Nearly every time I meet another woman who is not out here hiking the trail, but is rather in a town, camping for the weekend or just driving by the trail, she usually says to me, “I don’t know how you do it. I could never do something like thru-hike … Continue reading
For starters, it’s important for me to note that Julie and I walk together every mile of the AT. In the first part of the trail, she would always walk in front and I would follow. We realized that either she has gotten faster, or I’ve gotten slower because we … Continue reading
It’s rained for 8 days in a row now and everything is either soaked or at least damp, our spirits included. I am the Optimist on the trail and I am fully into this adventure but the rain, along with some of the trail section through PA thus far has … Continue reading
I’ve been meaning to share a little analysis of what I think about while I hike all day and today is the day that I’m actually following through on it because today was a bit out of the ordinary. So I’ll share a little about today along with some of … Continue reading
I spent the last 6 miles of our hike today thinking, “Please, let there be a room at the Doyle.” If you have ever passed through Duncannon, PA, you know that’s a big statement. The Doyle Hotel is an old, historic building that is cheap ($32.50 for our room), yet … Continue reading
We have had such a great time the past week with friends, family, and food. We’ve met with my parents and brother on Saturday and Sunday and then met with our old roommate Brian, from Annapolis, today. The time off the trail with them has been excellent and we have … Continue reading
While we may not be hiking an “assisted” thru-hike in the sense that we have people along the trail, bringing us food and water and carrying our packs, we certainly have one the best support crews we could ever compile. The support we have received so far via phone, email … Continue reading
Today we passed the 1000 mile marker and completed our fifth state in moving from West Virginia into Maryland. I thought it was time to share one of my favorite joys I’ve experienced while walking ten to twelve hours a day. There are many good parts including the scenery, the … Continue reading
We are now in the state of Maryland, which means we have officially left Virginia, a state that was our home for 3 weeks, which will most likely be the longest we spend in one state. When I look back at Virginia, I’ll most likely remember two things – the … Continue reading
I am disgustingly dirty, and I’m talking about the down and dirty physical type such that I am covered in grime and filth and it is to a point that I disgust myself. We did this to ourselves. We each showered twice in Waynesboro last Saturday and Sunday but due … Continue reading
We had our third hotel stop of the trail this past weekend in Waynesboro, VA at the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park and this time we did the town stop different than the other two and while we had a good time in the previous towns, Waynesboro takes the … Continue reading
I am going to paraphrase some Nietzsche from some lectures I’ve been listening to on my iPod while I hike along with some of the Nietzsche that I remember from college to discuss the memories from my thru hike of the AT 11 years ago with my friends Animal and … Continue reading
It is time. I am going to compare my experience thus far of hiking the PCT vs. the AT. Each person that finds out we hiked the PCT always follows up with the question, “How do they compare?” It’s a very good question and one that I answer in my … Continue reading
I made a huge mistake upon leaving Pearisbug, VA. I had eaten so much town food that by the time we went grocery shopping for the resupply into the next town of Daleville, VA, I skimped a little. I thought the thousands of calories I consumed would carry me at … Continue reading
I did it, I broke from hiker custom and shaved the beard off in Pearisburg. It was a good beard too. I started it in late March when we went to visit my sister in South Carolina and shaved it a month later. I did it for a few reasons. … Continue reading
I don’t have many luxury items in my pack these days, as a lighter pack has greatly enhanced my ability to enjoy the trail. But there are still a few items that are worth their weight in gold, one of them being my ipod nano. I’m not even sure how … Continue reading
After the night we had last night, I realized that more needs to be told about the shelter life. All this past week, we heard weather forecasts that would scare any hiker into staying in town and not leaving until the storms blew over. Unfortunately, we weren’t near a town, … Continue reading
Most of my posts are about an idea or a specific story. I’ve been thinking about what to write since we left Damascus, VA this past weekend and while we have had many noteworthy experiences, there isn’t one best story or an overarching theme connecting them other than all happening … Continue reading
We did not do much night hiking on the PCT, and thankfully have not started that habit yet here on the AT. So far we have hiked about an hour and a half in the dark, with our headlamps, and that’s about enough for me. There is something about the … Continue reading
Physically, the trail is certainly a challenge; the emotional challenges may be greater. I think about the psychology books, Games People Play by Eric Berne and I’m OK, You’re OK by Thomas Harris to describe the emotional aspects of the trail that I often think about. They break things down … Continue reading
There is a part of the hiking life that I never experienced on the PCT, which is incredibly prevalent on the AT. It is the shelter part of the trail life. All along the AT, ranging everywhere from 2 to 10 miles apart are shelters for all the hikers. Most … Continue reading
Yes, we’re hiking with Whitney Houston. However, the Whitney we’re hiking with is a 27 year old guy from Oklahoma. He was excited by the mileage we were hiking and since we caught him, he hasn’t let us pass. We’ve since been pushing each other to 25 plus miles per … Continue reading
Life on the trail is a stripped down version of a life and one that takes things down to the basics. This could be viewed as a simple life but simple does not imply an easy life. Thoreau might say that simple is better (I’ve never actually finished Walden) and … Continue reading
I have had to drastically change my mindset about a lot of things out here, one being food. In normal life, I count calories in and calories out so I can maintain a healthy weight. Out here on the trail, I count the calories to make sure I don’t lose … Continue reading
Jefferson: We tip our hats Happy birthday little brother. We are proud of you and who you are. We think about you often while hiking and have enjoyed simply imagining that you may join us for the second half of our journey. We have literally spent hours talking about it … Continue reading
Something I have been reminded of lately is the swinging pendulum effect in all parts of the trail life. Not that this aspect is special to the trail life, but I believe it’s more deeply felt because of the rawness of the life to begin with. These last few days … Continue reading
Our writing is admittedly biased and we’re not able to give the full report of the trail life. This isn’t some sort of conspiracy but the fact is that there are times that we’re so involved in the moment that we either can’t report about it at the time, we’re … Continue reading
Holy Monday’s! For two weeks straight now, we’ve had huge thunderstorms on Monday night and both nights we’ve had to stay in our tents. Last night was especially trying because we’d just hiked our biggest day yet, 27 miles, and then had to set up the tent on a windy … Continue reading
I have begun to repeat my old habits from the PCT. I find myself looking at my watch, looking at the data book, screaming at a seemingly endless uphill…when will I learn that I make it harder on myself by expecting so much? These last two days have been the … Continue reading
A big part of the trail life is the people and the society that forms out here in the woods and trail towns. We’ve had positive experiences already, some with people we’ve known, and others that we’ve been wanting to meet or have met for the first time. At the … Continue reading
That is the question I’ve been asking myself each night as I lay in our tent, listening to every sound, thinking each one is a bear out to get my food. I don’t remember having sleeping issues on the PCT, but I’m certainly experiencing them here on the AT. Not … Continue reading
We’re getting our hiking legs back quickly and picking up our routine as well. After a crazy night of thunderstorms and lightning, in which our tent performed valiantly and kept us safe an d dry, we are now sitting in our tent near a shelter with the sun going down … Continue reading
It is day two on the trail and I have had many trail similarities and differences already. All the things that I forgot about over the years, like the sore hips and shoulders, the fear of the uphill climbs, kicking a root as soon as I look up from the … Continue reading
I have 4 important numbers to share at the start of this trail. First is weight: 149.6 lbs for me and 124 lbs for Julie. As a point of reference, our normal running weights are 138 and 121 respectively. As you can see, Julie did much better than I did … Continue reading
It is starting to feel real. We are in the final days before the trail in Charleston, SC with Matt’s sister, Emily and her husband Matt and two boys, Austin and Aiden. We made a trip to the Piggly Wiggly this afternoon for a few items, including the all important … Continue reading
Yes, I’m going back for seconds. It’s hard to believe, and it was even my suggestion that we do the trail. The mental and physical scars have healed. I have digested all of the PCT to be hungry enough to do another one. I can’t believe I’m saying this, and … Continue reading
A lot of people often asked us what a typical day was like for us, and while it did change somewhat over time, we basically kept our routine the same for the whole trail. Our goal was to always stay consistent, so that we never HAD to do big mileage … Continue reading
1. While I don’t miss hiking 25-30 miles a day, I sure do miss the ability to eat anything I wanted to from hiking that many miles. (Not that I could always eat what I wanted anyway, as our days rarely ended in towns, but it was still nice to … Continue reading
There was a moment in Ethiopia when our good friend Matt Ahlert made an observation that has stuck with me since. Optimist and I lived a bit differently in Ethiopia than other foreigners. We rode the public transportation, we bought bread and vegetables from the local stands, and lived in … Continue reading
Before Optimist and I even stepped foot on the trail, I was scared as hell of the animals that we could possibly encounter on the trail. My fear actually prevented me from even reading the guide book about what animals we might see on the trail, as it simply made … Continue reading
I know you’re out there. You’re a woman (or maybe a man, but most likely a woman) who has questions that are a bit too personal to just flat out ask another female hiker. Well, some women we met on the trail weren’t afraid of getting too personal, and they … Continue reading
One thing that kept me motivated was trail magic. There was nothing more inspiring than absolute strangers helping us out along the way without any conditions or expectations of something in return. Before I recount some of the amazing trail magic we received, let me explain how I came to … Continue reading
Early on in the hike, Tatu Jo aptly named us Team Sherpa, because we tended to have big packs and carry lots of stuff. While we did carry a lot of stuff, we trimmed down our packs over time and re-named ourselves Team Sherpa Lite because our packs, while still … Continue reading
…A dangerous question to ask a hiker There’s a reason we were named Team Sherpa, and it’s mainly because of our resupply strategy, but that will be explained in a second. Coming into the hike, we actually planned on not planning a resupply strategy, as we felt confident in ourselves … Continue reading
Optimist and I are a bit late on the journal entries, but we refused to make journaling a chore while on the trail. Many people that we met along the way usually whined about having to write in their journals, so we decided we’d rather use that time to eat … Continue reading
