On temporary hold…..

……due to no cell phone service in the White Mountains of New Hamphire.  Hope to post additional updates soon!

6/15 Day 90

We hiked out early planning for a short day at Upper Goose Pond Cabin. Our morning was made up of hilly climbing with our bigger climb over Baldy Mountain. We got to Upper Goose Pond Cabin early in the afternoon. The cabin is a listed shelter for thru hikers with bunk room, caretaker, wash station, spring water canoed over from the other side of the pond, swimming access and canoe privileges. We swam, had a boat race and soaked up the sun with Snarf, Glide, Euro and Smilin Joe. When we were finished swimming, the caretaker on duty offered us fresh muffins and a glass of wine and we had a bonfire during dinner. Surreal place! We hiked 14 miles for the day.

One-A-Day

One-A-Day

Q: What is your favorite season?

A: Joe- Winter, Kathleen- Fall

5/12 Day 56

Excited to have a shorter day planned, we left the shelter late (close to 9 a.m.). We hiked past access to Front Royal and hiked to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter for lunch. Another hiker who lived near Manassas had left a 24 pack of beer and a bag of oranges at the shelter for hikers passing through. The shelter had an enlarged porch, sun shower and picnic shelter. After the climb down from the shelter we ran into a cooler of cold soda, trail magic left from a former hiker. We hiked past Trillium Trail and planned to stay at Dick’s Dome Shelter for the night. When we arrived at the shelter, we met Glide and Snarf who shared some trail magic treats that had been left in the shelter by day hikers. They also shared that another set of day hikers told them about a winery that was only a mile north from the shelter. We decided to hike on with them and camp for the night. The winery had closed already but we still found a great camping spot, had a nice campfire and we enjoyed strawberries and brownies given to Snarf by the same day hikers who told him about the winery. We hiked 19.1 miles for the day and were really excited to meet the Howells the next morning.

Sometimes my feet are so swollen that…

my toes look like Vienna sausages.

One-A-Day

Name your top tree movies in each category: comedy, drama, western, romance, horror (no order)

COMEDY- Joe (The Mask, Big Daddy, Get him to The Greek), Kathleen (Dumb and Dumber, Tommy Boy, Ace Ventura)

HORROR- Joe (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Night of the Living Dead), Kathleen (What Lies Beneath, Seven, Sixth Sense)

DRAMA- Joe (Driven, Enemy at the Gates, Hook), Kathleen (Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, Cast Away)

ROMANCE- Joe (Titanic, The Holiday, The Last Holiday), Kathleen (Serendipity, It’s a Wonderful Life, My Best Friend’s Wedding)

WESTERN- Joe (El Dorado, Open Range, Dances with Wolves), Kathleen (The Outlaw Josey Wales, El Dorado, Blazing Saddles)

 CARTOON- Joe (Jungle Book, El Dorado, Cars), Kathleen (Goofy Movie, Aladdin, Space Jam)

ACTION- Joe (Band of Brothers, Red Baron, Saving Private Ryan), Kathleen (Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Sherlock Holmes)

Meet a Hiker

From Massachusetts, ‘Big Dumb Animal’ got his nickname from the Marines. Name stuck when he started his thru hike with an 80 pound pack. He got off the trail in Damascus with a knee injury but we’ve adopted one of his ideas. He carried a “sad bag” –  a bag of candy to eat whenever he was lonely, exhausted or sore.

4/17 Everytime Bob

Bob Peoples……

Bob Peoples owns a famous hostel outside Laurel Falls that caters to thru hikers. In one of the shelters north of his hostel, the graffiti reflected his legendary status in the hiking community. Some of the writings included…

Bob Peoples gives HIS boots blisters.

Bob Peoples doesn’t sleep, he waits.

Bob Peoples hunts Chuck Norris for sport.

Everytime Bob Peoples builds a switchback, an angel gets his wings.

Hiker names and stories…

Sticks- hiking 30-40 miles per day and has a backpack with a base weight of 5 pounds. He’s named for the bamboo sticks he hikes with.

Risky Business- made a 13 mile accidental detour

Phoenix- sprained her ankle outside of Gatlinburg and was hiking in a boot when we met her

BP- pastry chef from New York City, BP stands from bottomless pit

Mad Hat

Maine-iac

Hungry Bear

Sweet and Low- call themselves the diabetic duo

Huff and Puff- two women hiking in their 60s

Mandela

Run Off- from Missouri, lived in Columbia for past few years

Napoleon and Maximus- man from Baton Rouge and his German Shepard

4/7 Day 21

Today we hiked 19.4 miles to Little Laurel Shelter. Our day felt really long and mentally taxing. We agreed on how hard it was to take a zero (day hiking zero miles) in town and to mentally get back into our routine. While our bodies thanked us for the rest, we both agreed that we’d rather take two neros (near zeros) going into a town. Our day was full of uphills and the shelter was a welcome sight.  We only saw a few other hikers coming out of Hot Springs, could this be the end of the big crowds?