Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Getting Home
Sorry that the blogs were more scarce toward the end of the trip. It was probably a combination of lack of computers, and lack of urgency to do anything except hike and rest. However, here I am at home finally with a bit of time on my hands.
New Hampshire and Maine were both incredible and challenging. The white mountains in New Hampshire make the Vermont ski areas seem like foothills. Alot of the time we were above tree line. One night we barely made it off the top of a mountain before a severe electrical storm set in- actually more like 4 storms at the same time coming from different directions. We were lucky enough to have great weather on both Mount Washington and Katahdin.
Thankyou to Matu, Nick, Jessie (from Duke), and Dad (Big Chief) for coming out and hiking with us periodically. It was very rejuvinating. Thankyou Mom for spearheading the food drop support, and thankyou to all friends and family for general moral support and encouragement. It was a fantastic suprise to have Holly and Nicole come up and meet us at the end in Baxter State Park. They even made victory signs! We are also thankful for all those people along the way who lifted our spirits with trail magic (usually free food). Phil and I are planning to go out to the trail in New York to do some trail magic of our own. Thankyou everyone for the pledges to Running Strong. Phil and I will be sending out return envelopes to pledgers soon .
Nothing can match the incredible feeling of climbing to the top of Katahdin and seeing the famous sign that marks the northern terminus. Our friend Double Cheese was already at the top when we arrived and he cheared us on the final 20 feet or so. Phil and I had left at about 5 in the morning to get to the top at a decent hour in the morning. Double Cheese had left at around 3:30 to catch the sunrise.
I have been home for a day or two now. I still need to readjust to life in Greenwich again. Its very different from the trail obviously, but my bed feels great and seeing friends and family is awesome. There was even an article in the Greenwich Times on July 5 with a full page on A3 about our trip. I was very happy to see that.
New Hampshire and Maine were both incredible and challenging. The white mountains in New Hampshire make the Vermont ski areas seem like foothills. Alot of the time we were above tree line. One night we barely made it off the top of a mountain before a severe electrical storm set in- actually more like 4 storms at the same time coming from different directions. We were lucky enough to have great weather on both Mount Washington and Katahdin.
Thankyou to Matu, Nick, Jessie (from Duke), and Dad (Big Chief) for coming out and hiking with us periodically. It was very rejuvinating. Thankyou Mom for spearheading the food drop support, and thankyou to all friends and family for general moral support and encouragement. It was a fantastic suprise to have Holly and Nicole come up and meet us at the end in Baxter State Park. They even made victory signs! We are also thankful for all those people along the way who lifted our spirits with trail magic (usually free food). Phil and I are planning to go out to the trail in New York to do some trail magic of our own. Thankyou everyone for the pledges to Running Strong. Phil and I will be sending out return envelopes to pledgers soon .
Nothing can match the incredible feeling of climbing to the top of Katahdin and seeing the famous sign that marks the northern terminus. Our friend Double Cheese was already at the top when we arrived and he cheared us on the final 20 feet or so. Phil and I had left at about 5 in the morning to get to the top at a decent hour in the morning. Double Cheese had left at around 3:30 to catch the sunrise.
I have been home for a day or two now. I still need to readjust to life in Greenwich again. Its very different from the trail obviously, but my bed feels great and seeing friends and family is awesome. There was even an article in the Greenwich Times on July 5 with a full page on A3 about our trip. I was very happy to see that.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
2,000 miles done - the last 100 to go
Adam and Phil crossed the 2,000 mile marker, and are now in Monson,ME. They are taking the day off to watch the final of the Eurocup soccer. Tomorrow they will set off on the final, and most challenging, leg of their trip - the 100 mile wilderness in Maine. They expect to summit Mt Katahdin on July 5th. They have had a lot of rain, but spirits are high, and the end is nigh.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Glencliff, NH
Hey everyone, we made it to Glencliff, about to start into the White Mountains. We're staying in a Hostel, and on our way in could see the 5,000 ft climb up Mt. Moosilauke, which we have ahead of us tomorrow.
Our stay in Dartmouth was awesome, and we got to hang with our friend Ian Murphy at the Bones Gate frat. funny anecdote: Before we left Hanover, after picking up our food drop at the Post Office, I had an interesting moment out on the sidewalk. I was trying to fit our folded box into a trash can, facing a crowded / traffic-packed street. I suddenly got hit with a fit of the giggles, which turned into full blown laughter. To sum up, everyone on the street driving by watched as I attempted to ram a box into a trash can while laughing uncontrollably. Must've looked kind of crazy.
That's it for now, I'm pumped to get above treeline tomorrow.
-Samsa (Phil)
Our stay in Dartmouth was awesome, and we got to hang with our friend Ian Murphy at the Bones Gate frat. funny anecdote: Before we left Hanover, after picking up our food drop at the Post Office, I had an interesting moment out on the sidewalk. I was trying to fit our folded box into a trash can, facing a crowded / traffic-packed street. I suddenly got hit with a fit of the giggles, which turned into full blown laughter. To sum up, everyone on the street driving by watched as I attempted to ram a box into a trash can while laughing uncontrollably. Must've looked kind of crazy.
That's it for now, I'm pumped to get above treeline tomorrow.
-Samsa (Phil)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
At Killington going to Hanover
Hey everyone. We are now at Killington after a grueling 5 days through the green mountains of Vermont. We got great views of Mount Snow from the fire tower on Stratton. It was great to see the chairlift where I was sitting this past winter thinking, "this summer I will be out there." It dosn't seem all that long ago that I was getting a wintry view of the lake from the Mount Snow's North face. This time I saw the lake in all its summer, blackfly-ridden, glory. In the past two weeks we have seen classic New England vistas from Greylock, Glastenbury Mountain, Stratton, Peru Peak, and Killington. Ahead of us is Hanover, NH and the frat house at Dartmouth where our friend Ian Murphy is planning to provide some "R and R".
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Visit from Matu, Nick Tag, & Adam's dad Rob H-B
Adam and Phil are in VT, shortly to summit Killington. They have had some company in recent days, including Matu and Rob who did a few days each, and Nick Tag who has been with them since Cornwall Bridge and will be leaving them at Killington. The pace is tough for the newbies, who have suffered blisters and sore knees, but Nick has the medal for grit as he keeps up the pace.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Happy and healthy in NY state
Hey everyone, not much to write, thanks to Adam's detailed entry. I was also really glad to have my friend Jessea from Duke visit. It really helped boost our spirits through a section of trail that many people mentally struggle with.
Other than that, I'm excited to have made it to New York. Earl Shaffer, the first "thru-hiker" of the AT, waited until reaching NY to notify the Appalachian Trail Conservancy of his journey. He figured, unless struck with a hindering injury, that he would make all the way to Katahdin. At this point in our voyage, I am living comfortably with a similar peace of mind. I'm excited for the trail we have to come, and gleefully anticipate the majesty and ruggedness that I think we'll find in the northern Appalachians. We're also now outfitted with some bug net head-coverings.
-Phil/Samsa
Other than that, I'm excited to have made it to New York. Earl Shaffer, the first "thru-hiker" of the AT, waited until reaching NY to notify the Appalachian Trail Conservancy of his journey. He figured, unless struck with a hindering injury, that he would make all the way to Katahdin. At this point in our voyage, I am living comfortably with a similar peace of mind. I'm excited for the trail we have to come, and gleefully anticipate the majesty and ruggedness that I think we'll find in the northern Appalachians. We're also now outfitted with some bug net head-coverings.
-Phil/Samsa
Delaware Water Gap and Beyond
Hi Everybody,
Sorry that I havn't left an update in a while, but we havn't seen much internet lately. We have completed PA at this point. We met up with one of phil's friends (Jessie) from Duke in Port Clinton, PA. He met up under really funny circumstances too. When we arrived in town we borrowed the phone of a local outfitter to call him. He had just spent the night in a bush just off the main road in town. It was the kind of town where everyone has an angry dog and a fake deer in the back yard. He said that he just didn't want to be seen from the road. We admired his sense of adventure and felt at ease that he would have no trouble fitting in to life on the trail.
Jessie provided fresh perspective and rejuvination for the hike. Most of all we had new things to talk about, which was good. We hiked along the fabled rocky ridges of PA, some of which had no vegetation due to chemical poisoning. This provided spectacular, but sickly vistas. Luckily it was a mild day for the ridge walk because there was no vegetative cover whatsoever.
We descended into the Delaware Water Gap and found refuge in the basement of a church that was very hiker friendly. At the church we met a middle aged couple from Alabama and a young solo hiker from North Carolina. All were hikers, and all had different plans for how they split up the miles. Phil and I were the only thru-hikers. The water gap marked the beginning of Phil and I's adventure into New Jersey along the Kittatinny Ridge through the DWG National Recreation Area. This area is famous for its high bear activity, but we didn't see a thing. From the Kittatinny Ridge we could see great lengths of the Delaware River, along which there are huge tracts of undeveloped land. Most people think of New Jersey as an industrial state where it seems like the only place to live is under a factory or highway, but NW Jersey is actually very green. I spoke to a hunter from Warwick, NY in a bar a few days ago who was raving about the quality of New Jersey bear hunting. Just another interesting dynamic to the state I suppose.
So by now we have crossed the border in New York State. People treat us differently now. We are more of a novelty because of the distance we have now covered. There is much more wonder in the eyes of the average person when we explain what we have done. I think that's because Georgia feels very far away up here. Its bazaar to think that we have now re-covered all the distance we flew on our plane down to Atlanta three months before.
I also have to give a belated shout-out to our friend Susan MacDonald who we met in Damascus! Thanks Jessie for meeting up, and we are looking forward to our BBQ in Harriman State Park, NY tomorrow with Stephie, Eddie, Phil's parents, and possibly Charles and Matu. Also looking forward to meeting up with Nick Tagliarino at Cornwall Bridge, CT on the 21st, and Dad (Big Chief) on the 26th or so. Thankyou everyone for the comments! Good luck with the Aussie mushroom picking Janet. Don't worry we'll try to keep Big Chief alive, but I can't guarentee that his toes will all be alive at the end of his hike. We might have to deal with the dead sausage syndrome. Maybe I can find a plant that deals with gangrene or somthing... Bye for now.
Sorry that I havn't left an update in a while, but we havn't seen much internet lately. We have completed PA at this point. We met up with one of phil's friends (Jessie) from Duke in Port Clinton, PA. He met up under really funny circumstances too. When we arrived in town we borrowed the phone of a local outfitter to call him. He had just spent the night in a bush just off the main road in town. It was the kind of town where everyone has an angry dog and a fake deer in the back yard. He said that he just didn't want to be seen from the road. We admired his sense of adventure and felt at ease that he would have no trouble fitting in to life on the trail.
Jessie provided fresh perspective and rejuvination for the hike. Most of all we had new things to talk about, which was good. We hiked along the fabled rocky ridges of PA, some of which had no vegetation due to chemical poisoning. This provided spectacular, but sickly vistas. Luckily it was a mild day for the ridge walk because there was no vegetative cover whatsoever.
We descended into the Delaware Water Gap and found refuge in the basement of a church that was very hiker friendly. At the church we met a middle aged couple from Alabama and a young solo hiker from North Carolina. All were hikers, and all had different plans for how they split up the miles. Phil and I were the only thru-hikers. The water gap marked the beginning of Phil and I's adventure into New Jersey along the Kittatinny Ridge through the DWG National Recreation Area. This area is famous for its high bear activity, but we didn't see a thing. From the Kittatinny Ridge we could see great lengths of the Delaware River, along which there are huge tracts of undeveloped land. Most people think of New Jersey as an industrial state where it seems like the only place to live is under a factory or highway, but NW Jersey is actually very green. I spoke to a hunter from Warwick, NY in a bar a few days ago who was raving about the quality of New Jersey bear hunting. Just another interesting dynamic to the state I suppose.
So by now we have crossed the border in New York State. People treat us differently now. We are more of a novelty because of the distance we have now covered. There is much more wonder in the eyes of the average person when we explain what we have done. I think that's because Georgia feels very far away up here. Its bazaar to think that we have now re-covered all the distance we flew on our plane down to Atlanta three months before.
I also have to give a belated shout-out to our friend Susan MacDonald who we met in Damascus! Thanks Jessie for meeting up, and we are looking forward to our BBQ in Harriman State Park, NY tomorrow with Stephie, Eddie, Phil's parents, and possibly Charles and Matu. Also looking forward to meeting up with Nick Tagliarino at Cornwall Bridge, CT on the 21st, and Dad (Big Chief) on the 26th or so. Thankyou everyone for the comments! Good luck with the Aussie mushroom picking Janet. Don't worry we'll try to keep Big Chief alive, but I can't guarentee that his toes will all be alive at the end of his hike. We might have to deal with the dead sausage syndrome. Maybe I can find a plant that deals with gangrene or somthing... Bye for now.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The common morell
The past few days of hiking has been funny because of all the people out here picking mushrooms. The locals say that it has been the best year in a long time because of three inches of rain that fell recently. Phil and I are only too aware of the incessant downpours we experienced going through Shenandoah National Park. Anyway, much to the pleasure of locals, the rain had a positive affect on this years Morell Mushrooms.
You'll be hiking along an see a shady character squatting in the woods about 30 feet off the trail behind dense foliage. The first time I experienced this situation I half expected it to be an ambush, or if I saw overalls, a pending rape scene. It turns out that these people were just your average shroomers foraging around for the common morell. Its one of the easiest mushrooms to identify in the wild. This is assuming your sober while foraging. Many of the pickers also found it a good idea to carry along cases of cheap beer for the excursion. Phil and I fried some up ourselves the other night with a small packet of butter from KFC. It really was delicious. I hear they get sold for a fortune in some restraunts.
You'll be hiking along an see a shady character squatting in the woods about 30 feet off the trail behind dense foliage. The first time I experienced this situation I half expected it to be an ambush, or if I saw overalls, a pending rape scene. It turns out that these people were just your average shroomers foraging around for the common morell. Its one of the easiest mushrooms to identify in the wild. This is assuming your sober while foraging. Many of the pickers also found it a good idea to carry along cases of cheap beer for the excursion. Phil and I fried some up ourselves the other night with a small packet of butter from KFC. It really was delicious. I hear they get sold for a fortune in some restraunts.
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia
So we're almost back over the Mason-Dixon line. Yesterday afternoon, Adam and I made it out of the infamous "Rollercoaster" section (named because of its 10 accents and decents within about 13 miles) into Harper's Ferry. The night before we spent the night at the Bears Den Hostel; an old stone building on top of a mountain near Bears Den Rocks, which used to be the beautiful home of some wealthy family. We're taking a day of rest sans-hiking at my Uncle Pete's nearby in Maryland. My mom came down from CT, picked us up at Harper's Ferry, then took us back here. We had a fest last night, complete with steaks, spaetzle (German noodles), esparagas, and beer to our content. After another night here, we'll be heading back out on the trail tomorrow.
This morning we toured around Harper's Ferry a little bit. The historic town has many interesting things to offer, the dominating factor being its role in the Civil War Era. It was also awe-inspiring to hike in over the monstrous Shenandoah River yesterday. Tomorrow we'll be crossing the Potomac on an old RR bridge in order to get over the border to Maryland.
That's it for now, gonna take advantage of our remaining rest time to do absolutely nothing. I shaved my 2 month beard yesterday. I think I'll appreciate losing the extra hair, especially in this warm weather we've been having.
P.S. We also passed the 1000 mile mark on our hike into Harper's Ferry yesterday, which was exciting. Adam and I celebrated with a high-five.
-Samsa (Phil)
This morning we toured around Harper's Ferry a little bit. The historic town has many interesting things to offer, the dominating factor being its role in the Civil War Era. It was also awe-inspiring to hike in over the monstrous Shenandoah River yesterday. Tomorrow we'll be crossing the Potomac on an old RR bridge in order to get over the border to Maryland.
That's it for now, gonna take advantage of our remaining rest time to do absolutely nothing. I shaved my 2 month beard yesterday. I think I'll appreciate losing the extra hair, especially in this warm weather we've been having.
P.S. We also passed the 1000 mile mark on our hike into Harper's Ferry yesterday, which was exciting. Adam and I celebrated with a high-five.
-Samsa (Phil)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hello Friends/Family from Waynesboro, VA
Before I begin I must say that its not true that I got kicked out of Mt Rogers Recreation area for attempting to ride a feral poney. Thats just horse shit. But in the interest of full disclosure I think one of them liked me enough to the point where it could have been my noble steed. Then again, maybe it was just the salty sweat residue on my pack straps.
The last week of hiking has been incredible. We have had day time temps averaging the upper 70s and night time temps in the 40s. Phil and I have basically been following the blue ridge mountains on a north-east heading towards Maine. The canopy foliage is still not out which makes for stunning views of the Virginian flatlands down to our right and the lowlands between the blue ridge and alleghenies on our left. With summer time heat and no shade from trees it somtimes feels like a dry savanna. This is especially true when we're walking over sandy soil with lots of pines. I never expected some sections of Virginia to feel like California! The warmth is invirgorating, but yesterday we were swatting gnats from our faces as we cooked dinner. All I could think was, "And so it begins..."
Spring has not fully sprung, but it has already given us a taste of the pros and cons of summer hiking. We're not so quick to discount the cold as a bad thing anymore, although still happy to be free of the possibility of future snow drifts and snotstickles. Still meeting great people, like a 70 year old thru-hiking from Tennessee who we've spent a couple nights with. His names Bear Fodder and his son came out to hike a section (son of Bear Fodder). Son of Bear Fodder even brought his son out, who they just call rubby ducky (age 11). Its still pretty amazing that two 19 year olds can be living the exact same life style as a 70 year old for a year.
Phil and I are still teaching each other languages. He's teaching me German, and I',m teaching him Spanish. I think I could now be able to at least order some good beer, white sausage, and a Pretzel if I find myself in Munich.
The last week of hiking has been incredible. We have had day time temps averaging the upper 70s and night time temps in the 40s. Phil and I have basically been following the blue ridge mountains on a north-east heading towards Maine. The canopy foliage is still not out which makes for stunning views of the Virginian flatlands down to our right and the lowlands between the blue ridge and alleghenies on our left. With summer time heat and no shade from trees it somtimes feels like a dry savanna. This is especially true when we're walking over sandy soil with lots of pines. I never expected some sections of Virginia to feel like California! The warmth is invirgorating, but yesterday we were swatting gnats from our faces as we cooked dinner. All I could think was, "And so it begins..."
Spring has not fully sprung, but it has already given us a taste of the pros and cons of summer hiking. We're not so quick to discount the cold as a bad thing anymore, although still happy to be free of the possibility of future snow drifts and snotstickles. Still meeting great people, like a 70 year old thru-hiking from Tennessee who we've spent a couple nights with. His names Bear Fodder and his son came out to hike a section (son of Bear Fodder). Son of Bear Fodder even brought his son out, who they just call rubby ducky (age 11). Its still pretty amazing that two 19 year olds can be living the exact same life style as a 70 year old for a year.
Phil and I are still teaching each other languages. He's teaching me German, and I',m teaching him Spanish. I think I could now be able to at least order some good beer, white sausage, and a Pretzel if I find myself in Munich.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Montebello, VA
Hey, we finally got to a computer to give an update, although it seems that's already been done. Matu came out to visit and we were really glad to have him. The weather remains to be relatively warm and clear. We're staying at the Dutch Haus tonight, a b and b about 2 miles down a dirt road off the trail. We should be getting to the southern border of the Shenandoahs in about 2-3 days. There's also apparently a great bouldering spot about 30 miles from here that we're hoping to check out for an afternoon. Not much else to report. I haven't had a chance to mention it, but Adam will be coming back to Mt. Roger's Park to repeat the section, hopefully within the year. I had to hike the end of the park alone because he got kicked out for fighting a wild feral pony, after a failed attempt at riding it. Other than that, we've hit our stride hiking, and are starting to cruise 20+ miles / day. Another substantial update will probably come in Harper's Ferry. Oh, we also passed an old freed-slave farming settlement yesterday, which marks some interesting Civil War history that we'll be walking through.
p.s. I'm working with a new trail name for now, Daddy Luv was getting annoyingly misinterpreted.
- Gregor Samsa
p.s. I'm working with a new trail name for now, Daddy Luv was getting annoyingly misinterpreted.
- Gregor Samsa
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Matu's visit
Matu met up with Adam and Phil in Dalesville and hiked for three days and two nights to Buchanan, VA. Below are some of his photos. Looks as though Adam and Phil fell under a lawnmower along the way, and the cattle are standing their ground....
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Damascus, VA
Yo friends,
Damascus has treated us real well. We're staying right across the street of probably the best outfitters on the trail, Mt. Rogers Outfitters. I got some new insoles for my boots, which I think'll really help out with some soreness that's been going on. The people are incredibily nice here, and we've been making some good friends.
Spring definitely seems to be on its way. As Adam mentioned, we've been picking some wild onions as we go to get some fresh veggies going on... hopefully gonna start getting some dandelion leaves too. Other than that, things aren't too much in bloom yet. At higher elevations, the landscape is still pretty wintery. I'm kinda bummed there isn't a good bookstore here in town 'cause I need a new one. That's about it for now, I gotta go start packing and get outta here before this rain that seems to be looming in the distance comes.
P.S. Adam and I decided at Kincora Hostel at Dennis Cove to give ourselves trailnames, until we get better ones. We figure it's harder for people we meet to remember us by our normal names. So for the time being, I'm going as Daddy Luv, and Adam is Ad-man
P.P.S. Kincora Hostel run by Bob and Pat peoples was an amazing experience. Bob is known up and down the trail as a dedicated trail maintainer, and supporter of hikers. He offered us great hospitality and company (he also turned us onto the wild onions which he picked up next to the sidewalk in Hampton, TN when giving us a ride to the Post Office).
Damascus has treated us real well. We're staying right across the street of probably the best outfitters on the trail, Mt. Rogers Outfitters. I got some new insoles for my boots, which I think'll really help out with some soreness that's been going on. The people are incredibily nice here, and we've been making some good friends.
Spring definitely seems to be on its way. As Adam mentioned, we've been picking some wild onions as we go to get some fresh veggies going on... hopefully gonna start getting some dandelion leaves too. Other than that, things aren't too much in bloom yet. At higher elevations, the landscape is still pretty wintery. I'm kinda bummed there isn't a good bookstore here in town 'cause I need a new one. That's about it for now, I gotta go start packing and get outta here before this rain that seems to be looming in the distance comes.
P.S. Adam and I decided at Kincora Hostel at Dennis Cove to give ourselves trailnames, until we get better ones. We figure it's harder for people we meet to remember us by our normal names. So for the time being, I'm going as Daddy Luv, and Adam is Ad-man
P.P.S. Kincora Hostel run by Bob and Pat peoples was an amazing experience. Bob is known up and down the trail as a dedicated trail maintainer, and supporter of hikers. He offered us great hospitality and company (he also turned us onto the wild onions which he picked up next to the sidewalk in Hampton, TN when giving us a ride to the Post Office).
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Damascus
Hello everyone,
We've had a good stop here at Damascus. I got some trail shoes and a great sleeping bag for the summer months. I'm sending home that old zero degree bag that was a hefty sack of old down, and replacing it with a new one that weighs about 1 pound 6 ounces! The past few days have been amazing. It was 72 degrees here today. Spring is coming out and Phil and I even put some wild onions in with our Mac and Cheese. Yum. I'm reading Hatchet by Gary Paulson which is pretty inspiring. Its a little more chilled out than "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. That book was awesome, and really put a few things in perspective- like if theres any discomfort out here in the woods I just say, well at least its not Everest where the climbers of 1996 experienced -100 degress wind chill and barely any oxygen.
We keep meeting all kinds of people... some fun, some really chilled out, some completely nuts. I took a shower today for the first time in a while. It felt good, but I don't really mind it either way anymore. The zero day in Damascus has made us a little restless. Can't wait to get back out on the trail and see those Virginian wild Ponies.
We've had a good stop here at Damascus. I got some trail shoes and a great sleeping bag for the summer months. I'm sending home that old zero degree bag that was a hefty sack of old down, and replacing it with a new one that weighs about 1 pound 6 ounces! The past few days have been amazing. It was 72 degrees here today. Spring is coming out and Phil and I even put some wild onions in with our Mac and Cheese. Yum. I'm reading Hatchet by Gary Paulson which is pretty inspiring. Its a little more chilled out than "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. That book was awesome, and really put a few things in perspective- like if theres any discomfort out here in the woods I just say, well at least its not Everest where the climbers of 1996 experienced -100 degress wind chill and barely any oxygen.
We keep meeting all kinds of people... some fun, some really chilled out, some completely nuts. I took a shower today for the first time in a while. It felt good, but I don't really mind it either way anymore. The zero day in Damascus has made us a little restless. Can't wait to get back out on the trail and see those Virginian wild Ponies.
On the road to Damascus.
Adam and Phil should be arriving in Damascus, VA on March 27, their first landfall in Virginia. Looking forward to their comments about the mountainous terrain they travelled on.
Look here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Damascus,+VA,+United+States+of+America&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
Hope that Adam has conquered his bugs!
Look here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Damascus,+VA,+United+States+of+America&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title
Hope that Adam has conquered his bugs!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Howdy from Erwin, TN
The last stretch of trail has been challenging and beautiful. I had a stomach bug for a couple days which made the hiking a little more tiring, but nothing too serious. Yesterday we made a 20 mile stretch to make up for be holed up in a shelter on a previous eight mile day becuase of severe thunderstorms. The weather in these mountains is powerful! Yesterday we passed over "Big Bald" in thick cloud/fog and 32 degrees with a howling wind. It felt more like the Scottish highlands or Siberian Tundra. We were low on food and energy when we summited this 5,500 foot heath bald, but luckily we had whats called a "trail magic" experience.
An ex-thru-hiker by the name of "wildchild" Jeff was out for a day hike with his sister and 72 year old mother. He was 6'4'', jolly, and wearing overalls. We met this crew of three under the surreal and gnarly white out conditions on the heath bald. He pulled out a sack of granola bars, an apple, and sun dried banana chips. He let us chose what we wanted. That was great.
We also had lunch at a very religous household, who were giving us Christian books as we left and asking us questions like "What is truth? and "What is tolerance?". Theres a great story to it, but my time has run out on the internet at the Erwin public library. Bye for now, and thankyou mom, for making our blogsite about 100 times better looking.
An ex-thru-hiker by the name of "wildchild" Jeff was out for a day hike with his sister and 72 year old mother. He was 6'4'', jolly, and wearing overalls. We met this crew of three under the surreal and gnarly white out conditions on the heath bald. He pulled out a sack of granola bars, an apple, and sun dried banana chips. He let us chose what we wanted. That was great.
We also had lunch at a very religous household, who were giving us Christian books as we left and asking us questions like "What is truth? and "What is tolerance?". Theres a great story to it, but my time has run out on the internet at the Erwin public library. Bye for now, and thankyou mom, for making our blogsite about 100 times better looking.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Chilling Out in Hot Springs
Yo. We're in Hot Springs, NC right now, taking our first day of no hiking to give ourselves a bit of rest. This town is real cool, caters a lot to hikers cause the trail is literally the sidewalk of the main street. We're staying at the Sunnybank; a 19th century Victorian farmhouse, run by this old thru-hiker Elmer, that makes amazing vegetarian meals for us at night. We got a great room and nice beds for only $15 a night. The weather seems to improving as well. Hiking out of the mountains yesterday I spotted a monarch butterfly and a dragonfly, symbols we hope of incoming spring. We haven't heard word of any more snow or serious cold snaps, but once you get back up to the higher elevation it's hard to tell. The country we've been hiking in the last couple days is already a lot different from the Smokies. We passed over this mountain called Max Patch; a huge bald covered only by wild grass. We had lunch near the top and got to sit around and rest in some warm sunlight. Our boots are finally getting a chance to dry here in Hot Springs as well. That's it for now,
Phil
p.s. some captions for the new pictures posted: The picture of me on the snow-covered mountain we took 2 days outside of crossing the Nantahala River and the Nantahala Oudoor Center. That morning we followed bobcat and coyote tracks along the trail. The picture of Adam in the snowy tunnel of rhodedendron I took the same day of hiking. The third picture is of Adam at an old shelter on top of Blood Mountain, GA right before getting to the Walasi-Yi Hostel on our third day. I just read through Adam's post, and he went into great detail (finally), so I'll stop writing.
Thanks everyone for keeping up with our updates, also thanks to our parents, especially Adam's mom Stephanie for making sure we have food to eat out here.
Phil
p.s. some captions for the new pictures posted: The picture of me on the snow-covered mountain we took 2 days outside of crossing the Nantahala River and the Nantahala Oudoor Center. That morning we followed bobcat and coyote tracks along the trail. The picture of Adam in the snowy tunnel of rhodedendron I took the same day of hiking. The third picture is of Adam at an old shelter on top of Blood Mountain, GA right before getting to the Walasi-Yi Hostel on our third day. I just read through Adam's post, and he went into great detail (finally), so I'll stop writing.
Thanks everyone for keeping up with our updates, also thanks to our parents, especially Adam's mom Stephanie for making sure we have food to eat out here.
Hello from Hot Springs, NC
Phil and I are taking our first zero day today in Hot Springs, NC. We are recuperating in an old Southern/ Victorian style house with our host, and talented cook, Elmer. He is an ex-thru hiker and is running his beautiful home like a hostel. Its an Inn just for thru-hikers. We are staying there with our new friends that we met on the trail, Felton and Jordan.
Hot Springs is a charming Appalachian town nestled in a mountain cove. Two substantial rivers run through it, and so does the Appalachian Trail itself! We walked the strangest section of trail today down the main street to the post office. It is blazed on the side-walk with little AT symbols. We are spending our time here washing clothes, using the internet, resting, and mainly eating food. When in civilization I am constantly stuffed to the point of barely being able to walk. In general we have come across great hearty food, but I've already lost alot of weight. Phil and I both weigh exactly 167 pounds. That was so weird to find out. I just bought the paperback book, Hatchet, and some dried black beans to go with our rice dish.
So far we are still not sick of the rice, Mac and Cheese, Indian meals, fake mash potato, and trail mix, but we really overestimated the fruit. We were giving ourselves a quarter pound each of dried fruit per day. After digging one too many cat holes we realized this was way too much fruit for anybody to be eating. We have started leaving and giving away dried fruit anywhere we go. Its great quality stuff, so people are willing to trade.
This has been a much more relaxing stop than at Gatlinburg, TN where we kinda went crazy being back in civilization. Tonight Elmer, our host, is going to get us a cheap price on getting into the volcanic hotsprings here where you can bath in hot fresh mineral water that comes out of the ground. They advise bringing bottles so that you can take some home to drink. Apparently thats how pure it is. We havn't got Giardia yet, and hopefully never will. It would be pretty tough to imagine too many impurities in the water around here because there are so many pristine springs along the trail. Not like hiking out west at Pitzer.
The trail is going really well. We are doing anywhere from 13 to 18 miles a day depending on elevation and weather. The other day we got caught in a blizzard, and I had to take a picture of phil because his whole face was white with icicles and snow. It looked pretty rugged. The snow can be beautiful though, especially when walking through groves of rhodendron in the low valleys (pictured above) or Frasier firs on the peaks. The middle elevations are a bit stark because its mainly hardwoods. We're looking forward to spring so that we can avoid the sub zero nights and treacherous ice. The ice has caused us to have a few hilarious spills on the trail though.
I hope all is going well for everyone out there!
Adam
Hot Springs is a charming Appalachian town nestled in a mountain cove. Two substantial rivers run through it, and so does the Appalachian Trail itself! We walked the strangest section of trail today down the main street to the post office. It is blazed on the side-walk with little AT symbols. We are spending our time here washing clothes, using the internet, resting, and mainly eating food. When in civilization I am constantly stuffed to the point of barely being able to walk. In general we have come across great hearty food, but I've already lost alot of weight. Phil and I both weigh exactly 167 pounds. That was so weird to find out. I just bought the paperback book, Hatchet, and some dried black beans to go with our rice dish.
So far we are still not sick of the rice, Mac and Cheese, Indian meals, fake mash potato, and trail mix, but we really overestimated the fruit. We were giving ourselves a quarter pound each of dried fruit per day. After digging one too many cat holes we realized this was way too much fruit for anybody to be eating. We have started leaving and giving away dried fruit anywhere we go. Its great quality stuff, so people are willing to trade.
This has been a much more relaxing stop than at Gatlinburg, TN where we kinda went crazy being back in civilization. Tonight Elmer, our host, is going to get us a cheap price on getting into the volcanic hotsprings here where you can bath in hot fresh mineral water that comes out of the ground. They advise bringing bottles so that you can take some home to drink. Apparently thats how pure it is. We havn't got Giardia yet, and hopefully never will. It would be pretty tough to imagine too many impurities in the water around here because there are so many pristine springs along the trail. Not like hiking out west at Pitzer.
The trail is going really well. We are doing anywhere from 13 to 18 miles a day depending on elevation and weather. The other day we got caught in a blizzard, and I had to take a picture of phil because his whole face was white with icicles and snow. It looked pretty rugged. The snow can be beautiful though, especially when walking through groves of rhodendron in the low valleys (pictured above) or Frasier firs on the peaks. The middle elevations are a bit stark because its mainly hardwoods. We're looking forward to spring so that we can avoid the sub zero nights and treacherous ice. The ice has caused us to have a few hilarious spills on the trail though.
I hope all is going well for everyone out there!
Adam
Monday, March 10, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Wassup Yall
south's great. Its laid back and chill here. Got a shot of americana when I found myself hitching in the back of a red pickup truck into the middle of no where. Had a great flute session on top of the smokey moutains. Too bad we didn't have a camera at the time. Crazy hike yesterday through about a foot of water and ice.
Gatlinburg. TN
Hey Everyone,
Glad to see we're getting some active checkers o' da blog. We're in Gatlinburg right now, taking a break halfway through the Smokies. We have a food drop here anyway, but we got a 50 buck/night motel room to thaw out, the last couple of days have been nuts. First day of the Smokies we were in t-shirt and shorts hiking through 6 inches of snow. Second day we hit a wind-storm. Third day it all accumulated into a wind, rain, hail, snow storm that really took it out of us (and added about 4 pounds to each boot). We woke up this morning in a shelter at over 5,000 ft. and my shorts were frozen like a piece of cardboard. That was our indicator to take a night off in Gatlinburg. Adam's gonna get on the comp. next (we're mooching off a bizarro-arcade in this mini-mall here in town) and will probably give you some more detail on our progress. I know some friends at Duke wanted to meet up, so to give an update, we'll be in Hot Springs, NC in a couple days... March 10th to be exact.
The pictures posted by the way are pretty much all in the Nantahala National Forest. I don't know where the one is of me hiking, the one of Adam is in some shelter, and the one of both of us is at a summit right before Mt. Albert in the Nantahala, taken by our thru-hiker Buddy Felton.
I also received some bad news, and for those of you who knew him, have RIP thoughts for our dog Banjo, who was recently put to sleep.
-Phil
Glad to see we're getting some active checkers o' da blog. We're in Gatlinburg right now, taking a break halfway through the Smokies. We have a food drop here anyway, but we got a 50 buck/night motel room to thaw out, the last couple of days have been nuts. First day of the Smokies we were in t-shirt and shorts hiking through 6 inches of snow. Second day we hit a wind-storm. Third day it all accumulated into a wind, rain, hail, snow storm that really took it out of us (and added about 4 pounds to each boot). We woke up this morning in a shelter at over 5,000 ft. and my shorts were frozen like a piece of cardboard. That was our indicator to take a night off in Gatlinburg. Adam's gonna get on the comp. next (we're mooching off a bizarro-arcade in this mini-mall here in town) and will probably give you some more detail on our progress. I know some friends at Duke wanted to meet up, so to give an update, we'll be in Hot Springs, NC in a couple days... March 10th to be exact.
The pictures posted by the way are pretty much all in the Nantahala National Forest. I don't know where the one is of me hiking, the one of Adam is in some shelter, and the one of both of us is at a summit right before Mt. Albert in the Nantahala, taken by our thru-hiker Buddy Felton.
I also received some bad news, and for those of you who knew him, have RIP thoughts for our dog Banjo, who was recently put to sleep.
-Phil
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
North Carolina - and a note to friends who want to join them in NC
We have had word that Adam and Phil are in North Carolina and making great progress. They expect to make landfall in the Smokey Mtns within the next few days. They have asked us to cut back on the dried fruit portion in their home brewed trail mix as it was affecting them adversely... (!). The next food drop is to be posted on Monday of next week. The weather has been very weird, apparently. Early this week they went from getting a sunburn in the warm weather in the morning, and then a windburn in the cold. They got pretty wet going into Helen and camping in their tent last week, but they've dried out since. They lost the first group they were hiking with (they think they passed them when they stopped at a different town) and have been hiking off and on with two other guys. They have now experienced hiking in snow (6") and are also considering some night hiking.
Message from Adam and Phil: Any friends who are thinking about joining us in North Carolina should send an email or a message on the blog and please give us about a week's notice so we can arrange a meeting point!
This message has been posted by the Moms of Adam and Phil (the support crew).
Message from Adam and Phil: Any friends who are thinking about joining us in North Carolina should send an email or a message on the blog and please give us about a week's notice so we can arrange a meeting point!
This message has been posted by the Moms of Adam and Phil (the support crew).
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Georgia
The first day was warm and rainy. There was the occasional thunderstorm rolling through. The terrain is pretty mountainous and beautiful. We have had a few days of sun with good hiking temps in the 40s. I saw the famous blue haze of the southern appalachians two days ago looking south from Blood Moutain.
We've met some interesting and really nice characters already. Some chefs from Tennassee, "Dart Man" who has already hiked the trail once, (he looks like a mountain man from the 19 century), and some other funny characters. Phil and I feel in pretty good shape, and we're exctied to continue the adventure. Just had my first hitch hiking experience inside the US. Went well.
We've met some interesting and really nice characters already. Some chefs from Tennassee, "Dart Man" who has already hiked the trail once, (he looks like a mountain man from the 19 century), and some other funny characters. Phil and I feel in pretty good shape, and we're exctied to continue the adventure. Just had my first hitch hiking experience inside the US. Went well.
Greetings from Helen, GA!
Hey everyone! Adam and I are in Helen, GA at the public library...just picked up our first food drop. The hiking's been great so far, we've already met a little crew of thru-hikers that we're currently leap-frogging with: Ringo, Flutter, Dart-man, and Yeddy. (We still are Adam and Phil.) The weather's been really interesting but generally nice. One day we were in all our winter gear eating trail mix in a valley, the next hour hiking on a ridge in t-shirt and shorts. The terrain isn't too rough yet, although we've been going up and down a few mountains here in the Chattahoochee. Two nights ago we stayed at the Walasi-Yi Hostel at Neel's Gap. It was a real neat little hiker hostel, where we bought some nice hot-pockets to fill our stomachs. Adam and I had a laugh at the extensive Hot-Pocket instructions, which even tell you to wait 2 minutes to eat it so you don't burn yourself, which put in our heads images of people on the edge of their seats, waiting for the moment they could slam a Hot-Pocket into their mouth. That's it for now, we gotta get off the computers and get back out to hitch-hike to the trailhead in the rain, which has not started. We'll try to update every few days.
-Phil
-Phil
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Getting to the Trail Head
Adam and Phil were dropped off at the airport with the backpacks in duffle bags, heading out to Atlanta. Phil's parents will drive them to the trail head from Atlanta. The adventure has begun!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Trip Updates
Hey Everyone! Today we are going to fly down to Atlanta, GA. Tomorrow morning (Sunday the 17th) we're heading out to Amicola Falls State Park to start out at the trailhead. We've got all our stuff together, along with some fresh hats from our friend Aaron Duffy. Check them out: www.dufdesign.com/hats.htm. We'll try to keep posting updates on this thread.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Running Strong for American Indian Youth
We are raising money for an organization called Running Strong for American Indian Youth. This is a foundation that helps American Indian people meet their basic survivial needs- building wells, providing food etc. They also provide oppurtunities for self sufficiancy and help build self esteem.
If you would like to know more about Running Strong for American Indian Youth go to their home page at www.indianyouth.org.
We are raising money in a "walk-a-thon" style by having people pledge a certain amount of money per mile that we hike. We plan to hike all 2,174 miles of the appalachian trail. Therefore, a 2 cent per mile pledge would be a total of about 44 dollars (assuming all goes well on the trail). When we finish the trail we will send out return envelopes to pledgers and collect the money. Make checks payable to Running Strong for American Indian Youth. People also have the option of simply making a flat donation, which we will also collect at the end.
To make a pledge or Donation: [Thankyou!]
Send an email to appalachianpledges@gmail.com (this is just an email address I made myself)with your name, your home address, and how much you would like to pledge per mile. If you would like to put the total in the email that's fine too.
If you would like to know more about Running Strong for American Indian Youth go to their home page at www.indianyouth.org.
We are raising money in a "walk-a-thon" style by having people pledge a certain amount of money per mile that we hike. We plan to hike all 2,174 miles of the appalachian trail. Therefore, a 2 cent per mile pledge would be a total of about 44 dollars (assuming all goes well on the trail). When we finish the trail we will send out return envelopes to pledgers and collect the money. Make checks payable to Running Strong for American Indian Youth. People also have the option of simply making a flat donation, which we will also collect at the end.
To make a pledge or Donation: [Thankyou!]
Send an email to appalachianpledges@gmail.com (this is just an email address I made myself)with your name, your home address, and how much you would like to pledge per mile. If you would like to put the total in the email that's fine too.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Meeting Up
If anyone is interested in meeting up to hike with us for a few days, you are more than welcome. We're planning on checking e-mails and keeping this blog up in towns along the way. Either medium is a great way to contact us, and we can plan the days surrounding your potential visit a little more strictly, so as to ensure a meeting time.
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