Day 67 - 92

I've found it can be difficult to update this blog. Nonetheless here we go...

Day 67

Paul and I left Dick's Dome shelter and walked 26.2 miles to the Blackburn Trail Center. On the way we tackled the "roller coaster" (a surprisingly easy series of about ten short up down climbs). We also stopped by the Bears Den Hostel. Bears Den looks like a castle and is located on top of a small mountain. It would have been nice to stay the night there but I'm glad we decided to stay at Blackburn instead. We didn't know what to expect with Blackburn. To our complete surprise it turned out to be one of the better stays. We arrived around 10pm and were greeted by an elderly couple who served us a full dinner, including soda and beer, for free. Trail magic! Blackburn also has a fully enclosed bunkhouse that's reserved exclusively for hikers. To top it all off, another hiker traded Paul his pack cover for two cigarettes. (Pack covers are a  piece of gear that protects your backpack from rain and usually run for $40+).

Day 68

We awoke to the beginnings of a very serious storm front. Luckily refuge was only 11 miles away. This was because Paul's parents were meeting us in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The rain fell hard, and was very cold. On the plus side, Paul's "two cigarette pack cover" worked like a charm. We reached the Harper's Ferry ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) by noon. There they took our pictures and officially labeled us thru-hiker #7 and #8. The ATC had this really neat 3D topographical map of the Appalachian Trail. It still surprises me how mountainous the south is!

Anyway, shortly after our arrival Paul's parents meet up with us and took us to Taco Bell. Taco Bell = Delicious! And then we went to a hotel. Paul's parents are awesome! If you guys are reading this, thank you for everything! Not only did I get to meet Paul's parents, but I also meet his brother Chris and his brother's girlfriend. Paul's parents also brought me my mail-drop (they made things much easier by allowing me to have my parents mail it to them). The package contained some much desired warm weather clothes (shorts and t-shirt), another filter for my water purification pump, and my bug net mask.

Day 69

After a delicious breakfast, we checked out the town of Harper's Ferry. Paul bought his second pair of shoes, and I picked up some new waterproof shell pants. The we returned to the ATC, said our goodbyes, and continued on the trail. We hiked 8.4 miles to Ed Garvey Shelter and into Maryland. A good chunk of that 8.4 miles was on the COC canal, which made for some easy, and fast, walking. Ed Garvey Shelter is pimped out. Not only is it huge, but it has a fully enclosed upstairs room. We ran into a large amount of Boy Scouts infesting the shelter. But, they were kind enough to leave the upstairs room for us. The pack leaders were interested to hear all our Appalachian Trail stories of hardship and adventure.

Day 70

24.8 miles brought us to Ensign Cowall Shelter. Maryland is easy hiking, with no serious climbs and mostly flat trails. It also has a very historical feel. The trail goes through multiple parks (with soda machines!) and also a couple of important Civil War locations. But best of all was the old George Washington Monument. Built in the 1830's (I think), this monument is a stone tower with a staircase to the top. It was really cool, with some amazing views of Maryland. We also took a side trail for views off of Annapolis Rock.

Day 71

We hiked 18.1 miles out of Maryland and into Pennsylvania. PA was not what we expected. Nearly every hiker we met on the trail told us that PA was going to be miserable. We heard the trail described as the yellow brick road of jagged pointy rocks. I even had one SOBO (southbound) hiker tell me that I was going to blue-blaze in PA, which means to skip a hard section of trail by taking an easier route. Bah! I'm no cheater. Anyway, we found PA to be some of the easiest hiking on the AT. I didn't even see a rocky trail for the first one hundred miles! Paul and I stayed the night at Tumbling Run Shelter. There we met a girl who worked for Outward Bound, a cool organization that takes people on week-long adventures and teaches them all sorts of outdoor skills. She gave us cookies. Mmmmmm.

Day 72

25.8 miles to Toms Run Shelter. We met some hiking dude who told us "this trail is kicking my ass!" He was on his fourth day. Another awesome feature of PA is food access off of the trail. On this day we made a point to eat some Philly Cheese Steak subs at a pizza shop.

Day 73

19 miles to Alec Kennedy Shelter. Near the end of the day we met some hikers who didn't appreciate Paul's decision to not use trekking poles. Trekking poles are metal walking sticks that take your pack weight off of your knees and feet. On the AT 99% of hikers use them, with most believing they are necessary for hiking. They aren't. Paul is proof of this. Other hikers always seem to love giving Paul shit about not having poles.

Day 74 (one of the funnest days on the trail)

Early in the day we reached Boiling Springs PA. There we checked out the ATC building, and hit up a gas station. Paul was getting the itch for beer and discovered that PA has some silly and irritating beer laws. Get this: in PA the only stores that can sell beer are beer distributors and bars, the smallest amount of beer a distributor sells is a case, if you buy cold beer from a distributor they charge you a "cold beer" fee, at a bar you can buy a 6-pack, and 12-packs don't exist. Silly. So, we decided to wait for the bar to open. Two beers later we left Boiling Springs each with our own 6-pack of Yuengling. Along the way we met a runner named Mike. The cool thing about Mike was that he ran the same 2009 marathon that I ran in Afghanistan, except he ran the one in Virginia. Small world.

Anyway, we ran out of beer fast and needed more. Luckily there was a major road with full services about a mile off the trail. we stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts to add some bottles to their trash can when something crazy surprising happened. Out of nowhere, Patrick (trail-name Renaissance) rolled up in an SUV with his brother. The last time we saw Patrick was early Virginia. They picked us up and dropped us off at Arbys. We all talked nonstop for 30 minutes. Then they left. It all happened so fast! On our way back to the trail we stopped at another bar. Because we're awesome they hooked us up with a free beer. And we both picked up another 6-pack. Altogether we hiked 18.2 miles ending the day at Darlington Shelter. We also both managed to drink 15 beers. But hiking and drinking can be a deadly combo. During the night Paul woke up to puke. Yum.

Day 75

Drinking on the trail is fun but it doesn't make for consecutive days of productive hiking. We were hung over. So, our plans changed bringing us 11.4 miles into Duncannon PA. After walking down a dangerously busy road to get groceries, we checked into the Doyle Hotel. Although the Doyle is a very old run-down building, the lady in charge was super nice. It was a good day for a "nero." Duncannon is really not that great. It's really seedy, with strip clubs all over the place. Reminded me of Oahu.

Day 76

We left Duncannon and traveled 29.2 miles to Rausch Gap Shelter. On the way we met the "trench coat kid" at another shelter. This kid was living at a shelter, on the run from the law, had plans to hike to New Jersey to get a job on Jersey Shore, and enjoyed mooching off of hikers. This kid needed to go home. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you meet some different people on this trail.

Day 77

Another high mile day. 32.6 miles brought us to Eagles Nest Shelter. On the way we met Zeus, an 83 year old hiker. The year before Zeus hiked half of the AT, and now he's hiking the later half. Incredible! We also had a close encounter with a 6-foot snake! As we're walking I hear this "electricity" noise next to me. I look over to discover a huge snake, who's head is right next to my leg. This was the first time Paul heard me panic. Ahhhhhhhh! I ran away as fast as possible. Luckily the monster wasn't coiled up in attack mode. It just wanted us to move out it ways, and it told us this by rattling it's tail (weird because it wasn't a rattle snake). Later we found out that it was a non-poisonous rat snake.

The trail was saturated in water and slowed us down, resulting in a horrible five hours of night hiking. I couldn't believe we miscalculated this day so poorly. I don't like night hiking. It stresses me out. At one point I completely stopped and ate some bagels. Eventually we made it to the shelter, but I told Paul that I'm not hiking high miles again. Simply, we don't wake up early enough, and we take to many breaks to do high miles without night hiking.

Day 78

We only had 14.7 miles to go on this day. The trail took us through a very neat (and clean) town called Port Clinton. There I stopped at a candy store and bought a chocolate covered s'more. It was amazing. A little bit further down the trail we took a mile detour to check out the largest Cabela's store in America. Cabela's was a real eye opener. They had all sorts of taxidermy animals, from Polar Bears to African Lions. It was really neat being able to stand next to these animals and size yourself up to them. Comparing a Black Bear to a Polar Bear is like comparing a Chihuahua to a Saint Bernard. Cabela's also had a life size model of the record size Muskie - as big as a Tiger shark, and they live in the Great Lakes! We also stopped at Taco Bell (so good!) and Walmart (so cheap!). But we spent too much time enjoying civilization and in an attempt to avoid night hiking I hiked ahead of Paul (who was taking more time to get things done than planned). To make an awesome day lame I had a very hard time finding Windsor Furnace Shelter. I misread my guide book and walked all over a water reservoir - the wrong direction. Luckily Paul arrived and realized my mistake and found the shelter.

Day 79
All this night hiking was seriously reducing our sleeping time. To counter this evil we once again changed our plans and hiked a short 16.8 miles to Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. On the way we witnessed what my book calls PA's best view, called the Pinnacle. It wasn't that great.

Day 80

16.8 miles to George W. Outer Bridge Shelter. We encountered another big snake. This one was only four feet long, and still a rat snake. But unlike the other, this snake was super lazy and allowed me to move it off the trail with my trekking pole. Paul had his camera rolling, but we couldn't get the snake to rattle it's tail. At this point, we finally started to notice that PA was indeed rocky, but the rocks were never that bad, nor any different than the rocky parts of other states. We also finally noticed PA actually had some good views, like from atop Bear Rocks.

Later, we arrived to the shelter at night (we just can't get away from night hiking), and this crazy kid, named Bill, jumped out from a bush to scare us. He had tattoos on his face that looked like Pac-Man ghosts, and crazy Carrot Top red hair. He scared the shit out of both of us. I went into attack mode and raised my trekking poles like javelins, but then the kid started laughing, and I realized what happened. What a stupid punk. It gets better. This kid was traveling around the east coast on a scooter (the kind that you use your leg to propel forward). Apparently he had some 1,500 miles on his scooter. He was also broke and practicing foraging (which I think is a badass skill, but meant for African or Alaskan adventures, not U.S.A. society). To top it off he pulled out a flute and started playing Yankee Doodle. But he sucked at it. This guy needs to go home.

Day 81

16.7 Miles to Leroy A. Smith Shelter. On this day PA pulled out its scenery "big guns" and took us up Lehigh Gap. Lehigh Gap is a 500 foot elevation gain scramble. It's completely exposed and offers many sick views. Easily the best part of this state. Because I was planning on meeting up with John Guelzo the next day, and Paul was meeting up with his friend Ashley from New Jersey, we split ways. Paul continued past the shelter and "cowboy" camped somewhere close to Delaware Water Gap.

Day 82

I walked 4.6 miles into Wind Gap, PA. There I ate breakfast, bought groceries, did laundry, and had lunch at McDonalds. Later I met up with John Guelzo and his friend. I hadn't seen John for over a year. It was awesome catching up with him. He's completely turned around, and is now going into the National Guard to be an officer. John was super full of motivation. GET SOME!

We hiked 9.2 miles to Kirkridge Shelter, but found that it was already claimed by boy scouts. The scout leaders instructed us to hike a little farther to a field and camp there. We did, and found more scouts in tents. Couldn't get away from them! We made a fire pit, started a gnarly bonfire, and proceeded to eat s'mores and all sorts of delicious trail food. We told all sorts of stories and because we were loud and it was late, a scout leader asked us nicely to quiet up. They were lucky nobody was drinking.

Day 83

6.4 miles brought Guelzo, his friend, and I to Delaware Water Gap. After eating pizza for lunch, we said our goodbyes, and they took off. Now, Dockry lives close to this part of PA, but unfortunately his work got in the way of him joining us for the hike. Also, Bret McCoy was also planning on visiting, but a rescheduled Lacrosse game changed the plans.

I checked in at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain hostel. The dude who let me in told me some really cool stories of when he climbed Mount McKinley and Aconcagua (South America's highest peak). This hostel was very nice and clean. Best of all it was free. Later on Paul met up with me at the hostel, with all sorts of stories of a very fun and alcohol friendly weekend with his friend Ashley. As a bonus he brought back Taco bell for both of us. Many thanks!

Also at the hostel was a section hiker named Tim. Tim is a super smart older man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. I think his problem is he spends too much time on White Blaze. He actually asked us if we think "people are over-feeding thru-hikers down south," a current debate on White Blaze. When you burn 6,000+ calories a day it is impossible to overeat. He also called me a "gram weenie" because I tear out pages from my guide book of states we finished. I happen to carry all sorts of extra weight; I am not an ultralight backpacker, let alone a "gram weenie." Trust me, the only way to get an idea of how to hike this trail is to get out and hike it. It's all about hands-on experience.

This was also the night I found out Bin Laden was killed. About damn time! America!

Day 84

Finally we left PA and moved into New Jersey! Not unlike Maryland, NJ is super easy hiking. 24.8 miles brought us to Brink Road Shelter. There we met this grumpy old man named Francis. He couldn't stop complaining about America. He also tried to sell me Hinduism. this guy needs to move to Canada, or better yet, Mexico.

Day 85

24.9 miles later we arrived at the Jim Murry Property. Basically this guy Jim offers his cabin as a shelter for thru-hikers. Pretty sweet! We met a section hiker, named Jersey, who could not believe we hiked 50 miles in two days. For the next month Paul and I would occasionally quote this guy saying "but that's 50 miles away!" The one thing that really sucks about NJ is it's tick population. Paul and I each pulled off 10+ ticks from our legs. Luckily they were all dog ticks (meaning no threat of lime disease).

Day 86

18.6 miles to Wawayanda Shelter in Wawayanda State Park. New Jersey is a State known for it's super high black bear population. At this point on the trail we were really starting to wonder why we haven't seen any bears. And then we found out about the New Jersey Bear Massacre of 2011. Earlier in the year NJ in all it's wisdom wiped out over 700 bears. I guess they were overpopulated. I duno. Later in the day a random dude gave us a ride to McDonalds. And we saw a cool looking monument on top of NJ's highest point.

Day 87

We left NJ and started New York. 26.4 miles brought us to Fingerboard Shelter. Soon after crossing the border I ran into another rat snake, but this one wanted to eat me! So, I'm walk on top of this rock and hear a hissing noise behind me. I turn around to see this four foot snake, appearing to stand as it lunged toward me in mid air. Very quickly I turned and jumped off of the rock; about six feet to the lower level. Paul heard me say "Ahhhhhh Shhhhiiiitttt," and also seen the snake in mid air. It was crazy.

NY took us by surprise. We thought the trail was going to be cake until Vermont. Not the case. NY is hard hiking. Sure, it's lower elevation, but the whole way you are going steep up and steep down. Also, the trail is scrambling every chance it gets. Later in the day we went through the infamous "lemon squeezer." It's a super narrow scramble/squeeze through some rock. Fat people beware!

Day 88

We hiked 20.6 miles to the Graymore Spiritual Center. This was one of my favorite days on the trail.  The trail took us up Bear Mountain, and then down into a beautiful park, through a small zoo, and across this big bridge. The zoo was cool but kind of sad. They had two coyotes in these really small cages; they just looked so unhappy. At least Cabela's animals were dead, being taxidermy. Also the zoo had some black bears, but they weren't out for us to see. We're both glad are first Appalachian Trail bear wasn't in a zoo. Anyway, Paul got a funny pic of a "don't kill yourself, don't jump off the bridge, just call this number" advertisement. Before the end of the day we stopped at the Appalachian Market, a gas station store with a deli. Needless to say we ate very well there. At the Graymore Spiritual Center we found a baseball field pavilion located on some church property. It had electricity, lights, and running water!

Day 89

Before we headed out we returned to the Appalachian Market for breakfast. Hey, you gota eat when you can, right? Then we headed 18.8 miles to arrive at RPH shelter. And then we ordered pizza. Yes!

Day 90

16.8 miles brought us to Telephone Pioneers Shelter. On the way we met Sasquatch, a really cool hiker who does a lot of trail maintenance. Because we were the first thru-hikers that he saw this year, he gave us beer. Awesome! At the shelter we met a couple who were hiking with their cat. That night Paul and I watched the movie Tropic Thunder on Paul's Ipod. "I don't know what it's called. I just know the sound that it makes when it takes a man's life." "I'm just a dude playing a dude, disguised as another dude." That movie is hilarious! Good times. The guy we shared the shelter with snored horribly. It was like he was gasping for air. Somehow I fell asleep. Poor Paul relocated to outside.

Day 91 (NYC here we come!)

New York, New york! We hiked 2.9 miles and an addition 2 miles into Pawling NY. From there we took the train into NYC. This city is intense! The people walk faster than we do. First we hit up the Ghost Busters Library. Next we took the subway to the Statue of Liberty. I am still amazed at how fast the subway can take you from one side of the city to the other. Security at the Statue of Liberty was very high, being similar to a major airport. I was able to talk to the police officer in charge and get the ok to leave our packs with them. Mrs. Liberty is beautiful! I'm so glad I saw her. I love this country. After that we visited Ground Zero. It was important for me to see the WTC site. September 11th was the reason our country went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, meaning the reason I was in both of those countries. Anyway, later we met up with our friend Jordan (trail name Marathon Mouse). We hit up a bar, had a great time, and crashed at Jordan's friends apartment.

Day 92

Jordan took us all over NYC. We visited a really old bar, had the best hot dogs ever (picture deep fried, bacon wrapped, with avocado and sour cream), spun this crazy ball looking monument, and shopped at Paragon outfitter. We took the train back to the AT and hiked 5.2 miles to Wiley Shelter.

I would like to return to NYC and spend some more time exploring it. It's really a different world.