Ear plugs are a wonderful invention. D snores some, CC and I both ended up wearing ear plugs but got a blissful night’s sleep. The mist hung in all night with everything slightly amp in the morning. I did see the sun for a brief moment at sunrise. Oatmeal for breakfast with coffee. We were packed up and on the trail by 7:30. One of the joys of walking the AT when it rains is putting on cold, clammy wet cloths in the morning. The trail started off fairly flat then we dropped off "Jug End" a near 1,000' shear [View Full Entry]

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Rain patted the tent fly all night long. Not heavy, just a steady Seattle drizzle. The thick pine trees overhead helped abate the worst I think. It also helped it continue to hit the tent long after the real rain had quit. We woke up around 5:30 with water still hitting the tent. Motivation was not real high to go out, but we did have to make the Post Office 11 miles away. The Ridgerunner told us the trail was detoured around a construction site not far from where we had camped. She didn't say if it added or subtracted [View Full Entry]

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After closing yesterday there were four more hikers that came to the lean-to. A father and son plus two other young men. All walking in just after we had doused the fire and had gotten snuggled into our bags. Seems I was not alone in the "Trip, Stumble and Fall AT Olympics." All these guys had problems. The son had broken one trekking pole and blown the side of his backpack wide open. My scraped knee was a minor tale compared to what I listened to laying there in my bag. Everyone turned in by 9PM. I slept the sleep [View Full Entry]

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The real rain held off until just after 6AM, then the heavens opened up. Between 6 and 6:30 everything outside was soaked! Not the way we like to start things out. I headed up to the bear box and shelter/lean-to to start breakfast. CC stayed in the tent getting her things packed staying as dry as possible. Everyone in the shelter had talked about the sunrise view from the sleeping area. The rain and clouds had all four people still sleeping when I got there. Quietly I did my duty then went to fetch CC so she could eat before [View Full Entry]

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Quiet night alone on the mountain. I did see the moon through the trees once when I woke up to adjust my bag. We sleep with one half the fly door open on each side when we can. This prevents condensation from breathing and sweating overnight. We were up by 6:30 packing and eating. During our resupply at Joline's we chose to have non-cooked breakfast for these few days. Oatmeal bars was the fare with hot coffee. 8:15 we walked out of the campsite. The first six miles today were all up and downs with +/- 500' - 700' seven [View Full Entry]

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So much for all the early risers in the shelter! We woke up right at 6AM, I thought I heard someone in the shelter making breakfast or packing. CC was awake so I got all fixed up, rolled up my sleeping pad and headed out to make breakfast. Much to my surprise all four hikers, even the "I get up at 5AM" guy were still in their bags snoring away. Quietly, like our friend "Highwayman" used to do, I made breakfast and packed up my stuff. CC was close behind and we ate our oatmeal like church mice. One hiker [View Full Entry]

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After some wonderful rest and visiting we are back to the trail. The ride up was uneventful. The weather outlook for the next few days is fair and I have new shoes without holes in them. Warm weather greeted us as we pulled our things from the trunk. Hugs all the way around, goodbyes said and in a cloud of dust (kind of) we were back on our own headed north. One of the things we did yesterday was maintain our gear and I tested an idea for lessening my load. Many solo hikers use an alcohol stove for cooking. [View Full Entry]

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After I finished doing my journal last night we had a hiker "Unplugged" walk into the shelter. He left Springer, GA on 15 March. He is from CT and is getting off the trail for a few days in Kent, CT and going home. He said the rest is much needed as he did an entire month of 23 mile days. He had to so he could make his graduation from Penn State. We slept well and there was no rain. We were up by 6:15AM and doing those morning tasks. We hit the trail just before 8AM. We beat [View Full Entry]

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Refreshment comes with sleep. We felt much better this morning even though a few rain drops tapped on our fly. We were out by 6AM cooking and packing trying to get done before any real rain started. We hit the trail at 7. Walking north we kept an eye out for possible sites we could have tented last night. None were found for at least an hours walk. We had made the right choice stopping when we did. More + 500', - 500' climbs and descents met us on the walk today. We made the RPH Shelter at 4.7 miles [View Full Entry]

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Wake up call this morning courtesy of the West Point Military Academy. Artillery simulators and machinegun fire woke us at 6AM. We were out of camp by 7:50. The trail was good to us today. Not many long steep mountains; there were many steep short up hills and down. We stopped for a treat in a store mid morning. We had no real destination today as the shelter was much too far for us, so we just walked and walked. Then we walked some more. We met one guy from England and two from Germany. We walked and walked and [View Full Entry]

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