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AT 2025 🥾🏕️
  • Kev McG
  • Kev McG

AT 2025 🥾🏕️

Hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine! Please pop by often to follow along and say hello! Read more
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  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    In my opinion…

    April 30, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    …it seems like this park was designed with priority given to the cars. Very often it seems like the drivers get better views than the hikers 😤

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Water on trail

    April 30, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    The water sources on this section of trail are definitely more spread out. Sometimes 13 miles or more between opportunities to refill.

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Primitive camping near AT 925.2

    April 30, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Unless something amazing happens soon I’m pretty much decided that this park (Shenandoah) is not my favorite. It feels like a long walk in the woods with few rewards. There is poison ivy and tons of ticks 😱 but what really seems unfair is that the cars get all the good views. There are a few things to look forward to though. Park services operate several stores/restaurants and we are going to try one for breakfast tomorrow. Stay tuned!

    Today we stopped for lunch at a picnic area where hiker Camel had left us some cold drinks and snacks. We also found a beautiful campsite (Lewis) with cabins and a fully stocked store where we took a long break to chat with other hikers.

    We pushed on in the early evening to position ourselves for an early arrival at the restaurant for breakfast tomorrow (even though this campsite is not well groomed it will do). I decided to sleep in my hammock and the stars are bright with clear skies and a crescent moon shines.

    22.2 miles of hiking…
    AT 925.2    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter

    May 2, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Mile 969.6

    Really our first experience of arriving at the shelter and finding it totally full. We got it late so that’s how it goes sometimes… but we have mostly been finding shelter space easy since we are ahead of the “bubble” (larger group of hikers doing average pacing).

    This was a hillside shelter with some tent sites but somehow we got lost in the maze of trails and ultimately only found one site- so we squeezed 3 tents in there! It all worked out.    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Front Royal Double Tree

    May 3, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    A special visit with family off trail in Front Royal! The gang was all there- but we didn’t take too many photos. It was nice to see everyone and get dinner in town at a local brewery. A lot of thought went into making this special, including loaner bathing suits for the pool, a huge array of food and snacks, upgraded accommodations, and logistics. Will never forget fitting 7 people in a Toyota Camry with our packs (it was bottoming out!!). Also the raincoat dance party, lounging in the lobby, multiple snack parties, morning hot tub and birthday vibes for sister! Love you guys!! 💕Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler
    1

    🌜 Bear’s Den Hostel

    May 4, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    AT mile 1005,9

    TBH, this place kind of smelled like wet dogs 😂 but it was a historic stone building, built as a private residence then abandoned for decades after the owner died… later it was restored and turned into a hiker hostel. We had friends stop in with delicious take-out food from a local restaurant and shared trail stories. They were very excited for us 😍Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Swollen streams

    May 6, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Enormous rainfall overnight meant that trail conditions were beyond wet. The streams were exceeding their banks and the trails were often puddled, and in many cases cascading with water!

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    4 State Challenge ✅

    May 6, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Just completed this Hiker’s Challenge which ends at the Mason/Dixon Line: 40+ miles, 24 hours, 4 states: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Sunflower Cottage

    May 6, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    At this point really anything would do but we were excited to stay in this charming bohemian cottage after today’s hike. We are completely drained both mentally and physically. This was our 4-state challenge: 40+ miles from the VA/WV border to the MD/PA border in less than 24 hours.

    The owner cares for backyard hens and geese, 2 cats, and a chinchilla - also a fairy enthusiast !

    Little Foot’s mom treated us for the accommodations 🙏🏻🙏🏻 which was a wonderful surprise and in the morning we were visited by her family friend Krista who went overboard on the trail magic for us. I’m not sure if my pack has ever been this heavy!! 😱😭😂❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻

    AT 1067.6    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Deer Lick Shelter

    May 7, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This was strategically a short hike day after yesterday’s insane 40+ mile challenge. 4.7 miles felt like nothing after that!! We started hiking late in the day after an amazing breakfast and a trail angel visit by Krista who is a family friend of Little Foot’s. We sort of had an impromptu picnic out front in the street.

    All of us feel well rested but maybe a little achy so taking it easy is the best self care. Trickshot zeroed (stayed another night at the sunflower cottage) and the rest of us near-o’d hiking less than 5 miles to the next shelter on the trail.

    Mile 1072.3 on the AT (NOBO).    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Anyone know what these are?

    May 8, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    At fist I thought maybe an egg from a bird nest but they have stems so they are plan parts. Very light and hollow. Maybe a seed pod or a blossom that didn’t form all the way. Any ideas?

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Quarry Gap Shelter

    May 8, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    This might be the most well-maintained shelter on the AT. It even had artwork in the outhouse 😂

    Most of us were feeling kind of low energy today but we made it here before the rain started and even started watching a nature documentary together (but started falling asleep after 20 minutes 😴).

    I was feeling a little dehydrated too, so I hiked about a mile to a gas station on one of the roads we crossed - to snack up and drink, replace a lost charger cable for my phone etc.

    17ish miles of hiking to arrive at AT NOBO mile 1088.1 the Quarry Gap Shelter    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler
    1

    Eastern Newt

    May 9, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    I’ve seen a couple of these guys on trail. They are very chill and not afraid of people at all. I think they are highly poisonous to eat and as a result their natural behavior it just to hang out and relax 😎

    This is a juvenile , they can live up to 15 years and mostly eat things like invertebrates, bugs and worms. In their aquatic baby phase they chow down on mosquito larvae. They are environmentally very sensitive- you won’t see them unless the conditions are clean/healthy.    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    !!HALFWAY MARKER!!

    May 9, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Wow- it feels so good to arrive at the 50% point so soon. I was hiking alone at this point in the day so I had a lot of time to reflect on this. There have been days when I focus on what I have accomplished and that is motivating. There are days when I focus on the long trail ahead, and even that is motivating: what adventures await? There have also been days (only a couple, honestly) where every single step is my absolute focus because I’m hitting some physical limits (recovering from injury, cold, hungry, tired, etc). I’m very grateful for my abilities and I do not take them for granted. I am also grateful for the people that support me on this journey! 🙏🏻❤️🥰🤩

    1090.5 miles completed! 1090.5 to go!!    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Primitive camping near James Fry

    May 9, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We planned to go to the James Fry Shelter but there some strange dynamics there (overprotective mom and kids, know it all hiker man) so we decided to camp nearby instead.

    Today we interacted with a solo hiker from Kentucky named E.T. Who had been on trail since January 🥶 He seems pretty funny.

    Passed the markers for 1100 miles and the 2025 Halfway point! Also some folks participated in the “half gallon challenge “ where you eat half a gallon of ice cream in a single sitting. The ambition was noteworthy. Everyone bought lunch in addition to the ice cream but E.T. Was the only person who ate it all (ice cream and burger/fries). It took him 2.5 hours. 🤩

    We hikes 17 miles in the morning to get to the store on time and then a few more to the campground: 24.5 miles covered today- a lot of easy terrain that was fun.

    Someday I want more info on the Milesburn Cabin- it looks like a fun place to rent out here.

    Mile 1112.6    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Quality in Transition

    May 10, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Morning hike into Boiling Springs and ate a late lunch at Cafe101, Mexican. Little Foot’s friends Peter and Jocelyn met us there for a quick coffee and offered slack packing to the hotel with was still about 10 miles down the trail. I said YES and it felt great hiking without the gear. Stayed the night in quality inn, sort of. The hotel was apparently downgraded and renamed. It was adequate for sure 😉

    Peter and Jocelyn met us at the hotel for an amazing picnic dinner on the lawn of the hotel: homemade ratatouille and a beautiful assortment of salad, snacks and bread. What great hospitality! Loved meeting them and sharing stories.    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Primitive Camping outside Duncannon PA

    May 11, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    A lot of rolling hills and pasture walks today. I saw an enormous rattlesnake on trail (which Joey wanted to touch😜- need to send that kid home) and a couple sizable black snakes.

    Hiking was pretty easy for the most part. Trails in PA can get rocky and there was some of that for sure but it wasn’t too bad.

    We ultimately arrived in Duncannon PA around dinner time and we decided to get pizza. The place was chose was charming in ways (staff, vintage decor, people watching) but might be a better spot for take-out (dingy, closed blinds, no lights in dining area, stuffy with no AC). It was busy though and that’s always a good sign. I think they did a good job on the pizzas, for what that’s worth.

    The walk out of town over the Susquehanna River was quite dramatic with super high water levels and a slowly setting sun. We crossed the train tracks at the end of town and headed up the ridge where we found a decent campsite. I opted for a hammock and the weather was great for it although I felt a little stuck. I am working through a minor injury that makes the twisting to get out of bed sort of painful- this was amplified in the hammock situation.

    Planning to lighten my pack load tomorrow when we connect with Justin in Harrisburg to make things a tad bit easier on my back/ribcage. In the meantime folks are helping me out by carrying some of the heavier gear.

    Near AT 1152    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Scratch-Off Lottery!

    May 12, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Celebrating Trickshot’s birthday today which means we are hiding 29 scratch-off lottery tickets on trail throughout the day. He has been busy losing mostly 😱 but let the boy have his fun.

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 A night in Harrisburg

    May 12, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today we are visiting Harrisburg a bit out of order to connect with Justin who will be here for work. Got the gig economy on overdrive with a Lyft from trail and an Airbnb in town.

    We decided to celebrate Trickshot’s birthday today since he will be off trail to attend an event in Damascus called trail days.., so we have been hiding scratch-off lottery tickets in random places all day like a scavenger hunt. It’s been fun but no big wins.

    Midday on trail we saw some goats that likely escaped from a nearby farm. They were not approaching us- we should have been quicker to offer snacks. For some reason the miles felt slow today but we made it to the trailhead, successfully hailed a Lyft (by some miracle we had cell service and a willing driver).

    Justin had the apartment stocked with snacks and local soda fav (Birch Beer). We got quick showers and took a walk to an awesome Asian fusion restaurant for dinner.

    I did a gear shake-down and made some tough decisions… a lighter pack being the goal. We will see how it goes. I’m willing to try a few sacrifices and have an opportunity to reconnect with Justin in about a week if any of the cuts were overly ambitious.

    AT mile 1167.9 (16 miles)    Read more

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