wayfaringnorth

Sierra Farming

2010-05-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

RIVERHILL FARM
Nevada City, CA

the simple life

2009-03-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

So the journey continues. I suppose you could say we are still wayfaring north, but this time we are settling in. After hiking the trail, our mindset on living has changed. The desire to live a more simple, peaceful, and purposeful life has caused us to seek for something new. Kevin and I both decided that learning to grow our own food is very important to us. To feel connected to what we are putting into our bodies, to know the work that goes into growing and the satisfaction of harvesting our labor is what we want to experience.

Through researching Organic Agriculture websites we found many intern positions on organic farms. On February 19th, we came to visit Willowood Farm on Whidbey Island. We met Georgie Smith, the owner of the farm and worked with her for the day. It didn't take long to decide that this was the place for us. We will be helping to farm 8 acres of a variety of organic vegetables including potatoes, onions, shallots, leeks, garlic, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cabbage, corn, carrots, pumpkins, beans, and much more. We will be helping Georgie sell at three farmer's markets on the island and to local restaurants.

So here I am. I moved in March 1st with Kevin's help. (He unfortunately is committed to coach until March 14th, so will not be out until then.) We took a day to settle in and explore Coupeville, the town we are in. It's beautiful here and I have no doubt this will be a wonderful experience. We would like to share our happenings with you, so will try to post pictures often, and please feel free to share with us and come visit!

Coupeville, WA, located in Central Whidbey, a small town with a lot of character.

The Coupeville Pier at Penn Cove

overlook at Fort Casey State Park- the fort was built at the turn of the century as part of the "triangle of fire" designed to guard the entrance to Puget Sound

an auxiliary structure at Fort Casey

Admiralty Head Lighthouse- built to help guide ships into Puget Sound

Keystone ferry to Port Townsend

Enjoying the tour while enduring the strong winds!

On to Willowood Farm:

The farm is part of Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve- created by congress in 1978 "to preserve and protect a rural community which provides an unbroken historic record from 19th century exploration and settlement in Puget Sound to the present time."

view of barn in back of house

The interns live upstairs in Georgie's parents house....just happens to be a Historic Site!

This is our beautiful Victorian home for the next 8 months!

Here's where we get wood for the stove to heat our living room

After my first day of work I decided to ride my bike down to the beach

what a great way to end the day!

cool looking kelp

nice spot to catch a sunset

road home

view of the farm heading back from the beach-

interestingly enough, if you look up Ebey's Landing you'll most likely see this picture of the farm and house- we've seen it in several guide books and brochures!

into the wild?

2008-10-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

Here we go...the last 100 miles or so... the 100 mile wilderness. with sunny days ahead, rivers, lakes and waterfalls to enjoy and a near peak color of foliage, we were in for a real treat in the final stretch. brahma bull and sweet potato working hard for a hitch out of Monson.

The hitch turns out to be a logging truck and we join in!

And we walk into the wild. Now entering the 100 mile wilderness. We carried all our food and supplies for 100 miles planning to take 7-8 days.

Little Wilson falls. We camped here our first night in the wildnerness. Just a preview of the beautiful sights to come.

Brahma contemplating the ford across Big Wilson Creek.

The sun started to set as we descended Fourth Mountain.

The fall colors were emerging more and more everyday.

We wanted to explore a side trail in the wildnerness, the Gulf Hagas Trail. We made it to the first waterfall and realized it was hard to justify hiking more miles when we were already exhausted. We plan to come back when we haven't just hiked 2,000 miles.

Hiking down White Cap Mountain. This was our first major view of Katahdin and the last big climb until Katahdin.

Rock steps leading down White Cap made for some easier hiking.

And there we have it, 2,100 miles marked with Moose poop.

Not only was the lake a beautiful view, but it was a great place to take my first bath in the wilderness!

Cooper Falls. We stayed the night here at the lean-to. Labeled as the best swimming area next to a lean-to on the whole trail. The water sure was cold though!

Moose tracks in the mud and moose pellets were everywhere. However we never actually saw a moose!

There she is! The best view of Katahdin we had.

Perfect timing, we needed a little uplifting and this reminded us what we were hiking for.

On a misty morning we passed Rainbow lake where a couple was out fishing.

Beautiful fall day with a rainbow of trees.

One of the last shelters on the trail, Rainbow lean-to. the register entries got a little soppy here!

this is what it looks like when we walk...we're that fast...110 miles in 7 days (we we're running out of food)

Moose hunting is allowed in the wildnerness. Unfortunately hikers saw more dead moose in the back of pick-ups than live ones in the woods.

Entering Baxter State Park. Nine miles to Katahdin Stream. We found out this day that the Katahdin was closed. Therefore, we decided to hike the nine miles to the summit trail and then go in to Millinocket to wait out the bad weather.

The rainfall caused the water levels to rise causing us to ford some streams that normally aren't fords.

Due to the rain and wind, Mt. Katahdin was a class 4 weather situation, meaning the mountain was shut down for the first time this season. we had to wait it out a couple of nights in the nearest town to Baxter State Park, Millinocket. In Millinockett we stayed at the Applachian Trail Lodge of course.

And we slept.

And we recieved our mail drop from Kevin's mom with our celebratory wine. We also sorted out all our gear. With only the 5 mile summit to complete we packed up our tent and sleeping bags for good!

The Summit

2008-10-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

the final day. september 30. day 188 since starting our hike on march 25. the day we've been waiting for . but really it didn't feel any different from the rest of them (except we had to drive 20 miles in a minivan to get to the A.T. trailhead)!
all-in-all, it was a perfect day. as the remnants of the hurricane stopped thru-hikers for a few days summitting, a bottleneck of us decided to climb on the same day. and what a day it was. there were low lying clouds for the first couple of miles as we started a steady climb along side Katahdin stream and waterfall. but once we hit the boulders and scrambling, we broke through the cloud to see another set of broken clouds above us, with the highest mountain peaks breaking through the fog below. outstanding. once we got up to the flat heath called Table Land, the fog rolled in and out with our last couple of miles on the trail.
as we got to in sight of the sign our pace quickened to the cheers of the other hikers already up (since 5 in the morning for Borders, Gonzo, Wurm and Just Mike!) we got to the famous Katahdin sign and got our summit picture just as more hikers followed us up. we stayed up with the band of 35 or so hikers to summit for a couple of hours or so. the best part was cheering everybody else in. you can see how much it means for some people who completed the trail. some tears were shed (especially by our good buddy Blaze), but it was a celebratory and humorous occasion with beers and wine passed around as the views peaked in and out of the mist.
even though we were done, we weren't done...we still had the 5+ miles to get back down the mountain - a good day hike i guess you could say. we went back to Millinocket for a celebratory meal and drinks. and as simple as that, its over.
but stay tuned as we now have time to add a few more things to the blog, like what our plan is now(not much here yet), a day in the life of a thru-hiker and why our walk north should affect you?! check out one of our most memorable days:

we won the A.T.

...and so did mr. winky?!

and so they say - the journey is not over.....

it has just begun....

2,000 Milers!!

2008-09-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

we made it....to Maine and the 2,000 mile mark! but we still got just over a 100 miles left through the so-called "100 mile wilderness" (though other hikers are still slackpacking and coming back into town for the night by way of logging roads - wilderness?)!

the last week or so has been fantastic, some of the best on the trail, but Maine hasn't been all sunshine and views. the first few days once we stepped over the NH/ME border have probably been the hardest both physically and mentally.

Smiles of relief, we finally made it! Unfortunately the weather turned on us and we found entering Maine to be some of the hardest hiking we had encountered in a long time.

The legend of the moose in Mahoosuc notch was true. Apparently this moose fell into the notch and didn't make it out. Rest in Peace. ( well until a fellow hiker packed out the skull and is taking it to Katahdin)

A mile through the notch took us over an hour. It was kinda like a rock obstacle course!

I went under and Hoot went above. We hikers get annoyed when we have to take our packs off.

The fall foliage is becoming a pleasant sight.

In Rangeley, Maine we caught a ride with Detour (the animated guy) and stayed at Gull Pond Lodge run by Bob (older man). What an interesting pair to listen to. Detour probably talked more in one day than I have on the whole trail. Great place.

So from time to time we make bad decisions. For example, leaving a shelter at 4:00pm when it starts to rains, then climbing some of the highest peaks, and looking for campspots in the dark. Here is the aftermath....wet everything.

A two-seater privy with a cribbage board in between, Maine doesn't mess around with their privies!

Happy 60th Birthday to Brushstrokes! Ron, Brushstrokes, Serene and Ravon were celebrating and relaxing in Stratton, ME.

Beautiful day on Mt. Bigelow. There is water everywhere in Maine. This is the hiking that keeps us motivated and smiling!

Hoot is brave enough to test the chilly waters. I however just admire the scenery.

Wooh! 2,000 miles!

Tim Harrison runs a sportmans lodge and camp near Caratunk, ME. He also serves a 12 pancake breakfast for hikers. We definitely took part in this. He also let Hoot and I take out a canoe on the pond.

And here is Dave, aka HillBilly! The official white blazed trail is crossing the Kennebec River by Ferry and Dave is the one in charge. There are still some crazy hikers who attempt to ford this river, not smart.

And after crossing the ferry, we headed to Northern Outdoors in The Forks, ME. Split a room for $9 each, relaxed in a hot tub, drank some beer from the Microbrewery and ate some good grub. Take notice of the large moosehead above us. In order: Hoot, Sundance, Gonzo, Borders, Just Mike, and Worm.

Our first real "ford". Southbounders who passed through Maine earlier would laugh at this, but luckily the water levels have been low. The water was freezing at 7:30 in the morning!

And here we are in Monson, ME. The last stop before Katahdin. We received our 3 boxes of food from the post office and relaxed here at the Lake Shore Lodge and Eatery. This is a view of the lake behind the lodge.

And of course we woke up early when we heard there was an All You Can Eat breakfast at Shaw's, another hiker hostel nearby. It was delicious!

Worm and Sweet Potato point out that we have come a long way.

So if you look close, in the far distance, there is a silhouette of our future, the Big "K", Katahdin.

can't stop, won't stop.....

2008-09-05T10:07:00.001-07:00

...they don't call it the whites for nothing! aah yes, New Hampshire and the White Mountains were amazing. Hard, but worth every climb. most of the pics below were taken in the Presidential Range of the whites (Mt. Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Franklin etc.) where the Appalachian Mtn Club (AMC) has a backcountry hut system for hikers who can pay a hefty sum to stay in a bunkhouse and eat some quality grub. there is a lot of mixed feelings about the system and the politics involved but it worked out for us! we got to do work for stay with other thru-hikers in a couple of huts and stealth camp the rest of the time! The other big news is that we are a day away from Maine, which means only 280 miles to go. we plan to finish at the end of this month - time has flown by! but, got a lot to look forward to in Maine. Here's the highlights from NH:

a bunch of thru-hikers waiting for the leftover food at Galehead hut. our first stay in a hut by washing dishes.

Looking up to Webster cliffs was so daunting that we decided to stop by the road for the night and stealth camp with "The Bulls" & "Rub-a-dub."

the next moring met up with the wonderful "Longwetru" & "Willow" on Webster cliffs lookout. always great to see this pair!

view of the terrain to Mt. Washington from Mt. Jackson, where the clouds would form and quickly dissipate right over the peaks.

Lakes of the Clouds hut, just 1.5 miles below mt washington. the wind was blowing like crazy all day. we heard there were gusts up to 70 mph. it made hiking difficult but more of an adventure!

Here we are working for our stay. Wiping down all the wooding with bleach water to prevent mold growth. With all these hands, it got done quickly!

The sign warns to steer clear of Mt. Washington when bad weather is present. Several people die every year here due to ill preparedness.

Hoot, Sundance, Sweet Potato, Brahma Bull, Rub-a-Dub, and Gonzo celebrating the summit of Mt. Washington!

View near Carter Notch Hut, one of the more secluded and peaceful huts we visited.

Hoot and Sundance pushing on against the wind hiking up Mt. Madison.

and then there were 2!

2008-08-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

New Hampshire and Maine to go, thats it, and the weather is clearing up, Yeahh. We had a great time in VT but definately lokking forward to the Whites and the wilderness of Maine. Still meeting cool people who both assist and inspire us on our journey to Katahdin, which is becoming more of a tangible thing than a dream! Just a quick update then, as we're about to meet our good old earthcorps buddy Katherine. Hope all is well in the "real" world!

Moon shining in as we're getting ready for sleep. Stealth camping just before Styles Peak made for a beautiful night.

Practiced pose atop Bromley Mountain. This tower gave us a five-state view!

Rock cairns line the trail. Strange, yet peaceful.

Work for stay at the Back Home Again Cafe was amazing! Plus we got to meet up again with our dear friend, Blaze, whose been recovering from Lyme meningitis-yikes! We helped clean up around the cafe in exchange for a bed, shower, and delicious food!

Also, we helped out in the bakery bagging bread and making pitas! This place is awesome and so are the people. Definitely plan to go back to visit.

Slightly blurry, but hoot is pointing out that we are departing The Long Trail and veering right to follow the AT to New Hampshire. The Long Trail continues on to Canada, perhaps we will complete it some day....

The lookout from the "lookout farm cabin". Beautiful views recently and great weather makes hiking 20 miles not so tough.

Yea!!! I won! Made it to New Hampshire! Here we are crossing the Connecticut River that marks the boundary between VT/NH. Two states left, supposedly the two hardest, but we're ready!!!

Welcome to Hanover, NH. Home of Dartmouth College and our new friend, Zemora. She started the trail back in GA and got off to get back to work here in Hanover. To the right is "Just Mike" fellow thru-hiker from Australia. We pitched in to sticker books for fun!

Back to School. Here I am walking on the Dartmouth College Campus. I think I would have fit in with a smaller backpack.

11 down, 3 to go!

2008-08-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

The trail life is really getting interesting now. We've discovered the beauty of taking our time and taking advantages of opportunities, like working on the farm. We are both excited about being in the northeast for the first time. Hopeful of great views from big mountains and big wildlife (moose!) We've come close to 1600 miles and are in no hurry to finish. The hardest times are dealing with the weather. It seems to rain everyday, which has in turn created a muddy, slippery trail. We get frustrated and then the sun eventually comes out and everything feels good again. We are wrapping up our "off" days and looking forward to moving up. Here's a few recent pics:

Our stay at Upper Goose Pond cabin was extended for a pleasant canoeing trip!

Scenic shots of the pond, beautiful day.

And we agreed to fill up the water jugs of spring water for our fellow hikers, we earn our keep.

Crossing over I-90....could've turned for Seattle, but we're still Katahdin bound.

A stop at the "Cookie Lady's" house who we didn't actually meet, but her husband Roy was great! We helped mow around the blueberry bushes in exchange for a place to camp!

The blueberries are ending their season but we picked a few for the road.

The much raved about Heinz Beans, thanks to Allie! We enjoyed them atop Mt. Greylock.

Vermont! (thats what i'm pointing at by the way) We made it through mud and all. For the next hundred miles we will be walking both the AT and the Long Trail, which was the first long distance trail established in the U.S. The AT then branches off east into New Hampshire and the Long Trail continues north in Vermont to Canada.

Georgie ( Kev's sis) trekked from Saratoga Springs, NY through beat up country "roads" to find us. She left trail magic for those behind us and took us to her home for some great R & R. We even went out to the Orchestra! Thanks for everything, especially the cinnamon toast crunch!
Now we are getting back on near Bennington, VT. 3 more beautiful states to travel!

a day on the farm

2008-08-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

In Sheffield, Mass. we did work-for-stay at "The moon in the Pond" farm. work 8 hours and get 3 farm-made meals, a shower and a tent spot next to the pond. they had dairy cows, goats, large black pigs, chickens, geese, guinea hens and of course the farm dogs and rat-catching cats. the food was some of the best on the trail. the dinner consisted of all organic vegetables produced on the farm except for the neighbors cucumbers, delectable. joe and jason taking a couple of cows to be milked

harvesting potatoes, blue skin and katahdin's?!, which we got to cook up later on our travels.

weeding and mulching the onion beds with a southbound (SOBO) hiker Turtle took up most of our work time. a good break from hiking.

Jason (who apparently is a nephew of Eddie Brickell and now Paul Simon), Dominic (who runs the joint), and Ryan (apprentice who went to Sterling College with a couple of our americorps friends). Very cool pit stop!

new york, new england & other new things

2008-08-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

still going the right way

new york was very challenging. an array of obstacles besiged us with every climb, such as...

...gargantuanally imposing rocks - like the infamous lemon squeezer,

...giant clusters of mushrooms hiding behind trees and jumping out at us,

...poorly made tents whose zippers have to be fixed by the one and only amazing woman and seamstress, Ravon!,

...scores of real "civilians" invading the trail at Bear Mtn. park which contains a zoo, lodge, massive swimming pool, museum, shoreline on the Hudson and the only tunnel we will go under (spot the hiker - keychain, naked time, burass & chuck enjoying the scenery w/ us and wondering if us hikers were maybe part of the zoo exhibit?),

...nosey cows, and of course ticks, boulder climbs and the beginning of the wet season!

aahh, Connecticut will put things into a new england perspective,

spirit walker is a great man. offered up his house, and hot tub, for a few thru-hikers. we partook in beers and delicious food. the Dr. hikes a lot on sections of the trail, sometimes with his son 'funk', who thru-hiked the AT in '02.
Great Falls, Housatonic river, which we paralleled on and off for some 25 miles,

Mass. already! CT flew by but had some fantastic rivers (due to an unprecedented amount of rain) and vistas.

This is what i mean about the rain. at times it got a little out of hand, as you can see the trail can turn into a brook. we've had around 5 days, between NY and VT, where its been torrential downpour. getting caught in it sucks, and although we've got pack covers, with this much water coming down we might as well have jumped into a lake with our backpacks on. usually the sun will come out soon after to help us dry out...

...and keep us on the path to katahdin.

hidden gem

2008-07-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Who would of thought, New Jersey, a hidden gem on the hike to Maine. Apart from the mosquitos, NJ has been fantastic. It all started off with a visit from Malaka who lives an hour away. She, along with Pearly and Emiline (spelling?), came up to meet us and go tubing on the slow moving Delaware river. With a cooler full of beers we spent 4 hours, first in the rain then boiling heat, floating and catching up. It was great to see an old friend and let the river and arms do the work for a change!

Once we got back to the humid hiking and crossed the Delaware into NJ, we stumbled across a bunch of spring fed lakes. Now this may not seem that suprising, but to us it was amazing. The only lakes we passed prior were the dammed reservoirs back in TN and NC. After contemplating on this strange appearance of swimmable fresh water, we figured out that the new landscape was formed due to the last ice-age. Just before we left PA, we came across a rock formation that was thought to be the southern terminus of the ice sheet from this last ice age. Thus the giant glacier that was, completely changed the terrain north of this point, carving out basins fro water to sit in. Interesting and refreshing!

Along with lakes comes a multitude of bluberry bushes, and thus bears. We[ve seen 2 already, one of them is shown below and I think it is the biggest we've seen so far (350 lbs?). Timber rattler snakes have also been common. Thankfully they give their warning so we dont step on them. Oh, and the people are friendly too. The supposed blunt and mean streak of the north is not apparent...so far. we have stayed at 2 great places in the last few days. One a church hostel in Delaware water gap, where they gave us a free pot-luck meal, showers and a place to stay - awesome. Then we came across "the mayor" of UnionVille ( a small town actaully in NY on the border) who just welcomes any hiker into his house to do laundry, shower, sleep, eat and drink 25 cent beers! The last few days he must have had around 65 hikers stay, with hiker bodies scattered through his whole house to catch a nap. He gave us a little spiel on what were doing this hike for, and remidnded us our motivation for being on the trail.

I would have to say that staying places like this and seeing how people can care for strangers is a major reason why we're still living on the AT. The community that is formed on this long thin strip of America is uncomparable to anything I've seen. Just how honest and helpful people are rubs off on everyone else and it continues in a cycle. As an example, I just lost my solar charger for my ipod a couple of days ago, but a fellow hiker picked it up and wrote in the shelter registers to give him a call so I could reclaim it, which I did. I don't see that happening much back in the real world! And I am going to mail a letter he needed to send off today to return the favor. I guess you could say this trail is just as circular as it is a long straight line! Here are the pics:

Gearing up to tube, Hoot (thats the trailname that stuck), Sundance, Malaka, Emiline, and Pearly.

Taking a dip in Catfish pond

This bear did not care! it took him a good 5 minutes to mosey on out of the way of the trail. He just sat down here and stared at us like "what u lookin at"

The Mayors house, where hikers come to feast and hang out.

we be movin on up...

2008-07-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings from a great town with a rocky past, literally. Palmertown , PA, and its surrounding area is a Superfund site. As the last pic on this post shows; the rocky climb up from the town and Lehigh Gap, and the deforested ridge above are due to zinc smelting from 1898 - 1980. Revegetation efforts began in 1983 and look to be somewhat working. Though its not just this area thats rocky, but pretty much the last 3 days of walking. Some giant,yet slanted rocks to hop across here(easier without a 35 lb pack on), other fist-sized, tooth shaped rocks there. After a while it can be taxing both physically and mentally, with sore feet and frustration. We did know this of course beforehand, and otherwise, we have actually loved Pennsylvannia, the 7th state on the trail. but first we had to walk through Maryland, and look what happened....

...whats up with your home state Jen?!

Haha, this was at the Washington Monument. built in the ol' Presidents name but used by both the Confeds and Union armies as a lookout tower in the Civil war. You can see the battlefield of Antietam from the top.

The funny thing is that we actually went the wrong way to get this pic and couldn't find the trail for a good 10 minutes!

happy 4th of July! Trail Magic - The American beer for an American day.

Pine Grove Furnace State park, and the store thats home to the Half Gallon Challange - eat a half gallon of ice cream to celebrate the halfway point of the trail. Thats right, we had just passed mile mark 1,088, but we didn't celebrate with a grossly large propotion of dairy as we would be sitting on a privy for the next week or so (we are both lactose intolerant). the record for a whole gallon was a ridiculous 49 minutes, some fellow hikers took over an hour for just half!

AT midpoint!

Yes, thats me...
...and sundance hanging out with all the other kids at the waterpark in Boiling Springs, PA. We got lucky, all we wanted was to pay for a shower, but it was free swim day, July 5th if your in the area.

Guess which one is the thru-hiker?

We met up with Brahma Bull ( the guy with the cheeky grin) and the lovely Sweet Potato for our dip in the pool and a nights sleep at the playhouse...

Home sweet home...

...and music to boot! Patricia (playing the irish drum) and Mark (guitar) let hikers stay in the playhouse or tent in their yard in boiling Springs. We were lucky enough to hear them practice their Celtic music with friends and family. Really cool to hear live music, plus we got desert and tea...smashing!

A bit of road walking in the Cumberland valley, 17 miles of the the flattest terrain on the trail. I think we pulled a 21 miler that day!

We try not to talk to each other if we don't have to, haha. Some days, or even climbs, music can really help the legs move. I put some books on tape on the ipod and thus far with the Spanish course "yo hablo espanol un poco"

Stayed at the infamous Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA, a run-down old town (probably from the halt in mining) on the Susquehanna river. Usually at a hotel stop we empty the packs out, air out as much as we can, get clothes ready for the laundromat, clean the pots, and go through our food to see whats needed for resupply. It's amazing how much stuff we have when its thrown all over a room!

Ah yes, back to the Doyle. Here is the side of the shower. Need we say more! The place definately had character and the owners were super nice. It was a 4 story old hotel, with the ground floor being a bar with pool table. I guess they are trying to fix it up but its a lot of work. It was cheap for a room, which is probably why people live there! A good enough place to stay for hiker trash you could say. Cheap rooms, cheap beer, all under the same roof.

Had to take this pic as it had rained on us the last couple of days.

One of the few swimming holes we've come across thus far, and one of our new favorites - Hertlein Campsite. A man made pond from a 30 ft cement-block dam. It backs up 2 creeks and was very cold, but perfect after a sweaty, humid day of hiking.

I didn't know what was going on here either at first, but then it all made sense, and we asked ourselves why we were looking and taking pictures. nature at its finest! (pretty sure their box turtles)

Posing at "the knife edge", gotta love the names on the trail, must say thats what it felt like on our feet!

Another walk in the park.

Upon entering Port Clinton, PA we discovered the twilight zone, where plastic animals are plentiful.

It's the season for blueberry picking, didn't mind slowing down along this stretch.

Yes, this is the actual trail. Kevin loves PA.

And here we are on the way into Palmerton, PA. Staying the day to shower, do laundy and refuel for the big climb ahead, supposedly the toughest section until New Hampshire, we'll see...

A long update from a looong state!

2008-06-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's starting to feel like we've come a long way now. Completing VA is a real accomplishment alone. We've had some great trail magic and some nice breaks with family and friends. Hiking through Shenandoah seemed a little odd without our packs, we even found ourselves running at times. It was great to have Kevin's family there! It was like a week of trail magic. When they left us, we put back on our heavy packs, and had 60 miles to go until Harpers Ferry. We did find time to stop in Front Royal, VA for a day to resupply, but mostly to watch the quarterfinals of the Euro Soccer tournament. Obviously we are not on a strict schedule, which means we are meeting new hikers that have been behind us and seeing old friends that are catching up. Its exciting to be making our way up north, ready to see new scenery, and have a little more solitude as the hikers are thinning out. Didn't have a chance to add pictures from our stay in Harpers Ferry and Baltimore, so we'll do that next time. But thanks to Michael, Erinn, Abe, Kay, Marianne, Emily, Beth, Linda, Paul, Joel, and Kari, Chloe and Alex for having us stay!

After we cross the 900 mile mark, we come across a group of hikers who through hiked in '99. Since then they have come back every year to celebrate and feed current hikers. Good timing for us! So good, that we arrived on a Friday and left on Sunday. (Above, a keg is being rolled in.)

Ever heard of "hippie horshoes"? Neither had we, but it quickly became our favorite activity. Who knew a rope with two golfballs tied to it could be so fun!

Time for a ride to the waterfall.

This is how we shower in the great outdoors!

Kath washing her hair.

Keeping good company with K-bomb and the Breeze.

Where can you find a place to relax and walk around in robes as your laundry dries? The Dutch Haus B&B in Montebello, VA. Wonderful!

More relaxing on the porch, chatting with fellow hikers.

Beautiful sunsets are hard to catch on film, we got lucky this night, right before a

thunderstorm hit.

Alison and Nick came all the way from Seattle to visit! They greeted us with ice pops and fresh fruit! Just the beginning of our pampering.

Mendocino hopped in this picture along Skyline Drive entering Shenandoah National Park.

Hiking the trail lined with mountain laurel was quite pleasant to the eye!

Woah! Time for that hair to go.

Whew, thats better.

This program on Birds of Prey was amazing. Above is a Barred owl, who's call is "Who cooks for you", which we've heard a lot since being on the trail.

This small Screech owl is 14 years old.

The Bodle family atop BlackRock.

At last we see Bears! A mama bear and two cubs were taking a stroll right off the road. They had no concern of all the people taking pictures. The mama bear turned over rocks looking for insects as the cubs played and climbed trees. Adorable!

Seems to be strange wildlife in this park.

View more pics from my sister here:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?ap=&a=67b0de21b3475487458a&pg=0

Thanks to Ali, Nick and Georgie for visiting! We had a blast!

I would walk a thousand miles, and I will walk a thousand more.

Good riddance to Virginia, beautiful state, but we've seen enough. Hello, West Virginia!

The AT Blackburn Center, hostel and hospitality for hikers. We slept on the porch and were treated with sweet potato pie!

And we made it to Harpers Ferry, WV. Home of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the unofficial halfway mark of the trail at 1,011 miles. Pictured here is the convergence of the Shenandoah and Potomac River. Here we are meeting up with Elizabeth's family and then travelling on to Baltimore to see Michael, Erinn, and Abe. Also, Chris is rejoining the trail here. Much happening!

Dear Virginia

2008-06-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Ah, Glasgow a fine town with reliable internet service! We are making our way through the longest state on the trail. We were told, "Virginia is flat", but i'm not sure how that rumor got started. Less than a hundred miles from Shenandoah National Park where we get to meet up with Kevin's family and hopefully "slackpack" as they call it for a few days! Can't wait to get there!

If you look close you can see kevin, twice.

Some trail names are a mystery, with "Torch" it's pretty clear.
The REI Shark Skin Jacket is modeled above compliments of Hoot, Half Elvis, and the Breeze.
This guy seemed to be lost on the trail.

Yes, Kevin and I still practice our Tree hugging. This oak is the largest on the southern portion of the AT (the largest being in NY)

We encountered many donkeys on our path this day, we may have gotten a little close though cause they tried to eat our hands.

Woo-hoo! 700 miles!

The most scenic view on the AT they say, McAfee's Knob.

I've been waiting for this spot! Apparently, this area was used to film "Last of the Mohicans" and Daniel Day Lewis stood on the same knob. pretty cool.

Crossing the James River along the longest foot bridge on the AT.

Kevin's really building some muscle out here.

Look closely, we are in Glasgow, VA. Where men ride their lawn mowers down the street while barbarian women ride dinosaurs on the lawn.

Virginia is for hikers

2008-05-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

We're having technical difficulties uploading pictures, so we will update those when we can, for now we will fill in with words!

Last week we celebrated in Damascus, VA for the annual Trail Days festival. A small town that you can walk from end to end, was filled with hikers parading down the street. Local townspeople watched from the sidewalks armed with water guns, water balloons, and buckets of water ready to soak all the hikers in sight. We managed to make it through fairly dry though! Outdoor vendors were there giving away goodies. And although kevin lost the cake eating contest, he did manage to defeat everyone in the sleeping bag sac race! He won me a new sleeping bag! After taking four days off for the festival, it was time to get back on the trail.
Since Damascus, we've made it to mile 624. Officially passing the quarter mark on the trail at mile 540. The test will be to make it through the 500+ miles in Virginia alone, which some people call the "Virginia Blues". However we have many things to look forward to in Virginia to keep us motivated. We are meeting Kevin's family in Shenandoah National park, which has some pretty famous views. And right after we will be entering Harpers Ferry, WV where we will meet up with some of my family!
Unfortunately we can't display our pictures from the last few weeks, but we are doing great. We will try and update again soon!

walking the N.C./Tenessee line

2008-04-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

for a while now (since the smokies) we've been walking on the state boundaries of TN and NC. right now we are in Erwin, TN., or just outside of it at a little hostel with cabins. everyone here is stuck due to the weather as the skies opened up yesterday and haven't stopped. but against the smart thing to do, we are gonna risk the continued down pour and head on today! very different from a week ago after lounging in some hot springs in Hot Springs. Here's our week:

birthday treatment, Hot Springs

looking back at Hot Springs

weird little dam in the middle of nowhere!

there's been quite a few grassy areas (balds) recently, which is nice to change up the scenery a little

the trees are alive?!

the best trail magic so far...

..thanks Fal & Hercules (thru hikers '99)

yes, i ate a banana split!

then we saw a copperhead snake - one of the two most dangerous snakes on the trail. it went at me when i got to close, unnoticing, then stayed in its coiled up pose here for a while. we got pass with no probs though!

ridgewalking, a hard day after a full belly!

susnet on the ridge, yet we were far from any campsite. had to just throw up the tent.

there's been quite a few gravestones along the way.

some spots definately remind me of england

trillium, as far as the eye can see! no joke, there were valleys of them and other wildflowers.

coffee stop. more trail magic.

and more wildfowers

Big Bald, elevation 5516

group shot on Big Bald, we're smiling cause we're almost done for the day!

With no trees, we follow the white blazes on posts

Nice little footbridge after an unexpected climb from Spivey Gap

Another unexpected change, due to prescribed burning there was a detour from the trail

We walked for a few miles on this road viewing the controlled burns

Then we were back on the trail, catching a glimpse of the sun admist the smoke

First view of Erwin, TN and the Nolichucky River, also where the rain began to pour!
We ran down the mountain and made it safely to Uncle Johnny's Hostel.

P.S. sorry if we haven't responded to people who have emailed us, its been hard to put up the blog and email with the time we have in town. we will try and get back to everyone when we have a bit more time!

turns, twists and tales from the trail

2008-04-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

The trail is full of twists and turns. It seems like the hike has really started since the last blog, as going through the smokies and beyond has really tested us in many different ways. some days everthings feelin great, the suns out and your literally on top of the world...then the next day your feet hurt, your sick of the dried food, and then it starts snowing! Or more significantly, external factors can turn the journey upside down. Unfortunately this happened and we lost one of the "fearsome four" (as we were called) as "Cathole" Chris had to go home due to a family emergency. We are all thinking of you and your family cathole, and hope that you will rejoin team group sooner or later!

O-pop & Cathole

first night in the smokies and the snow started to fall...

...and fall and fall long into the second day.

aftermath of a snowy day, wet gear, and cold bodies huddled around a fire

but there were smiles

Our first snow camping experience, but we did wake up to sun!

makes for a beautiful surrounding, but hard to hike in

Look its Mr. Winky( a Dam good mascot found at Fontana Dam) He and I are enjoying the view at Clingman's Dome on a clear day. Clingman's Dome is the highest point on the entire Appalachian Trail at 6, 643 ft.

views from atop the observation tower...

looking back on the trail we just walked.

more hiking in the snow, it seemed to be never ending

and then it turned into slush and mud

A morning sunrise at Icewater Spring shelter, mile 207.6. Today would be our first 20 miler!

Heading out of the Smokies, we encountered green lush surroundings. As Hiker Dave said, I thought Robin Hood might pop out, cause it looked just like Sherwood Forest!

And we made it to Standing Bear Farm, about the coolest Hostel around.

Outdoor shower and a store full of treats , we were set. Thanks Curtis!

Doing laundry the old fashion way, washboard and all.
Our first Bear Sighting! A sow and two cubs scurried out of sight as we approached about 100 yards away. this is the best picture we got.

Max Patch Summit was amazing, at 4,629 ft we got great views of the smokies.

You can't tell but it was extremely windy. It was worth it though, probably one of the most beautiful spots on the trail so far.

Hiked back up the summit at night to watch a lightning storm behind the clouds, as well as watching the moon rise.

Welcome to Hot Springs, NC. Here we stayed at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. Built in the 1840's, this house was taken over by Elmer Hall in 1977 and converted into an Inn and Retreat Center. We had the best meal so far here where organic vegetarian dishes are served daily.
And of course we had to celebrate Kevin's 25th birthday with a little beer! Thanks to Aaron, Mosey, Pixie, Muffin Paste and Blaze!

ready for the smokies

2008-04-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

Writing to you from Robbinsville, NC. Since Franklin we have hiked to Fontana Dam, NC at mile 162.9. We've been fortunate to have sunny, dry weather, and a few trail magic encounters. We've had some of our hardest hiking days climbing over 3,000 ft in elevation in about 6 miles. We've also, had some flat trail allowing us to cruise at 3 mph! Made good time to Fontana Dam and met my parents once again to spend a day in a friend's cabin and re-group before we start into the Smoky Mountain National Park Sunday.

Siler Bald, one of many balds that were once clearcut and now remain a clear grassy field. Allows for good views at least.

Amazing view hiking down to the Nantahala River, looking ahead to our steep climb!

Relaxing near the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where we picked up our mail drop, ate chili fries and drank beer!

Kevin spotted what we think is an Eastern Ratsnake sunbathing right off the trail. It was approximately 3 and half feet long!

After encountering Bare Bear with the largest trail magic spread yet! Chris is crossing the road at Stecoah Gap, elevation 3,165.

Kath is all smiles after finding her throne at Cable Gap Shelter.

Tent city at Cable Gap.

We witnessed a momentous occassion at Cable Gap. A guy named Longshot threw the tallest bear hang in history, we would say about 50 feet. We have to humor ourselves somehow.

White trillium, signs of spring are blossoming.

Wildflowers line the trail to Fontana Dam.

Here's a Dam picture.
View from dam.

After enjoying a nice evening in the cabin we awoke and took the canoe out, thankful to be using our arms, not our legs.

More realxing, mom sleeping, me playing solitaire.

Kevin's favorite restaraunt. Only spot in town for wireless, so we could write to all of you!

One State down...

2008-04-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

hello again. first off, the last blog was not set up on purpose, the computer liked to change the layout after we posted it! this one will make more sense! Since Hiawassee we have travelled 40 miles north east into N. Carolina, and are blogging from the small and weird town of Franklin. We have also broke the 100 mile mark, officially 106.6 miles (only 2,070 left to go)?! It has also been raining again for the last few days - out of the 11 days on the trail, 7 of them have been rainy. but its sunny today and we are about to set off again, so our spirits are high. Here's some highlights:

Looking back west to Hiawassee, near Muskrat Creek shelter, where we stayed

Crossing over the N. Carolina/Georgia line

Looking up to the firetower atop Albert mtn., it was one hell of a climb...

...looking straight up...

..and back down to chris and kat.

halfway up the firetower, too windy to go all the way!

at Big Spring shelter (97.5 mi) it was raining ridiculously hard, so we filled up our bottles with water off the tin roof.

a wild shot of Buck & Fleur (trail-names), who we've seen at quite a few shelters. they're an older couple from canada and are great to have around to cheer us up when its cold and wet. we were all making dinner here as another thunderstorm came through.

little waterfall amongst the rhododendrons, which are abundant anywhere near a water source.

taking a breather and a snack break - nearly to highway 64 and Franklin

follow the white blazes, they lead you Maine!

So, as the community on the trail heads north, people have to get to know each other. and the best way to do this is to find yourself a trail-name. a lot of hikers already had one (such as Buck & Fleur, cookie monster and Hollywood to name a few), but many like us needed to find one, or have one find us. my favorite is a guy named surefoot cos he keeps falling on his butt! its definately a good way to remember people and not get mixed up.

Introducing...sundance

and scruffy goat gruff

a lot of past AT hikers come back to greet hikers coming out from the woods with food and drinks. they are called "trail angels" (doing trail magic). here John (Hatteras '03) met us with cookies, croissants, fruit and some cold beer! Cheers John, couldn't have asked for anything better.

got a ride into Franklin from the Budget Inn shuttle bus...for free! (kind of, we gave a donation)

Ron dropped us off at the gas station, and used the donation to buy some "big fat hot-dogs"
we got picked up by the Ulmer family friends, Charlie and Bonnie who took us up to their nearby cabin, where we stayed the night.

Charlie & Bonnie were awesome hosts, very much appreciated!

And so we head north and up to the smokies soon, but first comes Nantahala and Fontana Dam.
Looking forward to better weather!

we're on our way!

2008-04-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

The day before the start relaxing at the beautiful Amicalola Falls Lodge . My mom, Kay, is testing out Kathryn's pack, they are probably about equal in weight.

Here we are atop Springer Mountain, southern terminus of the famous Appalachian Trail. Fresh smiles at mile 0.0.

Kevin and I taking our first break, still mile 0.0.

We pushed it a little hard the first day and hiked 11.6 miles to Cooper Gap. Kept a steady pace on day 2 and camped at Woody Gap at 19.9 miles. Here we made friends with a guy named Catfish, who had his girlfriend deliver pizza and chik-fila biscuits!

Pleasant sunset at Woody Gap.

Day 3: Thats me struggling up Blood Mountain.

After struggling up and down Blood mountain, it was a blessing to make it to Neels Gap, mile 30.5, which is a convenient outfitter/hostel staffed with friendly folks who helped me find better boots. We camped out back of the store and took warm showers, ate ice-cream, and used a real bathroom.

Day 4: Enjoying hot chili with instant mashed potatoes at Low Gap, mile 41.1.

Day 5: the weather turned, and we awoke to rain, and the rain did not stop. We walked through a thunderstorm on top of a mountain with metal hiking poles and metal framed packs. We arrived at the Blue moutain shelter, mile 48.3, by lunch and stayed for the night. we might have changed our minds if we knew there would be night visits by mice.

This was our visibility for the next 3 days.

luckily we had a miracle fire to warm socks and spirits! The weather brought together 13 cold and tired bodies, that made for good company.

Turkey-tail mushrooms flourish on the downed trees with this sort of weather.

Day 7: Dicks Creek Gap, mile 66.6
my dad, John, came to rescue us from the rain. We stayed in Young Harris, GA where i went to college. This is the view from my cousin Karen's house.

The four hikers, my parents, and karen.

thanks karen, you're awesome!

prep work

2008-03-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

preperation for the hike was very time consuming, tideous and sometimes frustrating. But it will all be worth it once we're on the trail. not only did we make too many extensive trips to REI, but Costco and other supermarkets were always needed one more time. we bought a bunch of quality bulk foods through United Natural Foods though- cheers to Kirsten for that!
a lot of the food we bought before the trail we have put in boxes for mail drops, which Elizabeth's parents are helping us with. the rest we will buy on the way in towns for resupply.

unloading from the road trip

so much food...

...and gear

let the boxing commence!

all the little things

they call it mountain money...

...so chris is loading up!

still working

we're already sick of peanut butter...and we haven't started yet!

thats right, peanut butter in a ziploc. pretty much everything is in a ziploc.
we will try to reuse everything sent as much as possible - i wish there was a good alternative to all this plastic?

the aftermath

and the final products

thought we're done? we still have to label them...then were done!

dryrun near Atlanta/Decatur - panola state park

we can't wait to just get on the trail and start walking. hopefully the planning will pay off!

Looking on to the big adventure!

are we there yet?

2008-03-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

These are educated guesses as to where we might be in the near future. Please feel free to come visit!

ETA	Resupply Point
25-Mar	Springer MT, Ga
27-Mar	Neels Gap, Ga
31-Mar	Hiawassee, Ga
4-Apr	Franklin, N.C.
7-Apr	N.O.C., Wesser, NC
10-Apr	Fontana Dam, NC
17-Apr	Standing Bear Farm, NC
20-Apr	Hot Springs, NC
26-Apr	Erwin, Tenn
2-May	Dennis Cove, Tenn
5-May	Damascus, Va
10-May	Troutdale, Va
15-May	Bland, Va
19-May	Pearisburg, Va
24-May	Catawba, Va
27-May	Daleville, Va.
31-May	Glasgow, Va
4-Jun	Montebello, Va
7-Jun	(NP) Waynesboro, Va
12-Jun	(NP)Big Meadows, Va
16-Jun	(NP)Compton Gap, Va
21-Jun	Harper's Ferry ATC, WV
26-Jun	Smithsburg, Md
28-Jun	South Mountain, Pa
2-Jul	Boiling Springs, Pa
4-Jul	Duncannon, Pa
10-Jul	P. Clinton/Hamburg, Pa
14-Jul	Palmerton, Pa
17-Jul	Del. Water Gap, Pa
22-Jul	Vernon, NJ
26-Jul	Peekskill, NY
30-Jul	Kent, Conn
1-Aug	Salisbury, Conn
5-Aug	Dalton, Mass
7-Aug	Williamston, Mass
9-Aug	Bennington, Vt.
12-Aug	Manchester ctr, Vt
18-Aug	Hanover, NH
21-Aug	GlenCliff, NH
23-Aug	N. woodstock, NH
30-Aug	Gorham, NH
4-Sep	Andover, ME
7-Sep	Rangely, ME
10-Sep	Stratton, ME
13-Sep	Caratunk, ME
16-Sep	Monson, ME
	White House land
	Abol Brige
24-Sep	Katahdin

Mail Drops

2008-03-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Mail Locations: in case you would want to send anything, letters of encouragement, lightweight items, this is where we are sending our mail drops. Eta= estimated time of arrival (we will update these as they are sure to change!)

For most packages you can label:

“my name”AT Hiker
Business if applicable
Address

The Post Office is different:
Label:

“General Delivery”-AT Hiker
My Name
Town, State, zip

1. Walasi-Yi center
Ship to 9710 Gainesville Hwy., Blairsville, GA 30512
Eta: March 27th

2. Franklin,NC:
Three Eagle’s Outfitters
78 Siler Rd.
Franklin, NC 28734
eta: April 4th

3. Nantahala Outdoor Center
13077 Hwy 19W, Bryson City, NC 28713
eta: April 7^th

4. Post office
Fontana Dam, NC 28733
Eta: April 10th

5. Standing Bear Farm
4255 Green Corner Rd., Hartford, TN 37753
eta: April 17^th

6. Troutdale, VA
Troutdale Baptist Church Hostel
10148 Troutdale Hwy, Troutdale, VA 24378
eta: May 10th

7. Montebello VA :
Dutch Haus B&B
655 Fork Mountain Ln., Montebello, VA 24464
eta: June 4^th

8. Compton Gap VA:
Front Royal Terrapin Station Hostel
304 Chester Gap Rd , Chester Gap, VA 22623
eta: June 16^th

9. Harpers Ferry WVA:
ATC Visitors Center
799 Washington St., Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
eta: June 21^st

10. Post Office
Duncannon, PA 17020
Eta: July 4^th

11. Post Office
Delaware Water Gap, PA 18327
Eta: July 17^th

12. Bennington, VT:
Nature’s Closet Outfitter
400 Main St., Bennington, VT 05201
eta: August 9th

13. Post Office
Glencliff, NH: 03238
Eta: August 21st

14. Post Office
Monson, ME 04464
Eta: September 16th

prelude

2008-03-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

hello there, and welcome to our Appalachian Trail blog. first we'd like to share the cross-country trip we took from Seattle to Atlanta. here are some pics from the drive where we stopped with friends in Corvallis (thanks Ruth!), San Fran, Tucson, Amarillo, Fayetteville, AR (thanks Tom & Barb):

elizabeth and oregon

mt. shasta, north ca

north San Fran, from the bay bridge

showing us the ropes was....
....Aaaaahh-knew!....

.....and dios mio, its Tamara!

onto Tucson, home of the famous Saguaro N.P.

and the world renown....
...Bob!! - who runs the joint.

this one's for you Julie:
Dance your cares away,
Worry's for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at ??????? ????!
(have to look closely?)
thanks again nick, julie & bob

the grand canyon.....
....of Texas?
palo dura canyon

camped for a night and onto oklahoma.

oh look...

...its...

and

and

and
finally back to Conyers, GA
time to unload for the next post....

!Down at Fraggle Rock...if you didn't get it!