day 80 - 05/29

so nice to be back on the trail. i received the rest i needed and was so spoiled by my family and friends. i am so grateful to everyone for an awesome weekend. so thanx to aunt pat, kris, brian, and maryanne for the first half. thank you pat for picking me up, dinner, donation, a roof over my head, etc. you are so unbelievably generous. i then made my way to boston and spent the weekend at my cousins' house, jaz and jon (see pic below). they are always so awesomely chill, but this visit was so ridonculously incredible. i ate so much good food and got to visit with steve-o (thanx for the steak!), martha (thanx for the cookies), the beckster (who, btw, looks smokin' hot! ;) ), taylor, tracy (thanx for the bug spray), karla and everyone else at "the glen!" i also got to see my aunt donna and uncle frank and their new house, which looks so frickin' unbelievably beautiful. i saw my cuz adam and his wife erin, their three yo sammy and newborn evan, and erin's family (whom i love). then, i got to see my grandmother, who is almost 90 (see pic below), and my cuz mike and his girlfriend shelaigh, who bought me lunch at cheesecake factory (see pic). i really made the rounds in a short time! it was awesome. the trip was also very purposeful in helping me to realize how i have been unmade by the trail. iow, there is much less tim because an ego or personality is needed so much less on the trail. jaz and jon thought i did well integrating back into the matrix, but i have to admit that it was difficult at times. i am now prone to long moments of just observation and silence. so hitting the trail after this weekend proved to be wonderful and challenging. i hiked only 7mi and heeded the warnings of the weather delivered by jon and kris of impending severe thunderstorms - and none to soon. only 5 minutes after arriving at the october mt shelter the hail, 2 inches of rain, very strong winds, and lightening strikes only 20 yards away started henceforth, as they say. as i was rereading "born to run," after it being mentioned 5 times to me on the trail, which i deemed to be important and no longer just coincidence, i came upon the following quote: “Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction." - william james. this so sums up thru-hiking. i also discovered thru the wonder of the internets, that sadly, the caballo blanco passed away back in march while i was in nc. this is sad as he was part of my inspiration, but his living example of authenticity will inspire me to do some ultra-distance running once i complete this current journey. 7.2mi from rt 20 in lee to october mt shelter. 1552.3mi total.









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days 76-79 - 05/25-05-28

sorry everyone, but i have decided to enjoy the holiday weekend with family in eastern mass. so, no posts until i return to the trail on tuesday. i'll be back then, and until tuesday - i love y'all and stay golden!

day 75 - 05/24

awesome day of hiking and i was probably energized by knowing that i get to see friends and family soon! the pic below is of the footbridge over the mass pike, route i-90. this may sound silly, but this felt like quite an accomplishment because i have driven by it so many times with a longing in my heart to actually be on the footbridge having hiked 1500 miles, and i am doing it! it felt so great! i met my aunt pat shortly thereafter on route 20 in lee, ma and had a wonderful evening out to dinner with pat, brian and kris, and then getting to see my cousin marianne who is now all grown up and 18yo! aahhhh! i'm old!. they are all spoiling me so much! it is awesome to be around family. 20.7mi from eastern mt to lee, ma. 1545.1 total.

day 74 - 05/23

"sweet home . . . massachusetts!" the three pics below are of the welcome sign and then the awesome hike along the river that forms the border of ct/ma. the video is of silly me just being nostalgic and happy to be back in mass/new england. it is so beautiful. i guess the old adage "you can take the boy out of new england, but you can't take new england out of the boy" is very true! i made it into great barrington. ma early in the afternoon, enjoyed the movie "the avengers" and probably the best burger on the trail so far at "the gypsy joint," right on main street. so frickin' good! great local beer as well. then i hit the trail and finished my day by getting to the eastern mountain retreat center, where i enjoyed a nice shower so that i can smell a little better when i meet my aunt tomorrow. lol. i also enjoyed a nice glass of whiskey and the company of two hikers, one guy from germany and one from denmark, on holiday for a little hike on the appalachian rail. so fun! it is always interesting attempting to explain things as strange as thru-hiking to people who speak limited english. and i of course know only very limited german. it was funny. i kind of wish i had a video of me trying to explain things. 26.4mi from riga to eastern mt retreat. 1524.4 total.











     

day 73 - 05-22

wow! i can't believe how much more difficult the trail in new england is compared to what i have hiking since north carolina/tennessee. looking back now, i think i have a little of the blues in pa, nj, and ny just cuz it was so flat. i really, really, really enjoy climbing a good steep hill. i love it! not sure if it is just cuz i am back home in new england or what, but i feel very re-invigorated. i really hoofed it today cuz i have made plans with my aunt pat to pick me up in lee, ma on thursday afternoon. so, i hiked almost all the way thru ct today and cruised into salisbury to pick up some packages at the post office. one was my third pair of trail runners. the pic below is of my retired pair of vasque runners with exactly 722.1mi of trail on them. they were a perfect fit, but as you can see they were just about falling apart. i also got my third care package. i just want to take a moment to thank my bff, kirsten, for the first two packages. she sent me my solar charger along with all kinds of goodies, like dried mango, pistachios, and awesome organic dark chocolate for the first drop. then, when i needed a new charger (cuz the solar charger is not great and really only works as a second battery), she sent me her spare charger along with incredibly delicious, huge peanut butter cups. yummy! this third drop package was from my aunt karen and uncle john. it is unbelievable all of the things they included, but i have to say that after three straight days of rain, two new, dry pairs of thorlios socks was like finding a gold bar in the mailbox! words cannot express how appreciative i am, especially cuz no one can even imagine how stinky my socks had become. no joking - epic stink! tomorrow i hike into my home state of massachusetts! the second pic is of the view, while lying in my sleeping bag, from riga shelter! thanks karen for helping me decide - good choice! 29.8mi from stewart to riga shelter. 1498.0 total.

day 72 - 05/21

after a few days of beautiful dry weather, we back into rain again. it seems like this area needs the rain so i am happy it is actually raining. i entered connecticut today and my home region of new england. it is really funny how things change so distinctly from state to state. i guess it makes sense because most states use a natural boundary as a border, like a river or mountain ridgeline. the pic below is when i entered into ct from ny. the first area in ct is the ten mile river. so beautiful!!! i felt like i was in the west, in deep, deep winderness. i kept saying to myself - "this is connecticut!" i just could not believe how beautiful it is. i also remembered that the culture in every state and region is also different. it was so funny going into kent, ct after being down south and even in nj and ny. there is just a certain new england attitude - staid and reserved. if you are not from here i could see how one might misconstrue this very specific attitude as being snobby or cold. it just felt like home to me. go figure. 19.7mi from wiley to stewart hollow brook shelter. 1468.2 total.

day 71 - 05/20

great day! i went by nuclear (no, it's not nuculer as according to the "great" gw bush) lake and had a very refreshing swim. there was an awesome family there who gave me some refreshments and trail mix. i hoofed it another 12mi so that i could get closer to the town of kent, ct where i need to resupply. i am anticipating quite a bit of rain tomorrow so i want to be closer to town to escape a little of the wetness. i had my first mouse attack last night - see the picture below. i stupidly, and carelessly, left my food bag in my backpack cuz i am not in bear country at the moment, there was no rain in the forecast, but i didn't think a mouse would climb up the tree my hammock was attached to and rummage thru my backpack. i am just glad i left my pack open so the little bugger didn't chew thru my backpack, which i have seen happen to other hikers on the trail. luckily, he only got to eat some of my zip lock bags (hehe, cue the evil laugh sound), so i hope he enjoys pooping some plastic today. lol. unexpectedly, no more ticks even after walking thru lots of fields with high grass, go figure. so still at 15. 25.6mi from rph to wiley shelter. 1448.5 total.

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day 70 - 05/19

nice easy day of hiking today. the weather has been so beautiful. lots of enthusiastic day hikers on the trail. i made it to the rph shelter, which is very nice, to find a large group of boy and eagle scouts already there. they were all great and shared lots of food. since the shelter is close to a road i also ordered a pizza for dinner. it was frickin' awesome. the pic below is not of a freckle, but of tick number 15. the little nymphs are what freak me out because not only are they nearly impossible to see, but they supposedly are the ones that most frequently transmit lyme disease. yay! i'm glad i noticed the little bugger. 18.8mi from greymoor to rph shelter. 1422.9 total.




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day 69 - 05/18

so an awesome reader of my blog (thanx adam!) not only sent me the correct directions to get into nyc, but also offered to buy me dinner. so generous! i decided, however, not to go into nyc, cuz 1) i couldn't find an affordable hotel/hostel for the night; and 2) i really don't think i could handle all of the sensory information. after being in the woods for so long i decided that nyc would be just way too much to integrate successfully. the first pic is from bear mt of the nyc skyline. all the way to the right (sorry it's so hard to make out as it was hazy - or maybe that is smog?), you can sort of see that the new world trade tower is already taller than the empire state building. the second pic is of the bear mt bridge that i walked over today. incredibly high. i didn't take any pics while on the bridge simply because i can be quite the clutz, as evidenced by my smashed iphone screen held together by packing tape after dropping it on a rock while hiking. :) so, needless to say, i refrained from pulling out my iphone while on that crazy-high bridge. i ended up staying at the franciscan greymoor spiritual life center and ended up meeting this awesome couple who are just finishing up their year long hike of the american discovery trail. for another great blog read goto: http://www.hikinghumanitarian.com/. they also very generously offered for me to stay at their house while passing thru salisbury, ct. i also forgot to mention yesterday that i talked to one of my favorite people, my aunt pat, and i get to see her when i pass thru lee, ma, so i am very happy for that! the third pic is of a frickin' huge spider i discovered very close to where i was sleeping last night. that is a quarter in the picture and is not even flush with the wall, therefore in the forefront of the picture making it appear larger, simply cuz i was too chicken to put the quarter on the wall next to the spider. it was big! tick count is at 14, including a nymph! 16.5mi from brien shelter to greymoor. 1404.1 total.



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day 68 - 05/17

new york has some great hiking. there isn't a lot of elevation gain, but the hike can be quite technical, with times of scaling and climbing rocks. the pic below is of fitzgerald falls in the early morning. i went thru the lemon squeezer today which is this really cool rock crevasse that you literally have to squeeze yourself thru. i'm glad i am skinny. :) i also got some great trail magic from paddyo, a past thru hiker. a large bottle of gatorade really hit the spot as the water sources aren't so great in ny. i had to drink some urine coloured water, which did not look appetizing, but actually tasted pretty good cuz of all the iron. i met a couple of awesome hikers from cali at the shelter tonight and the conversation was great. tick count is up to 13. 19.6mi from wildcat to william brien memorial shelter. 1387.6 total.




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day 67 - 05/16

i feel very well rested after my first zero day, albeit a little sluggish. today was another humbling day full of people's generosity and kindness. on my way to get my last starbucks frappachino in vernon (ya, i had three while i was there, hehe), a couple of high school kids offered me a ride to the trail on their way to school. then, when i got off the trail later in the day to get some awesome ice cream, a local guy showed where it was, then drove up when i was getting to the ice cream place to give me a large bottle of gatorade he had in his car. then, as i am sitting eating my ice cream, the first of two large ice creams, and mother and daughter offered me a ride into town to resupply. people are so amazing! great day of hiking too. lots of great ridgelines with views. the pic below is of my official crossing into ny after going back and forth from nj for the last two days. my 9th state! tick count is 12. 17.1mi from vernon, nj to wildcat shelter. 1368.0 total.

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day 66 - 05/15

day 66 and i took my first zero today! it was a combination of waking up very fatigued and knowing that there was a storm coming that was anticpated to drop 3 inches of rain today. the storm never ended up materializing, but the rest and relaxation was frickin awesome! i think my body was just really ready to take a break. my mind and ego, however,  had a tough time of it today. my feet were just itchy, so to speak, to get back on the trail. i now feel very rejuvinated to move on tomorrow and be in ny and then ct in just a few days. i am still toying with the idea of going in to new york city for the day on friday. the metro north line goes all the way out to bear mt and only costs 16.25 to get all the way to grand central station. i am just a little concerned that i may get overwhelmed by the incredible amount of sensory information in new york city. i get a little overwhelmed in small little towns, so the city must be crazy. humans are very loud! this is something one realizes when the rustling of leaves by a squirrel is the loudest sound one hears all day! lol! 0mi today! 1350.9 total.

day 65 - 05/14

after a fitful rest at the murray cabin i hit the trail to go into unionville, ny to pick up a new water treatment system at the post office that i ordered from rei. since i contracted giardia from a micron filter, i decided to try a steri-pen this time around. since i'm now basically immune to giardia, the steri-pen only has to kill the cryptosporidium, which is apparently a little less common. i also had the best sausage, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich ever. it is so funny that i am eating sausage. i am no expert, but this was the best sausage i have ever had - they make it themselves of course! the pics below are of a cool 1mi long section over some marsh lands on the ny/nj border. then it started to rain, pretty steadily. i decided to hitch a ride (shhh, don't tell anyone cuz it's illegal in ny) to vernon, nj where there is this amazingly awesome hostel at st. thomas episcopal church. it is so good i am toying with the idea of taking my first zero day tomorrow for some much needed r&r. we shall see. tick count is up to 11 total. 13.5mi from the murray cabin to vernon, nj. 1350.9 total.









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day 64 - 05/13

another awesome day with sunshine and almost no giardia symptoms! nj is totally unexpected as one typically thinks of east new jersey. definitely one of the prettiest parts of the trail. saw my second rattler today. this time was a little more precarious as his head was in the trail coiled and ready to strike. i just had to wait for him to turn away and i quickly scooted by. made it to this cabin on the murray property. basically this guy keeps mules on some farm land and built an enclosed cabin for thru hikers to use. it has electricity and even a hot outdoor shower. i love gettin' naked in a shower under the sun. one of the best things ever. oh, i also thought i would give a running tick count. with the three i pulled off today, i am officially at 10 total. they gave me the heebeegeebees at first, but now its just a daily thing. i also met this awesomely enthusiastic family at a pavilion at sunrise mountain. the dad even offered me some cash for my hike. people are so generous and amazing. so thanx to the ianni family (hope i spelled that correctly) for putting a smile on my face for the rest of the day. 25mi from brink road shelter to murray cabin. 1337.4 total.

day 63 - 05/12

sad day today as i had to say goodbye to bideebideebop, who had to get off the trail to visit with family. bummer. he walked with me up into nj, which was cool and then had to say goodbye. it can be difficult meeting such great people and then having to say goodbye. it reminds me of all the awesome souls i have met so far every time i say goodbye. hopefully i get to see bideebideebop again soon. on the up side i got to talk to my ex-wife, diane, for the first time in like 6 years. i am truly humbled by how healed we both are and it was an amazing gift today to be able to chat as the new people we have become. life is so great and i am so happy diane is back in the picture! passed mile 1300 today and nj is state number 8! 24.7mi from delaware gap, pa to brink road shelter in nj. 1312.4 total.

day 62 - 05/11

another unforgettable day with bideebideebop to delaware water gap right on the pa-nj border. we stayed at a free hostel run by a local presbytarian church. awesome time. 15.7mi from wind gap to delaware water gap. 1287.7 total.

day 61 - 05/10

met an awesome person in palmerton last night and after a great conversation over breakfast we agreed to hike together to wind gap, pa. bideebideebop, named cuz of his scatting skills and crazy musical talent, is by far the coolest hiker i have met to date. such effortless and meaningful conversation. we got to wind gap with a potential tenting place in mind and then just decided to split a hotel room, which was great cuz of the hot shower and cuz it was cold at night. we bought lots of fruit at a local natural food store, so breakfast was awesome. also had a salad for dinner which made my intestines very happy. on the mend and feeling much better. the amazing company always helps too! 20.2mi from palmerton to wind gap, pa. 1272.0 total.

day 60 - 05/09

day 60! wow - 2 months on the trail. time flies when one is in bliss! i found out today that i have officially contracted giardia and therefore have giardiasis. not sure if my threshold for pain and discomfort is unusually high, but it is not nearly as bad a i had heard it was. it certainly won't keep me from hiking. today was a rockin' hike over the knife's edge, which proved to be the most technically difficult hike thus far. it literally is a ridge line of rocks that meet at a sharp point with a steep and potentially dangerous and/or painful drop off on both sides. i was in heaven. so much fun. oh, and the sun finally came out! yay! i then went in to palmerton, pa and stayed at a free hostel that is an unused old jailhouse. so i guess i was in jail for the night. met some great section hikers and had a great dinner as my appetite has returned a little. 25.3mi from eckville shelter to palmerton jailhouse hostel. 1251.8 total.

day 59 - 05/08

after a totally sweet night at russ and wendy's house, i moved on sadly saying goodbye to russ and the best trail magic so far, and possibly ever. i felt very fatigued today with whatever is going on in my intestines, so i only went 14.8mi and it seemed very long. the pic below is from pulpit rock. i made it to eckville bunkhouse shelter, which is owned by the local club and is totally enclosed, which was great because it was very cold and rainy by the time i stopped at 15:00. btw, today is officially day 12 of some sort of rain during the day or night. i am ready for some sun! a school group showed up here at the bunkhouse from a school for kids with learning disabilities much like the one i used to help run, so it was really fun interacting with the kids. ld kids have such unique perspectives - i love seeing the world differently thru their eyes. such a gift! 14.8mi from port clinton, pa to eckville shelter. 1226.5 total.

day 58 - 05/07

so sorry to everyone for the delay in posts. it was a combo of erasing all of my already written posts on my phone by accident and just feeling so ill lately. btw, when i report this stuff that isn't exactly pleasant, it is not complaining at all and i hope it doesn't come off that way. i signed up for a life changing experience and all it has to offer, including all experiences, the pleasant with the not-so-pleasant. i actually love it all. including where i am updating my blog right now. i still can't believe it and am truly humbled by their generosity and graciousness. explanation . . . i went to the post office in port clinton, pa today to pick up a package of goodies from my bff, and after chatting with the postman, russ, for a while he offered me a bed, shower, dinner, and laundry at his house for the night. best trail magic ever. his wife made this amazing meal of chicken, scalloped potatoes, snow peas, corn, apple sauce, and blueberry muffins and then apple turnovers and vanilla ice cream for dessert. the shower felt amazing, the conversation was so easy, and i even got to watch one of my favorite tv shows, game of thrones. unbelievable! i am truly humbled by the generosity of russ and wendy and by how completely welcomed i felt in their home. so many experiences on the trail have shown me the inherent goodness and love in people and that the exceptional cases of non-goodness and non-love so often shown on the evening news are just that - exceptions! oh, and i passed mile 1200 today. 18.5mi from hertline campground to port clinton, pa. 1211.7 total.

day 57 - 05/06

pennsylvania is flat . . . and rocky . . . despite my fatigue i pushed thru 23.2mi from rausch gap to hertline campsite. 1193.2 total.

day 56 - 05/05

so i am feeling not so good. very foggy in the mind and just drained. i am starting to wonder if this is giardia, a water born bacteria that infects the intestines causing nausea, check, diarrhea (the fookies), check, fatigue, check, mental fogginess, check, and possible dehydration, not yet. the problem is that i have filtered every drop of water i have ever had on the trail, so this would mean my filter has failed in some way. the other problem is that there is no treatment. like salmonella, it just has to run its course. so, hopefully this will clear, and soon. i decided to make it an easier day and went only 17.9mi from peters mt shelter to rausch gap campsite. 1170.0 total.

day 55 - 05/04

so the difficulty of today's hike because of whatever this bug is i have was overshadowed by the awesome encounter in the video above. i'll let everyone watch so as not to spoil it. sorry about the incorrect date reference, not once, but twice. it can't be march 4th cuz i didn't even start the trail until march 11th! may 4th, 2012. lol. enjoy . . . 22.6mi from darlington to peters mt shelter. 1152.1 total.

day 54 - 05/03

awesome hike today and the town of boiling spring, pa is so idyllic. if anyone is close by and has the time, you should definitely check it out. still feeling nauseous and i officially have the fookies (hopefully people can figure out what that means without a graphic description). hopefully just a passing bug. 18.2mi from alec kennedy to darlington shelter. 1129.5 total.

day 53 - 05/02

i woke up today and ate breakfast with a deer - see the pic below. it was so great. i was nice and quiet for a while until she got used to me and then just went about my business and she just hung out eating the greens of some daffodils that had already passed. i am officially past the half way point as of today. the funny thing is that the sign still had the mileage from last year, 1090.5, but they moved it, attempting to put it in the correct place, but it was till wrong. lol! the total mileage this year is 2184.2, making the halfway point 1092.1. i passed the tom's run shelter at mile 1092.3 and realized i had already passed the halfway point and then came upon the sign in the picture below another .2mi from the shelter. oh well, at least it was in the vicinity. i also made it to pine furnace village and the home of the half gallon ice cream challenge where thru hikers eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting to comemerate their half way point. unfortunately, the general store was closed, which was fine with me because i had been feeling nauseous all day. probably better that i didn't eat the ice cream and then possibly eat it for a second time on the way up. lol. oh, and i passed mile 1100 today. 32.6mi from quarry gap to alec kennedy shelter. 1111.3 total.

day 52 - 05/01

pennsylvania! i am officially north of the mason-dixon line. i somehow feel more at home, whatever that means. pa is confirmed as both fairly flat and very rocky in patches. i made it to rocky mt shelter to discover it to be very old and not so nice, so i pushed on to quarry gap shelter, which is the frickin bomb! the caretaker here takes so much pride in maintaining this shelter it is just awesome. i look forward to a great night's sleep. 25.4mi from raven rock to quarry gap shelter. 1078.7 total.

day 51 - 04/30

yup, it's confirmed . . . maryland is officially a southern state. lol. i had to stop in the town of smithsburg, md for a resupply today and other than the glaringly obvious signs such as the numerous confederate flags being flown, there was a lot of grits and sweet tea being served. so officially a southern state, in case anyone was wondering as i always have. the pic below is of a lady slipper orchid. they are fairly rare and increasingly endangered in north america and there it was just sitting on the side of the trail. very beautiful. i made it to another new shelter which is also top notch so koodos to md for the awesomest shelters so far on the trail. 20.6mi from rocky run to raven rock shelter. 1053.3 total.

day 50 - 04/29

i set off from harper's ferry today and crossed into my 6th state going nobo on the trail - maryland! such a beautiful hike along the potomac and then a great climb up onto the ridgeline. i did kind of an easy day cuz i wanted to stop at one of the newest shelters on the trail, rocky run shelter. it was so nice and new, with clean polished floor boards and best of all, no mice. maryland is proving to be a very easy state to hike with just a few rocky sections. on to another new shelter tomorrow and then on to pennsylvania. note - you will see a slight adjustment in the total mileage. while in harper's ferry i bought the newly published 2012 guide for the trail and found out that somewhere back in nc i apparantly did an extra 2.3 miles without knowing it, so the total is the 15.4 i did today as well as the 2.3 that have thus far been unaccounted for. 15.4mi from harper's ferry to rocky run shelter. 1032.7 total.