DESCRIPTION:
(Strummystick: April 11, 2016 at the Woods Hole Hostel - Pearisburg, VA)
Strummystick (AT Trail Name for Mike Carbonneau) brought his guitar with him on the trail. Everybody kept asking for "Wagon Wheel", but nobody seemed to really know the verses, so Strummystick came up with an AT version over several days of hiking. Here it is, performed with a happy group of AT Thru-Hikers (and Neville, the hostel owner, joining in. [front row right])

[Video shot by AT Hiker: "Lucky Duck"]


Trail Terms used in the song:
Angel: A person who dispenses "Trail Magic" to hikers.
Flip-Flop: Thru-hike the entire trail by moving around doing parts, still completing the entire trail within one year.
Green (blazing): A hiker term for the use of marijuana on the trail.
Guide: A variety of guides are published that give information to hikers as they traverse the AT.
"Hike Your Own Hike": (HYOH) A phrase hikers use to remind themselves that people pick their own way to approach the AT, and everybody's way of hiking should be respected.
Hostel: Hiking overnight accommadations of a simple, inexpensive variety, often in people's homes, that are usually frequented by the hiker community.
Magic: "Trail Magic" is the term coined for any unexpected benefit that comes to a hiker. "Angels" often set up at roadsides, feeding hikers or helping them with rides to resupply ....etc.
NOBO: Hiking on the trail in a Northbound direction.
Pink (blazing): A hiker term for trail romance, especially pertaining to women.
Section Hike: Do any sized section of the trail on a trip. (Strummystick was on a 400 mile, 41 day section hike in Virginia, from April 1st to May 11th [then he went down to the Trail Days Festival!])
Shelter: Simple shelters are constructed throughout the length of the trail, and hikers can stay in them overnight as they move along.
Slackpack: Hike without a full pack.
SOBO: Hiking the trail in a Southbound direction
Thru-hike: Hike the entire AT within one calendar year.
White (blazes): White blazes are painted on trees to clearly mark the way of the trail.
Yellow (blazing): A hiker term for leaving the trail and spending time on the public roads ..... (which often have yellow lines)


Lyrics - Wagon Wheel:Appalachian Trail Verses
Chorus by Bob Dylan [1971?]
AT verses by "Strummystick" (Mike Carbonneau) [April 2016]
[Earlier verses have been written by "Old Crow Medicine Show" and a recent country hit of their version has been covered by Darius Rucker]

(Appalachian Trail Verses written below ..... [Updated at a later time - the video was shot on the first day that the song was sung, so some changes were made.)

Some folks wanna live in mansions grand, but I was born to love the wild woods and walk across the land,
Over mountains, through valleys, in the wind, rain, and hail,
To rock with Mother Earth on the Appalachian Trail,
It's a couple thousand miles, from Georgia to Maine,
You can Thru-Hike, Flip Flop, ya hike it all the same,
You can section hike, slackpack, any way you like,
Just get offa that couch, and hike your own hike.

Chorus: (Bob Dylan)
Rock me Mama like a wagon wheel,
Rock me Mama any way you feel,
Hey .... Mama rock me,
Rock me Mama in the wind and the rain,
Rock me Mama like a Southbound train,
Hey ... Mama rock me.

So I went downtown to where the gear was sold,
It took a lotta gold, but they lightened up my load,
So I could sleep in a shelter, a hostel or a town,
Or throw my bag in a tent on the ground,
When I started on the Trail, I moved kinda slow,
My nose was in the guide so I could find a place to go,
I took my water from the mountain streams,
Did my laundry every month, 'cause its good to look clean,

Chorus:

Stuck in the muck like a wheel in a rut, rockin back and forth with a pain in my gut,
But there's an angel up ahead where the trail meets the road,
Givin' me the majic that'll help me bear my load,
I found a few friends, we said we'd hike it on through,
We bagged white blazes but we stopped for the views,
We stayed away from yellow, threw away the green,
We was a huffin' puffin' train, We was a walkin' machine,
I looked for some lovin', 'cause hikin' love is true,
Pinked with Mama Sue till we turned black and blue,
The trail rocked us East and the trail rocked us West.
But it's NOBO and SOBO that we rocked the best,

Chorus: