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…
We did it! We successfully completed the first hard section of the Trail – the 100 Mile Wilderness. Last Friday, we hiked nine miles from the bottom of Mt Katahdin through Baxter State Park. It was an easy, gorgeous walk with some amazing views (we were thinking “Wow! This is great, we can totally do this for 2,175 more miles!”). “Little Niagara Falls” in Baxter State Park After leaving the park and grabbing a last real meal at the restaurant…
We have officially begun our southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail! Shawn and I have been talking about hiking the Trail for a long time. Back at Christmas, I put “Books about the Appalachian Trail?” on my wishlist. In February, when friends asked me what my next adventure was I sheepishly whispered “We’re thinking about hiking the AT this summer.” However, the idea really started to gain momentum when Shawn accepted a position with the Army JAG back in March….