Rocks

Blog

We left 501 shelter with the goal of getting to a road crossing 9.8 miles away before 11:30am to met up with my (LEGO's) two sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. We saw them drive up as we walked into the pull-off. What great timing. They took us to a grocery store and to a combined A&W and Long John Silvers. It was so nice to see family members again even if only for a few hours. They dropped us back off and then we finished the day with another 5.9 miles to Eagles Nest Shelter. This was also the first day in five days that the temperature and humidity was reasonable and not out of control. At the shelter we met a very nice section hiker named John (didn't catch the last name) who had just recently learned about the trail and was out on his first overnight hike. It was really cool talking with him. Good luck on future hikes John, if you're reading this.

On the 3rd, we woke up to much cooler weather (maybe high 50s) which was a nice surprise. Early on in to the day we hiked through the small town of Port Clinton, PA which we were hoping would have denatured alcohol for our stove. They didn't but about a mile down a four lane highway was a Walmart so Redwood hanged tight with the packs while I (LEGO) walked the extra 1.8 miles there and back (Redwood is very thankful). Pennsylvania is known for it's rocks and today we started to see way. There were many short sections where you are walking across large boulders. So you can imagine after 23.8 miles to Eckville Shelter our feet were killing us.

The next day from the first minute to the last we were walking on rocks. It may not been the best idea to go 24.2 miles to George W. Outerbridge Shelter, but we did. The rocks came in many different forms but none felt great on the feet. Large boulder piles, small pointy rocks sticking out of the ground, medium sized loose stone on the trail, all of it was horrible. For a normal day, the terrain profile looked great but on rocks we move at half speed so this was a long and painful day.

Unfortunately the 5th was not much better than the pervious day. More rocks than we know what to do with. Because of poorly placed shelters we choose to go 16.7 to Leroy A. Smith Shelter rather than the 30.5 to the next one. We had the option to camp in between but water in PA is somewhat sparse and is mostly located at shelters so we often have little choice of where we stay. Have I mentioned that our feet really hurt and we hate these rocks and cannot wait to get to New Jersey (didn't think I'd ever say that in my life).

We had been warned that the trail continued to be rocky until the Delaware Water Gap and this made it very hard to leave the shelter this morning (June 6th). However knowing that we were heading to town was a big motivator especially since a friend of my (LEGO's) uncle and aunt's was going to pick us up and take us to his place for the night. The day actually started out okay. We made it about 13.8 miles in just over 5 hours which is an amazing accomplishment considering how many rocks there were--yet again. Somewhere along the way though, probably around 2 hours into the day, our feet starting hurting and haven't stopped completely even now 6 hours after we stopped hiking. To really make you understand how bad the rocks are and how much we hate them we'll say it again: we are so glad to get out of PA and into NJ. I bet it's actually quite pretty in PA but you can't enjoy any of the scenery because you have to look down at your feet all day to avoid the rocks (and by that I mean step on the least pointy looking ones because you can't avoid them all). And no matter what you do your feet will hurt anyway. We won't miss the rocks.

We stopped for lunch at that shelter then hiked the last 6.4 miles in the Delaware Water Gap. We only stopped there briefly (we're going back tomorrow) then walked across the I-80 bridge into NJ where we were picked up by Carmen at the visitor center. We stopped for a delicious Italian dinner and a food resupply then went back to Carmen's house in NJ to do laundry, shower, and spend the night before heading back to the trail tomorrow morning.

That's it for now.

LEGO & Redwood

Halfway Point

We must apologize for the length of time it has taken to get this update out. Neither of us has really blogged much before this so we aren't the best at being timely. Nevertheless, we hope it was worth the wait and we'll try to be faster next time.

For this post we thought we might talk for a while about our overall experience in Shenandoah National Park. Before leaving on this trip we had heard so many good things about the Shenandoah's and other hikers out here confirmed this. There are even rummurs that spread amoung the thru-hikers. Some of them include wonderful wildlife, lots of trail magic, tourists wanting your photograph, great veiws, blackberry milkshakes at every road crossing, and we were promised (by two people) that we would definitely see bears. Our experienced was nothing like this.

The weather does play a big part of how we feel but having five straight days of overcast foggy and rainy sky will effect ones spirt. The ironic thing was we had some sun the day we come into the park and then not again until we had walked about a mile out of the park. We had no trail magic, no road side milkshakes, no tourists, the fog covered every view, and most disappointing, NO BEARS. It was best summed up by a hiker when they said, "I came to the realization that Shenandoah is meant to be driven not hiked." Did we mention that the road can be heard from almost every mile of the trail.

The short list of things we liked about Shenandoah include the easy terrain and easy access for visitors. Our biggest highs were being picked up by my (LEGO's) uncle, aunt, and cousin and then two days later being visited by my sister and bother-in-law.

At the end of the Shenandoah's we lost our entire group we were hiking with because they needed to go into Front Royal, VA while we did not. However we hiked on with an older fellow named "One Gray Wolf" and we have since continued hiking together.

On the 20th, we started off with the roller coaster which are ten 400 foot climbs over 13 miles. They were not fun, they just physically and mentally drain you. Then we crossed over in to West Virginia for the first time and then even more excitingly we hit the 1,000 mile mark.

After being dropped of on skyline drive by my (LEGO's) extended family we covered these miles and stayed at these shelters for the past week:

1.2mi to Hightop Hut
12.4mi to Bearfence Mountain
22.4mi to Byrd Nest #3 Hut
17.5mi to Gravel Springs Hut
18.6mi to Jim & Molly Denton
18.4mi to Rod Hollow
21mi to David Lesser Memorial
8.7mi to Harpers Ferry, WV

The plan for leaving Harpers Ferry was to move on to the next shelter or if we are feeling good maybe the one after that. Surprisely we were feeling great and the second shelter was full so we end up going to the third shelter out of Harpers Ferry, Rock Run Shelter (24.7 miles total that day).

In Maryland the trail seemed to be much more gradual and wide enough for two. As billed we found it to be one of the easiest sections of the trail. We ended up spending about 2 days in Maryland and a bit of the morning of a third day. On May 23rd we crossed into Pennsylvania. We ended up hiking 19.8 miles this day. It was a very long, slow day. We ended up getting to the shelter that we wanted to stay at at about 6:30pm only to find it full. As a result we had to camp which wasn't ideal at the end of a long day.

The next day we only hiked 13 miles because we were going to meet LEGO's brother Greg. He got in late for us thru-hikers but everyone got out of bed for the pumpkin pie, cheese cake and beer. In the morning he cooked everyone breakfast burritos and fresh coffee. We headed out around 8am and after about 6 miles we made it to the halfway point of the trail at 1,090.5 miles. It felt pretty great to realize that after 10.5 weeks on the trail we were halfway done. After that we walked 3 more miles to Pine Grove Furnace State Park where we had planned to attempt the "half gallon challenge." The goal of the challenge is to eat an entire half gallon of ice cream. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the general store was closed so we didn't get to see if we could do it.

Greg met us at the park when we got there and drove us meet Jon's sister who drove us back to Ithaca, New York. We were heading home for my (Redwood) sister's graduation and for 2 days off the trail. After just passing the halfway point of the trail this was a good time to take a much needed break.

On May 28th we returned to Pine Grove Furnace State Park to continue our trek where we left off. We didn't arrive until 4:30pm so we only hiked 7.5 miles that day finishing just after 7pm at Tagg Run Shelter. Unfortunately, the group we had been hiking with is now completely broken and split up with some ahead of us and some behind. Or as Mammoth pit it: "the fellowship is broken." Hopefully, we can reunite sometime soon as we continue down the trail.

The next day we planned to hike 26.3 miles to get through the Cumberland Valley where you can't camp. This would have been our longest day but unfortunately, due to the heat and high humidity we weren't able to make it all the way. The terrain was pretty flat for a lot of the day but those of you who have exercised in high humidity know how it can sap every bit of energy out of you and that's exactly what happened to us. We were taking a break at an Appalachian Trail Conservancy storage area at about 7pm preparing to hike the last 4 miles to Darlington Shelter when the woman who was the caretaker for the buildings told us we could camp there if we were discrete about it. That's exactly what we did. She was very nice and also gave us sodas and her leftover salad from dinner. Staying there made our day as it would have been very difficult to hike another 4 miles that late on a very long, hot day. This day ended up being about 22 miles.

The next day we hiked 20 miles to Clark's Ferry Shelter passing through Duncannon, PA on the way. This day was also very hot and humid so we stopped in Duncannon for an hour or so to cool off. We each ended up eating 1.5 quarts of ice cream which made us both very full. It wasn't quite a half gallon but it wasn't too far off. After getting over feeling full and somewhat sick the ice cream fueled us up the final climb to the shelter.

On May 31st we started out planning to hike about 20 miles. We ended up walking the first 13 miles in about 4.5 hours despite the the continued heat and humidity. We stopped for lunch by a very nice stream and ended up spending 3 hours there. It was a perfect place to swim which was great on such a hot day. After swimming, relaxing, and cleaning some clothes we headed out at about 4pm. Instead of stopping at 20 miles like we had planned, we ended up going 24.7 miles to Rausch Shelter. The last several miles were really tough and seemed to take forever. It was a real challenge to keep walking. We finally made it, feet hurting badly, at 8:30pm. We ate dinner, hung our bear bag, and went right to sleep.

June 1st. Today we hiked 17.5 miles to 501 shelter. Most of the day was relatively uneventful except for a short thunderstorm that cooled us off briefly in the early afternoon only to be followed by more heat and humidity. When we got to the shelter we were greeted with leftover pizza that our trail friend "Hansel" and "Silver Fox" couldn't finish. Also already at the shelter was "Quiet Paul," a former thru-hiker who had served us a delicious trail magic breakfast back in North Carolina. He was out doing a south bound section hike. It was cool to see him again and he even treated us to dinner (you could order take out at this shelter because it's near a road). Two great meals from the same guy on two completely different sections of the trail. "Quiet Paul" is just a really nice, really great guy. Thanks again Paul, wherever you are. This great shelter also has a shower so we got take take showers and clean up as well. And to top everything off, two hikers that came in later just gave us there leftover pizza, chicken wings, and bread sticks. What a great day!

And that gets you up to date. Hopefully it won't be so long until the next update. Until then....

LEGO & Redwood

Shenandoah National Park

Nothing major happened on the 5th of May as we hiked the 18.6 miles out of Daleville to Bobblets Gap Shelter. The only thing worth mentioning is that we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first time and the shelter's privy looked and shelled very new.

May 6th. Today we hiked 18.4 miles to Cornelius Creek Shelter. This was a great day. We ended up scoring a four leaf clover in one day. A four leaf clover is a term we developed to describe getting trail magic four times. It started out when we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway. There an elderly man was waiting outside of his VW bus and giving out coffee and breakfast biscuits. Next we came across a cooler near another road crossing with sodas and various other snacks. Later that evening at the shelter, the aunt and uncle of our friend "The Colonel" showed up with two buckets of KfC looking for him. The Colonel had left about an hour before that so the two of us and our two other friends, "Enzed" and "Mammoth" shared the two full buckets which ended up being half a chicken each. We were just thinking how nice a soda would go with this meal when, Larry, a nice man who was camping at the shelter, brought us each a Dr. Pepper and a Yuengling lager. It was the perfect end to our wonderful day. A day that probably won't be topped, at least in terms of trail magic.

Nothing major happened on the 7th of May as we hiked the 19.8 miles into Glasgow VA. The only thing worth mentioning is that Redwood (Dave) and Enzed got confused and ended up hiking past the road that leads to Glasgow. However, they ended up asking a couple who were day hiking how to get to town and the couple ended up driving them in even though it was out of there way.

Leaving Glasgow seemed to be harder then we thought. The trail was only 5.9 miles out of town but it was Sunday and Mothers Day. After standing in the middle of this two street town for about an hour a pickup truck took five of us back to the trail head. It was 10:30am by the time we started hiking. We ended up doing 20.1 miles to Brown Mountain Creek Shelter. A late start and big miles only means one thing, a late finish. The last hour seemed to take forever because it was starting to get really dark. By 7:30pm we finally made it. The only interesting thing that happened was that a day hiker gave us a container of BBQ chicken, bread, and sodas about 1 mile from the shelter. We are really loving these random acts of kindness, and having two dinners.

On the 9th, we planned a shorter day of 15.8 to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter because of the unequal spacing of the shelters. The only challenging part of the day was the 2,885 foot climb out of the shelter. About 45 minutes in to the climb I (LEGO) realized that I dropped my snack bag. Not wanting to loose all of my snacks for that day or the handy bag that I found in a hiker box, I went back. Without a pack on you can move much faster. By the time I found the bag I was most of the way back to the shelter. I turned around and raced back to my pack that I had left on the side of the trail. This 4 mile detour would normally not be a problem but I still had to climb 2,000 feet less the 2 miles. What was supposed to be a short day ended up being quite long for me.

Later that night we came to the realization that it made more sense to hike 20.7 instead of the 14.5 that was planned. It was not the extra horizontal miles that scared us but the vertical feet. After 7.5 miles the following morning we were standing on the top The Priest Moutain and looked acrossed a vally towards Three Ridge Mountain. The only thing between them was a 3103 foot descent and a 3,016 foot climb. We were fairly surprised when we made it to to Maupin Field Shelter that this day did not take that much longer then any other 20 mile day we had previously done.

Wednesday makes it seven full days without a shower. In the hot and humid temperatures we have recently experienced you cam imagine the grime that has built up. After we made it to Paul C. Wolfe Shelter (15.8 miles), a shelter with a large creek as the water source, you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, we got wet. The water was ice cold and numbing but felt really nice afterwards.

We planned the next couple of days based around a visit from LEGO's uncle, aunt & cousin and then sister & Brother-in-Law. Because of this we decided to push on past Waynesboro, VA causing us to leave our group that we have been hiking with for over 500 miles. After 5 miles into the day we entered the Shenandoah National Park. This is exciting because we have heard so many different things about this section of the trail. However, the first part looked and felt no different then the last 100 miles. But after about 15 miles in the terrain started becoming significantly easier. It still went up and down but it was not as steep or as long as usual. When we reached Blackrock Hut we had covered 25 miles in 10 hours (this includes an hour lunch break). It took many snacks for us to make it all the way there but the day felt fairly good for both of us. This was a pleasant surprise after our longest day so far.

On Friday the 13th, we decided to get off the trail. Not really, but my (LEGO) uncle, aunt, and cousin from Virginia Beach, VA wanted to come out and see us. We planned to meet up on Skyline Drive at 4:30 so we tried to hike as far as possible which would shorten the miles for Saturday. We hit Skyline Drive at the meeting place just minutes before they did. It's really nice to see family, stay in a hotel, clean our clothing, take a shower, and do our best at eating through a Chili's and a local Diner. After resupplying and spending more time with the family on Saturday we'll hit the trail for an amazingly long 1.6 miles where hopefully we'll meet back up with our group of friends.

LEGO & Redwood

700 Miles

Everyday since leaving Pearisburg VA has felt the same. I'll explain, the day starts with a mile or so before climbing up 500 to 1500 feet. At the top we walk along a ridge that usually contains many large rocks that are hard on your feet. After traversing 4 to 10 miles we head back down. Then another few humps before starting all over again. In the past five days we have climb over 9 ridges.

After leaving Pearisburg we headed 19.2 miles to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. The cool thing about this day was that we saw 3 black bear cubs in the bushes at the top of a hill. We left quickly though and didn't see the mother which was a very good thing. On the May 1st we hiked 18.5 miles to Laurel Creek Shelter. From there we moved to Pickle Branch Shelter 22.5 miles down the trail. On the 3rd, we hiked 23 miles crossing 700 total miles and McAfee Knob (one of the most photographed spots) to Lamberts Meadow Shelter. And today we went a mere 9.3 miles into Daleville, VA where we resupplied once again and had Mexican for dinner. We are currently sharing a motel room with 6 people total.

LEGO & Redwood

Cruising in Virginia

Following an old trail hiking tradition we both took "trail names." LEGO for Jon and Redwood for Dave.

On April 21 we once again found it hard to leave a town but Damascus was especially difficult because we were there for two days. Just like every other town, we headed back into the mountains by going up 1000 ft in 2 miles. One cool thing from the day was that the AT followed the Virginia Creeper Trail for two short sections. The Creeper Trail is an old railroad bed that is one continuous slow climb as it follows a river. After 14.7 miles we called it quits and tented at Lost Mountain Shelter with 8 other thru-hikers and more then a half dozen weekenders.

On the morning of the 22nd, we woke up to "Cascade" playing his morning song "Eye of The Tiger" from the Rocky soundtrack. This got us in the mood to hike the 17 miles despite the low fog and high winds. The rain did come that day but it was fairly little and was on and off all day. The day started with a 1,400 ft climb to Whitetop Mointain. Next was a small dip and then up another 600 ft to the top of Mt Rogers (Virginia's highest point). After this point, most of the time we were hiking in grass fields with large rock protrusions in heavy fog. It was beautiful but disappointing because we knew there were views we were missing. Both of us were upset that when we entered the Garyson Highlands we did not see any of the wild ponies that live in the area. This was made worse when we found out that people before and after us had seen them. Wise Shelter was full with four other thru-hikers and four weekenders so we had to tent that night. After the weekenders finished their very luxurious meal, they offered it to all of us. Like true starving thru-hikers, we devoured the pork tenderloin and spiced oinon in just a few seconds.

In the morning, the very generous weekenders again offered us their breakfast scraps, breakfast burritos. After only a few miles of hiking all of yesterdays disappointments were made up for. Not only did we get to hike in beautiful fields with rocks and clear skies but we saw some ponies!!! The terrain for the rest of the day was very manigable. Since entering Virigina there has been ups and downs but with most gradual slopes and not nearly as high as in previous areas. In one of the gaps 7 miles later a section hiker was offering trail magic. There is almost nothing better then eatting a hamburger, two hotdogs, chips, several mini candy bars, half dozen cookies and a beer in about 15 minutes (This does not include what Dave ate). We hiked another 13 miles, making it exactly a 20 mile day when we reached Trimpi Shelter.

On Easter (March 24th), we woke up and were feeling especially good and flew the 10.6 miles to Partnership Shelter in just over 3 hours. Now Partnership is not your ordinary trail shelter. It has a shower and sink attached to the shelter. Also there is a visitor center within eye sight were you can have pizza delivered. So the night before we took pizza orders so the first people could make the call. It took 8 thru-hikers about 5 minutes to eat 4 large pizzas. Dave and I decided to wait for about a hour while we took showers and did some laundry. Surprisingly we still felt really good and made it to Chatfield Shelter in another 2.5 hours bringing the total trip mileage up to 525.2.

The next day we did the 4.5 miles to get into Atkins, VA in about one and a half hours. Once there we quickly resupplied at a gas station that is right on route 81. Then we moved across the street to a diner and grabbed a big breakfast. A few miles out of town we heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. We picked up our pace but we could not out run the storm on foot. For about 10 minutes it felt like we were in a wind tunnel with someone dumping buckets of water on us. Both Dave and I had to drag ourselves the last 2 miles of the 18.4 mile day to Knot Maul Shelter.

Leaving the shelter the next morning we had a few miles down before we hit the first major climb in several days. In 2 miles we went up 1,200 feet before hitting a grassy field and going up another 600 feet. From on top of Chestnut Knob we could see the 5 mile ridge we were to walk across. Dave was having a great second half of the day and beat everyone to Jenkins Shelter. Today's milage total was 19 miles.

Late last night several of the hikers decided to hike 11 miles hitch a ride into Bland, VA and then finish the day with another 13 miles to Jenny Knob Shelter. This would be our longest day. That's exactly what we did. As you may guess, the terrain is much more manageable in Virginia so doing larger miles just means hiking more hours. The first 11 where fairly uneventful. Hitching into town did take a little bit more time then normal but there where four of us and a dog. We knew it was going to rain but we were very lucky because it just started when we walked into the doors of the Dairy Queen. When we were at the DQ there was some hesitation of going back to the AT with the threats of high winds and thunderstorms bit once the rain had stopped we decided to not spend the night in town. After stuffing our faces at the DQ, we grabbed a few snacks from the adjoining gas station and then moved on to the Subway. We grabbed footlongs for dinner and then hitched back to the trail head. The first few miles were straight up to a ridge line. We traversed the ridge as quickly as possible as the wind picked up and black clouds moved in and out. Once again we were hit with a stroke of good luck because not one drop of rain fell until much later that night. Around midnight the lightning started and the whole sky was lit up like there was a strobe light. Heavy rains followed. Everyone in the shelter woke up and started taking pictures of the constant lightning flashes.

The sun was shining when we woke up on the 28th of March. The original plan was to hike to Wapiti Shelter, 14.2 miles away, then the hike the 6.4 miles in to Woods Hole Hostel the next day. After we were started hiking almost everyone independently thought we should just go all the way to the hostel that day. So that's what we did. The middle third was very easy because we followed a stream the entire way. The first and last thirds were still Virginia easy. My feet were not very happy because over the last two days I had developed four new blisters. We were making good time until what we thought was the last mile of the second 20 mile day in a row. When we go to the hostel we learned that there is an extra 1.6 miles that is not listed in any guide book. What horrible surprise!!! The hostel wasn't as nice as we thought it would be so we opted to pay for a cheaper campsite rather than beds in the bunkhouse.

On April 29th we hiked 10 miles into Pearisburg, VA, by far our shortest day since leaving Damascus. We shared a hotel room there with 4 other hikers making it a bit crowded with 6 total. We went to an all you can eat Chinese buffet for lunch then did laundry and resupplied. After a few other errands we went out for a great Mexican dinner and watched hockey.

First Zero

On the 12th, it was very hard to pull ourselves away from such a good place like Uncle Johnny's Hostel. Once we were moving the climb back into the mountains was not that bad. We made it to the first shelter fairly quickly but knew that we needed to move on. However this turned out to be a bad decision. As we climbed higher the temperatures dropped and the winds picked up. Before we knew it the rain started. This is were our luck of good weather from the last month ended. With the combination of being wet, the low temperatures, and the high winds made things very miserable. You could not ever walk fast enough to stay warm. Stopping to put on a rain coat did cut the wind but did little for warming up. At this point two fellow hikers (Cascade and Chainsaw) caught up to us and it did help mentally to know that we were not alone. To make things worse we had to climb another 1,200 ft and go another 4.3 miles before the Cherry Gap Shelter. At the top of the climb Cascade and I decided to started to jog to warm up. Dave's ankle was bothering him so he continued at a slower speed. The jogging did completely warm me up and we finished the last 3 miles in 45mins. To our surprise the 6 person shelter only had room for three more bumping the total up to 8. Cascade, me and Grandpa who we just passed on the trail. As quickly as posable I stripped off all of my wet clothing (which was everything) and put on all of my warm stuff. Dave rolled in about 50mins behind me however it was a great surprise when High Five and Enzed showed up about another 30mins later. I ended up giving my spot in the shelter to Enzed because there was no room for Dave and our tent needed to be set up anyway. Also she got her self dangerously cold and needed the warm shelter more then me. The day was truly one of our worst and it would be a huge understatement if I said it was difficult.

The next morning the sun popped out, of course. So we took all morning to have a fire and completely dried all of our clothing. We moved on to Cylde Smith Shelter just 9.2 miles down the trail. This was good for two reasons. First the next day we would have a large climb over Roan Mountain. Second Dave's ankle was still bothering him and my knee started to give me trouble.

So the original plan was to hike 14.3 miles to Overmountain Shelter (an old converted barn). The morning started with a couple hundred feet bumps before ascending 1,800 feet to the top of Roan Mountain. Despite being 6,285 feet high, Roan has no views so the only exciting part of reaching the top is the shelter there. The Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest on the entire AT and has four walls and a door (most shelters have only three walls). The next section of the trail was much more rewarding and enjoyable to hike because of a continuous bald that stretched over three little mountains. The views from there were much better. Later in the day we found a note from "Cascade" and "eNZed" telling us that there were going to Apple House Shelter which was almost 9 miles further than we had planned to go. After much debate we decided to push on as well because of the weather forecast (more rain). We finally arrived at the shelter around 7pm after 23 miles--our current longest day.

On the 15th we hiked a total of 18.9 miles for second straight long day and ended at Moreland Gap Shelter. The terrain was rolling with no big climbs. It was cloudy and pretty windy. The temperature was mid 50s. Nothing particularly exciting happened this day.

We woke up on April 16th to wind and rain. We made a mad dash to Kincora hostel only 6.1 miles away and spent the majority of the day there inside and dry. The hostel was run by Bob Peoples, one of the AT's biggest volunteers and a really nice guy. His hostel is run solely on donations (suggested donations is only 4 dollars per night) and provides free showers, laundry, and a shuttle into Elizabethton for dinner and resupply. We also received our first mail drop which included a bunch a goodies and a pair of sneakers for Jon.

The next day we left Kincora late because it's always hard to leave nice hostels. We started out moving pretty well. The trail followed a river for several miles before climbing steeply over Pond Flats Mountain. The climb wasn't really that bad until it got steep at the very end. We had lunch at Watauga Lake with some other hikers then continued on. From then on everything seemed to slow down and neither of us could move quickly even though the terrain wasn't particularly difficult. My ankle was hurting pretty bad and Jon got a new blister neither of which helped things. Somehow, despite being the last two to the shelter we managed to each get a spot in Vandeventer Shelter so we didn't have to set up our tent.

On the 18th we did another long day at 22.7 miles. The day was long but really pretty uneventful. None of the climbs were more than around 200 ft. My ankle was still hurting so it was a pretty slow day for me but Jon was drugged up on ibuprofen and was moving quickly. Once again we managed to get shelter spots despite being last in at about 7pm.


Anticipating reaching Damascus, VA we flew 10 miles in just 3 hours on the morning of the 19th. In the process we left TN for good and entered VA for the first time. Most of the rest of the day was spent relaxing and hanging out with other hikers. We went out for dinner and drinks in the evening and stayed at a somewhat sketchy hostel run by a church. There is really no caretaker so anyone can stay there so we didn't leave our stuff unattended.

Today (the 20th), we were a little more productive. It was our first day not hiking and we spent it doing laundry, resupplying, mailing home unused gear, and buying new boots for Dave. A good day off.

Next update in around 6 days give or take.

Jon & Dave

The Best Trail Magic Ever!!!

On April 7th after talking more with "Ewok" the south bound hiker who was finishing in Hot Springs we learned of some very valuable information: that there would be some excellent trail magic the next day at Allen Gap. He told us "don't eat breakfast" and that we would get it at the gap. So on April 8th we set out at about 8:30am and hiked the 4 miles to Allen Gap where we were greeted by a sign telling us to walk 350 yards down the state road and up a concrete driveway for a great 3 course meal. At the house two former thru-hikers, a very nice christian couple, treated us each to a Belgian waffle, a bowl of stew, a cup of hot cider, and our choice of 4 different desserts. It was amazing. They told us they moved to that location to help out thru-hikers and have served over 1,500 hikers over the past 7 years. After stuffing ourselves we had to hike another 11 miles, all uphill on a hot and humid day. Needless to say, it was tough but the extra calories helped. We finally made it to Jerry Cabin Shelter but it was the first time we thought that we might have missed it because it seemed to be a lot further than we thought it should be. That may have been simply because we were so tired.

At the shelter we met up with the group of people we had been hiking with for the last few days: "Cascade" (with his dog Sierra) "High Five," "Enzed" (from New Zealand), and "The Colonel." Were still hiking with them now.

April 9th was a lot like the day before: hot and humid. We hiked a pretty uneventful 14.7 miles. We did meet two fellow New Yorkers at the shelter at the end of the day but not much else really happened. The water source at Hogback Ridge Shelter is supposed to be 0.2 miles away but it really felt much more like 5 miles. It was a long walk at the end of the day.

April 10th started out as a great day. We planned to do 20.7 miles to get with 6 miles of Erwin, TN for a short hike the following day. After about 2 miles we came to Sam Gap where another former thru-hiker, "Quiet Paul," was serving massive plates of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and muffins. It was great! It's really amazing how much help people give to thru-hikers like us. Next we climbed about 8 miles up to Big-Bald which was a very beautiful big bald. We had lunch at the Big-Bald Shelter that was slightly under half way to our destination at 10.1 miles. The second 10+ miles was mostly downhill and a killer on our knees. We were exhausted but glad to be finished with this day. At 20.7 miles it is our longest so far.

Today was an easy 5.9 miles into Erwin, TN. It was mostly downhill but not bad at all. We checked into Uncle Johnny's Nolichucky Hostel where we shared a four person room with "Cascade" and "Enzed." We ate at an all you can eat pizza place with a delicious dessert pizza. We were both pretty stuffed. Later we resupplied at a Food Lion, and had a delicious, home cooked dinner with our friends.

We'll be in Damascus, VA in 6-8 days and about 120 miles. Next update should be around then. Until next time.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Well the 7 miles out of the NOC were not difficult but they were long. We were lucky because the forcast was for thunderstorms but no rain
fell during the day. Dave and I were the last two hikers to get into the 14 person shelter. That night the sky did let loose making it even better that we made it in the shelter.

The AT is not a race unless you want a spot in the shelter. On the 28th we raced the 15.2 miles to Cable Gap Shelter which only holds 6 which was significantly less than the night before. Both of us made it and got a spot in the shelter. The next day we descended close to 2000ft in 6 miles into Fontana Dam, NC. We took a quick resupply trip into the resort village so we could continue hiking and get into the Smoky Mountains. That night we were hit with a thunder storm and heavy rain. Luckily we stayed fairly dry in our tent.

On the morning of the 28th we woke up to fog and very little rain. With a couple more miles that morning we hit the unmarked border of Tennessee and North Carolina. This was slightly shocking to the both of us. Following the border, we hit some short climbs up to several balds. However we could not see anything as we were still hiking in a cloud. That night we packed 15 people in to a 12 person shelter. (in the smokies you must sleep in the shelter) The next day was very similar. Very little to see because of the fog and another packed shelter. One of our thru-hiker friends had the idea to wake up real early and hike up Clingmans Dome in the dark (highest point on the AT, 6,643 ft) to see the sunrise. So that's what we did. However that night the tempitures dropped below freezing and a winter storm moved in.

After reaching the top of Clingmans Dome we were greeted with a complete white out with 20 mph gusts of snow and wind. We rushed down to Newfound Gap and hitched in to Gatlinburg TN.

Gatlinburg is not a very nice city. It is a town that caters almost exclusively to tourists. The majority of the buildings are high rise hotels, resorts, and condos. There is even an aquarium. What, exactly, is an aquarium doing in the middle of the Smokey Mountains. Both of us and our trail friend Tim spent the night in the Grand Prix motel. The only place in Gatlinburg that caters to hikers. At $30 for a room it came out to just $10 per person. We had a late lunch at a bar and grill and the rest of our day in Gatlinburg was spent trying and failing to take the trolley across town to the grocery store. We finally made it there and back but the that should have taken about 1.5 hours ended up taking about 3.5 hours due to the crappy trolley system. And that was our day in Gatlinburg.

On April 2nd we hitched a ride back up to the trail at Newfound Gap. We hiked about 10 miles that day and it was without a doubt the best hiking day we've had so far. For most of the day we followed a ridge line at the top of the mountains, and for once, it was completely clear out. The views we had from the ridge line were amazing. We could see for miles and the surrounding hills and mountains were absolutely beautiful. It was just a great day. The following day was similar but the views were not quite as good. We walked about 13 miles in total and spent the night in yet another crowded shelter.

On April 4th we woke up early again in another attempt to catch a sunrise on top of a mountain. This time we were successful even though we left the shelter late and had to run flat out (after dropping our packs of course) for the last 0.6 miles to the mountain top tower. But after all that it was definitely worth it to see the sun come up over the hills and slowly light up the surrounding countryside. We made it out of the Smokies that same day after passing the only remaining shelter with a bear cage across the front. We dropped quite a bit in elevation and ended up spending that night at Standing Bear Farm Hostel to avoid the bad rain storm that was forecasted. The farm or hostel was a very strange and quirky place but the people running the place were nice enough and we even got to watch the NCAA men's basketball championship game. We also slept warm and dry that night while it rained hard outside.

On April 5th we left the hostel after a large and delicious breakfast and hiked about 15 miles to Roaring Fork Shelter. On the way we climbed over Max Patch, a giant bald on hilltop. It is a very popular spot on the AT and it was pretty spectacular but we didn't stay too long because is was extremely cold and windy. It would have been nicer on a warmer and sunnier day. We also ended up leaving behind pretty much the entire group we had been biking with. Hopefully they will catch up to us later.

On April 6th we hiked 19.1 miles into Hot Springs, NC. It was our longest day yet. With all the extra walking in town we probably walked over 20 miles in total. Despite the long day it really wasn't too strenuous. When we got to Hot Springs we stopped by the outfitter to get some stove fuel the had an enormous dinner at the local diner. Most of it was fried but it was great and we were both stuffed afterwards. Next we resupplied at a Dollar General and hiked down the trail to the river where we camped for the night.

On the 7th we hiked about 10 miles out of Hot Springs. Most of it was uphill. It was short compared to yesterday but a good easy day to help recover. We met Ewok who will be ending his flip flop thru-hike tomorrow in Hot Springs. It was pretty cool meeting someone on there last day of hiking. Some day we'll be there too but right now, more hiking.

Rain

On the 21st we left Hiawassee and hiked a heroic 4.4 miles to Plumorchard shelter. The next day was more exciting as we finally made it out of Georgia and into North Carolina. As a welcome, we had two really steep climbs totaling about 1,000 feet. It was pretty difficult and yet another wake up as to how hard the trail can be. North Carolina is no joke. That same night we spent the night on the top of Standing Indain Mountain at 5,498 feet. The view from the top was great but the sunset that evening was even better. Neither of our point and shoot cameras could do it justice. The next morning we woke up in a cloud and hiked down almost as far as we had come up the previous day. The visibility was bad for the first half of the day. At the bottom, the trail was very disorienting winding through the mountains. It ended up going south for a good distance. The day ended with a very technical half mile climb that was almost straight up in certain sections. It was tough at the end of the day but also a lot of fun. We hurried down from the top the last half mile because it started to rain and we spent the night in the shelter for the first time rather than in our tent.

The next morning we left the shelter at 8am and hiked 10 miles by 11:30am. I have no idea how we went that fast but we did. It was probably because we had decided the previous night that we wanted to get a ride into Framklin, NC to get pizza. Jon and I along with two other hikers that we have been hiking with easily caught a shuttle into town, got our much wanted pizza for lunch, and hitch hiked back to the trail. We hiked about 4 more miles to Siler Bald shelter where we spent a cold night. It got down to about 25 degrees and everything was covered with frost in the morning. After packing up our frozen gear and hearing the weather forecast we decided we would take a long day to try to avoid rain the following day. In the end we ended up going 18.5 miles for our longest day yet. The terrain was very up and down and the last 6 miles or so were exhausting but somehow we made it.

Yesterday, the 26th, we hiked the last 6 miles into the NOC, an outdoor and kayaking center in the middle of nowhere where we spent last night in a hostel. Despite our best efforts to avoid the rain it came early and we got pretty wet but we're dry today thanks to laundry services and we're ready to hike uphill for 7 straight miles--I think. We'll probably stay at a shelter at the 7 mile point and do a longer day tomorrow. We should be at Fontana Dam by Wednesday. Look for another update around then.

-Dave

Hiawassee, GA

On Friday we hit unusually warm weather as we made it to Low Gap Shelter. Dave's knee continued to give him trouble but lucky for us one of the other thru-hikers is a physical therapist and could stretch him out. The next day was partly cloudy keeping it cooler but we hit two 1000+ foot climbs to reach Tray Mt. Shelter. Sunday morning we woke up and flew down to Dick's Creek Gap covering 11.5mi in 4.5 hrs. We were greeted with some more trail magic making it five days in a row we have had some magic on the trail. We caught a ride into Hiawassee with the county attorney of all people. The ride in the back of his pickup was fast and cold. We resupplied and spent the night in a cheap motel. Today we had a delicious hot breakfast, picked up some odds and ends, and caught a ride back to the trail for a really really long 5 mile day of hiking. ;) We're planning on getting to Fontana Dam in about 6 days.
-Jon