This is it! Our final three days on the trail were filled with two days of thunderstorms, so we were hiking shelter to shelter at night so we could sleep out of the rain. We finished out GA and our thru-hike with our friends Cucumber and Hummingbird, a father/daughter duo from Michigan. Not only was this shelter super enclosed, which helped us stay dry, but it was also a double decker so it helped us stay warmer too! We ditched…
I think we were honestly in shock when we reached state #13 – North Carolina. We still had a ways to go, but nothing compared to the distance we had already hiked. The majority of this section traveled right down the border between NC and TN. The Roan Highlands are just absolutely amazing. This picture reminds of the Lion King for some reason (so Shawn would be..Simba??) Did we mention it was dry? This is Waterboy trying to salvage a…
When we finally reached the end of Virginia, we arrived to State #12: Tennessee. We were there for three days before reaching the section of the Trail that follows the Tennessee/North Carolina border. The pictures in this post are from those first three Tennessee-only days. This is one of the Trail’s original shelters that should only be used now in case of an emergency, but it’s so cute and tiny! Trail maintainers are the best. If you can’t move the…
An entire quarter of the Appalachian Trail runs through Virginia. We entered the state on October 13th and completed the section on November 10th. Below are nine million pictures from our 554 miles there! This picture is a 100% illusion…I was NOT feeling like a lover at this point in time. Our first night in VA was spent at the Bear’s Den Hostel, where they had a $30/person deal for one night’s stay, a shower, laundry, a frozen pizza, a…
I know, I know — I should have written this post a longgg time ago. And I’m sorry! Everyone has been asking when I would post the next “blog update” and the more time that went by after we returned home, the sillier it seemed that I would write something up about summiting Springer. It has been 55 days since we flew out of Atlanta and landed back home in New York. Fifty five nights of sleeping inside, in a bed,…
In case if any of you live under a rock (pun intended and will be understood as you read on), the title above is quoted from “The Dark Knight.” Additionally, if any of you do not know that movie then I would advise you to stop reading this immediately and go watch the movie, after all it is about the single best superhero there ever was: Batman! So by now, since I referenced a Batman movie instead of Harry Potter…
It’s been two weeks since we returned to the Trail after our six-days off at home. We were glad to get back out and continue on our adventure, but we could have never guessed what was in store for us in the next 250 miles. On several occasions since we started our thru-hike, we have talked about how fortunate we’ve been throughout our entire hike. We’ve both been happy, healthy, and lucky in seemingly every circumstance and we feel so…
At first, the idea of fitting our lives into two bags that we’d carry on our backs for five months seemed crazy. I think back to the original list of what we thought we’d bring and laugh at some of the items that we included. Now, packing (and unpacking) our bags just seems natural. After almost two months on the Trail, we have what goes in and where it all goes down to a system. What you carry, and even…
Ever since we arrived in New Hampshire, Shawn has been singing “Oh, New Hampshire!” to the tune of “Oh Susanna, don’t you cry for me”. His version of the song is actually pretty catchy, and I think it’s needless to say that we are happy to be here! When we last left you, we had one day left in Maine- the Mahoosuc Notch. This is a notorious mile filled with giant boulders that are seemingly tossed into a crevice between two mountains….
The Appalachian Trail is 2,189 miles long and runs through 14 different states. Each year the mileage is a little different, depending on reroutes and changes to the trail. With 281 miles, Maine is the third largest state on the Trail and is described by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (aka the ATC, the main organization supporting the Trail) as being the “most challenging, rugged, and remote state” on the Trail. When we were in 100 Mile Wilderness people kept saying…