The End.

Mt. Katahdin

We had learned the Appalachian Trail parallels life. It has

peaks and valleys,

joys and sorrows,

exhilarating times and ordinary times,

sunshine and rain,

laughter and tears,

healing and pain,

and, as in life,

the trail has a beginning and an end.

Likewise, the end is a new beginning.

—MADELAINE CORNELIUS,

Katahdin with Love: An Inspirational Journey, 1991

Here I sit after being home for almost a week. I haven't felt much like writing but I don't want to wait too long, for the details start to slip away. I still crack my ankles and flex my feet whenever I'm not standing on them; a habit I developed on the trail because my feet would be so stiff at night it would wake me up from slumber. It's been strange to not wake up every morning and pull my sleeping bag around my ears while hearing Gouda greeting his dog Taba, "Good morning! Oh Taba bear! Where's Kaya? Go get Kaya!" We will probably all miss the little things, and the companionship, for a long time. Enough of that.

The 100 mile wilderness was started off by a great stay at Shaw's Hostel in the town of Monson; a gift to our group (Gouda, Savannah, Snack and myself) from my Mother. We ended up staying there 3 nights with one zero day and one slack pack day. Monson was perfectly quaint and full of gems. There was another hostel in town, The Lakehouse, that many hikers stayed at and we all walked back in forth between the two hanging out with each other. There were tons of hikers there- some I hadn't seen in months. This is where we learned that the scary "100 mile wilderness" could be slack packed. This means that it's not so much of a wilderness because there are roads, they may be logging roads, but they are there. We ignored them and kept up with our original plan: onward with heavy packs full of 7 days of food.

The 100 mile wilderness truly was beautiful and being there during Maine's peak of fall leaves didn't hurt. It was quite cold though, and the weather reports threatened a lot of rain. Up until this week I had never really cried. I made up for that. One unforgettable moment involves a stressful river ford. I was ahead of everyone else and came up to this beautiful river that looked treacherous to cross. It had rained ALL day the previous day and I hiked almost 20 miles without stopping just to make it to the end of the day as soon as possible. We were still waiting for the promised "beautiful weather forecast" to come out. I was determined to not get wet again. I attempted crossing multiple times, always returning to find a new strategy. It took over 20 minutes but i finally walked upstream, took off my pants and strapped everything to my pack. I got across without slipping into the current and soaking everything I owned. I decided the dogs were going to need help, so I would sit and wait. When the others came they kept walking, turning to follow the trail alongside the river. "???!!!!" I had crossed and I didn't need to. Enter thin skin. At first it was funny, but soon I was alone and I urgently wanted to get back across. In my rush I tried to cross right there, with out looking for the best spot. I got stuck in the middle on a rock, to scared to try to reach the next one. I folded my arms to whimper and pout like a pitiful child. Current rushed around me. On cue, rain started pouring down on me. Somehow I reach the edge of the river and also the edge of my tolerance for amusement. I angrily charged into the woods in only my crocs, underwear and rain coat. I didn't care to stop for a second. All I could think about was the shelter 2 miles away and how I would have been there eating lunch, nice and dry, if I hadn't pulled this genius stunt. Gouda had stopped for something on the trail and looked up at me pushing by. I caught the confused look on his face and flashed him an angry look I'm sure. He was kind enough to not laugh then and there at me. We all laugh about it now, and it turns out I wasn't the only one to do that.

I almost forgot. We were often with these film makers from Germany who were making a documentary of the AT for German public television. Max and Rhiner were wonderful fellas but I was glad they didn't catch my 2 mile croc n' undie walk in the rain.

We reached Baxter State park and all there welcoming rules. The feeling seemed to be generally nostalgic. We were 8 miles away from Katahdin, the end we'd all been waiting for. No sooner had we bought snacks from a small camp store when a van pulled up to drop other hikers off from town. They announced that Katahdin was closed, that it had been closed for 2 days and it would be closed tomorrow. the news hit like a knife- this was not part of our plan. It was not even part of our flexible plan. We have schedules at this point, people have plane tickets, our beautiful timeless world was gone; time had been creeping in for weeks and we now felt it all at once.

We ended up waiting for two days. One night at the AT lodge in town and one night in the hotel with my Mom and Grandparents. The town of Milanauket seemed to have been suffering and shrinking for the last few years and hikers seemed to outnumber the townspeople and our numbers were growing daily. Everyone was restless. We made conspiracy jokes about the park closing the mountain just to keep us in town to boost the economy. We plotted to storm the mountain, after all, they couldn't catch and fine ($500 and up) all of us! In the end, some went home and most stayed. Maggie and I left with my family and headed home. 2 days later the weather on the mountain was safe enough and 48 thru-hikers finished together in glory. Snack and I got a call from Geoff after their final descent. As therapy for our own mixed emotions we named off all the hikers we figured were there together. We named 47.

So it is. It's not about the destination, but the journey, isn't that what we always say?

However, we will be there next summer, ready to summit those last 5 miles!

Moss covered floors.

One of our last days camping together- 100 mile wilderness. Gouda, Savannah, Snack, Geoff, Snap.

Lucky river crossing, there are rocks to hope across.

"The last dance with the devil" A feast at Mcdonalds. The green sweater and Richard Simmons pants are courtesy of the AT lodge: hiker clothes to where while your laundry is done.

Baxter State Park: various photographers are waiting to get there shots of moose.

Gouda jumping in some frigid water!

brrr!

Me in my prime.

Rainbow ledges.

Taba, on break.

Lunch!

Kick it, Cast away and Savannah near the end of tiring day.

The good life.
My mom glad to finally touch the trail!

Me (snack) registering as a thru-hiker at the ranger station.

The famous snack and snap.

Our "tribe."

Maine

I bravely entered the Mahoosuc mountains of southern Maine with ignorant thoughts that the hardest was over. Not only did the terrain become/continue to be more physically challenging, but the closer we knew we were to the end the more our mental strength waned. Maine was the brilliantly magical place we'd heard of. I was pained to not have my camera with me to attempt to capture what I fear my eyes won't remember. Here's some of the highlights:

The Mahoosuc Notch is known as the toughest mile of the trail. It took us a little over an hour to get through it but we know of some thru-hikers that spent 7 hours making their way. It's a notch filled with boulders that you climb over, under and through. It's tiring and it's fun. The extra bonus adventure was going through with 2 dogs, Taba and Kaya. It took some lifting, coaxing and throwing to get them through! After we managed that mile we had to tackle "the arm" which is a unique climb up a mountain on a sheet of wet rock that goes on forever. It's comparable to walking up a steep wet treadmill. Actually, it's not comparable to that at all, but it's the best I can do!

Andover/South Arm campground was a mini adventure. Maggie and I, for the first time, at the last of our food bag while we were still on the trail. We had the options of attempting a hitch on the light traffic road we were at or hike another day or two on the goodwill of our friends. We camped by the trail head which means we awoke to cars and early day hikers. We crossed our fingers and just like clockwork we met the wife of another hiker. She was there to pick some thru-hikers up but they weren't there so she offered us a ride. Knowing how much we appreciated her help (because of the kindness others have shown her husband along the way- and because she was a lovely generous woman) she gave us multiple rides that day. We ended up at South Arm campground where Gouda, Geoff and I made the MOST amazing sand city. I could go on about it for paragraphs. It had an expert mote, walls around the palaces and a wall around the city, multiple gardens, smaller homes for the meager townsfolk. Towers extending into the lake etc. Those hours on the beach in the sun would have been the best part of the day if it wasn't for Bruce. Bruce was our first moose. We saw him and stalked him for 20 minutes around the campground. Bruce (a big buck named by the campground owner) and I even stared into each others eyes for a good 30 seconds. We had a moment.

Riff Raff was not a hostel, but a friendly. A handful of young folks who thru-hiked the previous year and hadn't had enough all moved to Maine together where they worked random jobs and opened their home to hikers. I met my first hound dog, Arie, there. Elvis wasn't kidding, he wasn't nothing but a hound dog crying all the time.

One day we pushed on some extra miles to E. Carry pound. We found a charming campsite and the night was chilly enough to inspire Gouda and Savannah to make a fire. Everyone carried a melancholy spirit because we had unexpectedly split from Geoff. We were all independent hikers but we had stuck together as group for a long time and it was sometimes waring on us all. We would later connect back up in the 100 mile wilderness, but this night there was a cloud over our campsite. I wandered back 100 yards to a small sandy beach on on E. Carry Pond, it was dark and there was only the moon and one star in the sky. I waded into the silent fresh water and it for a few short minutes it seemed I was the only being on earth. Then, I dove in. Maggie later went for a solo swim as well. It was refreshing and healing for us both, at this point our skin was thinning from physical and mental exhaustion. The night ended on a good note, staring into the fire.

One day we decided to make our own extended trail. There were a few peaks that the AT skipped that some of us wanted to see. One of the peaks was Sugarloaf Mountain. Once upon a time the trail went up there but it was moved because of the ski resort. When we got to the top, we knew we were short on time and it was Savannah's birthday so we HAD to make town for dinner. We climbed down the ski slopes! It's not so easy! We ended up at the Stratton Motel, owned by another thru-hiker alumni. We had a giant feast at the diner across the street (compliments of Savannah's generous father) topped with a birthday song sung by the staff ( consisting of 2 women) and pie for the birthday boy. Showers, grocery store and back to the trail the next day.

The last big mountains we'd climb in Maine (besides Katahdin) were the Bigelow's. There was a spectacular ridge walk above treeline so your eyes have no limits to what they can see. The wind was blowing but the sun was bright and so were our spirits. The last peak was called Mt. Avery and we decided to cut our day short so we could cowboy camp (it was a no camping/alpine zone, so we were careful) for the last time above 4000 ft. We were lucky, many troublesome things could have happened considering we were completely exposed on the head of a mountain with no trees for wind coverage. We were lucky. The wind became completely still and we all snuggled into our chosen spots with the least amount of rocks (Gouda slept on the trail- the flattest spot). I fell asleep before the sun even set completely. I woke up looking into the widest, star stricken sky imaginable. Although it took my breath away I was soon asleep again. Sunrise woke up, I was staring into it from my sleeping bag on the ground. It had been the warmest night we had in weeks, and the day brought what felt like a warm front. Thank God.

The Kennebec River is nothing to be trifled with. The MATC is well aware that it's almost impossible to ford because of it's width and current. There isn't a bridge but there is a ferry- a canoe paddled by an eccentric fellow full of pride in his job. When he sees us get to the waters edge he paddles across. He paddles three times as hard as it seems he should to barely move the canoe- a deceiving current. We sign a waiver, cross the river and hurry to town (10 minutes away).

Caratunk will go down in history as holding the greatest birthday party of all time. My mother put together a birthday box for us to celebrate with Savannah on the trail. We also received a mail drop and we didn't want to carry everything out of town with us, so we did what anyone sensible would do. We sat on the stoop in front of the P.O. and had a birthday party complete with birthday hats, noise blowers, hostess cup cakes and candles, pirate plates, paper napkins, loads of silly candy (including an edible checkers game), and an easy delicious camping friendly meal of mash potatoes and chicken breast from the bag (ya know, like tuna in a bag). It was great. Happy day Savannah.

Kaya and Taba celebrating Savannahs birthday!

The post office party in Caratunk.

Road walking to Monson.

Reuniting with Keychain at the Lakehouse!

Big hiker gathering at the Lakehouse hostel bar and grill.

Mt. Washington

"Mt. Washington was big enough guys. Let's just go home."
- Gouda (Dave)

After the last posted photos I slipped and fell down a wet rock-face (it didn't hurt!) and my camera screen, once again, broke. I didn't have my camera back until I was almost through Maine. So, for this section I will have to depend on other's photos (later).

Our hiking experience in the rest of the White Mountains was a confusing blur of awe, emotion, exhaustion and glory.We heard the Whites were amazing and very difficult and they proved to exceed our imaginations of amazing and difficult. Aside from 2 soggy days we were blessed to see what the Whites had to offer with stunning clarity. If it hadn't happened yet, this was a place that took our breath away. It also brought some strange adventures for many of the hikers. Thru-hikers are people almost in their right mind. After being out here for so long you do things that sound a little out of the box to you and just down right ludicrous to everyone else. For example: Sampson and Nest summiting Mt. Washington at night with below freezing temperatures (they've since suggested it was stupid and not to be tried). Some things are quite silly, like Mountain Spice thinking he was a Leki-Pole-Ninja-Master. He came upon a grouse on the trail and took a spear throwing stance with his hiking pole. On his second throw, he missed just as terribly as the first time, but the tip of his pole hit the ground and the top of his pole fell forward hitting a grouse on the neck and breaking it. Yes, he did pack it in his backpack for dinner. Other than the increase of unexplainable, out-of-the-box behavior, we hiked, froze, saw the sights, Savannah did work for lunch at every hut, and we made it through.

As mentioned before Maggie's mother and Aunt came to visit us just before we climbed Mt. Washington. It was a wonderful treat to have a break, and they came at the perfect time, one of the days when the rain comes and doesn't stop. The plan was for Maggie and I to slack pack up to Mt. Washington and meet Snacks Mom. Because of a series of unfortunate events revolving around a broken Cog train we ended up experiencing Mt. Washington in every possible way. We hiked up, took the cog down, and drove up (the scariest road I've ever experienced) Auto Rd. From there we continued our hike. That was the last time we saw Mountain Spice (and we missed him the rest of the trip) for when we hiked on he stayed behind with some other hikers and we never met up again! However, we picked up Gouda into our group. Gouda started the same day Snack and I did and we've been bouncing around each other throughout the hike so we decided to stick together to make sure we could summit Katadhin together. It was a poetic idea chock full of irony; irony that will make sense at the end of the story.

So we finished our milestone Mt. Wash day near Pinkham Notch, hiking most of the presidential mountains in one day. At the time it felt like quite a strong finish but we all felt the consequences of our pushing the next day climbing up the Wild Cat Range. Because of the difficult hike, the rain and our achy legs, we couldn't resist the tempting gondola at the top of the first peak. After a little debating we happily climbed into the gondola and rode down to a ski resort where we made our way to Gorham and the White Birches campground for some rest. Movie Marathon and onward towards Maine!

The Whites- Update from Bethleham

Snack and I are staying in Bethleham NH with her mom and Aunt Laura who have come to visit us. We were planning on hiking up Mt. Washington and meeting them up there this afternoon but the morning brought us awful weather and so we ran down the road 1 mile to the Willey house (a tourist food/gift shop) to seek shelter. We made it there just as a unceasing downpour began and continued for over 4 hours. I think we made a good choice...

A few days ago we hiked over Franconian ridge and had an amazing experience. It rained completely sideways and at times I had to turn my head in the direction the wind was blowing to catch a breath. It was extremily cold but amazing. It felt like we were in a foreign place, not the United States. The clouds were moving in and out below us and around us. One minute we could see, the next we were blinded by white. The climbing was slow and slippery but we made good time thanks to adrenaline. We stealth camped that night just before Garfield Mt. and when we woke it was still raining. It misted us all morning and we decided to ask for work for stay at the Galehead Hut. They allowed 12 of us thru-hikers to take refuge there- they were very nice and even fed us! Here's some photos...

Savannah walking along the Franconian ridge.

Over 40 mph winds. Sideways rain. We're at the top!

We have to climb that? This is Spice just a few hours ago photographing the begining of our climb to Mt. Washington. We decided against climbing her today because the thunder is looming and the clouds look nasty. (It was a good choice, it rained without ceasing for 4 hours and has continued on and off. Maggie and I are with her Mom and her Aunt who have come to visit. Perfect timing!

Clouds on Franconian Ridge

Snack sliding down the wet ridge.

let the photos tell the story....

The following photos are here thanks to Geoff and Savannah. Thanks guys for sharing your photos and letting me use your camera's while I don't have one!

West Hartford VT. Yes, this is part of the trail. The blazes go right over the bridge, so we do too! Just kidding. This is a local and some SoBo's jumping. Snack did it too and I just didn't get as good of a photo as this one...

Spice and Savannah in West Hartford still. When hikers aren't hiking they are lazy.

Camping at Lyme-Dorchester Road NH. Da-Wah-Heh, Mountain Spice and Savannah roast Sausages wrapped in croissants over the fire-gourmet!

Some obscure place in Vermont- our road walk to a town during the part of our trip we call: "Snack and adventures with Lyme Disease." Yes, Snack did find the tell-tale bulls eye rash on her hip so we back tracked to the last road and headed towards town. After walking miles without seeing a car we got picked up by a massage therapist who drove us to a busier road that would take us to Manchester where we thought there was a clinic. Right after she dropped us off we were convieniently picked up by a man whose wife was a nurse and he took us to her hospital where maggie recieved great care and she is now feeling great!

Savannah swimming in Claredon Gorge VT.

Snap, Savannah, Snack, Y2K and Geoff at Chris and Arla's in Bennington VT.

Snap stretching. VT.



I LOVE VERMONT.

Hiking through ski resorts in Killington VT.

Mount Killington VT. Our crew!

Pochuck Mountain NJ. I caught Geoff and Maggie trying to yellow blaze through the woods!

Ben and Jerry's Vermonster (all the flavors of Ben and Jerrys ice cream) in Hanover NH.

Snap under the falls, at Great Falls CT.

Snakc and Geoff lounging in the Housatonic River CT.

Backtracking: photos of CT, NJ, NY, PA

More Vermont.
View from a fire tower in VT.

It's getting cold again... sleepy heads! Our first 40% night since the begining of the trip. VT.

Everyone above just ate a half gallon of ice cream at Pine Furnace State Park (PA)- the halfway point for thru-hikers. Above: Downtown Venus, Bar fight, Alchilles, Cast away, Tower, Snap, Snack and Savannah.

Achilles-At this point ice cream doesn't taste good anymore!

We competed to see who could finish fastest. Snack won in 19 minutes 36 seconds. Charlie lost, taking over 2 hours to finish.

Just a interesting bug.

Snap climbing above, stretching below... somewheres in Mary-Land!

View from the Hang-gliding launch at Black Rock cliffs MD.

Hang-gliding launch in Maryland.

Charlie and Snap having a facial in a pavillion at Pen-Mar Park.

Snack and Snap, taking lunch in a shelter to get out of the rain.

Snack trying to climb up before the enclosing walls crush her! I kid.
























Dusk by "The Great Falls" in CT. Snack and I were able to swim at the bottom of the falls and rock climb up the side about 20 ft. and jump in. We have great shots of us jumping near the falls but they're on someone elses camera!

Update from Benington Vermont

Despite appearances, we actually do hike and and cook in the woods most of the time. I've gotten a few comments about how it looks like we aren't really "roughing" it at all. Truth is, I take more pictures of goofy moments in town, town food, and people we meet than trees and mountains because, well, trees and mountains are the usual (don't get me wrong they are still amazing and glorious). It also should be mentioned that we hiked 20 miles to the Mayors house, and I may post some pictures of a dance party we had with other hikers in Dalton MA, but that was after a very difficult 23 mile day in rain and up the highest part of Massachesetts! That being said, lately it's been easy to get to town and so town visits are more frequent then any of us imagined they would be.

Now I sit in the lovely home of Chris and Arla who allowed us (and many hikers before us) to use their home as if it were our own. Many hikers, myself included, assumed that our town luck would be over since we left southern hospitality and entered New England but that hasn't been the case at all. If anything, there are more unique people and places welcoming you in and it's hard to leave! Chris and Arla have a sort of refinished barn with lots of toys, art and music for a hiker to get lost in- even a pool table. Their house is beautiful and full of books, art and instruments. Their children are grown with children of their own and they are looking to sell this place and spend half their time in an RV and half their time on a sailboat. Anyone looking to move to Vermont? (smile) Here we slept last night and here we are still, stuck in the vortex! How do we find places like this? We planned to just pass through this town after picking up a mail drop but we realized when we got here that it was Sunday and the post office was closed. We had heard from a Southbound thru-hiker that the outfitter in town had information on people who took in hikers. The employee didn't seem to know anything about that, but we happened to spot another hiker we knew in town and they gave us directions: "follow this road past the Shell station, look for a Friendlies ice cream and then a house with for sale signs in the yard, ask for Chris." I love the way of a journey. I'm also thankful we decided to allow ourselves to take stops like this, and not get over obsessed with making competitive miles. That being said we have done many miles since my last update, and I'm overwhelmed with stories and photos to update you all! Let me start with Arla and Chris because as I write Chris is Jamming on drums upstairs and (Y2k (a hiker) in the room beside me has been serenading the piano and now guitar.

Day 125: Arla reading while Chris drums.

Y2k, Geoff, Savannah and Kaya recovering from a steep and exhausting hike down into town.


Savannah taking a pool shot in the warm afternoon sun.

My (Snaps) feet and shoes after hiking in the wet mudd all morning. yuck.

To introduce Vermont, here is a conversation had with a Southbounding(Sobo) thru-hiker.

Sobo: So whats with the rocks in PA? It's all we hear about.
Nobo: You know how it is, it's never as bad as people say and Southern PA is pretty flat and easy. Northern PA though- yeah, there are crazy rocks and it will chew your shoes up. Whats up ahead for us?
Sobo: Vermont's all mudd, we just trudged through it the whole time, gave up on trying to jump around it.
Nobo: So no rocks in Vermont eh?
Sobo: No, they sank in the mudd.






Geoff, basking in Vermonts glorious mudd before coming into Bennington yesterday. Actually, were truly glad it wasn't raining on us!

Day 134: Savannah riding snap back to Tom's the old fashioned way in Dalton MA.

Day134: Hikers creating what may have been the first dance party ever at Jacob's Pub in Dalton.

Day 134: Charlie beating the locals, again, at pool.

Day 135: Snack, Snap and Savannah eating mexican at Desperados, a delicious place that only charges hikers for appetizers, desserts and drinks but gives their dinners for free. What a great surprise!

Day 133: Arriving at the infamous Tom's house in Dalton MA after a 20 mile day in. Here sits Y2k, ?, and Tom in front of ice cream Tom gave us. Tom has been cramming hikers into his home and shuttling them around for 35 years. He says he grew up with 9 siblings and is used to the chaos. Well Tom, your an amazing hiker haven.

Day 132: Canoeing and swimming at Upper Goose pond. It felt so good to work my arms and legs in the water and move outside of the stiff hiking movement! We camped here.

Trees around Upper Goose Pond.

Bridge over troubled water...

Kaya, moving cool.

Swamp and bog is plentiful!

Should we swim or keep hiking? Left to Right: Charlie, Tower, The Architect, Dirt, Truckin', and sitting down: Asta la Vista and Pilot.

Day 130: Dave and Ellen; a lovely couple we met in Great Barrington MA while eating gourmet pizza. These two Brooklyn lawyers were on vacation at their cottage and invited us to sleep in their guest rooms instead of heading back into the woods that night. They were familiar with thru-hiking because a relative of theirs attempted it a few years back.

Day 129: As if we weren't spoiled enough, we were invited to dinner by Homewardbounds parents who drove down from Maine to pick her up off the trail for a week. Here we are eating some of the best food from Route 7 (drinks, produce, meat all came from local farms) with Homewardbound, her parents, and another hiker Smiley.

Lovely clouds, I believe this is somewhere in CT, almost MA

Day 129: Ladies on the trail! Snap,Snack, Purple Rain, Giggles, Nenox.

Snack on the highest point in Ct.

Well, you can read the stone!

Lowgears 4th of July party

Lowgear is a section hiker from D.C. that had a great hiking experience and made many thru-hiker friends. For the 4th of July celebrations he recruited his wife, kids and friends to pick up various hikers (and their friends) wherever they were along the trial and brought them to his family cabin in Virgina. We stayed two nights with them and other hikers for a lovely week off. It felt as if we were with friends we've known our whole lives although many of the hikers there we were meeting for the first time. A special thanks to Lowgear and his wife Debbie for all their hospitality and love!

Day 92: A bunch of hikers before heading back to the trail!

Day 91: Rich and Lowgear working hard on the grill in the rain.

Geoff making his famous cole slaw and potatoe salad.

Snack doing her thing!

Day 90: Kurt and Savannah jamming out.

Day 90: Eating family style on the deck.

Day 90: Debbie and Lowgear toasting- We each had to say a toast during our pasta dinner on july 3rd, our first night with them.

Day 91: Chipmonk (who we hike with on and off) washing dishes.

Day 91: Canoeing on the creek with y2k (who got his trail name because everything he eats is packaged dehydrated food his family bought for the y2k scare) Savannah and Kaya.

Update from the Mayors house!

Day 114: The Mayor (on the right) and his friend.

Here I sit in the Mayor of Unionville New York's home trying to decide where to start with the updates. Unfortunately my camera broke in Pennsylvania the day after Maggies camera broke. I didn't handle that dissapointment to well, I pouted like a baby for a few days and told everyone not to call me Snap anymore! Since then, Savannah regularly saves the day by sharing his camera with me- Thanks Savannah!

You may be wondering about the how I ended up at the Mayors house, well, I wonder the same thing about most of the places we end up! Turns out this guy is extremily generious and hospitable. He's known on the trail and was even at trail days (although we didn't meet him then). There are 12 other hikers here and apparently there were 20+ yesterday. We knew to come here simply from word on the trail, which is how we get most of our information. The Mayor allows camping in his backyard and has a bunkhouse in his basement. Him and his buddies, including an 80 year fella who makes some mean saurkraut, cooked dinner and will be cooking breakfast all for free. He gave us only a few rules: 1. While we are here this is our house too so we should treat it as such. 2. First beer is free and you can have up to 3 more for 25 cents each. 3. Don't dare try to do any dishes. 4. You must watch a 20 minute inspirational Dvd about an aspiring cell phone sales man named Paul Pott's that became a tear-jerking opera singer whose famous song ends with vincera, I will win in Italian.

Day 115: Morning Coffee at the Mayors. (Above) Mountain Spice, Geoff and Snack; (Below) Savannah.

Day115: Snap giving Spice a shoulder massage- He offerred to carry my food bag (that could be up to 12 lbs.) for a back rub every day. Of course I turned it down on the basis that it wouldn't be possible to fit in his pack!

The rest of Virginia...

Day 83-85 Maggies sister Johanna and friend Brian visit from home. Thanks to both of them for their company, delivery of goods and yummy restaurant food! After they visited we hiked the "roller coaster" which is an unpleasant series of ups and downs over rocky ridges with no views... it's Virginia's way of saying goodbye and good riddance I suppose!

Day 87: Meet Rich (squatting in the middle) and Savannah (standing) outside of hostel. We came here to dodge out of the rain but it was the catalyst for a whole new string of adventures. We did our first slack pack from this hostel to a PATC cabin called the Blackburn center where the caretakers cooked us a pasta meal and we stayed in their free hostel. There was a bulletin board with a sign advertising to hikers that if they wanted a break from hiking they could come work on an organic farm 8 miles away and have a free place to stay and fresh food. We decided to spend a day there before heading on to Harpers Ferry.

Meet Kaya, Savannah's dog. We've been hiking with them now since the end of VA. I LOVE Kaya and plan to steal her. :)

Day 88: Snack and Rich crossing a stream on the way to Mountain View Farm. We hiked 8 miles on the AT and a mile on side trails to get to there.

Yum, fresh cucumber.

Day 88: Shawna (with new baby!) and Atilla give us a tour of their farm and community center: http://www.blueridggecenter.org/ .

Weeding composting beds.

Tomatoe Tomaaahtoe!


Snap hanging garlic we just harvested.

Rich picking some cucumbers for our salad.

Maggie cooked up a fabulous meal made completely of fresh foods we picked from the ground ourselves. Eggs with onions and spices, Potatoes tossed and baked with onions and olive oil, Various squashes breaded in cornmeal and fried, regular tossed salad and tomatoe salad. Brilliant! The interns there shared their kitchen with us and after cleaning it we walked back to a pavillion where we slept on picnic tables.

Day 89: On our way to Harpers Ferry; I think the signs speaks for itself! We were very happyto be done with the 550 or so miles of Virginia!

The walk to Harpers...

Crossing the Shenandoah river to get to Harpers Ferry.

Our photo for the ATC records of hikers making it to the halfway part.

View from camping by the Potomac River just on the other side of Harpers Ferry. We hiked back into the town to get picked up for Low Gear's (another hiker) 4th of July Party.

Oh Shenandoah!

We hiked into the Shennies determined to make big miles and have a good time. Our first day in we were disappointed by the park but we hiked our longest day (25 miles) in to the dark. This was our first time night hiking by ourselves and we found adventure around every dark corner. My headlamp broke, so I had to walk closely behind Snack keeping my eyes on her feet to follow her steps. As the night went on and we stopped talking we heard a bear scratching its way down a tree about 10 feet away from us. This inspired us to sing so we would alert bears of our presence instead of scare them when we got close. We sang every long camp song we could pull from our memory! While hiking in the Shennies you can hear but not see the road, and you cross it once in awhile to catch a view. Well, we came to an overlook before a beautiful full moon and we stood there under it in the parking lot while pulling out maps and trying to figure out where to camp when a car came around the bend. I tend to have a fear of cars in the dark (since I've been hiking) and I went into flight mode: ordering Maggie to turn off her headlamp and run. Maggie and I ran back out of the lot and she threw herself onto the trail and I dive bombed into the brush (later I learned it was patched with poison ivy). You can imagine the ridiculousness of us laying there with our packs crushing us into the ground. We immediately began to giggle as everything became clear. The car was not some crazy person coming to harm us, it was probably just a couple trying to park under the glowing moon. We had nowhere to go but up and past the car to where the trail picked back up at the end of the lot. As we approached the car Snack turned her headlamp on which must have scared the them just as much as they scared us because they peeled out of the lot. Now we were the Psychos coming of the brush in the middle of the night. We laughed the rest of the hike over the silliness of it all.

Unfortunately our laughter didn't last us through the park. We soon were hit with the "Virginia Blues," something I thought we were in the clear of. We only made it 8 miles for two days, spending our time procrastinating and laying around shelters- anything but hiking (we even did sit-ups). Becca and Jogles rescued us by catching up with us and dragging us along with them to this great "secret" campsite with a view that they had hear about. After 23 miles we bushwacked our way up the side of the thorny mountain looking for this "great spot" until we came to a grassy hill with a view and decided that was going to be it! We ended up with bloody legs and a lovely sunset (in a photo below).

The rest of our hike was filled with leap frogging other hikers, lots of stops at the parks wayside resteraunts, expensive blackberry milkshakes and a visit from Maggies Uncle, our knight in shinning armor who brought us away from it all to a hotel in Luray. Thanks to him for the visit and the mexican food!

Overall, we weren't the biggest fan of this park for hiking and neither were most of the thru-hikers. Maggie did however see a glimpse of her first bear!

The sky :)

Day 81: Snack and her Uncle Scott visiting from D.C.

Becca and Jogles (when we were back in Waynesboro VA)

Oh little flying thing

Dancing with dotted wing

Waltzing round' whilst I step

Led you upon my knee to rest.

Oh, little flying thing

Resting with dotted wing

Fluttering joy, Flying grace

Living beyond lifes race.

Oh, little flying thing

Dancing, resting dotted wing.

Day 76: Snack calling her mom on Blackrock Mountain- our first day in the shennies.

Day 76: rocks and view from Blackrock.

Day 78: Anything but hiking! I spent hours photographing plants and butterflys.

Day 78: Snack, Becca, Jogles (tiny spots in the grass on the right) setting up camp under the sunset.

Harpers Ferry, we made it!

We MADE it!

We are at the ATC headquarters... and we are heading out soon into Maryland (hallelulah)! We are the 525th and 526th thru-hiker's to have passed through here this year.

We survived Virginia. I need that on a t-shirt.

More to come soon!

The friendliest trail town!

Day 54: Our first day back on the trail, just past Atkins Gap, we took a rest in the shade of a tree before crossing the field.

Day 56: Our attempts at self portraits.

Day 62: A creek that we camped near.

Day 57: On a foot suspension bridge that made Snack excited (she loves bridges)!

Day 57: Snack and Longshot just before Snack took the plunge and swung on the rope into a murky river. It was quite a fiasco! She lost her shoe and was very sad. We walked a mile down the road to eat a half gallon of ice cream at a convenience store before returning to search for her shoe after the murk settled. It was a successful shoe rescue!

Day 58: Morning at Dismal Falls, this is Wasabi, still sound asleep. We hung in our hammocks just up the ridge. It was our 2nd favorite camping spot since Max Patch.

Day 60: The sunset at Rice Fields Shetler.


Day 63: This is Dragon's tooth. No, it's not part of the A.T. and yes, we climbed it! This whole day was very tough... the heat was turning up and the terrain was rocky and slow going but we had a lot of fun.


Snack and Snap climbing down dragons tooth.


Snack on the hike down from dragons tooth.


Day 63: After a long hot day over 20 hikers ended up at Homeplace resteraunt- an all you can eat that is famous on the trail among hungry hikers. Here Gouda is laying on the grass, sick from overeating.


Day 63: Across the street from homeplace is a convenience store that allows hikers to camp behind it for free when the realize they are to full to hike anymore. Here we stayed, with over 15 other hikers!


Day 71: The sun at the end of a rainy day. "After 17 miles, one of Virginia's hardest climbs and two hours of thunderstorms; I deserve my hennessy hammock."


Day 72: Snack and Snap on Spy rock, drying out after the previous rainy day.

Hello from Waynesboro Virginia! A place where hikers are treated like special guests- we've already become acquainted with a city council member (who has given us and other hikers a few rides around town like he gets paid to do it). Today we treated ourselves to a movie theatre. There is actually one within ten miles of this trail town and a bus to get us there, woo-hoo! I'm not so sure about the movie Indiana Jones, but the theatre experience (in a mall no less) was a treat. We had to walk by so many cute clothes. It's much easier not to shop when you know you have to carry everything with you at all times and that it's going to get dirty quite soon.

Day 75: (today) Keychain (from Philly), Snap and Orion (from New York state, he always clarifies) on the shuttle to see a movie in a real theatre!

We planned to hike out this evening, after our Internet time at the library and a visit to the all-you-can-eat pizza bar at pizza hut. But, Snack couldn't find her wallet and we think it is on the bus. Good thing we have connections in this town. She is getting picked up bright and early to be driven to the bus we were on to look for it. So here we are, another night in town! We are at Grace Evengelical Lutheran Church free hostel right now and I'm overwhelmed with joy that they have computers here for us. They also have linens, towels, cots, showers, t.v. room with stocked with food. It's amazing! Last night we camped behind the YMCA in their designated thru-hiker camping area. They also let you come in and shower or use other facilities there, all for free. It's all a part of this strange culture and it's good to see how local churches have stepped up to this "culture" or "people group" and really care for them.

Day 60: Sunset from the grass's perspective.

They say people get the blues in Virginia, and she has had her blue moments. However we have met many wonderful new people (and surprisingly caught up with many old friends) since getting back on the trail and I think that has keeps things interesting. At the same time, Virginia has swallowed up many people. They say only 10% of the people to start the trail finish, but to see the other 90% get off the trail is strange and sad. I don't think Maggie or I have ever had the desire to get off the trail and go home, so there is hope for us! We head out into the Shenandoah's tommorrow and very soon we will hit our halfway point at Harpers Ferry, W. Virginia.

Day 73: Dusk on a ridge somewhere near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This past section of Virginia has flown by so fast and it's hard for me to separate one day from the other. Our first day back on the trail I was clearly still not over being sick and Maggie was patient and we slow with me. That first week was full of strange hardships. I caughed so much I couldn't sleep so many nights in a row I had to get 2 inhalers and an allergy pill. I woke up onces with an eye crusted shut with no explanation. Maggies ankle started getting to her etc. etc. It sounds grim but day by day those things are only distractions and don't dictate the spirit of our day (usually). The second day it rained all day- 19 miles of hiking. It was almost like swimming, except there was no pool and no sunshine. I wrote in my journal:

"This is ridiculous! People who do this are insane! I have never been so soggy and drenched in my life.
My shoes have a pool of jello in them- okay, so it's only a puddle, but neither of them belong!
It was 19 miles of monsoon... "

We sure did get sunshine soon after that, in the form of a heatwave. This knocked out our energy and our ability to get very far in the day. I sometimes wondered if I was sweating out water faster then my body could process the water I was drinking. When we finally got to Daleville we ran to a hotel room with two other hikers. We ended up staying a second day after watching the weather channel while eating our continental breakfast. All I remember is the screen saying: "Today: Abundance of sunshine. Hot." This was just before a special report on heatstroke. We zeroed. It was lovely. Since then everything has been going rather smoothly. A little heat, a little rain, a little breeze. We went through some dry areas where we had to carry lots of water and change our mileage plans- these areas are in drought conditions. We still haven't seen any rattlesnakes or bears but I did get chased by a grouse and a kamikaze bird flew directly into my head from the side- almost knocking it off my neck. Maggie has had better luck with birds but we both are getting eating alive by bugs. Nothing seems to discourage them, not even when I scream and flail my hands in frustration. Our legs, and especially the ankles, look like they've been chewed on. Even during the day little nats fly into your eyes or around your face. Once I had a fly buzzing around me in circles for at least a 1/2 mile of hiking. Now THAT'S a form of torture. I almost went crazy... I think that may have been when I screamed and flailed my arms and poles! We have had a few sleepless nights itching but it helps that everyone out here is going through the same things. We recently climbed some of Virginia's biggest climbs. Let me tell you, the biggest myth I have ever heard is that Virginia is flat. She's not. She's not even that nice, she's quite moody in fact. Other hikers have many choice woods to describe her. I don't think she's all that bad, but I am looking forward to all the new sights (and cultures) the east coast will bring.

The biggest Oak tree on the A.T (besides one in New York).

As far as the people we've been with are concernced, they have all be lovely. So much so that I named a group "Team Lovely." I didn't want to like them as much as I did because I felt like I was betraying the group I hiked with before getting off. That of course was silly and I'm thankful that we have been leap frogging with them ever since, so we see them often. After a few days we caught up with Longshot, someone who we knew for many miles and had also taken a break from the trail so we ended up in the same area. We hiked steadily with him until a few days ago. For the past few days we have been hiking on and off with a whole bunch of others: Jer'Z, wavepool, keychain and Orion (the last two are with us now at the hostel). They all bring some extra flare to the trail and so we laugh a lot together and it's been refreshing. For example, a few days ago a thunderstorm hit while we were climbing VA's hardest climb on the A.T. We made the best of it that we could, and in the end it was better then climbing in the hot sun. After the storm subsided and the sun came back out we rounded a corner and found someone sleeping in a cave like structure with all his stuff splayed out under rocks to stay out of the rain. After we took a few pictures we realized it was our friend Wavepool, who is almost 7 ft. tall, so he's hard to miss. We all got a good laugh out of him taking a nap, wrapped in a sleeping bag liner under a rock, to dodge the rain.

Day 71: Wavepool snoring away under a rock during the thunderstorm.

Wavepool and Snap at Guillitine Rock. We are making dramatic faces that you can't see... and I can't flip the photo around at the moment, sorry!

Filtering water at a creek, just 30 minutes before a thunderstorm rolled in.

Posing (and trying not to freak out from the climb) on dragons tooth.

Climbing fences into cow fields.

Day 56: Eating delicious trail magic with Blazing Star at a church.

Meet Virginia

Day 45-A Virginia cow south of Atkins Gap. Moo.

When we first stepped foot into Damascus it was clear why the place markets itself as "the friendliest town on the AT." It felt good to finally be in Virginia and here we will stay for about another 500 miles. They say many thru-hikers have a hard time in Virginia and catch something called the "Virginia blues." I can only speculate that this is because one hikes in Virginia for so long and there really aren't any big climbs. Therefore it's harder to have accomplishment goals and it's easier to get a little bored with the hiking. This is just my own speculation, I personally have loved what I've seen of Virginia- always thought I would- and I anticipate that I will only like it more.

We switched up our hike a little bit for the first 75 miles. We were shuttled (a fancy word for squeezing into a truck and paying someone to drive us) from Damascus to Atkins Gap where we started hiking southbound (we normally hike North) back to Damascus. We planned to get there just before the Trail Days festivities began. We did this so we didn't have to worry about a way to get a ride back to Damascus but also just to try something different. We all felt weird hiking the wrong way and it didn't feel right hiking into the same town twice without ever hiking out. I'm glad we tried it but I'm not so sure I want to do that again. We did have some interesting times, including some of the most beautiful weather following some of the nastiest. We did three very short days and stayed in shelters those nights because of the winds, rains and drop in temperature. We were being cautious (for once), so we didn't witness much drama. However, there were some people that had to get rescued off the ridges that had hypothermia and a hiker friend of ours saw a dead tree rip out of the ground and fly a little ways, because of the high winds. Everyone ended up okay, and don't worry, we were out and about during those times. We were holed up in a shelter somewhere playing cards. After two days, they clouds parted and we hiked through the highlands in lovely hot weather, yeah!

Day45- A looming storm that will soon pour down upon me.

Day 49-Another face of the trail, just after the Grayson Highlands.

Day 45- A sight from the old farmhouse that is part of a
Settlers Museum just off the trail not far from Atkins Gap.

Day 47-"snack" bundled up in Hurricane shelter, where we hold up to wait out the freezing rains and high winds that were hitting the ridges.

Day 47- Snack, Enoch, Moccasin and Kbomb lounging in Hurricane shelter. We were alone all afternoon and just after dark two fellas and their dog Coyote squeezed in with us. I got to cuddle with Coyote.

Day 48- Snack filtering water near Thomas Knob shelter, just after the Grayson Highlands.

Day 49- Wild ponies, or feral horses (I hear them referred to both ways) live "wild" within the park, but they are accustomed to people and will approach you with the expectation of food. However, guests of the park are asked not to feed them because it takes away from their abilities to forage for themselves.

Day 48- Attacking my pack while I try to get photo of the white mane.

Day48 - El bebe.

Day 48- Grayson Highland Ponies.

Day 48- Grayson Highland hikers.

Day48- The trail (on our right) as we make our way to water.

Day 48: One of the most beautiful hiking days. Another scene from the trail.

Day 48

Day 46- We don't want to get up! Relaxing with our morning coffee at Trimpi shelter to dodge the bad weather. Enoch, Snack, Snap, Moc.

Day 46- Thanks Mzunga for having marshmallows for us to roast! Moccasin and I roasted for everyone. He tried to steal my crown as the mellow roasting master, but I put up a good fight and preserved my place on the throne!

Day 48- making ourselves at home.

Day 48- cooking around our camp for the night.

Day 48- Snack's house!

Day 49- Snack playing around, 2 days away from Damascus heading southbound.

Day 48- It's a privy! This is the biggest, nicest privy I've seen yet. It's handicap accessible, just in case.

Day 47- Snap climbing up to the second level of Partnership shelter. This shelter is just inside of a park and there is an information center that hikers can order a pizza from and have it delivered; which makes this shelter famous!

Day 48- Snap taking a photo of Enoch with a 500 mile sign, after hitting our 500 mile point!

Snack (Maggie).

Snap (Rebecca)

Moccasin, Enoch and Snack on one of the many bridges that we've cross.

Okay, so this isn't Virginia at all. It's Max Patch but I love this shot and I wanted to post it!

Trail Days

Bonfire at trail days 2008

Trail days is a 3 day festival dedicated to celebrate hikers (yeah, that's me, I'm a hiker!) in Damascus Virginia on May 16-18. They say 3,000 hikers and 20,000 tourists overflow Damascus for the weekend. I'm not so sure about those numbers, but there were a lot of current thru-hikers as well as hikers from years past. One of the most famous aspects of Trail Days is Tent city, which looks like what it sounds. Basically they take this very large (probably over 5 acres) fenced in space that consists of large open grassy areas and some semi-woody areas with paths in between and plenty of mud to go all around and charge 5 dollars to anyone who thinks living in a tent, amongst thousands of other hippies and hikers is a fun idea. The place fills up. People camp around other people they know and create little "towns." Most people name their towns. There was, for example: "Camp Riff-Raff," "Camp Mellow," "Camp John Mellencamp," "Billville," and our camp, "The Old Folks Home." Tent city is about a mile from town and they have a free shuttle running every half hour from there to town but most of us didn't think twice about walking- I don't think Maggie or I got on the shuttle once. Vendors and gear representatives also set up camp near the gates of Tent city. All day they did free repairs and replacement of parts. The water filter fellas cleaned your filters and replaced parts that weren't working as good as they should be. A man in a trailer full of various sowing machines worked on anything torn or ripped on any sort of gear. LEKI was there cleaning all poles and fixing/replacing their poles. It went on and on. I never felt obligated to spend a dime; it felt like everyone was on my team trying to make sure I hiked out of there was success on my back, feet and in my hands. Closer to town there were more vendors that you would find at a typical festival (food and jewelery) amongst the varies tent, hammock, pack, shoe and clothing vendors. I spent a good hour with the Hennessy Hammock people and learned all sorts of tricks I wish I would have known all along. Here's my little Hennessy Pitch: I LOVE my hammock and it's only getting more wonderful!

What else was free? Well, I didn't buy food all weekend and I didn't have to eat my camp food either. Between the 'free feeds' that different gear companies sponsored as well as local churches we were well taken care of. First Baptist Church brought in an emergency relief trailer to give free showers. They passed out free tickets to huge potlucks of delicious homemade dinners. They had an open-mic coffee house. They were gracious and giving and absolutely wonderful, thanks First Baptist! The local school played movies: "Grizzly Park" and a movie about the CDT. We didn't get to see the CDT movie but intend to get our hands on it one day. We did however see the best worst movie: "Grizzly Park." I can't call it a B movie, I would label it a D movie but it was full of laughs as long as you can laugh at the ridiculous and absurd! I got my blood pressure and blood tested (I'm textbook optimal health in every way) and a doctor was available for any heart/muscle/bone problems. There was a vet to care for hiker dogs. There were book signings, whittling class, hiking seminars and gear giveaways every time you turned around. Neither Maggie or I won anything, but many other people I knew did and that was almost as exciting as winning myself... almost. We did however purchase a thing or two. Maggie is sporting a new black pullover and bright crocs! I have a sweet necklace that has nothing to do with hiking!

So our days were spent talking with vendors, wandering around, reuniting with other hikers we haven't seen in awhile and meeting new ones, napping, and going to random events like the eating contest. I'm happy to say our friend Chewbacca won the cake eating contest hands down (he won new hiking shoes for this). I later met the 2nd place winner at the Dairy King wearing a rain jacket and a towel (waiting for his laundry at the laundry mat across the street), and he was pretty sure he lost because he had less showmanship and too much concentration. I wasn't feeling well that morning (day 2 of my mysterious flu-like virus or water-bug) so I only ordered toast but because of the recent overwhelming crowds they were out of every breakfast food imaginable, fries, tater-tots and anything else you wanted besides burgers. Since this was a Sunday in the south everywhere else was closed, so burger breakfast it was for all.

Evenings consisted of late nights (or early, depending), drum circles, big bonfires and a general party. The big day is Saturday, the day of the parade. The parade was my favorite part, mostly because of the silliness of it. All the current thru-hikers and every thru-hiker (present) that came before us other years walked in the parade. It's an excuse to dress ridiculous in costumes, or womans clothes (if your a fella) and while your at it you can holler and scream at get hyped up. As the tradition goes, tourists and townspeople throw water balloons and shoot squirt guns at the hikers in a full on attack. Hikers come prepared for this, fully loaded with squirt guns of their own. I'm not sure if the children or the grown men get more into it!

Stories about trail days wouldn't be complete without mentioning The Place. The Place is a huge hostel provided by the local church. It's self kept up by hikers that pass through. It's a big house with 30 strangers living in it at given time and they move in and out on a daily basis. It's all free, no checking in our out. A donation of 4 dollars is suggested. You can cook in the kitchen and shower in one of the bathrooms and claim a bunk before lounging on the couch or porch and reading one of the many books laying about. You can even tent in the yard in everything else is full. Somehow, this works beautifully. I will always have fond memories of The Place. There is absolutely no alcohol allowed on the premises, and don't disrespect this rule! One evening during trail days Maggie and I were waiting for our friend Kate from Detroit to meet us at tent city. We watched 5 cop cars squeal out of the parking lot and speed down the way in a fury. We were imagining the terrible situations that would cause such urgent behavior but we soon found out that someone was drinking at the place. Imagine the look on that guys face when the uproar of policemen rushed in!

The sad part about trail days was the end. We had to say goodbye to all that we've been hiking with and that we may or may not see again on the trail, but we will see again, right? We miss you and love you!

The front yard of The Place.

Maggie on the back porch of The Place.

Don't worry, we got this guy back.

08! 08! 08!

Uf-Duh (yeahp, that's his trail name) a few days before trail days. He hiked a week with that gun, just to have it for the hiker parade.

Chewbacca just before winning a pair of new hiking shoes by way of a cake eating contest!

Po patrol watching hikers play horse-shoes in tent city.

A hiker, Patience, with his puppy, Patience Jr. asleep on his lap during the talent show.

The legendary Baltimore Jack carrying a joke (that I don't get either) during the hiker parade.

Our trail angel family, the Raabs, watching the parade. It was so nice to see you guys!

Water War!

Gouda with his recently found trail dog Tubba.

Gouda with Tubba after the vet shaved off his dreads and removed 100 ticks.

Chey preparing for the parade. Viva Appalachia!

Snack and Snap washing at the river we camped by in tent city.

Reuniting with Emmy and Warren (Oops and Caboose) from Team Caboose, during the parade.

Maggie next to Hare and Upmo, across from Neon and Kbomb, hanging out at Dots.

Snap, Moccassin, Snack and Enoch eating a delicious dinner from the Baptist Church. Thank You!

CC and Snap after eating a scrumptious large pizza at Sicily's. CC, thanks for the darn tough socks!

This is what it looks like inside my hammock.

Living room of The Place.

Picking up our Damascus mail drop. Thanks mom for the awesome creative foods! We love them! But, we do have to carry all the weight when we hike...

This is Kate. She's our wonderful friend that picked us up and brought us home for our week off (I'm in a wedding). Sorry Kate, I can't seem to get you upright! Thank you for being so fantastic!

For more photos of trail days check out the Damascus website.

Day 39-zero day in Johnson City!

Hello from lovely Johnson City Tennessee! I'm very happy to be here for many reasons, but the one most relevant to our readers and fans (wink) is that I am finally able to spend time using high speed internet. What a luxury!

The short story is that we made friends with some other through hikers (EZ Does It and Slow Train), who happen to have a cabin right off the trail. We were able to meet them there last night and have a big reunion with lots of food, drinks, and indoor plumbing! We (Enoch, Snack, Moccasin, Kevin and I) have spent the day with their family. We went to church, an all you can eat Indian food buffet, and had naps in front of the t.v. It's been great. Tonight we join their friends for "Lost" night, and it will be my initiation to this show. I feel I am prepared to jump in even though it's the 4th season because I have had miles and miles of "classes"on this sitcom while hiking. Sometimes class involves Enoch talking for 2 1/2 hours straight (almost without breathing) about the background of the show (starting from season one). And sometimes classes consist of Slowtrain and Enoch theorizing about the show for hours on end. These people record and re-watch scenes in slow motion! Who said through hikers were normal? :) It's hard to believe that just yesterday we hiked almost 16 miles and that we will be heading back to the great outdoors again tomorrow. Just a few more days until Damascus! I'm going to just start uploading photos at random that I've been wanting to share (thank you high-speed), and tell a little story underneath them. I don't have my journal with me here and that's how I keep my days in order so these aren't in order by day this time!

Day 37: Snap, straying off the trail like usual, to climb Jones Falls.

Day 37: Snack working her magic over the fire. All the fellas couldn't believe the amount of food, and the delicious goodness of the food, that we consumed. This is at Mountaineer Shelter with Enoch, Yorkie, Raggedy Andy and Pickle (two fellas from Israel), and Rhino (a fella from Germany with his Dog).

Day 38: Enoch and Kevin while we get a ride into Hampton.

Day 39: This is earlier today at the Buffet (I'm still stuffed). Mrs. and Mr. Farmer, with their 4 year old daughter Claire, Moccasin, Enoch and directly behind them is Kevin and the Farmer family friends Steph and Dave, Snack, Snap, Slowtrain and EZ does it.

Day 39: This is me right now, putting up with Enoch and his antics.

Another one of the trails many faces.

A rock sculpture, and a view.

Another view.

and another... I'm getting sick of all these views.

Notice the white blaze. That means: crawl up this way.

The scene coming out of a cloud and walking our way downward into Davenport Gap.

Just some of the stuff you see along the trail (wink).

Hiker's lounging at the Greasy Creek Friendly (not Hostel, because CeCe, the owner, always reminds us that she is friendly but her neighbor is Hostile). We took a "nero" day here, which means we hiked "nearly zero" miles. It was perfect timing- the weather turned sour and decided to snow! We were here with the owner CeCe, Moto, Entienne, Mountain Mic, Poker, Rambo, Half Elvis and our team.

My foot. I should put a thought provoking quote here, but I have nothing; it's just my foot.

Snap and Snack taking a lunch break after climbing Roan Mountain. Whew! What a climb. Gobbles wrote in the Roan Mountain Shelter journal (sarcastically of course): "I only wish this climb would have been more challenging. I was hoping to have to pull out my bear-bag rope and pull myself up over those rocks. I guess I'll have to find a harder trail."

"Team Phenomenon"
Enoch (youth pastor/theater, drama, speech teacher from Kansas), Snack (currently non working, by choice of course, civil engineer from Ohio), Snap (I will do massages for Chocolate along the trail! from Michigan), Moccasin (From the suburbs of Michigan and proud of it!)

Sun setting on Max Patch. The camera is inadequate in every way when it comes to capturing moments like this!

Snap: sleepy and tired, just before bed on Max Patch.

Sunrise on Max Patch.

We have a motto when we get to these parts of the trail: "There is a top and we will get too it!"

This is Mollies shelter in the smoky mountains, the shelter we took refuge in when hiking in the dark during the snowstorm. We loved the Smoky Shelters because they were larger (always room for us late-comers) and they had tarps up to give us a "fourth wall."

Enoch and Snack demonstrating "the camel" pose. It's what we call the natural instinct to take pressure off your feet as soon as you stop walking but aren't going to be stopped long enough to sit down. Everyone has a different way of doing it but everyone finds a way to lean over their poles!

Falling in Love with the Smoky's!

EZ does it, Slowtrain, Snack and Enoch taking a break before tackling Mt. Buckley and then Clingman's Dome.

The Clingmans Dome lookout- The highest part on the Appalachian Trail. Actually it's not ON the trail, it's NEAR the trail and that means we have to walk EXTRA mileage to get there. We were quite dismayed about this! Also, we decided that tourists that are going to be in areas with lots of through hikers need to be informed of our unofficial "don't feed the bears, feed the thru-hikers" policy! Especially if you want to stare and take our photo- you better give us snacks!

Just one of the many faces of the trail.

The inside of a shelter where everyone hangs their packs- this is to keep mice out of them but also so we can have an obstacle course when we try to navigate around a stuffy shelter.

Oh look! Clouds! This is what it looks like when we are near clouds but not in one. If we were in one you wouldn't be able to see 8 feet in front of you. Sometimes you walk in and out of them throughout the day.

Looking up.

Snack. She loves green. Send her green things, she'll smile.

Trail magic at the Nelsons home. This wonderful retired couple lives at a road crossing by the trail and they open their home to feed hikers a three course meal all day every day. What a pleasant surprise to see their sign! We couldn't race to the house fast enough, then we could barely make it up our next climb after waffles, stew and sundaes! (Snack, Circus, Peepers, ?, Slowtrain, EZ does it (hidden), Chewbaca, Babu, Enoch)

Snack and Snap "tarping" at a campsite in an attempt to stay warm. "Tarping" just means we rigged up one of our hammock tarps and shimmied underneath it.

Snack and Enoch sitting on Charlies Bunion.

My view from the mountainside climb near Charlies Bunion. I feel the need to mention that I did a little real life mountain climbing to see this view. Once I reached the top without having a heart attack (I felt close from the adrenaline), I realized that there was a nice hiking trail coming up the other side of the mountain that led to where I was! I'm still sour that I went through all that, thinking I was getting somewhere other people don't reach! However, I must admit I was relieved to not have to climb down.

The best place (almost) on earth to camp, if the weather is right: Max Patch Bald. Simply put, its a big, open, beautiful 360 view. We were blessed to have clear skies so we could sip our coffee/hot chocolate/tea while watching the sunset followed by a full blood(red) moon rise and then a sunrise. Perfectly stunning in every way. We camped with EZ does it, Slow train, Chewbaca and Enoch.

Team Phenomenon

Snap and Snack entering the Smoky Mountains

This was not a self-proclaimed name, nor was it given to exemplify our infinite wisdom as hikers. It, well, it’s all Enoch’s fault actually. He convinced us to hike with him out of the NOC (which is a mini town the trail runs through that consists of shower and laundry facilities, white water rafting, a restaurant, outfitter and rental cabins all on a small campus off a road that the trail crosses) on day 16 at about 5:30p.m. after we had cleaned up and eaten a good meal. We had 8 miles uphill ahead of us and thunder storm warnings buzzing through town. So, naturally, we decided that while other hikers were making lodging arrangements and relaxing in the sun, we should hike on because we’re invincible (also because we are all against getting caught up in money traps and like to just pass through towns). Maggie may want me to mention that she was not a fan of the idea but got caught up in the momentum. Ok, so it’s not Enoch’s fault at all either- when the two of us get a crazy idea rolling we just egg each other on. So, we went onward and upward into one of our hardest hikes yet while other hikers laughed and smirked and shook there heads. Did I mention we went up, and up and up? When it thundered, we cracked jokes. Lightening lit up the darkening sky, we cracked jokes. Sprinkling turned to torrential downpour and we sang in the rain. Night fell upon us and we pretended we were in Lord of the Rings. It was definitely a situation that Snack, being a practical Engineer personality, was too smart to enjoy and Enoch and I were too dumb to be concerned. Then we came to a ridge where we could overlook the silhouette of other Mt. Ranges lightened by lightening behind the fog and it was one of the most remarkable things we’ve seen. We all stood in awe. It was a gift and we’re all glad to have the experience although we didn’t intend to make this hiking style a habit.

The second instance that earned us the name was when we left Fontana Dam on day 18, again, while everyone else was checking into lodges because of the upcoming snowstorm. And again, we hiked out late in the afternoon (after showers, food supply and helping a friend with an injury). This time we were tackling 14 miles up into the Smokey’s. While we raced upward (it was a tough day)I kept thinking, “Why are these mountains so popular? They’re big, they’re mean, they’re cold and they are infested with famously unruly bears.” The higher we went we started seeing white resting on the branches. Oh, pretty. Then snow was on the ground. Hmm. Then it was falling around us. Just great. Then dusk came and temperatures dropped and the wind picked up and somehow the miles grew longer and longer. We trudged urgently through the dark and thick snow in silence. We all wanted to give up; discouraged by cold, darkness and exhaustion, but that wasn’t an option. Just when things were frightening we saw a light- a cigarette! Someone was smoking outside the shelter- shelter! We were welcomed into a nice large shelter with a fireplace inside and a tarp put up to give us a third wall. So, we survived and the stories spread and the name was given. I would have used a different word, like, insane… but I’ll take phenomenal! As a side not about the Smoky Mountains, by day two I admitted they were kind of easy on the eyes. By day three I was becoming a big fan of them and now I’m so mezmorized I can’t wait to go back one day and explore other trails.

Day 33- Update from Greasy Creek Hostel, N.Carolina

Day 19- Enoch and Maggie waking up; our first morning in the Smoky's. This is what a nice, large shelter looks like. It's a slumber party for grown ups! The only difference (besides the fact that we only have three walls, everyones smelly and there's no mom to cook us breakfast) is that hiker midnight is 9 p.m. and snoring is our lullaby.

The trail.

Day 33- Getting our first mail drop in Hot Springs! It's hiker Christmas!

day 24- Don't worry, what you are seeing is not part of the AT, it's Snap straying off the trail to scale a mountain! We were on the Charlies Bunion side trail just after Tricorner Knob Shelter.

Day 32- Snack resting during a snack break while Enoch read to us from Epic by John Eldridge. We did a little over 21 miles this day, coming from one of our favorite shelters: big bald shelter.

Day 25- Snap straying from the trail (yet again) to pose- this was on the way out of

the Smoky Mts. and into Davenport Gap.

Day 18- Snap giving some yoga instruction to fellas outside the Fontana Hilton Shelter

before hiking into the Smoky's. (Snap, Mocasssin, Hatchet, Enoch).

Day 12- Tag, Gouda, Moccassin, Maggie, Caboose and Frodo watching the scene below.

We were welcomed into North Carolina with lovely weather

and the first clear sky in 5 or 6 days.

Day 12-Near Plumorchard Gap shelter, just 8 miles up from Hiawassee

where we camped on a cliff with team caboose. Day 12.

"We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor,

vast and titanic features. We need to witness our own limits transgressed,

and some of life pasturing freely where we never wandered."

-(paraphrased) Henry David Thoreau

I copied this quote out of a shelter journal (all shelters have a notebook that hikers log into- you draw pictures and tell funny stories or leave messages for friends hiking behind you etc.) because I thought it was a nice quote, but as I was typing it out just now I realized how fitting it is. The mountains don't let you forget just how "vast and titanic" they are. Just when you think it's easy and you've got hiking down pat, or that you've seen it all; the mountains groan and grumble and grow 1000 feet taller. They change from jungle to enchanted forest to dry dead woods to big rocks to bald grassy fields and everything in between. And her mood swings are worse than any woman I've ever known. One minute she's happy and sunny, they next she's biting and cold. We've been spoiled with many beautiful days where our only troubles have been keeping the sweat out of our eyes. We recently hiked an 18 mile day followed by a 21 mile day (whoo-hoo! Our biggest mileage yet!) However, yesterday morning we woke up with the bodily consequences of our success and lots of rain. Needless to say, it was easy to let our well deserved "sleeping in" turn into "laying about" all morning... and maybe most of the afternoon in the shelter. Enoch, Half-Elvis, myself and Snack managed to finally get moving at 2:30 p.m. after a yahtzee game, a jar of peanut butter (yes, we just eat it with a spoon, and yes, it's normal out here to do that), and multiple cups of tea. We made it 12 miles to the next shelter so we could wake up today and hike only 6 miles, taking a "nero" day today at the Greasy Creek Hostel. So, here I am (using dial-up so I'm not sure whats going to happen with the picture situation). We're thankful we made it 12 miles closer to the hostel yesterday instead of sitting and watching the rain because temperatures dropped quickly and during the night a snow monster attacked. Before we woke up this morning it got even colder and everything became ice. I don't think Maggie or I got much sleep last night; I'm guessing I got one hours worth. We hiked like begininers early this morning, barely trudging for 3 hours on our way here. It was worth it because now we are eating yummy homecooked food (and lots of junk food) while we chill out and watch movies with a handful of other hikers. Thanks to Enoch for keeping us on "schedule." :) Enoch is the third member of our crew. We picked him up somewhere in Georgia and we're sticking together until May 19 when Snack and I get off the trail for a week. He's a great fella, keeping us laughing and in good spirits. He loves his schedule and Snack and I love to change it!

What is this life we hikers live? We look at each other and ask this all the time. Pretty much everyone on the trail is automatically family. We eat random foods out of unmarked plastic baggies that we get from hiker boxes. We drink sodas out of random coolers left on the trail marked "trail magic." We live in a world where something called "trail magic" exists. We stink. We gather together in strangers homes to shower, do laundry, or rest (like I am now) and it seems like we have always been here and always will. We walk up and down mountains all day long. We wake up stiff and sore every morning- barely able to walk at first. We are always outside. We are given meaningful names like: "princess brian," "motorbutt," "gobbles," and "gouda." We have unwritten trail codes of respect. We naturally form tribes. We eat dirt (not on purpose, but we may as well). We can speak in grunts and understand each other. We have our own jokes that the outside world would never get. When we shop we actually look for food with high fat and lots of calories and we when find something packed with both those things we brag to each other. We eat everything and as much of it as we can get, yet we still feel hungry and still loose weight. It's incredible, really.

Shout out to my Mum and Maggies sister Connie for the packages we got today at Greasy Creek. You guys have been such a great support team- without your excitment this wouldn't be as fun. We have a name for food drop boxes: "hiker christmas." Everyone here was so jealous of the great stuff we got, looking over our shoulders and asking what we got for christmas, so we shared some beloved chocolate! Thank you, thank you!

Hello to to everyone who left comments, we get so excited to hear from friends and family! Also, hello to Sam and Elisheva- friends we've met along the trail that left comments on our blog- You guys have added more stories and joy to our trip, we wish you were still out here! Sam, your time will come :)

Update from Hot Springs N. Carolina

First of all, thank you to everyone who sent us mail and packages (Moms, Susan, Christine)! We were so excited for our first mail drop! I have updated the mail drops if anyone wants to check out that blog and send a letter or treats through!

I apologize for the delay on updates. We have had the worst luck getting internet access, and even now I only have a 30 minute time slot at this hiker outfitter in Hot Springs North Carolina. Where do I start? Our days are filled with so many different temperatures, people and terrains it sometimes feels like weeks, months or years could have gone by. Lets start with a joke:

A day hiker is walking along the trail and sees an M&M on the ground. He steps over, or steps on it, and goes about his hike. A section hiker sees an M&M on the trail and looks around to see if anyone is watching before picking it up and popping it into his mouth and then he continues on his hike. A through hiker walks by and sees an M&M on the trail. He/She races to get it before anyone else, then scrambles around looking for more.

This couldn't be a truer tale of what happens after a few weeks on the trail. I find myself more and more saying, "Well, we can just wash out those dishes tomorrow since were going to cook the same thing in them." I used to only sit down if I had my rain pants on, or if I had my jacket around my waist so I didn't get dirty. Now I have done what we call "surrendering to the AT." You just go with the flow. I'm dirty, I'm stinky, I'm happy. (Actually, I'm not that stinky... and I'm pretty much the only hiker still standing that carries apricot scrub and deodorant, but hey, every hiker carries something that everyone else thinks is ridiculous). Because my time is very limited, I'm going to try and post a few pictures and tell a few stories and cross my fingers that in 5 days, when I go through another town, I will be able to get online! Right now there is a line of anxious hikers behind me! Lets see what I have time to upload:




Some of "Team Caboose" and Snack (Maggie) eating food that boy scouts brought up as trail magic for through hikers. We ended up camping with them and we all ate burgers and hot dogs and delicious candies!

Day 4

Either I'm resting on the mountain or being eaten by it.
We work hard for our water... but it's free!
Our "Trail Angels"
Our trail names are "Snack" and "Snap" because maggie likes to stop to eat and I like to stop and snap a photo. Day 1- sunny and optimistic.
First night camping on Springer Mountain
Still Day 1, still sunny and optimistic!
Hanging food bags on bear lines.

We woke up wet this morning, after going to bed wet last night and hiking wet all day yesterday. Then we hiked wet 4 miles this morning and decided to walk or catch a ride 2 miles to a tiny town in hopes of finding a laundry mat. Don't get me wrong, we've been having a blast but... well, we were wet. Our packs were wet and warmth was only 2 miles away acording to our guidebook. Some lovely people put us in the back of their truck for the last mile and as we were climbing out some other lovely people (Our Trail Angels) starting inquiring about what we wanted. Turns out there is no laundry mat at this little pit stop, but there was a campsite and there was also the option of going to their home in Blairsville. So we are spending the afternoon here, doing laundry, washing dishes, eating brauts, using the shower and internet. Kim and Boudin do shuttling for AT hikers, and as they are both "through hikers" they like to help others whenever they can. They keep tabs on a lot of hikers and they had news on some of our friends Hatchet and Mocassin (who was getting a ride out as we were getting a ride in). I feel like this is cheating, but it's a nice break!

Let me briefly backtrack. Our first day on the approach trail (which means the first nine miles we hiked to Springer Mountain don't count on our total mileage because it's not the AT yet) was BEAUTIFUL. We couldn't have had better weather and so we were quite encouraged. We met a bunch of folks at the campsite and we exchanged gear and food stories. We enjoyed some cheese that another hiker needed to get ride of and we also enjoyed that fact that so far we seemed to be most prepared. Maggie and I slept (with some others) under the stars that night- we could almost touch them. However we didn't sleep very much and opened our eyes at every twig that snapped because of all the bear jokes we'd been making. We woke up in a cloud and that was amazing. I loved every bit of it but I also knew that it would get old. And it has. Although I only felt miserable for a few minutes this morning when my hands were numb washing things in the river with a cold breeze blanketing me. And I maaaayyybe felt a little miserable when I couldn't sleep at all last night because I was too cold. But, other than that, even the rough times have been enjoyable! The people we are meeting have brought a lot to the experience, and Maggie and I still like each other. Yeah!