The End

Just doing a quick post. I completed my thru-hike on August 13th. Haven't really had any time to post since most of my time the past few days has been rather busy getting ready for college. But I figured I would atleast put up my victory picture. My closing thoughts and more pictures will follow after I get settled in. Hope everyone is doing well.

Monson, ME

Got into Monson around 1 this afternoon. Its my last town stop of the trip which is pretty crazy to think about.
Its a cute little town. I'm staying at the Lake Shore House which has a hostel upstairs with Ringleader, Monkey and a few other south bounders. Its a nice little place, right on the lake, has a pub/restaurant down stairs and has paddle boats you can take out on the lake as well. Very nice relaxing setting.
Had lunch and this BBQ place down the street. It was amazing, had some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had. I know you usually don't think of BBQ when it comes to Maine but believe me, this was the real deal. Tin-tin hitched into town (he got Lyme so he hasn't been doing a lot of hiking recently) and I ran into him at the bar so I hung out with him and caught up for a bit. Other than that I did the usual town chores, laundry, shower, resupply, the usual.
But whats cool is that every Friday night at the town's general store there's a bluegrass jam session. So I went to check it out and had a lot of fun. Ended up spending about 2 hours there just listening to them play. Through out my trip I've been amazed at all the cool unique things you find in these small towns.
I'm hiking out tomorrow with 114.3 miles left. Its amazing just to think how far we've all come since GA and how little we have left.
I'll be taking my victory photo on top of Katahdin on the 14th, its unbelievable that this moment is finally here.

Maine

All I can say about Maine is that it's rugged......but beautiful

New Hampshire

My AT book lists New Hampshire as the toughest but most rewarding state and I would have to say that its pretty true.
New Hampshire is home to the White Mountains which has some of the most difficult terrain of the entire trip, along with weather that can change in a heart beat. I had a 2 mile up hill which gained 2000 feet in elevation and was pretty much going hand over hand up rocks the entire way. By the time I finished the climb I was exhausted.
But the views were amazing, once you got to the top of the mountain and above tree line the views go on for miles. One of the most impressive stretches was the Presidential Ranch. Its pretty much 25 miles entirely above tree line, where you can see the trail going for miles in front of you along the ridge line and endless views to your right and left
Only bad thing about being above tree line is that the weather can change extremely fast. Which is why its a definite must to bring cold weather gear through the Whites. Mount Washington for example has gotten snow on its summit any time of the year.
My climb up Mt. Washington was a good one. Got to summit with rain, fog and 65mph winds the whole way up. It would have been nice to get to summit with nice clear weather because I'm sure the view from on top is very impressive. But climbing it in these conditions was a lot of fun and its also great to be able to say I climbed Mt. Washington (the mountain known for have the worst weather int the world) in such conditions.

Pit Crew

Pit Crew is the trail name for my dad. He's come up to visit me a few times to help me slack pack which has been a great time all around. So basically what he'd do is we'd pick a shelter close to a road, usually between 5 and 7 miles. Then I would strip down my pack to the absolute bare minimum of what I would need for that night. My dad would take most of it and I would carry my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, lunch and a few snacks. My dad would take the rest along with his stuff for the night. This worked really well because I could do big mileage days without having to carry a full pack. And my dad would be carrying a full pack but only have to go a few miles. So by the time I got to the shelter/campsite we planned to stay at he'd already be there with everything, just like a pit crew. So that's how he earned that trail name.
We even hit up a few trail towns such as Great Barrington, Hanover and North Woodstock. And like I said, we always had a good time and it was always a bummer when he had to go back home.

Bear Mountain NY

This town is pretty much where I had my day of days. I was just feeling really tired and starting to burn out and thinking all those wonderful thoughts that go something like "why am I out here" "I still have so far to go" "I don't think I want to do this anymore" and so on. Going home for my sister's grad, seeing everyone and just being able to completely relax also had something to do with this mood as well.
So my mom being the amazing person she is spent the day with me, talked things over with me and after an insane amount of driving around we ended up back at Bear Mountain where we found a little hotel and I pretty much chilled and rebooted for the rest of the day. Which was much needed.
By the next morning I was feeling much better, hit the trail and ended up doing about 15 miles. And I've kept on going ever since. But this has probably been the most mentally trying day of the whole trip.

Going Home

This event happened back in June. As you can tell from the post above my sister graduated high school back in June. So I decided to go home and attend.
Now going home was an interesting experience. I've gotten off the trail before to go into town and such but the furthest I've ever gone off the trail is 16 miles and every time I did get off the trail was always trail related in some way or the other. But this time I was going about 100 miles off trail. It just felt weird after spending so much time on the trail to be going so far away.
But going home did feel good also. It was nice just to be in that home setting again. I got to sleep in my own bed, got to see my turtle and got to see a few friends as well. Now I'm sorry I didn't make my visit home vast public knowledge but I figured the more people who knew I was coming home, the people I would have to see and the harder it would be to get back on the trail.
But it was also nice to see Sarah's graduation. Actually she had no idea I was coming so when I showed up at home it was a complete surprise for her, which was really cool.
But unfortunately my visit home would have some negative side effects.

Shout Outs

Just want to say congrats to...

my cousin Lena who had her Bat Mitzvah in June

my sister Sarah for graduating high school in June

my brother Josh for graduating middle school in June

and wanted to say thank you to....

the Metz's for being awesome as always and letting me stay with them and letting my gear pretty much explode all over their basement

ok, lets try to catch everyone up again.....

4 states and 682 miles to go......Katahdin, ready or not, here i come

Whooah, we're half way there!!!

Half Gallon Challange

This event is another one of those fun things that happens on the trail.
About 40 miles into Pennsylvania is the halfway point. Another two miles or so after that the trail passes a general store in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. So to celebrate coming halfway its tradition to try and eat a half gallon of ice cream. I was totally going to go for it because I figured never again am I going to have an excuse to try and eat a half gallon of ice cream.
Unfortunately the ice cream defeated me. I made it about 95% of the way through and was then like "if I eat anymore I'm going to puke".
But even though I was unable to join the "half gallon club" it was still good fun.

The Roller Coaster

This part of the trail was no fun at all. Its called The Roller Coaster because over 13 miles the trail goes up and back down 10 view less mountains. These 13 miles are also the last in Virginia.
I started it after lunch so I had already put in a good half day worth of hiking and it was majorly hot that day as well. So going over the roller coaster was no fun. The Virginia section is 535 miles which is about a quarter of the trail so when you get to this point you pretty much just want to get out of Virginia already but the state decides to be a pain to the very end.

Mau-Har Trail

The Mau-Har Trail is a blue blazed side trail the branches off the AT and loops back to it at a later point. Actually if you take the loop it cuts off 3 miles of the AT but this trail is more strenuous then the AT.
So I decided to take this side trail, not because its harder but because along this trail there are numerous waterfalls and swimming holes. The trail goes almost straight down into a ravine and then pretty much straight back up on the other side. But it was well worth it. The waterfalls were beautiful and there were too many swimming holes to choose from. Moose and Tetherball took the side trail with me as well. After about 5 minutes we found a nice swimming hole, stripped down to our undies and jumped in. The swim was refreshing but short lived. The water was so cold that as soon as you jumped in you pretty much jumped right back out.
But the scenery the and the swim was well worth the monster climb out of the ravine back to the AT.

Shenandoah National Park

Near the end of Virginia the trail goes through Shenandoah National Park. Its a nice park don't get me wrong but I wanted to get out of it as fast as possible. The trail pretty much parallels the Sky Line Drive the entire 70 miles. So I had the lovely sound of cars driving by my entire day and I could usually hear a car or two from the shelters at night.
The park didn't offer many good views from the trail either. To see any views you would need to walk off the trail and go to a view point on Sky Line Drive. Sometime the walk wasn't that bad, other times it was too far to bother.
But the park did offer a lot of good wild life. I saw countless deer and a few fawns as well. Also I saw a bear pretty much every single day which was way cool. After the park my bear totally is probably around 8 or 9. But the bears or more scared of me then I'm scared of them so all I had to do was bang my hiking sticks together and the bear would go running. I also saw 2 rattle snakes while going through the park as well.
Another cool feature about the park are the Waysides. The Waysides are little pull offs for cars so people can grab a bite to eat. Most are pretty close to the trail so hikers can take advantage of them as well. Only problem is you end up playing $10 for an ok burger. But the famous Shenandoah National Park Blackberry Milkshake was very good....not worth the $4 I payed for it though.
All in all the park wasn't really the great. Shenandoah is defiantly meant to be driven through.

Another Gear Swap

These posts are always fun cause people are always thinking "what crazy thing has he done this time". Don't worry though, its not as extreme as swapping the tent for a hammock.
After about 800+ miles my boots began to fall apart and some pretty decent size holes were forming on the sides. This was rather sad, I loved these boots. They were well broken in, comfy and had taken me so far. But also an unforeseen problem was arising. After all this walking my feet had started to get bigger. I don't know if they were just swelling and if all the walking had spread them out abit but my boots also were becoming too small for me.
So at the outfitter in Daleville VA (which is fabulous by the way) I bought a new pair. But I didn't go the traditional way and buy a new pair of hiking boots. I decided to try something called Trail Runners.
Trail Runners are pretty much sneakers with a better soul and are meant for hiking/backpacking. Now I absolutely love these things. Since they're pretty much a sneaker there's no break-in time, also they're super comfy. But like any good thing there's always a downside. Since they are basically sneakers they don't hold up as well as boots so they're going to need replacing before the end. Also they don't offer the same ankle support as boots do so for about the first week of wearing them I did have some ankle and knee pain but that doesn't bother me anymore.
But again another good gear change.

Trail Magic

Ok, so far I've told you guys mainly about the experiences I've been having so far along my trip. But I have not yet given you a glimpse at "trail culture".
Now on the trail there is an occurrence known as trail magic. It usually comes in 2 forms. Sometimes someone will just put a cooler up the trail alittle ways at a road crossing with sodas and other drinks in there. Or sometimes someone or a group of people will be waiting at road crossings with drinks and snacks and they'll hand you stuff and you'll get a good few minutes talk out of it was well. Sometimes the people at road crossing will go all out and bring a grill and have hamburgers and hot dogs waiting for you when you show up. When that happens its a real treat. But regardless any trail magic is a good "pick me up".
The other day while I was hiking I saw a sign that said "Trail Magic" with an arrow pointing down a side trail that leads to a spring where you can get water if you needed it. So I figured I'd take the trail and check it out. When I got down there this person had put maybe 55 cans of soda in the spring to keep them cold. It was pretty awesome. So I dropped my pack and had lunch down there with a nice cold soda. It was wonderful.
But the funny thing about trail magic is you almost never get it when you want it but you always seem to get it when you need it.

The Homeplace

In the town of Catawaba VA there's this restaurant called The Homeplace. Also known as a "must stop" for thru-hikers.
The Homeplace is an "all you can eat" restaurant that features traditional southern style cooking.
So pretty much since I started my hike I've been hearing about this place and everyone has been saying "you have to go, you have to go" so after all the rave reviews I've heard about it I figured I should go. But there's a catch.....just like almost everything in life. Its only open Thursday-Sunday, so you need to time it right. I made sure I was going to time it right and slowed my passe down a lot and made it to the town on Thursday. Actually I made it to the shelter 1 mile past the road-crossing you take into town Wednesday night and back-tracked that 1 mile Thursday morning....yes I was very dedicated to going to this restaurant.
I did get a pleasant surprise while walking into town, Tin-Tin and Fredo were walking back out of town, they had stayed there Wednesday night. So I convinced them to come back into town with me and join me for dinner.
We got back into town around 12 but The Homeplace doesn't open till 4. There's a gas station/general store in town with a bunk house/hiker hang out behind it, so we chilled back there and played rummy till 4.
Now The Homeplace has probably been one of the best eating experiences I've had on the entire trail so far. You go inside and it pretty much looks like your traditional southern style dining room. Then they hand you the menu and it works like this. You get two choices of meat, you automatically get the fried chicken so you then choose from ham, roast beef or bbq pork. We picked the bbq pork. Along with that you get sides of mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, baked beans, green beans, cole slaw, cinnamon apples and cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Now all of this is "all you can eat" so you can get refills on everything. So the three of us pretty much ate till we were about to explode. I am going to say that it was probably the best fried chicken I've ever had.
Then Fredo, Tin-Tin and I walked back to the bunk house and just sat down in complete silence and in complete food coma's for about 30 minutes. Then with as much will power as we could possible put together we all made it back to the shelter were i stayed Wednesday night and passed out.
Needless to say, it was awesome

Playing catch-up

Hahahaha....OK, i know i haven't updated this thing in ages, so its time for some mad blogging, lets do this


3,2,1.........go!!!

24 miles today........by the end of this hike i'm going to need new knees, ankles and feet

So i get a large pizza and a soda for $15 AND you'll deliver it to the shelter!!! ........yes please!!!

Ps. More pictures to come soon

Damascus VA

Well alot has happened since I last posted in Hot Springs.

But probably the biggest change since then is that I've upped my mileage by a lot. Since Hot Springs I've only had two 11 mile days, everything else has been 15 miles and up. My two biggest days to date so far have been 21 miles and 22 miles. To give a rough estimate I did alittle under 200 miles in 10 days. So by the time I got to Damascus I was dead tired.
Damascus is a nice little town, its extremely hiker friendly. I got in on the 24th and am hiking out today. The extended stay was nice because it gave my body a chance to rest up. Also my friend Meg from Australlia come to visit so we got to catch-up over the last few days since I haven't seen here since summer camp last year. We stayed at a hiker hostel which was nice so she was able to get a taste of the hiker community. So like I said we just hung out and caught up. Two days ago we went to the park and set up my hammock cause the weather was beautiful. Yesterday we caught a movie. It was a very relaxing time. But now I'm ready to start hiking again.
Hope all is well!

Wise Words

"Never quite during an up hill or when its raining, only quite when you realize you're not having fun anymore"

-Geek (former thru-hiker)


"Don't forget to look up, cause if you do you're only going to be able to tell your friends and family that you saw nothing but rocks, twigs, dirt and leaves"

Walking Man (section hiker)


"Its not about the miles, its about the smiles"

Homeward (former thru-hiker)

Lets Talk About Gear

Ok ok ok,

I know awhile back I told everyone that I was sending home a piece of gear but didn't say exactly what is was. So I figured I've kept everyone waiting long enough and I'll finally say what it is.
Well......I sent home my tent (I can see all of your shocked faces right now). No, it didn't break or anything like that. Actually when I was in Gatlinburg I bought a Hammock (the faces have become more shocked). Now I know there are some of you out there thinking "Well aren't you going to get wet when it rains?". This hammock is meant for camping/backpacking so it comes with a rain fly. I've slept in it in one rain storm so far and me and my gear stayed completely dry.
I absolutely love the hammock. Its probably one of the best gear purchases I've made. Its so much lighter and takes up so much less room in my pack then my tent did. Also its extremely comfy, I've slept so much better in my hammock then I had in my tent/shelters. The first two nights I didn't sleep that well only because I wasn't use to it. But ever since then its been great.
Whats great about it is that I no longer have to worry about finding a flat spot or have a nights sleep ruined because of that one rock I didn't see when I was setting up. Now I can set up almost anywhere on the trail (as long as there are trees). What I also really like about the hammock is that if you do need to set it up in the rain I can set up the rain fly first and then do everything else under there. So the hammock doesn't get wet and I have to sleep in a wet hammock that night. This is unlike a tent because with tents if you're out there by your self the rain fly goes on last.
So I've officially joined the Hammock Revolution.

Hit/past the 300 mile mark today AND saw a bear......double whammy!!!!!

Hot Springs NC

Rolled into Hot Springs about 9:30am yesterday, small town but its nice with a few things to do. Stayed at Elmer's Hostel. Its a really cool place. The hostel is actually an old Victorian style house, very neat. And all the meals are vegetarian....so i might or might not have had to go out last night for a burger. but the food was extremely good regardless.
We got out of the Smoky Mountains about 5 days ago. We had beautiful weather the whole way through. Did get some rain on the last day......and it didn't just rain, it RAINED. guess its what i get for a previous 10 days of nothing but sun. so i rolled up to the shelter that night wet head to toe. but i did have some dry clothes to changed into which is nice and key.
the following day we decided to go only 3 miles and stop/stay at Standing Bear Farms. Its this hostel pretty much on farm land in the middle of the woods. Another very cool place. Whats interesting about it though is that its run completely on the honor system. so you keep track of you expenses and pay when you leave. i just thought it was a very unique way of running a place.
The night after Standing Bear we went 13 miles and camped up on Max Patch Bald. Its basically a top of a mountain that's nothing but a grass field. so you basically have a 360 degree view, it was amazing. there were about 20 thru-hikers up there camping that night so it was a good time. we all ended up cowboy camping up there, so while laying there you had a view of the lit up towns below and the stars above. totally a high point of the trip so far. only down side was there was no tree cover up there so with the elevation and the wind it got pretty chilly that night but i bundled up and slept well and got to wake up to a 360 view and a sunrise.
Yesterday at Hot Springs was really layed back. Got a shower, did laundry and hung out at the hostel for a bit. Then a few of us went to the Hot Springs Spa were you can actually take a dip in the natural hot springs. very nice and very relaxing. then after dinner we went out and had some fun on the town.
Today i plan on hiking out and staying at the next shelter 11 miles away. everyone else i've been hiking with for the past month is taking a zero. its a bit sad to be leaving them all behind but it was going to happen sooner or later. I'm sure I'll see some of them at some point down the road. but its been an amazing time hiking with them and have made some life long memories with them.
Hope everyone is well!

Gatlinburg

Made another unplanned stop and stayed in Gatlinburg last night.....yes I'm still here and will be hitting the trail with everyone extremely shortly.
Back tracking a few days, white water rafting at the NOC was awesome. it was nice to get off the trail and do something else besides hiking for a day. i even got to be the raft guide for alittle bit. but because of my zero day the group i was hiking with ended up being a day ahead of me. so i pulled an 18 mile day to catch up with them and caught them at Fontana Dam. but i was exhausted after that. but it was a good confidence builder to know i can pull off big mile days.
After Fontana we headed into the Smoky Mountains. So far the weather has been fabulous....a bit hot on some days but fabulous. Two nights ago it was nice enough that i "cowboy camped" and slept out under the stars.
Yesterday morning we got up around 4am and caught the sunrise from Clingmon's Dome. it was totally worth the early wake up and bit of night hiking.
we arrived in Gatlinburg around 2pm yesterday. g-burg is about half way through the Smokys. it an extremely tracky place......pretty much the Los Vegas for red necks. but it was a really good time last night just walking up and down the main strip last night with everybody. i'm defiantly having a blast. i should be out of the Smokys in another 3 days and heading into Hot Springs in another 3 after that.
Also i'm sending a piece of gear home today but what it is is a secret :-p hehehehe
Hope everyone is well! Only 1,973 miles to go! :-D

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Hiked all day in the rain.....my rain gear totally passed the test, stayed dry the whole way

Franklin N.C

decided to make an unplanned stop in Franklin. still with the same crew i've been hiking with since the beginning. great bunch of people.
we're staying at this placed called The Budget Inn. Its owned by this guy named Ron Haven. He's a real great dude, has a free shuttle from the trail to the inn and is extremely hiker friendly. Just got a shower and about to do some wash. The plan sounds like we're going to be ordering some pizza tonight.....nothing sounds better then real food after a few days in the woods.
We've had some rain, we've had some snow and a few 70 degree days. so its been a bit of everything.
I did cross the 100 mile mark yesterday, which is totally cool.

.......only 2,070 miles to go

Ps. Haven't been able to upload any pictures yet, but i will as soon as a get a chance.

Crossed into N.C. today!!! Snowed all day and still snowing. Tenting it in the snow!!! Temp around 30.....stay warm!!! :-D

Had an awesome St. Patricks Day at Low Gap Shelter :-D

37ish miles in (Neels Gap)

Well......so far I'm having a great time. I'll try my best to catch everyone up on the last 3 days but its kind of hard without making this post miles long.
The first day was alright. Easy 8 mile day. Lots of fog so not many good views. Did get a mix of rain/hail/snow, which was really cool and I stayed dry which is even better. Got to the shelter, there was already a bunch of people there. Everyone I've met so far has been awesome and a lot of fun.
Day 2 was still foggy. So again there weren't that many good views. Total distance was 7 miles. No rain it was just damp.
Day 3 was 12 miles. Got a bit rough at the end. But the weather did clear up was we finally got some views. It just got really really windy. There's about 5 of us going about the same speed so we all meet up at the shelter at night which is really cool.
Today was suppose to be 15 miles. But I got to Neels gap, a bunch of the people I've been hiking with decided to stay at the hostel.....and they were giving out free hamburgers for lunch so there was really no reason to go any further. So today was only 3 miles but I did get a sweet view at the top of Blood Mountain which is the highest point in Georgia. So I'm staying in the hostel tonight and we'll see what tomorrow brings.
Sorry if this is so scattered, and I'll try to get some photos up as soon as i can.

the adventure begins tomorrow

well tomorrow is the big day. i plan on hitting the trail at 10am and have an easy 8 mile day to the shelter i'm planning on staying at. i'm totally excited and not tired at all....maybe a bit nervous also but that comes with the territory.
today was a pretty easy day. just finished but the last few odds and ends. we also drove to where my first resupply is going to be and dropped off my box of food and a few other odds and ends. its a really cool hiking/camping supply store thats geared mostly for thru-hikers. i'll snag a few photos on my way through.
i also weighed my back today down at the visitors center of the hotel we're staying at. came in at around 38 pounds. thats not terrible but i would like it to be a bit light but i'm out of things to leave behind before it becomes unsafe. once i get rid of my cold weather gear i'll be in good shape.
the fog also moved out that has surrounded the hotel for the past day and a half. so i was able to get a few shots of the view from the porch out back. it would be really pretty if it was totally clear.
weather tomorrow is suppose to be around the 50's during the day and low 20's at night with a 50% chance of rain. i'm hoping the rain holds off cause i really don't want my first day to be in the rain.....so lets hope for the best.
well thats it for now. i'll try to update as often as i can but i honestly can't say how often that will be. i'll try my best though, promise
i'm now walking into the wild.

Just seeing if the text updates work :-)

In Georgia

Got to Georgia tonight around 6pm. We spent last night in Richmond Virginia visiting with some family. Talked a bit with my great uncle who use to be a big hiker. He gave some pretty good advice.
Spent early this morning shooting a cereal box with a bee-bee gun and for lunch my dad got a happy meal at McDonalds for the soul reason that he wanted the Yoda toy that came in it....so making some good memories already and i'm not even on the trail yet.
At the hotel i've pretty much just been relaxing. I went through my gear to see if there was some stuff I could get rid of....and of course there was. Tomorrow is going to just consist of more relaxing and some final prep. My mom wants to go on a hike but we'll have to see about that.
The hike begins in alittle over a day.....so excited!!!

Night before

Leaving for Georgia in about 8 hours. I'm still not 100% packed and I'm having a bit of trouble fitting everything into my pack. Got to love saving things for the last minute. But this is the home stretch now, things are getting exciting