This is going to have to be really quick, as we must leave town again. At the moment, we are residing in Monson, Me. We should be back in town again in 3 days so hopefully i can add some more details, but overall we had a good trip. Katadin was a great hike, we used day packs and spent over an hour up on the summit looking at the 360 degree view (pictures eventually will be loaded). The hundred mile wilderness was neither 100 miles nor wilderness. We spent a night in a beautiful hostel right in the middle of the wilderness and gave ourselves some time off. The wilderness was pretty muddy, filled with slick roots, but other then that, it wasn't overly difficult. What we have come to realize is that ever part of the trail is pretty much the same; a green tunnel through the vast forrest's of the eastern United States.
I have got to run, but hopefully i can add some more updates later on.
Best
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Off to Maine
Tomorrow morning we'll be taking off to Maine to begin our long walk home. As you may or may not know, we are flip-flopping on our hike in order to avoid a number of problems we feared we might face. We have already completed the entire trail from Springer Mountain Georgia to the Brink Road Shelter in New Jersey (which accounts of exactly 1308.3 miles). However, now that we are approaching September, the prospect of hiking through Maine in late October strikes fear into our hearts. This situation also puts us in the ideal situation of walking south as it gets colder, and of hiking through New England during the fall foliage season. Most significantly though, the chance to "walk home" is just something we couldn't pass up.
While Maine and New Hampshire pose great threats physically, the fact that we'll be walking home can hopefully drive us past any challenges we face.
I also will try to be a little more consistent in my posting, so keep coming back for updates and hopefully you'll be receiving them and i'll see you in exactly 870.0 miles!
While Maine and New Hampshire pose great threats physically, the fact that we'll be walking home can hopefully drive us past any challenges we face.
I also will try to be a little more consistent in my posting, so keep coming back for updates and hopefully you'll be receiving them and i'll see you in exactly 870.0 miles!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Day off in PA
Glass half full, it now spillith over. Nearly 1300 miles into the trip, we can feel the scales finally tipping in our favor (800 miles left). My last update was a couple hundred miles back, so there is obviously a lot to catch everybody up on. Hopefully, this entry will begin to do that (and a hopeful perspective future one can finish it off).
Ill start from where i am now, and work backwards. We've made it to the Poconos house, and right on schedule may i add. We arrived wednesday night, and will be leaving tomorrow (at least i will, full explanation coming). Josh's family was up visiting, but left for the Weissman's lake house thursday afternoon. This left us with a delicate situation in which we wanted to all see our families, without restricting the others from seeing theirs. The plan we finally settled on, was that Josh would go with his family to the lake while Jake would attempt a historic 40 mile hike from my Poconos house to his lake house (he made it). The plan concludes with me hiking with Belle (my sister) for two days. Her and I will hike short days tomorrow and sunday until she gets picked up by my parents. Both of us are looking forward to it, and i think it will be fun. Josh will be meeting up with me Sunday evening by hiking a long day to catch my progress from the 2 days with my sister. Should be a fun weekend!
Our recent days have seen us receive a loud of guests to hike with us. It bega with Jacob Price (Josh's brother). He did a great job, hiking about 100 miles and keeping up with the big boys. It was also really nice to have some new company with us, as he hiked for over a week and we got used to him. Next to join us was Adam, who spent two full days hiking some of the toughest terrain in PA. Then came Eli, who hiked a day with us. On the trail it is especially nice getting all these different personalities, because as you can imagine, we are quite used to our own.
Of course, you can always find the day-by-day updates of our trip on Jake's blog (linked to the right), but a short overview of the states and terrains we faced are as follows:
Pennsylvania-Rocky but moderately flat
Shenandoah- Flat and beautiful. Well carved trails, and lots of cute bears
Thats about it for regions. Two very long, pretty nice places to hike.
We also hit Harpers Ferry during the downtime of this blog. This was nice because it was our first chance to see our families (at least Josh and I). As we walked north toward Harpers Ferry, My dad, sister Eve, Adam, and girlfriend Tanya walked southbound to meet us on the trail. They did, and Tanya even carried my pack all the way to town (she is perfect!). We stayed in a nice hotel, and spent a day in the nice historic downtown which was relaxing.
Those are most of the major events of our time since i last posted. While i'm sure there are more stories to tell, this entry will end with one last story. One night Jake was so scared spiders would climb on him one night that he set up his tent inside a shelter, something considered grossly taboo, and undone among thru-hikers; but who can tell Jake what to do when spiders are around (answer: no one)
Ill start from where i am now, and work backwards. We've made it to the Poconos house, and right on schedule may i add. We arrived wednesday night, and will be leaving tomorrow (at least i will, full explanation coming). Josh's family was up visiting, but left for the Weissman's lake house thursday afternoon. This left us with a delicate situation in which we wanted to all see our families, without restricting the others from seeing theirs. The plan we finally settled on, was that Josh would go with his family to the lake while Jake would attempt a historic 40 mile hike from my Poconos house to his lake house (he made it). The plan concludes with me hiking with Belle (my sister) for two days. Her and I will hike short days tomorrow and sunday until she gets picked up by my parents. Both of us are looking forward to it, and i think it will be fun. Josh will be meeting up with me Sunday evening by hiking a long day to catch my progress from the 2 days with my sister. Should be a fun weekend!
Our recent days have seen us receive a loud of guests to hike with us. It bega with Jacob Price (Josh's brother). He did a great job, hiking about 100 miles and keeping up with the big boys. It was also really nice to have some new company with us, as he hiked for over a week and we got used to him. Next to join us was Adam, who spent two full days hiking some of the toughest terrain in PA. Then came Eli, who hiked a day with us. On the trail it is especially nice getting all these different personalities, because as you can imagine, we are quite used to our own.
Of course, you can always find the day-by-day updates of our trip on Jake's blog (linked to the right), but a short overview of the states and terrains we faced are as follows:
Pennsylvania-Rocky but moderately flat
Shenandoah- Flat and beautiful. Well carved trails, and lots of cute bears
Thats about it for regions. Two very long, pretty nice places to hike.
We also hit Harpers Ferry during the downtime of this blog. This was nice because it was our first chance to see our families (at least Josh and I). As we walked north toward Harpers Ferry, My dad, sister Eve, Adam, and girlfriend Tanya walked southbound to meet us on the trail. They did, and Tanya even carried my pack all the way to town (she is perfect!). We stayed in a nice hotel, and spent a day in the nice historic downtown which was relaxing.
Those are most of the major events of our time since i last posted. While i'm sure there are more stories to tell, this entry will end with one last story. One night Jake was so scared spiders would climb on him one night that he set up his tent inside a shelter, something considered grossly taboo, and undone among thru-hikers; but who can tell Jake what to do when spiders are around (answer: no one)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Pearisburg-6/10
We spent last night in a motel in the nice small city of Pearisburg, Va. Its been a while since I've written, so there will be much for me to say. Unfortunatly, we are pressed for time so I'm not sure that I will get to all of it.
Our biggest event in the past two weeks was the forth of July. We celebrated in style of course. Since we could not attend the Highland Park fireworks show in Donaldson Park, we did our best to reenact it. We each bought fireworks, and to top it off, we purchased a bottle of rum aswell. Both of those aquisitions went according to plan, as we supplemented them with music (my crank radio) and partied the night away. While our fireworks never left the ground (state law, they were actually more like sparklers), we definitly found our spirits raised by the good and relaxing times we were having (alcohol induced or not, i can't be sure).
That very night we had expected large/torrential rain storms, so headed by Jake, we hatched a plan to fight back. We were at a campsite, so we devised a rain tarp to cover our tents, so we could have a "common area" to be in if the rain ever came. The problem was, that the only store we passed, a gas station, had no tarps. We decided on buying 10 large trash bags, and using duck tape to do the job of transforming them into a tarp. Our tents were positioned all facing eachother, to for a triangle between us. Our "tarp" ended up staying up all night, problem was, we were barely rained upon. The next day called for 70% change of rain, but we again somehow skirted it, and walked through nice sunny weather the entire day.
A few nights later, we were staying in a shelter (3 walls and a floor) and were all ready for bed when catastophe (at least for Jake) hit. Laying down reading our books, Jake looks up at the ceiling to find a giant spider crawling directly above him. When we say giant, we mean nearly the size of your hand. Jake's freakout began with the low pitched "ooo no", but culminated in his upheaval from the shelter and subsiquint wimpers from over by the fire (which he rebuilt to epic proportions). Before Josh and I were allowed to kill the beast, all of Jakes things had to be moved from the vacinity, because "if we missed and it touched his sleeping bag, he could never use it again". Anyway, Josh wacked the bugger with a stick, and crisis was averted.
We also managed to have our best dinner on the trail. After visiting Bland (yes, thats the name of the town), we hiked a few miles out to our campsite. Knowing we would have this short hike beforehand, we had the foresight to decide on a nice dinner, regardless of weight, that we could make on the trail. We bought steaks. While marinating them in bbq sauce, siracha and spices, we built up a nice fire, then let it turn to embers. We then built a platform out of flattened sticks and cooked our steaks right on that. We flipped them with a steak fork we carved, and what can i say, that was some of the best steak I've ever had. Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and the perfect group of people to eat it with.
It is about time for me to be getting out of here; i mean, we are walking the appalacian trail, not blogging for a living. I hope this was enough of an update. While our next maildrop site is listed to the right, we do have potential for other stops before then, so hopefully i'll be able to write again before we arrive in Waynesboro. Hope everyone out in the real world is well, and I'll talk to you again soon.
Our biggest event in the past two weeks was the forth of July. We celebrated in style of course. Since we could not attend the Highland Park fireworks show in Donaldson Park, we did our best to reenact it. We each bought fireworks, and to top it off, we purchased a bottle of rum aswell. Both of those aquisitions went according to plan, as we supplemented them with music (my crank radio) and partied the night away. While our fireworks never left the ground (state law, they were actually more like sparklers), we definitly found our spirits raised by the good and relaxing times we were having (alcohol induced or not, i can't be sure).
That very night we had expected large/torrential rain storms, so headed by Jake, we hatched a plan to fight back. We were at a campsite, so we devised a rain tarp to cover our tents, so we could have a "common area" to be in if the rain ever came. The problem was, that the only store we passed, a gas station, had no tarps. We decided on buying 10 large trash bags, and using duck tape to do the job of transforming them into a tarp. Our tents were positioned all facing eachother, to for a triangle between us. Our "tarp" ended up staying up all night, problem was, we were barely rained upon. The next day called for 70% change of rain, but we again somehow skirted it, and walked through nice sunny weather the entire day.
A few nights later, we were staying in a shelter (3 walls and a floor) and were all ready for bed when catastophe (at least for Jake) hit. Laying down reading our books, Jake looks up at the ceiling to find a giant spider crawling directly above him. When we say giant, we mean nearly the size of your hand. Jake's freakout began with the low pitched "ooo no", but culminated in his upheaval from the shelter and subsiquint wimpers from over by the fire (which he rebuilt to epic proportions). Before Josh and I were allowed to kill the beast, all of Jakes things had to be moved from the vacinity, because "if we missed and it touched his sleeping bag, he could never use it again". Anyway, Josh wacked the bugger with a stick, and crisis was averted.
We also managed to have our best dinner on the trail. After visiting Bland (yes, thats the name of the town), we hiked a few miles out to our campsite. Knowing we would have this short hike beforehand, we had the foresight to decide on a nice dinner, regardless of weight, that we could make on the trail. We bought steaks. While marinating them in bbq sauce, siracha and spices, we built up a nice fire, then let it turn to embers. We then built a platform out of flattened sticks and cooked our steaks right on that. We flipped them with a steak fork we carved, and what can i say, that was some of the best steak I've ever had. Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and the perfect group of people to eat it with.
It is about time for me to be getting out of here; i mean, we are walking the appalacian trail, not blogging for a living. I hope this was enough of an update. While our next maildrop site is listed to the right, we do have potential for other stops before then, so hopefully i'll be able to write again before we arrive in Waynesboro. Hope everyone out in the real world is well, and I'll talk to you again soon.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Damascus - 6/29
We arrived in Damascus yesterday, and decided to take a zero day to allow our bodies to adjust to our forth state of the trip. That's right, we have arrived in Virginia. It is everything we expected and more. So far (about the 2 miles we've walked) it has been beautiful, flat, and friendly.
Our hiking since Erwin displayed us nothing spectacular, be we do feel we are finally hitting our pace. Since our infamous days in Erwin, our hikes have been much more relaxed, hiking 16-19 miles, but not feeling tied into getting to and ending point. We are really just enjoying the walk, and going for as long as we can. I would personally like to thank Jake for this, because he has really cooled off on the idea of finishing our trip in record time, and has embraced the cool, but confident pace we are now employing.
We saw a turtle and two snakes. I know people like the animal reports, but thats pretty much it. Our zero day in Damascus allowed us to go to the movie theater, and what else could we have seen but Transformers. We now like to joke that we saw a Fox, Megan (Josh would like me to point out that he and Jake helped to make this joke). The movie embraced the fact that it was unrealistic and pretty bad, which actually made it kind of good.
Damascus is a quaint little town on the southern border of Virginia. While our book claims it to be "the most hiker friendly town on the trail", we have found it to be the most biker habited place, anywhere. On its small little main street (saying it's three blocks long might be a stretch) there are at least 5 bike shops. Apparently we are located extremely close to the Virginia Creeper Trail (yes, we got a laugh out of the name), which is supposed to be a group of great bike paths, which are actually converted train tracks. There are also a large number of bed and breakfasts located in Damascus, and that is where we found ourselves staying.
Our first night we spent at the Double Tree bed and breakfast, which is run be a quirky but extremely nice and caring lady. She gave us her room on the third floor, which featured TV, internet, and our own bathroom. In the morning she also served us a healthy breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Tonight however we are staying in the B&B most recommended to us, the Lazy Fox. We are told that Miss Jenny (our host) makes the "Oh My G-d Breakfast", which, as it name hints, should be amazing. Needless to say, we are excited for breakfast.
Lastly, I want to thank my wonderful girlfriend Tanya for her amazing care package. You are the greatest girlfriend, and I love you.
Our hiking since Erwin displayed us nothing spectacular, be we do feel we are finally hitting our pace. Since our infamous days in Erwin, our hikes have been much more relaxed, hiking 16-19 miles, but not feeling tied into getting to and ending point. We are really just enjoying the walk, and going for as long as we can. I would personally like to thank Jake for this, because he has really cooled off on the idea of finishing our trip in record time, and has embraced the cool, but confident pace we are now employing.
We saw a turtle and two snakes. I know people like the animal reports, but thats pretty much it. Our zero day in Damascus allowed us to go to the movie theater, and what else could we have seen but Transformers. We now like to joke that we saw a Fox, Megan (Josh would like me to point out that he and Jake helped to make this joke). The movie embraced the fact that it was unrealistic and pretty bad, which actually made it kind of good.
Damascus is a quaint little town on the southern border of Virginia. While our book claims it to be "the most hiker friendly town on the trail", we have found it to be the most biker habited place, anywhere. On its small little main street (saying it's three blocks long might be a stretch) there are at least 5 bike shops. Apparently we are located extremely close to the Virginia Creeper Trail (yes, we got a laugh out of the name), which is supposed to be a group of great bike paths, which are actually converted train tracks. There are also a large number of bed and breakfasts located in Damascus, and that is where we found ourselves staying.
Our first night we spent at the Double Tree bed and breakfast, which is run be a quirky but extremely nice and caring lady. She gave us her room on the third floor, which featured TV, internet, and our own bathroom. In the morning she also served us a healthy breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Tonight however we are staying in the B&B most recommended to us, the Lazy Fox. We are told that Miss Jenny (our host) makes the "Oh My G-d Breakfast", which, as it name hints, should be amazing. Needless to say, we are excited for breakfast.
Lastly, I want to thank my wonderful girlfriend Tanya for her amazing care package. You are the greatest girlfriend, and I love you.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Josh's body
For how much longer will it exist? Today we found out the problem that has been plagueing recently. Allegidly, Josh has giardia, which should explain all of his ailments (vomitting, lack of sleep, etc.). Because of this prognosis, it seems we will be spending one additional day (tomorrow, 6/21) to make sure we return Josh to his optimal health before we begin hiking again. Since we know we'll be here ahead of time though we were able to plan out an activity tomorrow. We will be going white water rafting with our own private guide tomorrow morning. We are going to bring lunch, and beer, and should have a great time on the level 4 rapids. Tomorrow afternoon Jake promised me we could just sit around and relax (he doesn't like doing nothing), so we should have a very enjoyable day tomorrow. Thats what Josh's illness means for the three of us, but for all you reading this it means we are within range of contact (both internet and phone) for at least one more day. Feel free to ask questions and expect quick responses for the next day (lets just say, im at your disposal).
*For those of you more curious on what giardia is, enjoy...
*For those of you more curious on what giardia is, enjoy...
Friday, June 19, 2009
Friday June 19, Erwin TN (still)
We loved our time in Erwin TN so much that we decided to stay another day. Actually, Josh has been feeling a bit under the weather, so we decided that for the group as a whole, we would take a zero day rather then risking future progress in the trail.
Our day consisted of movies and the mall. We saw "Up", the disney movie. It was pretty cool, and in 3D (which meant they gave us the 3D glasses prior to the film). The movie was cute, but blew no one away.
Overall the day was just relaxing, and i think it helped to prepare us for the journey ahead. We have been informed that we are in for a pretty difficult stretch of mountains, so we will have to be at our best.
I should be able to write again in about a week, so hopefully this will tide you over until then.
Adios
Our day consisted of movies and the mall. We saw "Up", the disney movie. It was pretty cool, and in 3D (which meant they gave us the 3D glasses prior to the film). The movie was cute, but blew no one away.
Overall the day was just relaxing, and i think it helped to prepare us for the journey ahead. We have been informed that we are in for a pretty difficult stretch of mountains, so we will have to be at our best.
I should be able to write again in about a week, so hopefully this will tide you over until then.
Adios
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Our New Friends
I forgot to mention them in the last post, but we met our Seinfeld Doplegangers on the trail. Three guys, just graduated from college, who went to highschool together and had planned on walking the appalacian trail together. The oddest part is, that they reign from Middlesex County, Ma. Weird. Anyway, their names are Pete, Matt, and Jeff. I will link their blogs on the side so you can check out the same trail were walking, but from a little different perspective. (Pete has some photo's linked from his blog, so if you are intersted in seeing some of the sights, check that out)
Erwin, TN 6/18
I finally hav a little time to write on a computer, so hopefully this post will update everyone on our happenings on the trail. I guess the most difficult place to begin is to figure out where to begin. I guess we'll start with Georgia.
Our hike began in Amicalola Fall State Park. This is where the approach trail to the appalacian trail begins. It is about a 7 mile hike to the top of Springer Mountain (the begining of the AT), and features a hike up about 500 steps (which probably to this date was the most difficult thing we did). Days in Georgia began slow, keeping our mileage below the 10 mile per day mark. This is where we first met The Pacemaker Man. The Pacemaker Man (aka Allen Law) is a 64 year old man hailing for the suburbs of Cincinatti, technically in Kentucky. He is section hiking the AT for about a month, and we saw him often through our first two weeks. While Georgia's geography posed some challenges for us, we were able to temper it by curbing our mileage a bit. But towards the end of Georgia, and as we entered North Carolina, we started to pick up our pace.
North Carolina topographically was not so much different than Georgia; I mean, it is only a "man made border", as jake likes to say. Entering NC Josh and I faced our first experience with the animals of the AT. As we walked a foggy trail mid morning (jake was probably miles ahead of us at this point), we entered a ridge after a short decline and noticed a herd of wild boar grazing on the side of the trail. Just as we saw them, they seemed to have noticed as, and began to run. Lucky for them, they ran the direction opposite of us, because Josh and I had our trekking poles at the ready; Josh already beginning to utter the words "lets flank them!".
NC led us to the Great Smokey Mountains. Now those mountains are a natural border, no man made nothing. These are some of the largest, and most beautiful mountains not just along the trail, but in the entire country. Our book (the throughhikers guide to the appalacian trail) quotes that the smokey mountains are the "most diverse forest in north america", and i believe this to be true. They were big, they were smokey, and they definitly were mountains. The largest mountain on the AT is located in the smokeys, Clingman's Dome, standing at 6643 feet. Unfortunatly, our first day of real rain occured the day we were hiking it, so not only did we ascend some of our highest peaks during a thunderstorm, once we reached the top we were unable to see the supposidly magnificant view off the observatory on the top.
Since the Smokey's we have been riddled on and off with rain (luckily our tents are holding up nicely) but our boots (especially mine) have had a few problems. Despite the saleslady's pitch, my boots are NOT waterproof, so i would NOT suggest entering a stream while wearing them if you are planning on staying dry.
Currently we're straddling the North Carolina Tennessee border, literally crossing it daily.
I do have a new animal update. While I only saw a baby snake today, yesterday Josh saw himself a new animal we can add to the list. As he was walking alone on the trail (a little ahead of me, a lot behind jake) a large deer entered the path just behind him and began to stop its hooves in his direction. He able lifted his poles above his head and began banging them together, but this proved to no avail as it kept stomping and stairing in his eyes. Next josh (in his words) "looked around for her little bambi, and after determening there was none, just continuted walking away frmo her". Lucky she didnt follow, and luckily she had no man close by, because he could have done some serious damage.
I promised Josh his own section, so here goes. I shall entitle it: Josh's Equipment Malfunctions. Josh has been the king of problems during our short time on the trail so far. Zippers from his pack have snapped, his tent poles have cracked, the fly to his tent has ripped, and lastly, and most importantly, as many of you know, after the first week in he damanged one of his most important pieces of equipment, his bladder. With a partially damanged bladder, we were set back a few miles, but he has since healed his bladder, but unfortunatly nothing else. He has been on and off with illness, but were hoping we can get him healthy soon. Because of this ill fate, josh has earned himself a trail name. Ichabod Crane.
All three of us have been giving our trail names. Josh's, as mentioned above, is Ichabod Crane, after the famous character from the Washington Irving story Sleepy Hollow. The similarities are uncanny. Not only is josh tall and goofy, he loves reading, and is harnessed with extremely bad luck (although he has yet to been chased by a headless horseman).
Jakes trail name is Outlaw Pete. This name stems from the Bruce Springsteen song Outlaw Pete, were he sings of "being born on the appalacian trail". Jake, Bruce Springsteen...Need i say more?
My trail name was thought up by Josh, and agreed to by Jake (basically a trail naming ceremony). I have been given the name Achilles. This stems from my lack of blisters (cross your fingers/knock on wood that this stays true). Once day i was almost developing a blister, inevitably, on the back of my heel. While i did not get that blister, i have had a sore heel for a while now, and it has become apparent that my only weakness is my Achilles is my only weakness- same as the ancient greek hero.
Mileage analysis time. Right now i am writing from mile 339.9 of the trail. We have successfully completed 22 days. This gives us an average of 15.45. Writing that number, it actually seems pretty low, as the past few weeks i feel we have been avering around 20 miles a day. Our longest day was a 24 mile day, but our shortest were two 4 mile days taken after joshs bladder problem.
While walking on the trail, i pondered of things to say in this blog, and sitting at this computer, i fear i have lost them. I could tell you the arguements that josh jake and I have faced eachother with, but those have yet to be perfected, and will probably some day be published as great political and environmental thinkings.
One last shout out to all the nice poeple we have met in Irwin today. We were giving rides to and from town, numorous times, especially by the guy who drove us to the supermarket and back (sorry, i never caught your name).
Also, Tanya, i love and miss you. I will call you soon!
Everybody else, i hope you enjoyed this. Feel free to email me with comments and questions. I hope you had fun, i know i am.
Best
Our hike began in Amicalola Fall State Park. This is where the approach trail to the appalacian trail begins. It is about a 7 mile hike to the top of Springer Mountain (the begining of the AT), and features a hike up about 500 steps (which probably to this date was the most difficult thing we did). Days in Georgia began slow, keeping our mileage below the 10 mile per day mark. This is where we first met The Pacemaker Man. The Pacemaker Man (aka Allen Law) is a 64 year old man hailing for the suburbs of Cincinatti, technically in Kentucky. He is section hiking the AT for about a month, and we saw him often through our first two weeks. While Georgia's geography posed some challenges for us, we were able to temper it by curbing our mileage a bit. But towards the end of Georgia, and as we entered North Carolina, we started to pick up our pace.
North Carolina topographically was not so much different than Georgia; I mean, it is only a "man made border", as jake likes to say. Entering NC Josh and I faced our first experience with the animals of the AT. As we walked a foggy trail mid morning (jake was probably miles ahead of us at this point), we entered a ridge after a short decline and noticed a herd of wild boar grazing on the side of the trail. Just as we saw them, they seemed to have noticed as, and began to run. Lucky for them, they ran the direction opposite of us, because Josh and I had our trekking poles at the ready; Josh already beginning to utter the words "lets flank them!".
NC led us to the Great Smokey Mountains. Now those mountains are a natural border, no man made nothing. These are some of the largest, and most beautiful mountains not just along the trail, but in the entire country. Our book (the throughhikers guide to the appalacian trail) quotes that the smokey mountains are the "most diverse forest in north america", and i believe this to be true. They were big, they were smokey, and they definitly were mountains. The largest mountain on the AT is located in the smokeys, Clingman's Dome, standing at 6643 feet. Unfortunatly, our first day of real rain occured the day we were hiking it, so not only did we ascend some of our highest peaks during a thunderstorm, once we reached the top we were unable to see the supposidly magnificant view off the observatory on the top.
Since the Smokey's we have been riddled on and off with rain (luckily our tents are holding up nicely) but our boots (especially mine) have had a few problems. Despite the saleslady's pitch, my boots are NOT waterproof, so i would NOT suggest entering a stream while wearing them if you are planning on staying dry.
Currently we're straddling the North Carolina Tennessee border, literally crossing it daily.
I do have a new animal update. While I only saw a baby snake today, yesterday Josh saw himself a new animal we can add to the list. As he was walking alone on the trail (a little ahead of me, a lot behind jake) a large deer entered the path just behind him and began to stop its hooves in his direction. He able lifted his poles above his head and began banging them together, but this proved to no avail as it kept stomping and stairing in his eyes. Next josh (in his words) "looked around for her little bambi, and after determening there was none, just continuted walking away frmo her". Lucky she didnt follow, and luckily she had no man close by, because he could have done some serious damage.
I promised Josh his own section, so here goes. I shall entitle it: Josh's Equipment Malfunctions. Josh has been the king of problems during our short time on the trail so far. Zippers from his pack have snapped, his tent poles have cracked, the fly to his tent has ripped, and lastly, and most importantly, as many of you know, after the first week in he damanged one of his most important pieces of equipment, his bladder. With a partially damanged bladder, we were set back a few miles, but he has since healed his bladder, but unfortunatly nothing else. He has been on and off with illness, but were hoping we can get him healthy soon. Because of this ill fate, josh has earned himself a trail name. Ichabod Crane.
All three of us have been giving our trail names. Josh's, as mentioned above, is Ichabod Crane, after the famous character from the Washington Irving story Sleepy Hollow. The similarities are uncanny. Not only is josh tall and goofy, he loves reading, and is harnessed with extremely bad luck (although he has yet to been chased by a headless horseman).
Jakes trail name is Outlaw Pete. This name stems from the Bruce Springsteen song Outlaw Pete, were he sings of "being born on the appalacian trail". Jake, Bruce Springsteen...Need i say more?
My trail name was thought up by Josh, and agreed to by Jake (basically a trail naming ceremony). I have been given the name Achilles. This stems from my lack of blisters (cross your fingers/knock on wood that this stays true). Once day i was almost developing a blister, inevitably, on the back of my heel. While i did not get that blister, i have had a sore heel for a while now, and it has become apparent that my only weakness is my Achilles is my only weakness- same as the ancient greek hero.
Mileage analysis time. Right now i am writing from mile 339.9 of the trail. We have successfully completed 22 days. This gives us an average of 15.45. Writing that number, it actually seems pretty low, as the past few weeks i feel we have been avering around 20 miles a day. Our longest day was a 24 mile day, but our shortest were two 4 mile days taken after joshs bladder problem.
While walking on the trail, i pondered of things to say in this blog, and sitting at this computer, i fear i have lost them. I could tell you the arguements that josh jake and I have faced eachother with, but those have yet to be perfected, and will probably some day be published as great political and environmental thinkings.
One last shout out to all the nice poeple we have met in Irwin today. We were giving rides to and from town, numorous times, especially by the guy who drove us to the supermarket and back (sorry, i never caught your name).
Also, Tanya, i love and miss you. I will call you soon!
Everybody else, i hope you enjoyed this. Feel free to email me with comments and questions. I hope you had fun, i know i am.
Best
First Post
This was an email sent out to a few people, but if you didn't receive it (for whatever reason), here goes.
Per request of my mother, i will now begin to start writing emails describing the events of my trip on the Appalacian trail. Unfortunatly, this is going to be a short email as we are only quickly traveling through a town, but hopefully we will be able to find the internet again in a couple of days and i can provide some more updates.
To date, we have traveled over 250 miles of the appalacian trail, and passed through the states of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennisee. We also passed through the great smokey mountains national park, a place that while beautiful, fit its name of smokey. The only time we have faced rain so far during our 18 day journey has been through the smokey's, which as you would expect, were foggy and often we had difficult times finding nice views (despite the altitudes that ranged to sometimes above 6000 feet).
While we have not seen the entire range of wildlife on the trail, we have seen a few of natures finest animals. While first entering North Carolina, josh and i saw a family of wild boar, about 8 in all. As you might expect, the sight (or smell) of josh and i scared them right off the moment we saw them. When entering the Smokey's, all 3 of us saw a family of bear (a mother with 3 cubs). While we didnt get a great look at them (the ran aswell), we could see that the cubs were very cute. I expect this is where the bear problems stem from; "but they just look so cute. oops, there goes my fingers". The last few animals we saw were baby snakes, snales, turkey, birds, and a grouse (a mini turkey of sorts that just makes noise and runs around).
Towns have been fun, we are still figuring out our buying habbits. We've faced problems of over purchasing for the trail, leaving us with the dilema of either overpacking our packs (a lot of weight) or leaving food behind that we paid for (a waste of money, which yes, does exist, even on the trail).
Lastly i just want to say i've been having a great time out here. Our walking time usually features debates of ethics, politics, economics, and life- usually with Josh and I siding against Jake (he does an ample job of defending himself against us). Also, to Zach, i read mysteries of pittsburgh, and thought it sucked. To those reading this email, i do not suggest it. I am at the moment reading enders game, and once i complete that i have promised that i will read anna kourinina or however it is spelled. We will see how that goes.
Most importantly, all is well. I hope to get back to everyone soon, and feel free to write back as i would love to respond to questions.
Per request of my mother, i will now begin to start writing emails describing the events of my trip on the Appalacian trail. Unfortunatly, this is going to be a short email as we are only quickly traveling through a town, but hopefully we will be able to find the internet again in a couple of days and i can provide some more updates.
To date, we have traveled over 250 miles of the appalacian trail, and passed through the states of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennisee. We also passed through the great smokey mountains national park, a place that while beautiful, fit its name of smokey. The only time we have faced rain so far during our 18 day journey has been through the smokey's, which as you would expect, were foggy and often we had difficult times finding nice views (despite the altitudes that ranged to sometimes above 6000 feet).
While we have not seen the entire range of wildlife on the trail, we have seen a few of natures finest animals. While first entering North Carolina, josh and i saw a family of wild boar, about 8 in all. As you might expect, the sight (or smell) of josh and i scared them right off the moment we saw them. When entering the Smokey's, all 3 of us saw a family of bear (a mother with 3 cubs). While we didnt get a great look at them (the ran aswell), we could see that the cubs were very cute. I expect this is where the bear problems stem from; "but they just look so cute. oops, there goes my fingers". The last few animals we saw were baby snakes, snales, turkey, birds, and a grouse (a mini turkey of sorts that just makes noise and runs around).
Towns have been fun, we are still figuring out our buying habbits. We've faced problems of over purchasing for the trail, leaving us with the dilema of either overpacking our packs (a lot of weight) or leaving food behind that we paid for (a waste of money, which yes, does exist, even on the trail).
Lastly i just want to say i've been having a great time out here. Our walking time usually features debates of ethics, politics, economics, and life- usually with Josh and I siding against Jake (he does an ample job of defending himself against us). Also, to Zach, i read mysteries of pittsburgh, and thought it sucked. To those reading this email, i do not suggest it. I am at the moment reading enders game, and once i complete that i have promised that i will read anna kourinina or however it is spelled. We will see how that goes.
Most importantly, all is well. I hope to get back to everyone soon, and feel free to write back as i would love to respond to questions.
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