July 10th: All is Right Again

For the longest time I've hated seeing these maps. Today was the first time I was excited to see our process.  Lower left corner of that T-shirt is a you are here mark. So incredible we've walked here. From Georgia. 

Miles Today: 13.9

Mile Marker: 1,582.6

Yesterday Burning Man, Peach, MacGyver, Trinity, and Dr. Stretch all ended up at the motel where I was staying.  Dr. Stretch split my room with me which was helpful after such a big expense at Verizon yesterday.  Turns out his friend works for Verizon and could get us Life Proof cases half off.  He arranged it with the store this morning, and we hitched in to pick them up.  At $99.00 I'm not interested, but at $50 it made sense.  Durable and waterproof.

We all got on the trail around noon and headed to the next town down trail.  Everyone needed to warranty exchange their Darn Tough socks.  I sent mine home to deal with later because I was told no outfitter on the trail would do the warranty in store anymore.  Oh well. They did have the full sized filter I wanted though, so I got that replaced. Everything is back to normal.

We had a shorter day due to the late start and made it to the shelter early.  It was either that or night hike to the next one.  No reason to push it out of town with a fresh resupply.

July 6th: Unexpected Resupply

Miles Today: 19.6

Mile Marker: 1,532.3

Per the usual I was the last one out of camp. Jaws had to head into Great Barrington to take a nearo and look for someone who could repair his bag.  I'll likely see him again as he is rushing to meet his parents up the trail shortly.  They are flying over from Israel to do the last two months together.  DaVinci also headed into Great Barrington for a nearo.  When I see him again it will likely be in a flash.  He's going back to 25 mile days after the nearo.

Later in the day I realized my town stop tomorrow to pick up a package won't work as a resupply. Literally the only thing in the town is the post office.  When we left the party yesterday everyone filled their packs with leftovers for their next leg.  I didn't think to check if the town was barren. Thankfully I realized in time to hop off trail and go into Great Barrington too.  I bumped into Squeaks and Mumbles at the grocery store who were in the same boat.  We caught a hitch back to the trail and hiked together for a bit.  Shortly after I ran into Wolfe who had come to the same conclusion and gone into an adjacent town to do the same.  Jetpack caught up, and was apparently the only one who didn't have to make a pitstop.

Wolfe and I hiked off and on together for the rest of the day.  He's getting off trail tomorrow to see is girlfriend for a couple of days.  He's got a specific finish date in mind, so I'll probably see him again before it's all over.

July 5th: Back to the Grind

Miles Today: 13.7

Mile Marker: 1,512.7

We all woke up late and cleaned up the mess.  Burning Man's parent's brought out loads of pastries, bagels with cream cheese, and a delicious egg souffle.  Incredible party.

Around noon we loaded back up and got back to the trail at 1:00.  Jaws, Wolfe, and I hiked together to the shelter.  When we got there DaVinci was set up.  We all had dinner and hung out.  There was also a troop of boy scouts having a good time.  They aren't on the 9:00 PM being bedtime schedule, so hopefully my ear plugs are strong enough.

July 4th: Nearo and July Fourth!

A landfill worth of hiker trash. Picture courtesy of MacGyver 

Miles Today: 4.4

Mile Marker: 1,499.0

Wolfe and I did a quick walk into the road and met up with Jaws.  A couple hours later Burning Man picked us up in MacGyver’s van.  We had eight smelly hikers plus Burning Man packed into the van.

Burning Man and his parents went above and beyond.  There was a feast of pizza, burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and booze.  There were close to thirty hikers there.  It was an excellent time.

July 3rd: Party Tomorrow!

Miles Today: 18.1

Mile Marker: 1,495.6

Straightforward day of hiking.  Only one 0.10 mile detour to get a Coke out of a vending machine. Spent most of the day leapfrogging Wolfe.  Tomorrow our friend MacGyver is picking us up at mile 1,500 to go to Burning Man’s parent’s house.  We'll celebrate the 4th and then get back to it.

July 2nd: I Forgot What Dry Feet Were Like

 Miles Today: 18.9

Mile Marker: 1,477.5

This morning I got up with the goal of making it to Kent to pick up some packages.  I bent one of my trekking poles, and I was in desperate need of new shoes. I made it to town around 1:30. I was about to go in the outfitter when I got a text from Cheese saying they were in town and inviting me to Chinese food.  That turned out to be a mistake time wise. I was there for over an hour and a half because they were so understaffed.  The food was amazing though.  It was also most likely the last time I'll see those guys.  They are getting off for three days to go to a wedding.  This close to the end we probably won't ever sync back up.  I'll miss hiking with them.

I got back on the trail knowing I would need to do some night hiking. I didn't realize I was going to be doing night hiking in the rain.  I had dry feet for four freaking hours.  Then the skies dropped buckets on me soaking my new shoes.  On the bright side the hiking was all uphill.  After about forty-five minutes I made it to the camp site.  There was a nice pavilionwith a picnic table to get out of the rain.  I met a wonderful local couple who were out for the weekend.  We chatted about the area and my trip while we waited for the rain to break.  They gave me some fresh, sliced peppers and then in the morning some blueberries and strawberries for breakfast!  I'm sorry I completely forgot to get your names.  The treats and nice conversation completely turned around my soggy evening.  Thank you again so very much!

July 1st: Still Wet

Biggest tree on the AT! 300+ years old. 

Miles Today: 17.9

Mile Marker: 1,458.6

This morning the rain had stopped, but everything was still wet.  Including my hiking clothes. Nothing quite kickstarts your morning like putting on wet clothing and shoes that you know are going to stay wet all day.

Around noon I made the call to go to a deli.  It was 0.70 off trail, so a really long walk but too short to hitch.  I got a half pound burger with bacon and onion rings because another hiker recommended it.  I should have gone with my instincts and gotten a wrap. That burger sat in my stomach like a lead weight until about 4:00.  I hung out at the deli for about an hour as other hikers filtered in.  Circus, BR, 02, Pumba, Hawaii, and First Aid all came in.

After lunch the hiking was okay until about 2:00.  We got hit with a massive downpour.  It was kind of cooling, but I had a hard time seeing and was slipping all over.  Around 4:00 the rain finally broke.  I ran into Andes and her friend Kate at a road crossing.  I asked about her visa issue and if she was back on the trail.  She said no, they were just out for the weekend.  I welcomed her back and wished her luck in finding something soon.  They are camping through the Fourth of July and just having a good time. She seemed in good spirits, so I'm sure it will all work out.  We headed to the next shelter, and they gave Pumba and I a beer.  First Aid and Hawaii showed up, and we all moved on to the next shelter.  We were able to have dinner and get our food stored just before the rain started again.  It looks like we've got a pretty heavy system moving over us tonight.

July 9th: Rough Couple of Days

Update: Google Docs had most of my blog entries backed up.  June is updated and so is most of July. 

Two days ago my water bottle with my filter attached fell out.  Yesterday my phone died due to the torrential downpours of rain.  I though it was protected enough.  I was wrong.  Last night a skunk kept me up trying to eat my backpack.  It came and harassed the three of us for several hours in the middle of the night.  Oddly enough we were camped in town not in the woods.  Thanks to Tom the amazing Trail Angel for letting us do that.

The one silver lining of the last few days, is I did finally catch my package from Granny.  Two amazing loaves of zucchini bread!!!  I shared with all of my friends, and everyone though it was incredible.  Thank you so much Granny!

I got a new phone today, and I'll get a new filter at the outfitter tomorrow.  I'm taking a zero day today cleaning up my gear.  I'm in Dalton Massachusetts.  Unfortunately with the death of my phone I lost all of my pictures from Virginia to here, and all of my missing blog posts.  This is what I get for not backing up regularly.  I'll send the phone home and try to revive it when I've got access to all of my tools. 

Tomorrow's a new day and things will work out.

July 5th: Still Alive and Hiking

I'm still out here hiking. I've had a hard time getting a solid connection.  I hopped off trail yesterday at mile 1,499 to go to a Fourth of July party Burning Man and Peach put together at his parent's lake house. There were about thirty hikers and we all had a great time.  We are heading back now.  I have blog updates for all the days in between, and I will post them when I can.