Trail Magic - Delaware Water Gap

On my way to Palmerton, PA for the Spartan Sprint, I passed the Appalachian Trail at the Delaware Water Gap.  I decided that I would do some trail magic on the way home (Sept 11th), so Ashley and I stopped at Target, bought some Mountain Dew and Nutella and left it on the trail for the thru hikers.  It feels nice to "pay it forward," we were graced with trail magic several times, and it really brightens your day.  I hope the hikers enjoyed it. 

It was a really beautiful area, so we did a little photo shoot in a creek.  I'll be heading back there this weekend to take Alex on her first backpacking trip!

Day 32: Driving home!

Woke up, drank some coffee, Ellen and John went to work. Weighed ourselves, Chad lost 6 lbs, I lost 2. We helped ourselves to some hash browns, eggs, sausage, cherries and yogurt for breakfast, packed up our stuff and hit the road. We are on our way to Syracuse to Chad's parents' house to sort/clean our gear. Then I'm back to Buffalo tonight! excited to sleep in my own bed! Will post pics from camera soon (fb and some online album). Also, it is amazing/depressing that it takes 10 hours to hike 20 miles, and less than 20 minutes to drive 20 miles...

Day 31: Exit Plan and Culture Shock

Took a taxi from Peru, VT to Bennington, VT. As we stepped out of the van, saw our friend we met our first night, Johnny Walker, walking right past us! He had gotten off the trail for a few weeks and had just hopped back on! What a cooincidence! Chatted with him until Amy and Steve came to pick us up (thanks guys!). We had lunch with them and they took us to the train station in Poukeepsie, NY. We took the train to Grand Central Station. Walked through NYC with our packs, got some funny looks, or people just avoided eye contact with us...to Penn Station, where we took another train to Summit, NJ. Ellen picked us up there and took us to their house (where the deHavillands so kindly let me keep my car for a month) and we spent the night.

Day 30: our last day on the trail :(

we woke up in a cloud because we were in the mountains, and got an early start to the day (7 of us on the trail by 8...well 8:14). It was a 6 mile hike to the road which takes you into town. we started hiking with everybody, because we had a silly plan: whenever we passed by another hiker, Jack Rabbit would play "Chariots of Fire" on his iPod and we would all hike dramatically in slow motion past them. To add to the awkwardness, Larb and Handstand didn't wear pants. Good times. We parted ways because we had a cottage reserved in Peru, VT and they had to go to Manchester Center (laundry, post office). awe checked into Johnny Seesaw's, which was a nice ski lodge and restaurant, and they even picked us up at the trail. We showered, lounged, started eating peanut butter and nutella out of jars then decided to go into town for some real food. called a taxi service and got a ride from a crazy man named Leonard. We ate at Friendly's (3rd time) then met our friends at the laundry mat.  Doing laundry on the trail can be awkward, because everything you have is filthy, and you want to wash it...so you end up wearing nothing but rain coat and rain pants (Raindancer), or swim trunks. I wish i had a picture of this scene. Then, we hung out in the motel room they were all sharing, ate some pizza, watched some Lord of the Rings, then I got a migrane and we said our goodbyes :( went back to our cottage and crashed for the night.

Day 29: 21 Miles

Traveling with a group can really make you pick up the pace. we did 21 miles miles, including up and over Stratton Mountain (3961 ft). Pink Floyd is really fast, he was up ahead, scouting out a place we could all stay. left us notes on the trail telling us where to go. I was the last one in, at 7:30pm. Solid 12 hours of hiking, boy we were tired. Luckily, we had some extra food, so we had 2 dinners. then we had a hot chocolate festival. everybody enjoyed french vanilla, amaretto, and mint hot chocolates as well as some hot apple cider with tullamore dew. we had a very strange bug net burning ceremony and called it a night :)

Day 28: Hitch-hiking!

hitching out of Bennington! in the back of a pickup truck. 7 of us :)

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Day 27: The Vortex

summited Consultation Mtn. and hiked 13 miles to the VT 9. Grabbed a shuttle into Bennington. We are staying at a place called "The Vortex" it is a free hostel run by an art teacher and her family. She offers her couches, front porch, barn and woods behind her house to AT hikers. She says that her house is our house, we can shower (she has soap, shampoo and towels) and use the kitchen, computer. living room, etc. she has a room full of musical instruments for people to jam. picture is of the barn, some hikers playing pool. there is a whole wall of thank yous from hikers. Friendly's is 2 doors down. we went with some friends we have been hiking with and all ordered "fatty melts" (not what they are called on the menu. burger made with grilled cheeses instead of a bun, i had a boca burger) and milkshakes and lots of calories. right now, the girls are braiding the guys beards,
hangin out in the barn. in the morning "pink floyd" is making us all pancakes from scratch. :)

Day 26: Into Vermont!

I'm in Vermont! Bam! The AT follows the Vermont Long Trail (273 miles, goes north into Canada) for 105 miles. I wonder what the liquor laws are in VT... 3 more miles to the shelter, already went 13, lots of steep hills. I would say it has been our toughest day so far. ready for dinner, and bed.

Day 26: Mt. Greylock

left camp at 7:15am, summited Saddle Ball Mtn (3238ft) and Mt Greylock (3491ft). A lighthouse sits at trhe summit (and smells like urine inside) as a tribute to soldiers of MA. On a clear day you can see the Green Mtns of VT, Catskills and Taconic Mtns. We will have an overpriced 2nd breakfast ay Bascom Lodge up here, and might even stick around for lunch so Chad can have a burger. Food tastes better on top of a mountain. PS: I saw a girl eat a "breakfast burrito" this morning that consisted of a tortilla with nutella and m&m's. this is socially acceptable among hikers, and I need to get some tortillas.

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Day 25: Cheshire MA & up

Dan headed back to his car with a group of hikers going the same direction. We headed up up up. Summited North Mountain, which had a great view at "The Cobbles" I wish I took my phone up there to show you the view, but it was uphill and off the trail so we dropped our packs. You could see the little town of Cheshire which the trail goes through, a lake, and Mt. Greylock. Greylock is the highest peak in MA. We were excited to hike through Cheshire because there is a ice cream shop, an outfitters (we need a VT map soon!) and a pizza place. Ice cream shop: closed. Outfitters: closed. Pizza Shop: closed. Well great. We ended up going to a gas station just past the town and getting cold drinks and some unhealthy carbs. After the gas station it was up up up. We are close to the summit now, staying at the shelter. There was a forecast for T-storms and we heard thunder so we ended
early at the Mark Neopel shelter. Full house (20?). Played pass the pigs with new friends (pic).

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Day 24: Dan filtering water

Dan pumping some water. Thanks Andy for letting us borrow your filter! All water out here should be treated before drinking. You can use a filter, they are heavier but make the water tasty and you can drink it right away. backpackers who are trying to have really light packs (minimalists) usually use iodine drops or tablets, or a few drops of bleach. these are small and light, but you have to wait a half hour before drinking it, and they taste kinda nasty. Havin a relaxing day with Dan, 4 mile hike to campsite, ate some junk food, built a fire, collected wood for tonight, played pass the pigs, and took a nap on a patch of grass. now we are going for a little walk to check out a pond nearby.

Day 23: Dan Harry Smoking Room

Met Dan (my brother) at 8am where the trail meets a road. some speed bumps in our plan: place we had planned to stay is no longer in business, it is the weekend and everything is booked, we desperately needed to do laundry and take showers. so, we found the closest motel for under $100. this place sucks, and it is a smoking room. showered, went to go see Harry Potter (yay!) and bought some beer and cigars for our smoking room. went to grocery store and got some treats for tomorrow night (corn on the cob and sausages) and some other treats for the trail (olive oil, peanut butter, nutella, jelly & naan). went out for lunch at Panchos while we did laundry. picture is of me feeding dan ice cream after dinner. now we are back in the motel, debating whether to sleep IN the beds, or ON the beds in our sleeping bags. oh, and when Chad went to plug in the fridge, he found a pink pair
of shorts behind it. yum. don't stay at the Heart of the Berkshires Motel. goodnight!

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Day 22: The Cookie Lady

18 miles today :) our personal best. it can be attributed to the pancakes this morning, the flattest terrain we have seen, and the day of rest we had the day before. we left at 7:45 this morning, walked over the 90 (mass turnpike) summited 2 unimpressive mountains with poor views, then went to go visit the famous "cookie lady". she lives .1 miles off the trail, and bakes about 1500 cookies each year for hikers. they own a u-pick blueberry farm, and we went wild. they gave us buckets with strings to wear around our necks to collect the blueberries. they were the biggest blueberries i have ever seen! $2/lb! pressed on from there to the Kay Wood shelter, where a caretaker is staying and a group of high schoolers from inner city NYC out on their first camping trip. they are on a 4 day trip and will be climbing graylock. nice to have some company on the trail with so much energy!
tonight we are eating about 3 dinners, because we will resupply tomorrow. dan meets us in the am!

Day 21: Zero at Upper Goose Pond Cabin

this place is awesome. we didnt hike ar all today, it is like a vacation within a vacation. a caretaker stays at the cabin for a week, cooks pancakes (ours were blueberry) and makes coffee in the morning. they have canoes you can take out, we went to a little island and had lunch (rice with veggies). our new friends Trump (19 years old) and Mark Trail (old man, went to the same high school as Chad, small world!) joined us out on the island. we drank some scotch and talked for hours. we played in the canoes, raced, laughed a lot and are back on shore now. caretaker is making us all a spaghetti dinner! lots of hikers coming in for the night. learning some new card games so we can play something other than rummy and scat. we will leave early tomorrow and hope to get 10 miles in before lunch.

Day 20: Luxury on the Trail!

arrived at upper goose pond cabin, it is amazing. each week a new caretaker comes, and makes pancakes in the morning. it is on a really nice pond, and they have canoes you can use. bunk room upstairs with 10bunk beds (with mattresses!). had a campfire and ate s'mores. and, it is free :)

Day 19: t-storm

no service yesterday, and no pics bc i kept my phone tucked away to keep it dry. we hiked about 10 miles from tom leonard shelter to shaker's campsite. nice morning, then on the trail, we saw a huge pile of bear poop. then, it went from bright out, to very dark very fast (around 3pm). we started hiking FAST. then chad had the excellent idea to hop off the trail and set up a little shelter with the rain fly of the tent, some rope, sticks and trees. worked pretty well. lots of laughing, chad cooked a nice hot meal of pasta primavera (thanks chad's mom!) while i manned the fort (quite literally holding sticks to hold up the tarp). we trucked on to the campsite after the rain was done. met a hiker named shark. he is a professional poker player. lived in niagara falls for awhile playin at the casino. passed out fast and slept well.

fungus amung us

edible? looks like it is from under the sea.

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Day 18: how much wood could a...

how much wood could a porqupine (spelling-apparently i am really dependent on spell check) chuck if a porqupine could chuck wood? answer: a lot. they like to eat shelves inside of the shelters at 5:30am. thats one way to get an early start. anywho, last night was a bit different from the usual. we usually sleep in the tent, either set up on the ground, a platform, or even inside the shelter if nobody else is there. if it isnt supposed to rain, we keep the rain fly off and it is basically a nice bug net to sleep in (plus there is a breeze so we don't trap our stink in the tent with us. last night there were so many people in the shelter (6) we couldn't set up the tent inside. there were 4 bunks (big) and a loft. we slept on one of the lower bunks, and i am pleased that i did not fall of. hair was still wet from the rain so i slept in my mummy bag with just my nose and mouth
sticking out. i had a bug net nearby but didnt have to use it (because i covered my face with DEET)

Day 17: Rainy Rainy Rainy

Woke up this morning, Chad watched some awful TV shows (Dog the Bounty Hunter) and we had breakfast sandwiches and coffee and a blueberry donut at a cute little donut shop near the motel. Then we got dropped off at the trail by the motel owner after he took us to the post office. Hiked about 7 miles today. 7 wet, soggy, muddy, slippery miles from Great Barrington to the Tom Leonard Shelter on top of East Mountain. Seems like everybody is ending the day early today, there are 3 thru-hikers (including Stroller, who we met 2 or 3 days in) and one guy out for three days. Wet gear is hanging all over the shelter, and I really have to pee but I don't want to go outside. Stroller has a little baby doll strapped to the outside of the pack - I asked him about it, he said that he and his siblings have been hiding it in eachother's houses for years, and his sister snuck it into his pack before he left. Now, we are going to play some rummy, then probably read and go to bed early.

Day 16: mosquito madness and laundry

hiked from the hemlocks shelter into great barrington, MA today. about 7 miles. steep descent down jug end, then into the forest for MOSQUITO MADNESS! we spend a lot of time outside, and there are always bugs, but not like this. met our hiker friend Sherlock in the laundry room at the comfort inn (they let hikers use laundry room) and he told us there was some sort of illness that killed most of the bats in the area, so nothing is around to eat the mosquitos. he said the bugs will be bad until Greylock Mountain. we will hurry to get out of here! Sherlock also told us about a man named Tom in the next town who opens his home to hikers, and we can stay there for free. meeting so many nice people, having a great time. we went to Friendly's because it is right across the street from the motel. chad had a frunion burger and i had grilled cheese. then a cookies and cream sundae.
we agreed that we could have eaten 2 dinners...the night is still young...(brewery/restaurant close)

Day 15: trail magic picnic

summited 2 peaks (race and everett) before lunch. hiked back down and a picnic was waiting for us! 4 thru-hikers from last year decided to do some trail magic. their names are zen, devo, saint, and nate dog. they had hot dogs and hamburgers (and veggie burgers and not dogs!) and pop, beer, fruit, chips, cookies, EVERYTHING! such nice people. certainly the highlight of our day.

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eatin blueberries on top of bear mountain (highest peak in CT). yum. will cross into Massachusetts today.

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5:18am

and this was the view at 5:18am. so pretty! i <3 riga shelter

Day 14: alarm clock

the sun and birda are our alarm clock. this is the view we woke up to this morning. jealous? going to be another hot one (95 degrees or so, cooler than yesterday which was over 100). we only have 6 miles planned for today: bear mountain (highest peak in CT), then crossing the CT-MA border, staying at Sages Ravine. Heard there will be some "trail magic" on the 23rd at the Guilder Pond Picnic area, so that is our tentative plan. water filter broke this morning, ill have to call later when their customer service is open to see if they can send replacement parts. until then, iodine treated water. yum.

Hazy Day

Lion's Head overlook...or Mt. Riga....not too sure what it is called. Nice view; very hazy because it is so dang hot and humid today. Cooking and eating dinner here, then heading to a lean-to about a mile north. Heard it is thre nicest view in CT and you can see the sunrise.

Day 13: 95 Degrees and Climbing

95 degrees and climbing (temps and mountains, I'm punny). Summited Prospect Mountain this morning, talked to a wise/crazy old man perched on a rock. Made a new trail friend Frodo, walked into Salisbury, CT (home of Meryl Streep) to get some deoderant and lemonade...and some bagels so we could sit in the air conditioning for a bit.  Chad taught me how to play chess, then beat me in chess, but at least he drew it out a bit.  Now, 1000 ft up to Mt. Riga shelter for the night.  I'm feelin' hot hot hot.

Day 12: Brownies and Toymaker's Cafe

8 miles today, which isn't bad considering we didn't hit the trail 'til noon. Had to ship our bounce box forward to the next village we will be visiting, and stop at a pharmacy. Saw some notes from hikers warning about rattlesnakes, but we didn't actually see any.  We did see a race track from the top of Sharon Mountain today, that was different. We got some "trail magic" today, a trail caretaker saw us on the trail and gave us some fresh brownies, then in town a cafe offers free tent camping on their property. So, this is where we will spend the night. We met a new trail friend "Swan" today.  I had a nice conversation with her, and we will have breakfast at the cafe with her tomorrow, in preparation for the 95+ degree day and 1000 ft ascent we have up Prospect Mountain.

Day 11: Rattlesnake and Pizza

Yikes!  Saw a rattlesnake on the trail! Scared the crap out of me. It rattled at me and everything! We had read in the register books (composition notebooks in the shelters for hikers to write in) that people have been seeing rattlesnakes in the area.  There are better pics on chad's camera - not sure when we can post them. Staying in a motel tonight, laundry is done, and we are clean! Picked up our packages in Falls Village, CT. Eating "Buffalo chicken pizza" (great choice, Chad...not!) and garlic bread now.

Day 10: PIne Swamp Brook, and some AT Lingo

This is the shelter we are staying at tonight: Pine Swamp Brook. Pretty nice lean-to. We did 10.4 miles today, up and down, up and down, up up up and down. My legs are really tired. We ate Clif bars for breakfast (peanut toffee buzz is yummy, and has caffeine) so we could get and early start. We had protein bars for lunch, which we ate in record speed because we were so hungry, then both felt like we were going to barf, so we ate some ginger. No more protein bars for awhile... we met up with our trail friend Tippy Toes who is slow (our speed) now because her dad is hiking CT with her. She shared some tips about hitch hiking and we gave her some homemade fruit leather. Motivation for hiking today was my desire for a shower and a grilled cheese. We will be in Falls Village, CT tomorrow to pick up our mail drop of food. We also have a "bounce box" waiting for us there. It has some resupply items and things we will want while in a town (ex. phone chargers, laundry detergent, COTTON clothes to wear while we do laundry, toilet paper and toothpaste). 

Also, here are some terms commonly used on the AT:

• north-bounder or NOBO = hikers from GA to ME
• south-bounder or SOBO = hikers from ME to GA (less common than NOBOs)
• growing a tail = pooping
• to camel up = drink as much water as you can when you are near a water source because it is far to the next water source, or so you dont have to carry as much water while hiking
• backpacker midnight = 8pm
• yellow blazing = traveling in a car, following the "yellow blazes" on the road, instead of the white blazes that mark the AT

Welp, it is "backpackers midnight" so even though its still light out, I'm off to bed. Chad has been sleeping for an hour already.

Day 9: Skiff Mountain and St. John's Ledges

Hiked 7.3 miles yesterday from Mt. Algo shelter to Stonybrook River campsite. Tough 7.3 miles for us, up Skiff Mtn, then across a bunch of ridges. Descended at St. John's Ledges which is very steep and really bad for Chad's knee. Saw some rock climbers there, I should have taken a pic for you, there is one on Chad's camera that I will add eventually. After the Ledges it was an easy hike along the Housatanic River to our site. We  took a bath and washed our clothes simultaneously (swam in our clothes). Not sure if we smell any better but it feels good. Ate mac and cheese with broccoli for dinner, played some cards and went to sleep.

blue wood

what makes sticks and logs blue/turquoise? i see them all over the place! drives me crazy!

Day 8: Kent, CT

Had granola with (dried) milk and dried nectarines this morning. We did our stretches and filtered some drinking water. We left our site around 8:30am (late for backpackers) and hiked up Schaghticoke Mountain with an overall ascent about 1000ft (you can think of walking up 100 floors or a building...with 35+lbs on your back).  We had lunch on the summit, hiked down a bit, then up Mt. Algo (or, as Chad likes to mispronounce in every way possible, Mt. Alongo, Mt. Hidalgo, etc.). It was an 8.9mile day with lots of ups and downs. i have realized my balance is getting much better while doing my stretches, probably from using my stabilizing muscles so much while hiking. We got to the Mt. Algo shelter around 6:30 where we met up with some friends we saw earlier or the trail (Happy Pappy and gang) cooked some noodles for dinner and headed into town! The top of my backpack turns into a "purse" which is nice. Only about 1 mile into Kent,CT. We ate ice cream, bought more moleskin, bought beer
and some liquor from what they call a "package store". Tried hitch hiking (legal in CT) back to trail.  No luck hitch hiking, so instead we "brown bagged" the 2 free PBRs they gave us at the package store. Hiked back to site, drank some beers, hung our bear bags and its time for bed. Goodnight!

Day 7: Bathtub

Short day hiking, taking it easy on our bodies.  Hiked up and down "10 Mile Hill" about 1000 ft elevation. Staying at a lean-to or campsite nearby - both are nice. Took a "bath" here, where the housatanic and 10 Mile River meet. Chilly at first but nice and clean. Feels good to get all the sweat, sunscreen and bug spray off. Might walk to a gas station nearby tonight and get some beers. Chad has had 2 ticks: one on his arm last night, and 1 on his hand today. We will be using more DEET, we meet lots of hikers who have had lyme disease.

Day 6: Glitter on the Trail

Ellen dropped us off in Wingdale where we picked up our food package and hit the trail. Only did about 5 miles - taking it easy. There is lots of mica on the trail which  made it look like there was glitter sprinkled on it. We have decided to throw our itenarary out the window and hike as much as our bodies feel like it. Freedom is nice.  We are staying at a shelter with about 6 thru hikers including "Happy Pappy" and "Tippy Toes". We filtered some water and set up the tent. Mac and cheese for dinner. Playing some rummy (on a bandana so they dont fall in the cracks of the platform) chad=410, val=215...wonder who will win!

Day 5: Tubing!

So we spent the night with the deHavillands, woke up and bummed around.  Then we went to Frenchtown, NJ (a really cute little town) for lunch and TUBING!  We went on the Delaware River on the border of NJ and PA.  We didn't take our cameras or phones, so I have no pictures to share, but I assure you that it was really really weird.  See the site:  River Hot Dog Man.  Basically, we took a bus up river, then floated down in a tube.  Halfway, there is a hot dot stand in the water, with picnic tables, in the water.  Lots of fun, relaxing, and I DIDN'T get sunburned, but Ellen did.  Then we watched some stuff on Netflix and went to bed.  Back to the trail in the morning.

Day 4: Physical Therapy

Found cockroaches in my pack this morning.  Johnny Walker cleaned them all out.  Chad's Aunt Allison picked us up at Canopus Lake this morning so he could go see a physical therapist about his knees.  Don't want to be causing any permanent damage.  Turns out it is only an IT band injury and though it will be painful, no major harm can be done by hiking more.  Most physical therapists would say to take a few weeks off, but this doctor was a trail runner and said to give it a few days and get back out there!  This is good news because my blisters and toes will have time to heal.  As for my big toenail, I'll have to drain fluid from the nail bed, ice it and soak it in epsom salt.  Today, I took two 3 hour naps in air conditioning, and Aunt Allison made us a delicious pasta dinner.  And we ate cookies.  We also did laundry, and showered, and smell excellent.

Day 3: Canopus Lake

We only made it to Canapus Lake yesterday (4 miles..and the snack bar was closed by the time we got there, yes we moved that slow).  It is a pretty big lake and we swam in a secluded part, I washed my clothes and hung them to dry.  Turns out we don't react to poison ivy, which we went through to get to the water.  We floated around on our sleeping mats and I got a sun burn (of course). Only made it 4 miles yesterday because Chad's knees were really really bad and downhill was very painful for him.  So, we spent the night (illegally aka stealth camp) on the beach with our trail friend Jonny Walker.  We had some asian noodles for dinner, then played rummy on a picnic table, with a flashlight hanging from a tripod made with trekking poles, covered with a bug net which is Johnny Walker's tent.  Jonny Walker and I tied at 315 while Chad only made it to 100 points.  We finished off a tiny bottle of Maker's Mark and went to bed.  Very comfortable on the sand, and the sky was beautiful.

Blisters

My blisters :(  I call the one between my toes the "tweener" and the other one is just terrible every single step. I'll make a "doughnut" of moleskin around it and hope for the best. Sunday morning and our tradition will be coffee and making some phone calls. Hiking 10.4 miles to the RPH shelter. There is a lake 4 miles from here where we can swim and drink some pop!

Day 2: New Shoes

We woke up at 6am, had oatmeal for breakfast and set our clothes and shoes out to dry in the sun. Inspected my feet to find some nasty blisters and that my big toe nail has begun separating from the nail bed (very painful). Turns out my shoes don;t fit properly without orthotics (which lift my arch and shorten my feet, but are hard plastic and uncomfortable so i opted not to bring them) so my toes have been crushed too tightly inside. I usually wear an 8.5 and these were 9's so that is strange. Advice from experienced hikers was that i shouldnt hike until i had new shoes. Well, there is not much around here but a gas station 6 miles away....so....Ellen deHavilland to the rescue! She went to REI and bought size 9 and 9.5 in a different shoe (Keen, has lots of room for toesies) and brought them to me on the trail! I hiked 4 miles in my Crocs to meet up with her. Then we hiked about 6 more miles to a campsite...which was filled with Cub Scouts so we are sleeping (illegally? aka stealth camping) in a field. Our trail...friend Jonny Walker joined us for the end of the hike and we had dinner, star-gazed and listened to some music with him. We are moving slowly with Chad's knees hurting him on downhills, and I can't put pressure on my toe, but we have kept the 10mile/day pace. sSeepy sleepy, goodnight!

Day 1: Bear Mountain and Hudson River

Ellen took us to the trail starting at Bear Mountain (NY) and we got there around 10am. We hiked down Bear Mountain, through a zoo, and across the Bear Mountain Bridge. Ellen did that hike with us (and took lots of pictures!). Then we hiked through rain and thunderstorms for hours. I opted not to wear a raincoat or rain pants because it was sooooo hot. We have met 7 thru-hikers (two of them had lyme disease and still average 16 miles per day). We saw 2 doe, 1 buck, a toad and some chipmunks...and some bears and otters because we walked through a zoo. So, today we hiked 10 miles: across the Hudson, across Route 9, and now we are at the "Graymoor" shelter, with 2 thru-hikers eating some mac and cheese. Good day 1. I'm tired.

...and we're off!

here we go!

Last Meal

Our last meal: yummy breakfast sandwiches. Thank you to the deHavillands for hosting us last night and driving us to the trail head at Bear Mountain Inn!

Mail Drops

8 boxes of food. Chad's mom will be shipping them to post offices near the trail (Thank you!) so we can pick them up. This will allow us to keep our packs light, by only carrying about 4 days worth of food. We will be having oatmeal or granola for breakfast, trail mix and other snacks for lunch, and rice/pasta for dinner. Plenty of Clif bars for inbetween. We are finishing up our tentative schedule for places to spend the night and where to have the mail drops. We leave tomorrow morning!

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mac and cheese and lots of it!

we have been praparing our food for hours and hours. right now we are making vacuum sealed bags of mac and cheese. bought a 1 lb bag of cheddar cheese powder and we are mixing it with evaporated milk and elbow maccaroni. busy busy busy!

Dehydrating foods

We are dehydrating pears, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries and pineapples. Also making some fruit leathers. Thank you Walthers for letting us use your dehydrator!

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National Geographic's Documentary

If you want to learn more about the AT and the treasures it holds, you can watch National Geographic's documentary.  You can watch it instantly on Netflix!

Culinary Expert

Not that this transfers well to cooking while backpacking, but I'm in the Buffalo News:

http://www.buffalonews.com/life/taste/article471053.ece

Equipment fail #1

I took this picture of Chad and his home-made pop can stove. They are super light weight and small, and most importantly FREE. It runs off of alcohol which is advantageous because it is easy to carry (plastic bottle as opposed to metal) and readily available at stores. We used "HEET" a methanol antifreeze. Unfortunately, we have been trying to use it with little succes. Might try a different design, or a different style of stove.

Letchworth for training

at Letchworth for some training. We want to test out all of our gear, make sure everything is working properly, see if there was anything we wished we had, and get rid of anything we don't need to make our packs lighter. Better here than on the AT! Last night we stayed in a tent, then this morning we hiked about 8 miles to get to this "scenic view" which was a bit disappointing. Then we hiked back 4 miles to stay in a lean to. Suprisingly, we haven't had the chance to test out our raingear. My feet are sore, my legs are tired, and my shoulders are achy.  Overall, a good day!

Nuts Online Shopping List

I asked Chad what he wants me to order from Nuts Online. This is what he gave me. He really likes oatmeal. 

I ended up buying about 28 pounds of yummies (trail mix, dried fruit, nuts, freeze dried veggies, sweets, freeze dried ice cream, etc.).  I'm not worried about wasting anything, we will probably be burning about 5,000 calories/day!

These boots were made for walkin'

My new smart wool socks. Don't worry, I have enough so they won't match. They are $16.50/pair, but keeping your feet comfy and healthy is really important for a 400 mile trek. I've been wearing my hiking shoes for the past few weeks to help break them in. I opted for shoes instead of boots because it is going to be really hot, and I have pretty strong ankles and don't need the extra support. I'll also be buying a pair of crocs to wear at the end of each day. They are leightweight and will allow my feet to dry out and breathe.

Announcement!

Hi Everybody!  Recent cuts in DOE grants have given me and a coworker the opportunity to take 5 weeks off work.  We'll be spending that time hiking the Appalachian Trail!  For those of you who aren't familiar, the Appalachian Trail (or AT) runs along the east coast from the highest peak in the north (Mt. Katahdin in Maine) to the highest peak in the south (Springer Mountain in Georgia).  The entire trail is over 2000 miles and takes about 6 months to complete. See map:

Appalachian Trail Conservancy Interactive Map

Tentaively, our plan is to start July 6th in NJ, near the NY border and work our way through New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and into New Hampshire.  The hike will start off easy and mostly flat, and gradually become more difficult in the Green Mountains of VT and NH.  have to return to work mid-August.

I'll use this blog to keep you posted on my plans and preparations, as well as the trek itself.