When we arrived in New York we did not hear Frank Sinatra singing to us the ode we all know, instead we were dripping with sweat and moving along slower than we were expecting. We had though we’d passed the Village Vista Trail which would signal we had about 2.7 miles to the road where more ice cream was waiting, but when we arrived at the sign we were greatly disappointed. Luckily the trail smoothed out a bit and we breezed down to the road and had ice cream before dinner. The Bellvale Creamery was heaven 0.2 miles off the trail and it was also packed. We got a few…

New Jersey is a state that most people don’t equate with mountains and nature, but it is a very beautiful part of the trail. When we left Delaware Water Gap we stopped at Sunfish Pond, the only part of the trail that Chris had been on previously. We ran into the Traveling Circus, Moose & Tetherball and Cubbie and Dilly Dally while there. It’s an easy hike up to the pond and the pond itself is a popular day hike destination. It was sprinkling a little that afternoon but we made a nice day out of it. We were planning for camping somewhere after near Blue Mountain Lakes Rd and…

Relevant posts: Rocksylvania, New Bearsy, New Deli? AT Museum and Fry Shelter Nature in PA No News is Good News PA/NJ Pennsylvania is one of the most talked about states on the trail. In fact, I’m wondering why more people don’t talk about New Hampshire; they seem to wait until Vermont to warn you about the Whites. Everyone knows that Pennsylvania is synonymous with rocks. My overall impression of Pennsylvania was that it was beautiful. We happened to be there when the mountain laurel was at its peak so that made it even better. The rocks….well, they just added a lot of pain mostly. After we left MC at the…

What can I say about Maryland? It is short and sweet and I really enjoyed it. Only 41 miles of the trail go through Maryland from the C&O towpath to the Mason Dixon line in Pennsylvania. Along the C&O towpath; a very nice walk along the Potomac on one side and the towpath on the other. There is no camping along the river, but I’m sure that doesn’t stop some stealthy hikers. After we left Harpers Ferry we went about 10 miles to the Crampton Gap shelter. It was easy terrain so we stopped at the Ed Garvey shelter to check out the pretty sweet shelter design, a double decker…

Relevent posts: Alive and Well on the Rollercoaster of Love…..hell really Harpers Ferry West Virginia Shenandoah National Park is known on the trail as the point in which you can really speed up. Some refer to it as the Appalachian Highway. It isn’t ‘flat’, but the terrain is very smooth and there are lots of flatter, easier, miles. After signing in at the kiosk just outside of the national park boundary we set off for five days through the park. The first day was mostly non-eventful, a few mist showers but that was it. The park has mile markers very frequently especially at roadways and trail intersections so it is…

Relavent posts: Angel Ashleigh

Relevant posts: 500 Miles Ponies Magic Bus Section Hikers A Beary Special Post Beautiful Woodshole Hostel Well, I did find a few photos from Damascus, this one being The Place, the hostel we stayed at. When we arrived in town we ran into Pirate and his friend at the outfitter and they told us where to find the hostel, next to the burning pile of rubble. Sure enough there was a pile of rubble as the house next door had burned down! The trail goes straight through Damascus so it is easy to stop in and resupply. Apparently after talking to a few other hikers we learned that the AT…

Pertinent Posts: V is for Virginia 400 Amy and Me TN/Virginia Border Laurel Creek Falls Leaving Erwin was difficult as usual when leaving a town. Spring was coming out in Erwin and the town was one of the bigger towns we’d been to thus far, complete with a Sonic and Walgreens. We left out and the weather was just beuatiful. The trail out of town was gentle and beautiful, walking along creeks for quite a way. Early on there were still quite a bit of blown downs on the trail, some creating unique climbing situations, others with trails down or up and around the trees. After climbing up Beauty Spot,…

Relevant posts: Spring in Erwin We’d heard from our friend Thin Mint had said that the climb out of Hot Springs was one of her favorites and it wasn’t a let down. As you leave Hot Springs you walk along the river front for awhile until you climb up onto the ridge and head on out of town. We saw two snakes on our way out of town, this one and a water snake down near the river. On our way out of town we ran into On the Loose who was slackpacking her way back into Hot Springs. Slackpacking is where one gets dropped off at a certain distance…

Relevant posts: Max Patch Bald When we left the Smokies we ended up at the Standing Bear Farm Hostel. It wasn’t our intended destination but once we heard about pizza and soda’s we were easily adaptable. We arrived around 5pm and the place was packed. The people we thought we wouldn’t see again were staying there for nearo’s and zero’s and it was an all out party. The hostel itself was kinda neat, rustic and such, but I was peeved that the bunkhouses were full and we had to tent. To boot we had to pay the same price for tenting as if we were in the bunkhouse. Probably one…