.

This works out well and fits their hiking speed, but there’s one small problem. They are hiking out of Big Spring Shelter on March 21st.

That being the case, they probably hiked 8.8 miles to Bly Gap on Sunday. (Bly gap is a nice clearing and an unofficial camp sight with water sources. It’s also where one leaves Georgia and enters North Carolina.) They would then have hiked 7.7 miles on Monday to Standing Indian Shelter. Another 7.6 miles on Tuesday would bring them to Carter Gap Shelter. Leaving the 6.8 miles to Big Spring Shelter on Wednesday.

Wednesday March 20th

Thursday March 21st
“Hey, you know what day it is?” said Jim suddenly, and seeing our blank faces, supplied the answer: “March twenty-first.” They hiked to Old 64, also known as Wallace Gap, where a highway that runs through the mountains. Jim and Heath offered them a ride to Rainbow Springs campground where they stayed the night.

Friday March 22nd
“We spent a wretched night in our bunks”… “Then came word that an industrious youth named Zack from one of the cabins had somehow gotten to Franklin and rented a minivan and was offering to take anyone to town for $5.” So Friday night is spent in Franklin. They spent a few days in Franklin where Katz was living in a life of luxury and watching TV.

Saturday March 23rd
Their first night in Franklin and, presumably the first afternoon in Franklin.

Sunday March 24th

Monday March 25th
Bryson writes, “Late on the third afternoon … I realized I had to get out of Franklin. Twenty minutes later I announced to Katz that we were returning to the trail in the morning.” Katz replied “But it’s X-Files on Friday.”

Now this is where it gets confusing. I interpret “Late on the third afternoon” to be Monday. This assumes that Saturday, their first day in Franklin, is afternoon number one. Sunday is afternoon two and Monday is afternoon three.

Tuesday March 26th
An argument can be made that they arrived in Franklin late on Saturday and therefore the first afternoon in Franklin was Sunday. This would make Tuesday the “third afternoon.”

If the above is not the case, then Tuesday is the day they left Franklin.

Wednesday March 27th
If Tuesday is the third afternoon, then Wednesday is the day they left Franklin.

Thursday March 28th

Friday March 29th
Bryson writes, “For two days Katz barely spoke to me. One the second night at nine o’clock…” and Katz informs Bryson that “it’s 9 PM-time for X-Files.” Since Katz has previously told us that X-Files is on Friday, then this must be Friday.

“On the second night” implies that Thursday was the first night and therefore the day they left Franklin. Having read all of the above, this cannot be correct. The correlation between the day of the week and the number of days Bryson says they have been hiking is off by one day at best but more likely two days. These extra two days, or one day, as the case may be, will come in handy in just a moment.

Saturday March 30th

Sunday March 31st Bryson writes “Late on the morning of the fourth day after leaving Franklin…” and later tells us that they had reached the Smokies. “Dusk was settling in when we reached Birch Spring Gap Shelter.”

Birch Spring Gap Shelter is about 5.5 miles from Fontana Dam Shelter. (There is no longer a shelter at Birch Spring Gap, but it’s still a designated camping site.) The distance from Old 64 to Birch Spring Gap is 65.3 miles. It’s a bit of a stretch to believe that Bryson and Katz hiked 65 miles in four days.

What is more likely is that they left Franklin on Tuesday thus giving them six days to travel the 65.3 miles from Old 64 to Birch Spring Gap. This would mean that when Bryson writes “For two days Katz barely spoke to me. One the second night at nine o’clock…” it should be four days.

Monday April 1st
“We walked 9.7 miles to Spence Field Shelter”.

Tuesday April 2nd

Wednesday April 3rd

Thursday April 4th

Friday April 5th