MIKE+LAURA

OH YEAH!!! We've done it.

2010-10-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

We completed our first long distance trail (almost 2200 miles!) and want to say thanks to all of our family and friends for your support. Now its time to get back to the "real" world, get a car, a few jobs, and an apartment. Who knows what the future will hold for us, but we're confident with the skills we've developed on the trail that there is no goal we set for ourselves that will be unachievable. And just for the record, we only have two more trails left (the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail) to complete the Triple Crown- but we'll just have to see what happens...

1737 miles - (stuck in) Hanover, NH

2010-08-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Vermont was by far one of our favorite states and we were sad to say goodbye to it on Friday evening as we crossed the Connecticut River and into New Hampshire. We've agreed that someday we'd like to come back to VT and finish/hike the Long Trail, which the AT follows for most of its time in the state (and seeing how it ONLY 273 miles we think it'd be a manageable goal). The views from the firetowers on Glastonbury and Stratton Mtns. were amazing, as was the general foliage. And the weather... great if you're prepared for it- for a few days the rain was relentless as were the winds. Thankfully our winter gear is waiting for us in Glencliff, NH...which was not very helpful. After a very cold, rainy, windy night spend in a renovated firewarden's cabin on the back side of Killington (the windows had been removed so the clouds drifted in and out of the shelter all night preventing anything from drying) we decided to jump off trail in Rutland, VT to dry out. We had a great time relaxing on our first real zero day since the Delaware Water Gap, and before we left town Mike bought his 4th (and hopefully final) pair of shoes. Two days later we ended up here, in Hanover, NH, where we seem to be stuck in some 'Groundhog Day' type scenerio. The short version of the story is that someone stole mike's credit card number last month and bought $400 worth of artwork from Hong Kong, so he needs to sign some paperwork to have the charges removed. Hanover is the last 'real' town we'll see for at least the next 150 miles, or longer, so we have to wait here until Monday morning to recieve/send a fax. We had hoped we could get all of that taken care of by Saturday, but nothing's every that easy. The up side is that we had arrived too late on Friday to take showers/do laundry at the community center, but they'll be open tomorrow morning and we can clean up before we get out of town. It's kind of surreal staying here- currently we're camped in the woods with a bunch of other hikers on the other side of Dartmouth College's soccer fields like a bunch of hobos, and even though the school is nice enough to let us wander around campus and use their computers to post this, we can't help but feel a little out of place taking 'temporary' residence at an Ivy League school/town. We're really really really looking forward to getting back on the trail tomorrow afternoon and with the White Mtns. only 40 miles away you can probably understand why. Things are supposed to be more rugged and remote from here on out, so eventhough we may not be able to post that often, we'll try our best to keep you updated.

442 miles to go!!!!

1601 miles - Vt. 9 near Bennington, VT

2010-08-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

We crossed into Vermont this morning at about 9:45 am and we were immediately crossing through giant patches and puddles of mud which has quicksand/wet cement properties. No wonder why they call it "Ver-Mud"... Most of the day was spent in the clouds with no views, but lots of loud ominous thunder coming from all directions. Eventually it rained for a little while this afternoon and now it's clearing up so hopefully we'll stay dry(er). So far, the trail here seems to have more of a northern woods wilderness feel and is seemingly picturesque at every turn. The evergreens are dense and beautiful as well as the many ponds and wetlands we've passed along the way. The mountains and climbs get bigger from here on out, and it's been getting cooler at night, so we can tell we're hitting the final stretch. We'll let you know how it turns out.

1600 miles down- 578 to go.

1529 miles- between Great Barrington and Dalton, MA

2010-08-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wow time flies! It's been a little over a week and we've completed all of NY, CT, and are working on being outta MA and into VT by next monday the 16th.

NY was a pretty tough state right out of the gate, but once we made it over the Hudson it was nicer hiking as we weren't being forced to climb directly up and over every mountain (which were surprisingly rocky and challenging- particularly from the NJ state line to the river).

In CT we followed the Housatonic River via more of the Taconic mts. (which were also in NY east of the Hudson River). We're really looking forward to seeing more of New England.

Also, we finally met up with our friends who we've been chasing for 1000+ miles at the CT-MA border on Tuesday. It's been nice to spend a couple days of hanging out with them, but we have to get back to hiking more and stick to our schedule to finish by the end of September. This has been a wild experience and we can wait to see what the last 650 miles have in store for us.

Oh yeah- laura's platypus just broke and we also just realized that we left our water filter at a shelter this morning (15miles south of here- too far to go back looking for it). We'll have to figure something out once we get to a larger town.

1367 miles - NY (w. of Hudson River)

2010-08-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Though it seems like we just crossed the Delaware River into NJ, we finished the state yesterday evening and are headed to New England by this weekend! NJ was very beautiful and completely different than we expected. Great views from the Kittatinny ridge on the western side of the state and lots of bears. We stopped in Vernon, NJ to resupply before we entered NY and we're hoping to hike straight through and be in Kent, CT by Saturday afternoon. We've also read in trail registries that we're only 5 days behind our friend Beth (Cerveza) from Seattle so we'll be catching up to her sooner than later which we're looking forward to. More to come.

Finally! 1285.6 miles and we're in NJ, or "7 states down, 7 to go"

2010-07-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Whew... we both thought that there was a point when the rocks of PA might actually chew us up and eat us alive- but here we are in NJ, taking a day off and preparing to set off on the final leg of our AT adventure. It was great to have three family stops in a row (Sooze and Alan at Harpers Ferry, Mike's parents at the mid-point, and Laura's dad at the Delaware Water Gap), but now we'll be on our own until we finish. So, we have 893.5 miles to go- not counting the extra walking into and out of towns to resupply, as well as the re-routes that we'll encounter. In addition, Mike's sister is getting married at beginning of October so we need to be back in PA by the end of September. It's a tight schedule we'll be on and we realize that it's an ambitious goal, but we're ready for the challenge. We hope to be in NY by Monday if as long as we don't encounter any problems.

Some highlights of the northern half of PA:
-Laura was swarmed by bees, but luckily only stung 3 times
-We hiked through our first "Superfund" site near Palmerton, PA (a zinc smelting factory contaminated the area and basically destroyed all vegetation on Blue Mountain and the area is full of heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, and lead)
-Mike saw a bobcat 'butt' as it jumped from a rocky outcropping and disappeared into the forest
-We both saw the biggest male Black Bear we've ever seen in our life, nearly face to face at 7:30/8 in the morning

It's been an incredible experience and we're excited to see what the north has to offer, so we'll keep you informed when we can!

(FYI- the only rattlesnakes we saw were sleeping in some ferns, and we were thankful that we weren't dodging them the way we imagined we'd be....)

Halfway Point (1089.6)

2010-07-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

We're visiting with mike's parents about 25 miles north of the halfway point and enjoying the free shower(s) and good food. Both of our feet were really bothering us so we ran out to find new shoes as soon as we got here, but we'll be heading back out in the early morning. Up next are the infamous "rocks of Pennsylvania" and we've read that north of here they're experiencing some drought-like conditions-so it should be a fun 8+ days through the rest of PA. Also a lot of talk about rattlesnakes coming up... a lot of rattlesnakes. Awesome!

1012.5 - Harpers Ferry

2010-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, we just rolled into Harpers Ferry this morning around 10am and stopped by the ATC for our obligatory photo. It was nice to look at all the pictures of this year's thru and section hikers and find our friends who we were hiking with before we had to get off trail for a month. We'll be spending the afternoon/night with Laura's mom Sooze and her husband Alan who traveled from eastern MD to celebrate our 1000 mile mark with us.

We had a blast in Shenandoah National Park feeling like we were the 'last thru-hikers', and really enjoyed the solitude. This also gave us the chance to view a lot of wildlife because there weren't hordes of loud and stinky hikers stomping through the park. We had 5 encounters with black bears (some being as close as 15ft. and one protective mother who when she stood up to demonstrate her dominance over us was 6.5-7 feet tall- we had come way too close to her baby with out seeing him), lots of deer, turkeys, snakes, hawks, vultures, and lots of other unexpected things.

Tomorrow we're off to MD, our 6th state! We'll keep you posted.

July 5 - 880 miles - Shenandoah, VA

2010-07-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

Accidentally went 20 miles today. We answered some questions from a guy at a car pull-off overlook who was in disbelief that we had walked from Georgia and were trying to walk to Maine. Very hot again.

July 4th- 860 miles- Shenandoah National Park, VA

2010-07-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

So this is definately not as easy as when we left off. In our month of resting & recovering we've really list our trail legs. We started getting really sore after about 10 miles of moderately difficult hiking, but some of that is due to the fact that our packs are brimming with provisions we've brought in hopes of not having to resupply in the park. Otherwise, we feel pretty good and are happy with the changes we've made in our gear since we left.
Still not that many people out but saw plenty of wildlife including a HUGE, fat rattlesnake this morning- that makes 3 rattlers total we've seen in VA. Also very hot today. 90's in the sun with considerable humidity and no real breezes. The uphills were uncomfortable to say the least. It's hard to believe the summer has really just begun and this heat is going to get worse!
We found a nice place to camp next to a spring so we can drink all the water we want before we leave tomorrow - luxury!
Anyway, we're spending some time relaxing now and while we probably won't see any fireworks we certainly enjoyed our day of independance in the mountains. Sleeeeep.

July 4th- 860 miles- Shenandoah National Park, VA

2010-07-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

844 miles- VA

2010-07-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Feels good to be back on the trail again. Thank you to mike's Ma and sister for giving us a ride. We started hiking around 3pm, did an easier 10 miles, and found a nice campsite where we now sit. Didn't see very many people on the trail so it seems we've let most of the big bubble of hikers pass us. It's nice to have a little more solitude.
Looking forward to tomorrow, the 4th of July, as we start our hike through Shenandoah Nat'l Park.
More to come.

What's Up

2010-07-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody.
Since we last updated we've hiked about 400 more miles for a grand total of 834. About a month ago we had to make a tough choice and get off the trail in lieu of an ankle injury Mike suffered and a chest cold Laura had come down with. It was a hard decision to make but it just wasn't plausible to continue in the shape we were in. After some soul-searching and debate over whether we should continue at all, fast forward four weeks (and many good meals and night's sleeps) later and we feel like we're ready to tackle this thing again.
Tomorrow morning we head down to Virginia... pretty much to the southern end of the Shenandoah Nat'l Park... and start heading north again.
In case you haven't noticed we have added some photos to the first couple of weeks' entries. For the remainder of our trip we plan to update with shorter posts more frequently so we won't fall so far behind and we can still focus on what we're here to do - hike!
Thanks for checking back on our blog and we look forward to sharing more here.
Wish us luck - again!!
Love, M+L

Day 40/41

2010-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Damascus, VA

Spent two days catching up on the important things like eating cheeseburgers and updating the blog. Mike finally got new shoes (thanks Garmont and Sundog Outfitters) without having to pay anything, spent 2 nights at the Place (an honor-system hostel run by a local church), and are very ready to get back on the trail this morning (5/7) and see the ponies that we've been hearing about. Trail Days will be held here next week, but we're not sure if we'll make it back for it or not- we'll figure that out later.

Day 39

2010-05-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 39 - Low Gap to Damascus, VA - 15 miles (464 miles total)

We had town on our minds today, so we did the miles pretty quickly (not to mention that they were some of the easiest we've seen yet) and made it to Damascus by 5pm. It was another quiet day, with no real views, but we were glad to be finishing our 3rd state (GA,NC,TN- completed) and heading into Virginia where we'll be for the next month, at least.... Also, we were followed by 2 more dogs today, until some other hikers passed us and they took off after them. Apparently it's custom for people to let their hunting dogs run wild in the woods in order to train them, so that explains why there has been so many stray dogs on the trail. Anyway, got to town and ate giant hamburgers, then headed to a campsite we saw right outside of town where we spent the night.

Day 38

2010-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day 38 - Campsite past Vandeventer Shelter to Low Gap- 16 miles

Day 37

2010-05-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 37 - Side trail to US 321 to campsite past Vandeventer Shelter - 15.5 mi - 431 total

Our hike today started straight up. From the river it was a steep climb 1700' up over 2.5 miles to Pond Flats, our last big up and over until VA. On our way up we passed what might have been more than a dozen hikers who were staying at Kincora and taking the opportunity to slackpack that difficult section (they hiked the opposite way so it wouldn't be so steep and left their packs at the hostel). They all warned us about how steep it got, and as per usual, all the hype made the hike seem easier- by the time we reached the top we wondered what all the fuss was about. We quickly made our way down the other side a couple of miles to Watuga lake, then around the (very big) lake, and over the Watuga Dam. It was a hard climb up Iron Mtn. in the heat and suffocating humidity (this is how it's been recently), so we made camp at a really cool site past the Vandeventer shelter. The site had a small rock outcropping behind it which dropped down to the lake and valley below. Once it got dark out, we could see all the tiny lights from the towns beneath us. We decided to have a small fire again (because there was a nice pit and someone had gathered wood and left it stacked) and then slept well.

Day 36

2010-05-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Day 36 - White Rock Mtn. to side trail to US 321 (Hampton, TN) - 7.5 miles (415.5 miles total)

Got to Dennis Cove this morning where we walked up the road to the Kincora hostel. There we took showers (and braved run-ins with a very fast and VERY LARGE spider who lived in there), did our laundry, and hung out. Left by 1:30 to take a blue-blaze trail that led us down the river, past the falls, directly into town. At the trailhead we were lucky enough to score a ride all the way down the road to the McDonalds/MiniMart. Stuffed ourselves, Laura got a soda stomachache from the free refills, and resupplied at the dollar store across the way. As we were outside then repacking our goods into our packs, a guy approached us (wearing an AT shirt) and offered us a ride back to the trailhead. Turns out he was a local section hiker named Candy Wrapper and his offer of a ride couldn't have come at s better time since it started to *pour* as we drove back. At the trailhead we got out of the truck, became completely soaked putting on our raingear, and trudged off into the woods feelng sticky wet and uncomfortable. Hilariously, the rain stopped no more than five minutes later and the sun came back out. We now remember the east's sudden downpours more vividly - they sure are a far cry from Seattle's "mizzle". We camped on the riverbank, dryed out in the last hours of daylight, and had a great night.

Day 35

2010-04-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day 35 - Campsite before Campbell Hollow Rd. to White rocks Mtn. - 16 miles (408 miles total)

Aside frm the kid riding the ATV down the trail right past our tent last night before we went to bed, it was a quiet night/morning. Eventually the people who we saw at the shelter the night before caught up to us as we were taking our time breaking camp, and we had a chance to fully explain to them what had happened with the dog. It turns out that they thought he was just a drunk local scoping out the area looking for trouble, so they were weary of everyone involved. Most of the day felt to mike like we were just wandering around a viewless labrynth in the woods. Some really cool highlights of the day were Jones Falls and Mountaineer Falls, as well as relaxing on the bank of Upper Laurel Fork. We really appreciated the sheer awesomeness and almost modern look of Jones Falls and are looking forward to seeing more waterfalls up the trail. Later, we passed some unfamiliar thru-hikers who were staying at the Moreland Gap shelter, but because it was still light we opted to look for a secluded spot on White Rocks Mtn.

Day 34

2010-04-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

Day 34 - Ash Gap to campsite before Campbell Hollow Rd - 21 mi - 392 total

What a crazy day! Hiked through snow and ice to reach the top of Roan mtn. this morning, took a break to hang out where the old Cloudland Hotel used to stand (a late 19th century resort for ailing urbanites), then popped out of the woods and onto the road crossing at Carvers Gap. There we met "Reverend" a past thru-hiker who lived in Hampton TN (41 trail miles away). He was a little drunk and taking a 100 mile bike ride. He offered to take any trash of ours that could fit in the back of his bike shirt but we declined and dumped our trash off at the restrooms. From there it was up the well-used gravel walkway to the top of the first bald. 5 in total, the balds of the Roan Highlands stretched for about 9 miles and were very unique. We'd already been to a couple of balds on this trip but to hike over so many in a row was a neat experience. We took the time to hike a blue-blaze up to Grassy Ridge, the only natural 360* view above 6000' on the trail. It was nearing the end of our day, just after we had stopped for snacks past an old barn-turned-shelter, when we started noticing a jingling noise as we walked. Laura kept turning around and looking at Mike thinking it was him and Mike thought it must be something on Laura's pack. Eventually Mike turned around to find that the jingly noise we'd been hearing for the past half hour was a little dog following us. Apparently she'd been back there for a while. She was young looking and mostly white with a few black spots, a tiny bit skinny. Thankfully she had a collar on her and we were relieved to find a phone number on it. At a loss (we are definitely not dog people), we thought the right thing to do would be to try and contact the owner. Since it happened to be Laura's mom's b-day, we'd been going from peak to peak anyway looking for phone service. Once we found a bit of signal Laura called her mom and we watered the thirsty dog. Mike then dialed the number on the collar, unsure of what to expect or who would answer. After a number of rings, thankfully, someone answered. It was really hard for Mike to understand the guy on the line and he apparently didn't even know which dog of his was missing. When Mike described the dog to him he seemed confused and kept asking what color the collar was. The guy offered to come meet us where we were on Hump Mountain, but since meeting strangers in the woods wasn't what we'd had in mind, Mike convinced the man to meet us at the next road crossing where the dog could be exchanged in a more public setting. Hanging up, it all felt somewhat surreal realizing we were now responsible for this dog until we gave it back, that the owner didn't seem to care about the dog or he'd know which dog of his was missing, and that we now had to tack on another 5.5 miles onto our day and it was already late in the evening. Despite these things we hurriedly set out to cover the ground and return the dog. Initially, the dog, who we then began calling Green Collar, was well-behaved walking behind and alongside us as we trekked up and over the last of the highlands. Green Collar's cuteness powered us for a couple of miles and we embraced the novelty of hiking with a borrowed pet. As it started to get darker and the miles added up, the cuteness wore off as the dog became fatigued and increasingly moody. First it whined. Then it started throwing child-like tantrums where it refused to walk any further. At this point we jerryrigged a leash using a carabeaner and our bearbag rope which proved to be an excellent idea when little Green Collar turned crazy when she saw some deer up on a ridgeline above us. (So very) Tired and ready to say goodbye to our foster pet, we finally reached the Apple House Shelter which was only .5 miles from the road. At this point we could hear someone down the trail yelling and whistling and it was confirmed with the people at the shelter that it was the guy looking for his dog. Rudely, they told us to go and not let the guy come back, so off we went, annoyed at the lack of understanding with the shelter people, to return this darn dog. Not a quarter mile down the trail we found the owner, Mack. To our surprise it was immediately apparent he had been distraught about the dog because he became a bumbling fool as soon as he saw her. It also didn't help that he was completely tanked. Thru slurred speech and a very thick southern accent, he introduced himself ("Mack" was pronounced exactly the same as "Mike"), thanked us many many times, and handed Mike a can of Bud Lite from his pants pocket insisting that he'd "been able to tell from his voice over the phone that he'd be wantin' a beer". The three of us and his girlfriend (the sober one whodrove him to meet us, but unfortunately we never got her name) walked to the road where she told us how he'd been loosing sleep over this, and they actually had 3 dogs that had run away which explains why he didn't know which dog I had found when I called. They said they were headed to the convenience store and offered to give us a ride to get some snacks. On the way back to the trail, she stopped at a drive-thru bar and bought us a 12 pack of cheep beer to split with Mack as payment for our good deed. As they drove away in their Jeep that was about to fall apart, we checked the time (it was almost 9:30pm and completely dark), so we agreed to camp at the first available spot we found. Too bad that wouldn't be for a few miles- all uphill and in the end the spot we found was no even close to being called 'flat'. By now it was 10:30 and we were both completely exhausted so we drank the spoils of our day and sat in disbelief of what had happened before falling asleep.

Day 33

2010-04-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Day 33 - Low Gap to Ash Gap - 18 mi - 371 total

We awoke to blue skies and frigid temps so we took our time packing up and laying our wet clothes in the sun to dry. Josh and his dog passed us as we were drying out. He told us how he had spent the night on top of Unaka Mtn and was miserable with all the snow and hail. We didn't see him again until we reached Iton Mtn Gap and then again as we were taking lunch at Apple Orchard Gap. Today was a quiet day, not a lot of other hikers on the trail around us as we made our climb up the neighboring ridgelines (with little or no views) on Roan Mtn. In the late afternoon we were finally rewarded with a view from the top of Little Rock Knob and could see that Roan Mtn was still covered with snow fom the previos nights storm. Excited to reach the top, we set off on our final steep climb. We made camp just as daylight was fading at Ash Gap, about one mi from the top. Looking forward to the highlands coming up.

Day 32

2010-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 32- Erwin to Low Gap - 13 miles (352.8 total)

On the way out of town we were lucky enough to get another ride back to the trailhead, this time from Uncle Johnny's shuttle. In the van we met a few new people and saw our acquaintance Josh and his dog Marius, who were also headed out. We gave the driver a few bucks for the ride, and then headed out of gown on Josh's heels who we chatted with briefly at a railroad rossing as we waited for a train to pass. Just after that we stopped to hard boil some eggs we bought, and didn't happen to see anyone else the whole day. We ducked under a tree, ate snacks, and had a beer as we waited for the eggs to cook. Afterwards, we hiked our way up to Beauty Spot from he river- the only hike that the emo kid (who gave mike a ride) had ever done. As we hiked the threat of rain loomed, but we seemed to be avoiding it. At one point the temperature read 80* and we were cooking in the sun in our short sleeves. In very little time as we were reaching Beauty Spot the clouds rolled over us and the temperature dropped. From there we could see our next climb, Unaka Mtn, shrouded in clouds which were being whipped thru the gap by winds. Deciding to continue, rain started which quickly turned into hail. The hail piled up and as we climbed further the hail eventually turned to snow. By the time we reached the summit everything was under a blanket of white - it was the storm we had expected earlier (most likely in the Smokies) but thankfully we still had our winter gear. We love the groves of red spruce that covered the summit. It felt like a winter wonderland and reminded us of the northwest simultaniously. Although we were tempted to spend the night right there, we chose to do another couple of miles and head for lower ground in search of a campsite not covered in snow. By the time we reached Low Gap it was getting dark, the snow had turned back to hail, then rain, and we were ready to call it a night. We made camp there and warmed up in our tent.

Day 31

2010-04-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Day 31 - Erwin, TN - 339.9 miles total!

Another cloudy morning with on again/off again drizzling. We made good time as we descended down to the river. When we reached the valley and the road, we saw the hostel we'd been hearing about right across the street. We saw soda machines on the porch, so we decided to check it out. Took a look around after a chat with "Uncle Johnny" and decided we'd head on into town and fend for ourselves. While walking what we thought would be an easy couple-of-mile jaunt to town, an SUV pulled over an the guy driving asked if we wanted a ride. He was very friendly, and offered to take us around town to wherever we wanted to go. He said he has a rafting business (USA Raft) and since he was his own boss he could be late to work if he wanted- very convienent for us. Also, he and his wife hiked the AT as their honeymoon in 2004. After a quick tour of half the town, we hopped on the 'highway' and headed to Wal-Mart (which the hostel said would cost us $15- but we got there for free-awesome!). Mike was in need of a Wally World to find a new pair of hopefully adequate shoes (his were falling apart at 100 miles & only Super-Glue to repair them + 240 more miles= totally worn out). We were also looking to get a new camera since ours died halfway through the Smokies. Our new friend waited in his car and worked on his laptop while we shopped (got a new camera but no shoes) and afterwards he was even nice enough to drop us off at the CHEAPEST motel in town. We settled in, got our chores done (Mike did the laundry at an eatery/gas station/carwash/laundromat next door) and had some time to relax. Aside from the shouting between the owner and a disgruntled match Laura overheard, it was a quiet afternoon. Strangely enough, eventhough we were surrounded (kind of, but not really) by a Grocery store, a dollar store, and a convience store, the only place to buy beer was at another convience store which a little over a mile away. So at about 5pm Mike walked there (and saw a dejected looking Uncle Johnny) and was lucky enough to get a random free ride from some 16 or 17 emo kid. It was starting to rain harder so he was thankful for the ride back to the motel. We ate junk food, ordered a pizza, watched dome trashy TV (i.e. Wife Swap), and went to bed in one of the junkiest beds we've slept in a while. (For the record, the room had limited outlets; the microwave was stacked on the mini-fridge in the bathroom- hilarious)

Day 30

2010-04-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Day 30 - Spring past Sam's Gap to campsite N of Temple Hill Gap - 21 mi - 337 total

We were glad to be alive this morning and not squished under any downed trees. Thankfully the rain had stopped and as we packed up we were able to hang our raingear up on nearby branches and mostly dry it out. Just before we were ready to go a little old lady came hiking up the trail towards us. "Grandma", as we so affectionately dubbed her, stopped as she got to us and insisted that we go ahead of her since we were "most certainly faster than she was". Still in morning-mode, we weren't totally prepared yet for the mile or two of uphill climbing ahead of us, but we weren't going to argue with Grandma and we started hiking anyway. A good 15 minutes later, after a good loooonnggg uphill battle and lots of huffing and puffing, we looked back to find Grandma practically on our heels. Damn! That lady was moving! Now feeling even more pressured than before (and with our egos at stake) we found it in ourselves to ramp it up and leave Grandma behind in the dust. The rest of the day was spent looking over our shoulders, pretending she was after us. Our hard uphill climb eventually took us to the top of Big Bald but it was too windy to hang out for too long so we headed down the north side and up the grassy slope of Big Stamp to the "treeline" where we stopped. After a while of sitting and eating we noticed people on top of Big Bald so we took off so we wouldn't get caught up talking to them. About 6.5 miles later we crossed US 19W at Spivey Gap and took another break at the Ogelsby Branch (a stream) to rest and have a snack out of the sun- it was hot: in the 80's. Refueled and re-energized we set off in hopes of getting close to Erwin to make it easier to get into town in the morning. We found a great spot on a ridgeline overlookng the town as dusk approached. Mike set up the tent while Laura built a small fire and hung the bear bag (and she did an awesome job!). We sat by the fire and eventhough there weren't really any stars out because of the clouds, we're dry for now. Tomorrow looks like rain, and hopefully we'll dodge in by going into Erwin, but who knows after that!

Day 28

2010-04-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 28 - Campsite north of Log Cabin Drive to spring past Big Butt - 12.6 mi - (301 total)

Today was exceptionally beautiful and hard hiking and we were in a bad mood despite it being our 300 mile day. Highlights of the day included: neat cliffs! Walking over a section of cool exposed ridgeline! Rocks! Great views! Hikng to a place actually named Big Butt! We found a really nice campsite that night close to water which passing hikers seemed jealous of. Mike was unsucessful at building a fire (everything was damp from showers the night before) but Laura used her Survivorman knowledge and got one going later. Went to bed as wild dogs made jungle noises in the night.

Day 29

2010-04-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Day 29 - Spring past Big Butt to spring past Sam's Gap - 14.5 mi - 316 total

Hard morning. Passed the Shelton Graves, unfortunately took a snack break right next to the largest pile of human bowel movement in history, and then a lot of uneventful trail. At Devil Fork Gap (NC 212) road crossing we were elated to find a big bright red cooler full of soda, oatmeal cream pies (which, by the way, are now starting to wear on Mike), snickers, apples, and a bag for the trash sitting right next to it! Shoved and chugged, then ran across the road and over a little fence ladder, through the corner of a cow pasture, and up back into the folds of the mountains. Followed a stream for a while past the remnants of some old log cabins and other structures that had fallen apart a long time ago. Stopped again to snack and recharge and smartly chose to preemptively put on our raingear before the skies opened up. For the previous few hours we could feel the humidity in the air and noticed the clouds slowly moving in to block out the sun. The rain started almost immediately. For the next 5 mi we wandered up the forested ridges along old forest roads next to ancient looking barbed-wire fences. We were completely engulfed by clouds, dealing with occasional hard rain but mostly fog and light drizzle in what felt like a dream. We crossed under the Interstate bridge at Sam's Gap in what must have been late afternoon. The rain stopped, we could see the clouds hugging the mountains surrounding the gap, and the wind picked up. We climbed up onto a ridgeline and after 2 miles the rain was coming down, the wind was getting very strong, and we came upon a small flank of the ridge that was flat and had a spring so we called it a day. Laura pumped water as Mike attempted to dry out and set up in the tent. It sounded like a hurricane as Mike wiped up the water on the tent floor and made a place for all the soaked clothing in the vestibule. We sat and ate and listened to the storm getting stronger and moving over us. The tent was shaking - a lot. Overnight there were a few times we woke to the sound of branches cracking and falling. Really extreme wind. We are once again assured of the quality of our tent - thank you North Face!
Note: We found out later that this storm was the same one that produced the tornado that whipped through Mississippi. Crazy!

Day 27

2010-04-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 27 - Hot Springs to Campsite north of Log Cabin Drive - 17 miles (289 miles total)

We woke up to a beautiful morning by the French Broad River, and decided to walk back to town to use the Post Office and get some stove fuel from the outfitter. We packed up but left our packs inside our tent on the river bank, so we didn't have to carry them around with us. We were at the Post Office mailing postcards by 8:40am, and had 20 min. to kill until the outfitter opened so back to the dollar store we went. Once again the register lady reminded us why we'll never live in the South ("Obama's not even an American Citizen. He don't even have a birth certificate. Impeach him!"). It was time to go. Over the brige again and up the mountainside with good views of the town below from Lovers Leap Rock. Eventually we decided to stop, to give the guy in front of us some space, and eat a snack. There we saw H^2 (Kristy) who informed us of the crappy weather forecast for the rest of the week (a couple of days of rain). We got some unexpected trail magic (cans of coke) from a former thru hiker as we crossed the major road that lead out of town. Took a blue blaze to see another fire tower where we spent some time talking with some guys from Alabama. It was a pretty quiet and normal day, and we're looking forward to hitting the 300 mile mark tomorrow. We made camp and our stuff sack for bear bagging got stuck in a tree and will probably stay there until the distant future, so we'll figure something else out- but it's not a problem.

Day 26 (updated)

2010-04-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

This morning was cloudy and cold, with a lot of moisture in the air, but no real rain. We made a quick cup of coffee and took off for Hot Springs which was only 1.5-2 miles away. We walked down out of the mountains and into a REALLY small southern town, but we felt welcomed by the blazes which were in the sidewalk and crosswalks. Now strolling down main street towards "downtown", we decided to stop for breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. The porch was full of hikers packs, and although we're a little sceptical about leaving our stuff we were hungry for breakfast so down are packs went and in we went. After we ate, it was off to the Doller General and then the landromat. Next, we treated ourselves to a couple of beers at the only pub as we filled out postcards and wrote more in our journal. Once we felt up to it, we headed to the library to use the free computers to post some journal entries, and after some frustration Mike decided it was taking too long so we headed back toward the trail. Now it was after 6pm, and almost everything in town was closed for the night, so we went to the 'warm springs resort' (as we dubbed it after reading a historical marker that said that was the original name) which was near the river at the edge of town where we read we could get a shower. From there, we were sent across the road to the campground where we each paid $5 to use the COLD "hiker" showers (outside located next to an actual indoor shower building). Laura was very peeved by this and made it know to any unlucky stranger within earshot because it was not even close to $2 hiker friendly special that was listed in our guidebook. Now cold, and very awake, we were ready to be done with Hot Springs so we grabbed our stuff and walked to the trail. Through town, over the bridge, and down the side we came across a hiker named G-hippie from NY who we had an awesome conversation with about the local wildflowers. Walking along the trail by the river, we found a bunch of campsites and decided to claim a discreet one for the night. We built a small fire and sat until dark listening to the river.

Day 26

2010-04-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hot Springs Library (270 miles)
Had a little bit of time to update some earlier entries but the majority of them will have to wait for the next town to be posted online. We're here in Hot Springs, NC right now - just passing through, we're not staying the night, just in town to re-supply and shower. We're really enjoying ourselves and we'll tell you more about it as soon as we can. Next stop is Erwin, TN.

Day 37

2010-04-20T21:00:00.001-07:00

Day 25

2010-04-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Day 25 - Max Patch to Campsite past Deer Park Mountain Shelter- 17 miles (269 total)

We woke up to grey overcast skies, but the rain had stopped (for now). We broke camp, mike convinced laura to let him re-hang the food/cache our packs so that we could go back up Max Patch for a look in the daytime, and up we went again. Awesome dramatic views from the summit- 360* with rain on some distant ridgelines and beautiful orange sunlit clouds to the NE. The rain finally begain to fall, and we headed back to grap our stuff. We hiked as the rain fell, then stopped, then started again. We really enjoyed the meadows feel of the area north of Max Patch, and the interesting anti-livestock gates throughout the area. We took a break near a road for lunch and to put on our rain paints (finally). Overall, it was a nice rainy day- good hiking weather for two people who got used to light(er) but constant rain in the Pacific NW. We stopped for water at the stream by Deer Park Mountain Shelter, which apparently used to be an old homestead. We were slightly surprised to find so many people stopping there for the night and not doing the last couple of miles to get into town early. We moved on, so that we could get as close to town as we could for the night, before it got dark. Immeadietly past the stream, we found 2 graves- maybe the former homesteaders. Found a nice spot, and called it a night.

Day 24

2010-04-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Day 24- Campsite near Davenport Gap to Max Patch- 15 miles (252 miles total)

We had a slow morning since we were partly celebrating Mike's B-day by being lazy, and also because part of the reason that we stopped where we did last night was due to Laura getting her first blister! Ouch! We enjoyed the scenery when we got going since the trail followed a busy creek with beautiful little cascades. In no time, we were crossing I-40 (which was kind of creepy since it was completely deserted due to a rockslide that happen last fall. This was actually the highway we took from Arizona to Tennesee on our drive back from Seattle so it was interesting to see the stretch of road that had been closed. A mile past the road was the hostel, Standing Bear Farm, where we stopped to possibly find some birthday beer and some snacks. Turns out they usually make a daily beer run... but later in the day and it was still technically morning when we arrived. Oh well. We got some sweet microwaveable food (a burger, breakfast sandwiches, and a chicken sandwich) and as we were eating, Hawk, one of the 4 caretakers gave us each a birthday beer from his personal cache. We spent a while hanging out with Vinny, another caretaker who gave up a life of high profile fashion in FL (he worked for the Vercace who was murdered in the mid-nineties and Valentino among others) to hang out with AT hikers in the middle-of-nowhere TN. We wandered around the property looking at the old barns and shed which were 100 years old, and stopped to see the 2 resident hogs which were very excited to see us- they were snorting and dancing around. We didn't quite now how to interact with them so Mike let them rub their wet snouts on his hand and tried to pet them as they circled around in their pen. Grabbed some more snacks, said goodbye, and hit the trail again by 1pm. Walking back down the gravel road to the trail we were pleasently surprised to finally meet up with Beth and David, our friends from Seattle. We talked for a minute or 5 and made plans to hang out in Hot Springs before saying goodbye. Next, we stopped for water at Painter Branch where we met Josh and his dog, and a couple of ladies who are section hiking each year. The ladies told us they hike for 1 week a year, and the younger one remarked that if they continue at that pace she'll be 84 by the time they finish. We are continually overwhelmed by the diversity of people that hike the AT, either as a thru or section hiker. After a long upward haul, we made it to the top of Snowbird Mtn. which was a bald and had some sort of futuristic space tower which turned out to be some sort of air traffic control tower. About 2.5 miles later we found ourselves at the intersection with Groundhog Creek Shelter, and true to form we decided to hike on. We passed Brown Gap as it got dark, and noticed some other hikers camped there, so we chose to move on further. By now it was completely dark and while having a snack at the junction with Cherry Creek Trail we decided to set our sights on Max Patch, with the goal being the summit. We arrived there (Max Patch, 4629ft.) around 10:20pm and enjoyed the summit all to ourselves. In the dark, the lights from all the neighboring cities and towns were easily visible and made up for the lack of stars (clouds from an impending rainstorm were approaching in the distance). We ate snacks (which was to be our dinner) and reveled in the view and lack of other hikers. Less than a mile down off of Max Patch, we found a campsite where the first trees began to grow below the bald and made camp there. It took Mike almost a million years to hang the bear bag, but he finally got it and we fell asleep listening to the start of pitter-patter against our rainfly.

Day 23

2010-04-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Day 23- Tri-Corner Knob shelter to campsite past Davenport Gap (+ Mt. Cammerer fire tower) - 17.9 miles (237 total)

It was a very cold morning again with frost covering the tent, and the thermometer read 22* at 6:45am. We packed up, mike spilled the water he was boiling for coffee 2 times, and we hung out and waited until everyone else left the shelter- it's always nice to have it all to ourselves. Laura was surprised by a brazen shelter mouse who was looking for a snack (who mike tried to scare away) which made for a good laugh while we ate and read the shelter log. The temperature was near freezing (31*) as we finally headed out and it was looking lime it was going to be a nice clear day with good views after the 'rain' yesterday. We started our climb down out of the Smoky Mts. from 6400ft to 1400ft at the Pigeon River which is 1.5 miles past the eastern boarder of the park (Davenport Gap). We took a blue-blaze to the Mt. Cammerer fire tower. There we met Eugene and his son Duncan, who were out for the day from Asheville visiting local fire towers. He took our picture, since we didn't have a working camera, and offered to email it to us. They left us alone with the amazing view from the stone tower. Next stop was the Davenport Gap shelter for water, then out of the park. As we crossed the road at Davenport Gap we were surprised to find no sign marking the park's boundry. We headed toward the river only to find a cache of Gatorade by a tree! We eached chugged a bottle, ate a snack, then found an old forest service road to camp on away from the trail. We ate well and called it an early night. Tomorrow is Mike's birthday and we hoping to hit the nearby hostel in the morning for some snacks/birthday beer.

Day 22 (updated)

2010-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Day 22- Newfound Gap to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter - 15.6 miles (220.3 total)

We both woke up early without the assistance of an alarm as we were both really anxious to get back on the trail. Laura packed up while Mike updated our journal on the computer in the motel's lobby. After some free coffee & doughnuts we walked back over to the NOC store to catch the free hiker shuttle back up to the gap, about 15 miles away. Brian, the driver who dropped us off, took our picture at the TN/NC state line sign, and then we set off north again weaving through tourists by 1pm. We stopped at Charlies Bunion, and our camera finally decided that it was gonna stop working for good, but we were lucky that a few guys from SC were photographing the landmark and Mt. LaConte and they offered to take our picture and email it to us later. The landscape was now looking more dramatic as the clouds in the valleys were lifting and swirling around the peaks of the Smokies and we couldn't help but feel nervious about climbing out on the rock(s) for the photo- very very steep drop to the valley floor below. We had a great afternoon taking in the best views (and most clear) that we've seen yet in GSMNP, and we both agreed that it was only fitting that today would be the day that the camera broke... haha! This was a paricularlly neat section of the trail because most all of it was on the high ridgeline. We hiked into the night and arrived at Tri-Corner Knob shelter after 9pm. As we approached there were scary signs about bear activity all over, and standing there in the darkness with our headlamps illuminating the signs, we hoped our decision to keep hiking wouldn't be something we regreted later. The shelter was full, and everyone was asleep (or trying to be) so we pitched our tent next door on the flatest spot we could find (which was still on an incline), hung the food, and went right to bed (Mike fell asleep right away, while it took Laura almost an hour....)

Day 22

2010-04-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

About to leave Gatlinburg, TN to finish the Smoky mountains section. Mike's looking forward to celebrating his 27th birthday (this monday 4/19) and has even gotten his birthday wish (his poison is finally clearing up and going away!). Next stop is Hot Springs, NC about 70 miles away. Drizzling today. Thanks for reading!!!

Day 21

2010-04-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Day 21 - Double Spring Gap Shelter to Newfound Gap (to Gatlinburg, TN) - 11 miles - (205 total)
Woke up early to a chilly and cold morning. To be clear, there are no late mornings in shelters - often the earlybirds start getting up waaayyy before first light - so it's virtually impossible to sleep in later than 6am. We were hiking by 7 or 7:30 and it was a really nice hike up to Clingman's Dome aside from the fact that it was all upwards. Near the Clingman's area it was cool to watch the trees change from predominantly deciduous ones to a majority of conifers- something we hadn't really seen for the past 200 miles. Although it was still really hazy from the lack of rain and over-abundance of pollen in the air, we got some pretty good views to the south as the trees began to thin out on our climb up. We soon reached the summit, and found it to be deserted except for the thru-hikers we had stayed with at the shelter because the road leading to the top was closed. It was evident that it was a bad winter up there; there were tons of downed trees and it looked like a hurricane had rolled through the already hurting summit (there is the obvious problem of the conifers dying off en masse above 6000 ft. from pollution and pests). We stopped at the observation tower, said hello to the first ranger we've seen, and went to check out the view. It was really hazy from the pollen- only 30-40 miles visibility when on a clear day you can 'normally' see up to a 100 miles on a clear day. After a snack, we headed down to Newfound Gap so that we could hitch a ride into Gatlinburg to re-supply. After awkwardly looking for a hitch, with no luck, we were lucky to catch a ride from the new NOC's Gatlinburg Outpost shuttle. Kevin, the driver, had just moved from Seattle (he lived in Wallingford and worked at REI)- what a small world. He gave us a ride to the Grocery store, then back to town to get a room, which saved us a full day of riding the 'trolley'. Checked into the Grand Prix Motel, showered, walked to Burger King for some good greasy food, and too a quick look around town. Afterwards, we headed back to the room for a beer and to write some journal entries. Around 10pm we went for a walk around town and laura loved the tackiness of Gatlinburg on a friday night. Bought fudge and ice cream, which we took back to our room. We fell asleep way after our bedtime and hiker-midnight (it was actual midnight!) watching the local tourism channel after a nice sugar overdose.

Day 20

2010-04-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Russell Field Shelter- Double Spring Gap Shelter - 16.5 miles (193.9 total)

We woke up early, and it was still dark when others began packing their stuff and getting ready to leave. We were hiking by 7am. We took a quick stop at Spence Field, for a snack and to take in some views, then headed onto Rocky Top. From there we had great views, even though it was a little hazy. It was from there that we finally got our first good views of Clingman's Dome in the distance. We took a short break and enjoyed time alone on the top. Paused for lunch at Sugar Tree Gap, where everyone we had stayed at the shelter with the previous night passed us, then headed back on and passed the Derrick Knob Shelter where they we're all taking a break for lunch. Along the way we saw more beautiful white wildflowers on the ridge lines. Stopped for water at Silers Bald Shelter where we met Jaybird. Next was the short climb up to Silers Bald where we got another great view of Clingman's Dome (the highest point on the AT at over 6,600 ft) and the once again changing environment with the new addition of conifer at higher elevations. We tented at Double Spring Gap Shelter, and were joined again by the 'dude' crew (as we had dubbed them) as it was getting dark. We were lucky, as the shelter was full so we could pitch our tent, and have some semblance of privacy. We saw 3 deer before bed by the food hoist cables, and Mike saw his first wild turkey this morning... he thought it was the most ridiculous looking thing when it flew.

Day 19

2010-04-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Fontana Dam to Russell Field Shelter - 13.5 mi - (177.5 total)
Used the restroom at the shelter (the Fontana "Hilton" as the hikers call it) to get water and brush our teeth before crossing the dam (again) to go into the Smokies. Took a quick break to eat something right inside the park boundary and then set off to tackle the ~12mi up into the park. It was interesting to enter the park in such a unique way; the only way to know we were entering the park was a single unassuming sign that read "Great Smoky Mountains National Park". It was another beautiful sunny day (can you sense our sunburnt exasperation yet?) and we were soaked in sweat immediately as we put in the next 5 or 6 miles up into the park. Took a break at the campsites at Birch Spring Gap and ate lunch before a big group of hikers behind us caught up. The first wildflowers we've seen in the Smokeys were popping up and we enjoyed walking through fields and fields of them on the ridgelines before and after Mollies Ridge Shelter. Stopped for the night at Russell Field Shelter at about 5:00 pm, much earlier than we usually stop because the Smokies have strict regulations and insist that all AT thru-hikers stay at shelters (or face BIG fines). Since we couldn't hike any further that night we went for a short walk to a grassy patch on the mountainside and ate our dinner in peace. After we ate we walked back to the shelter, which by the way had a front entrance made of chain-link fence (which former hikers used to feed the bears through), and made our beds on the second tier of the sleeping platform. As dusk was approaching, the hikers we had spent time drinking and socializing with the day before showed up and decided to go against the rules and set up their tents instead of pile into the partially full shelter. They built a huge fire, and invited us to join them, but we took another walk instead to once again enjoy our time in the park. We returned to the shelter at dark, entered the 'cage', then listened to the younger hikers talk and tend to their raging fire as we fell asleep.

Day 18 (updated)

2010-04-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

At Fontana Dam - 0 miles today - 164 miles total

Woke up and walked down to the bathrooms where we met a bunch of other hikers, fresh out of the woods, who were waiting for the shuttle into town. Caught a ride with them and were dropped off at the general store/laundromat/post office. There was some confusion as to where our mail drop was sent, so as we were simply milling around in our rain-gear waiting for our laundry to be done, Mike walked up to the lodge and found our box there. We got everything together and went to use the ATM at the general store only to find it broken so off we walked to the gas station to use theirs. Across the street from the station was a pavilion where a bunch of other hikers were sitting - we left our packs there as we went inside (found no ATM) so we cut our losses and sat with the other hikers and had a couple beers. It was getting to be the late afternoon now, and we still wanted to hit the trail so we headed back down the road towards the dam (walking of course...) where we went over our gear and food supply one more time, made some phone calls (there were no pay phones and only one spot in a 5+ mile radius where you could get a signal for cell phone service- all resort employees used walkie talkies), and headed across the dam to the park boundary. We immediately realized that in all the excitement we had forgotten to really eat anything substantial, and mike noticed that the camera had been misplaced. We had a snack, checked the time (it was now 6pm), and thought it would be a good idea to just head back to our campsite for the night (and hopefully find the camera hidden in our packs or at the general store where we thought we might have left it...). Also, because in the Smokys you are required to stay only at shelters and designated campsites or face big fines, we would have had to hike almost 6 miles straight up (in the dark through 'bear infested territory') before would could set up camp for the night. So we set up our tent, found the camera stuffed in the bottom of mike's pack, and went to bed by 10pm looking forward to a fresh start tomorrow.

Day 17

2010-04-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Campsite before Cody Gap - Fontana Dam

We rushed the last 10 miles or so to get to Fontana by late afternoon with the hopes of taking advantage of the free showers at the Dam (which are operated by TVA). We crossed the road to the marina, we were pleased to find a bathroom and a soda machine- oh yeah! After a break to wash our hands, take hobo-style sink showers, and drink a coke, we headed the last mile to the shelter. We found the showers in a seperate building like 75 yards before the shelter, so we never even had to stop at the shelter. We got cleaned up, put our dirty clothes back on, the set off walking down the road toward the resort 'town'. We were thankful when a pickup truck with 2 section hikers stopped and offered to give us a ride up to the resort (it was 2 miles almost all up hill). Once there, we realized that everything had closed at 5pm except for the gas station. We walked there to grab some snacks, and since they had draft beer on tap (what the ....?), we had one. Soon it was 6pm, the gas station was closing for the night, so we headed up to the Lodge to spoil ourselves with a good dinner. The burgers we had were huge, and awesome, and after we were full of food and drink we walked the 2 miles back to the Dam and found a secluded campsite away from the shelter. Laura crashed out early while Mike sat under the stars looking across the lake to the Smoky mountains in the distance.

Day 16

2010-04-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Swim Bald- campsite before Cody Gap

Today was really tough. After a climb up Cheoh Bald, and a nice break looking at the Smokys and Fontana Lake in the distance, we were once again cooked alive by the sun and shown no mercy by the decidious forests of the South which still have no leaves to offer any protection. Although nothing was really different about the terrain, everything just seemed harder to do. We sat for a late lunch (around 5pm) on a ridge before Stecoah Gap (?) then crossed the road like scared deer up into the mountains again. Passed the shelter, enjoyed the cool rocks and eastern tree beards on the narrow ridgeline past it, the found a spot just before Cody Gap as it was getting dark.

Day 15

2010-04-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wesser Shelter- Swim Bald

Woke up fairly early with the intention of making it to the "NOC" by noon or shortly after. Stopped for a quick snack at Rufus Morgan Shelter where we had a laugh at a past thru-hiker's misspelled rantings written on the wall and plenty of clever bible tracts. Walked the last mile to the NOC (the Nantahala Outdoor Center which is a whitewater rafting/outdoor activity hotspot). When we arrived we were surprised to find that the Wesser General Store (our resupply point) sold mostly candy, soda, beer, and flies (for fishing). We left with a small bag of junk food and a 12-pack of Yeungling lager, in cans of course, and sat by the bathrooms to repack or bags. There we witnessed a number of strange interactions between people (bikers clad in leather, yuppies, girls wearing only bikini tops who shouldn't, young men without shirts carrying kayaks and rafts) and because we saw other people drinking beer openly in public, we did too. One beer and twenty strange minutes later we were crossing the Nantahala River on a foot bridge, walking through a parking lot, across train tracks, and once again up into the mountains. We found a small bridge over a dried up spring about half a mile up the trail, and since we didn't spend nearly as much time at the NOC as we had planned, we sat and killed some time (and that 12-pack). We left in search of water a couple of hours later, still wanting to put a dent in the 8 mile climb out of the Nantahala River Gorge. We eventually came upon a spring and decided to take a break and fill up. While there, a young kid from Florida who looked like the 4th Jonas brother ('Baywatch') and two early 20-something's from CT (Laurel & ???) stopped to do the same. We talked, they left, and we headed up Swim Bald to a campsite just off the trail in a Rhodedendron thicket. Set up camp as it was getting dark after hiking with headlamps. Another hot sunny day and clear star filled night.

Day 14

2010-04-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

FS road 69 to near Wesser Bald Shelter - 14 mi - 129 mi total
By morning the rain had completely stopped. Opening our eyes, the first thing we saw were big raindrops sti sitting on the outside of our rainfly. We opened the tent and fly doors to look outside and got a showering of ice down the backs of our necks. Sure, It wasn't raining, but our thermometer read near 20 degrees and everything wet had frozen overnight. Took us a few hours to get out of camp because we wanted to wait for our stuff to thaw out (pants, jackets, shoes). We were on the trail by noon and around 1 we were up at the stone obervation tower on Wayah Bald. Awesome view of Clingman's Dome and more of the Smokys in the distance. We're getting really close! Couple of miles later at Burningtown Gap we met a trail maintainer who told us we just missed free hamburgers at the gap. As we were leaving he said "Oh yeah, there's someone coming up behind you". We just sort of looked at him and he continued matter-of-factly "There's radar up there, that's what I'm going up to fix". Alrighty then. We didn't really know what to make of that and walked on. Took a cool blue-blaze trail up to the top of Rocky Bald. Good views and a neat hidden campsite. Heading north again, we crossed Tellico Gap, saw some teenagers getting out of their monster truck and head up the trail just ahead of us. We paused to give some space between us. At the top, we were surprised to find a group of college kids from U. of Florida on spring break who said they were freezing to death (the sun was setting and it was probably around 45*), but no sign of the teenagers- weird. Or not. Stopped at a nice spot on the ridge right before the Wesser Shelter. Quiet night under the stars again, just the two of us.

Day 13

2010-04-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Winding Stair Gap to FS road 69 - 8 mi
Woke up excited to get out of town. Mike's hands feel better, he says, although they still look pretty rough... but we're both feeling like it's time to leave. The weather seems to have broken - today it was super cloudy as we got up and the fore ast was for thunderstorms all day. Before we left town we walked to the grocery store again and as we were inside the skies opened up. Lots of rain. Stopped next door at the Dollar General to get our last few items and the really heavy rain seemed past as we walked back to the hotel. We rushed to get all of our stuff together in time and we *just* caught the 11am shuttle back to the trailhead. Talked to some nice hikers in the van on the way up into the mountains and got pumped up to hike. The higher we got the rainier it got - but we were prepared wearing our raingear! The shuttle dropped us all off at the pass, and after some confusion about where the trail picked up again, we started hiking. The rain was coming down in sheets and it just kept coming. The miles started to pass and our enthusiasm started to wane as we realized we were getting slightly wet despite our tried and tested west coast raingear. After 4 miles we considered stopping in at a shelter to get out of the rain for a little bit, but we reconsidered when we found the shelter to be way off trail and downhill. Onward we trudged, eventually stopping 4 miles later, not even having found a good water source, and tried not to get our tent too soaked as we set up. As we peeled off our soaked raingear we began to realize just how wet our clothes had gotten... completely wet. We put on our only other bottoms - our thin, silk long underwear - and dry tops and prepared to hunker down for the rest of the day.
It was still really early (about 3:30) so we wrote some log entries and made some phone calls since we had service. A few hours later the rain had stopped it's downpour and we had the opportunity to push on if we'd wanted, but the idea of putting on those soaking wet clothes again was totally unappealing. We called it an early night.

Day 12

2010-04-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Franklin - 0 miles - 107.7 miles total
Decided today that we would take a full zero day here in Franklin since it seems that Mike has a ways to go with his hands. We have him drugged up on Benadryl and covered in Calamine lotion. Didn't really do anything today - watched TV, went to the post office, and ordered a pizza. It feels super luxurious to be able to be just lazy all day and not have to walk but we're actually getting itchy (haha) to get back on the trail. I think we'll take off again tomorrow or we might go crazy in this (very) small (and southern) town.

Day 11

2010-04-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Rocky Cove Knob-Winding Stair Gap - ~1.5 miles

Woke up very early and rushed to catch the shuttle. Got there 5 min. early and sat with the various other hikers until it came. Everyone climbed into the big white van and former thru-hiker Solace gave us a guided tour into and through town, then dropped us off at the Sapphire Inn where we would be staying. We checked in and then went immediately to tend to mike's hands. A mile walk through town to get to the grocery store proved to be exciting since I guess a lot of people don't walk very much in these small towns, so there are few sidewalks, and crosswalks mean nothing. Anyway, we bought like 5 different types of medicines for mike, some snacks, and made our way back to the motel. At 4pm was the famous hiker shuttle around town driven by local hiker hero Ron Haven in his old school bus. Ron drove us around, our stop was the local outfitter where we got new insoles and underwear. Went back to the room, relaxed, and waited for mike to start feeling better.

Day 10

2010-04-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Beech Gap to Rocky Cove Knob - 17 miles

Pushed out a crazy 17 mile day today in order to get us as close as possible to Frankin. Once again slathered on the sunscreen and set off. Today was our 100 mile day. We made it to Carter Gap Shelter first, which marked our 100th mile walked on the trip (including the approach trail). The shelter itself was dilapidated and falling apart and covered in signatures and graffiti including this gem: "Welcome to the Hell of Rodents, Skunks, and other Tazmanian Devils". It wasn't until we ate and left that we realized we were at the OLD shelter and the new nice one was just up the trail. Oh well, we had already eaten, so we walked on to tackle Albert Mtn.- one of the steepest uphills yet. The last 3/10 of a mile was pretty much straight up. At the top was an awesome lookout tower that was a tuqlly some sort of research lab, so we couldn't go in, but we could still climb the stairs. We said hi to the dude that was sprawled out resting on the on the rocks beneath the tower. We climbed up to take in
the most spectacular 360* view yet, took some photos, and climbed down. Next we hiked to Glassmine Gap which marked us having passed our official AT 100th mile. This was where we had originally planned to stop but there weren't any flat spots and although a helpful sign said there were excellent spots ONLY 2 something miles down a blue-blazed trail, we decided to go on further. Eventually we got to Rock Gap Shelter, which seemed really full, so we ended up going all the way to Rocky Cove Knob, the last mtn before Winding Stair Gap. Almost at the top we saw 'Postcard', who we met the day before on Standing Indian Mtn. He told us about the hiker shuttle to town the next morning. We pushed on a little further until we found a flat enough spot to camp then settled in for the night. We were a little surprised by our milage for the day, and it kinda seems like in North Carolina the climbs may be bigger, but they're longer so you can do longer days easier- hopefully that makes sense. We were tired, mike's hands were burning, and the shuttle was at 9am the next day, but we're loving every moment of it. Hung the bear bag and went to bed. Strond wind gusts all night.

Day 9

2010-04-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

Bly Gap to Beech Gap - 12mi

Today, again, was super hot and with lots of strenuous uphill climbs. Woke up late and checked out the cool oak tree that sorta marks the state line. Then we went uphill for a looong time. Took a break at Sassafras Gap where a past AT thruhiker and a past PCT thruhiker (they now do trail maintenance in GA) talked to us as we ate. Pushed on for another 5 miles and stopped to get water at Standing Indian Shelter. There we talked to some more section hikers who were surprised to see us hike on and not stay at the shelter. The top of Standing Indian Mtn. was awesome. It had a nice little grassy clearing and a great view towards the south. We spent a little while up there admiring the view and the tiny little wildflowers just starting to emerge. Afterward, on the way down to Beech Gap, we were surprised to see signs that read "North Carolina Wildlife - Bear Sanctuary"... which was a little unsettling. After 3 miles we were at the gap, saw that a number of the campsites were full so we went for water and ended up finding a spot to spend the night. We made camp and relaxed until it got dark. It was that night that it aS really apparent that Mike's hands were getting pretty bad and we should probably get to Franklin sooner than later to get some more medicine and figure out how to get it to go away for good. Clear skies again with plenty of stars, beautiful night.

Day 8

2010-04-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dicks Creek Gap (US 76) to Bly Gap- ~9.5 miles

Woke up, had breakfast at the local place (Georgia Mtn. Restaurant) while we wrote out thank-you cards, went grocery shopping, then checked out of the motel and remained in their yard packing our backpacks for a good 45 min. Hitching out of town was easier than on the way in- two guys in a pick-up truck pulled over in no time and told us to climb in the back. Enjoyed the unobstructed scenery until we were back at the gap. After a quick call to Ma (just checking in) we walked off into the wood again. It was a strenuous uphill to get out of the gap and it was HOT. At this point Mike's "rash", which by now we had deduced to be poison ivy, oak, or sumac, started to really itch and spread across his hands. Decided to keep a close eye on it and Mike was determined to not let it ruin his hike. As evening came we reached the state line- HECK YEAH! -which provided much motivation. Took some pictures, swatted the (so far constant) bugs, and headed to nearby Bly Gap where we made camp. Had a good fire and slept on a very uncomfortable incline after listening to loud and rowdy SoBo section hikers on the other side of the gap hoot and holler all night.

Day 7

2010-04-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Deep Gap Shelter to Dicks Creek Gap (US 76) - 2.5 miles

We woke up at 6am to the voices of the other hikers eating breakfast and getting ready to get back on the trail. After a half hour of listening to them talk about sports, they finally left, and we were feeling more awake than we wanted to be at that hour. Yet another reminder why we aren't too fond of shelters. Eventually we got up, had breakfast, checked out the shelter log, and broke camp. It was an easy couple of miles to the road and it was obvious that we both had town on our minds (not to mention that Mike had the start of some kind of poison ivy, oak, or sumac that was in need of some treatment). At Dicks Creek Gap we began our attempt to hitch a ride into Hiawassee (13 miles away?) and were failing miserably until we spotted a day hiker and his daughter returning to their car after a morning hike on the AT. Mike asked if they were headed into Hiawassee and if the two of us could catch a ride with them. Luckily they were headed that way for a quick lunch, and took pity on us because 'he could tell by our accents that we weren't from the area' (what accents?) . We all piled into the car and took off for town. After a quick greasy meal (Laura ate her first triple cheeseburger- Mike was totally impressed) we checked into the Hiawassee Inn, did some laundry, made some calls, had some beers, then called it a night. Showers expected for tomorrow but we're ready to hit the trail again tomorrow afternoon, and we finish the GA section in ~10 miles. North Carolina here we come!

Day 6- Blue Mtn to Deep Gap Shelter- 14.5 miles

2010-04-01T21:00:00.001-07:00

Long, hard day but filled with trail magic. We awoke to another clear, beautiful morning on Blue Mtn. ready for the hard downhill to the road crossing then back up Rocky Mtn. (1000 ft. down then 1000 ft. back up in a 2 mile span= not an easy start to the day). When we reached Unicoi Gap we were suprised with some trail magic (turkey sandwiches, chips, cookies, and coca-cola from Linda and Dwayne-thanks guys- best breakfast on the trail yet!!!). Next, we headed out of the gap and 'ran' up Rocky Mtn. (Laura even jogged in place, punching the air and shouting 'Adrian' to get in the spirit)- it was awesome. At about the summit we met Tortuga, a past thru-hiker from GA, who we hiked and chatted with for about a mile until around Indian Grave Gap. He decided to break for lunch there, but it still felt too early for us (and we were still full from the sandwiches we had ~2.5 miles earlier). Before no time we reached the 'Old Cheese Factory Site', where we were once again suprised to find EVEN MORE trail magic. This time it was hot dogs, chips, fruit, and... 2 COLD BEERS from past thru-hikers Mary and Lou, the roman noodles, and their friend Jim. We have to say we've been pleasently surprised with how generous people have been down here in GA, and hopefully someday we'll be able to return the favor by providing our own trail magic to hikers. Next was Tray Mtn, which we reached in no time but couldn't stay at the summit for long- thermometer read 90*, and there was no wind and no shade. Spent the rest of the day taking our time and being sure to take breaks out of the sun when we could find shade. Finally, with the day coming to a close, and after a hard climb up and over Kelly Knob (where we saw a gorgeous sunset), we reached the blue blazed trail to Deep Gap Shelter- our stopping point for the day. At the shelter we had some interesting conversations with a couple in their late 30's from Virginia, and a section hiker from Knoxville who told us a lot about the Smoky Mountains. Soon it was way past hiker midnight (9pm) so we said goodnight, pitched our tent (shelters are for mice!), and went to bed. The best part was we didn't have to hang our bear bag because the shelter had cables- mike was pleased.

Day 5 - Chattahoochee Gap to Blue Mtn - 3 mi

2010-03-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

Before we went to bed last night we decided that we would take a "near-o" day today (a day when you do little hiking and just relax; one step up from a zero day). We woke up whenever we felt like and spent most of the afternoon relaxing and catching up on chores (washing our dishes, writing in the log, etc). The sun was out and the wind was blocked due to us being on the eastern side of the mountain. Eventually we were hot and sweating - our Campmor keychain thermometer read 90* in the sun - which didn't go unnoticed by the insects... they were out in full force. Spring has started. In the late afternoon, after noticing numerous wolf spiders running around in the leaves we were camped in and then found a wood tick on our tent, we decided to pack up and get the heck out of there. (Oh and there were flies. Lots of them). We hiked a leisurely 3 miles to Blue Mtn. Shelter where we were suprised to find Baltimore Jack. He gave us advice and a tip on a campsite where we eventually decided to spend the night. Lots of flying bugs but otherwise pretty awesome. We basically have a 360* view of mountains and the night is clear and not too cold. We built a fire earlier in the evening, thought ahead to hang a bear bag (before it got dark), and tried out the beef stew that
Mike's sister and her boyfriend Joe bought for us (which turned out to be somewhat lacking in... goodness. Mike ate it all, with the aide of hot sauce. Saw lots of stars and went to bed.

Day 4

2010-03-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Swaim Gap to Chatahoochie Gap - 13.5 mi

Woke up in clouds and cursed Baltimore Jack for telling us yesterday that today and the next three were supposed to be all sunny and up to 80*. Soon enough the clouds moved out and/or burned up and, along with our breakfast, we were quickly eating our words. Weather was clear, cool, and breezy but with nice warm sun. Enjoyed many nice views on the way up Cowrock Mtn. Had a good chat with a hiker named Matt, a marine back from his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq, who had become disillusioned with the entrapments of daily life and consumer society so he grabbed his dog Amos, wrote a note, and got a ride to the trailhead with one intention - of walking north until he didn't want to anymore. Great guy, incredible story. Took a break on Cowrock for the views and a snack. Headed off with our next intended stop to be a water fill up at a stream. As we reached Tesnatee (or Tes-Nasty as Mike keeps mistakenly saying) Gap we were greeted by 3 people from a local Baptist church, a guy by the name of King Tut among them, who gave us trail magic in the form of Fanta sodas, candy, chips, cream pies, and new toothpaste! (Oh yeah, and a trashcan!) Chatted and signed their trail registry, said goodbye, and kept on in search of water not wanting to take all of Tut's water supply. Stopped one mile later at Hogpen Gap, got our liquid, and headed on with the intention of camping somewhere right around Low Gap Shelter a little over 4 miles away. In no time we reached the shelter and yet again it was pretty packed and we weren't ready to stop. Just past the shelter the trail merged for a while with an old roadbed which made for a nice grade and easy mileage. We passed a couple of spots, unfortunately taken, and kept walking. Before we knew it we were watching the sun set from a mountain ridgeline and happened then to come upon Chattahoochie Gap where we decided to make camp. We spotted the roadbed again that we had been following earlier, tucked away to the southeast beside the trail, followed it for a short distance and found a discreet campsite.

Day 3 (expanded)

2010-03-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Henry Gap to Swaim Gap - 8.5 mi

Slow to break camp, had only a couple of miles to go to Neels Gap, our first re-supply, and we were a day ahead of schedule. Climb up Blood Mountain was easier than expected, and we were befuddled to find ourselves at the shelter on the summit before we thought we had even started the "tough part of the climb". Checked out the shelter (one of the oldest still standing on the trail circa 1934) and signed the shelter log. The shelter itself was all stone with a fireplace and had two rooms; every inch of wood beam inside was marked with the signatures of past thru and section hikers and visitors. Though there were no views, all clouds, it was a neat spot. Rushed to Neels Gap, not expecting our mail drop to be there yet, but looking to grab a shower, do some laundry, and eat something we didn't have to carry or make ourselves. We were pleasently surprised when they let us use the shower in the hostel (real shampoo!), treated us to an amazing tuna melt, and told us we could spread our gear out and do our thing for as long as we'd like even though we weren't staying at the hostel (which was way above and beyond - so very appreciated). After we warmed up to the situation a bit we had a good time meeting the other hikers, meeting Miss Janet who was more than willing to attend to our every need, and we had an awesome time talking to Baltimore Jack who imparted us with a ton of useful information and words of encouragement. It was cool to meet them since we had heard and read so much about them and even used some articles written by Baltimore Jack for our preparation. Very nice and generous people. Got all of our chores done by 5:30 and decided to push on and not stay at the hostel overnight, much to the dismay of our new friends. We made some phone calls as we left and hiked another 2 miles to our camp, enjoying nice views with beautiful lighting along the way (stuff the people at the hostel were missing!). Great day filled with great people. Clouds rolled in in the evening and Mike had trouble finding branches to hang the bear bag amongst the clouds/fog. Laura had indigestion from all the amazing food. Still a great day.

Day 3

2010-03-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

Neels Gap

Whew... 4 days in and it's still awesome! Reached Neels Gap at around 2pm, stopped to shower, do some laundry, and pick up some supplies (thanks Sooze and Alan), then headed back out into the clouds. Next town stop is Hiawassee, in 3-4 days. More updates soon/ as we're able. Thanks to everybody for your support, and we'll check back in asap.

Day 2

2010-03-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

Sassafras Mtn to Henry Gap - 13 mi

Woke up to the sound of rain. Opened the tent and found ourselves in the clouds. Hiked 2.5 miles to Justus Creek to find Nate and Tyler (a hiker we'd met yesterday) stopped there. We chatted, pumped water, brushed our teeth, and parted ways. Stopped at Gooch Mtn Shelter to eat some snacks out of the rain and found 3 other hikers there. Two were teachers and one was a local that had thru-hiked last year but since had pretty much just lived on the trail. He lectured us for a little while about the importance of having the right gear (an area we are confident in) while offering to take some of our food for himself. We left. Stopped later at Woody Gap for lunch in the clouds in a parking lot. There we found Nate and Tyler with the guy who offered to eat our food whose name we found out was Moose. Headed up and out to Big Cedar Mtn where we got the first good view all day as the clouds broke, then rolled back in. 2 miles later we made camp at Henry Gap.

Day 1

2010-03-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Black Gap Shelter to Sassafras Mtn - (1.5)+11 mi

Clear, cold, and very windy as we woke up and started hiking. 1.5 miles to the top of Springer, met a nice southern guy named Sam on the way up. There were tons of people at the top, maybe 15, all different kinds of people. We signed in with an older man named Many Sleeps who spends a couple days a week camping up there and signing people in. Headed down at 11am and were surprised by our first bit of trail magic a mile later in the FS42 parking lot. Mountain Squid gave us Huggie drinks (the little plastic barrells of "juice") and cream pies (mike's new favorite) and we signed in (yet again) with him. Spent a little time walking with Nate and getting to know him better then 3 miles then to Three Forks for lunch. Found a beautiful spot off-trail by the creek and had an awesome lunch of steak fajitas. Stopped in at Hawk Mountain Shelter 4.5 miles later to get water and decided to keep hiking and not stay the night since there were so many people there (people= noise, no privacy, and rodents). We made it 3.5 more miles to a nice secluded spot on top of Sassafras Mtn. just in time for the sunset. We made a little fire but it ended up being really smoky due to wet wood and lots of wind. Sat under a million stars and watched the trees above us sway in the heavy wind.

The Start (Approach Trail- Amicalola State Park, GA)

2010-03-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Start - Approach Trail to Black Gap Shelter - (7.3 mi)
Dad dropped us off, we signed in and weighed our packs (only 33lbs each!), took pictures, and said goodbye. Set off and immediately met a guy named Nate from Connecticut. Nice guy, we'll probably be seeing lots of him. Climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs to the top of Amicalola Falls and felt as if our thighs were made of jello. At least we're starting off knowing who's boss. Hiked one or two miles and took a break to let it all settle in. Continued another ~5mi to Black Gap Shelter. On the way there we got our first glimpse of Springer (the start of the AT) all shrouded in clouds. It was cold and windy and clear where we were. Tented near the shelter and called it an early night.

Almost there.

2010-03-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone. Mike and I have spent the past few weeks frantically getting ready for our wedding, spending time with friends and family, and now frantically getting the last of our gear together and organizing for our hike. It looks like now we'll be starting a day ahead of what we thought, actually stepping foot on the trail sometime Friday instead of Saturday.
We are currently in Sherwood, MD with Mom and Alan where we've been packing and relaxing for the past 3 days. Tomorrow morning at around 10 Mom and Alan will shoo us into the car after we check, double check, and triple check our stuff (and of course we'll leave something behind) and drive to Savage, MD where my dad will be picking us up and driving us the remaining ~9 hours to Amicalola Falls Park in Georgia. We'll probably get a hotel room somewhere on the way and set off on the approach trail to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail Friday morning or early afternoon.
We are out of our minds with excitement; I don't think we'll sleep a wink these next two nights.
2 days till AT. Holy moly!

Wedding

2010-03-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing day and are deeply grateful for everything everyone did to make it so special. We were married at 5:00pm in Gladwyne, PA and we couldn't have been luckier with the weather - it was gorgeous.
Special shout-outs to Mom and Alan for a beautiful wedding that so much exceeded our expectations, to Uncle Lowie and Bee for being such warm and gracious hosts and letting us take over their place for the reception, to Jody and Greg for the wonderful party the night before, to Leila and Rian for all their help in the logistics and lighting and for hooking a bride up with hair and make-up, to Ma and Pa Catts for their continual support, and to all of our family members and friends who took the time to celebrate with us. It was awesome. Thank you all so much.
And so without further ado, here are a few of the long-awaited wedding photos. By the time we get back from the trail we will be able to get our hands on more. Enjoy.

Recovering

2010-03-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hey all. We're here in New Jersey at Laura's dad's/the Hill's. Having problems sleeping but still very tired. We'll be doing official entries for all our missed days tomorrow or ASAP (got in day 10 today) and uploading pictures and stuff so stay tuned for that. Thanks for reading so far.
Part 1 COMPLETED!
Now to get married...
HECK YEAH!

Day 12

2010-03-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

Coming soon...

Day 11

2010-03-04T23:45:00.000-08:00

We awoke to another beautiful morning with tons of different kinds of birds singing, and took our time enjoying the first deciduous forest we'd camped in since we left the east coast over 5 years ago. Mike made an awesome breakfast of cheeseburger-mac, then hard boiled some eggs for our drive that day. It was funny to find out how close to the lake we had actually camped the night before. We had literally stayed on the shore of Shores Lake without even knowing it. Anyway, it was getting later so we packed up the last of our stuff, collected some junk from the surrounding sites to throw away, and headed back to civilization. The drive out of the park was pretty interesting since we hadn't seen anything in the dark the night before. We got a good overview of the whole lake as we drove up one of the (smaller-sized) mountains and were shocked at how much we had underestimated its size. As we drove on we got a good look at the houses we had driven past on the way in... and the residents got a good look at us from their front porches. Those places were as ramshackle as they get and we even had a run in with what we deduced to be the Ozarkian's take on neighborhood patrol. There was a dude... in a white pick-up truck... stopped at an intersecting road. As we rolled by he watched us and sipped his beer. (!!!) As we got on down the road he pulled out after us (no surprise), tailgated us for a couple miles, then eased up and continued to follow us at a distance until we got out of the forest. I guess you can't blame him for being curious, we've been a strange sight the whole trip in our Budget truck cruising around in backwoods areas, but we kept an eye out and didn't plan to stop at all... for any reason. Back on the highway, it was 3-4 hours to the Mississippi River and Memphis which would mark another milestone for us. Even though we're excited to be getting close to home, we can't help but feel a little sad that this trip is almost over. Tonight we made it into Knoxville, TN and decided to treat ourselves to a room with a jacuzzi. Unfortunately we don't have too much time to use it because we crossed into the eastern standard time zone right before we got into town, but we're doing our best to enjoy it. Tomorrow we should be making it home before dark and we're really looking forward to seeing Mike's folks.

Day 10

2010-03-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

All through the night last night we heard yipping and howling, undoubtedly from coyotes, but aside from that slept well in the bags with liners. (A+ to Campmor's down bags.) We were up and packing by 9:00 CST when Laura first noticed a bloody fish head on the ground while on her way to the trash can. The area is open to fishing/hunting and while it was understandable for it to be there (field butchering is common), the hunters should know better... For us campers it's really not cool to sleep directly next to a tasty snack for wild animals. To our horror, on our final walkthrough of our campsite before leaving, we were shocked and appalled to realize we had set up camp amongst a whole bunch of different kinds of meat discarded on the ground. Apparently, we had missed all that in the dark when we arrived last night and were sleeping in what could have been a buffet for the coyotes (or whatever else they have in Kansas).
Trying to make up for oversleeping a little, we decided to skip over a hot breakfast and eat our snacks in the car and get our drive on. We watched the prairie turn to farmland while driving across the entire length of Oklahoma. We felt very authentic with the Oklahoma license plate on our truck until, of course, we would pull in for gas or go in for a cup of coffee and stick out like the crazy rain-jacket wearing, mountain loving, city people we are.
Hours passed. Many hours. And finally as it got dark, we crossed into Arkansas, made a left, and drove into the Ozark National Forest. Again, we had decided this at practically the last moment, but had a much easier time finding this campground than the last. On the way in we saw some wildlife (opossum, deer, raccoon, and shadowy bigfoots), drove up and down a couple mountains, and found our destination for the night. After a quick and chilly camp set up, we saw there was a bunch of firewood piled next to the firepit and a couple of pieces of half-burnt ones still in there so we took advantage of the opportunity to have a fire and burn up someone's leftovers. For the second night in a row, the temperature was in the 20's, and as we huddled around our fire we heard the coyotes again, this time MANY more of them and much louder because the sound was reverberating off the mountains and through the valleys. One of the sequences(?) of howling was strikingly melodic and it was creepy how much it sounded like singing. We managed to get a long series of howls in a movie on our camera, though this one was not nearly as harmonic. We let the fire burn down and went to sleep.

Day 9

2010-03-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

So we're sitting here in a grassland in Kansas, the next grassland over from the one we had planned to stay at... just in a different state and time zone(!). It's hard to believe that just yesterday we were in the desert. Actually we saw some more desert this morning before heading up into the mountains of northern New Mexico/southern Colorado so that makes it all feel even more unreal.

Anyway we pretty much just drove all day with Mike steering the ship and Laura tried her best to stay awake (but failed once or twice). Once again we got to see the landscape change, this time from high desert to snowy mountain passes to the prairie and, as always, got a bunch of photos.
Outside of our tent right now is a beautiful clear sky with more stars than either of us believe we have seen before. It is cold as heck but we're staying warm under our down sleeping bags and speaking of, it is about time to hit the hay for us so this will have to be a short-ish entry.
Pictures soon.

Day 8

2010-03-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

Where to begin.
Today was one of the most spectacular days we've had. The Petrified Forest was THE most unique place we've been to. It's awesome because you have these crazy ancient petrified logs laying around everywhere and if you start at the southern end of the park you see the landscape change from the Great Basin type desert to the Painted Desert. So it's kinda a two-for-one deal in that you get to see two incredible, remarkable, almost indescribable natural phenomenons in one place, contrasted against each other.

The section of the park thats accessible without venturing into the backcountry consists of a stretch of road 28 miles long. We spent 6 hours there on that little stretch and still felt as if we had to hurry through. If any of you are ever in or near that area of Arizona, Mike and I URGE you to go check it out. It was so completely different than anything else we'd experienced that we're already thinking about how to get back someday and spend time hiking in the backcounty.
We're still overwhelmed with it all and it's proving hard to find the words to describe our time there today. In lieu of descriptions we will post a ton of photos (as soon as we have wifi again).

After the park, sunburnt, famished, and tired we set off again on I-40 towards Albuquerque. An hour after that we arrived in Gallup, NM to grab some food and stop at a grocery store for provisions. It was at this point that Mike declared that he was "done driving for the day because New Mexico was even weirder than Arizona" and he just wanted to go relax and go to bed. I concurred and we got a room.
Tomorrow, we just decided, we will try to skirt around Texas and head just a little north over to Colorado to stay in the Comanche National Grassland which seems to be some sort of prairie-like area. Better than staying in a hotel, for sure.
Onward!

Day 7

2010-02-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well... the storm wasn't all that bad after all. We only really got a total of two inches at most but it snowed pretty much all night and up until we left the park. This morning we got up, and after enjoying the luxury of being able to walk down the street to get a cup of coffee at the general store, we went back over to the rim to check out the canyon again. On the half a mile walk over we noticed that it was getting more and more foggy and when we reached the canyon we looked out to behold (once again!) the magnificent view... only to see white. The only thing that was visible was the canyon wall dropping down into nothingness below us. Undeterred, we decided to go ahead with our plan of continuing yesterday's walk down the rim trail and took the opportunity to go into a bunch of the shops, observatory points, galleries, and the Bright Angel Lodge. We reached the end of the main drag and continued a little ways down the unpaved path that doesn't have rails to block the view and is far less visited. We found a place to sit and were rewarded with a break in the fog which allowed us to get an elusive glimpse into the canyon. We sat until the fog rolled back in again and decided that we'd hit the road again instead of spending more time walking the rim when we'd probably just gotten the best view we'd see.

We headed out with plans for an extremely easy afternoon of driving an estimated 1.5 hours to spend the night in Flagstaff. Arriving there (after driving through another snowstorm and near whiteout conditions) we decided to just get the drive to the Petrified Forest out of the way today so we'd have more time to explore tomorrow. We enjoyed the views a lot along the drive. There were scattered rain and snow showers hovering above the desert while at the same time you could look out and see the sun shining out in patches. The landscape was so flat and the view so unobstructed that we could see for miles and miles and miles (and miles and miles). Along the way we stopped (or maybe attempted to stop) at a couple of roadside attractions/trading posts, but being that it's Sunday most were closed (and really creepy when deserted...) We DID find an awesome place here in the tiny city of Holbrook, Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Co., where we got our first glimpse of the trees that time has turned to stone. Now we're settling into our hotel room for the night anxiously looking forward to what tomorrow will bring, so stay tuned!

Day 6

2010-02-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

Neither Mike nor I realized there might be snow at the Grand Canyon. In fact, we didn't really even know that it snowed in Arizona at all. So on the drive over this morning, from our night's stay in Williams over to the park, we were amazed when the little patches of snow we'd been seeing turned into one big blanket.
As we write this it is lightly snowing with an estimated accumulation of 3-5 inches overnight. In the morning another wave of the storm is supposed to dump another inch or two on top. This being the first snow we've seen this year we're enjoying ourselves, hunkered down in our tent, at the only campground open here. There's a handful of other people camping here we must be as crazy as us, so that's reassuring, and we also have the advantage of having our truck which contains anything we could possibly need.
We're excited to have our first snow-camping experience together and also for the opportunity to test out our cold weather gear that we will be using next month on the trail. So far so good!
Anyway, we got to spend a couple of hours walking around here today and the scale of the canyon is almost incomprehensible.
We are on the South rim and from where we were today the distance to the other side was 8.5 miles. 8.5 miles!!! At it's widest it's something like 18 miles across. It is almost too big for it to even feel like it's real, more like a big fantastic backdrop that gets lowered each morning when the visitors arrive. We're lucky to be able to see the canyon in an unconventional way- during winter. Now back at our tent, snow is falling, and we're looking forward to a possible crazy night of snow and maybe more tomorrow....

Updates + Photos

2010-02-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We're finishing up at our hotel room (with wi-fi!) here in Williams before taking off for the Grand Canyon. As you've noticed, we have changed the format of the blog so it is easier to read and doesn't hurt the eyeballs as much. We've also added some pictures to our posts and did a long updated entry for our 3rd day. Tonight we plan on getting Day 4 on there as well as today's post. So check past posts for new pics and entries and we'll be updating soon!

Day 5

2010-02-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

This morning we peeked out of our tent to be greeted with the full grandeur of the Mojave. We managed to make it through the night without freezing our butts off thanks to our extra down blanket we had stashed in the truck. Waking up wasn't a chore at all and we set about making an awesome breakfast of coffee, bacon, and eggs (car camping rocks!). While Mike was tending the frying of the bacon, Laura wandered around and took photos of all the different types of cactus while gathering together all the trash (not too much, just your standard beer cans and bottles, cig butts, etc) to be disposed of at the next rest stop. Mike and I believe strongly in the principles of Leave No Trace (link: http://www.outdoors.org/education/lnt/lnt-principles.cfm) so we always try to pick up what trash we can at the places we stay so it'll be as nice as possible for the next people.
Anyway, I digress. While I was walking around picking things up I happened across one lizard under a rock and a tiny scorpion(!) under a can. Mike and I then spent a good while after breakfast looking for critters under rocks but had no further luck. Mike'll just have to believe me that there really were scorpions.

After packing up we made our way past the incredible Mojave sand dunes (which were formed from wind blowing the sand from a nearby dry lake) to the Kelso Depot Visitor's Center which serves as the main visitor's center for the park. The building was built in 1924 by the Union Pacific Railroad to serve as a transfer point and water station for the steam locomotives. The area had a boom during World War II due to, in part, the mining opportunities in the area and the need for an outpost on the way to Los Angeles. Nowadays the town is pretty run-down with the exception of the Depot building itself which was renovated and re-opened in 2004, 10 years after the Mojave was declared a National Preserve. After a quick informational video about the park and a nice chat with one of the park rangers we headed out to the largest and densest grove of joshua trees in the world (even more impressive than Joshua Tree National Park 60 miles south of the Mojave!). We took another ~4 mile hike to a vantage point on Teutonia Peak (5,755 ft.) while working on our tans, then headed back to the truck to set out towards Arizona. Four and a half hours later, and another 3,000 ft. of elevation gain, we found ourselves out of the high desert. We were once again surrounded by snow and conifers as we passed through the Kaibab National Forest on I-40. We decided to call it a day and pulled into Williams, AZ (6,800 ft.) where we found a cheap room with wi-fi so we could update our blog. Tomorrow morning we're off to the Grand Canyon.

(Note: Wow! It's awesome to know that there are people out there actually looking at our blog... once again, thank you guys for reading along and keeping us motivated to record all this. The comments are fun to read but we've been having problems deciphering who's who. If you would like to help lessen our confusion, please end a comment with your name or some sort of clue as to who you are... Unless of course you'd like to remain anonymous and keep us guessing whether we know you or if you are an obsessive internet stalker... THANK YOU GUYS!)

Day 3/4 (placeholder)

2010-02-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Right now we're sitting around a campfire in the high desert of california (4,000 ft.).... Sorry we didn't post an update yesterday (or today really) but we're hoping to find a place to charge my phone tomorrow afternoon, and we'll tell you about our last 2 days then. Thanks to everybody for your support and we will post photos as soon as we hit a place with wifi. 'Til then- mike and laura

Day 3 (updated)

2010-02-24T23:30:00.000-08:00

We started the day off with a continental breakfast at our motel and got on the road right away. We continued down 101 to the Redwoods National Park where, in addition to crazy-big trees, there are crazy amounts of elk. We drove by one person's yard where there were a few just laying around in the lawn like dogs would. All in all we probably saw 60-70 elk, two herds of which were pretty large.
We checked out the visitor's center before heading into the park. Neat place, but almost bordering on creepy with all the taxidermy... what was really cool was a great big chunk of a redwood tree that had the antlers of an elk embedded in it. Apparently a looong time ago some unfortunate elk must have gotten his antlers caught in a knot in the wood or something, died, and over the next while (hundreds of years?.. it didn't say) the wood grew around the antlers. Awesome! I imagine the hiker who eventually discovered walked by and happened to notice it must have been pretty surprised.
Anyway, at the park we planned on doing a 1 mile hike in, 1 mile hike out - short, I know, but we also planned on making it to a KOA campground south of Sacramento in a town named Lodi so we had to stay on track. We set off on our hike and were immediately dumbfounded by the sheer scale of everything. We took our time and seemed to only be able to walk from tree to tree examining each one, taking photos, and discussing how amazing they were... so we were completely surprised when we happened upon a sign with a mile mark that said we had gone 2.4 miles. Oops!

We turned around at that point and hurried (as much as possible for us in the land of giant trees) back to our truck to get back on the road. We ended up being an hour behind schedule but we figured the loss of time was well worth it for the experience.
Back in the truck, we set off again down the coast to Arcata where we caught the CA-299 towards Redding through the Trinity National Forest. Thankfully this has been a mild winter in that part of the state, so we managed to avoid snow covered passes and could focus on enjoying the scenery. As we were making our way out of the mountains and towards the valley, we noticed an older lady attempting to flag down a passing car. She had gotten a flat tire and had been trying to get a passing car to stop for sometime, so we gave her a ride to the next town (if you could even call it that). On the way, she told us a little bit about the area (and the unusually mild winter they were having) and wished us luck on our travels. Once we left the mountains we began to notice the changing landscape (i.e. Palm trees and shrubs) and we felt like we had definitely left the northwest. We caught I-5 in Redding, CA, and 4.5 hours later (and a total of 600 miles for the day) we were south of Sacramento in a small town named Lodi searching for a place to stay for the night. Our hopes of camping for cheap at a KOA Campground quickly faded when we learned that the tent sites were closed due to mud (and flooding?) so we bit the bullet and spent the extra money to get an actual hotel room. On Thursday we're heading to SW California to spend the night in the Mojave Desert, so hopefully we don't get eaten by coyotes or stung by too many scorpions before we can finally make it out of California and head to Arizona!

Day 2

2010-02-23T23:36:00.000-08:00

Day 2
Woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of rain drops on our rainfly. I'm happy to say we had no raccoon attacks and all in all it was a good night's rest.
Last night we had schemed a little bit about our plan of attack and thought, among other things, that we'd shower, take a walk down the pathway to the beach, and drive to the next town to grab breakfast. Once we actually woke up our plans changed to "let's just brush our teeth and get out of dodge". We took care of our business and were almost ready to leave when mike went to make one last pit stop at the bathroom and I piddled around with some stuff in the back. I was at the front of the truck when mike came running back with a story about his experience in the public restroom... anyway, distractedly, we hopped in the truck and slowly made our way out of the campgrounds. About to turn onto the highway, mike at the last moment suggested that we catch a glipse of the view at the beach parking lot across the road. After making a loop thru, we were just about to the highway again when we saw a van parked in the road ahead of us. A (kinda scary lookin) local guy came walking up to our truck and as we cautiously rolled down the window a bit he shouted "Hey! You know your back door's open?"
Woops...
We checked everything out and it all miraculously still in there. Whew! Disaster avoided! Anyway, needless to say we will be obsessive about the status of the back door from here on out.
From there we continued south on 101 as the rain and wind gradually increased. We stopped a couple of times to take in some awesome views of the coastline (most notably the seastacks) and decided to skip lunch anticipating that we would be in Crescent City (CA) by early afternoon. About 50 miles north of the OR-CA border the rain was pelting down and the wind was shaking our truck... Mike turned the wipers on to full blast and after a bit of clunking the two blades collided with each other and parts came flying off. Without the wipers, visibility was next to nothing, not to mention the logging trucks that were barrelling down the road spraying us and causing the truck to shake even more. Luckily there was a safe spot to pull off where we called the truck company for road-side assistance (which took 2 hours to arrive). By the time we got back on the road again it was nearing dark, so we decided to spend the night in Crescent City, ensuring a good (dry) night's sleep.
Tomorrow we're planning on actually getting to the redwoods, and hopefully somewhere south of Sacramento. Wish us luck and we'll keep you posted.

Day 1

2010-02-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

As we write this mike and I are sitting in our tent drinking a beer somewhere along the Oregon coastline. We ended up taking more time leaving this morning than we had initially planned. Actually got into the truck and drove away around 1:00pm. I think the shock of leaving seattle and pretty much stepping into the unknown has yet to fully settle in but, after a tear or two leaving town this afternoon, we are livin it up. It was a really strange feeling driving away from what, up until that moment, had been our home and not really knowing what was going to happen, what our exact route would be, or even where we would sleep tonight. Got to the Oregon coastline after it was already dark and after passing what must have been at least a half dozen campgrounds that were still seemingly closed for the season we pulled into the one we're at now (Carl G. Washburn Memorial Campground) at about 9:30. As we were setting up our tent i was hearing some rustling in the bushes and shined our flashlight in there to find a good sized raccoon looking back. No biggie, he seemed to mind his business while we were doing our thing but is also now perched (in his nest?) in a tree pretty much above our heads.
We plan on going to the redwoods tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing more of this coastline... but in the daylight when we can appreciate it more.
Here's hoping that no kamikaze raccoons bombard our tent tonight. More tomorrow on Day 2 of our cross-country adventure.
P.S. Carolene & Jaime - we wish we could call you to let you know we actually DID leave but we have no cell service! We'll call you soon (you too Graham Cracker).
P.P.S. The beer we're sipping on is a crummy one ironically named Hamm's. It's definitely no Rainier (pronounced rain-yay for those of you with class).

Cats

2010-02-16T19:23:00.000-08:00

Mike and I managed to acquire 2 cats (Keys and Ashley) during our time in Seattle and we will be shipping them away from all they've ever known to the other side of the country tomorrow morning. In order for the airline to allow us to ship them we had to get a carrier with enough room "for the animal to sit up and not touch the top of the kennel". They said that for a cat that would be around 15" high. We measured the cat carriers that we already had and they were a mere foot in height. So we went to the pet store and ended up with two new GIANT carriers for the cats. Seriously, these things could fit Mike or I if we could fold ourselves in half. The size seems a little ridiculous if you ask me, but it's apparently what the airline requires and at least we'll know our kitties will have plenty of room to sleep, sit, and dance around in luxury during their 8 hour trip tomorrow. Mike's parents will be picking them up on the other end and taking care of them at their home (thank you thank you thank you!) and we'll try not to miss them too much as we take the next two and a half weeks to make our way back to them in Pennsylvania.
Here's to the beginning of the adventures!!!! (...even though it's just the cats for now)

Urban hiking.

2010-02-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Met up with Beth and David in Ravenna last night to grab some drinks. They will be starting the AT about four days after ourselves. Funny though, Mike met Beth (a barista) at the Starbucks right next to his work. He found out by chance that she was also planning a thru-hike which is pretty incredible since the odds of just running into a fellow 2010 AT classmate is something like 1 in 200,000.. or even more if you figure that a majority of AT hikers are probably living somewhat near the trail. We had a good time hanging out with them and we're looking forward to seeing them on the trail in Georgia next month. We were so pumped about hiking that we walked home from the bar, about 5.5 miles. Laura was wearing her clogs -d'oh!- and developed a couple tiny blisters but it was an awesome walk.

Went to REI today to get the last of our gear for the trip. We finally made ourselves spend the time to make our shoe selection - 2 hours! It was a task that we had been putting off and agonizing over for months. We both walked out of the store with new boots that we were really happy with. Phew! We forewent the bus trip again and tested them out on the 4 mile walk home with pleasing results. We're glad we have all our gear pretty much taken care of now since other things are in need of attention like wedding details and a plan of action for our road trip starting next week.
More about those tomorrow.

Last day of work

2010-02-14T17:09:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well... here we are. Whew- even though we felt like we'd never reach this day, here it is. Laura finished her last day at the Henry Art Gallery today, and I said goodbye to sandwiches yesterday (side note: I DO look forward to saying hello to a cheesesteak when I get home). It was hard to say goodbye (for now) to all of our co-workers/friends, and we'd both like to say thanks to all of them for making us feel really special- we'll be in touch.

AAAAHHHHHH! Now for the crazy and extremely stressful tasks of packing, shipping our cats Ashley and Keys, finding enough time to wrap up all of our loose ends, saying more goodbyes, and then finally leaving Seattle (our *gasp* home of 5.5 years)!

7 more days in Seattle.

Why are we hiking the AT?

2010-01-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of different reasons why Mike and I decided to hike the AT. Let me try and explain (somewhat disjointedly):

*Living in Seattle for the past few years we've had the opportunity to be able to hike a lot of amazing trails that have built our experience and deepened our thirst for backpacking.

*Both of us were interested in the idea(/challenge/excitement/adventure) of a long hike.

*The AT appeals to us because it goes through all of our "home" states including within a couple of miles of Mike's parent's place (the house he grew up in).

*Recently, realizing that it was either time to uproot from the Northwest or settle in for a long stretch we decided to move back to the East Coast after being out here for nearly 5 and a half years. (Sooo excited to see our family!)

All this plus more went into our decision to do the hike. Another main factor was the simple fact that... well, that we could. Many people dream about doing something like this their entire lives but don't get the opportunity. And Mike and I already happen to be at a crossroads in our lives where we're already making a big shift (moving, marriage) and it is incredibly convenient that we wont have things like cars or rent or utility bills to worry about.

We feel really lucky to be able to do this and we're more excited than I can explain.

67 days until we start the trail.

Hard work.

2010-01-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

Wow. So much to do, so little time.

Mike and I have been so busy for the past few months that the time has just been slipping away. To be able to finance everything we're doing we've both taken a second job on the side and this has left little time for anything else. Our everyday routine (that's right! No weekends!) for the past 4 months has been this:
Wake up. Go to work. Work a lot. Come home and dream/plan about our AT hike. Sleep.
This has left little time for things like cleaning and showering and eating. (I joke, we've been eating)... but in all seriousness, it looks like Mike and I will each be quitting one of our jobs and lessening our responsibilities earlier than we had initially planned so that we don't go CRAZY in our last few weeks trying to get everything accomplished.

But first we have to live through the next 2 weeks of the dual-job situation and as for me, I insanely accepted a project from my art gallery job to produce a video piece for their upcoming yearly Gala. Due in 2 weeks. I'll get it all done if I don't die trying. The good news is that in 2 weeks I'll only have to worry about 1 job until I leave. The bad is that until then I practically have 3.

(D'oh!)

Here goes.

2010-01-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

41 days until we leave Seattle.
68 days until our wedding.
75 days until we start hiking.

Hey everyone! Glad you found your way to our blog. We'll be chronicling our two week drive home from Seattle to the East Coast, a little bit of our wedding, and a lot of our upcoming Appalachian Trail thru-hike here.

As you can see, we've begun the countdown. In fact, we've had the countdown going for a good 2+ months now and at this point we are beginning to get the I-can't-believe-this-is-actually-all-about-to-start-happening jitters. Our lives are about to be completely shaken up and rearranged and we're really excited to see what things are going to happen this year and where things lead us next.

So try to check back... and we'll try to write something.

L&M