Time for some Stats

Here's what is real:

Latitude: 39° 19' 18.60" N
Longitude: -77° 44' 22.19" W

Harpers Ferry West Virginia

Day 107

Avg per day 10.9 miles

Zero days 13

Avg per day w/o zeros 12.54

Avg per day 6/16-7/15 9.55miles ME, NH

Avg per day 7/16-8/15 6.71miles NH, VT

Avg per day 8/16-9/15 13.9miles VT, MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA

Avg per day 9/16-9/29 16.07miles PA, MD, WV

States remaining WV, VA, TN, NC, GA

Highest 7 day miles per day avg 19.53miles

Most miles in day 21.4

Least miles in day 1.4 (non zero, Olympics, brewery)

ETA at current pace (overall) 1/2/2017 

Boots Cucumber 3 pair

Trail runners Hummingbird 3 pairs

Tick removals 0

Permethrin application on clothes and gear (Tick Prevention) 2

Haircuts 1

Head shave 1

Beard shave 0

Cardboard friends made - Countless 

West Virginia

Our walk continued into the 10th state today. 

Historic Harper's Ferry is also where we picked up our 1/2 way hiker number. Hummingbird is #142 and I was recognized as #143. What this means is that 141 other southbound thru hikers passed this point ahead of us. I believe 300+ are registered through the online voluntary registration. 

Last night: rain

Today: rain

Tomorrow: rain

Saturday: rain

Good run as Pa. Expires

Started the day right with another trail angel delivering magic in the middle of the night. I exited my tent at about 2 am last night to take care of business and right outside our tents sat a couple of cans of fruit. For breakfast! Incredible!  Not something you would typically pack because of the weight (15oz each), but here and now? Oh yeah!  We still had to pack out the cans, but I found a bin later in the day. 

We did 19.6 today giving us our best 7 day run yet: 19.53/day! Southern Pa. makes up for the tough rock of norther Pa. Great camping at sites and shelters. 

Half Way There

Pictures will be loaded when we have wifi 

Huge milestone today!  We hit the half way point, the we hit the half way point then, finally, we hit it again. Since the trail changes year to year due to new routes, redirection or other reasons that change the length of the trail, so too would the half way point change. There are some really nice markers and it's unlikely those will be moved. The most unimpressive signpost is the "Official 2016"  marker. Oh well, still a great moment for us!

1,094.55 miles...we sleep tonight at one of the nicest shelters (Birch Run) that we've seen. No one here but us-we always enjoy that. Even though enjoying the shelter means to us that we'll be tenting near the shelter. We both like the comfort of our own shelter since no mice have ever joined us in our tents. 

Today, we also passed by the AT Museum-which was really cool. Finished that visit with some great food from the General Store courtesy of some incredible trail angels from Jersey/Penn!

Always fun to run into people who are interested in what this is all about. 

Yesterday, we started out on a mission. We knew we had a package in Boiling Springs and we also knew we had to be there on Saturday by noon. Being 8 miles away it wouldn't be a challenge,but we had to be sure. Made it by 10:40-we were flying. In the package were some incredible treats sent by some of my AMWAY friends. Thanks to all!  Support is so much appreciated!

Doing some miles..,

Hummingbird and I are getting our mojo. Over the last four days, we've logged 80 miles. A good run considering we're dealing with near record PA heat. 

Wildlife seems to be popping out of the woodwork. We've seen a couple porcupines, rattlesnake (almost stepped on that one) and a number of black snakes. The trick, it seems, is to walk at high speed and be able to dodge the critter with a split seconds notice. 

Great campsite with stone chairs. 

First 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

1000 Miles!  When we say "Milestone", we mean milestone!  Our camp this night was at 1000.1 as the stones suggest. We stopped for a celebratory pizza at 996. 

My first bear sighting occurred yesterday. Sydney didn't see it but it actually walked across my path between us. Syd was a few hundred yards ahead.

Yesterday was a big day for many reasons. Certainly not least of these was the CFDA Award the was announced yesterday for Sydney. A really big honor for her. Exciting for both of us as we had worked on this together in several ways: 

First, I helped her move out of her Atlanta apartment while she worked on submitting her portfolio in June.  Next, we hiked hard for Andover, Maine in July so that she could do a Skype interview with the CFDA.  I stayed behind in New Hampshire for a week in late July, early August (working for stay at the Notch Hostel) while Syd refined her (now known to us) winning portfolio for on-line publication. Lastly, I had to keep the secret. Fun, and again, a great honor for Sydney and congratulations to her!

Our hike is something!

Where are we now?

Port Clinton, Pa

Short day today. We just finished our strongest week at 17.39 miles/day. Three 20+'ers in there over what I would describe as the worst terrain of the hike. We've been hearing about the rocks of Pa since we started looking into this adventure and it has not let us down. Not in a good way!  Brother Boo (rock guy since he became conscious) started to describe some sort of igneous blah, blah, blah type rock. I cut him off and gave him the correct name: "shiteous". 

Not trying to sound bitchy, just confirming that "Rocksylvania" came through as reported. 

Lehigh gap was really nice. I didn't see it coming, but the view is incredible from high on the trail. 

We are currently watching the Denver Bronco-Indianapolis game at our Trail Family member's (HawkWoman) house. We had talked about staying here several days ago and she found us at the Duncan Donuts outside of the world's largest Cabelas. Of course, we resupplied there. 

Lunch: Kielbasi (not Kielbasa-kinda like the correct way to say sauna), kishkie (potato sausage), haluskie (cabbage/noodles)

Lasagna later + Yeungling!  Laundry, bed. Even though short miles today, well worth it to regen the batteries. 

Delaware Water Gap - State 8

Just passed into Pennsylvania this afternoon after a short 14 mile day. This week, we had our buddy Gregg Slager join us for a "supported" 30+mile day. Supported in the sense that his wife Sue dropped him off, took much of our heavy equipment (tents, sleeping bags, food,etc) plus our dirty laundry and met us later in the day after the hike. We camped that night in a shelter with road access for her return trip. She brought the clean laundry (bonus-bonus-bonus), beers, wine, water, gatorades, Ibus, and (8 bonuses here) Lake Michigan Salmon caught by the Slager fishing team last week! They brought "Trail Magic" to a whole new level. 

Looking down from above

Our friend HawkWoman (SOBO) on our trajectory. 

Using our new selfie stick (thanks Gregg)

POD

Heat - hot ...

Thought this summed up our last few days. Looking forward to some relief.

Related:  July 2016

Wawayanda State Park

Hummingbird and I are in the tent waiting out a rainstorm. Maps show that it is relatively small so I should be able to make our precious morning coffee and stay reasonably dry. Yesterday's hiking clothes are on the line which means they just went thru the nature wash cycle. 

Anyway, coffee. Yes, coffee!  This really is a favored moment of our routine. Syd likes those extra moments of sleep while I work out the water to mix with the instant  we carry. Our favorites include the Starbucks variety only found at Starbucks. We're camping beside a very clear stream which makes the water solution much easier. Since we're cooking for the coffee, no need to filter. 

Yesterday, we rolled into New Jersey. We'll only be here until early next week so it'll be nice to burn through a state in short order. 

POD 9-8

I can't always be in the woods #AT #appalachiantrail #appalachiantrials #sobo #thruhike

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2bXqe57

POD 9-7

POD - 9-6

Pic of the day!

Starting a Steamboat favorite...Hummingbird and I will select a picture of the day. Your job is to comment with a caption. We'll select best caption and change title - with full Credit!  A couple of make up days are coming your way. 

Greenwood Lake, NY

Just might seem early for a day off, but the WEATHER. Record heat + beautiful location on a lake + awesome town = ZERO!

We're sitting now at 819.9 so we've hit a couple milestones: over 800 miles and under 1,400 to go. A couple more hundred and it'll be more done and less to go. We've certainly increased our production with a tight confidence correlation. Aches and pains rear their ugly heads on a daily basis. Short steps still cures until all is forgotten (short steps will never cure hunger).

We took a mile side trail into town last night in hopes of laundry and wifi. A place to stay would have been a bonus. It was! We scored a room at the Lindon Motel complete with pool, paddle boat and a 14 mile lake for a nice swim. We are now stuck because the of all the reasons mentioned earlier. 

Cat's Ledge - unexpected surprise!

This one is called the Lemon Squeezer. I say "Cucumber Squasher". 

Graymoor Spiritual Life Center 41°20'50"N 73°55'9" W 500ft

779.5 Listening to the church bells as we lay down in our tents. We're camping at the GSLC because it came highly recommended. We should have come in earlier and we could have checked it out. Instead, tired, hungry and in the dark. Kind of our MO the week. Our most productive week on the AT:

16.3

13.5

18.8

14

18.1

19.9

18.8

I guess that day off in Great Barrington paid off (2 states ago). Days are getting shorter so new batteries for the headlamps are in order. 

Lots of roots and rocks. The roots are roots except when they aren't. 

Heard there is a shower here. See in the morning. 

The deli run continues: 

Tony's Deli night 1

Pizza delivered to the campsite last night

Burgers and shower by some lake resort mid-day today and

Breakfast at a deli in the morning (potential)

Pawning New York 41°34'59" N 73°35'30" W 460ft

The "Deli Run" has begun!  We've been hearing about it for quite sometime and now it's here. New York doesn't allow hitchhiking so we had to walk to our first (a killer .6 off the trail). Worth it! This place is open until  midnight and opens at 4am.  Two dollars a person to camp. Six pack of Bud-oops, American. 

The deli run supposedly allows us to walk through NY and maybe NJ with very little food. That'll be tough for us after near mal-nourished episode up in MA. 

Tonight, we're sleeping between a speeding Amtrak and a highway. The price of convenience. 

We had a couple obstacles on the way. 

Nappy

Also, a little wary of tropical storm Hemine working it's way up the coast It'll bring rain for sure.