September 8, 2016 I’ve spent almost as much time shopping when I lived in Decatur, GA, than I did today starting from the trail! When I lived in Midway Woods, John Reiter and I would don our backpacks (we had no car then) and walk 45 minutes to the Dekalb Farmers Market, shop for a …
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Slabbing- with Bears
September 7, 2016 The local hiker we met a couple of hours after our 6:43 a.m. start on our first full day of this walk said, “This slabbing makes for quite a walk, doesn’t it?” I was unfamiliar with the term, but realized she was talking about how the trail was carved out of the …
We Started
September 6, 2016 8 miles completed on this section of the Long Trail! We got out on the trail about 2 p.m. A sense of home at the Inn at Long Trail pervaded the day. Was it the familiarity with that spot since we had stopped there last year, even though we didn’t stay. The …
A New Journey!
September 5, 2016 The sign here we left the Appalachian Trail, finished and new complete, and a little sad, said “Please Stay on the Trail.” In my mind I sang along with Arlo Guthrie, “That sign was made for you and me.” And we also knew that what we really wanted to do was heed …
Completion!
September 4, 2016, 1:00 p.m. Tadah! John and I reached our goal of Killington Peak, Vermont, the point that marks where we have walked all of the Appalachian Trail at least twice! When I set out to do a thruhike of the AT in 2007, my aim was to start in Maine and at least …
Almost Silent
September 3,2016 It’s so quiet this morning in this Vermont forest! It’s 7:30 a.m. and I’ve heard just one bird – a bluejay making it’s squeaky one note squawk. And I can’t tell if the almost imperceptable constant chirping sound in the background is insects or tinnitus. Occasionally, tiny tapping sounds indicate the falling of …
Sleep on it
September 2, 2016 We are 52 miles from completing our goal of walking the Appalachian Trail twice! Camped just 1/2 mile from Manchester Center, we’ve positioned ourselves to get down to the road, hitch into town, pop into Food Chopper for a bite to eat, shop at Eastern Mountain Sports, pick up our last food …
Revisiting
September 2, 2016 I’m happy to be walking the Appalachian Trail again because of all the beautiful scenery I forgot! Today was a good example of that. We started the day near the summit of Peru Peak in a chilly cloud, which made the spruce woods enticing and mysterious. I celebrated getting my warm jacket …
Perfectionist
September 1, 2016 OK. I admit it. I am a perfectionist, at least when it comes to talking about myself. I have been on the Appalachian Trail again since August 9 and I have been too shy to share. When John and I resumed our walk where we left off on July 6, I wasn’t …
4,000 Miler
September 1, 2016 This week, I’ll complete a second pass of the 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Georgia, and Central Virginia, thrice, 60 miles of my VA ridgerunning section, about 20 times.