5/16/2017

BEAR!!!!! Run!! No don’t run…. Fight!!! Ya, get out your 2 inch blade and fight!! Wait.. No don’t fight… Wave your poles to make yourself look huge… that never worked before why would it work now !!! What ta do, what ta do…. read instructions… packed in bottom of bag… BEAR !!!! Wait a min, instructions said he would run away… why is he still looking at me !!!! RUN !!!! No don’t run dummy.. get a pic… another 3 min of our stalemate… with me not able to get phone started for camera…. cuz I’m shaking like a leaf…..finally, click click click click…..did it click….I didn’t hear it click. Who cares… RUN….slowly!!! A very healthy specimen…!!

A beautiful day to hike. I escaped the twilight zone and survived an almost deadly BEAR encounter!! A very good day all in all!!

Pic today is of a BEAR!!! And my humble abode!!!!

5/15/2017

Don’t let the name fool ya, if I didn’t have a food drop waiting here for me I would have hiked right on by. This place is the worst! Sometimes you just don’t know what you are in for until you get there. I feel like I’m in an episode of twilight zone, this place is creepy! Anyway, I hiked most of the day in the rain today but the sun came out for a bit in the afternoon. I hiked 16 mi. on the trail and 1.5 to get to this dump. I can’t wait to leave on the morning, sore feet or not! I’m sorry I don’t have any pics today, it was a 10 hr day to get in the miles. Lots of rock face descents and wet… which means slower than my usual slow. I’m sleeping on the floor because I don’t want to sleep in the bed here… awful!!!

5/14/2017

I’m back on the trail this morning… I met an Aussie in Salisbury named Josh, aka Goose from down under! Much faster than me on the trail but we passed the time in town while waiting out the rain. We are in the same shelter tonight but tomorrow he will do 27 miles….I’ll do 14ish. I crossed over into Ma. today…4 states left. I took 2 falls today… fortunately I landed on my pack both times. I also pulled an arm muscle but nothing serious while crawling down a rock face with water everywhere… slippery! Lunch again by a waterfall… And a pic of Josh at the seen of the crime where I took my worse fall. In camp tonight is 25 Harvard grads decompressing… It’s a tradition I’m told. I congratulated them all on graduating from Yale!! LOL

5/12/2017

With weather moving in tomorrow…. I can’t make it to the next shelter before it begins to rain…so here I am. The lady that runs the place is 88 years young and quite a character!
It was a beautiful day to hike…blue sky’s and 65 degrees. Only one 3 mile climb today so….not bad! Last night after I put my tent in the shelter 10 high school hikers showed up… fortunately they wanted to pitch tents so I was safe. It was funny watching them trying to get behind the shelter to steal a smooch when the teachers weren’t looking.

The only pic I took today was at my lunch stop….beautiful water falls…. Oh and I did hike up on a mountain bike just sitting on the trail on it’s kickstand….I thought about it but I just couldn’t do it…. Well it’s past hiker midnight so I’m fading… I may not have anything to say tomorrow if I decide to sit out the rain till Monday… we will see. Being dry is nice and it’s giving me healing time that I do need!

5/11/2017

My plan was 16 miles but my feet were hurting from all the rocks and climbs. I just don’t have legs for yet, so I’m in the shelter at 10 miles. I imagine it’ll take me a month to get some legs built up…. It’s supposed to get down to freezing tonight so I have my tent set up in the shelter to contain some heat. Nobody coming north that I know of… so I’m taking the chance!

The briefs have helped the chafing issue immensely… Still some soreness but I’ll at least be able to heal now. Did I mention that
woman and these briefs area a Godsend….. No more cheese graters rubbing together!!!!

I have two pics today, the first is where I had lunch… The views are truly amazing and will be spectacular further north, the second is yours truly pushing through a very narrow gap of rocks… some call it the 2nd lemon squeeze….it was tight!

5/10/2017

Only 8 miles today since I had to go into Kent to get my food drop. It was another 5 mi. just to do that.
Ok, chafing issue…. I walk into the outfitter store where my food drop is…..like I’ve been riding a horse for a month….The lady working behind the counter says, ”A little chafing issue?” It wasn’t like I could hide it….”Yes ma’am.” She says “I’ve got just what you need” and points up to a male torso sporting a pair of briefs that could only have been heaven sent!! What’s funny was that she had tennis balls in the shorts!!! They were perfect… cradled, separated, and were just the ticket….and in my size too… lol. $32, the most I’ve ever spent on one pr. of briefs. I would have paid 100 for the relief!!!

I received my first trail magic today…. A 1 in. square of dark chocolate…. Soooo tasty it qualifies no matter the size! A young couple on a date at a rock cropping kindly offered. The pics today are of me at the chocolate offering site…The next is of St. John’s ledges… there is nothing saintly about this descent. It took me 45 min of terror to get down it. I actually worked up a sweat going downhill, from fear I think. The pic doesn’t do it justice! And last is my humble abode once again, not too much activity from the mice since it’s been so cold at night!

5/9/2017

Today was pretty tough. It was only 13 miles but a few really long uphill climbs, lots of rocks. I thought I was in Pennsylvania again. I’m sore right now but that will pass… and walking for 2.5 days in rain has left me with a severe case of chafing. I would send a pic, but there is no one to take it….it’s probably best that way for all concerned. I made it into Connecticut today… only 5 states left! For a minute I thought I was having some trail magic until I realized it was just some fancy balloons telling us we are special for hiking I guess….no food or drinks… Pictures are of the fancy balloon with no trail magic, the scenic view where I stopped for lunch, and the crossing into Ct. Tomorrow I hike into Kent Ct. for my food drop box then back onto the trail for 8 miles, half day…. I desperately need a shower but I’ll take care of that in 3 or 4 more days!!

5/8/2017

Pretty cold last night but no snow!

If you ever wondered what happened to balloons that we see fly off….they don’t go into outer space! Here’s one in New York I found on the trail..!!
The other pic is of the Metro station on the Appalachian Trail.. 15 bucks and you can flag the train to stop and take you to New York city… you can find anything on the trail !!
I hiked 16 miles today and my dogs are barking… It’s one of those times the shelters don’t line up and you either stealth camp or hike the distance. Still rained again today but not bad. The worst was all the mud that didn’t have planks to walk on…..I’m alone tonight and it’s pitch !!! I saw one thru hiker today…much faster than me so I only saw him for a few minutes… It’s 8:30 and I’ve been here an hr. Enough time to haul and filter 3 liters of water and heat up some Ramen…too tired for anything else…!!! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

5/6/2017

Well I’m at my first stop…RPH shelter….Ralph’s Peak Hikers shelter. Not a bad day after the rain stopped. Only did 11 miles today. That’s 22000 steps of you’re into that!
One picture is of me watching my sweetie leave me alone in the woods with big animals all around !!! The stream crossing was precarious at best but i made it….I found out later the next guy didn’t…..he and his pack weighed another 50lbs….it’s just water weight !!! I feel bad that my sleeping bag is dry….!! See ya tomorrow !

5/7/2017

I’m in for the night….stopped early because of the constant rain…..it’s to late to try for the next shelter….tonight will be very cold….possible snow !!! I’ll be sleeping with every piece of clothing I brought….it’s a good look on me !! I crossed over the Storm Mountain Great Divide today…from now on all water goes downhill !! Hey, that’s what the sign said !
The pic is of my humble abode for the night….at least I got the spot with the least amount of wind. I’ve seen a couple weekend hikers so far but still no one to hike with…..there will be even less people out during the week. I’m thinking a may have to start talking to the squirrels…but it’s early!

5/5/2017

Hello everyone!! I’m about to begin what I anticipate to be my final section of an awesome AT experience. The trail is calling and I must go! I’m flying out today and expect to begin my hike in the morning. I didn’t expect anything unusual, but with me and my sweetie anything is possible! It’s a awesome thing to have the patience of a saint!! LOL. When we rolled out of the driveway at 3:30 everything was planned to the finest detail… that lasted 3 miles when my sweetie said, “OMG I don’t have my phone!!!” 10 minutes later we are back home to discover the phone was in her purse…..Grrrrrrrr. Another 30 minutes later we arrive at the airport, I hand the keys to my sweetie, get out of the car…. she locks the keys on the car……Grrrrrrrrr. Luckily I had popped the truck lid. You don’t really appreciate how small a Honda civic is until you are crawling through the trunk to get the door open!! As a memento, I sustained my first AT injury before I actually touched the trail. She says “Rub some dirt in it… Walk it off…” Can anyone say infection!!!

I’M BAAAAACK. YAHOO!!!!!! 800 Miles to go!