Pertinent Posts: 5 Days in the Smokies Clean Clothes—the illusion of cleanliness After taking two zero’s in a row most of the people we’d been hiking with were ahead of us. It was a little disheartening knowing that you had to start over with people again. Our only hope was that folks would get off for a zero or nearo in Gatlinburg and we would see people again. We set off from Fontana Dam and said goodbye to Chris’ mom and stepdad and we were off. The Smokey’s weren’t quite as annoying as the White’s when dealing with shelters, but it was still frustrating. No stealth camping is allowed and…

Pertinent posts: Nearo and Zero in Bryson City Oh, Sunshine I love Thee GA/NC in the Forest Standing Indian Mountain Siler Bald Trail Magic It felt like the minute we left Georgia the trail immediately changed. We had some minor rock climbing and it threw us for a loop. Wait a minute, where’d the endless PUD’s go? Rock climbing, huh? We’d heard that there was bad weather coming but that night was a beautiful evening and we saw a lot of people at the first shelter passed the border. After setting up camp we went to bed early. The next morning we woke to cooler weather and clouds. Someone mentioned…

I’ve decided to go back through and show photos that I never got around to posting, recap some of the sections and discuss in more detail various sections of the trail. Plus, I like reminiscing and I’m a little sad that we’re pushing on two weeks off the trail. So, I will start with the beginning, Georgia. Reference posts from that time: Neels Gap Hiawassee On Top of Springer Dinner at Stover Creek Skip the Approach Trail Lycopodium Vistas Blood Mountain Neels Gap (yes another one) Cowrock Sunset Blue Mountain Shelter GA/NC in the Forest And off we went. I look back now and realize just how overweight we were.…

The alarm went off. Was the sky clear? Yes, the stars were out. We reached over and twisted our NeoAir tubes to deflate them, stretching in our sleeping bags and yawning. It was too early. After fumbling for our headlamps we started moving about, getting dressed, rolling up the air mattresses and stuffing our bags into their compression sacks. Sitting on the side of the tent platform at The Birches, Blue Rooster came by and said he was getting ready. Cubbie & Dilly Dally were in the other shelter getting their items together. We ate a few granola bars for the early morning breakfast and quickly put everything together in…

Since last leaving y’all we were in Rangeley, Maine. Now we have advanced forward to Monson, Maine, our last town stop on the entire trail. Everyone seems to be a little bit sad about this last town stop, reminiscing in the log books. It does seem surreal that we won’t be continuing our walk north towards a far off destination. We left Rangeley and got to the first shelter two miles out for lunch to find that our friends Moose & Tetherball had finally caught up to us and passed us. Drat! Merf’s friend Inferno had done the same. We climbed up Saddleback mountain and had a beautiful view. Supposedly…

We officially walked to Maine! It was very exciting to see this sign! The book said that the state line was this yellow paint spot but I wasn’t expecting to see a sign since the majority of our previous state lines didn’t have anything. There is a sticker that I see frequently at outfitters, one I will have to get, that says “Yes, I walked here from Georgia”. Yes, folks, I walked here from Georgia. Can you believe that? That saying comes because when you run into someone, usually a person who isn’t familiar with the trail, they are always incredulous that you’ve walked that far. Sometimes I think it…

The Whites -noun 1)a mountain range in N New Hampshire, part of the Appalachian Mountains. Highest peak, Mt. Washington, 6293 ft. (1918 m). 2)Ass kicker 3)Vermont + Pennsylvania combined. Mud + rocks. 4)Mileage reducer 5)Beautiful 6)Exhausting 7)Crowded Ahhhh….we’re done with the Whites!!! THANK YOU GOD! Ok…so I’m a touch dramatic, but wow, what a wipe out, tiring experience. After doing Moosilauke (which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be) and getting slowed down on the north side of Kinsman Notch we had to re-think our mental game in terms of mileage. Goodbye 15+ mile days. We couldn’t even think it. When you look at the book it seems…

the White Mountains are kicking their butts. Its cold and windy and they got some rain last night. Doing about 12-14 mile days.

My birthday dinner in West Hartford, VT. The General Store is right on the trail so stop in and have a sandwich, ice cream and pizza! Rock cairns. Clarendon Gorge. Worth stopping to swim! The climb out is a pain though! Little Pond See ya later Long Trail! (though I kinda want to go back and finish it!) Getting off the bus from Rutland and back onto the trail. Some southbounders, Birthday Suit, Ceviche and White Blaze. Yes, that is a pit bull!!