Thursday, 2 Aug 2012

Thursday 2 August, Day 23 AT v2.0, 10.4 miles, Days Inn, Great Barrington MA. By CrocaDilly - Thursday Katahdin or bust! I hadn't realized how much I wanted to get to Katahdin and how important it was to me both mentally and physically until today. I will never be a thru hiker I know and that still pains me somewhat and the fact scott will not be a thru hiker due to the break in and something beyond his control is heart breaking. My having to come in later was due to my own health issues was not something i foresaw and couldn't be helped. It happened and the  fact i am on the trail now fills me with glee! Having my own small (well hiking nearly 900miles is no mean feat right?) goal for myself Is equally important and something i need to do. We were all of us set for an awesome big 16 mile day hiking starting with a steep and challenging climb up Race Mountain. I found the first part tough and was beginning to wish I hadn't had a pop tart for breakfast!!!! - far from giving me an early boost of energy i am finding these horrid processed things are having more of the opposite effect and seem to zap me of strength- probably due to my body having to try and rid itself of all the noxious preservatives they contain! I haven't had a pop tart since circa 1990!! Tailbone had left an hour earlier as she was still finding her hiker legs and we knew would be a bit slower having been off the trail which is fully to be expected. So i was in my own little merry world of cursing the pop tart and all the other preservative rich foods my body is not used to and is now being bombarded with when I came across her at the top of the hill! We were both a little perplexed as to the lack of signage showing the trail at the top - papa wolf had passed her some minutes before and despite calling for him could not get an answer. We followed what seemed like trails and which became abundantly clear quite quickly were the fruitless pains of previous hikers who had obviously met a similar fate! I had this horrible feeling that somewhere earlier we had both gone wrong - an area which also looked like the summit that had Been passed some minutes earlier. We followed one slippery moss covered path down - it didn't look like a true trail but we carried on undettered in the hope of finding the all elusive white blaze mark of the Appalachian trail! I was cursing MA at this point and wishing their markings were more abundant! This marked the point where i slipped on a Rock the first time - thank god i had my pack because it completely broke my fall. At the bottom of this trail which led to a steep jump down and bushy undergrowth i decided that us trying to head blindly down the mountain was fruitless and i would try going upwards one last time have a look round see If i could see anyone or the proper trail so I left Tailbone with my back pack and started the fruitless task of heading back to the top again! The trail we were on was the only one that looked remotely plausible so unless we wanted to retrace our steps completely backwards i figured we  might as well keep descending the trail that we had found in the vague hope it linked up with the AT sooner or later so headed back to where tailbone was waiting. Yep on the way back I slipped on the same buggary rock as before but this time with a more hearty thump as my backside and lower back landed on ita Hard surface since i had taken my back pack off. There was much swearing and crying and cussing of whoever marked this trail but since i hadn't really hurt myself ( I do have a large bruise now) I carried on met tail bone and used the opportunity of company to cuss some more! Thankfully Just below where we had stopped we could clearly see the proper AT trail And although it was a couple of feet below us an area where many a lost hiker appears to have done what we did and slid on their arses down a mossy bank to rejoin it! I was mightily relieved! Especially at the thought that I wasn't the only jackass ever to have clearly lost the trail! I was disheartened to see it had taken me over an hour to go a very short distance indeed (twenty mins of which had been spent lost!) ... not the best way to start a long day but my pack felt light and I felt in fine fettle and ready to soldier on! It turned out papa wolf had met the same problem and got lost but had retraced his steps further back than we did to find the trail! We were all slightly miffed at getting lost and the time taken to summit the mountain but then we saw the wonder of trail magic - a cooler and big drums of icy icy cold fresh water! Our woes disappeared momentarily as we took in this wonder! Water is the best trail magic especially when the water is this cold! Uncle oops and a lovely girl who was section hiking with him thru Connecticut to this point rocked up and it would turn out we would again keep bumping into them throughout the day as we had the day before! Now i am not going to dwell too much on what unravelled in the following few hours as we walked but the whole gambit of emotions followed... Anger, disappointment, happiness, relief, rage and upset! It became clear quite quickly that we were going to need alot more time for Tailbone to be ready to hike the amount of miles we needed to start putting in if we were to ever reach our goal of getting to Katahdin. We had 200 miles of walking under our belts and as people do at the start you slowly increase your mileage over a number of days. We just did not have that option and a mile an hour was too too slow and we were making incredibly slower progress as the day wore on. Scotts initial idea was we just plug along and wherever we end up in October will be okay. After a couple of hours of mulling this idea over through beautiful woodland I decided I either wanted to finish at Katahdin or go home - the point of being out here would be lost and my personal challenge would be over. So we had to rethink how we were going to handle this situation - we love having TailBone with us and didn't want to have her leave us. It was such a shame because we went through some stunning scenery and different terrain  -  from scaling a steep mountain with picturesque vistas, the scent of pine and mountain scrub wafting through the air, rocky cliffs in shaded woodlands, soft pine paths, boardwalks through wetlands and beautiful farmland that reminded me of home. Scott came up with a super plan. We could get his mom to drop our car off and have Tailbone follow us in the car kind of like a support vehicle as Mango and Rampage are doing. It also meant we could get the boys back - not having them has been weird and very quiet - no sounds of them crashing through the undergrowth and the frequent chip chip of frightened chipmunks! The plan was put in motion , calls were made...again! And uncle oops and meatstick reappeared. Meatstick had finished her section hike and her car was a mere two miles away and so she offered us a lift into great barrington. It was like some bad joke when we got to where she had parked her car and it wasnt there. Felt so bad for her! A lovely guy thankfully gave us a lift to the police station in his pick up! We spent an hour there with a completely inept pencil pusher who couldn't even ascertain whether the car had been stolen or towed - this is a small town with only three tow companies - it seemed it only crossed his mind to call one of them! No sort of databases either to liaise with the next towns dept or other tow companies! I did have to wonder further when we watched from the police carpark a cruiser down the street put on his blues to go to a call only to stall the car and have to roll it into where we were sat and jump into another car! Things got steadily worse when meatstick got a call an hour later from the pencil pusher asking her what color her car was! At that point we gave up and went for dinner! Great Barrington proved to be an awesome little town, there was a classic car rally on that night, I saw a repatriated 1946 Willys jeep plus many other cool cars even though most had left by the time we got into town, friendly people and an awesome meal and some great wine at fiori! We also bumped into a load of out friends too -ambassador, Rory, Carver and Franklinstein. The sad news was to hear pops has left the trail for a job opportunity! We had a great night - watched a bunch of ten year olds fighting, learnt what crumping is and watched a bunch of drunk hikers stumbling about which is always good fun! Great night with great people!!!...and a good plan to ensure we finish this adventure dispite everything...so all is good. :)

Sunday 29 July - Wed 1 Aug

Sunday 29 July, Day 19 AT v2.0, 17.0 miles, Pine Swamp Brook Shelter. By Crocadilly - We had a lovely relaxing morning at the motel drinking coffee, watching the Olympics and hanging out with everyone! I finally spoke to my parents which was lovely - haven't spoken to them since I got on the trail ... Well unless you count email and the odd text! We left around lunch time and mango dropped the four of us off with Old Smoke who was walking the same miles today! My shoes had partially dried out over night and I was wearing warm dry socks so imagine my dismay on arriving at a point in the trail barely a mile in where we had to cross what over night had become a fully running stream. I want to say raging torrent but that would be over exaggerating somewhat! Let's just say a wide enough body of water to make you contemplate carefully how to get across without falling in the drink! Which is great because so many of the streams and therefore water sources along the trail have dried up this year due to the lack of rain! Which has caused some serious issues for hikers.  A sign told us everything we needed to know! "After periods of heavy rain this stream may not be passable" - yep definite check on the heavy rain and  well we looked and although it was running fast it still wasn't deep and there were rocks jutting out making it a safe bet to cross... That is for most people unless you are me! I have past form, which my parents gladly bring up as anecdotal tales even at the age of 33 to embarrass me! I have fallen in ponds, pools, mud pits and probably the sea too at various points in my childhood! Actually the last time I fell in a body of water was my own pond last year much to the delight of Scotts cousin Ed's kids who we were looking after! Little Ed slipped and did the same thing minutes before ! Each water based incident throughout my past seems to have involved me having to walk home wet! I was not pleased at the potential for soaking everything I currently own and having to walk several miles! Especially as I had only just dried out from yesterday's rain storm! I stupidly told Old smoke my past form in water (the irony that I am a fire sign never ceases to make me giggle as I pass over water courses tentatively now!).he had already passed to the other side and papa wolf and the boys were making their way across with relative ease (the boys thought this was a great treat of course) whilst I was making my first few tentative steps across the slippy  rocks. I looked up and old smoke was watching me with absolute glee I am sure ready for the moment when I slipped in the drink! I don't blame him I would too! It was at this point and after nearly toppling in I decided to say screw it , I would rather have wet feet and get across safely than try and keep completely dry and potentially fall in so I just waded across regardless of the depth and made it to safety on the other side!!I think the two guys were a little disappointed! It would have made for a much better story if I had fallen in I guess!  We had such a great day  with old smoke - it was fun to hike with someone new and he has fast become one of my favourites on the trail. We hung out with him, Miles another great chap and a couple of other hikers at the shelter that evening. It was quite bug infested and these shelters are weird in that you climb up to a kind of thin plinth and then have to jump across a gaping chasm to the sleeping platform! I wondered whether it was a strategy to weed out the unfortunate  inept hiker who might need a mid night widdle and forget that there was indeed a hole between where you slept and the plank to get down from the shelter itself! The others had far more Boring and sensible ideas for it's use! Again when I say gaping chasm that is abit of an over exaggeration - you could sprain something if you were unfortunate enough to forget it was there and potentially knock yourself out which you could also theoretically do on the roof of the shelter (not a problem for me!). Because of the bugginess of the area (it really is bad ... My poor legs are covered in bites and u have to be so careful not to scratch them. People have been hospitalized this year from scratching bites with staphylococcus infected fingernails and been quite Ill as a consequence (I sanitize my hands regularly through out the day to prevent bacterial infections of this nature!)) papa wolf rigged up a rather lovely mossie net using the tent and we snuggled in for the evening with old smoke and miles next to us! I was very aware of the fact the boys were free to roam but they Spent most of the night it seems curled up next to old smoke who had also rigged up a mossie tent for himself! Think the boys were a bit put out they couldn't actually have direct people contact Tonight! Well with the exception of Miles. After being brought to by a superb crescendo of snoring from someone I suddenly heard the sound of a dog moving swiftly followed by a yelp and a few expletives from Miles as he was unceremoniously and rather suddenly woken up by Skye trampling on ...well you can guess the rest! I did apologise in the morning to him! Old smoke had also heard this during the night and thought it was mighty amusing! I don't think Miles agreed but he took it all in good humor.  Actually it is one of the funniest nights I have had on the trail a we had such good banter and laughter! Plus Old smoke gave us drunken goats cheese to add to our dinner! How can you not love the man who gives us cheese and is a motorbike enthusiast who loves the isle of man TT races. 

Monday 30 July, Day 20 AT v2.0, 16.4 miles, Salisbury CT. Monday Mojo and Skyes last day on the trail. After an epic and ridiculous fall out over a lost camping bag papa wolf and I finally managed to get ourselves enough together to leave camp with old smoke and miles. I felt sad leaving old smoke as he has already hiked through MA so the chances are as we were coming off the trail today in Salisbury to visit with friends that we might not catch up with him again. I really hope we do and you never know! We bumped into Rampage and Apollo who were already 15 miles in when they caught us around noon and half way through an epic 30 mile day! We were looking at a more leisurely few miles which having had a sort of relaxing morning lol would see us picked up around three. Oh I must lament at this point the sad passing of my left reef flip flop (RIP!) - a pair I have had since purchasing them In the Lake District 18 years ago at the age of 12! An awesome service curtailed only during the heroic pursuit of UV filtering about 7 litres of water from a rather picturesque stream at the shelter. See I told you only yesterday me and water don't mix! I will give the reefs a fitting Viking funeral or something when I get home together with all the other stuff likely to die from overuse on this adventure! It may be the only way to cleanse the smell out of some garments if i am being quite Frank! We weren't going to bother stopping for lunch as we were so close to our pick up point but we came out on a road to find Mango, Sammy, Rampage and Apollo resting in the shade so we stopped for a quick bite and to say hellos and goodbyes. It's the puppies last day on the trail today as Marti is coming to drop Tailbone back to the  trail and so we figured it would be easier for her to  pick them up tomorrow and take them home for the rest of the hike since we will soon be reaching the more fiddly bits! I can't imagine not hiking with them but there Are truly some quite tough climbs ahead that involve ladders and proper climbing up near vertical rock faces. The last three miles we hiked with them was truly pretty and enjoyable - I love CT despite the horrendous Mosquitos! It is i have since discovered from my first bad impression, clean, beautiful with gorgeous fields, rolling hills covered in trees, cool quiet woodlands with great rocky outcrops pretty quaint stone and wooden houses, churches and outbuildings with well manicured gardens and cute towns with lovely little independent stores! The very last Bit of the trail took us through a gorgeous smelling pine forest which had been made wheel chair accessible. Beautiful soft piney paths wound through the woods and along the river bank and there were lovely park benches to sit and enjoy the sun! And of course only I could roll my already bad foot on the flattest part of the trail in  a wheel chair friendly area! A foot support went immediately to the top of my shopping list! I was dreading taking off my shoe and sock to see If it would balloon! All too soon we had reached the spot where we were to meet Linda Dodge the lady we were to be staying with. Just a bit of background info - she is the mother of Donna Ryder, Mother in law of Ron Ryder, a guy Scott flew with who he hasn't seen in quite a few years (before I met him so I haven't even met him and his family!) What a lovely lady Linda turned out to be - she was full of fun and so welcoming! How can you not love someone whose first questions on entering her house is would you like a beer or wine and please take a shower at your leisure! We had such a great time chatting with her and meeting her grandsons who were also staying with her-fab family! We met her daughter Stacey the following day with her granddaughter and some neighbours. I love meeting new people and when you feel like you have known them your entire life it is even better! Linda fed us sumptuously - I feel so gluttenous but hiking gives you an appetite - we ate like kings - roast beef, potatoes, corn on the cob) (some people mentioning no names had five husks!) and salad - all fresh food I miss terribly on the trail - and my first glass of wine in three weeks or so! I don't have a sweet tooth but I inhaled a bowl of ice-cream, Oreos and a glass of milk! And then fell into the comfiest bed ever! 

Tuesday, 31 July, Day 21 AT v2.0, yet another 0 miles, Salisbury CT. By CrocaDilly - We are enjoying the hospitality of Linda and her family so much that we have decided to take an unintended zero today since it was our last day with the monsters and the arrival of Marti with TailBone...WOOHOO!! Possibly the last zero until hanover, NH too!  I am glad because i just spent a night in the comfiest bed ever and am not ready to give it up just yet! Justification for an unintended zero goes like this ...so how can you possibly turn down the option of italian spaghetti and homade meatballs for dinner, wine and salad etc?  We also needed to resupply! And i rolled my ankle yesterday so a days rest would be best for this pseudo injury..i need to get wet wipes and an ankle brace and we were only going to go four miles anyway! My bites are super itchy so have mixed various meds to numb the pain!  Plus and most importantly we get to spend more time with an awesome family which actually is the main reason and so on and so forth! We can make up the mileage tomorrow no problem!!! Pfff it's only four miles!  So you get the picture ... We are having too much of a great time with too many great people = Too many great excuses to stay ,.. This is the type of experience doing the trail is all about! It feels like coming home! I have met so many people today who i otherwise would never have met, which has been fabulous! And this happens a lot on the trail but all too often meetings are fleeting and you know you may never see the person again but you certainly will never forget them. Today that is not the case. I have seen a town (Salisbury) I know for some reason I will see again and have met people I know will be friends for life!   Needless to say the excuses to stay mounted up and so Here we are! And what a great unintended zero day it has been! We Got to spend the  day with my wonderful mother in law. We resupplied, i bought some town trousers which means i wont have to borrow scotts shorts in the future (they were kids pants and cost 12 bucks and are super comfy - a result!) i have been to one of the best wine stores I have been to in the states, everything is dry and washed, I had McDonalds ... A big mac meal plus double cheeseburger didn't even dent my appetite which after last nights Oreo and chocolate ice-cream extravaganza frankly has me concerned for future cholesterol levels!  Mattie is back and life is good! Plus it didnt rain! We Have said too many goodbyes recently  but a wonderful number of hellos in the last two days and see you agains! I unfortunately have said goodbye to the monsters ... So hard but they will be better off - they have done 900 miles which is super awesome... how many doglets can say that! I also said goodbye to my reef flip-flops which died yesterday (rip) i have had them since I was twelve - they have given me 18 years of service! What did i replace them with? Yuk i hate to say it but a horrid pair of purple crocs . I swore I never ever would buy a pair but for the trail they make too much sense. RIP my circa 80s reefs and long live the queen!!!  and a welcome return to Tailbone who  joins us and a super thanks to my wonderful mother in law who is now pup sitting and delivered our beautiful niece back to adventure land with super new feet! Thank you so much to Linda Dodge and her wonderful family for a most fabulous 24 hours! Connecticut is beautiful and full of lovely people and quaint small towns with pretty shops and houses...lovely despite the copious amounts of biting insects! My poor legs lol! ... We have had a blast but now we must wend our way northward  .... Looking forward to catching up with trail friends!  Xxx 

Wednesday 1 August 2012, Day 22 AT v2.0, 12.3 miles, Race Brook Falls Trails Campsite. By Papa Wolf - What a Fantastic few days. CrocaDilly said it but it is worth repeating...Thank you Linda so much for everything, and Donna and Ron Ryder for setting this up back in February...and thank you for the food you left us! Just another great example of More trail magic and wonderful people making this journey unbelievable. So after coffee and a ride back to the trail, we were back at it.  It was very weird walking without mojo and Skye...after 900 miles I got used to the little fellas. :) We could have kept them a bit longer but we have been hitting some rough patches (e.g. The rocks requiring ladders, etc) and it only gets worse in New Hampshire so we figured better to keep them safe and healthy. Within the first five miles we were very glad we made that decision. A few descents that we're very technical and I'm sure would have required a few removed packs..at least from Mojo. So thanks again Mom for watching over them. :). we did cross into Mass so yet another state down. I also broke the 900 mile mark and Crocadilly went over 200! Tailbone did really great for her first day back. Slow and steady and did Awesome! Its amazing how much easier it is ro walk when your feet are not on fire. We walked along some amazing Cliffs over Mt Evert which were spectacular. Not the best walk if you are afraid of heights...none of us are so it was great. We walked got to the campsite a bit late to discover we were the only three there. That's a new experience for me as the first half of the hike was so crowded and I was with the wolf pack...weird being just three, but great. Utilized a pre made tent platform which worked out great so had an excellent night sleep.  

28 July 2012

Saturday 28 July, Day 18 AT v2.0, 7.8 miles, Rocky Ridge Motel, New Milford CT. By CrocaDilly - ...and then there was rain! Wow what a day! Skye was so much better and both the puppies were bouncing around this morning! We had a fairly leisurely morning getting ready and having coffee round the camp fire with everyone ! Mango very kindly offered us the opportunity to slack pack once again which we gladly took up (think it may be tough going back to hiking with backpacks after this little hiatus! The boys slack packed too much to their enjoyment! They love rolling around on the floor on their backs when the packs are off which is especially hilarious to watch just after the packs have been taken off and even more so if there is a hill involved because they will wiggle all the way to the bottom!! Anyhoo the going was made so much easier with out packs and it was really nice to be hiking in a big group - very different dynamic to the hike and I enjoy it / makes me move faster! Sammy was also hiking with rampage -so cute to have another dog hiking in the mix for Mojo and Skye to hike with too! We had just summited a hill and were all enjoying a slight break when it started to rain! What ensued shortly after was a storm of epic proportions which was probably as bad as the storm we had hunkered down for the other night! It took us all by surprise! The thunder and lightening were close and very impressive. Mojo and Skye were a little scared and chose to run between Scott and I. I was running down hill fast as we all knew mango would be waiting at the car at the bottom! I have never been so wet! I have since found out that the local weather said about 5 1/2 inches of rain fell in one and a half hours and we were headed down hill! I don't know why I bothered running as i could not have been more wet had I been lounging about in a pool for several hours. I guess it was a matter of survival and to avoid getting struck by lightening and to keep warm and get to the car! My fingers were starting to get that lovely prune effect and going numb. Half way down the hill Sammy decided he could not go any further as the storm was so scary and hid beneath a bush. rampage appeared cradling him in his arms several minutes after we had all got to the car having had to carry him down the rest of the rather precarious hill the rest of the way in the pouring rain. At the bottom we all set about formulating a plan for getting dry and getting three dogs, 9 people complete with backpacks to a motel. A few of us went on a reconnaissance mission to a town 15 mins away leaving Scott and the dogs and a few other unlucky hikers in the rain! We got to a motel where we had been promised a good rate .... Isnt it funny how that all changes once you get to a place and things suddenly escalate in price! After a complete debacle we ended up back at the drop off point with the rest of the gang everyone by now incredibly cold and in the pouring rain! We managed to get hold of a motel in the end and a good Samaritan offered a lift to some of the group leaving three dogs, approx 6 packs and about six hikers in one small Honda - a very impressive feat! I have once again in a short space of time never been so thankful to see a shower bed and coffee in one room! I was so cold and wrinkled I could not wait to get in the shower and Just jumped straight in fully clothed! By the time I was finished it looked like a muddy massacre had taken place in there! It was also at this point that I realized my error in bringing only two changes of shorts... I had a top for town buy no fresh trousers or shorts of any kind! Bearing in mind the clothes I am wearing today are soaked, i hadn't showered or done any laundry up to this point since last sunday! As for my dry second pair of shorts... I have never in my life smelled anything so bad EVER! I am surprised they didn't self combust! I couldnt contemplate wearing them into town to do the laundry and dinner run so ended up in my husbands shorts eek! Yep that is how gross they were - mental note to self to get town shorts when shopping next! Apollo rampage mango papa wolf and I headed into town whilst the others showered and hung out! Had the most amazing Chinese buffet and headed back to the motel with freshly laundered clothes finally yay! It was great to have a chance to shower and catch up with the Olympics and sleep in a bed again ! I can't believe we all got caught out so badly by such horrific weather! Another shorter than expected day but great to hang out and relax with such an awesome group of people and be warm safe dry and smell okay again! :) x

26-27 July 2012

Thursday, 26 July, Day 16 AT v2.0, 0.0 miles, Telephone Pioneer Shelter. By Crocadilly - After the high of yesterday we woke up to a massive low! We set up camp in the shelter last night due to the threat of rain and the fact it was quite late by the time we arrived! I was so tired I didn't have anything more for dinner other than a cereal bar! It was all i could do to pretend I felt awesome in front of a load of south bounders who were great  fun and get myself into bed! Every muscle ached as you would expect having lugged 34lbs on your back for the first time 18.8 (including deli detour) miles up and down hills! But I was happy! Even though my much needed sleep as ever was interrupted by feeling hungry, the aching muscles, the puppies stirring and snuggling on me (which i love) and snoring and rain! But as ever it doesn't matter you wake raring to go!!! But when we woke up this morning and got moving it was soon clear Skye had a serious issue... he was limping. He was fine when he went to bed although he had taken a tumble getting into the shelter so must have damaged his paw or leg... but there was nothing visible. Which was more worrying than finding a visible cut! The south bounders we had a fun night with packed up and left, leaving us pondering what to do! Do we stay and hope a day off the paw is all he needs, do we travel 0.7 miles to the nearest road and try to hitch to the nearest vet or try and go the three miles with him to the nearest store and get a motel room / ride from there? We decided to stay put which was hard since the weather was so nice (at times like these you hope for rain so it makes staying put seem more worth while) plus we had little to no cell coverage so no chance to call anyone ,read or do the blog! I slept most of the day! Actually it was a restless day and I had too much to think about which was not good. We did have some good banter with a bunch of great German guys who came through and old smoke turned up! Later in the afternoon more hikers came through and I finally got to meet blah blah and a couple of other chaps Scott has said so much about! With them came the news that there was a tornado and storm watch.... They were headed three miles to shelter where Rampage and Mango and their dog would be. They are a great couple who Scott had told me loads about! Mango is driving with their dog sammy and following her fiancé rampage as he hikes with a group of great guys! I couldn't wait to meet them! Scott was itching to meet up with everyone again and we were hoping some would stay at the shelter with the storm not far off!  What were we going to do? We tried calling a motor lodge but got no answer and worried with the impending threat of the storm approaching decided to stay safe in the shelter watching blah blah, old smoke, Apollo, etc head off down to civilization leaving us alone. Which was just aswell because in a five minute period where Scott managed to get service we found out said motor lodge which took pets only had two rooms which were both occupied for the approaching apocalypse! So we stayed.. On the top of a tree lined mountain by ourselves. We readied ourselves for the impending storm and had just packed up our dinner things and hauled the dogs into the three sided shelter when the sky went this horrible yellow colour and the wind suddenly whipped through the trees! You could feel the storm physically coming! Apparently from the valley below where everybody else was clustered the clouds that rolled in were reminiscent of those from the movie independence day! The loudest crack of thunder I have ever heard followed the winds that you could feel being sucked down the mountain face and then a rainstorm ensued! The storm was pretty impressive for about ten mins and me loving storms I was braced and ready to watch it for hours! It was soon apparent thankfully for us that we were not to receive the brunt of it...which apart from a safety point of view was a little disappointing!! At this point we were subjected to a continuous rain and the rumble of the storm in the distance and it was chilly and dark and then I realized it was only 1930!!!! So I tried to go to sleep!!! Would we wake up to find ourselves the sole survivors of some early apocalyptic doom? Would skye bounce out of the shelter in the morning? Would my leg muscles ever forgive me for hiking so far or get used to the fact that would not be the only time i would push them?! 

Friday, 27 July, Day 17 AT v2.0, 13.7 miles, Stealth Campsite near Bulls Bridge CT :) meeting up with old friends...Well what a crap storm that turned out to be! And I say that in the lightest of tones and with thankfulness because i know Elmira and other towns in the state of new York and surrounding states were not so lucky and suffered some quite catastrophic damage. As exciting as it seems to be to watch a storm knowing you are relatively safe on the trail things can go bad and even with a solid house roof over your head such a summer storm is something that should not be belittled. Relieved to wake up to sunshine, no storm, a fully recovered Skye, the furry babies bouncing around full of energy  and I kid you not listening to a massive tree  toppling and falling down a hill some distance away along the trail I think we were both somewhat relieved! It could have been so much worse and you know that being awoken to the sounds of chainsaws in the middle of the night does not bode well!! We enjoyed a coffee and a leisurely getting ready to leave the lovely shelter that had served us so well! We had a lovely easy walk the three miles to the railway station and garden center below us! We were met by blah blah and old smoke! It's funny everyone is relieved the storm wasn't as bad as anticipated but everyone is slightly disappointed! I finally got to meet rampage and mango and their dog who are all awesome! Mango offered to take Skye in the car to rest his leg one more day and slack pack us (we just carry basics like water and our packs are in the car = awesome!) mango also let Scott borrow the car to resupply and get yummy subs! :) I thoroughly enjoyed the ten or so miles we hiked bouncing along and taking pictures of the beautiful countryside! Life felt good and felt even better when it rained as I felt like I had a lovely fresh shower!  Mojo loved running around without his pack but it was weird just having one dog with us! We came across some massive trees that had fallen across the trail during the storm. Obviously it had been worse than we thought. We passed the new York and connecticut border and a couple of other hikers including a fab guy called chocolate steak who Scott had told me all about! My first impressions of this new state we were hiking through - beautiful countryside but wow the amount of rubbish (trash) strewn everywhere and litter on the sides of the road was monumental. We passed through an obviously well used state park and piles of bin bags were under a sign saying carry in carry out your trash...disappointing! But what was awesome was meeting up with and stealth camping with beers around a camp fire with a great bunch of people... Rampage, mango, chocolate steak, Franklinstein, Apollo, Blah Blah and Ambassador and of course our dogs and Sammy! All old acquaintances of Scott!  Skye had obviously enjoyed his down day travelling in the car and the two boys were overjoyed to see each other when they were reunited after a few hours too!! We had a great evening...great day infact and I felt like I was getting a true picture of life on the trail as Scott had experienced before he had to leave! The only down point of the day apart from the trash was getting stung by a wasp when I was getting ready for bed! It took me ten minutes to kill the pesky critter!!! 

25 July 2012

Wednesday, 25 July, Day 15 AT v2.0, 18.1 miles, Telephone Pioneer Shelter. Absolutely psyched - after what was a bit of a debacles yesterday i felt super psyched to complete my first big mileage day today and nothing was going to stop me! I woke up feeling great ... Shin splints gone ... A slight sprain in my left foot which thankfully is remedied it seems by putting my boots on and taking copious amounts of herbal remedies our wonderful neighbours supplied us with, pain relief and vitamins and icy hot gel ( I can barely put any pressure on my foot at this Point without my boots on but I never said anything and five days later finally typing this out I haven't admitted to actually the extent I think it may have been injured and the slight swelling but I looked after it well and that has been repaid in my being able to continue on!) We woke up the sun was shining, we slept well, we packed up quickly and were on our way before 9am which was awesome! We would have been out earlier but we got chatting with the guy from the night before, teepee Tommy and the caretaker who looks after this fabulous site! As I thought yesterday hiking the AT is so much more than putting one foot in front of the other! It is great to take the time to talk with others along the way!! Soon we were on the way and for once I felt like I was eating up the miles!  It is amazing how as you get lost in thought especially through the how quickly the time goes. We measure how far we have gone using roads and other AT markers and I judge our distance travelled based on a thirty minute mile!  I  get spurred on by reaching these markers but more by meeting  other people and hearing their stories as we go along! Just a few miles in we met a gentleman in his seventies possible even a bit older (this was quite early in the morning) - he had one of those sparkly twinkly older faces of someone who has had a wonderful adventurous life and a myriad of tales to tell  and who you would love to spend an afternoon chatting with over a pint of ale or several in a pub ...  he had some old style camping gear and looked like he was wearing a butchers style apron with bottles of water and various camping equipment spilling out of the front pockets. He walked with two beautiful whittled sticks and when he said he was section hiking the AT i was in awe. I figured on first meeting him he was probably out for a few hours and a local. When he said he was taking it slow today but wanted to get to bear mountain bridge  i realized that was what had taken us two days hence to cover...it made me realise what a novice I really was! I could certainly pull an 18 mile day today If that elderly gentleman could cover what had taken us two days to cover in less than half the time and promised myself I would never give up!not less than a mile down the road we met a NYC fireman whose dream was to hike the AT on retiring.we spent  a  while talking with him and I began to wonder how anyone ever finishes what with all the questions you get asked as you pass people by ... But you know what i like it... Yes it gets tedious saying the same thing over again especially when it comes to going into further explanation if required about the break-in and Scott coming off the trail, me joining yadayadyada! But you know what knowing people care is amazing and chatting with so many people is fab and being wished well and being cared for along the trail is an experience! You get alot more questions with the dogs present and it is hard at times not to be irritated when you are going up hill or have a rhythm going in your step that you don't want to stop! But that is the trail and do you want to be that jack ass that never talks and just pushes north ... No thanks! It is fun meeting people and having these exchanges! But then   I Am only a couple of weeks in! For me it is like freshers week at university! Lol! We stopped for lunch at a lovely little deli - it was a dive town but very friendly and the food was awesome! Unfortunately my stomach is not coping with non trail food for some reason! i can't eat anything off trail without significant consequences which Here was not good! The deli did not have a public bathroom and the guy in the pizza shop next door reiterated quite clearly  the bathroom was for customers only in a rather unfriendly tone! I would have gladly bought anything to use it but he was just such an ass I decided to say screw it and suffer the 0.5 mile trek back to the AT trail in the woods rather than give him my money! I made it... Just!!! Today i just enjoyed it seemed pushing myself! I wanted to prove i could do the big miles and I wasnt going to let anything get in my way! The last three miles were painful! We hit a place called Nuclear lake - yep a site once devoted to nuclear energy or some other radiation based industry  but now declared clean! By this point my feet were on fire and my thigh muscles felt like I had been in a twelve hour spinning class! I desperately wanted to see a sign saying yes please do camp Here... A masseuse and four course meal will be with you shortly! But no there were  clear signs everywhere saying no camping, fires, swimming.. It might as well have said if you do so much as pause to take breath you will be shot! We did stop... Momentarily ...I  needed to take my boots off to tell my feet I wasn't slowly killing them and have a snack! A fifteen minute stop did the trick! You could tell the area was well policed so camping was a nono! I thought the next three miles would be the longest of my life! I couldn't believe it when what seemed like mere moments later when Scott invaded my inner peace ( I couldnt at this point converse and walk at the same time my energy was spent which I made quite apparent when he tried to strike up a conversation half an hour before and got grunts in reply) all I heard was sweetie look and saw the most welcome sign pointing the way to the shelter! Just a mere 0.1 miles off the trail! I did it! I did my first big day and I did it good! I was so pleased I could have told the world and his wife but all we met was a bunch of amazing hikers who appreciated my first milestone but they are now doing twenty to thirty miles!!! So my 18 paled into comparison! Still I felt ruddy chuffed!! 

24 July 2012 Day 14

Tuesday July 24th 2012, 9.4 miles, Shenandoah Tenting Area. By Crocadilly - After a wonderful restful night at the sweetest smelling campsite so far we left the multitude of dragonflies behind and got on our way. For some reason regardless of how early we get up it always seems to be after ten by the time we get on the trail. This had us both annoyed this morning despite  the good sunny weather, good health and a positive Long hike planned. After some discussion we decided we perhaps needed to reset the clock and planned lunch and a shorter day with relaxation planned for the afternoon! It got me thinking about the  trail and the myriad of different ways you could approach it and how that could change your total experience of the .. Well I guess experience! For me I am determined to do as many miles as I can and I really want to reach Katahdin. It is a journey to get there and I know at times it will be tough and uncomfortable but there has to be balance and time to enjoy the experience which so far I am immensely. but without trying to sound cheesy enjoying and appreciating where you are, what you are doing and the people you meet. We have met one or two people whose challenge is to get to the finish as fast as possible. They are pulling massive mile days some doing as many as thirty plus. I couldnt do that mentally or physically. I always wonder as that would never be my ambition and( i have the utmost admiration for those that tackle this challenge in that way )what they get out of it other than the sense of achievement of finishing and finishing fast. They don't get to spend so much time with amazing new people or to sit and see the amazing vistas or visit the towns and enjoy the moments. For me already so much of what we have done is a blur and one moment stretches to another easily so imagine that happening at twice the speed?! I wouldn't be able to tell you any of the names of the people I have met or the places i have travelled through! But that is just me! So anyway we ended up doing a short day. And I ended up doing alot more thinking ... Even more than usual! We found another amazing little campsite about two pm. It was a well kept mowed open area with a couple of old buildings and was quiet and peaceful!  I throughly enjoyed lying in the soft grass in the sunshine for the afternoon! A guy set up camp shortly after we arrived - he was taking his son camping for a few days so it was great fun talking with them and hearing about everyones plans! He seemed worried about bears / it took us a while to convince him that with the boys around

no bear would come near! We eventually even convinced him that it would be okay to leave his food supplies in our vestibule (Scott has had up to 15 food bags in the tent at any one time) - mental note to self cannot continue to do that when the boys are no longer hiking with us! Later in the evening i met my first south bounder who came and set up camp. He was a great character and played the didgereedoo (sp?!!) as the sun was going down! Awesome - can't believe he carries that around with him! Now is the time that we will start to cross the south bounders which will make the experience all the more interesting! 

23 July 2012

Monday 23 July 2012, 12.3 miles Denny town road campsite. By Crocadilly. After a night snuggled in the tent listening to the storm passing through we got up to discover that miraculously everything had remained relatively dry! Little did we know that would not last too long! We had a great hike down from the campsite and continued on our merry way! despite putting some respectable miles in today, it was super uncomfortable weather wise - incredibly hot and humid - even Mojo and Skye seemed relatively lethargic probably much to the relief of the native chipmunks and Squirrels! You could feel storms in the air but they just didn't seem quite ready to unleash themselves! With every step I was wishing for rain it was so tough - I have never in my life sweated so much! Our water supplies could barely keep pace with the amount of liquids we were losing and we made a few stops in some beautiful countryside to replenish  our stocks and give the boys a chance to cool down - any form of puddle, pond or stream Mojo finds he immediately pops himself into looking very pleased..his saddle bags normally buoyed like little flotation devices by his side! We had a fantastic much needed super lunch at a little place by the side of a road - we each had a grilled chicken bacon and cheese salad hero! Needless to say that did not make our post lunch progress any better but it was worth it! The last few miles of the day were tough going but we were somewhat pushed along quicker by a weather warning for storms in the area! I think we were all relieve when we came across the signs that the campground we were staying at was not too far ahead! We replenished our water and headed up a short hill to this beautiful camp ground in a clearing - it smelled so fragrant and there were the biggest most beautiful dragonflies just buzzing about everywhere! Idyllic! We set up camp in record time waiting for the storm which passed through as a real non event! Unfortunately though it remained humid for quite some time which meant a less than relaxing sleep in our sweat tent as I named it! :)