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.

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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 103 - Harpers Ferry (12/10/2016)

Papa Wallaby left me in Harpers Ferry this morning and started the drive home. I'd planned for 9 miles today assuming that the big pack and big miles would make for slow going. Which they did. Eventually.

As usual when I'm in a town, I can't leave, and Harpers Ferry was no different. In fact, it was made worse because of the ATC headquarters that offer a hiker lounge and lots of interesting people. Among them, Cinderella and Waterboy.

I met Cinderella and Waterboy when I was slack packing with Pancake in New Jersey, and have since run into them every time I've been a NOBO, and each time we had a great long conversation. To the point where I started to think it was sad that we didn't get to hang out more on the trail. Turns out they'd been thinking the same thing, so we got a group photo and traded contact details so that we could keep in touch for the rest of our journeys.

I also, finally got a picture of some deer. The deer here are much less skittish, and even hung out 10 yards/metres away from my tent pad while I set up.

Tomorrow, hopefully it'll be right back to bigger miles again, though I think the days of 30+ are gone.

Start: Harpers Ferry, WV

End: David Lesser Shelter

Distance: 9.3 miles

Day 98 - Takin' out the trash (7/9/2016)

Biker and Hiker Trash

Today marks the start of another few days of slack packing. Papa Wallaby came down from Ontario and picked me up at Pine Grove Furnace. He'll slack me for four days, then head home. I'm hoping to get about 100 miles done, though that might be a stretch.

I showered, we had lunch, and visited the Appalachian Harley-Davidson store. The receptionist there was very friendly and asked me to send her a post-card down trail. It was a pretty relaxed day.

Critically, Papa Wallaby brought me a new phone (thanks Colin!!) and my laptop. So a good chunk of the day was spent getting the phone set up, buying an external battery pack, and updating blog entries.

In passing, a quick reminder that lots of photos that don't make the blog are available here.

Start: Tentsite at 1075.9

End: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

Distance: 11.5 miles 

Day 97 - Let's talk about food (6/10/2016)

[with apologies to Salt 'n Pepa]

Let's talk about food, baby
Let's talk about cal-ories
Let's talk about all the good things
 and the bad things
that I eat
Let's talk abouuut food.
Let's talk about food.

Today I could barely do 8 miles. I attributed my sluggishness to the long walk yesterday, which no doubt played a role, but I realised something else as well:

Meal	Typical	Yesterday	Today
Breakfast	2 cups of oats with dried fruit + Clif Bar with peanut butter (optional)	3 Huge Pancakes + bacon 1 bite of scrapple (regrettable)	Normal person sized breakfast skillet
Morning snack	Clif Bar with peanut butter (optional)	...	...
Lunch	3 wraps - 2 pepperoni and cheese, 1 peanut butter + Clif Bar with peanut butter (optional)	...	Normal person half sandwich and half bowl of soup
Afternoon snack	Clif Bar with peanut butter (optional)	Clif Bar with peanut butter	....
Dinner	2-3 cups of tuna casserole (pasta and tuna) + cup-a-soup or hot chocolate + Clif Bar with peanut butter (optional)	2 wraps	Normal dinner

Unsurprisingly, without more food in my body, I had little energy left after such a big day of walking.

I camped down at 5 pm, made a huge meal, and went to bed.

Start: Boiling Springs

End: Tentsite around 1075.9

Distance: 7.5 miles

Day 81 - The Struggle Continues (20/9/2016)

Today became a nero when Pancake offered to pick me up and give me a bed, a shower, and some laundry at her place. She lives in New Jersey and had been visiting with friends for a few days and slackpacking Timber, Legs, Pinky Purple and Foggy. That's right, after just one day on the trail, I got off again.

To kill time waiting for Pancake, I went to the library at Greenwood Lake and updated some blog entries. I also popped into a café (Village Buzz Café) that, was owned by Tortuga, a former thru-hiker! We had some chat, I ate (a lot) of food, and she let me hang out while she closed up. Then she only charged me for a sandwich.

Then I tried to find a place to have a beer. I went into one pub that looked promising. As soon as the bartender saw my pack, he immediately barked that I couldn't have it inside. Which was fine, we rarely bring our packs inside, I had just intended to ask if I could leave it on the patio or if there was somewhere else he preferred. The beer selection was Crappy Beer, Crappy Beer, Crappy Light Beer, or Craft Beer. I asked what the Craft Beer was like and he looked at me like I was an irritant and said "it's beer." I just ordered one because, being Canadian, I figured he had to warm up to me eventually.

Then I saw it. Hanging behind the bar, unobtrusively until you noticed it. A hat. Make America Great Again.

Then I heard it. A lot of casual racism from the two or three other patrons (all the talk was politics).

I finished my beer and left, heading to the second pub in town. Before I got there, though, I saw the Trump sign on the lawn.

So for all my Canadian and Australian (and other) friends who've been wondering who on earth is supporting this guy, I can confirm your suspicions: middle-aged, white racists in small towns.

I just went back to the library and read some Terry Pratchett short stories.

It was also good to hang out with Pancake. We tasted some bourbons and gins, and I had some spaghetti. Pancake agreed to drive me to my mail package in the morning, and then drop me at the trail.

With any luck my motivation will pick up again.

Start: Around the 813 mile mark

End: NY 17A

Distance: 4 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 55 - Bear Safety (25/8/2016)

When I mentioned this project to a lot of people, they usually started out asking me about bears. Bears are a serious concern on the AT, no question. As a result, I'm kind of a stickler for bear safety:

1. I always hang my food, including cookware, at least 60 yds from my tent.
2. A good bear hang is 10' above the ground, 5' away from any tree trunks, and 5' down from a branch that would not support the weight of a bear.
3. My cooking area is 60 yds from my tent and also 60 yds from my bear hang.
4. Toothpaste smells like food to a bear, so it goes in the bear hang as well.

I do as many of those things as I can, as carefully as I can.

When it's dry.

When it's raining hard, my rules become more like this:

1. I haven't seen a bear in a couple of days. That one isn't near here. Probably.
2. Bears probably hate the rain too.
3. I've smelled like pepperoni before, so if bears were really a threat I'd be dead already.
4. Bear hangs are a stupid idea. If the food is with me, at least I have some chance of defending it.
1. Don't get wet for stupid ideas.
5. If toothpaste were food, hikers would already have eaten the whole tube.
6. Having dinner inside your tent puts a barrier between your food and the bears. Besides, bears know how stupid it is to eat in the rain, so they won't bother you. Don't be dumber than a bear.

Tonight it's raining, and it turns out macaroni makes a nice pillow. Like a bean bag.

Start: Bromley + 1 mile

End: Spruce Peak Shelter + 1 mile

Distance: 4.8 miles (with a stop in Manchester Center)

Days 41 and 42 - Xmas in August (11-12/8/2016)

I hadn't thought I'd have much to talk about these last couple of days, but how wrong I was!

I'd planned to collect a bit of mail in Glencliff, only to discover that a "bit of mail" was:

2 t-shirts
2 tensor bandages
Some safety pins
2 bags of Nibs
4 boxes of smarties
An SHDC adapter for my camera
A USB cable
2 letters from Russia
A bag of maté tea
A rittersport candy bar
Electrolytes
A pound of Italian speck
A pound of Italian parmesan

I took a bit longer to get organised than I'd expected, but last night I had a speck and parm pasta dinner that could rival any Italian restaurant. All I needed was a nice Pinot Grigio.

This morning I set out to do 16-18 miles. I made it 3. A group of hikers waved me over to the truck that had just dropped them off. Indicating the driver, one said "This is Pete. You should go hang out with him for the day."

I paused. I'd just promised friends I'd be in NY in 3 weeks, which already meant 16 mile days.

Then I remembered a decision I made early on: since getting to Georgia wasn't the most important thing on my list, I would take advantage of any opportunities that could prove interesting. This seemed like one of those.

Pete, it turns out, is the son of a former state Governor who runs a sugar shack. For decades he has had hikers sleep in his shack in the summer, giving them free coffee, pancakes and maple syrup. Let me repeat that: pancakes and maple syrup, from the very shack I'm sleeping in, are FREE!

So here I sit, on the porch of a sugar shack, stuffed with pancakes and sipping beer, having completed only 13 miles in 2 days.

Life is good.

MacGruber, Sweetfeet, & Trotter at the sugar shack

Start: Mooselaucke peak
End: Mt Cube Farm
Distance: 13.5 miles

Day 26 - Andover (7/27/2016)

Woke up this morning to find that Trout had hiked a marathon (over 26 miles) to catch up, only to arrive under dark with me already asleep. It was good to hear his voice in the morning, though. We had a short day planned into Andover, where I was planning to take a night and deal with some mail things. Legs and Timber were just coming in for food and then heading out. Trout, Eskimo and Littlefoot were all staying as well.

Surprisingly, Pancake showed up too! Her ankle has recovered enough to keep her walking. I hope to catch up to Timber and Legs in Gorham, but it'll be fun to have the PELT group around (Pancake, Eskimo, Littlefoot and Trout).


Start: Hall Mountain
End: Andover (East B Hill Road)
Distance: 5.4 Miles

Day 23 - No Worries (24/7/2016)

A lazy morning was followed by a short hike to the road into Rangeley. I managed to hitch a ride almost immediately with a navy vet whose son had done the trail in 2001.

My goal today was just a quick resupply and some real food before hitting the trail again. One of the grocery staff told me about a cafe with good coffee and reliable wifi. I ordered a latte and a chocolate croissant, but before I could sit down, a friendly bearded fellow started up a chat. I turns out he was doing the trail too, but following yellow blazes on his BMW bike (yellow blazes are trail speak for road lines). We had a great conversation about nomadic life and lucky meetings, traded details, and then I went off to deal with blog and other digital needs.

As he was leaving he popped over and left me a pin with two worry dolls on it.

That was only the first cool thing to happen today.

[I just had to interrupt this because while writing it I just heard three very large, loud splashes in the pond I'm camped next to. I couldn't see anything, but I'd guess it was either a large animal (moose?) splashing into the pond, or a beaver felling trees. I'll take a closer look tomorrow if I can... Which is a nice segue into the second cool thing.]

When I got to my site this afternoon I found a canoe with a paddle and some PFDs! I finally got to be on the water again. I dropped my pack and took the least rickety looking canoe and spent 20 mins just wandering around (after relearning how to use a paddle).

I thought I'd have the site to myself, but then Legs and Timber showed up so they had a paddle, and we had dinner together.

Start: Piazza Rock
End: Little Swift River Pond
Distance: 6.6 miles + a detour into Rangeley

Day 15 - Pancakes (16/7/2016)

I planned to do 12 miles today, but while resupplying in Caratunk, Stephanie and I stumbled across the AT board game. Obviously we had to play a round before heading out, so instead of 12 we did 3 miles. The short day turned out to come with 2 blessings:

1. We found a little side camp near the next shelter that offered 12 pancakes with blueberries,apples, and raspberries for $9, so w booked in for the morning.
2. We met a terrific pair of hikers. A woman who had just lost her mother who was doing a memorial hike with her 11 year old son. 

While booking in for pancakes we had a nice chat with the camp owner and watched dozens of hummingbirds buzz around the balcony. 

We've had a great dinner with mother and son while discussing her and her mother's life. Then all of us went to the water and quietly contemplated life as the sun set over the pond.

A beautiful end to a leisurely day.

Start: Caratunk ME

End Pierce's Pond

Distance : 3 miles