5 States – One Blog Post …because I owe you.

 New Jersey

The one thing every thru-hiker hears about New Jersey before arriving is its abundance of bears. Apparently there is a bear every square mile along the New Jersey section of the A.T. By the time we get there every hiker knows three key points of proper bear encounter conduct.

1.     The worst possible combination of bears to encounter is a mother and her cub – mothers will kill to protect their young.

2.     NEVER startle a bear (make enough noise that they know you’re coming first).

3.     DO NOT travel alone in New Jersey.

So I cross the border – extremely excited to be out of New York. The past couple weeks have been rough after the torrential rains from Irene and Lee have turned hiking into a nightmare, and for some reason I thought that crossing an imaginary border line would bring about positive change in this regard. With an upbeat attitude I strode confidently into the rocky New Jersey terrain. Sixty seconds later I was frozen solid as a mother black bear and her cub stalked fifteen feet to my right – completely oblivious to my presence. They had come out of a group of bushes, not giving me time to alert them of my presence. I held my breath, not twitching as dozens of bloodthirsty mosquitoes ripped into my arms, neck, and face. Better to lose an ounce of blood than all of it. A minute later and the bears had passed out of range (I have not since seen one). Unfortunately my experiences with mosquitoes were far from over. New Jersey is filled with the most ravenous, aggressive mosquitoes I have ever met. DEET does not deter them. We (my buddy Framework and I) would hike twenty-something miles without stopping, grab water from a stream, set up our tents, eat, and go to sleep. There was simply no way to exist in the same world as these minions.

Pennsylvania

A while ago I posted a picture of a stick bug and someone eating a sandwich. Yes, the connection was that someone ate a stick bug. It was awesome. One of the funniest things I have seen happen on the trail. It had a roomful of twenty-something-year-old hikers jumping around like a group of girls at a Justin Beiber concert.

While in PA I went to the world’s largest Cabela’s, dined at a restaurant in my long underwear (Framework donned an elegant towel – our stuff was in the laundry), lost a pair of shoes to the sharp rocks/an out of control bonfire, and passed through more cornfields than I care to remember. PA is also the state in which I met the current group of guys that I am hiking with – so it will always be dear in my heart.

Maryland

I wore a Yankees hat on the last day of the MLB regular season. The Red Sox lost. The Yankees blew a 7-0 lead to the Rays, eliminating the Red Sox from the playoffs. I burnt the Yankees hat.

West Virginia

We had planned this for weeks – our entrance into West Virginia was going to be special – epic, even. The night before we went through the lyrics over and over – Roarshach plucked along on his Ukelele. So on September 30^th, 2011, six men crossed the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border – belting out the only song that would have been appropriate – Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver. I had verse two. What we didn’t know was that directly on the other side of the bridge was a school group on an historical field trip. Well, they got a little more than they bargained for, and as our song came to a conclusion we were not without our share of fans – or fan, rather – as one lonely child out of all the confused field trippers ventured a painfully slow clap that will remain in my mind forever. We never performed again.

WV is the mental “halfway point”, although the actual mark is a hundred miles or so north of Harper’s Ferry. All of us attempted and completed the “half gallon challenge” which saw us each devour a half gallon of ice cream. We then had our picture taken for the picture book in the ATC headquarters, which keeps track of  how many thru-hikers have made it that far. I was SOBO number 79. At the time 800 NOBO’S had already passed through. By my mathematical calculations that means there are about 10% as many NOBO’s as SOBO’s out there this year. No wonder the SOBO completion rate is so low.

Virginia

Big state. Big mountains. Big views. With 550 miles of Appalachian trail running through it, Virginia is by far the largest state I will pass through. Completing Virginia alone means you have finished over a quarter of the entire AT.  Virginia is a state blessed with amazing views, and the Shenandoahs have easily been one of my favorite sections. The cooler weather has finally arrived, which makes for great hiking – although recently it has been so cold that the rain has turned to sleet/freezing rain. At these times all I can do is put my headphones on and listen to my iPod. Thankfully, Kristen recently updated the songs on it, so I can listen to great hiking hits such as “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus and “We’re All In This Together” by High School Musical. All joking aside, The Climb” is actually a perfect song to think about while hiking…

”There’s always gonna be another mountain” – check.

“I’m always gonna wanna make it move” – yes.

“There’s always gonna be an uphill battle” – you bet.

“Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose” – well…hopefully not, but you get the picture by now. It’s the most topical song I own (was given – thanks K).

On a side note, the best song rhythm-wise for my stride? - “Miami” by Will Smith. Who knew?

I have 615 miles left. Six-one-five. It doesn’t seem like much, but with less than a month to finish, it’s going to be one wild ride. Which reminds me, I’ve been told that there are wild horses in southern VA, just miles away from here. Maybe I’ll try to tame and ride one…

And lastly…one more entry of  THINGS THAT MAKE ME SHAKE MY HEAD ON THE AT…

-                   ----People that go to campgrounds and buy bags of sticks at the camp store. They’re sticks, just like the ones you find on the ground. If this is some sort of rising market that has somehow avoided the recent economic turmoil – count me in… I can sell sticks. I can be that guy.

Thanks for reading, and until next time…God Bless!

1330 down, 850 to go...

It's been a while, I know. I apologize. I also apologize for the lack of photos in this post. I haven't been able to successfully transfer any of my pics from my camera to a computer in weeks. I have all my photos and continue to take them, I just can't share them until I figure this out.

As you can see in the title, I've been making some good progress. This is mostly thanks to the beautifully maintained trails in the Shenandoah National Park, which have been like candy to my feet and have allowed me to walk 150 miles in the last six days. There's still a loooong way to go, but I feel like I'm in a groove now - and unless something unexpected happens, I should be able to make good time the rest of the way. It's getting colder now, and harder to get out of my sleeping bag in the morning. The cool weather is perfect for hiking, and the weather in general has been stellar, giving me spectacular views from the tops of the Shenandoah peaks. The cold weather has also aided my cause in the bug department. The mosquitoes are almost non-existent, allowing me to ship my tent home and rely solely on shelters for sleeping. This is a bit of a risky move, but it will allow me to move faster and carry more food (-: Also, the spider webs, a.k.a. "invisible walls" have diminished greatly, which is a bigger deal than you might think. There were times in the mid-atlantic when I would literally have to stop and peel spiderwebs - along with the distraught web-makers - off of my face and neck. The trekking poles help - I look like a lunatic waving my poles in the air as I walk - but nothing really protects you from something you can't see until it hits you. I've never felt happier to see perfect strangers walking towards me in the woods, because I know that however far they've hiked is now free and clear of webs. The taller they are the better. I've actually thanked and high-fived hikers (they're as happy as I am) before moving on.

I've benefited from the hospitality of many friends and family along the way. Last week I got picked up by my aunt and uncle in Frederick, MD and was treated (along with hiking-buddy Framework) to a smorgasbord of amazing foods every meal. I'm currently at the house of friends Seth and Cari McCormick in Waynesboro, Virginia. I brought another hiking buddy, RightClick, with me this time, and we've had fun going out to eat with these guys and getting much needed rest at their wonderful home. Seth told us today that he's going to hike with us today and tomorrow! Today's hike will be short as we're carrying way too much food, but we hope to cover 20+ miles tomorrow before cranking into high gear again for another push towards Georgia.

I appreciate all the prayers and help from various friends and family, and continue to be thankful for all the blessings I have received along the way. I continue to hike, and until next time - God Bless!

Mini Update from Duncannon, PA

I am no longer alone in the least. I recently caught up to a bubble of southbounders that rolled into Duncannon together. Last night we filled up the Doyle Hotel, a hundred year-old hotel that is definitely showing its age. We stuffed a double room with five guys last night which made the price an astounding $11 per person. Walking alone has its benefits, but I'm having a blast with this crew - when I have more time I'll be able to share some absolutely outrageous stories. I've caught up with some of my original buddies from the beginning of the trip, Moose and Easy - five weeks later. My pace, though slowed a bit by the recent festivities (We are calling this assemblage of SOBO's in Duncannon "SOBO Palooza 2011"), has remained steady enough that I should be able to make my goal of finishing the trail before Thanksgiving. If I have to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant...I don't know what I'd do - but that's not going to happen!

A typical shuttle to the grocery store. (From left: Easy, Denim Chicken, Framework, Rorschach, and Moose)

I have so many stories to tell, but there are people waiting to use the computer at this library that is only open twice a week for a couple hours. I will write a much more substantial update when I get to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Frederick, MD in six or so days! For now, I will leave you with these two pictures (they are related - connect them as you see fit!) Just a teaser for the longer post to come!

A stickbug.

  

Phenix eating a sandwich.

God bless!
-9 Lives

Floods, Snakes, and James Earl Jones

I am officially out of New England. I'm hanging out with my cousin Paul, his wife Wendy, and their kids - Rebekah and Justin. I'm taking an official "zero day" today - swimming in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and even hitting Texas Road House for a Texas sized lunch! Life doesn't get much better than this. After wading through the remnants of the Irene/Lee tropical tag-team for the past two weeks, this break was well deserved - if I do say so myself. A fire in the fire pit is still on the docket for tonight and I can't overlook another night in a comfy bed (I pulled into town last night). Three nights ago I didn't think I was going to make it. I was stuck in a downpour at night when my headlamp died. After using my cellphone to fix it (receiving a text in the process saying I had picked Peyton Manning in a fantasy football auto-draft), I finally started moving again only to slip on a rock and fall into a mud puddle. Picking myself up, I took a few steps and jumped from a ledge onto a pile of leaves. It was in every way a safe landing, other than the fact that underneath the pile of leaves was a nest of rattlesnakes. They shot out one direction and I in the other, none of us in the mood for a confrontation, luckily.

For the most part I've spent the last few weeks alone. There are almost no northbound thru-hikers left, at this point they probably couldn't make it to Katahdin before the cold weather rolls in. Every once in a while I'll run into another southbounder, but hiking speeds vary and I rarely see them for more than a day. By myself, in the rain, with no views or mountains to see them on - you might think I'd be losing my drive right about now. Fortunately, I have been blessed with a flow of animal encounters that have made the hiking well worth my while. In southern Massachusetts I ran into a bunch of beavers and almost stepped on a porcupine on the same day within twenty minutes of each other! I have videos of both, which I will try to post in the near future (been having some picture/video posting problems which has tempted me to move the blog to another site). Connecticut and New York have been full of White-tailed deer sightings - I've probably seen forty or fifty in the two states combined. I unknowingly came up behind one and scared it pretty badly - OK, we both jumped, but at least I didn't scream (yeah, deer scream, they sound like velociraptors from Jurassic Park). I don't think that deer get the proper respect or admiration that they deserve. I'm not ashamed to say that from a young age the deer has been one of my favorite animals. If you think about it, how many large animals do you see literally launching themselves through the air on a regular basis? Unless you count Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch, or are in Australia, I'm guessing not many. You hunters out there are thinking, "Yeah, but they taste real good." Maybe, but so does beef, and last time I checked, they aren't doing anything cool. And I don't have any pictures of the deer I've seen, because they're way too fast...

No, I didn't personally meet James Earl Jones. But I almost kind of did, in some sense. By walking through Pawling, NY, I walked the same streets JEJ walks every day (assuming he's an avid walker). A couple hikers just ahead of me met him in the post office - unfortunately I wasn't expecting any packages there so I didn't go in. This made me think about what I would do if I met him personally (you'd be amazed at the things I think about after eight hours of walking). I finally decided that I would have to ask him if I could record him saying, "Remember who you are!" from his voiceover work in the Lion King. Then I realized I haven't really seen too many JEJ movies. I could only think of Star Wars, the Lion King, and Field of Dreams. I know he's been around a long time and has done a lot of work (according to IMDB, since 1963 he's worked on 179 films). How did I forget the Sandlot? Or the Hunt for Red October? Anyway, this makes for a great poll question: Outside of the already mentioned films, how many JEJ films can you name off the top of your head (we're on the honor system here). You have just experienced an example of a thought tangent that frequently accompanies my walk. This might have been the most "normal" of them all...

Here are some pictures (hopefully movies coming soon...)



Did you know that THIS is at the top of Mount Graylock???



At a zoo, but still...regal.

 

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Walt Whitman and I sharing a view.

Thanks for reading, and more to come soon! God Bless!

Hurricane Post!

Today I spend my first (official) zero day on the trail in the town of Bennington, VT. Obviously the rain alone of Hurricane Irene has made the rivers and streams of the forests impassible. I am blessed to be able to spend the duration of the storm in the home of Glenda, a friend of my friends Matt and Aislinn. She cooked up a huge breakfast for me this morning and has graciously opened her house up to me. This came at a perfect time for me as I have been losing a  lot of weight recently. It's so hard to keep weight up on the trail. When you walk twenty miles a day with a pack over mountains, you really can't eat enough. I end up atoning for on-trail weight loss by eating as much as possible at restaurants in every town I pass through. I know it's time to head into town when I can look down and see ribs I never knew were there before. 

Since I have almost completed the AT section of Vermont (15 miles left till the Mass. border), I guess I'll give a short recap of the past week.

Immediately upon entering Vermont on the first day I walked by a man bathing the pond outside his house, completely nude. This wasn't a backwoods location, but centrally located on a public town road. I thought "OK" and kept walking. The next day I was walking (in the woods this time) and a man walked toward me in the northbound direction. We both plodded past each other, exchanged "How's it going?"s and continued on. Two or three steps later it hit me that he was completely naked, and was holding a pair of shorts in front of his "upper thigh region". By the time I recovered enough to ask him if he was OK he had already disappeared into the foliage. At this time I was about to go onto a side trail that led to a shelter about a hundred yards into the woods to take a lunch break. There were loud noises and uproarious laughter emanating from the direction of the shelter. I stopped, thought about it for a second, decided I really wasn't all that hungry yet, and left the possible origin of the naked man's nudity behind me. 

I had a big day planned for Thursday. I was going to get up early, hike ten miles into Manchester Center, eat a cheeseburger, resupply, get out of town as soon as possible, and hike ten more miles to put me in good position to be in Bennington for the weekend - all by 8PM. The first part of the day went flawlessly: I made great time over a couple mountains and hitched into MC by 12:30PM. I had an angus cheeseburger (This is for you Uncle Alan and Aunt Nancy!), had two ice cream cones at MacDonald's (VERY underrated for their ice cream, $1.25 total for two cones!), resupplied at Price Chopper, and prepared to hitch out of town when a guy comes up to me and offers me a ride. I gratefully accepted and jumped in his truck. Another tiny elderly man, either his father or father-in-law was in the passenger seat and I was in the extended cab seat. This is the conversation that followed from Price Chopper to the trail head, edited for appropriateness of course.

Driver: You don't have a piano wire with you do you? 

(All three occupants laugh)

Me: No, left it at home.

Old Guy: By the time he got that thing around my neck I would have shot his head off.

(All three laughing, as I peak around the seat to see if he's actually packing heat - he's not, as far as I can tell) 

Driver: Where should we put this one, in the back yard with the other hikers?

(Front-seaters laughing heartily, I chuckle along as I start thinking about which pocket I left my knife in)

Old-guy: We're starting to run out of grave space, you know.

(front seaters continue along this line of conversation as I remember I left my knife in my backpack - which is in the bed of the truck)

Old-guy: You know, I'm an avid hunter.

Me (trying to keep things light): Well, I have a bright orange rainjacket, so don't shoot me out there.

Old-guy: I shoot anything that moves that I can eat.

(I spend the rest of the trip with my hand on the door handle - prepared to jump at any time.

Now obviously nothing happened, and they weren't being serious. But if you ever pick up a hitch hiker (which you shouldn't unless he's a 6-2 hiker with a reddish beard and dashing good looks), don't bring up any of the stereotypes of disastrous hitches or any possible negative occurrences while he or she is in the car. It was the most uncomfortable car ride of my life. I wish I could say that the day got better from there, but I can't. By 10:30 that night I was stuck in a bog at the bottom of a mountain and my headlamp went out. I had batteries in my backpack, but it took an hour for me to find my cellphone to find the batteries, to figure out how to open the headlamp, and get the batteries in the right way. Then I had to hike a few more hours.

This all sounds so negative, but this only made up one day of my time in Vermont which I have otherwise totally enjoyed. Whether it's walking out of the woods into the middle of a cow farm, or passing by farm stands between mountains, it has been a great state. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. 

A typical mountaintop field.

The largest, furriest caterpillar I have ever seen!

They're really getting creative now...

A pig at a farm that I actually got to stay at for a night!

Farm stand where I ate a strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Me and Phyllis. She was not pleased to be there.

The AT runs along with the LT for about 100 miles - this is for you D. Moore.

Sunset from the top of the Glastonbury fire tower.

I was there, too.

Thanks for reading, God Bless, and I hope everyone stays safe in the storm!

Belated Pictures, Movies, and So Long New Hampshire!

Other than finishing the state of New Hampshire (in 14 days for those who were wondering), not a ton has happened that I would declare as newsworthy, so I figured I'd put up all the pictures that help tell the tale of the past 14 days. Starting with an epic animal encounter...

Yes, there she is. The full "discovery" film can be found on Facebook.

As usual in the Whites - no views.

The "Ice Cream Man" - with brother and creepy cat doll.

Sometimes it's all about the air flow.

I walked out of the Whites and into a field of wildflowers - a great welcome into kinder terrain.

 

 

The AT, where mountains become "mountains".

So, in summation. I ran into a moose, I ran into a week and a half of bad weather, I ran into a man who was giving away free ice cream, and finally I hit easier terrain. I'll be putting up a video on facebook from the last White mountain, Mt. Moosilauke. I went up there during a bad storm and got knocked around by winds that I estimate were close to 100mph. Don't forget to vote on the VT poll! God Bless!

At a Truckstop Diner Just Outside of Lincoln...

Fine, I'm actually in the Lincoln, NH public library, but I couldn't decide on a title that summed up the last week because there were far too many to choose from, so I just went with a line from a country song. I guess I could have referred to the hiking of Mt. Washington and the Presidentials, or the unexpected run-in with forest wildlife that I can't tell you about yet because I can't download pictures or movies for some reason! So basically this is going to be a very boring check-in. In fact, if you want to stop reading because there are no pictures, please feel free - I would if I were you. I'm paying $4/hr to use this computer, and over half of that has been spent trying to post pictures and movies on the blog and on youtube, but apparently this computer isn't set up for that. So safe to say this will be short.

I have approximately twenty miles left of the White Mountains, which would be a sad thing had I enjoyed any views whatsoever. For the most part my summits have been clothed in fog and rain, and the only good pictures I was able to take (other than of said wildlife encounter) was going up and down Mount Washington. For some reason it was one of the easier mountains for me to climb - I may have been somewhat fueled by the promise of food at the top (not something that usually happens while reaching a summit). While the climb was awesome, the Disney World-esque frenzy at the top put me in a daze. I sat down at the cafeteria with my heaping tray of food and watched as families piled off of the train, rushed through the museum, plowed through the food line, bought matching t-shirts at the gift shop, yelled at each other, took pictures with the summit sign, then jumped back on the train for the thirty minute ride to the parking lot. An actual fight broke out between a mother and daughter at my table, which finally convinced me I had stayed too long. It was such a weird concept for me to understand in light of my hike - I was just so happy to have made it to the top and to be there that I couldn't understand why these people weren't amazed at where they were. I know some people's only chance of seeing that kind of view is taking a car or train to the top, but I almost wish it wasn't there - any of it. I probably wouldn't have said this before I became a "hiker", but if you don't earn it I guess you can't enjoy it. For me it will remain a blur of noise and activity in an otherwise mostly serene and beautiful journey. 

Just went past 1 hr, so I guess this means I might as well use up the next half hour that I'm already paying for anyway. As I said earlier, only twenty miles left in the Whites. My knees need to get out, that's for sure. Sometimes it takes me a full minute in the morning to go from crouching at the entrance of my tent to a full standing position. Another benefit of getting out of NH and into VT is that the climbs get easier - or so I'm told - and thus I can finally start to rack up more miles per day. Then when I get to Massachusetts I can really start to crank it up. I've been averaging maybe 13 or so miles per day over the Whites, so hopefully I can get into the 20's with no ginormous rock faces to scramble up and then fall down. Ok, I'm going to use my last ten minutes or so on the internet doing something other than writing. If you've read all the way through, thank you and God Bless! And don't forget to vote on the new poll at the top! And last second shout outs to my parents for sending my supplies to different towns along the way, and to the folks at the White Mountains Hostel for sending me my journal, Bible, and Guidebook that I had left behind! Ok, I really need to stop writing now...