Rattlesnakes poised to strike, swarms of biting mosquitos and biting black flies, dehydration, crossing streams four- to five-feet high without assistance, moose and lots of deer.

Greeneville resident John Stone has seen that and miles of almost indescribable, breathtaking mountain views in his months-long hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Stone, who turned 20 while hiking the trail in September, began his journey on June 6 at Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

He said he hopes to complete the entire length of the trail by Nov. 14, on Springer Mountain in northern Georgia.

As of Oct. 17, when he got off the trail at Roan Mountain, Stone had hiked approximately 1,700 miles of the trail with about 475 miles left to go.

Stone graduated from Greeneville High School in the spring, where he had attended two years. Before that, he was home-schooled.

Born in Jacksonville, N.C., Stone said he has lived in Greeneville with his parents, Dr. Coy and Georgia Stone, since 1999.

They currently reside on Heritage Hills Drive. He has three brothers and two sisters. His sister, Sarah, and brother, Daniel, also live with his parents.

Stone was in Greeneville this week to take a break from hiking the trail and to enjoy his mother's home-cooked meals, which he admits longing for over the past four-and-one-half months of his trek.

This Sunday, Stone plans to return to the trail on Roan Mountain -- after having attended two University of Tennessee football games.

Stone said the first 400 miles he hiked, from Maine to New Hampshire, are considered the most difficult part of the Appalachian Trail (AT), along with parts of the Smoky Mountains.

"The Smokies are definitely one of the hardest (stretches) of the trail, but Maine was harder. It's really wet up there," Stone said in interviews with a Greeneville Sun reporter.

He said he certainly didn't plan it, but he began his hike in Maine at the peak of the season for mosquitos and black flies.

He said he hiked the first 12 days unprepared for the swarms, without insect repellent. He said he counted 150 bites on each of his hands before he received relief with the repellent.

He said small white splotches of paint called "white blazes" on trees mark the trail every 100 feet.

However, he said, he and other hikers waded through rivers or treams the trail crosses, though usually they were no more than two feet deep.

At some points, however, a river was four- to five-feet deep. "Those were a little insane," Stone said.

Fortunately, Stone is tall. Very tall.

The former GHS basketball player towers at 6 feet, 8 inches. In fact, he said he had to have a seven-foot long sleeping bag custom-made for the adventure.

His trail name, appropriately enough, is "Long John." Everyone on the AT uses trail names, Stone said.

"I met a lot of northbounders and a lot of weekenders," Stone said -- about 700 or 800, he estimated.

Almost all were headed in the opposite direction, from south to north, Stone said. He said his decision to go in the opposite direction was a less-common one among hikers of the AT. He said part of his decision was based on his desire to spend the fall months further south, where it is warmer, and hike up north before the trail closes for snowy weather.

Very early into his hike, Stone made friends with Nathan Karcz, 21, who grew up near the Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia. Karcz has been staying with him at Stone's parents' house in Greeneville this week.

Stone and Karcz -- trail name, "Casey Jones" -- often hiked a mile ahead or behind, at their own pace, in part so each could individually enjoy the special solitude and beauty along the trail. They would then meet up again at appointed times and in the evening, usually in a lean-to shelter close to the trail.

Stone was familiar with the AT as it passes close to his home, hiking usually for day-trips and weekends as a teenager with local Boy Scout Troop 46 that meets at Towering Oaks Baptist Church.

"I had been on the trail in Hot Springs, Roan Mountain and Erwin," Stone said.

He said he had dreamed of hiking the entire trail for years before he began this summer.

"I always intended to do the whole trail" once he started, Stone said.

The trail was "definitely harder" in Maine than he had expected, he said.

Instead of switchbacks that make ascending and descending a mountain a more gradual, back-and-forth, easier trek, the first 400 miles of the trail from Maine to New Hampshire go straight up and down many mountains the trail traverses.

"It takes a lot more out of you going constantly up and down," Stone recalled. Climbing rocks of all sizes was tough, he said, especially when rain makes them slippery.

He said the "prettiest" parts of the trail were also in Maine and New Hampshire when he was above the treeline. "At night I could see all the stars," Stone recalled.

He said every four to five days, the two men would get off the trail and into a nearby town to resupply, do laundry and stay in a hostel or other lodging.

He said he budgeted $4,000 for the trip, but so far, for food, lodging and equipment replacement costs, he said he has spent close to $6,000.

"I plan on getting a Hope Scholarship" when he enters college, Stone said. He said he will try to get into the University of Tennessee.

Despite dreaming and planning for the trip, Stone said he only committed to embark on his adventure two weeks before he flew up to Maine in June with his mother, who then rented a car and drove to the starting point of the AT.

"I definitely appreciate the outdoors and nature more being out there a long time," Stone summarized.

He added, "It's made me want to spend more of my time out in nature and not consider material stuff like video games."