Ed & Mike-AT Experience: July 2-July 15, 373.1 Miles until Katahdin

Day 9 Thursday July 2-Congdon Shelter 14.1 Miles

Today we left Williamstown and got back on the trail. Mike was feeling a little better, although still not at 100% but it was time to go. Today we left Massachusetts and crossed over into Vermont, that's 11 states down and only 3 more to go!

Day 10 Friday July 3-Kid Gore Shelter 18.7 Miles

Pretty big mile day today, honestly it's been a 2 weeks since this day so I don't remember exactly what all happened. I'm sure I walked for about 10 hours, took a few breaks, ate a lot of food, set up my hammock and went to sleep. That's a typical day on the trail and they start to run together after you've been out here for a while.

Day 11 Saturday July 4-Econo Lodge 6.2 Miles

Well after hiking for about 30 minutes today, the sky fell out on us. We had checked the weather on Friday and there was a ZERO PERCENT chance of rain. It rained all day long and felt like it was 45 degrees outside and we saw that there was a Econo lodge not too far away so we decided to spend the 4th of July in the motel instead of in the rain, no regrets doing that.

Day 12 Sunday July 5-Lost Pond Shelter 14.8 Miles

We had lots of luck hitch hiking this day, we were able to hitch to the Price Chopper (basically a Kroger) and able to hitch hike back to the trail after we resupplied.

Day 13 Monday July 6-Clarendon Shelter 18.6 Miles

Well today was Mike's last day on the trail. We were stopped at a shelter getting a snack and he happened to check his email. Mike had recently accepted a job at Teleflex, a biomedical engineering company. He received an email from them saying you have 72 hours to take a drug test. He obviously wasn't expecting this, although he will pass with flying colors there aren't many of these drug centers on the Appalachian Trail. So the next road we came to he got a ride to the nearest town, Rutland, Vermont. He stayed the night at the Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel and then caught a few different buses until he made it to Boston, Massachusetts. So our adventure became my adventure and it would be my first time hiking by myself. Mike definitely made the trail interesting but hiking by myself also has it's advantages. The only way to go is forward!

Day 14 Tuesday July 7-Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel 16.4 Miles

Today I began my hike by myself and also climbed one of the tallest mountains in Vermont, Mt. Killington (3,928 ft.) I would go from 1,390 ft. all the way up. It was a gradual climb and not too bad but of course as soon as I get to the top the rain starts. I was blessed in the fact that the rain did hold off until I reached the summit. One of the hikers had told me about a Hostel called the Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel. A hostel where they accept donations. It was an easy hitch 10 miles down the road so that's where I was headed. I wanted to be out of the rain and in some clean clothes.

The people in the hostel were some of the nicest people I've ever met. They were members of the Twelve Tribes Commune whose main beliefs were rooted from the book of Acts about community and helping each other through life. They invited me to a picnic they were having where we danced, prayed and ate hot dogs and salmon burger patties. It was quite an experience that I won't forget. They have hostels and communes all over the world, I was able to speak to some of their German sisters at the picnic. Very interesting and fun day.

Day 15 Wednesday July 8-Chateauguay Rd. 14.5 Miles

Today I left the Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel and took a $2.00 bus ride back to the trail head. The day was beautiful and I passed through Gifford Woods State Park as well as Thundering Falls, a large waterfall in the area. It was a beautiful day and I ended up throwing my hammock up after a forest road. I was here by myself for a couple of hours until a guy named Ox joined me. Ox is a nice guy from Baltimore, Maryland who is about my age and is very similar to Mike and I. I would hike with him on and off for the next week and a half until he got off the trail.

Day 16 Thursday July 9-Thistle Hill Shelter 17 Miles

Another nice day of hiking, very pretty day but looked like rain. So I got to the shelter this night around 3:30pm which is usually way too early to call it a day. But, unfortunately there wasn't another shelter for 8.8 miles so I decided to stay here for the night. It was also supposed to start raining around 4:00pm and not stop until 4:00am so I couldn't just throw my hammock up anyway. So I made a fire here and had the shelter all by myself. I thought I was going to have it that way all night until about 8:30pm when this guy came in whose trail name was Skunk. This guy was a character. He was probably only 21-23 years old but he starts telling me about how he could not get out of town because the cops are jerks and would not let him go. He then goes on to tell me that the people in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are all out to get hikers and that if you ever "step out of line" in these states then the people will call the police on you immediately.

I was already trying to go to sleep when he came in because my plan was to get into Hanover the next day by lunch and it was 15 or so miles away. I had set my alarm for 4:30am so I tried to go to sleep but I kept hearing this guy doing unusual things all night long. So needless to say, I was sleeping with one eye open and didn't sleep too well. But I wanted to get as far away from this guy as possible. He told me he usually doesn't start hiking everyday until 11:30-12:00 which is another red flag in hiker world. Glad I am away from him now.

Day 17 Friday July 10-Greg's House in Hanover, NH 14.7 Miles

So like I said in the last post, I woke up early and was on the trail before 6:00am. The trail was still wet from all the rain the night before so I was soaking wet in about 15 minutes but I knew I was going into town before the day was over so I didn't mind too much. I only stopped 2 times that morning and was able to make it into town before 12:30pm which is great time for me. Before I even made it into town, I ran into trail magic 4 times. One of the trail magic forms was a page of "Trail Angels" who would let you stay at their house for free, all you have to do is call. So that is what I did when I got to town, I called a guy named Greg Cook who I would later learn was someone that gave speeches on trail magic and trail angels. Greg was picking me up at the library at 5:00pm so I had some time to kill.

Hanover is a milestone for me because it begins New Hampshire. This means that I am now done with Vermont and 12 states total with only 2 more to go!!! Hanover is also home to Dartmouth College. On campus there is an Outdoor Club that lets you store your pack there while you look around campus so that's what I did. I dropped my pack off, went to a pizza shop that gave hikers a free slice of pizza and then toured around campus until Greg came and picked me up.

Me and two other hikers stayed at Greg's house, Ox who I already knew and Bladje. Bladje is a young guy from Maine who can fly on the trail. He usually does 20-30 mile days almost every day. Greg took us to pick up some Chinese food and to the grocery for some supplies and then let us relax and watch TV. It was a very fun evening with good conversation and nice people.

Day 18 Saturday July 11-Bill Ackerly's (The Ice Cream Man) front porch 17.5 Miles

Greg dropped us off back at the trail head around 9:00am and we hit it. I was planning on going to the Trapped John Shelter which was 16.6 miles away until someone told me about the Ice Cream Man's house. This is a guy who lives 100 ft. off the trail and lets hikers camp in his yard or sleep on his front porch. He has water you can drink without filtering (which is a huge time saver) and when you arrive he gives you an ice cream sandwich or some other form of ice cream. He is a very nice guy who enjoys a drink or two and also enjoys playing croquet. He has an entire course set up in his backyard. Thanks for the hospitality Bill.

Day 19 Sunday July 12-Hikers Welcome Hostel 26.2 Miles

My original plan for the day was to go 18.6 miles to a campsite but then I heard about a wonderful hiker hostel that was only a few miles further so I decided to do my longest day yet and go for it. It was a rough day with two large mountains to climb. I made it on the trail by 7:30am and made it into the hostel by 8:30pm that night. It was a long and difficult day but I am glad I made it.

Day 20 Monday July 13-Hikers Welcome Hostel Slack pack 9.6 Miles

I was going to relax today and not hike at all, I had been doing really well in miles and deserved a little relaxation but I heard someone mention slack packing. Slack packing is when someone drives you up the trail and you hike back with only the bare essentials, food and water. So you are hiking with a 3 pound pack instead of a 30 pound pack. It is wonderful and truly a gift.

I hiked the second hardest mountain on the Appalachian Trail, Mt. Moosilauke which goes up to 4,802 ft. Even without a pack, it took me hours to climb up this mountain. It was extremely difficult. Usually, with my pack on I will hike about 3 miles an hour. Today, up this mountain without a pack on, I was hiking 1.5 miles an hour. It was very difficult but also very beautiful. It was my first day in the White Mountain range and it was spectacular. I also was able to met a man named Jingles and had the pleasure of hiking with him for a few hours. He is a great guy and I hope to see him again soon. At the hostel this night, a bunch of us were sitting around the fire until we heard something in the nearby woods. I went to go see what it was and behold, it was an actual skunk!! After seeing that I quickly went inside and went to bed. Getting sprayed by a skunk would probably ruin my day.

Day 21 Tuesday July 14-Lincoln, New Hampshire Franconia Cabins Slack pack 17.3 Miles

Today was another day of slack packing and I could get used to it. The White's are known as one of the hardest parts of the Appalachian Trail. They say that once you get to the White's, you are done with 90% of the miles but you've only completed 15% of the effort. That's a somewhat intimidating thing to hear but I am still making it. It was another difficult day where even without a pack on I was going slow. The hostel dropped my pack off in the next town, Lincoln, New Hampshire at this guy Chet's house. It sounds sketchy because it is, but that's what life on the trail is like. You put your hope and trust into people you don't know at all and hope everything works out OK and it usually does.

I started hiking around 8:30am and didn't reach town until 6:00pm. It was a rough day but luckily I ran into some fellow hikers and hiked with them for a little while. One of their parents were actually in town and able to give us a ride into town so that was great. It rained on us pretty good after we stopped in at one of the famous huts of the Whites. These are lodges in the middle of the mountains. The hikers know them as places to possibly get some free food. The people that run and operate these huts have to pack all the trash out and that includes food that wasn't eaten. So if you're lucky and don't mind washing some dishes, they will give you some free food. We did some dishes and they gave us some pork chops which were delicious.

After the free food and dish washing, we started hiking again in the rain and eventually made it to Wookie's parents car where they gave us a ride to town. We were in the back of their pickup trail while it was raining but luckily they had a tarp for us.

Day 22 Wednesday July 15-Lincoln, New Hampshire Franconia Cabins Zero day

Today I am taking a much needed zero day where I am not hiking at all. I am doing some work by updating this blog and loading pictures to Facebook which takes forever. Hope all is well back home.