Appalachian Trail

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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Greenwall Shelter 1675.3
11 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
At night we were surprised by a thunderstorm moving next to us. We barely got hit by the rain but there was still water in the tent. We really need to get this fixed otherwise we can only stay in the shelters...
Nevertheless we had a gorgeous view in the morning over the valleys surrounding us. The hike was more challenging than we were used to from the previous days as it was more steep. But we kept a pretty good pace and were later rewarded with a nice view over the pond. At the Shelter (which was 0.3 off the trail!!) we met "Parks" and "Drop bear", thru hikers from 2015 that are making the Long Trail. They are having a hikers meeting from the tramily back then afterwards in Maine.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
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Cooper Lodge Shelter 1694.5
12 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
In the morning we continued our nice conversation from the previous evening and it took us a while to get back on the trail. Lizard king, a SOBO thru hiker, had some good advice about the upcoming sections. The day continued to be tough and we hiked slow until late in the afternoon.
Then we hit the sign that it's 500 miles to Kathadin. Just in time for another anniversary, day 100 on the trail. But the celebration has to wait until tomorrow because we're almost completely out of food. Just some oatmeals for tomorrow morning, olive oil and crushed red pepper :(
For the last bit of the day we saved us a 2000 ft uphill hike to a ski resort. It has limited times in the summer so we were way to late for a snack at the restaurant. It's already our second night in a shelter as it is supposed to be raining heavily tonight and we don't want to risk it with our tent...En savoir plus
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Voyageur Congratulations, only 500 miles left :-)
15/08/2017Répondre
Voyageur Thanks :)
15/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
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Camping Quimby Mountain 1707.5
13 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
Rise and shine, it's town day :) The night was pretty chilly up at 3908 ft with the wind blowing through the shelter even though it had a door, but no windows -.- So we quickly ate our last remaining two oatmeals and then hiked swiftly the ~6 miles to the road crossing that leads to Rutland. Usually we wouldn't go to a town that is more than 8 miles off the trail but we've heard that hitching a ride is really easy in Vermont. And so we had a car stopping for us after only 5 minutes :)
They drove us directly to the "Hikers Hostel at the Yellow Deli", which was actually very yellow. We were greeted by a young man that showed us around and told us the rules. Both the Deli and the Hostel are run by the "Twelve tribes", a Christian alternative community which was co-founded by hikers. They are really nice people and we had very interesting conversations with them. The hostel is purely donations based, so showers, laundry and even breakfast is included. But we had other plans, so after having a shower and done laundry we went for brunch to the Deli and had a delicious sandwich there. Afterwards resupply at Walmart, there we got a good amount of food and also a new water filter - not the Sawyer Mini but the regular sized one. Which means that there's no more a need to save water until the next spring :)
Back in the hostel we were about to get vortexed but the last bus was about to leave, so we hopped on back to the trail and managed to do some more miles.En savoir plus
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Voyageur I will bring something like this on Saturday :-D
15/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Cowboy Camping Barnard Gulf Rd 1724.5
14 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
What a great start into the day with straight up for a quarter of a mile to Quimby Mountain. The night was pretty chilly again with around 12 degrees Celsius so it warmed us up quickly. Afterwards it was neat up and down with gentle slopes and even ground. The hikes here in Vermont have been fun so far but there aren't many miles left until we reach New Hampshire and the Whites.
After lunch we came by a viewpoint at a cabin that was"0.1 mile off the trail. As I was a bit ahead of Julia I've decided to leave my pack at the junction and go check it out. And it was totally worth it, the cabin itself is perfectly maintained and pretty clean. It's open for hikers to stay there for the night and it even has a fireplace. But the best thing about it is is the lookout on top of the cabins roof. For a climb up a steep ladder it offers a wooden lookout platform with a bench and amazing views to three sides.
On the way down another hiker came by and said that Julia moved on along the trail. We do that pretty often as I'm usually a bit faster than her but I need more time to get ready. So I just hiked on at a normal pace but after about three miles I started getting a bit confused because I still haven't caught up to her. As I checked the elevation profile (which was mostly downhill) I thought that I just spent more time at the cabin so she would be further ahead. After another hour I was almost sure that I had passed her so I went back for about half a mile and luckily found her again. She didn't take a turn at a junction where the trail was really bad marked and went downhill a wrong path for an hour.
As it was already quite late we decided to go to a barn just 0.1 miles off the trail where hikers are welcome to stay.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Happy Hill Shelter 1741.8
15 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
Today's goal was to get as close as possible to Hanover. Therefore we headed out a bit earlier than the previous days. But the morning was quite tough with lots of ups and downs, both pretty steep. So we've only achieved 8 miles for lunch but we were still confident in reaching our goal.
We've hiked by some trees that were equipped with lines to get maple syrup from them. Julia explained me a bit about it as she had already seen this up in Maine. It was really interesting seeing those trees being drained, apparently there has to be a large container down the hills where the raw juice is gathered. Maybe there will be a chance to explore it more detailed in Maine.
As we came out of the woods into the town of West Hartford you could already see an AT sign from far away. As we came a bit closer we saw some hikers sitting on the porch so we joined them. And there was an amazing trail magic with sodas, coffee, cookies, muffins, brownies and fruits!! Those fruits were just what we needed at this point because the sun was burning down on us for quite a while. The trail angel even had WiFi for us, so we enjoyed being vortexed for about an hour.
Then we finally found the motivation to make a move up to the next shelter with the promising name "Happy Hill Shelter". The hill wasn't so happy, mainly just a thousand feet of uphill that we saved our tomorrow selves. When we went to sleep in the tent we've heard the thunder rolling in the distance and hoped that it will spare us for the night in our leaking tent...En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Moose Mountain Shelter 1758.6
16 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
Of course it rained during the night and we got wet in our tent!! But it wasn't as bad as last time because it just rained for a short period of time. Still especially my sleeping bag got wet at the feet part somehow...
But that wasn't going to ruin our town day. So we had a long downhill with a miles stretch of road walking until we reached the bridge over Connecticut River. This river also marks the border between Vermont and New Hampshire - so we're now in our 13th state :) Right at the border sign was already some trail magic waiting for us with tasty cookies for breakfast.

After we've reached the city center, Julia wrote a friend of hers that we are in town. Because she contacted her lately and said that she lives in the area and we could meet. So Heidi arrived a little bit later with freshly homemade Mac and cheese and chocolate muffins!! What a wonderful surprise :) We've had a conversation for some time and it was really nice to talk with her. Hopefully we'll see her again somewhere in the world.
At "Lous", a local bakery, thru hikers get a free donut and at another place a free slice of pizza!! So far this has been the most hiker friendly town and I guess it'll be hard to beat.

At the end of the day we've also hiked a bit ;) And we did that quite fast because of some pizza we found in a trail magic box. So we managed to run up to Mount Moose for the night. There a surprise waited for us, Katrin, the German girl that we met on the first day on the trail, was there. She skipped 500 miles because she got tired of Virginia.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping near Jacobs Brook 1775
17 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
We were the first ones waking up at the Shelter and also the first ones on the trail. But by lunch most had already passed us because we spent about half an hour talking to a section hiker and his wife. They gave us some trail magic with sodas and peppermint chocolate :)
Directly after lunch we needed to climb up to Smarts mountain, a pretty tough uphill hike over stones. It took us forever making progress here and when we thought we'd have the worst part over, we surprisingly met Heidi again. She was hiking with her dad and on the way down so she told us that she had hiked this mountain when she was young. Back then she was mad when she encountered that the "real" mountain is another mile away. So she fought her childhood trauma today and we knew that we just arrived at a fake summit... It was anyway nice seeing her again and her dad is just as nice as she is :)
By the time we arrived on top of the mountain it was already 5 so we planned to go just to the next Shelter. But on the way there we got tired and as we came by a nice campspot the decision was made.En savoir plus
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Camping near NH 25 1791.1
18 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We woke up this morning to a lot of wind and it was so cloudy that I thought it would be before 6 but it was already 6:30. So I crawled out of the cosiness of sleeping bag and tent and into the chilly wind to prepare breakfast while Julia tore down the tent. A few minutes after we started hiking, it started to rain. First just a little bit but as we came up Mt Cube it started getting heavier and the so did the wind. By the time we reached the summit - after another false one - we were freezing. And of course there was nothing worth to be called a view...
Anyways, we were glad to have mastered this mountain and after arriving at the bottom on the other side a SOBO told us about "The Omelette guy". We've already heard of him but didn't expect that he would be there by the time we come by. But he was there and he's actually there every day from around 8 to 8. An incredibly interesting man who does that for us hikers, I just wanted to hug him when we arrived there. After this cold morning it was a pleasure to be in a dry spot with hot coffee, tasty muffins and the smell of the omelette. When it was our turn we went "All the way" and 20 eggs together. The record is 30 eggs for one person. Our portion was just right and so we had enough energy to make it to Glencliffe and the Hikers Welcome Hostel.
There we spent the evening in the warmth, having dinner and just relaxing a bit. For the night we went back to the trailhead and camped on a gravel road near the trail.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Looks delicious
20/08/2017Répondre
VoyageurDid you already explain what a SOBO is? Maybe I missed that or forgot it again ;-)
20/08/2017Répondre
VoyageurI think I didn't explain it yet. Will do in a next footprint :)
25/08/2017Répondre
VoyageurCool
25/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
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Kinsman Notch 1800.4
19 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We knew we would have time in the morning until Fabi will arrive so we tried to sleep in until 7 but our inner clock woke us up at the usual time around 6. I've went ahead to the Hikers Welcome Hostel to prepare breakfast and check on the shuttle to the trailhead after Mt Moosilauke.
There was a breakfast available at the hostel, for just 5$ with pancakes and bacon and eggs but we had so much left that it didn't make sense to buy it. As we were still hungry afterwards, I've checked the platters and got some free pancakes :) We've also resupplied our bodies with coffee. So after another hour Fabi arrived with the rental car to join us until tomorrow. He is a friend from my home area who is in the US mainly for business reasons but also has some recreational time. We got shuttled by "Bag of Tricks" and started to hike up the mountain.
The first part of it was pretty intense with steep climbs and wet rocks. But it was still nice not to have to lift the whole weight of the backpack up every boulder and we've reached the foggy summit a bit later. Just as we wanted to sit down for lunch it started to clear and we got a beautiful views all over the surrounding area. The way down was pretty easy and chill so we arrived back at the hostel at around 6 and had enough time for a relaxed beer :)
Then we had some great grilled hot dogs for dinner, a proper meal for hikers. Before it got too late, we headed to the Shelter to set up our camp for the night. Fabi slept in the Shelter while we stayed in our tent. This long day came to an end after we sat around the fireplace, had nice conversations and drank our beers. It was a great day on - and of course off - the trail.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Awesome !! Can't wait to do that next year !!
23/08/2017Répondre
VoyageurLooks like you guys are having a blast ! I'm so glad. I have another friend up there who crossed Kinsman today. He's LLCoolJ.... blabla, he was just going to let his name grow longer as time goes on. I met him at the ATC HQ in West VA. He's on Instagram as JayJasonJeremy ... maybe you'll meet up with him.
23/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Kinsman Pond Shelter 1811.9
20 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌫 10 °C
We woke up at around our usual time, which is 6, and started preparing a huge breakfast thanks to Fabi who brought eggs, bacon and avocado. It felt a bit decadent for the trail but after months it was a well deserved treat, besides that I couldn't prepare it properly. So we had perfect timed scrambled eggs with not cross baked bacon. It was still delicious :)
Afterwards we went back to the car and Fabi gave us a ride back to the trailhead where we started yesterday. Just as we were about to get back on the trail I encountered that the water filter was missing... It came to my mind that I forgot it in the backpack that we used for slackpacking. Fabi was so nice to take an extra turn back to the Hostel while Julia already went ahead on the trail. So I started my hiking day at 11, an hour later than Julia but with a water filter. I did the math and thought it might take me four hours to catch up to her. Unfortunately the terrain was very tough and I was pushing hard, so I caught up to her after about two and a half hours...
Right after our lunch break (which was amazing with avocado and fresh fruits) we had Mount Kinsman ahead of us. The elevation profile looked similar to Mount Moosilauke, just some more feet. It would be the toughest climb that we've had so far on the trail because it is mainly just rock climbing using everything god gave you. So we moved super slowly up, just being glad that we didn't injure ourselves. After more than three hours we rolled into the Campsite where a caretaker greeted us. He was nice and took his time explaining us everything, but we still needed to pay a fee for using a tent platform. Our knees and ankles were just glad to get a bit of rest after that extremely exhausting day.En savoir plus
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VoyageurWow, looks like a really crazy climb up and down the hill
25/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping Little Haystack Mountain 1820.8
21 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
Today we needed to go for a resupply before heading deeper into the Whites. So we got up early and hiked for about three miles until we came by the AMC Lonesome Lake Hut. Those huts are special for the White Mountain National Park, because they offer bunks for about 120$ per night. So they are way out of our budget but you can do work-for-stay which means you support the ones that are working there by sweeping the floor or washing the dishes. In return you get to sleep there on the floor and you get dinner and breakfast. So it's a pretty good deal for thru hikers and therefore wanted by many. You need luck and good timing to make it.
Another thing is that thru hikers get the leftovers, so we feasted on pancakes, oatmeal and eggs this morning. Afterwards the trail led us down Mount Kinsman and along a busy street. From there we tried to get a hitch to Lincoln but it seemed like it's pretty hard to find one. So we stood there for about 10 minutes when suddenly a colorfully painted van drove by and honked. It was Ms Janet, another legend of the Appalachian Trail who has dedicated her life to the trail.
She was so nice to give us a ride to resupply and back to the trail. Lincoln is another town from our past... We've been here almost exactly half a year ago to visit the ice castles and it was extremely cold back then. Now it all looked different and instead of ice castles people ate ice cream and watched the solar eclipse. It was a big thing in the US because it's exclusively there and for the last time until about 80 years later. Around the area where we are it was only about 60% but further south like Georgia it was a total eclipse.
We only had about 4 hours of daylight left when we came back to the trail so we couldn't make it up and over Mount Lafayette today anymore. So we just stealth camped where Little Haystack Mountain started.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
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Zealand Falls Hut 1836.6
22 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
As we're not making good progress in the Whites so far we decided to get up earlier to have more daylight to hike. So we hit the trail this morning at 5:45 already and instantly needed to climb up Little Haystack Mountain, from there we had an amazing view up to Franconia Ridge with Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette. We hiked absolutely stunned by the view on to Mt Lafayette, the highest peak along the ridge. There we had our breakfast but it got a bit chilly when the sun was covered by the clouds. So we hurried on hiking to warm up again. The next mountain on our daily list was Mount Garfield, a bit smaller than the ones before but still 4k.
For lunchtime we arrived at Galehead Hut, one of those AMC huts. And we could take advantage of the bottomless soup that is offered for thru hikers. So we had six bowls of potatoe dill soup each even though it wasn't very tasty it filled our stomachs and gave us enough energy for the upcoming peaks. A few hours later we had climbed South Twin Mountain, Mt Guyot and Mt Zealand. So overall we did six 4k mountains today and we rushed to Zealand Falls Hut because it started to sprinkle a little bit. On arrival we were surprised that there were actually still two spots open for work-for-stay. The one in charge did a thru hike this year and was really understanding and nice. We got an amazing dinner with enchiladas, bread, soup and salad.
The chores we needed to do were pretty easy. Julia cleaned the dishes and I scrubbed the cooking plates. Meanwhile it started raining heavily and you could hear the thunder rolling in the distance. It was a super lucky coincidence that we got this opportunity!!En savoir plus
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Voyageur Nice photo
25/08/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Lakes of the Clouds Hut 1855.4
23 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Unfortunately someone who did work-for-stay with us was snoring incredibly loud so Julia almost couldn't sleep. Our today's goal was to make it as close as possible to Mt Washington because the weather is supposed to be pretty good which is almost necessary to summit the mountain. We headed out at 6 and made pretty good miles before breakfast because the terrain was quite flat. The trail led us down to a parking lot, so we had a much higher and tougher climb afterwards leading us in direction of Mount Washington. On the way to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut we stopped by the Mizpah Spring Hut for lunch. Unfortunately they only had one bowl of a super tasty meat soup left :( The bottomless soup would have been a feast!!!
We only took a short break and checked for the weather report posted in the hut. It looked good for today and tomorrow, so we can shoot for Mount Washington :) The last hike of the day went pretty well on the presidential ridge leading over to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut right at the bottom of Mount Washington. From there we had beautiful views over the ridges, valleys and peaks in the distance. It was especially impressive because we had it all to ourselves, no other hikers were around.
The more challenging the hike, the more rewarding is the view. That was true in this case. When we arrived at the hut at around 7 all work-for-stay spots were already gone and also "the dungeon" - a kind of bunk below the hut which is tiny and cold - was full. So the AMC person in charge offered us, like others before, to stay on the floor of the dining room for 15$. We had no other choice but to accept it even though it was a rip-off.

The temperature fell down to around 0 degrees at night due to high winds. So we were glad that we didn't have to tent out in that cold.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping Lows Bald Spot 1867.7
24 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
The first thing we did in the morning was hiking up to Mount Washington! It was 6 in the morning and the "normal" hikers in the hut just started their day with pancakes, eggs and oatmeal. We just got to enjoy some hot fresh brewed coffee before we packed us in three layers of clothes and headed out. The wind felt pretty intense but later we've been told that it was a nice day :D I was definitely glad that I raided the hiker box a day before and got a jacket, vest, gloves and a hat. Despite all those things it was still a little bit cold. But we already arrived after just about an hour of climbing at the Visitor's center next to the summit.
As it was still early in the morning there we almost only thru hikers in the building. When the snack shop opened we got ourselves a portion of nachos with cheese. The slogan of Mount Washington is that it is "home of the worst weather in the world". That sounds a bit exaggerated but it depends on the definition. In the Visitor's center is a list of people who died at or around Mt Washington to make people realize what they are doing when hiking around here. And the mountain is covered in fog for 300 days a year. Not my favorite place to go on holidays.
After a two hour break there we went back on the trail and met a really nice man, Phil from England who is hiking Mt Washington for a day. We talked for about an hour while hiking before he pushed on to the next AMC hut. The hike to there was very rocky and uneven so it took us longer than expected to get there. They were running out of food for lunch but thanks to Phils conversation skills we got a soup and a piece of Shepards pie. Unfortunately Phil needed to go back to Gorham because his bus was leaving to Boston on the next day...
We tried to push to the Pinkham Visitor Center which also belongs to the AMC. But a long, rocky and strenuous downhill hike left our knees, ankles and feet ruined. We set up our tent at a random place and then went to sleep hoping that the regeneration will do its job.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping Carter Dome 1877.5
25 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
As we didn't make it to the Visitor center for the night, we went there for breakfast. A lucky find in the hiker box added some wafers and raisins to the menu :) When we were finished, the Deli had opened so we went there for a bagel with cream cheese and a Grilled cheese. At least in terms of food we were fully energized. But on the trail we felt that the last day cost us much more energy, so our feet were still sore and the knees hurting. Like this we moved slowly up Wildcat mountain to a gondola. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to take the ride down to a restaurant ;)
After another two hours of hiking we came to the last and oldest AMC hut in the Whites. We tried to get a work-for-stay but the spots were already taken. So we just ate our dinner there and then moved on to a camp spot.

As promised the explanation about SOBO: It means south bound, so they are hiking from Maine to Georgia. Therefore we are NOBOs and there are way more going to Maine. There is some kind of rivalry between those groups even though we are united in the thru-hiker spirit. The third way to thru hike is flip-flopping which means that you jump over a section.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
US 2 / Gorham 1891.5
26 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
TOWNDAY!! We're getting more and more excited about this than we used to. Today we luckily got a ride into town just as we started to hike there. So first we went to Walmart to get resupplies for the next days, especially because this is the last Walmart along the trail. Afterwards we went to the Post office to get a delivery from Clara with other parts of our winter gear and we also sent some items back.
The next item on our daily todo list was the laundry after treating our clothes with Permetherin, a strong insect repellent that is especially effective against ticks. The only downside is that it smells awful, so we first soaked the clothes and then washed them. The tick protection lasts for six times of laundry or 42 days, so we should be fine until Kathadin. After all of our clothes were clean, we needed to clean ourselves but unfortunately the two hostels in town only offered showers for guests. So we just went to the river right along the main street and washed us there with a special bio degradable soap :) The line between hiker and homeless is very thin...
We've completed all of the duties, so now we could go to the fun part: Eating. All you can eat. Chinese.
And it was exceptionally tasty for only $7.25, the different meals actually tasted different. Usually it all tastes mainly greasy with just a bit of artificial taste added. We really enjoyed having actual food with vegetables and a great dessert.

Almost falling in a food coma we went to McDonald's for WiFi and coffee. We spent quite a lot of time there before we stealth camped across the street at a construction site. The day was good to get a bit of rest after the exhausting up and downs in the Whites. Our knees, ankles and feet are thankful for that and we hope to make it to Kathadin without another rest. We're still shooting for the End of trails Festival and the lower mileage of the last week raised the miles we need to average from now on. Only about a mile a day more but depending on the terrain, this might get tricky.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Gentian Pond Shelter 1903.3
27 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
I've been up this morning since 4:45 AM because I had an interview with the local newspaper of my hometown ("Schwäbische Zeitung"). They want to do a short report on me and the trail :) So I went to McDonald's when they opened at 5 on a Sunday to have a Skype call with the reporter. Afterwards Julia showed up and we had two large coffees and talked about the interview.
If there wasn't "Snake Farm" coming up to us at Dunkin Donuts and asked if we need a ride back to the trail it would have been even later :D So we were incredibly lucky to meet him there, he has thru hiked the AT in 2011 and the PCT in 2015. A very nice and interesting guy.
So we were back on the trail and expecting that it would go on as before with rocky up and downs that ruin our knees but we were wrong... It was a nice little uphill with just a bit of elevation and you only needed to use your hands to climb up a few times. What a very nice change :)
Up at the first mountain we ran into "Snake Farm" again. He is planning to do all trails that exist in the Whites, which is about 1200 miles and there are only about 27 people who have done this so far. Crazy guy!! We chatted for almost an hour with him before we continued just for a few steps to take our lunch. A bit afterwards we hit the 1900 miles mark but it's been getting already late and we needed to readjust our plans because we wouldn't make it to the border today. So we picked the next Shelter and decided to go earlier to sleep and make up some miles tomorrow.En savoir plus
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Camping after Mahoosuc Notch 1915.6
28 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
We needed to catch up some miles from yesterday so we were already at 6:15 on the trail. Despite that the hike was extremely difficult today and we barely made any miles. At 4:30 PM we just reached the 10 mile mark. But others had also their difficulties today so it wasn't our poor performance ;)
But we reached our last state, Maine, today. Many people - especially SOBOs - told us how great it is there, so we're really looking forward to hike here. And of course to hike up to Kathadin in a bit! The cherry at the end of the trail.

But before there are some more miles to go. And they are tough ones! With a full hiking day we barely managed to do the 12 miles. And almost at the end of the day there was the "most difficult and fun part of the whole AT" (Thru hiker guides) waiting for us. It's a mile stretch called Mahoosuc Notch that leads pretty even out of the valley. But the way out there is basically just rock climbing and crawling under huge rock boulders that are scattered all over. Another thing that makes it special is that there is ice below some of the rocks for the whole year. We actually had fun for about half the way but then it was mostly annoying. Also because it started to get dark and you really don't want to be there for a night hike... But we managed to make it through just in time and right afterwards was a really nice campspot.En savoir plus
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Wonderful !! You guys are getting close !!
06/09/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Frye Notch Lean-to 1928.4
29 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
We wanted to get up earlier to have more time to make miles. Well, not today... It took us an hour to get out of the tent, then we had breakfast and at 7 we were finally on the trail to tackle Mahoosuc Arm. A section that is "one of the steepest climbs of the whole AT" with an elevation change of 1500 ft within one mile. We had really respect of that part but on the trail it was actually pretty easy and we were on the summit pretty fast.
On the way down a SOBO told us that there is trail magic at the upcoming road crossing. So I hurried up to get there so we would get something this time because usually all we find are the leftovers. But not this time, there was a retired High school teacher whose son hiked the AT two years ago and is now on the PCT. He gave us sodas and snacks and we talked for some time. Just as we were about to head on a day hiker offered us beer and Oreos. After more than 2 1/2 hours we moved on and got some orange halves from a day hiking couple :) What a lucky day!
Despite the good food and drink supply we still didn't make big miles and slowly our goal gets further away. Tomorrow we'll be going to make a big day again and see if it works.En savoir plus
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VoyageurAre there still SOBOs coming down your way as it already pretty late? Or only SOBOs which are switching?
02/09/2017Répondre
VoyageurThere are still SOBOs but it's getting less. Most of them are switching/ flip-flopping
05/09/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping Old Blue Mountain 1947.4
30 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
For a big day it's necessary to get up early, at least for us. So we were on the trail at 6:30 and for lunch we passed the 10 miles mark. But it was a bit later than usual to get lunch and the stretch was pretty easy compared to the previous days. Anyways, we were happy with the progress that we made and after a short lunch break we moved on.
The upcoming part wasn't supposed to be that easy with steep ups and downs. Unfortunately it was as exhausting as it looked like and we slowed down a lot. Because of that our daily goal was endangered and we were considering our options. We have scheduled a meeting with the mother-in-law of Julias sister who lives nearby the trail. But we overestimated the progress we'd make so it were 41 miles left this morning. Our only chance to make it on time to there was to move on despite the upcoming climb, night and almost no water. On the way we felt pretty good so we had only one mile left to hike in the dark. It was super lucky that the stretch to the Campsite was even and perfect for a night hike!
Shortly before we arrived there we heard a big animal in the woods but we weren't able to identify what it was. Hopefully not a bear because in the whole area was no proper spot for hanging a bear bag.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Little Swift River Pond Campsite 1964.6
31 août 2017, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
We tried really hard to get up but the long hike from yesterday was still in our feet. It would be a good thing because as we arrived at a notch there was a couple just setting up trail magic :)
They had delicious freshly grilled burgers and hotdogs. Besides that several different sweets from "Miss Debbie" and bananas and soft drinks. An amazing selection that you wouldn't expect at a random dirt road which made it even more special. We talked for about two hours with "Snowman" and his wife Teddy before we managed to keep on hiking. It was already 2 and we still had another 8 miles to go. Usually that wouldn't be a problem but since the Whites we know that it can mean 1 mile per hour.
Luckily the trail wasn't that hard and we arrived at the campsite at 7:30 for dinner.En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
ME4 / Farmington 1969.4
1 septembre 2017, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Today we actually succeeded in getting up early because of the scheduled meeting time. And it was timed to our normal pace, not the slow bad terrain movement we had the last couple of days. Luckily the terrain was in our favor and we arrived at the parking lot at 8:55 AM, just in time. But Bonnie was already there for half an hour because she didn't want us to wait for her. She greeted us with coffee (hot water and coffee in tea bags which is actually very tasty), fresh fruit and donuts :) As she is a hiker herself she knows what we are craving for. Then we figured what to do next because she had considered hiking up to Mount Saddleback with us but it was pretty cold and windy. So she invited us to stay at their camp for the day and night.
We gladly accepted the offer because we needed a bit of rest after the tough southern Maine section. So we first went to resupply to Walmart and then to the camp. The term camp was new to me so it was a surprise to see that it is actually a big house next to a pretty pond. It was a beautiful view but due to the wind it was too chilly to take the canoe. Besides that we wanted to rest ;)
So we spend most of day on the couch chatting with Bonnie. She is a really lovely person and we enjoyed the time together. Later her husband Chris came home and they made delicious burgers, freshly picked corn and salad for us. They really spoiled us! We almost felt like humans again and not the stinky hiker trash :)En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping at Orbeton Stream 1982.9
2 septembre 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We tried to sleep in a bit but at our usual time we were wide awake. Anyways the smell of pancakes and sausages was too good to go back to sleep. Bonnie had prepared a huge portion for breakfast but our trained hiker stomachs made it disappear in no time :D Afterwards Bonnie drove us back to the trailhead and because they were expecting guests later in the afternoon she couldn't join us hiking. We would have loved to stay a bit longer with them but we can't really relax before we're not up at Kathadin.
9:30 AM, 24 hours later, we were back on the trail with full bellies and backpacks. Fully prepared to hit upcoming mountains again. But it was a tough hike up there and also there were some steep up and downs that slowed us down. Later in the afternoon we stopped at a lean-to (we haven't really figured out the difference to a shelter but it seems like it's just a naming thing in Maine and apparently there are no picnic tables :(). There we ran into "Wandering star", the elderly woman from England who finished the AT several times and is a triple crowner (finished AT, PCT and CD). The last time we saw her was on our sixth day on the trail when Christi was still on the trail. We hung her food bag and she gave us some Poptarts in return :) She remembered us and we talked a bit about how the trail has been. As there was still some daylight left we moved on for another three miles before setting up our tent.
Besides that the article in the newspaper was published today :) For tomorrow heavy rain from Hurricane Harvey is forecasted for the region...En savoir plus
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Cranberry Stream Campsite 2003.4
3 septembre 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
By the time we woke up there was no rain so we hurried up to tear down the tent while it was dry. We didn't set ourselves a goal for the day, we just knew that there were some mountains coming up. After just about an hour of hiking we came by a campsite and were startled by a loud "Heeeeeey". We were surprised and happy to see "Late start", our good friend back in the Smokies. We didn't see him for more than three months in Tennessee where he wanted to catch up to us but ended up taking another Zero. We knew that he had flipped up to Kathadin but we thought that we missed him while staying at the Brown's camp. But both of us had plans for the day and it would have taken a while to report all the things that had happened so we postponed it until after we reach Kathadin. So we gave each other just a quick heads-up, some hugs and then moved on. Oh, and we gave him a pair of gloves as Julia doesn't need any.
We tackled the mountains and for lunch three of them were done. Then came a tough climb up to the Crocker Mountains with two summits and a saddle in between. So by 3 PM we've only made 12 miles and it started to rain a bit but then the terrain turned in our favor. The trail led down the hill with just a gentle elevation for more than 5 miles.
On the way down we reached the 2000 mile marker!! So we are both now 2000 milers (officially after the thru hike is confirmed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy) one day before our 4 months trail anniversary! It's an incredible number and it's hard to realize that we did that. And it also means that it's less than 200 miles until we reach Kathadin.
Motivated by that we pushed on and reached the Cranberry Stream Campsite at the bottom of Mount Bigelow. A hiker had told us that the rain is supposed to hit us around 8 and then last until early the next morning. So we set up the tent and used the tarp/footprint to add an additional rain cover above because we have to use our leaking tent until Kathadin. After this we had a quick dinner, chatted a bit with the couple that stayed with us at the campsite and then went to bed. The rain started to get heavier but it seems like our construction is working good enough.En savoir plus
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Voyageur200 miles left, that is a stone's throw away for you! Congrats :-)
08/09/2017Répondre
VoyageurHaha, thanks!! It still feels far away though :)
08/09/2017Répondre
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Appalachian Trail Voyageur
Camping East Falstaff Rd 2018.3
4 septembre 2017, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
We started the day motivated as there aren't many mountains left overall on the trail and we'd tackle one right in the morning. But after about an hour we realized that the Bigelow Mountains are tough. And so we only had made 6 miles for lunch.
That's the problem with using all your energy vertically instead of horizontally. After the last peak - Mt. Avery named after one of the main initiators of the AT - the terrain looked like it's going to flatten and and allow to do more miles. Maybe it was the weather or just a general exhaustion but this section was super hard on us. Especially because the Junior Bigelow Mountain didn't have anything of interest, just a sign. Julia also had some trouble and fell several times because of the slippery Salomon boots.
At the end of the day (7ish) it finally got flatter and we pushed hard to make it to a campsite near Lake Falstaff.
But on the way there we came by a road crossing and got some incredible trail magic. It was already dark so we decided to set up our tent there. They gave us beer, sandwiches, pasta salad and sweet goods!!! We couldn't get enough and we ate a huge portion each. They are coming there every year on the labor day weekend, feed hungry hikers and have a reunion. In our tent we made a plan for the next day to catch up miles and get to the ferry (more about it tomorrow). So we set the alarm to 3 in the morning :DEn savoir plus
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