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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
    1

    Morning Water

    April 18, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Lots of water in the morning…. The afternoon was DRY and despite my best efforts I was running low on water by the end of the day. 😱🌵

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler
    1

    🌜Warspur Shelter

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

    I went to bed last night strategically reserving 1 or two gulps of water- just enough for my morning ritual of vitamin I (ibuprofen, that is)... I knew there was a stream about 5 miles away but luckily discovered spring water about 45 minutes into my hike! I have renewed appreciation for the abundance of water we took for granted during my first 500 miles 😇. I was _so_ thirsty so this surprise was very welcome.

    I hiked solo all day and didn’t see very many people at all. Stayed in a shelter after about 19 miles of hiking. (I was the only one in the shelter). Overnight conditions were beautiful for restorative sleeping ❤️❤️; zero bugs, temps around 60°, babbling stream <pictured> in the background, soft moonlight.

    One not so great thing: when I was flossing my teeth one on my fillings popped out (only a few months old) so looks like I will be finding a dentist in Roanoke 😬

    To end on a positive note it seems like I might be able to catch up to my friends tomorrow night 🤞🤞

    AT mile 669.7    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🥵 Hot Pastures

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I passed through a series of pastures at the peak of the afternoon heat. It was somewhat brutal with full sun and no tree cover. The landscape was very beautiful though- even though I couldn’t wait to get back into the forest.Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    MEGA HUGE Oak Tree

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The Keffer Oak is the 2nd largest white oak on the Appalachian Trail with a trunk circumference of 235 inches (almost 20 ft!)
    It’s 80 feet tall! The tree has signs of “waning vitality” typical of a tree this age but it’s still in pretty good shape- no indication of diseases nor disorders. Sorry it’s not really ready to show leaves yet for the season….. you’ll have to visit on your own sometime soon!Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    45° Slant

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This ridge walk has some tricky parts. I’d hate to be up here if it was raining or super windy! 🙀

    If you are getting vertigo just looking at the photos- I feel you! The “trail” was often irregular weather-worn slabs of rock pitched at 45°! Fantastic views along the way if you dare to look!Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Primitive Camping near 685

    April 19, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The terrain today was fun and challenging! Two big climbs~ one was about 2000ft. There were some beautiful views while scrambling the cliff edges. I sort of underestimated how long it would take to get to my day’s target… and had a super long lunch plus a side jaunt for water that was almost a mile (a steep mile at that). To break the 85° heat I took a long pause at the base of climb #2 to splash in the creek. All of this is a lot to say that I don’t regret my choices but time management was not top of mind. As the trail got increasingly technical (boulders, shelves, rocks) it was slower going and I was ultimately losing daylight. Decided to pitch a tent at the first flat spot I could find, and even that was a challenge on this mountain.

    16.3 miles of hiking to arrive at my impromptu campsite at AT mile 685.    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Eastern Continental Divide

    April 20, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I love 😤that the divide in our country was illustrated even on this sign that’s probably been here forever. Little hard to tell but someone crossed off the word “Mexico” and wrote “America”… and then it seems like someone else switched it back? What happens if I cry tears of frustration right on the center line?Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Abundance for those paying attention

    April 20, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Again, today I started the day with minimal water. That’s not likely to be a constant theme but if you recall my intention last night was to get a little further on the trail than I did. I was supposed to be camping near water but sunset came early and I wanted a decent dinner which uses water… so that meant this morning’s water will be rationed. I was VERY certain that that was an excellent water source in about 4 miles (less than 2 hours away) in the morning- fine. I can manage that easily and I reserved about 8oz just
    In case anything came up.

    Hiking in the forest is like anything else- sometimes it’s all very fascinating, other times I’m on autopilot. I think it pays to be curious and spontaneous as long as I don’t have an important deadline (see also last night’s sunset).

    So here I am, walking in “curiosity mode” and I noticed an interesting arrangement of logs about 70 yards off trail in a section of the forest still scarred by fire. Someone had built several chairs here. Why? Who used this place? What would it be like to sit in them? I can answer that last question because I went there and realized there was an undocumented spring - with very light flow - right there! What a gift!

    A place to sit, at a normal chair height with unlimited water, about 2 hours earlier than I thought I would be able to eat my breakfast (sure I _could_ have a protein bar but I wanted oatmeal and a protein shake! And extra water for my morning hike ✅✅✅).

    Curiosity may have killed the cat but I’m feeling quite fortunate. Explore & discover!    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler
    3

    2x iWhopper!! 🍔+🍔+🍟+🥤=🫄

    April 20, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Two impossible whoppers, hold the mayo. Make one meal with fries.
    So much food but I didn’t even blink…. Until I saw that creepy skeleton with no hands 😝

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Roanoke VA burbs

    April 20, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today was rather adventurous and multimodal, indeed. I hiked out of the woods in the morning while laboriously neutralizing graffiti that someone tagged on every single trail blaze (undocumented). My plan was to hit the trailhead and meet cool people going to Roanoke. Nobody was there so I started a long walk to my next option. I knew I could get to a gas station near a different part of the trail where hikers congregate but it would require a few hours of footwork. I passed curious cows, a variety of farmsteads, a really ancient mill. Honestly I didn’t mind the walk but a family on their way home from Easter mass stopped to offer me a ride and thankfully they knew exactly where I was headed.

    At the gas station I met Thumper who is a local and also a triple crown hiker who recently bought a place here near Roanoke and plans to open up a bed and breakfast! He gave me a ride to town which was awesome. I ate 2(!) impossible whoppers with ease and got picked up by my tramily! We are 🎶Reunited and it feels so good🎵 Staying the night in Roanoke with Trickshot’s college friend, which is so comfy, and we appreciate the hospitality beyond words.

    Pictured here is the sunset over Roanoke. All the mountains in the background are places we have been, or will be soon!    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜Wilson Creek Shelter

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

    The royal family is back together! We had a fun day with a late start on trail after a mini-tour of downtown historic Roanoke, Waffle House breakfast, cvs for another pair of reading glasses(! pair #3 only lasted 2 days on trail before breaking) and finally we said farewell to our hosts Sierra & Elliott. ❤️❤️

    As if by magic, Joey was somehow at the trailhead when we arrived 😎 so we hiked in together about 11 miles to the shelter.

    I met my first vegan on trail! Half-Stick is his name. We shared some of my extra food/leftovers I packed in (veggie dogs and burgers) right before the rain started. And then we scrambled to actually get inside the shelter to avoid getting soaked.

    Other highlights: hit the marker for 33% completion and got some advice from my dentist back home… essentially she said a missing filling is vulnerable for cracking and infection so I might be meeting with someone soon to get that taken care of 😭 Also Little Foot and I played the “picnic game” in French on trail and it took almost 2 hours to complete it from A to Z and then we acted it out in charades for the non-French speaking folks at the shelter, which was entertaining.

    Now we are watching the 1988 Land Before Time movie together before bed 😂😂

    AT mile 741.8    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    “Yellow Blazing”

    April 22, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I got a tip that this section of the Blueridge Parkway was closed to cars so I decided to follow the road which connects to various trail access points for the morning. It was a super nice walk with excellent views of the valley and mountains beyond. No regrets!Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌮 Taco Tuesday: not a stretch

    April 22, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This is easy to imagine as decent… hummus and (vegan) lunch meat on a tortilla. It doesn’t sound extremely extravagant but remember we don’t have refrigerators out here… so I can only really pull off something like this if I’m <48 hours from a town visit. 🌮🌮🌮🌮 Score: 4/5 And there are opportunities to upgrade the experience by adding other veggies and/or sauces.Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    Epic Hospitality from Allison

    April 22, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Little Foot got some new shoes delivered to her friend’s aunt Allison. Allison was super enthusiastic about supporting our journey and turned a simple mail exchange into epic trail magic. She had a way with rolling out the treats one at at time which was unbelievably exciting: frozen popsicles, boiled peanuts, sushi, hummus and veggies, cold watermelon, ice cold drinks and we even assembled some boba tea drinks that were totally unhinged! It was a
    Delightful lunch break and we loved how much she supported us- completely beyond expectations 😍😍    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌜 Bryant Ridge Shelter

    April 22, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Generally great day of hiking with a long break in the afternoon for river swimming to cool off! Personally I chose to hike a section of the Blueridge Parkway in the morning (road was closed to cars) and there were excellent views at multiple points. I met up with the group again to rendezvous with Allison, a dear friend of Little Foot’s aunt. She arrived promptly with cheery enthusiasm for our journey and slowly rolled out a huge selection of amazing treats: Watermelon and boba tea, sushi , hummus & veggies, boiled peanuts. Popsicles!!! We stuffed our faces and ate too much- and it was amazing! Poor Little Foot had an upset stomach in the afternoon but seemed to be feeling better by dinner time. We watched the fireflies from the picnic table under clear skies! My first sighting of the fireflies this season 😍

    This might be one of the most interesting shelters on the AT from an architectural standpoint. It has 3 or 4 levels of sleeping area with an open porch. Very comfy with lots of room. We watched “the Land Before Time” together on Trickshot’s phone and went to bed. The was commotion in the middle of the night because there was a mouse scratching on someone’s pack (another camper forgot to take out all their food and there was a forgotten cliff bar as bait)… but otherwise it was a very pleasant evening.

    Mile 762.6    Read more

  • Kev McGAT 2025 🥾🏕️Traveler

    🌮 Taco Tuesday

    April 22, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Nothing too crazy this week. Nut butter, apples, nuts, seeds, blueberries in a tortilla. Having apple slices is somewhat luxurious on trail but they made it magical! Score: 🌮🌮🌮🌮 4/5

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