Day 151: 0 = 68 (29/11/2016)

This is it. The day we shuttle past the fires. Because my feet are so sore, I decided that I was going to hostel again near the Dick's Gap trailhead. The others also had less severe foot issues, so no one objected. Best of all, Equinox gave me a prescription strength Naproxen which helped enormously and by the end of the day my feet felt fine. Not great, but the soreness was dull enough that I figured drugs, sports tape, and desperation to finish with the trail family would keep me going.

We got around the fires thanks to the generosity of a friend of Flatlander's who drove 3 hours to pick us up, let us resupply in Hiawassee, then left us at the hostel. We cannot be grateful enough.

Speaking of the trail family, Lancelot reappeared this morning!! He pulled 30 mile days, hiking late into the night to catch up, so we're all together again. It seems Equinox (a German PhD student living in DC) has been adopted as well, so we're thinking of renaming ourselves Katie and the Foreigners. Lancelot is an honorary Canadian, because Connecticut kind of sounds similar. It was either that, or rename himself Katie. 

Since we had a kitchen at the hostel, we made risotto and brownies for dinner. It turns out it is possible to make too much food even for 5 hungry hikers. Still, it was a nice candle lit dinner with wine and friendship. I'm going to miss this group.

In less cheerful news, Gatlinburg is burning to the ground and all of the Smoky Mountains is now closed to AT hikers. Several friends have been evacuated, including Trout. Luckily no one has been physically harmed, but it's a sad situation.

In the end, we're 67.7 miles further down the trail without any hiking. We're also in Georgia, the last state on the trail. The end is truly nigh.

Tomorrow the forecast is for cold and rain. Wet feet are at the root of my foot issues, so it could be a challenge but... only 4 more sleeps to Springer!!

Start: Nantahala Outdoor Center 

End: Top of Georgia Hostel

Distance: 0/67.7 miles

Total: 2,119.5 miles

Day 150 - (Un)Happy Feet (28/11/2016)

Today we head to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which has a restaurant and hostel. I'm determined to get there before dark both because I'm really tired of night hiking, and because the restaurant closes at 6pm and I really want a beer.

We made it, but only just and I've all but destroyed the undersides of my feet. I can barely walk, but I did get a huge amount of food (a trout cake, followed by a pizza, and an apple cobbler + 2 delicious craft beers). Not only that, but when we asked for the bill, our waitress told us an anonymous trail angel had already picked up the tab leaving us only the tip to take care of! Needless to say we tipped well (and she'd have deserved it in any case). A happy end to a painful day.

Now I go to bed showered and warm. Word is that there are new fire-related closures in the Smoky Mountains. An access road is closed (making Gatlinburg inaccessible), and a shelter. The trail is still open, but you have to go into the park with enough food to hike it's entirety. We're grateful that we got there when we did.

Tomorrow a friend of Flatlander's is shuttling us around the fires, and then it'll be 3.5 more days to Springer!!

Start: Cable Gap Shelter

End: Nantahala Outdoor Center 

Distance: 21.9 miles

Total: 2,059.9 miles

Day 147 - Ripley's Believe It Or Not (25/11/2016)

(I seem to have missed a day somewhere in the blog sequence, hence no Day 146)

I was a late starter and fell behind the others for most of the morning. We were heading in to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a resupply and hopefully a festive meal. On my way to catching Blueberry Crisp and Flatlander, I came across a woman who had fallen and injured her elbow quite badly. She wasn't handling it well. I had some painkillers with me to help with the swelling, and got her to her feet before her party showed up to walk her out.

I raced down past hundreds of day hikers and came to a parking lot thronging with people and we realized the 15 miles to Gatlinburg might be a lot more difficult than anticipated. Luckily, Cinderella and Waterboy had a shuttle arranged for drop off, so we hitched a ride into town with them.

Gatlinburg, it turns out, is nothing but a tourist trap with overpriced motels and ridiculous attractions like the Guinness Book of Records, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Do not recommend. We were almost stuck staying there, when an angel appeared and offered us a ride. He turned out to be mildly insane, but in a friendly way.

The long day and weekend meant that we fully expected our shelter to be full of weekend hikers. Luckily we were wrong and had another shelter just to the three of us.

There wasn't much time to celebrate though because it was late, so we quickly went to bed to get rested before Clingman's Dome tomorrow.

Start: Peck's Corner Shelter

End: Mt. Collins Shelter

Distance: 14.5 miles

Day 143 - Asheville, NC (21/11/2016)

New shoes! I exchanged my shoes at REI and even got some money back because they were on sale. I also bought a new stove that won't be as sensitive to the cold as my alcohol stove. That, a warmer liner for my sleeping bag, and a few Xmas Clif bars and I'm ready to face the cold again.

After resupplying, we all headed into downtown Asheville to check out the brewery scene. Asheville has 15 breweries in the city, so it's kind of a big deal. We settled on Lexington Avenue Brewery where Blueberry Crisp, Lancelot and I each ordered a sample flight of their beers, and I had delicious tacos and a rib sandwich. I definitely liked this town.

Since I'd now done 3 nights at 12 Tribes communities, I thought I should pop in to their Gathering: twice a day (before breakfast and dinner) they meet up for song, dance, discussion and prayer. There were a few things that I noticed : first, the discussion was very much focused on confirming everyone's beliefs rather than dusagreeing, and second, only the men discussed. The latter point made me wonder where the women fit into the communities.

Start: Gladheart Farms 

End: Gladheart Farms 

Distance: 0

Day 142 - Twelve Tribes (revisited) (20/11/2016)

We'd been puzzling over how to get to Asheville, until Flatlander remembered there was a Twelve Tribes community in the area. Given that most of us (Flatlander, Lancelot, and I) had had great experiences with their other communities on the trail, we decided to ask if they could host us.

As usual, they were generous and welcoming beyond reason. We got in to Hot Springs early enough to get dinner and a beer before they sent a driver to pick us up almost an hour away. We arrived at Gladheart Farms just in time for dinner, and met several of the community members. After dinner, we all congregated in the dining area and helped package the maté energy bars that they sell.

At the end Blueberry Crisp commented on just how friendly everyone was. Another convert.

Tomorrow we'll do some gear shopping/exchange (I've had another pair of shoes die) and resupply, then spend another evening with the community. 

It's nice to be warm, both physically and communally.

Start: Little Laurel Shelter

End: Hot Springs, NC

Distance : 19.6 miles

I'm not doing ETA's anymore because too much depends on the fires further south. If they don't clear, we'll be spared 3-4 days of hiking. If they clear, we'll be later.

Day 135 - SNOBO (13/11/2016)

Over breakfast this morning, the hostel owners convinced us to slackpack 23 miles. So for my 7th day, I'm a southbounding NOBO (SNOBO).

It was a lucky choice: mid-afternoon I stumbled on amazing trail magic. A dad who was slackpacking his daughter was making pancakes, eggs, bagels, & fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. Not only that, her hike was almost over so he had several bins of dehydrated foods and supplies they were giving away. I scored some gatorade, beef jerky, and lots of dried veggies. Meals are going to get a lot more interesting.

I'd set out to do the hike as fast as I could, so I was well ahead of the other 4 (Flatlander, Blueberry Crisp, Lancelot, and Danger Mouse). I didn't quite make it out before dark (in part because trail magic lengthened my lunch), but I was still pretty fast. The others came in 2 hours later (they were even more delayed by magic than I was).

The plan is for a sleep in tomorrow, and Blueberry Crisp is campaigning to sleep at the highest shelter on the trail a day later. The trouble is it would mean low miles for two days just after a couple of shorter days into and out of Damascus. We'll see what happens.

Start: Walnut Mountain Road

End: Boots Off 

Distance: 23.3 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 2

Day 132 - Damascus (10/11/2016)

We cheated today. There was a detour from the Appalachian Trail onto the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a nice flat, wide walking and cycling trail that runs straight into Damascus. When the detour ended and returned up the ridges, we decided to "not see the end of the detour." I don't regret it at all.

First up in Damascus: second breakfast at a diner. Then we did a tour of the three outfitters in town (I bought another layer of Merino wool, and some gloves, and got a free pair of hiking socks from a friendly shop owner). Then we checked in at our hostel (the three of us have a room to ourselves), and headed out for a food resupply.

When we got back, Blueberry Crisp made a spinach and cottage cheese lasagna that could have fed a village, and Flatlander made brownies. We polished off the entire lasagna (with lots of garlic bread), then most of the brownies. This was after eating a pint of grape tomatoes, a snickers bar, half a can of pringles, and a few other snacks. Watching hikers eat is disgusting, but I'm not hungry anymore. For now. I'll probably finish the pringles before bed.

Tomorrow, back on the trail after breakfast. For now, it'll be nice to sleep without my water filter (freezing a Sawyer filter can destroy it, so we keep them in our sleeping bags), and wake up warm.

Start: Saunders Shelter 

End: Woodchuck Hostel, Damascus, VA

Distance: 9.3 miles 

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3

Day 122 - Hiker Halloween (31/10/2016)

This morning I ignored my alarm and figured I'd get another hour of sleep or so. Turns out I was pretty tired because instead I slept an extra 2 hours. When I woke, I could hear Blueberry Crisp breaking camp, but half expected to find Flatlander already gone. Happily, she was still there. We packed up camp and headed out.

The day was pretty uneventful. The long night's rest was good for me: walking felt fine. We'd settled on sleeping at a campsite with a view at around 20 miles.

In the end we not only landed at a campsite with a view, but we were welcomed with a pre-built fire and complimentary s'mores ! ‎When we got there, there was already a group of day hikers hanging about with a fire. They were just there for the evening, but they told us to help ourselves to their s'mores supplies. Flatlander is a patient marshmallow roasting perfectionist. Not a bad Halloween.

Flatlander is talking about maybe pushing on ahead of us after Pearisburg. Negotiations are still ongoing.

Start: Eastern Continental Divide 

End: Wind Gap viewpoint 

Distance: 20.4 miles

Day 118 - (27/10/2016)

Another early start this morning, with Flatlander and I hitting the trail at 7. Nothing really remarkable to note. More beautiful autumn hiking, and some nice views. Near the end of our day we ran into a friendly couple who were out watching for hawks. They gave us water, pretzels, goldfish, and grapes and we had a good chat. Blueberry Crisp (a hiker from Québec City) caught up to us, and we all three made our way to the shelter.

Tomorrow we head into Townville for showers and laundry at the fire hall , then on to Daleville for resupply and BBQ!

Start: tentsite

End: Wilson Shelter 

Distance: 23.9 miles

Day 111 - Waynesboro VA (20/10/2016)

I had planned to head out at 7am again this morning but clouds rolled in and made it too dark to walk without a headlamp. I was forced to sit and have a coffee while waiting for the sun to rise a bit and brighten the day. It was a nice leisurely start, but also meant that I had to do 8 miles in 2.5 hrs to meet Karen for my ride to Waynesboro. That would usually be OK, but for some reason the last few miles of Shenandoah are quite a bit more challenging than the first 100. Still, I managed to make it and am glad to avoid hiking in the hot, humid air for today.

‎

I had the great fortune of riding with Karen, her husband Jack, and their two beautiful Golden Retrievers. I tried to "borrow" one until December, but Karen kept a wary eye on me. Since they were generous enough to drive me to an outfitter for a gear resupply, and then to a diner for breakfast, I didn't steal their dogs (also, Karen knew to watch me like a hawk).

After a breakfast fit for a hiker (good, but more importantly, huge) I headed to my hostel, where I found Cinderella and Waterboy as expected. Less expectedly, I also found Timber and PinkyPurple!!* C and W are ahead of me now, having arrived last night, but T and PP are sticking around so I'll get to catch up with them.

All in all, a rewarding nero.

Start: just north of Calf Mountain 

End: Waynesboro VA 

Distance: 8 miles

* I'm a bit sad that Timber and Legs are now separated. They were my favourite trail "couple" and I really thought they'd hike the whole way together.

Day 101 - The Dalmatian of Days (10/10/2016)

I decided on a more modest day today, in part for logistical reasons and in part because I'm still a bit tired. I ran into all of the usual suspects. I'm really beginning to like this cohort of SOBOs. Shakespeare and Flatland, and BXE are too fast for me, but I hope to get more time hiking with Cinderella and Waterboy. So far I've only ever met them while NOBOing.

By far the coolest wildlife experience I've had was today. On the trail, I noticed a large bird on a branch just 30 or 40 yards down the trail. I stopped and tried to get my phone out to take a picture. Just as I was pulling it out, the bird (I think an eagle) flew from the branch and directly at me! It passed with it's wings fully spread out, no more than a foot from my waist, and soared on into the forest and out of sight.

Papa Wallaby tells me that's a good omen. I wish good omens weren't so close to being attacked by a large bird of prey.

Also, I finished Pennsylvania. So that's 8 of 14 states down.

Just as I was ending my hike, I ran into Pancake who had twisted her ankle and was struggling. I offered to give her a ride to Walmart for a resupply, so she and Papa Wallaby met and Papa Wallaby got to play Trail Angel!

Start: Wolfville Rd, Maryland
End: Old Forge Rd, Pennsylvania
Distance: 17.6 miles

Day 91 - Hamburg, Home For Hikers (9/30/2016)

Another wet day. Rains fell until noon or so, and then cleared a bit. Trout and I went into town for a quick resupply. The Hamburg area may have displaced Hanover NH as the most hiker-friendly town:

• The trail passes by a barber shop where we could sit, have some coffee and cookies, and charge our phones.
• At Walmart, I accidentally put Pouch in front of the power supply for the motorized carts. When I came back to them, the staff were apologizing *to me*, and bent over backwards to find me somewhere else to plug in my phone.
• As we were stuffing our bags with our resupply, a random stranger came over and handed us Powerades and several Mountain House and AlpineAire meals, saying he just liked to help out hikers when he saw them. We saw another customer give some hikers fresh fruit.
• While we were walking over to Cabela's, a red car pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride. Not only did he drive us to the door, but he gave us some beer and then told us to message him when we were ready to get back to the trail and he'd give us a ride. I'm 90% sure he sat in the parking lot waiting as we visited...

THE LARGEST CABELA'S IN THE WORLD

It almost made me wish I was a hunter/fisherman, so I could enjoy it more fully.

On our way back to the trailhead, we found Pancake and SC again, and are now all camped out near Port Clinton.

Start: Eckville Shelter

End: Top of hill outside Port Clinton

Distance: 15.9 miles

Day 88 - Trail Angel Tim, Take 2 (27/9/2016)

It rained all night, making it tough to get out of bed. I headed out to the shelter where I hoped to find Pancake and Trout, and have a quick coffee before braving the wet. They were there, and Pancake and I chilled a bit while hikers came and went. I saw Crunchy for the first time in a long time, and then on my way out I saw Beef Jerky! He'd been off trail for a wedding, and was just getting back.

While I was sitting around, I realised that I was now in the area that Tim from PA had said he could help me out if I needed it. I gave him a call and he offered to pick the three of us up, give us dinner, showers, laundry and a warm place to sleep.

Yep, that's right. Another night off trail. I could get used to this kind of hiking.

The only catch was I had to do 19 miles in about 7 hours, so off I went. Pennsylvania is pretty much as rocky as they say it is, but I was motivated by food and Tim. I was happy to get within a mile of our destination, right until I discovered that most of that mile was one of the more treacherous rock scrambles I've had to do this trip.

Still, I made it, and Tim took us out for dinner, took us to a grocery store for resupply, gave us showers, laundry, and a sampling of his various flavoured vodkas, and then packed us off to bed. All in all is was a great night of examining Tim's ax collection, chatting about travel and hiking, and generally enjoying some good company.

Start: Hahn's Lookout
End: PA 284 (Le High Gap)
Distance: 18.7 miles

Day 79 - I got the Bluegrass, so bad (18/9/2016)

This morning started with bagels for breakfast, lots of photos of us all with Tim and Kimberley, then a drive to the Bluegrass Festival. I mentioned Tim was a history buff, and today began with a historical tour of the Hudson River's history as a source of ice in the pre-refrigerator period. It was truly fascinating.

The festival was another great day. This one was a smaller‎, local community event, which proved to be far more social. In particular I met Tenley who seemed to know everyone and connected me with several others around town.

At the end of the day, instead of a rainy night on the trail, Tim had us back to the house for another night, and a plan to leave us at the trailhead in the morning.

Start: Tim's house

End: Tim's house 

Distance: 0 miles

Day 78 - Prost! (17/9/2016)

Today I woke up determined to get 20 miles in. No. Matter. What.

I was short water, but there was a visitor centre around a mile away with a spigot and (I hoped) coffee, so off I went. At the visitor centre I filled up on water, had a coffee, and caught up with Broadway, Troll, and Ser Blue. Turns out the shelter I decided not to sleep at had a beautiful view of both the harvest moonrise and the NY city skyline at night. So I was kicking myself for not staying there.

In any case, I had 19 more miles planned, so I went to head out. I car pulled up and as the driver exited, he said "are you a thru-hiker?" I shook his hand and said I was, whereupon he said "do you want to come to an Oktoberfest?"

20 miles. No. Matter. What. 

"Yes. Yes I do." I replied.

He extended the same offer to the three Floridians, and we all agreed. It turns out Tim sells solar panels, and had a tent at this festival. I spent a beautiful day chatting with some of his prospects, browsing booths, eating German food, and drinking beer.

By the end of the afternoon Tim asked if, instead of going to the trail, we'd like to come over to his place, shower, do laundry and sleep comfortably. In fact, if we wanted we could join him for a Bluegrass festival the next day. Peak Freak and Eskimo had joined us by now, and all 6 of us said yes... which meant piling all of us into his Jeep, with Broadway taking a seat in the trunk space.

It's hard to entirely capture how amazing Tim and his family are. Tim is a Renaissance man with backgrounds in acting, filmmaking, photography, guitar making, bench making/woodwork, parks management, among others I've probably forgotten or never knew about. He also has a detailed knowledge of, and love for the history of his area.

His partner Kim is a pilates instructor who used to be an actress, including appearing in Star Trek Generations with Shatner and Patrick Stewart, and in Star Trek: Voyager. My inner nerd was over the moon.

His eldest daughter (Isabella Rose) is studying singer-songwriting and has an absolutely outstanding voice. I didn't get to talk much to his youngest daughter Piper, but I can only begin to imagine what talents lie there.

So instead of 20 miles, I got 1. And that one will do.

Start: West Mountain Shelter

End: Palisades Parkway

Distance: 1.1 miles

Day 61 - Rest Day At The Goose (31/8/2016)

This was a nice easy day, though I still struggled for the last few miles. You know you're tired when 11 miles feels as tough as 18. (Then again, you know you're fitter when 11 miles used to be a big day, and now it's a rest day.)

Upper Goose Pond is every bit as amazing as I was told it would be. The caretaker has a big white wolfhound named Falcor (to go with a small brown mutt named Bella). After pitching my tent, I took a canoe to an island in the pond for lunch. There I had a cup of tea, some lunch, and listened to music on my phone. Truly serene. When I got back, I found out that Uncle Mickey had bought hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone, so I immediately had dinner. Then I went up to my tent to make real dinner (yep, three consecutive meals in a few hours), and met Jellybean and Pooh Bear. They're both former army, and were on their first recreational backpacking trip - and discovering that trail walking with big packs is harder than they'd expected.

We had a great chat, and I gave them lots of reassurance that, indeed, trail walking with big packs is hard. Then we chatted about army life, and Germany (Pooh Bear had been an army brat there as well). They left me with a really delicious hit sauce (Puerto Ricans don't mess around with that).

Canoes, dogs, grilled burgers, and good conversations. It's really hard to explain how much I needed them that day.

Also, at the end of the day, Littlefoot showed up! I feared we'd lost him to the 12 Tribes, so I'm glad he's remained in society (sort of). I also found out that Eskimo, who'd gone to hospital with suspected giardia, was back on trail (and also not a member of the 12 Tribes). Good news abounds!

Start: Cookie Lady's

End: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

Distance: 11.1 miles

Day 56 - The Brown Carpet State (26/8/2016)

Vermont went from being a beautiful carpet of red pine needles, to a messy bog of mud on the trail. Admittedly, it just rained, but it seems that southern Vermont is very different from northern Vermont.

Since I've been so focussed on miles lately, there haven't been a lot of great interactions. Either that, or the great interactions are beginning to feel commonplace. In any case, I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell the apple story.

Way back in the 100 Mile Wilderness, most of us were craving some real food pretty badly. Being a week from any chance at a hamburger will do that to a person. Most people craved burgers, pizza, that sort of thing. Not me. Me, I craved a tomato. Or an orange, or something fresh, fruity, and juicy.

So on this day, I was walking in the rain and generally just thinking about tomatoes. I came upon a sandy beach, and went and looked out over a pond on a misty, rainy day. It was really very serene. Glancing up the beach to my left, I noticed something round and yellowish red at the edge of the water. "Taipan," I said to myself (since I was still going as Taipan then), "that appears to be an apple."

I looked at it for a long, long time. I eventually decided that I should at least go and throw it in the bushes so that it didn't sully the wilderness feel of the beach. I wandered over and picked it up. In my hand was the most perfect apple I had ever seen. It had a small bruise less than the size of my thumbnail, and only lightly brown. This imperfection only highlighted how perfect a piece of fruit my eyes were gazing upon. I looked at it for a long, long time again. "Taipan", I said to myself, "this is a perfectly good apple that someone has just accidentally dropped, probably moments ago." And then "Are you really going to throw this away?"

And I looked at that apple for a very long time. And I brushed away some small sandy pebbles that the beach had decorated it with.

And that was the most delicious apple I have ever, or will ever eat. I refuse to apologize for eating a dirty beach apple, for it would have been an insult to all of the apple, nay all of the FRUIT, kingdom, had I simply tossed it in the bushes for the worms. That apple ended its existence as nobly as any apple ever has.

And apparently that story has become well enough known that my name is now synonymous with being the "apple guy."

Start: Spruce Peak + 1 mile
End: Story Spring + 1.5 miles
Distance: 19.5 miles

Day 51 - The Red Carpet State (21/8/2016)

This morning I woke up determined to cover the 12 miles to Rutland in a reasonable amount of time. I set out with the goal of keeping 2 miles/hr including any rest time. It turns out that Vermont made this easy. Vermont is essentially a long, soft, red carpet.

The Red Carpet State

My only real delay was for some trail magic (hamburgers)!

Tonight I'm staying at the Yellow Deli & Hiker Hostel. Yellow Delis are run by the 12 Tribes, which is a religious community (read commune/cult). I'd hoped to spend more time finding out about them, but when you have to resupply and you've already lost a few days in Hanover, it's hard to fit some anthropology into your day. I did, however, have dinner at the deli, and I can say with certainty that they make amazing sandwiches and the fruit salad was impressive.

Also, despite being a commune, they are very welcoming and inclusive. Here's the label on the deli bathroom doors (note that they do segregate men and women in the hostel, which is unusual):

 And this card was in my "welcome basket" on my bed:

And everything hostel-related is by donation or work-for-stay.

So whatever else you might hear about them, they are genuine in their desire to support people.

Start: mile 475
End: US 4, near Killington
Distance: 13.4 miles

Day 49 - Zzzzzz (19/8/2016)

I'm exhausted today. Captain Stash lives on a train line near a road. Had some great magic and convos. Here's a bullet list:

• Linda and the Trail Magic House: Two blocks from Stash's is a large blue barn with an AT symbol an free breakfast.
• Evergreen: a great guy I met during a break who gave me coffee crystals since he had a resupply coming.
• Puddle: a U Waterloo alumnus!
• Honey Bear and Sunny: Two hikers slacking themselves for a bit. They had a veggie burger, onion rings and wine for me.

There was a field of cows that if I wasn't so tired, would make for a funny story. Another day perhaps.

Start: Stash and Cathy's

End: VT 12 + 1 mile

Distance: 13.8 miles

Day 43 - I'm wet! I'm wet and I'm hysterical! (13/8/2016)

The sugar shack was fun, it was nice to be sheltered from the torrential rains that hit in the early evening, and Pete had a pretty cool life story but in the end I probably should have skipped it in favour of some miles. I was (once again) reminded that I don't like shared sleeping arrangements. Late revellers, a couple "caring about each other deeply", and repeated intrusions by people looking for space to set up for the night meant that I didn't get much sleep.

As usual, that meant I was cranky when I woke. A situation not improved by the discovery that both the water and electricity were knocked out by the storms, so there would be no eggs and pancakes for breakfast.

The situation was further not improved by the thunderstorms that came while I was walking. Camping wet probably has some charms, but I have trouble seeing them today. Fortunately I'm not far from Hanover where it will be time for some serious gear shopping - my t-shirt is torn in several places, and my shoes have finally given up.

On a more positive note, the terrain has gotten friendlier making bigger miles easier. Also, the maté tea that my parents sent was amazing! I can't wait to make more.

Start: NH25A (near mile 408.5)
End: Around the 425 mile mark
Distance: 16.5 miles