Home!

Hey all,

I'm writing this post on my 5th day home, after summitting Katahdin on Saturday! It's been a slow, but good week, at home. I spent a couple days with Pixel and Shazam, showing them around the coast of Maine on Sunday, and then just hanging out here in Winthrop on Monday, before they went back to Houston on Tuesday.

I'm going to write mostly about the last month or so on the trail though, in this post, and then I'll follow it up with a post about life after trail in another week or so. Here are some of my pictures from New Hampshire and Maine:

Andy Pellett came and hiked with me for a few days in eastern VT, and we stayed at this cabin called "The Lookout" on our first night out:

Some cool steps "in mixed media", as I like to say:

I stayed in the Smarts' Mountain Fire Warden's Cabin one night in NH, and watched the sunset from the top of the fire tower:

My cousin Jason came out for a few of the hardest days on the trail, starting with Mt. Moosilauke:

A sign warning us about the trail we just used to come down from Moosilauke:

At the edge of Lonesome Lake, just before Jason headed back home:

A view of Franconia Ridge, NH:

The Booty Club making its way up Franconia Ridge after a LONG break for Hurricane Irene:

An attempted panorama of Franconia Ridge:

After sting #6 of the trail, the whole back of my hand was severely swollen:

A sweet blue-blaze I took to climb up onto the Presidential Range:

The crowd on top of Mt. Washington (most of them drove):

I think this one speaks for itself:

Climbing down from Mt. Madison in a nasty storm:

FINALLY:

I made friends with a spruce grouse, who wouldn't run away; I guess that's why they're protected, because they're too friendly to run away and would all get killed:

Andy came out again for Bigelow:

Hitting the 2000-mile mark between Avery Peak of Bigelow and Little Bigelow:

Hiking along the shore of Flagstaff Lake, just north of Bigelow:

The final leg of the journey, the 100-mile wilderness:

On my second day in the 100-mile wilderness, I fell and slammed my wrist into a rock:

On the third day, my outlook on the 1MW was much improved by walking along Pemadumcook Lake:

However, some jerk left about 10 pounds of junk in a shelter, which I carried for 3 miles to White House Landing, which is NOT very hiker friendly:

Finally reached the end of the 1MW at Abol Bridge, where I had a fantastic view of Katahdin:

Honeybee, Chickadee, Shazam, Pixel, Gravity, and some lady who was off-her-rocker excited about making it to the top, and couldn't believe we had hiked all the way from Georgia to get there:

The shot that took 2181 miles and 192 days for me to take:

Thank you for following and supporting me on this adventure!!

Home Sweet Home

Hey guys,

I've finally made it to Maine (on Saturday) and I'm currently sitting in my parents' kitchen! I came home on a whim last night with Pixel and Shazam, the remnant of Booty Club, because we decided it would be better to try to get here than to spend the night at the hostel in Bethel and try to hitch back to the trail in the morning. I'm going to take my car with us up to the trail, and from there hopefully we'll be able to slackpack most of the rest of the trail up to Monson!

So, here are some highlights from the past month-ish:

Andy came out and hiked with me for a few days from Killington into Hanover, and then I spent the next two days doing bigger miles so I could catch up with Pixel and Shazam for her birthday on August 20th, in Glencliff, NH; my cousin Jason came out and hiked with us for 3 days, over Mts. Moosilauke, Kinsman, and another that I can't think of at the moment; we spent 5 days in Wenham/Beverly/Boston thanks to Hurricane Irene; we had beautiful weather on Franconia Ridge, and took our time through the White Mountains and Presidentials; and since we were soaked coming down into Pinkham Notch, we spent the night in Gorham, NH, and then hiked for two days over the Wildcats and the Carters, only to spend two more nights in Gorham; and finally, 3 days later, we are in Maine (!) and have already done Mahoosuc Notch, arguably the toughest (slowest, maybe) mile on the trail, as well as Mahoosuc Arm, which I thought was harder, and finished up the hike into Grafton Notch with Old Speck, where I was able to see Katahdin when I climbed the fire tower!!

We've got about 265 miles to go, and hopefully that will take us less than 3 weeks. We're going to use my car to slackpack almost all the way to Monson, so hopefully that will allow us to make up time and miles!

Normally I would include some photos, but this computer is pretty slow and I've already uploaded all the new ones to my picasa site: https://picasaweb.google.com/113773606098607456017/ATPhotos?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJjyr8LWiMLPzQE&feat=directlink

Enjoy! And please get in touch with me if you want to hike with us in Maine!

Highlights of MA and VT!

Hey guys,

Since I last posted, I've gone from CT into MA and through VT, and now I'm sitting at the Dartmouth Outing Club offices in Hanover, NH! Here are some highlights of the past couple hundred miles:

Celebrating my entrance into CT with a Coke:

Phlegm's last white blaze of 2011, in Great Barrington, MA:

My beard has grown to a formidable length:

BEST blue-blaze EVER - lunch/dinner, plus an awesome ride, plus an awesome trail and shelter partway up Greylock, plus a shelter all to ourselves:

I hiked up Greylock for sunrise on August 5:

Bascom Lodge, on top of Greylock:

A view from the back porch of Bascom Lodge; also the only neighboring peak showing above the clouds that morning:

Entering VT on the Long Trail:

A view down the green tunnel that is the AT in VT:

Early morning on Stratton Mtn, VT:

I stayed at Sutton's Place, a guest house owned by Frank Sutton, in Manchester Center, VT:

Figured I'd take one for my sister at this shop in Manchester Center, VT:

The spaceship-like gondola on Bromley Mtn, VT:

Two really cool bridges over a stream on the Old Job Trail, VT:

The Clarendon Gorge, where I went swimming and finally had dry socks for the first time in DAYS (views from the suspension bridge over the river):

Sun streaming through the clouds and fog on the way up Killington, VT:

Some views from the top of Killington, VT:

The Inn at the Long Trail, at the base of Killington:

I crossed into NH as I walked across the Connecticut River this morning: