January 6, 2008
Well, no pictures to update this time, but I do have about 6 more videos to finally put up. This goes from Vermont to Virginia. Now, only a few more videos to go, plus, Sketch's ending pictures and his videos. So, stay tuned! Oh, and the international adventure begins on the 16th!!
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December 26,
Sketch has finally returned home!! December 21st completion date! Through snow and rain, he perservered through the last two weeks. So, here are his pictures from when we got seperated back in Pennsylvania all the way to the end... except for Georgia which he still has to get those pictures to me for upload. His girl friend Rambo is also in many of them as well. And, we finally have a new video update. Though, this is from Vermont, meaning, we have about 10 more videos to put up in the next week or so.
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December 4,
And thus... it ends. After 5 1/2 months... I have just finished my hike across the Appalachian trail December 4, 2007. Looking back... wow, that was an adventure. Many ups and downs, literally and figuratively, but overall a great and rewarding experience! Lets see, where to begin. Thank you to all who helped me along the way!! I feel I have gotten out of this hike what I wanted, and more than I thought I would get. I met great friends along the way, saw some awesome sights, got great story ideas, and took almost 5000 pictures (most for landscape reference when I go to make my movies, but if you would like to see the ones I didn't upload, just ask). I even learned several important lessons, such as being independent and learning to survive on my own; buying what I need and carrying my 'house' with me. I learned to live in very primitive standards and really appreciate the luxaries we take for granted everyday (cars, electricity, internet). I even learned that balancing things in life with moderation is very important too. Like, its great to go hiking, but for nearly 6 months straight is a bit excessive, just like watching TV everyday is excessive. But evenly balanced in your life, both are great! Oh, and I do have to admit that carrying a sword around with me was sooo worth it. I actually got rather well known... as 'the guy with the sword.' As for current plans, I plan on heading back up to Springer in 2 weeks to meet Sketch. For now though, he's just out of Erwin Tennessee and still hiking with Rambo. I'm so glad to be out of the cold though. I do plan to re-hike parts of the trail... but over the summer when its warmer.
For now though, unless I think of anything else to add, stay tuned, as Sketch still has a camera full of images when he finishes, and we still have videos since Vermot to post!
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November 22,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! Just cleared the Smokies and got picked up by my roomate Anthony at Fontana Dam. So, I get to have Thanksgiving dinner, then celebrate his birthday Friday, and head back out to the trail for the LAST 8 DAYS!! It has been such a long treck across the country... and after reviewing the pictures... I think I might miss this. But I can always come back for certain parts, and one thing must end before another can begin. So stay tuned, cause the international trek will begin very soon! Plus, Sketch still needs to finish, and I bet he's got lots of photos to share as well. Till the next update... at trails end.
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November 17,
I now stand on the edge of the Great Smokey Mountains, 230 miles from Springer! The last of the great 5,000 and 6,000 foot mountains, and the tallest on the trail. Kind of feeling sad now that the end is so near, but I have to keep moving, for the start of a new adventure comes at the end of this one. Plus, I just passed the 5 month mark yesterday! Kind of want to go home and rest. So lets finish this! Oh, and small update due to slow connection.
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November 10,
Just a quick update. In Erwin Tennesse. Met up with Green Flash, pretty cool guy. Sketch is somewhere back around Troutville. And... its getting REAL cold outside. So, got me a new 0 degree sleeping bag. Backpack's a bit overloaded now, but, I'll keep warm!
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November 1,
Wow, standing on the edge of Virgina after 1 month... Damascus for Halloween!! Arrived yesterday evening on Halloween, and should be heading off into North Carolina tomorrow, finishing up the last 460 miles of this epic quest. And there are sooo many pictures I've taken this month that I have sooo many to upload. Thus with the fastest computers I've found on the trail thus far, you get 2 UPLOADS!! As for stats, we've got Grayson Highlands with wild ponies (one of my favorite parts of the trail so far), Mcaffe Knob, lots of sword pics, and some buddies. Overall, should be done around Thanksgiving. Kinda starting to miss the trail now that I feel its ending soon... but on the other hand, its getting cold!! So I wanna be done soon. Just bought gloves, hat, shirt, and should be set I hope for the cold Smokies. Lets do it!
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October 14,
And I thought the northern half of the trail had little internet access… I haven’t been able to update for 3 weeks! So, lets see, I’m in Troutville/Daleville VA now, about halfway through the state and only 700 miles of trail left. Fall colors are showing up and looks great! Lots of pics, little time for update.
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September 23,
Well, it’s been a 3 month debate now, but, I finally decided to go home. I didn’t want to at first because I wanted to finish the entire trail before returning home… but, I figured I might as well just stop at home for the weekend, shower, wash clothes and most of all, visit the MD Renaissance Festival. So, here I am, at home, and about to head back to the trail for another 1000 miles towards Georgia. As for pictures, not too many new ones, but lots of videos coming soon. Justin by the way is about a week behind me. But, he has his own camera now, so he may be uploading his own pictures soon.
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September 16,
Well… let’s just say a lot has happened. The last update was from Kent Connecticut, about 3 weeks ago. And now, I’m in the middle of PA a few days from MD!! And, today is not only the 3 month mark, but also my birthday!! So my mom and dad came up to meet me in Duncannon, brought up my laptop… and now I can finally do a website update and put up lots of images. So, where to begin… well, about a day or two after the last update, I was traveling with Music Man, Boo Boo, and Hedgehog, about 2 days ahead of Sketch (Justin). But, I started feeling this horrible pain in my shin. I kept going as far as I could, but it felt like my bone was breaking every step I took. Apparently I had gotten a shin splint. So the only thing I could do was set up camp in a shelter, and just sit there for 2 whole days!! (Sketch caught up and left me behind.) It hurt soooo much to walk on that leg. But, I have to thank Sasquatch for all the great help! He brought up some ice for me while I was at the shelter, and some Aleve, and even some donuts. Overall, I started to get better the longer I sat still. So on the 3rd day I attempted to leave my shelter, and made it only 8 miles. The next day I made it 9 miles… and it still hurt soooo much. But after that, it gradually started to get better. Which, at that point I teamed up with 4 new people, Tom, Matt, Castle, and Treats. So, we all moved along and about 2 weeks later in New York, I finally caught back up with Sketch in Unionville, where we stayed with the Mayor of the town and had a great time. Later, we teamed up with Rambo and Dreamer in the group, and planned to meet Sketches parents at a campground on Thursday. But to get there in time, we had to budget 24 mile days, which is the most I had ever done, and it was in the rain as well. In the end, only Woody, and I made it by Thursday to the meeting point. Sketch had to be picked up from town 24 miles behind us. Then Woody and I decided to be ambitious… and we pushed out 35 miles in one day!!! We were moving like 4 mph over PA terrain. And finally, him and I pulled into Duncannon yesterday afternoon just in time to meet my parents for my birthday today. (Sketch is about 60 miles behind now since he stayed with his parents an extra day). And I guess that about sums things up for 3 weeks. Hopefully there will be computers more frequently. Oh, and by the way… I stopped by the New York Renaissance Fair… and picked up some extra weight…
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August 24,
Stopping into Kent Conn. for a quick resupply, then back on the trail 8 more miles. And guess what, I actually got up early and was hiking by 6:30am... so I had nearly 10 miles by noon. Normally I'm trying to get a 20 mile day starting around noon. So, I got computer time now. The pictures in this set are primarily scenic, but with a new idea. Instead of me going back and editing a lot of these in photoshop, such as cropping or piecing together panoramas (which I'll have to do later anyway), I figured I'd try the widescreen setting on my camera. And it does give it a cinematic Lord of the Rings feel to it. So I'll probably keep doing that. As for the first picture walking between corn fields you can see we're getting into farm land now. Then there's the picture of the huge waterfall, coming from a powerplant dam. And, as much as I don't like night hiking since I can't take pictures in the dark very well, you do get to see different wildlife than during the day. Such as the very large owl in the photo(camera gave it red eyes, that's not normal). Oh, and I saw two dear jumping across a field real early this morning. OH oh, and no I don't have a photo of this, as I was quick to pull the camera out, but they were quicker into the woods... I came across what looked like two large black dogs in the woods. Two seconds later, which is a long while when in the woods alone, I soon realized they were two bears about 20-30 feet down the hill from me. I do admit I was a little scared, but also sad they ran away so fast... I missed the picture. Other than that, I pulled ahead a day from Justin, so he's with Woody, and I'm up with Boo Boo, Music man, and Hedgehog. I should probably also mention that our trail names are Sugar(my name due to a surplus of candy bars and sugar water) and Sketch(due to his portrait drawings of people he meets along the way.) And then lastly, putting up sets 2 and 3 of the video files. These run through southern Maine with Baldpate mountain, Mahoosic notch, and then into New Hampshire with the Whites, and finally into Vermont. Video set 4 is currently on my memory card with me, and should be sent home for posting in the next two or three weeks. Enjoy!!
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August 17,
Pulled into Dalton last night on our two month anniversary!! Two whole months and still walking. (Still have about 3 left though) But anyway, we just entered Mass. and should be into Conn. within a few days. As for pictures, a lot of them are scenic shots this time, just to give you an idea of the what the trail looks like. Sometimes there are great green mountains, other times just the standard woods with leaves, and then there are times when you have to walk through mud, as Justin did with his socks and crocs on (as seen in photo). Another notable event was that the new shoes gave him a huge hole in his heel, which is why he was in crocs to begin with. On top of that, he then lost a toe nail wearing the crocs. But, we keep moving. Oh, and sorry about the previous update... ran out of time for the upload to finish. It works now though. And to make up for it, thanks to Justins dad, we now have some of our video footage up on youtube for your viewing pleasure! Its footage from our first week though, so not very recent. The recent stuff should come soon I hope.
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August 11,
Doing a quick upload. We are currently in Vermont, but, should be arriving in MA in just a few days. So, we're moving along quite well. As for highlights, if you notice in the traffic picture, there is a white blaze on the telephone pole. Basically, the trail went right down the street of hanover, kinda cool. You may also notice a cow pasture we had to pass through in another picture. There was also this really cool gazebo privy at one of the shelters. But other than that, we're doing great. And Justin's doing quite well now that he got brand new shoes as seen in the picture where he's shirtless. Oh, and I have to mention that there are some really nice people out here. Yesterday we got a ride from a gravel road from the only car that went by. Who then took us to the P.O. to grab a package just before it closed for the weekend, and then back to the trail after getting food. So, we got really lucky thanks to some great people out here.
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July 29,
Wow, just cleared the Whites! I may have rushed through them a little fast with 15 mile days, but I think I'm ready for some flat ground in the next states. As for our group status, we split into smaller pieces with new members. At one point Justin was leading me by a day with his group of four to my group of three. Then after a 19 mile day to his 7 mile one, I leap froged ahead and pulled into Glenclif just in time to get the mail drop saturday afternoon. He just arrived today, so things are going well, having fun, meeting/passing/re-uniting with people.
As for pictures, high res as usual, and I mailed one of my memory cards home too soon, so I only have half the pictures from the Whites. Some of the pics have the tourist huts, and others are landscapes above the clouds. Enjoy!
Bonus picture, Justin's new hiking attire
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July 19,
Checking into Gorham New Hampshire, our 2nd state thus far! The White Mountains now stand before us, and they are huge! Mount Washington, a 6000ft mountain is one of the largest on the trail. Other than that, still doing great after one whole month!
The camera somehow got set back on high resolution, so, it'll take a while to download. I'd like to upload more pictures more frequently, but I only have about a half hour time limit on the library computers each town, and thats if the town even has internet.
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July 5,
180 miles later, the party of 4 travelers have arrived in Stratton Maine, just in time for fireworks... though seeing them from a mountain would have been cool too. But, So far we're doing great, having fun, and getting ready for the hardest part these next weeks.
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June 27,
Well, we are now over 100 miles from the start, and heading toward Georgia. I've added some pictures, but, due to high resolution, they will take a while to download. And whoever said black flies were bad, neglected to mention the mosquitos are 10 TIMES worse.
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June 14,
The site should be going up today, and hopefully all will work out. I plan to upload pictures along the trail, but thats assuming I can locate a computer within each town. If not, this site could be rather pointless. But, other than that, we're off to the greyhound, and then to Maine.