LIVE from Monson, ME!

The view from the backside of Katahdin.

I write to you from the Lakeshore House Hostel in Monson, Maine - 114.5 miles into my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. This place is sweet - internet access, a real bed, tacos. I'm halfway through a half gallon of strawberry ice cream as I write this post. I'm going to try to stay awake long enough to write a decent post; my sleeping schedule has altered quite a bit, to say the least.

I'll start from the beginning: All went well with the ascent of Katahdin - EDokk and I cruised up and down without much drama.In fact, due to the lack of a pack and the addition of adrenaline, it has been the easiest summit so far. We got up there on a great weather day, as you can see from the picture above (as you'll begin to notice, I'm really enjoying the panoramic setting on my camera - I just feel like I'm not really capturing the whole setting if I'm not using it.) Anyway, for a non-panoramic photo, here's EDokk and I at the top.

Thanks E, wouldn't have been the same without you.

So here's what an average day looks like so far (and probably won't change too much for the rest of the trip.) I wake up between 4-6AM, eat, hike until about 4-6PM, eat, then go to bed around 7 or 8. There's not a whole lot else to think about other than how far to walk. So far, I've been going between 10 and 18 miles per day - depending on elevation and soreness levels. I've found that I feel every mile that I hike - I can't just "cruise through" a three mile section of the trail. When you're hiking over mountains (sometimes four consecutively) the going is slow, and it might take over two hours to hike a single mile.

I should mention that I haven't been hiking alone. After hiking down Katahdin I ran into a bunch of guys that are heading down to Georgia too. There's "Frog Morton" and "Moose Head" from Tennessee, "Smooth Sailing" from Georgia, and then "Aussie" from down under, as you probably could have guessed. These are their trail names, which have been given based on something that happened on the trail or some distinct quality about them.

My trail name was "Cotton" for a little while, due to the cotton socks I wore for the first few days which gave me huge blisters. That was before the group realized my incredible penchant for wiping out. I've slipped on more roots, rocks, logs, and mud pits on the trail than I have in my entire life. I once took my boots off to ford a river, then slipped on a rock and ate it - soaking everything I had on me. Another time I slipped backwards off a log at a swimming hole and landed directly in the center of a ring of sharp rocks. An inch either way and my trip would have ended with a cracked skull or back, but thankfully I walked away with a little cut on my foot. For instances like these I have been dubbed "9 Lives" - and I'm probably down to 6 at this point for the rest of the trail.

We've dubbed ourselves "Team Summercamp" due to the camplike structure we have right now - the more experienced hiker "Smooth Sailing" is our camp counselor. I'll have to break off from the group when Kristen comes to hike with me in 9 days, but for now we're just hanging out and having a great time.

9 Lives, Smooth Sailing, Moose Head, Frog Morton, and Aussie.

Here comes the most tragic part of the trip so far. Maybe four days ago we were walking together in a group when Frog turns around and yells "MOOSE!" I had been waiting for this since the first day I thought about walking the trail. I looked up and saw a bull moose just standing there, thirty feet in front of me on the trail. It was awesome. I didn't freeze. Instead, I looked down to take out my camera, tripped on a root, and crashed to the ground. The moose ran away before I even got up. Photo opportunity ruined. Still plenty of Maine left, I guess.

I'm exhausted so I'll leave you with a few choice photos.

Here's your generic looking into the sunset shot.

A shot from the top of the fire tower on Barren Mountain. I carved my initials into an old piece of wood at the top.

And lastly, a sign you won't find in any restaurant. I crushed a 1 lb burger.

My group wants to take a zero day (no hiking) in Monson tomorrow, but I might push on ahead. It all depends on my feet/knee conditions. I'm excited for Kristen to join me in just over a week! Once again, i'll talk to you all again when I get the opportunity. Until then, thanks for reading and God Bless!