Thursday, September 17, 2009

Summited!

9/7 Mile 2,178.3-Katahdin-We just summited! 10:30am.



--Schooner and Ferdy

Saturday, September 12, 2009


9/6 Mile 2,045.8-Moxie Bald Lean-to

9/7 Mile 2,060.4-Just before Monson-Monson is the last town that we're stopping in before we go into the infamous 100 mile wilderness. That means we'll leave town with 7 days worth of food and ressupply once more at a small campstore before the finalé.
The leaves are beginning to turn, and by the time we finish the ride home should be nice. As for how we'll get home, Ferdy's cousin Kevin will be driving up with Digger to pick us up. This was part of a deal that Kevin made the first time he heard of our intentions almost a year ago. Some of our friends have more exciting plans. Soundtrack intends to buy a moped in the nearest town and scoot all the way to Detroit, Michigan. Toothpick wants to travel by train back to South Carolina. A Southbounder told us his plan was to bicycle back to Maine from Georgia when he finished in December. Basically, thank you Kevin and Digger.

9/8 Mile 2,063.7-Monson-Taking a Nero day and lounging around the Lakeshore Pub/Hostel.

9/9 Mile 2,078-Long Pond Stream-100.3 miles from Katahdin.

9/10 Mile 2,092.4-East Chairback Pond

9/11 Mile 2,106.8-Logan Brook Lean-to

71.5 miles from Katahdin

--Schooner and Ferdy

Saturday, September 5, 2009

2,000 Miler Club

9/3 Mile 2,005.7-Little Bigelow Lean-to-We're officially in the 2,000 miler club. Looks like we'll be done around the 15th of this month. Then it's time to eat our faces off. Actually, Ferdy hasn't lost much weight, but I've lost somewhere around 25 lbs. That's average for a lot of guys though.



--Schooner and Ferdy

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Less than 200 miles


9/1 1,982-South Branch Carrabassett River-Less than 200 miles to go, and we've almost walked 2,000 miles. I can almost feel the comfort of my own bed already. Still havin a blast though.
9/2 Mile 1,992.3-Cranberry Creek Campsite


--Schooner and Ferdy

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Catching Up

These days begin with our second or third day in the White mountains.

8/17 Mile 1,821.4-Guyot Campsite-We started the day with a steep climb up Haystack Mtn.. All of he climbs in the Whites are steep. From Haystack we could ee both Lincoln and Lafayette Mtn.. We took our lunch at the top of Garfield Mtn.. From there we went to Galehead Hut and mede our dinner before climbing Twin Peaks and Guyot. At the end of the day we could look back and see the silouhettes of every mountain that we had climbed for the day.

8/18 Mile 1,833.5-Crawford Notch-A nice casual day in the Whites with no big climbs. We did stop at the Zealand Hut for a lunch break and a shower under waterfalls. Then another stop at Thoreau Falls for a little swim. Finally, we stopped at the base of th Presidential Mts..

8/19 Mile 1,844.5-Lake of the Clouds Hut- Mt.Webster, Mt.Jackson, Mt.Clinton(aka Mt.Pierce) and Mt.Franklin. Mt.Clintonwas changed to Pierce for some reason. A tiring hike today that ended with work for stay in a beautiful hut. I did dishes with Toothpick to earn my stay and Ferdy had to reem a refrigerator. Only 1 mile to the top of Mt.Washington.

8/20 Mile 1,856-Peabody Creek-Mt.Washington was amazing today and we were lucky to have a great view since the mountain is usually in the clouds. This is the second tallest mountain on the AT, and it has the highest recorded wind speed in the world at 231mph.

8/21 Mile 1,867.8-Zeta Pass-We got caught on top of Wildcat Mtn. In the middle of a thunderstorm for one of the scariest hours on the trail so far. We made it off the mountain safely and set up camp on top of Carter Dome. About an hour later our tent was in a puddle that formed in the meantime. So we packed and hiked another 2 miles in the dark before we found a flat spot. Although one our worst days on the trail, a good one.

8/22 Mile 1,880.4-Gorham-298 miles from katahdin and only 16 miles from Maine. Takin a zero here.

8/28 and 8/29 Mile 1,940.5-Bemis Shelter-We heard that Hurricane Danny might blow in some hazardous weather so we took another day off and stayed in the shelter all day. We mostly just played dice games and watched miserable hikers come and go in the cold wet weather. I woke up at 5am to find a mouse was keeping itself warm from the comfort of my forehead. I thought it might be my imagination until I wrinkled my forehead and a leg twitched. I quickly smacked it off and sat up. K-bar, Soundtrack, and Ferdy woke up and thought I had had a bad dream, but the headlamp proved my nightmare was true when we spotted the little guy limping away.

8/30 Mile 1,958.2-Rangeley- we made up for the zero day by walking 18 miles into town.

8/31 Mile 1,968.9-Poplar Ridge Lean-to


--Schooner and Ferdy

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Hardest Mile

8/26 Mile 1,913.8-Baldpate Lean-to-A rough 9 miles today after the hardest mile of the trail yesterday. We got to camp early to rest up. I haven't had service for awhile and have a very large text that won't send al at once. I'll just have to send it in peices when I get the time in a place with cellphone service.






--Schooner and Ferdy

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Cowboy Camping



8/13 Mile 1,779.8-Hikers Welcome Hostel-Less than 400 Miles to go and we're at the base of the White Mountains. We had Digger and Kathy send our cold weather gear back to us at this Hostel. At an elevation of 6,288, Mt.Washington can get snow any month of the year.
8/14 Mile 1,787.8-Beaver Brook Shelter-Mt.Mooselauke was amazing today with perfect views of the mountains to come.
8/15 Mile 1,797.3-Eliza Brook Campsite-we were met with more trail magic today by past thruhikers that had blueberry pancakes, breakfast burritos, fruit, drinks, and desserts waiting for us after our 2 mile hike down Mt.Mooselauke. We actually stayed for about 4 hrs. and reunited with old friends K-bar and Sountrack after months of seperation.
8/16 Mile 1,808.2-Liberty Springs Campsite-Tonight we are "cowboy camping" for the first time on our journey. This means that we are camping under the stars without tent or shelter of any sort.

--Schooner and Ferdy

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

New Hampsire!

8/9 Mile 1,730.7-Happy Hills Shelter-We passed through West Hartford today just as a family was wrapping up their yardsale/barbecue. Luckily, we weren't tempted to look at their cheap stuff that we couldn't buy since it was all packed up, but they did offer the rest of their hotdogs and some burgers with softdrinks for free.

8/10 Mile 1,738.5-Just past Ledyard Spring-Ferdy woke up today with a stomach ache that lasted all day. Being the dedicated hiker that she is, we hiked most of the day anyway. We are officially in New Hampshire, our second last state.

8/11 Mile 1,753.2-Trapper John Shelter-Ferdy is feeling 70% better today. We got a little bit of rain just in time to provide a couple of rainbows that made Ferdy's day.



--Schooner and Ferdy

Sunday, August 9, 2009

B-day celebrations


8/6 Mile 1,694.4-Big Meadows Lodge-Wow, Megan surprised me by telling me we would be in town for my B-day, and then waited until we walked up to the lodge early this morning to tell me we were staying here instead. The lodge is the best i've seen along the trail so far. Entertainment inlcudes: a pool, pool table, jacuzzi, sauna, movie room, bar room, a lake with canoes available, a pony, and a little black pig named Alice the hobbles around and snorts at poeple. Not to mention a shower, and comfy beds. We took advantage of all of these a few times.
Ferdy managed to talk the cook into making me a Jell-O poke cake, my favorite. The biggest surprise of all was the birthday cards, and the packages. They truly made my 25th birthday feel as special as my 5th. Thank you all very much.

8/7 Mile 1,700.4-Stony Brook Shelter-After spending half the day relaxing at the lodge we finally squeezed out 6 miles. Two good friends, Bird and Limbo, hiked a 24oz. Budweieser to the shelter for me in honor of the B-day.

8/8 Mile 1,714.5-on top of random Mtn.-We only have to do 12.18 miles a day to finish by September 15. Our pace has been comfortable so far, but our average miles per day overall are somewhere around 12.88. I guess we'll just have to slow down a bit from here on out.


--Schooner and Ferdy

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Vermont

8/3 Mile 1,657.1-Big Branch River- Nothin' like bathing in a river after a long walk in the Vermont wilderness.

8/4 Mile 1,672.9-Clarendon Gorge, Mill River suspension bridge-VT gets better everyday. The views show larger mountains in the distance, the sun has been shining, and we're seeing signs of moose all around now.

8/5 Mile 1,690.4-U.S.4-After one of the best days on the trail so far we had to settle for a campsite right next to a busy highway. Oh well, we summited Mt.Killington today and caught a glimpse of the White Mountains on the horizon. The hike up the Mt. was amazing in itself with forest full of pines, and moss, and ferns everywhere. We're almost done with this state and it has completely redeemed itself from dumping water on us the first few days.



--Schooner and Ferdy

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Rain, Mud, Rain

7/26 Mile 1,538.2-Upper Goose Pond Cabin-Ferdy, Greg, and I enjoyed a refreshing swim at Goose Pond, and pancakes with coffee served in the morning at this caretaker-staffed cabin. The truly amazing thing is that of the twelve other hikers in the bunks not one of them snored the whole night.

7/27 Mile 1,558.8-Birdcage Hostel-Greg left the A.T. after a couple miles in for the day, and shortly after that it began to rain. We walked the last ten miles into Dalton in deep mud and water. We did end the day with a shower, laundry and a huge meal though so all was well.

7/28 Mile 1,567.5-Cheshire, MA(St.Mary of Assumption Hostel)-Took a nero(nearly a zero mile day) today to rest a little more and pick up a mail drop.

7/29 Mile 1,579.1,Mile 599.2 from Katahdin-Wilbur Clearing Lean-to--After hiking only 8 miles to the Summit of Mt. Greylock, a light rain that turned into a heavy rain eventually chased us into a shelter. We've begun passing SOBO's(Southbounders) everyday, and they all have pretty good suggestions on where to go for supplies or a free meal and a good place to stay. We met a nice SOBO today named Ledge who told us of a free hostel that has a pooltable.

7/30 Mile xxx-Congdon Shelter-the guide book pages are soaked, I'll checked the mileage later. We didn't make it all the way to the free hostel, but we did make it into VT today. Then all of the sudden the trail turned into a river. We hiked almost all of the 17 miles today with soaked feet. Not one of Scooners top 100 days on the trail, but Ferdy seems to be indifferent to the muckiness.

7/31 Mile xxx- laundry mat in Bennington at noon-We're soaked to the bone. No rain all night, and then we left the shelter and it started to rain hard and didn't stop until we reached town. We might or might not hike more today.

7/30 Mile 1,596.2-Congdon Shelter

7/31 Mile 1,606.3-Little Pond Lookout-We dried ourselves in town, ressupplied at Wal-mart, ate some Wendy's, and hit the trail in time to make it to an awesome lookout that provided a good sunrise view.

8/1 Mile 1,623.1-Arlington Rd.-Finally, a day without rain. Still more than enough mud, but no rain. We were greeted with hotdogs, beer, and snacks at the end of the day by a couple of '05 thruhikers called Rye and Grey.

8/2 Mile 1,642.6-Bromley Shelter-Surprisingly, the rain held out until we got to the shelter today. We planned only 15 miles for the day, but did almost 20 since the weather allowed it. Also, we've heard rumors of rain tomorrow.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned our friends the three stooges before, but they're 3 brothers from Holland that we became good friends with early on. Well, one of them(Curly) had to get off of the trail almost 600 miles ago due to shin splints that wouldn't heal. Sadly, we just heard that another of them(Moe) had to get off due to a MRSA infection that will take a months recovery. Larry is hiking alone through the White Mountains right now.


--Schooner and Ferdy

Sunday, July 26, 2009

A Visitor from Ferdinand

7/24 Mile 1,511.6-At mile marker 666 from Katahdin, we camped in a little hell hole on the side of the trail that I like to call Mosquito City.

7/25 Mile 1,526-Unmarked Campsite-We welcomed an ex-neighbor of Ferdy's/family friend/current resident of Mass., Greg Kemper along to hike with us for a couple of days. We also welcomed the sandwiches and Margharitas he brought. Unlike the unlucky Digger, who's visit included a 16 mile hike in the rain, our trio enjoyed clear skies and a nice lake swim at the top of our biggest climb.


Saturday, July 25, 2009

In Conneticut


7/17 Mile 1,410.9-Clarence Fahnestock State Park

7/18 Mile 1,426.6-Mt. Egbert

7/190Mile 1,443.2-Wiley Shelter

7/20 Mile 1,455.9-Kent, Connitecut (Fife & Drum Inn)-We stayed with a Mother and Son couple that go by the names Tallgrass (son) and Coffeebean (mom). we met them all the way back in the Smokies, and we've seen them numerous times along the way. Sadly, Coffeebean fell and tore the cartalidge in her knee. This will almost definitely end their journey for this year. We've seen quite a few people leave the trail on their own accord because they've had enough of this experience, but Tallgrass and Coffeebean had high hopes of completing their goal this year.
Also, not to make Ferdy's episode with Lymes disease any less special, but we've heard of about five other cases just recently. Our great friend Pellet supposedly experienced facial Palsy before he got it checked out.

7/21 Mile 1,462.9-Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to-The shelters are all called lean-tos in Connecticut but they look no different from shelters. We stopped after hiking for 7 miles in nonstop rainfall. With a forecast of rain until midnight, we'll just lay in the tent and read or listen to the pitter patter. Right now, Ferdy is literally chugging from a bottle of honey that someone left behind.

7/22 mile 1491, Falls Village, CT -- After asking directions to McDonalds from a nice woman and her son, they informed us it was a good six miles away and invited us to their house for dinner instead. We were served two kinds of pasta from Italy and homemade cheese and bread from the farm her husband works on. Thanks Paul, Theresa and Liam for the great food and hositality!

7/23 mile 1,496.1; 682.2 miles to go; Sages Ravine Brook Campsite -- We crossed over into Massachusetts this afternoon and called it quits just after the border to make sure we got camp set up before it started raining. Its been pretty wet lately -- no shortage of water as previously mentioned.


Greetings from Megan

Hello from Connecticut! I wanted to update you on a few things since my last e-mail.

First, for those of you who know Scott, I wanted to remind you his birthday is coming up on August 8. If you'd like to send him a card or anything, you can mail it to the below address. I know he'd love to hear from folks back home. It might be a good idea to mail early in case we are ahead of schedule.

Scott Schipp
c/o Base Camp Outfitters
2363 U.S. 4
Killington, VT 05751
Hold for AT thru-hiker
ETA August 8

Second, I keep forgetting to mention the idea that Scott's dad, John, came up with when they visited us way back in Tennessee. He thought it would be neat if we asked friends and family to pledge a penny for every mile we hike to be donated to Make-A-Wish. If we make it all the way, it would be $21.78. Of course, donations of any amount would be appreciated. If you're interested, you can contact John at jschipp@sedubois.k12.in.us.

Finally, an update on the hike. Since my last e-mail, we finished Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. We're now in Connecticut and should be in Massachusetts within a few days. Shortly after my last e-mail, I was sick for several days with what turned out to be Lyme disease. Luckily we caught it early; I got some antibiotics and started feeling better by the next day so it didn't slow us down much.

Take care!
Megan

www.scottymegan.blogspot.com





-- Post From My iPhone

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Zoo

7/15 Mile 1,379.4-Arden Valley Rd.-Less than 800 miles to go.
7/16 Mile 1,394.7-Hemlock Springs Campsite-The trail took us through a zoo today. Liturally, we walked through the Bear Mtn. Zoo where we saw bears, coyotes, a bobcat, and a few other animals that are much better to see in the wild. As soon as we exited the zoo, we crossed over the Hudson River via the Bear Mtn. bridge.


-- Post From My iPhone

New York


7/12 Mile 1,335-Unionville, NY- We slipped across the border to stay in New York at the Ex-Mayor Of Unionville's house. He runs a hostel for hikers where he allows them to bathe, eat, drink, and sleep, and he doesn't ask for a dime. He allowed 747 hikers to sleep in his basement last year. As a house rule, everytime someone says a four syllable word, they owe a quarter to the donation cup.

7/13 Mile 1,340,Miles from Katahdin 830.1-Mt.Wawayand-Our last full day in New Jersey.

7/14 Mile 1364-Wildcat Shelter-Cross New Jersey off the list; we're now in New York. Only complaint right now is that the water is scarce. That just means we carry a little more in between sources, and our packs are heavier. It's not like we're facing dehydration, in case you were worried (Mom).


-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The New Jersey Wilderness


7/9 Mile 1,283.6-Delaware Water Gap- We walked into town just in time to help some hikers finish up a feast that a local Presbytarian church had prepared. Apparently thay've been doing this for hikers every Thursday of the summer months since the 70's. We have less than 900 miles to go now and our legs are like machines. So for the final stretch of the journey we'll be holding ourselves back just to ensure we don't finish too early and go back to work.

7/10 Mile 1299.-Beautiful Vista-We're tenting on the side of a ridge that should have a nice view for a sunrise. We saw a Rattlesnake today at the Mohican Outdoor Center, and we took a lot of pictures of it from just 5ft away. Then a man who hoped he knew what he was doing tried to capture the small beast with two poles and a bucket in order to relocate it somewhere far from the visitor center. We were told to move somewhere far away so we wouldn't be in danger. 15ft wasn't for enough and we were scolded for not understanding that this might be a danger zone. We thought he might just be nervous with the procedure, since it was his first time, so we moved back to our picnic table and finished our lunch about 75ft from the action. A few minutes later we were told that this was still too close and we needed to go inside until he had caught it. I don't see how it would harm us at that distance, but we decided to just move along and not cause anymore stress for the poor man than he already had.
Speaking of stress, I saw a bear tonight as I was looking for a place to hang the bear bag. Now Yogi knows right where to go for a midnight snack. Not only that, we saw two other bears within 3 miles of our campsite. Not even the scented sunblock is in the tent tonight. Oh yes, almost forgot, we're in New Jersey now.

7/11 Mile 1,314.9-Gren Anderson Shelter-The mosquitos decided to really make their presence known in the last few days. We both look like we have the chicken pox now. Nothing a little 99.8% Deet won't fix.
On a more interesting note, while Ferdy and I were scoping out a spot to set up the tent a man we call Sherpa walked by and said very casually, "hey watch out, there's a bear behind you". Ferdy wasn't about to be fooled and decided just to look at him and smile as if to say, good one man. I did look, and I saw a huge bear only 50ft from where we were standing. Finally, Ferdy read the expression on my face and looked to see the giant waltzing along in our backyard.

-- Post From My iPhone

Friday, July 10, 2009

Shaking off Lymes

7/8 Mile 1,263.4-Leroy A. Smith Shelter- Ferdy is feeling much better today, though she is still shaking off the lymes. The crawl out of Lehigh Gap wasn't as bad as the locals had warned us it would be since we got on the trail early enough that the sun didn't beat us down. It was actually fun to climb the side of a mountain that didn't have any trees on it, but rocks and boulders instead. A lot of the day's hike was walking on trail with nothing but softball sized rocks. With our new shoes cushioning the edges, we're of the few people not struggling with a mental breakdown.


-- Post From My iPhone

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

News from Ferdy

7/7 mile 1,247.5 -- from Ferdy: We stayed in Palmerton last night at a free hostel in the basement of the Borough Hall. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I have Lyme disease. We went to the emergency room this morning after I found a bullseye on my back. The good news is that the doctor said I'm good to keep hiking as long as I feel up to it. He wrote me a perscription for a two week antibiotic (which may cause nausea and vomitting, but hopefully not) so we'll just see how it goes. We'll leave town either later this evening or tomorrow morning because the climb out is over exposed rocks with some hand-over-hand climbing--not something we want to do during the hottest part of the day if possible. As usual, we'll keep you posted.


-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday, July 5, 2009

First week of July


7/1 mile 1,186-Just S of Round Head, Shower Steps-We called it quits a little early again in order to stay dry. The rain prevented us from going another 1/2mile to a good camping spot with water(a small victory for the Rain Gods).
We did get to use a solar shower only a couple miles back at a very nice shelter called the 501 shelter. Ferdy wasn't to comfortable with the ice cold only option, but it beats not bathing at all.
In a couple days we'll enter the rockiest part of the trail, AKA Rocksylvania. This will require an upgrade in the shoe department and a little more Ibuprofen intake.

7/3 mile 1,210.5-Pocahontas Spring- We picked up some new shoes from a local Cabella's. We didn't stay in town for tha 4th, even though a family was having a party with a ton of food. Instead, we'll walk a short distance tomorrow to the Pinnacle. This will provide an optimal view for a few different firework displays hopefully.

7/4 mile 1,217.1-The Pinnacle-Happy Independence Day! So far the night hasn't fallen yet, but we've seen a dozen hawks flying around and that's probably more entertaining then the fireworks we'll see. A local informed us that the firework laws are very strict in this state. Oh well, I don't think we've ever felt more independent then we do right now.

7/5 we're only going 2-5 miles today. Ferdy has picked up the same flu bug that I had 2 weeks ago, and we just need to move on to a water source.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Half Gallon Challenge

6/23 Mile 1,076.4-Sandy Sod Junction

6/24 Mile 1,092.2-Pine Grove Furnace Park- We completed the Half Gallon Challenge, which includes eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Afterward, we camped just North of the park.

6/25 Mile 1,102.8-Mt.Holly Springs, PA-Hometown and Black Betty picked us up here and drove us back to Pine Grove Furnace Park for steaks and more good stories about his hike.

6/26 Mile 1,121.9-Scott Farm Trail Work ATC Center-we hitched with a ridgerunner from Rockport, IN to a hiker feed in Duncannon. That's right, his parents own and operate the Drive-in.

6/27 Mile 1,128.2-Pa.850- We hiked with Ferdy's Ex-coworker and friend, Tania for a few miles and went back to the hiker feed in Duncannon. The hiker feed is put on by past thruhikers that are part of a group called Billville.

6/28 Mile 1,137.3-Duncannon, PA- Hometown of Trail Angel Mary, who is
one of the most generous trail angels. She spends a lot of her time shuttling hikers to and from the trail. She also feeds and houses hikers for no cost.

6/29 Mile 1.154.7-Spring.

6/30 mile 1,171. Camping near Pa.443. We can hear the traffic at this campspot, but we're just too tired to move on. Earlier today, we set up our tent fly when we noticed a storm coming. We sat out the rain for about an hour while we had lunch. It was nice to cheat the Rain Gods and stay dry.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Greetings from Megan

I typed up the below e-mail Friday night but couldn't get it to send. Quick update: had a great visit with Tania and spent most of the weekend at a hiker feed in Duncannon. Scott got to play some pool, so he's happy. Once we get a ride back to the trail, we're going to hike about 10 miles today, then tomorrow we start doing some serious hiking again. We're having a great time and are really looking forward to the second half of our hike.


Hello from PA! Although I haven't sent an e-mail in awhile, Scott and I are still moving right along on the Applachian Trail. We crossed the halfway point on Wednesday; as of today we've hiked 1,121.9 miles and have 1,056.4 to go. After hiking for something like 500 miles in Virginia, we knocked out West Virginia and Maryland in a few days and are now in Pennsylvania, our 7th of 14 states. On average, we hike between 15-20 miles per day. We slowed down a bit the past week for a few reasons. First, Scott caught a flu bug or something and was feeling pretty lousy, so we took a zero at Pen-Mar Park, right on the Mason Dixon Line, and took it slow for a few days after that until he was feeling back up to par. Then yesterday we only hiked a half day and met up with Hometown and Black Betty, the '08 thru-hiker and his wife who put us up in Franklin, NC. They're on their way up the east coast and met up to visit and fix us a steak dinner! Tomorrow my friend and former IDEM co-worker Tania is coming to visit, and I'm sure she's bringing chocolate!

As you can tell, food is a big deal out here. We eat a lot, and supposedly burn about 6,000 calories per day. One of our new favorite staples is cake frosting. It's a little heavy, but it's great on cookies, tortillas with peanut butter, on pop tarts, by the spoonful, etc. Mmmmm frosting. Lately we've been picking lots of wild blueberries and blackberries, which is a real treat because we don't eat much fruit out here since its heavy and doesn't pack well. We also just participated in the half gallon challenge--eating a half gallon of ice cream at the halfway point. Scott finished his moose tracks (3,500 calories!) and I finished almost all of my chocolate but must admit I left a bit of melty ice cream residue in the bottom of the carton.

Here's a funny story: in the Shanendoahs the trail often runs very close to roads, campgrounds, etc. One morning we were hiking along and saw some granola bars along the side of the trail so we stopped to check them out (people often leave "trail magic" for hikers). Little did we know, about 30ft away was a campground, and the granola bars were a diversion to give the campers watching us from their lawn chairs a chance to get their cameras ready. As we walked away, they snapped our picture, capturing a shot of real live thru-hikers in their natural environment to show their friends back home. They also told us about the bear they'd watched in similar fashion, through their camper window.

Plenty more stories to tell, but I should get some sleep. It's well past hiker midnight--9 o'clock. I hope all is well back home. If anyone has questions, or news or stories we may not have heard, feel free to send them my way.

Take care!






-- Post From My iPhone

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mason Dixon Line


6/17 Mile 1012.8-Harpers Ferry, WV

6/18 Mile 1019.8-Ed Garvey Shelter. We're in Maryland for a few miles now.

6/19 Mile 1038.0-Annapolis Rock. Great views from this campsite.

6/20 Mile 1054.3-Camped out .1 from the Mason Dixon Line in Maryland. Our last night in the South and I've got another Flu bug.

6/21 Mile 1054.4-Took a zero mile day to rest off the Flu and let our smokin feet cool off. Anyway, we did move .1N and camp in Yankee territory tonight. We'll be in PA for awhile now.

6/22 Mile 1062.7-Tumbling Run Shelters-feeling better today.


Thursday, June 18, 2009

Leaving Virginia

6/12 Mile 950-Hogcamp Gap-Hiking with our good freind Toothpick has been fun. We saw bear # 4 today. Still no cubs yet.
6/13 Mile 959.5-Front Royal, VA. We had only planned to come in to this to town mail some more clothes home, resupply, and grab a bite to eat, but when we got to the P.O. A nice local offered us a ride anywhere we might need to go. She also gave us her phone # and offered her floor for us to sleep on. She might have mentioned something about a poolhall that we ended up going to for a few hours also. We ended up taking her offer to stay for the night. A few cold beers and a couch to relax on won us over. By the way, bear #5 today. Smaller than the others but not a cub.
6/14 Mile 974.8-Dicks Dome shelter- we tented nearby this shelter that looks like an alien spaceship in a cheap 50's SI/FI
Movie. Bears 6 and 7 were a mother bear and a cute little cub that ran 50ft up a tree when we accidently spooked it. The cub stayed there for half a minute
and then crawled down the tree as easily as it ran up and left with it's mother. A very cool sight to see.
6/15 Mile 990.1-Sam Moore Shelter-we're right in the middle of the notorious Rollercoaster section of the trail. A 13.5mile section with 10 ascents and descents that are no easy task for any hiker to complete in one day. So we'll finish tomorrow morning, hopefully before sun slows us down. What what, no bears today.
6/16 just taking a break for now. We'll post up a few miles before Harpers Ferry tonight and enjoy yet another relaxing day in town tomorrow. Pretty soon, we'll do some serious miles again. It may be deceiving, but the guidebook shows some fairly easy terrain coming up with smaller elevation changes. I've had a few blisters on my toes for the last week and they're finally feeling better too. Anyway, today we leave the great state of Virginia and enter West Virginia.
Still Chuggin Along,
Scooner & Ferdy


-- Post From My iPhone

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday, May 29, 2009

Tinker Cliffs













-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, May 25, 2009

Cove Mtn



















-- Post From My iPhone

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Dismal Falls







-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, May 18, 2009

Trail Days






















-- Post From My iPhone

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Virginia 02














-- Post From My iPhone

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Virginia!








-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, May 4, 2009

Kincora Hostel & Minnesota Smith

























Kincora Hostel











Wall of "Finish Pictures" from thruhikers at Kincora Hostel.























Wautaga Lake

















Vandaventer Shelter





View of Wautaga Lake from Shelter.





-- Post From My iPhone