Kent CT. 41°42'56" N 73°29'48" W 670ft

Arrived today in Kent. We've had some nice walks though CT these last few days. 

Didn't expect it, but we ran into some really technical climbs. I'll have to double check because I'm thinking it was one of those top steepest climbs. 

Still ramping up our miles and gettin' er done. Over 700 miles now with NY in our sites for tomorrow. 

Did a little mushroom hunting today as well. This one should be in the hall of fame!

Trail magic as well!

Other pics

660.1 Great Barrington Ma

We need a break. It's been over 3 weeks since we took a day off. We've had a few "nero" days (hike days near zero miles), but no zeros.  We walked 3.3 yesterday (Nero) and plan to zero today. Our legs are bit traumatized and need the break. 

We also ran as low as we will (I guarantee this) ever go on food. Our last food package almost turned wrestling match as we grappled over the last bites and broth. 

So, we entered town broken down and hungry. Time for a break. 

Having said that, we did get some game changing magic to get us through that last day. Hot, thirsty and hungry we came upon a cooler by the side of the road that we were crossing. Fresh (clean) water and watermelon!!  

Shortly thereafter, we came upon a farm house with a shed containing a fridge with cold sodas (not pop), gatorades and treats. 

Spirits immediately lifted we continued up the face of the next really big hill. Forty-five minutes straight up. Really?  Give us some flat, please!

641 Upper Goose Pond Cabin

One of those places you hear about for many weeks, even months. We (Hummingbird and myself) call it the AT Telegraph. We were sitting in the Inn at Longtrsil (oldest ski lodge in Vermont) when I ordered a beer. Bartender asked for my name and, of course, Cucumber is my response. Next thing you know, I'm having a lengthy fishing discussion with "Turtle". Turns out that Turtle had passed a tramily member of ours from many weeks passed-Gumby Bear. Gumby saw the fishing pole on Turtle's back, turned and shouted "hey, you need to talk with Cucumber about the fishing holes up north". One guy in a bar hears Cucumber  and AT Telegraph complete!  Doesn't always work, but it makes you smile when it does. 

Quite a long story to say that is one of the recommendations to stop here. We also had to stop at the cookie lady 10 miles previous to pick blueberries for the pancakes we'll have here at the cabin at 7. We also enjoyed one of our favorite swims of the trip in the "pond" (actually lake size). 

Couple of highlights from the last few days:

Walked into our 4rth state (Massachusetts). I think we were both more emotional about that milestone. We grouped Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont into a MAJOR category in our minds. As we've always heard, "it doesn't get easier, only less hard", we put those states into the "hard" category. 

Having said that, the first thing we do on Mass is climb the highest point in the stat-Mt. Greylock. That was hard. OK forget it, it'll not even get "less hard". 

We also slept on a church floor-not a good sleep, but we showered which always raises value exponentially!

The walk out of town was a very steep climb as we targeted a nice rock outcropping for our breakfast coffee. 

Some nice photos of a friendly turkey vulture. 

A Lot Can Happen in a Billion Years…

I've heard it many times out here that these are the oldest mountains in the world. Built up through the constant upheaval created by the smashing of continental size tectonic plates. At times higher than Everest only to be scraped down by a couple ice ages. Like the great philosopher Joey Benda said as he hiked through these mountains in the summer of '16, “a lot can happen in a billion years”. 

Goal 5 States in 18 days

We're walking out of Vermont today. Our goal: 

Vermont

Massachusetts 

Connecticut 

New York

New Jersey 

By Sept 8ish

578.5 Bennington Vt

Stopped in Bennington to hit the post office...brewery got in the way. 

We've been ramping up our miles over the past few days and my legs need some recovery time. However, that's not going to happen. In order to arrive in Springer Ga by 11/25, we have to average 16.8 miles every day. Every day. 

The last two days were our best at 35.2.  Also, 83.9 for the last 6 or an average of just under 14. We may have to recalibrate and get there by Christmas. 

Some good days...

Joey bidding us a farewell

A burial ground

Another lakeside campground. 

Camping on top of Bromley Mt. Was a highlight. 

We arrived on the mountain for a great sunset dinner. Three other hikers (they slept in the ski patrol shack) joined us for a sunrise coffee. Fantastic views!!

We needed a resupply so we hitch-hiked into Manchester Center.  Easily a hitch that won't be beat: 1.5 minutes. Picked up by the Director of Skiing at Bromley, we were able to spend a few hours in town watching olympics. 

Stratton Mountain caretaker - we joined him for some cake. 

This was the mountain that Benton Mackaye was inspired to create the AT. 

505 - Back to the A Team

We will be saying goodbye to Goldfish (Joey), Pey-Pey LePew (Peyton), Green Flash (Mende) and Caddyshack Karl (Karl) tomorrow. 

Goldfish walked, climbed, scrambled and crawled 201.7 miles!  An awesome feat for someone with so little experience. Pey-Pey, Green and Caddyshack put in a nice four plus days at 45.1 miles. Also, given conditions, very good. We're now set up at the last shelter before the main highway that Karl used to hitch back to his car over at the Inn at Longtrail. Probably 20 miles. He's also bringing beer back. Goldfish and Sunshine are also down there. I heard from a NOBO that Karl did get a ride. 

In the morning, we all go to highway 103-only Hummingbird and Cucumber continue on. The next big mountain is Stratton at 3,936. The side trail up  Killington gave us our last  4,000 ft summit we’ll see until we hit the 1,361 mile mark in Virginia (The Priest).  By the way, we just celebrated the 500 mile marker yesterday (8/16). 

Our average daily mileage: 8.15 miles per day. ETA at this pace: 3/11/17 (time to turn on the gas!). 

494.6 Killington

I'm Ended the day at a perfect stealth spot atop Killington Peak. Not sure if we've slept above 4,000 ft too often. It'll be much cooler than inside the "band room" where we six all crammed in last night at the Inn at Longtrail. We promised to play the washboard but it wasn't needed. 

Since all of our gear was soaked and badly of need for laundry, we knocked that out too. Guiness was perfect (first distributor in Vt). Short day but deserved after those two previous. 

Day ended with incredible views from the lodge and our "Patio" (rock overlook). 

Followed by the morning:

Last few days with Goldfish

This is worth noting...

When Goldfish joined us, his first hike, his absolutely first hike was up from Pinkham Notch into the Wildcats. I found this post that talks to the most extreme climbs in the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) and the AT. I had no idea that the AT would be more extreme for every placement. Check out No. 1 on the AT (therefore, #1 for all). 

http://www.guthookhikes.com/2015/01/what-are-the-steepest-climbs-on-the-at-and-pct.html

By the way, this is a cool app!

Well done, Jo Jo Ba-Chipmunk Chuck, Goldfish, well done!

Well depicted:

http://appalachiantrials.com/everything-is-falling-apart-days-146-to-148-pinkham-notch-to-gorham/

485.2 Gifford Woods State Park

These last two days were defined by the weather. I guess we shouldn't complain since we've had nearly two months of really great weather. 

Yesterday, marked the first day of hiking with Karl, Mende, Peyton, Beem-dos Vaida, Goldfish, Mr Sunshine, Hummingbird and Cucumber. Heat, heat and humidity. I believe it was 93 when we hit the trail for our targeted 10 hike. These were really tough miles! Give me rain, sleet, snow, anything but heat. 

We all managed to make our way through to "The Lookout". This cabin on top of the mountain had many hikers already encamped within. Most importantly Beem and Mr Sunshine were on top of the cabin (nice parapet) enjoying a couple of nice (hiked in) IPAs. No small feat since they had enough for the adults in the group. 

The 360 degree views up there were amazing. 

Four tents were set for the night. 

On Saturday, I'll get my rain wish. A little cooler and rain most of the day. Especially at lunch. Just as we were arriving at a shelter for a break, the rain and lightening started with s fury. One after another of us came into the lean to with the pure soaked appeal. Good to be under cover for most of that. 

Our day ended with a walk into Gifford for the night. While setting up 3 tents, I glanced at the weather. Two bars of cell allowed for the quick glance. Uh oh, "it's going to be here in 5 minutes!". Thanks to the Dark Sky app we started hustling. All three were pitched just as another rumbler came through. The night was filled with these. This morning will be a big clean the gear day whole in the Killington area. 

Goldfish snuck a sleep in a shelter. 

Getting Ready for Guests 460.9

Enjoyed a nice walk out of town as we were greeted with an uphill hike on pavement that just kept going. Joey jumped on a cooler of trail magic (coke can) as we re-entered the woods. This was by far the longest road walk we've experienced: Hanover NH over the Connecticut River into Norwich then re-entry. About 3.5 miles of road. 

Just as we were about to head in, a couple of NOBOs told us to try and beat their newt record. Apparently, they had spotted 107 of the little guys on the side of the trail. 

Yep, turns out they were happening:

Made for a dizzying walk as looking for those while hiking is hard!

After a nice trail magic stay at Linda's place on the White River (burgers, hot dogs, soda-not pop and a jump in the river), we moved on. 

We had a meeting set for Woodstock Vt so there wasn't a huge push for miles.  

Word out here now is that water is going to be harder and harder to find. Turns out that we came on to the Cloudland Market just in time!  Great sodas, ice cream and resupply of water. We were also greeted with more trail magic immediately afterward: PB &Js, ice water and Someores in a cooler!  

Our day ended with a hitch into Woodstock that we were a little apprehensive about. Three of us. We didn't need to worry since we were picked up within 10 minutes for the short ride to town (thanks Barbara!). We also were taken straight to the Ardmore Inn B&B where we've been treated like kings by Charlotte and her family! We later found out that this is where the PB&Js came from on the trail. 

http://www.ardmoreinn.com

Hummingbird's boyfriend showed up a little later to join for a couple days of hiking with us. 

On Friday, Karl and Mende also join. 

Trail Family for the week:

Karl, Mende, Goldfish (Joey's new trail name), Pey-Pey LePew (Sydney's boyfriend Peyton-earned on Katahdin), Beem, Mr. Sunshine, Hummingbird and Cucumber. 

443.6 - Vermont

Made it across the bridge, but the Norwich Inn has one room remaining and the brewery and the Olympics had a pretty strong gravitational pull. We'll start hiking again in a few. 

Books read:

1. Edge of Eternity Century Trilogy Ken Follett
2. Gray Mountain - Grisham
3.  The Litigators - Grisham
4. Denali's Howl - Andy Hall
5.  The Associate - Grisham
6.  Rogue Lawyer - Grisham Inc
7. Undaunted Courage - Steven Ambrose Inc

 

Leaving New Hampshire

Dang, I was going to do that!  Maybe next bridge. 

441 - Dartmouth College

I'm currently sitting in the basement of the Parks and Recreation building in Hanover NH. Five bucks for laundry and a shower-very nice. Hummingbird, Chipmunk Chuck and Mr Sunshine are across the street at the coop for resupply. 

We've had a few good days of hiking. Yesterday, was our 2nd biggest at 16.4 miles. The views are getting farther apart as the green canopy becomes the norm. We did find some nice raspberries that cost us some time-but no way are we walking by those. Our camping spot last night was right off the DC soccer field in the woods. This gave us easy access to supples at the store. Nice camp. 

Joey's shoes are blowing out and we're hoping to milk those to the end. My hiking Merrill shirt went in the trash this morning due to popular demand. Beem replaced it with a better Ibex ("The Art of Wool") shirt. She's been an awesome addition to our "Hamily" (family formed from week of Hostel living). 

We will walk out of NH today or tomorrow and look forward to the (widely reported) super hiking in Vermont. 

Adjectives:

Soft

Green

Great Beer (should have started there)

Also looking forward to the arrival of Pey-Pey LePew, Karl And Mende Gleiss. Ther arrive on Thursday and Friday respectively. 

Restart 389.4

After an 8 day hiatus from hiking, the team of Cucumber, Hummingbird and Chipmunk Chuck prepare to head out of North Woodstock.   Hummingbird made it back from her stay in Mi and now we start.  Actually, we'll start as soon as they wake up and get packing.  Yesterday, I laid out all the gear in the sun for all 3 backpacks.  It was a very unpleasant discovery when I found a week old jellified slug on my tent rainfly... something smells fishy.   At least I found it before we were in the woods.  

Our plan is to hit the trail by 10 at the latest as we have a driver (Beem) that will drive us and hike with us for a few days.   She also promised some trail magic up ahead in Vermont since she works and lives near the trail.

As of this moment, our ETA in Springer (at the current pace) is March 24, 2017.  I guess we'll have to pick it up a bit.  Not thinking we'll actually lay down an 8 day zero stretch again.  But, who knows.

Fun Times at the Notch

Cliff diving

Painting

Taking a run for rock slabs (fire pit)

Movie (Bourne)

Concert, etc.

Justin and Serena at the diving cliffs

Concert in Plymouth

On Hold - 389.4 Kinsman Notch

Some explanation here...On Wednesday, July 27, our team had just enjoyed the perfect Franconia Notch run and proceeded straight down to the Liberty Springs area so we could get picked up by the Notch Hostel folks.  After we determined that it would be a nice .9 mile hike to the parking lot (complete with wrong direction taken), we made it there where our driver was waiting patiently to drive us through North Woodstock and over to the hostel were we met up with long time tramly member Jeremiah.  Of course, we had to hit the beer store on the way into town.   

Check in consisted of sprawling out on the lawn while tie-dye (Serena) brought out her laptop, took my credit card to over the two planned nights.  I also arranged for Chipmunk to do a work-for-stay.   

This plan allowed Hummingbird and I the opportunity to "slack-pack" the 17 miles between Franconia Notch and Kinsman Notch.  So, off we went for a nice 10 hour run.  Really was a run because the back pack (borrowed from the Notch) only had water, snacks and rain gear.  This was a commitment to 'get-er done in the one day.  The mileage wasn't a big deal for us, the weather and the 3 mountains we had to go over were indeed a big deal.  Our second summit of the day was on the South Kinsman where we pulled out our cell phones and found great coverage.   Hummingbird on the phone to her boyfriend (Pey-Pey LePew) and me on with Vasque to work out a shipment for new boots.   

All was going well until the crack of thunder overhead.   Then we started running. Still with 1 mountain (North Kinsman) to climb, we had our work cut out for us.  Out speed was very good until the rain made it really slippery.  It should also be noted that this (other than the time the 100 mile wilderness where someone shouted trail magic) was the first time I jogged on my new hips.   Note: no more jogging.  

Regardless, the day kicked our butts (common phrase by ALL that have done this section, slack or not).  Cold beers against the knees that evening helped.   We also crossed paths this day with Abbi and Gumby Bear. We hadn't seen long time tramly member Gumby since Gorham.   Abbi (vacationing spouse of Gumby) we had not met.  So, all good, we talked them into returning the Notch of a huge dinner by Hummingbird.  They had already spent 2 nights there with a zero in between that allowed us to catch back up.   We also were able to "run them down" because we did the section NOBO.  That is fun because you get to see hikers you haven't seen in a few.   In addition to those two, we saw Buffalo, Budget and Jeremiah again.  

The dinner was incredible as hostel owner Justin ran us over the Price Chopper for groceries.  Hummingbird, Abbi, Gumby and I ended up feeding the entire hostel that night thinking we were heading out in the AM to take on the famous Mt Moosilauke.   

Hummingbird came down to breakfast and informed me that she needed to make a run back to Michigan for a few days.  That is the "on-hold" part.  Chipmunk and I have been here at the Notch since working on projects around the hostel such as a firepit, painting the front ramp and porch and shuttling hikers.  Pretty much whatever as we wait for Hummingbird's return.  she is expected Wed or Thursday (8-3 or 4).