--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
--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
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
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
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
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