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 100 - Wuckers! (9/10/2016)

I can't believe it's now a full century of days on the trail.

I had planned to do a small day today, maybe 15-20 miles, but realised that I had some stuff to take care of that could benefit from a zero day. Not the least of which was hanging out with Dad. So today started with a bit of a sleep in and then breakfast. Then Papa Wallaby and I headed to Gettysburg to do a little history.

Then we drove to REI near Washington DC and I bought some gear, and we resupplied at Walmart. It was good to just have a day to hang out.

Miles: Zero

PS: you can all thank Genevieve for the title to this blog.

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 89 - and then there was one... (28/9/2016)

North Side Trail

Tim made us all an amazing Mexican breakfast of eggs, refried beans and tortillas then dropped us back at the trail. The three of us (Pancake, Trout, and me) met up at the next shelter, where Trout and Pancake were both feeling pretty down (Trout for illness, Pancake for fatigue and a general malaise). I took a side trail Tim had recommended, and had some beautiful views to carry me through to the next shelter where Pancake and Trout decided to call it a day. I took care of some phone stuff while I had a signal. I had to overcome the draw of a warm fire and Pancake and Trout's campaign to keep me there to get going, but it felt wrong to call it so early without Pancake and Trout's reasons.

Rain and rocky terrain made it slow going, so I only did a few more miles before finding a campsite for the night. At dinner I discovered that I only had one more day of food left... which means a big day tomorrow to make it to Hamburg for a resupply. :(

Start: PA 284
End: New Tripoli Campsite
Distance: 12 miles

Day 87 - Rain. Rain! (26/9/2016)

I needed fuel today, so I popped in to Wind Gap for a brief resupply and battery recharge. Pancake and Trout continued on, and I was hoping to catch up to them. Sadly darkness arrived to early, and the rocky terrain makes night hiking tricky so I camped down. The forecast is for a lot of rain tonight, and over the next few days - which is bittersweet: on the one hand, it means wet camping and walking, on the other it means cooler temperatures and better water sources.

Start: Mt Minski Peak
End: near Hahn's Lookout
Distance: 12.8 miles

Day 77 - New York. New York. (16/9/2016)

Another day, hiking in New York. I do not heart it. I spent a chunk of the day trying to resupply in Fort Montgomery, which has virtually no resupply options.

Start: Hemlock Springs Tentsite
End: West Mountain Shelter
Distance: 9.2 Miles

Days 45 and 46 - Hanover your gear! (15-16/8/2016)

I arrived in Hanover, went to the post office and discovered that my bounce box is missing. My bounce box holds the next map I need, most of my guide for the trail, cables and such for charging my watch and camera, clothes for town, one of my notebooks, and some other stuff that I'd really prefer to have.

So the last two days have been mostly preoccupied with food and finding my mailbox. So far, no one has any idea where the mail might be. I will say, though, that the USPS staff have been extremely generous with their time and energy. With any luck, it'll turn up soon.

Hanover, NH is easily the most hiker friendly town I've ever been too. One pizza place gives every thru-hiker a free slice of pizza, another bakery gives us a free donut or muffin. There's a community centre that will let you store your pack for the day, and offers cheap showers and laundry. There aren't many hostels, but the local college keeps a list of people who are willing to host hikers (trail angels). It's a busy time, so it took me a while to find someone with space but last night I stayed with the priest at an episcopal church just across the state line in Norwich, Vermont. This means that I've officially passed the 20% mark!

The minister also has a puppy, who woke me up this morning by a) licking my face, and b) stealing my cheese. I got up, had coffee, and joined the minister and her puppy on their morning park visit. God I love dogs.

My attempt to hold my feet together...

There's also some very good options for outfitters, so I've been able to replace my shoes, buy a new shirt, get a map to replace the one in my bounce box, and replace Pouch's rain cover!

I wasn't planning to zero here, but since I'm waiting on news about my mail I'll have to. I could do worse - there are some really nice places for food and drink here, and I haven't had time to try them all yet.

Start: um. Mile 425 or so.
End: Norwich, VT (though to be fair, I took a bus from Hanover to Norwich)
Distance: 18.3 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

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 22 - The Thing Family (23/7/2016)

I parted ways with Pancake for the time being this morning. Her ankle is going to slow her down for a while, but hopefully it heals quickly and we meet again down the trail.

I kept finding blueberries and beautiful views over the ridges today. I kept 1/2 a cup for breakfast. :)

At camp, I met the Thing Family. This is me under Piazza Rock with Things 1 & 2, who were on their very first overnight hike. We had a great time climbing rocks and exploring caves before sharing gummy bears and marshmallows at camp. A great 40+a day.

Thanks to veggieguy (who sounds like Alan Alda!) for this photo.

Start: Poplar Ridge
End: Piazza Rock
Distance: 8.3 miles (13.5 km)

Day 20 - 39 for one more day (21/7/2016)

After a pretty uneventful day and evening in Stratton, we headed out late today fully re-supplied. The challenge was to cover 25miles in the next couple of days to catch up to Trout and Eskimo to celebrate my 40th.

We're fully stocked for a party - Pancake bought brownie mix and a bottle of 12 year old Glenlivet (she wouldn't let me buy them). She's packing the whiskey, I'm packing the brownie. Probably because she knows better than to trust me with fine scotch.

I got to camp to find Trout and Eskimo there. Pancake's ankle has been injured so she's trailing behind a bit. She doesn't expect to make it to the first campsite, but she'll make up the distance in the morning. To make sure she's there, we decided to move the party 4 miles earlier. By nightfall we gave up on seeing her, and just hoped her ankle was ok.

Then she showed up! No headlamp, under cover of dark, she hobbled into camp just as most of us were about to crawl into bed.

Today was a good day of hiking. I got to know Littlefoot a bit better. He's a smart, positive and adventurous teen. I think he'll do some amazing things. I hope to walk with him a lot. Also spent a bit of time with Legs, who is another academic struggling with the uncertainty of Postdoctoral life. All in all a great day, though my hip is acting up again.

Start: Stratton
End: Spalding Mountain
Distance: 12.5 Miles (20 km)

Day 14 - Trail Magic (15/7/2016)

Luckily the thunderstorms passed me by last night. Just a little rain. Unluckily, I mistakenly used up too much water leaving me with only .5L (16 oz) for the walk over and down the next peak. This was going to mean some serious rationing if the heat picked up.

After tearing down my tent from the tiny plot of land I'd found for it (my fly was pegged around a tree), I set out to get to the nearest water supply around 2 miles away.

2 minutes into my journey, I found a beautiful campsite with several large tent pads and a fire pit.

Today was going to annoy me.

In fact it turned out that I'd already done most of the climbing I had to do, and I summitted about 10 minutes after leaving my camp. The long downward rock scramble I'd assumed was awaiting me, didn't appear at all. It was a bit technical, but nothing that I couldn't have handled easily the night before.

It was easy to laugh it all off though, because I knew that in a few hours I'd be in Caratunk, where there was real food and brew pub waiting for me.

I think my favourite part of the day, though, was the hiker box at the post office where some Trail Angel had left chocolate chip cookies and some bubble gum for hikers to snack on. It also held two full meal packets, which pretty much covered me for dinners until the next town. The hostel hiker box proffered homemade dehydrated chicken noodle soup, and some electrolyte pellets that another SOBO and I shared (Stephanie - no trail name yet*).

A big feed of chickenless-wings (broccoli in batter with wing sauce), a side salad, a burger with fries, and a sampling paddle of beer will keep me going for the next step tomorrow.

The plan is to hit the trail in the morning and do around 12 miles, though I'm hearing a rumour about $9 AYCE pancakes near 3 mile mark, if pancakes are worth a nero. Tough decision.

Start: minutes from the peak of Pleasant Mtn.
End: Caratunk, ME (Sterling Inn - delightful place with an extremely friendly and chatty proprietor and good resupply)
Distance: ~7 Miles (11 km)

* I wanted to call Stephanie "Arya", because "a girl has no name."  She refused the trail name.