AT Thru-Hike 2008

Writing a story with out an ending is a dick move to do. So a year after the fact, I will attempt to recollect my thoughts on the trail from my last post in Salisbury, CT until I stopped hiking (which wasn’t much longer). I believe it was still Mosey, Patchfoot and myself hiking out of Salisbury. We had all made it there in our own ways, mine a stupid 10mile road walk. After getting supplies and lingering we headed up the mountain to the first shelter. There we met a kindly man who had just started southbound and was sleeping when we arrived. He carried news from Pemmy and JJ who had taken up hiking a head of us so that we could catch them while reaccumulating to doing some miles. For at the time we were becoming quite the serious hikers. The plan was for the next day to run into them.

We finished CT, chilling on the border with Harvest and Scout while observing a rushing torrent of water that marked the divide between CT and MA. After that it was time to push on into the cloudy with intermitent weather rain. After a solid day of hiking I was greated with the famed monkey call from Machete at a shelter that was around 12 miles past the one I started the day at. A great reunion this was. All need be done was to wait for George to catch up. Plans were instantly in the brew to a possible hike into town for some drinks for the night to celebrate our long awaited reunion. Upon coming to the road which seemed to be the route and an internet call to Karl back home we believed the route and distance was in had. An hour later it became apparent that during this miscommunication I had botched the direction on the road and we were much further away from when we started. With everyone short on the situation we turned around, tails tucked between our legs, and walked back on the road. Blue and yellow blazing can work, but the trail is the tried and true, you know where it is going. Then the worst thing that could happen did. Pemmy, with her notorious ankle, stepped on a bad patch of road and yes rolled it once again. So much for our hiker reunion. Thumbing up for whatever cars we got a ride up to the trailhead where we decided to make camp and see what the morning was like. Morning comes, ankle still raped so the plan to head to town that night, was transfered to this day to see what kind of healing could be done. Picking up some hitches we landed at a hotel in Great Barrington, MA. This became home for 3 days as Pemmy healed, we drank, and watched the olympics. This, rather somber time in Great Barrington, would be the end of the hike. Enthusiasm dwindled, attitudes changed, bank accounts checked, it was decided that the time had come to go our way. Quite a moment of melancholly.

The rambling was not done though. A ride up to the next trail town was in order. A look at the hostel, a little Tropic Thunder at the theater, a farewell to our compatriot Mosey, and one last feel of hikerdom. JJ headed into the hospital the following day, getting an x-ray for his stress fracture and some crutches. Now what… to New York of course. Pemmy was the closest since all we had was Athens and Patch and myself had never been. Free place to stay on long island, why not right. Just gotta figure out how to get there. Trains were kind of expensive unless we could get further south. Well after two hitches we ended up back in Great Barrington, trust me there was plenty of joking about going back and watching more olympics.

After a relativly effortless 20min of waiting a nice Mexican dude in a suburban pulled over. He didn’t speak English very well and I don’t think of the four of us, we knew any foreign languages but we found he was going to Queens. So he did just that and gave us a four hour hitch into Queens, the heart of it all. It was quite shocking and lucky. We didn’t communicate much, just sat back and listened to his funky techno music. So he drops us off in Queens and Pemmy takes over on the transit, we hop a train and make it into Bluepoint Long Island a bit after midnight greeted by her father.

The following days were a mix of hanging in Long Island, hanging out in Manhattan, and just relaxing at Pemmy’s. George was off to Baltimore to see Bob after a couple days. I headed up to Vermont on Amtrak after a week or so, and JJ stayed with Pemmy on their own adventure. We had all gone our seperate ways not to reunite for a while in Athens.

Even Mosey came for Halloween.

That was the end of the trail for myself at the momment. I’ve got 1200 miles on my belt, Patch has like 1600, Pemmy and JJ headed back out this year, finishing the skipped VA leg and then heading onto Northern VT but then got off due to impending lifes challenges.

Conclusion: The Applachian Trail is amazing. I will be out there again one day. Don’t regret a thing about doing it. Support anyone in wanting to do it. Willing to share anything I know and give any advice I can. GAME 08/?? Much love for the AT.

    With the new addition of Patchfoot in our crew it was time to buckle down and bust out some miles as our dilly dallying was catching up to us. Mt. Katahdin, the northern end of the trail, closes to hikers on Oct. 15. This originally was of no concern, but with over fifty plus zero days (days of no hiking, covering zero miles), we were beginning to realize the importance of moving forward. Patchfoot, however, had not yet acquired his trail legs and needed to start out with small mileage in order to build his muscles.

After our errands in Harpers Ferry Patchfoot and Slap Happy hiked out to the first shelter which was seven miles in. Pemmy and Machete were quickly sidetracked by smoothies and the Shenandoah River, both very refreshing on this scorching summer afternoon. Two days later they would catch up, hiking twelve miles the first day, and an easy seven miles before 11:00 A.M the next. Patchfoot and Slap Happy were getting a late start as they had partied with some rabbits the night before. All together now, team Firestarters and the Bearwatchers were off to a shelter fourteen miles from the bunny campsite. This made a twenty one mile day for Machete and Pemmy. With little more than some sore feet they held their heads high knowing they could still make the long hauls.

It was now time to re-supply so we hiked to the Pennsylvania/Maryland state boundary located at the Pen Mar County Park. From here we hitched into Rouzerville, PA and stuffed our faces at an all you can eat Chinese buffet, satisfying our re-found hiker hungers. With our bellies and food bags full we located Blondie’s Outback. Little did we know that it was karaoke night and that the Ice Cream Trucks would have a surprise performance. Slap Happy broke the ice with Wild Wild West by Will Smith. This impressive display of teleprompter reading got the whole gang up on stage later that night. Closing another bar the bar tender, Crystal, gave us a lift back to Pen Mar where we crashed. With a wedding being set up and several family outings, the park was quite  busy in the morning. Seeing us tired and hungry hikers one family gave us a tray of danishes, our best yogi yet.

Hiking out a whopping three miles, Slap Happy and Patchfoot were craving some Magic the Gathering playing cards. We hitched back into Rouzerville for them to get their fix and for Machete and Pemmy to wash their filthy clothes. Cleanly clothed and enjoying dorkdom we were back to the wilderness for the night. We found a campsite near a spring inhabited by an abundance of abnormally large insects. That night we learned of a pool at the next park on the trail and set our sights on hoofing it fifteen miles there the next day. Unfortunately, the weather did not agree with our plans and we were soaked that afternoon by a thunderstorm. Arriving in a torrential downpour the pool was obviously closed. Luck would have it we walked into the most generous trail magic thus far. A group called ATM (Appalachian Trail Ministry) from Indianapolis, lead by Cook Dr., took us under their wing, and tarps, for the night. These generous people had been doing trail magic here [end excerpt]

Well here I am again in a library with not much time to type. Luckily its just two days later so I can probably make some more head way on catching everyone up. Again, this post will probably sound like I don’t know English but whatever, I like it that way. Oh, I’m in Salisbury, CT now, 7 miles from Mass.

So Honkey and Donkey (Machete and Pemmy) met back up with us when Johnny was coming to hike. So we all set out from PA Rt. 501 with a 2 day hike to Port Clinton. That night we did a short hike since we left at 5 but had a full day of 18 miles planned for the following. We had a typical special occasion fire and stayed up late chatting the night away. The next day we found a pond that was only a tenth of a mile down the trail and killed much time there. Then kept hiking. It turned out Pemmy was not fully healed so JJ and Pemmy hitched back and got Johnny’s truck saving him from that complication the next day. Patch, Johnny and I hiked into Port Clinton and met back up with our fallen comrades. We set up for the night behind a railroad station on the bank of a river ready for another good night of chatting. Around 1am however it became apparent that it was going to rain cats and dogs and since Johnny was only 90 minutes from his apartment and had to make the drive anyway he just took off then.

Port Clinton was an odd little trail town. The resteraunts were kind of fancy for hiker fare and there wasn’t even a market or gas station. Despite the majority of the town being not hiker compatible the outfitter and the church were quite the opposite. The church provides their own pavilion as a sort of safe haven for hikers. Essentially a very large shelter with potable water, privy, and hiker box. This was very cool on their part as we heard the rest of the town was not hiker friendly.

The outfitter, Ye Olde Backpacker, met and exceeded our expectations. George purchased a new backpack there as his 2002 technology was just not cutting it. They were very hands on and knowledgeable. I however did not spend a cent and was given free things. I asked about purchasing a buckle for my pack that had broken and they gave that to me, then later when I asked to fill my water bladder they noticed I had tape on it and inquired whether it had a hole. I said yes and hey took it in the back and brought me a brand new one. Product warranties when you don’t even know you have them is AWESOME.

The next day was Sunday and since George needed the P.O. to mail his old pack home we took the day off and meandered about. The highlight of the day was seeing Wall-E at a very cool 1920’s single screen theater in the neighboring town. The owner of the theater even gave us a ride back to the pavilion for the night. When we made it back it, quite the storm of hikers had blown in. The night was spent there and the next day was back to hiking.

The next 80 miles of trail marker the highly concentrated and rough section that gives Pennsylvania the stigma of being the rocky state. The craziest part was the climb out of Leihigh Gap. It was a two mile climb up boulders and 3 more miles of what looked like was once a vast river atop the mountain. The climb was slow and long and from the appearance of the trail we nicknamed it the “apocalypse trail.” It was later learned that this damage was due a booming zinc smelting industry in prior years.

Delaware Water Gap, marking the end of Penn., was my next stop. A hard 4 day - 84 mile push from Port Clinton was rewarded by the highly anticipated hiker feed that awaited. George, Mosey, and myself rolled in about 10min after it had began and basically found ourselves in heaven. This was the reason of our big push and felt almost ceremonial upon our arrival. To make this an even better stop, the church also operated a donation based hostel that was quite acomidating. Oh, and this day got even better. As I mentioned briefly in the last post there was live Jazz to be held. Next door to the hostel was the Deer Head Inn, the self proclaimed longest running Jazz Club in the nation. The music was great. In fact I can’t even describe just how good it was.

New Jersey was next in our path. Not the longest state, and not knowing much about Jersey other than the negative stigma I wasn’t expecting much. I would have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The trail took us through the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Park which was just gorgeous. Dotted with lakes formed by the glaciers that carved the Appalachian Mountains and full of wild life this was an impressive next leg of the journey. What we found most astonishing is how we could really feel a change in terrain by just crossing the border. Four days of hiking in Jersey brought us to the Mayor’s.

The Mayor’s as we refer to it is quite simply the most amazing feat of giving one’s home and self to others that I hav ever seen. The quaint town of Unionville, NY (pop. 550) lay border to the trail in New Jersey. After hearing all the scuttlebutt from South Bound hikers we knew that investigation was due here. The story went that the Mayor of this town, Unionville, hosted a free hostel, with free meals, free beer, free showers, and free laundry. This sounded too good to be true to a wary traveler like myself but in fact it was. The Mayor of this town had turned his own home into a veritable oasis for hikers and asked for nothing in return. His only condition to staying in his home was to view a 15 minute video that was required for all guests. Curiosity of what kind of video would it be swelled me head… religious - political - pornographic… only time would tell.

After dinner all the new guests took their seats in the living room. The video was cued. To our amazement it was a short piece on “Britain’s Got Talent,” the show that our American Idol is based upon. The story centered around the contestant Paul Potts, a mobile phone salesman. He always found comfort in singing and decided that maybe other people would enjoy his as well. Sweating bullets he took the stage. To the astonishment of the audience, the judges, and the viewers in the Mayor’s room he performed an operatic score with the precision that not many are afforded to hear. His lack of confidence was not warranted, this man had talent. He performed two more times on subsequent shows and eventually won the entire contest. The Mayor’s point behind this viewing is that we all have dreams. All of us in the room at the moment was to walk the whole bloody Appalachian Trail. He wanted us that we can win at whatever we want to accomplish and to have the confidence and gusto to attack it will all we’ve got. Thank you Mayor. Your point was taken.

We slack packed the next day south back to the Mayor’s and spent another night.

Library is closing now. So I’ve got to go. Will catch up more next time I get a chance.

As I sit in the Kent, CT public library I once again realize how long it has been since I have put a post on this blog. Although I do not have the time right now to do justice to even a single day of the last month plus on the trail I am going to write something, and dammit you are going to read it. Thats right you who is wondering what the heck we have been doing. This post will be fragmented, contain poor grammar, and be 100% stream of conscious. There is plenty to tell so here we go.

Harper’s Ferry, WV marked mile 1009 of the A.T. from the starting point of Springer Mt. GA. I now sit in Kent, CT as I said which is mile marker 1453. That is just shy of 450 miles. I chewed up and regurgitated the states of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania,  New Jersey, and New York since the time of the last post. Connecticut marks the 5th state from the end with just Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to go. CT and Mass are both short states and we plan to be in VT by next friday (9 days or s0).

WV was really short 7 miles or so. Maryland was full of interesting civil war facts. As you hike the trail you came up on historic battlefields and towns where there were placards and such. It was also a short state less than 40 miles. Maryland did however boast the only free and public shower directly on the trail. A shower is always nice, free showers are better.

Pennsylvania has much more of a story to tell about it. The previous 2 states and 4 days of hiking were woodsy and pretty but Penn is where the fun really began again. Crossing into Penn at PenMar park we found our selves ready for a resupply so into Waynesboro, PA for the day. Newly rekindled hiker hunger was met with a furry from hands down the best Chinese buffet I have ever seen. After shopping it was of course time to try and find a beer. After learning that in PA one cannot purchase a beer, or a 6 pack that one must buy an entire case (this makes no sense to me) we decided to just head to a bar. Slow dirty bar lead to the bar on the other side of town where it happened to be karaoke night. Some amount of beer later and 4 songs sung by yours truly with help on 3 by Machete, and one by Patch and Pemmy. We found ourselves getting a 3am ride back to the trail with the bartender, a very sweet lady. Yes our celebration of Patch joining on the trail was complete.

A day or two later we ran into the best trail magic yet to that time. Right before Caledonia state park hikers were greeted with a cooler with drinks and snacks. In addition to that was a map into the state park where showers, dinner, a place to tent and more were proposed. After a rainy and soggy day you’d have to be a fool to turn this down. We made our trek through the park which turned into at least a mile walk and were greated by Cook Doctor and the other 4 members of his ensemble. This group led by Cook Doctor was an outreach program from a church in Indiana believe it or not. Cook was in his 7th year of doing this and it was quite amazing. They rented 3 sites at the park and brought a U-Haul full of food and supplies. We ate and shared stories that night, had breakfast the next day and got to lounge and then Cook slacked packed us 11 miles so we could get some hiking in and come back that night for another amazing dinner. Through in some showers and some good company and this was quite the experience. The following morning Cook drove us to resume the trail to where we had slacked the day prior. This was probably my favorite moment of being with cook. After leaving the park we were stopped by construction. Cook had a serious Jones for Tom Jones so we all decided to crank up the song “It’s Not Unusual” and perform it for the girl holding the stop sign to try and sway her into getting traffic going. Needless to say 8 idiots singing Tom Jones and clapping with vigor got the job done. Back to the trail.

Pine Grove furnace State Park is the half way point on the A.T. Hikers being the idiots they are perform a little ritual at the store there called the half gallon challenge. This entails eating an entire half gallon of ice cream. Yes, ice cream lovers out there it sounds easy on the surface but it is more difficult than one would imagine. I would like to acknowledge myself, Patch, Machete, and Pemmy as all new inductees to the half gallon club. Thank you have have bowed. I finished in an above average time of 24 minutes and proceeded to get up and do cartwheels to prove my superior stomach. Patch and Pemmy took about an hour and half. and Machete surprisingly finished in an hour for not being much of a competitive eater. More trail culture down and more hiking to go.

Pemmy did not feel well the following day so we all followed her to the hospital in Carlisle, PA where so saw a doctor. Patch and I zeroed with her for 2 days and Machete stayed to keep her company and after there third zero they met back up with us in Boiling Springs, PA. Boiling Springs is not a very hiker friendly town so we had our pizza and went to sleep in our woods. The other restaurant there declared that it had a sleeve policy and would not let Machete in so we decided not to patron them. The following day hiking out was gorgeous and easy terrain. Big miles all around. Patch and myself decided to pull short of Duncannon, PA by doing a 23 but Machete and Pemmy being the bolts of lightning that they are decided to pull the 27 and go straight into town. This proved unfortunate as Pemmy hurt herself on the rocks and twisted the ankle she had surgery on in October.

Patch and myself met with our other half in Duncannon the following day at the AMAZING establishment called the Doyle Hotel. Not only is this a cheap ass dirty hotel but it has a bar inside of it. I’m not talking yuppie bar in a Holiday Inn, I’m talking blue collar dive bar. Some how Patch and myself did not get sucked in the hole known as the Doyle and hiked out the next day into some serious rain. Pemmy and Machete had an extended stay and later met us again after Pemmy’s ankle was feeling better.

Alas, I have gone into too much detail about the previous events and have 5 minutes before the library closes. Lets see what I can spew.

I have seen 4 rattlesnakes and 1 copperhead. The first rattlesnake I saw I screamed like a 5 year old girl. The one I saw today I gave the death stare too. I have conquered the snake… almost.

We’ve got a new hiker buddy that we have been traveling with together since Deleware Water Gap. His name is Mosey and just began the trail in Duncannon. He hails from Anvil, PA and is a very cool dude. You should all dream of meeting him one day.

Pennsylvania is a VERY rocky state. It is very hard on the feet and wears your tread out VERY quickly.

One day on the trail I swore it was like the Lord of the Rings. There were streams running bright orange and yellow due to mineral deposits and crazy bridges etc. It was one of those had to be there moments but very cool. My favorite was the orange stream that dyed my shoes.

Our friend Johnny who lives in Philly came and hiked 26 miles with us. He did it like a champ. It was good to get to hang out with him in the woods. Especially at camp the first night and at the rope swing by this sweet green pond in the middle of the woods.

We went to the oldest running Jazz Club in the nation in Deleware Water Gap called the Deer Head Inn and saw 2 nights of AWESOME jazz. There was a Saxaphone camp going on and it was basically open mic. Very cool.

Until we meet again.

Our slight detour to Iowa and Illinois was eventful and fulfilling, but we were all ready to start walking again. As mentioned earlier we were concerned about our precious trail legs but were happy to find that we hadn’t lost them at all. We did our first 5 miles to the amazing Jim and Molly Denton Shelter in an hour and 45 min. We were decidedly relieved to be back on the trail where we felt at home.

The next day we continued our transition back to the trail with an easy 10 mile day to Dick’s Dome Shelter. This odd, pentagon shaped shelter was quite a ways off the trail down a steep hill but was perched next to a picturesque creek that made it all worthwhile. Following our lovely stay at Dick’s and a feast of Golden Cock with taco seasoning, we headed into Middleburg, VA intending to have a 4th of July celebratory beer with fried food (the American thing to do). One beer led to another and we stumbled upon the good company of Mike, a very interesting, kind, and generous traveler. He told us about his trips to Mexico and Greece as well as his wifes return from Israel in two days. We thoroughly enjoyed his company and found ourselves still at the pub as the sun set.

Previous experiences told us that if we stayed at the bar long enough, we would find some place to crash for the night. This was no exception. Following the fireworks display, we headed back to the upstairs of the bar to continue our pool and dart playing. As luck would have it, local nude photographer, Tyler, wandered up and struck up conversation with Pemmy. A few hours later we found ourselves sprawled out (clothed and sleeping) in his basement studio. After a morning of coffee and Guitar Hero, Tyler gave us an educational ride to the nearby train station. It turns out, he spent nine years as a Civil War re-en-actor and knew a great deal about the history of the area.

We were headed to D.C., our great nations capital, and found ourselves in the middle of a huge, rather overwhelming festival. Solace was found in a grassy patch where we sat to regroup while munching on some trail food. With 3 hours to roam the city before we had to catch a train to Philladelphia, PA to go see Johnny, Machete’s “heterosexual life partner”, we checked out the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Art Museum of the Americas… fo’ free. On our departure from D.C. we ran into one of our favorite hiker characters, Thor, and his friend who were headed on the same train to Baltimore to visit his sister. It was good to see a familiar dirty face who didn’t judge our smelly hikerness.

Dirty hiker-trash and our nations tribute to patriarchy.

Arriving in Ambler, just outside of Philly, around 10 pm we were tired and starving. Johnny proceeded to serve us course after course of incredibly healthy and delicious treats. We even got to sample some of his soon to be famous, vegan burgers. After mandatory showers, we passed out on various couches and a comfortable floor. The following day Johnny left us to our own devices in town while he went for his morning run. Immediately after, we began our Philly Steak and Cheese taste-a-thon - a must when in the city of Philadelphia. Our bellies full, it was back to Johnny’s where we spent the afternoon playing Rock Band. Our band, The Ice Cream Trucks, is pretty much the most amazing band of all time, no big deal. Following our European tour, we went to the historic Ambler Theater to see Mongol. This glorious day re-sparked Johnny and Machetes flame. Feeling once again like slackers, it was time to get back on the trail but not without making plans for Johnny to visit in a couple of weeks.

One rental car later, we were in Purcelville, VA waiting to meet up with George who was joining us for the duration of our hike. George, trail name, Patchfoot, had hiked half of the trail to Harpers Ferry, WV in 2002. After he visited us at Trail Days and seeing the fun we were having, there was no stopping him from finishing his quest. Three hours after waiting in a grocery store parking lot, we were reunited with our longtime friend and  new  hiking companion. Arriving in Harpers Ferry, apparently after hours, we were forced to travel to Fredrick, MD to find a cheap hotel for the night. We enjoyed seeing our good friend, Adam, who tagged along once again for the ride. We predict that it is only a matter of time until he joins us as well…. muuuhahahahahahah (evil laugh).

The next day Georges father, George Jr., dropped us off in Harpers Ferry where we hiked the half mile to the legendary AT Conservancy. Here we had our photos taken and were assigned our thru-hiker numbers of 580, 581 and 582. Tired of having the heaviest pack, Pemmy sent home an incredible 10.5 lbs of gear. With this loss of pack weight, she is now toting the same as Slap Happy and Machete. Patchfoot, however, is untouchable with his featherlight, 25lb pack…. Grumble, Grumble, Grumble…

Our AT Conservancy mug shots… wouldn’t you lock your car? Survey says yes.

“The return!!!” Patchfoot 2008

One more on the way folks, hopefully sooner than later.

We apologize for the extended lack of communication for all of you following our progress. The past month has been eventful and we will attempt to recap what we can remember.

Disaster Relief Part II

Following our wonderful stay with the East Moline Fire Dept. , we were given a tip from the fire chief to head on to Keithsberg, IL where we hoped to do some sandbagging. We really wanted to do some preventative aid. Upon our arrival in Keithsberg we found that the water had already risen throughout the town and there was little to be done. We did, however, meet Homeland Security coordinator, Rich. He was understandably overwhelmed but invited us into the mobile command center where he made some phone calls to find some areas in need of volunteers. We then headed South to the Alton, IL area where flood waters were rising.

On the drive we found many roads closed off or leading directly into flood waters. These obstacles made traveling seem as though we were trapped in a maze. After being ferried across an unexpected river, courtesy of our “Fearless Leader”, Slap Happy, we stumbled upon a convoy of sand filled trucks. Our instincts told us we were headed in the right direction and we followed in hot pursuit leading us to the hamlet of Hamburg, IL. A spray painted sign calling for sandbagging volunteers confirmed our hunch and we quickly sprung into action. After signing in we grabbed our shovel (which has since been lost), and furiously filled as many bags with sand as we could. We were accompanied in our efforts by local community members, military personnel, and “well behaved”, volunteer convicts from the state prison. Around 6:00 P.M., the military personnel and community members disappeared, leaving us alone with the orange, jump-suited convicts. Pemmy, receiving suggestive smiles from the men, was a little unsettled and tried her hardest to focus on the task at hand. An hour or so later, the community members reappeared to resume building the walls.

<–Assembly line of the convicts and local community volunteers building up the sandbag walls.

<–Pop Tart, Machete and Slap Happy’s back in front of the sandbag pile wall.

The locals were curious as to how we ended up in their small town and were surprised to learn of our adventures. The next day, a Washington Post reporter arrived and had been told that we “were the story” and proceeded to interview us. A little while later, the walls were completed and we hopped back in the car to chase the flood waters further south in hopes of doing more preventative work. When we arrived in Alton, IL we realized that we would have to travel much further south in order to get ahead of the rising waters. We decided that rather than traveling too far south, it would be more productive to head back north to help with the cleanup process in the areas where the waters had receded.

Cedar Rapids, IA, being one of the hardest hit, seemed like the most in need of assistance. We headed back up the Missouri side and arrived in Cedar Rapids to find unfathomable devastation. The entire downtown area and the surrounding residential areas had been submerged in 33 ft. of water leaving businesses, homes, hospitals, and even city hall in ruins. Not sure where to begin, we learned of a volunteer organization called Serve the City. They gave us breathing masks and gloves and suggested that we find any areas in need and volunteer independently.

Cedar Rapids neighborhood. Water lines on the homes in the background indicate how high the flood waters rose.

Being that the majority of the city was in need of help, all we had to do was drive around and ask residents if they needed a hand. The first house we arrived at was that of Willy, an elderly landlord cleaning out the home of his father, which he had left to his fathers caretaker. The woman was too distraught to return to the house after the flood leaving Willy 30 days to have the home emptied and ready for demolition. After removing all of the larger appliances, washer, dryer, refrigerator, etc., we went next door to help his neighbor, Mike. Mike’s house, which actually turned out to be his daughter’s house, was in better condition than Willy’s and was not condemned. We helped Mike and his friend, Dave, remove all of the carpeting and take everything out of the basement.

Covered from head to toe in sewage water and mud, we soon realized it was a necessity to find a vacant hotel room in order to shower. This proved to be more difficult than we had originally thought. With 4,000 homes having only limited entry until emptied and reevaluated, the local hotels were all filled with displaced homeowners and families. The only vacancies were at hotels located 40 or more miles outside of the city.

The next day we headed to the local clinic to get precautionary tetanus immunizations which were being done for free for everyone in the area. We then walked across the street to the hospital to donate blood - a first for Machete and Pemmy who handled it like the champs they are. Feeling completely useless following our needle-fest, we found sanctuary at the Marion Public Library. After resting there for several hours we headed to the nearby Wapsipinicon campground for the night. In the morning, Slap Happy was feeling quite ill so we dropped him back off at the Library and drove back into Cedar Rapids to resume cleanup. In a neighborhood near the flooded Mercy Hospital, we started to clean out a basement at the home of Lawrence. Pemmy began feeling lightheaded and weak, which we suspect was from dehydration and lack of blood. She rested in the car while the only remaining two strapping young lads and able-bodied workers of our group, continued until Lawrence’s family showed up to take over. We picked up the other sickly one, and headed to the Super 8 in Anamosa to recover.

<–An ill faced Slap Happy the day after needle-fest.

On the following day we decided to try something new and different by visiting Serve the City. Here, there were chores to be done such as sorting through donated clothing, directing flood victims, and unloading donation trucks. There were many other v0lunteers here and we felt our help was needed more elsewhere. We headed back into the city, passing by one elderly womans house who seemed to be struggling. We stopped and offered her our assistance which she happily accepted. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. Maryann, an eighty nine year old woman, had lived there since 1952 and the house was filled with thousands of tiny trinkets that she wanted sorted through. We helped as best we could by removing her demolished fence in the back yard as well as the stove and refrigerator from her kitchen. Beyond this we were somewhat overwhelmed by the magnitude of the sorting chore before us. Luckily a group of volunteers who had gotten word about this “challenge” were happy to help her sort and box the items.

Driving around the city once again, we found the home of Linda, who’s elderly father, Jack, was about to call it a day in his efforts to clean out her basement. We offered our assistance and helped him remove the washer and dryer, and vowed to return the next day to finish the job. We returned to the Wapsipinicon campsite for the night. The next morning, or should we say “our morning” of noon-ish, we arrived back at Linda and Jacks unaware of the task that lay before us. Linda is a lifelong collector and housed all of her items in the basement. Since she is technically not in the flood plane, storing these valuables here was of little concern. Additionally, Linda did not qualify for flood insurance as was the case with the majority of flood victims. Load by load we carried everything up and outside onto the lawn where Linda had the arduous task of sorting through it all. Five hours later, the basement was empty and we were exhausted physically, emotionally and financially. It was time to cleanup and hit the road back toward the trail.

Jack, Linda, Machete, Slap Happy and Pop Tart after 5 hours of clearing her basement.

Byeowa!
Before we returned to the dusty old trail, we decided to drop by Athens, OH to visit the friends and families of the merciless FIFO’s. It was good to see everyone and get Machete and Slap Happy’s winter gear organized for a mail drop with the fall months approaching. We then made our way back to Richmond, VA to pick up our packs and leave our beloved Pop Tart. We love and miss PT, XOXOXO, and hope all is well as he is currently “sail hitching” to the Bahamas. We were dropped off at Front Royal to begin our comfortingly easy re acclimation. After three weeks of not hiking we anticipated the loss of our trail legs, but we kick ass pretty much, and it was no big deal.

“Nothing really bothers me, I don’t judge”

This is the first of three posts updating y’all, stay tuned and don’t miss our other two!!!!!

Well, this is not George. George left Monday the 7th to travel to Harper’s Ferry, where he met up with the boys (and pemmy) to finish his thru-hike. Yesterday (8th) he and Ryan walked 7 or so miles before setting up camp around 11 pm. George started the Trail in 2002 and made it to Harper’s before going off trail to go to OU, among other things. Hopefully this journey sees him well, as he is already sorely missed by one Alison Bartlett (me). Go go gadget adventure!

Hello all!  I just wanted to say hello, and I hope everything is going well for you guys.  JJ, I´m fine, don´t worry about me!  I´m having a good time with Shel, we´re now heading north and in Chiclayo Peru. Are you guys back on the trail?  email me and let me know whats going on whenever.  I have a lot of access to the internet so I want to hear from you.  Love you brother and trail fam, good luck hiking!

This is Howard Carson reporting from Roanoke, Virginia for A.T. News. June 12, 2008.

Severe heat plaguing the east coast for over a week now is pushing hikers to the limit. Many have quit. Others limp on. Others take shelter in homes and hotels. What is uncertain is the extent of effect that this will have on the North Bound thru-hikers this season. Recently I interviewed three thru-hikers on their last two weeks of hiking and what they have been through.

Q: So where were you 2 weeks ago and what was the weather like?
A: Well, we reunited with our friend and family member PopTart in Bland, VA. The weather at the time was cool and rainy, very comfortable for hiking all day. We set out with a 3 day hike to Pearisburg, where we were going to the Holiday Motor Lodge to celebrate Machete’s birthday with his mother, sister, friends George and Adam, and whatever hiker trash we could cram into the rooms Mama Machete most graciously booked for us.

<- Trail Family at the Hotel in Pearisburg

The second day out from Bland we could start to feel the weather warming some. When we had arrived in Bland it was rainy and in the 50s-60s and now the sun was out with rising temperatures and humidity. A brief relief was found at Dismal Falls along the trail which was a beautiful fall with very frigid swimming possible. An afternoon was spent at this beautiful spot and the hike continued. This spot also marked our 600mile mark along the trail. Our friend Bigglesworth has a sweet picture that we will hopefully be able to share at sometime.

Q: How was the time in Pearisburg with your friends and family?
A: It was a blast. It is always nice to hear from and see those people that you care about. After a 120mile failed attempt to find a movie theater, loop drive around Virginia and dipping into West Virginia, we all settled back in at the hotel to celebrate. We later pounded a Chinese buffet. The party continued throughout the night and after Machete had breakfast with the family the visiting group was back off to A-town, a moderate 4 hour drive. It was especially nice for Machete to see his mother and sister before they left on their respective trips to Africa and South America.

Q: Good luck to them and happy travels. So did you hit the trail after that?
A: Actually, we ended up staying another night here for birthday recovery, then were convinced to stay another night from some other hikers rather than a meager hike out. The sun was hot on all these days and the swimming pool at the motel was convincing enough to keep us there a little longer.

Q: According to my notes here, after leaving Pearisburg is when the heat wave hit. Is that correct?
A: Pretty much Howard. We had one day of high 80’s when we left, which was hot, but we had no idea how much hotter it was going to get. The second day out was when the week of 97 degree temperatures began. Couple this with the reported 80% humidity and you receive a heat index over 100. This made miserable afternoon hiking and we realized something had to be done about our hiking schedule. Also, our companion Pemmy began to take ill and was having an even harder time breathing than the rest of us. Moral started to fade at this point and we were all wishing for a change from this heat and the bugs.

Q: Oh, I hadn’t received any information on insects at this time. Would you care to elaborate on this matter?
A: Absolutely Howard. There have been three distinct changes in insect activity ontop of your normal creepy crawlies. On the first day of the extreme heat we hiked into a roughly six mile long Gypsy Moth corridore. These cute bugs appear to be catipillars but in actuallity they are a plague of shitting bugs. Excuse my language but these things are nasty. This six mile tunnel of poopy doom was head to toe fuzzies crapping upon you. It was so intense and in such great volume that it sounded like rain. We ended up having to camp in this area and all night we were awoken by the sounds of much needed rain only to recall the moth problem. Dinner and breakfast even proved difficult to shield from this onslaught as poop had to be picked out of it. There have been a few other instances of the dreaded gypsy moth since then but nothing compared to this veritable gauntlet of shit.
In addition to the gypsy moths, black fly season is upon us. This gnarly buggers won’t leave you alone until the sun goes down. It doesn’t matter where you are after two minutes of not hiking you will have a swarm circling and attempting to bite at you. Your only defense to these pests is to swat with a bandana like a horse with his tail. Lastly, we have the No-See-Ums. Which are essentially flees that you can squish and make camping in some areas an itchy sleep. Paranoia that they might be taking refuge in your sleeping bag causes anxiety during the morning routine. We aren’t camels here. We don’t really want freeloaders riding our back.

Q: What are you doing to combat the increasing extreme conditions?
A: Well we have changed our entire hiking routine around this heat. Being the night owls that we are, we are acustomed to staying up to 11pm-12am and getting up between 9-10am and starting at noon. With these new heat conditions that isn’t the best plan as it starts you off in the hottest part of the day which is very demoralizing. So our new plan is to avoid the noon-4pm heat by waking up around 5am. Departing as soon as the sun is high enough to hike. We then take a break between 11-noon for a nap/rest/lunch. Then resume hiking when the afternoon heat begins to dwindle. With this schedule we will still be able to put in the miles and avoid the blistering temperatures. The first day of attempting this schedule we had logged 12miles by 11:15am. This was before we had even started hiking the day before and it felt so much better. If this system grows old we plan to try some headlamp LED night hiking.

Q: You mentioned that Pemmy had taken ill earlier. How is she doing now?
A: She is recovering quickly. Its kind of a long story met with kindness and some hitchhiking. Some other time maybe.

Q: Oh feel free, you can ignore that 30minute time limit on the hotel lobby computer. Please continue.
A: Okay Howard. Well, Pemmy began to take ill the day after the gypsy moth tunnel. She felt generally ill and was having a hard time breathing especially going uphill. Being the determined girl she is we pushed on not heeding her body’s warning. After two days of hiking with it we came to our next scheduled resupply town of Newport, Virginia where we were fixin’ to get hitchin’ and there was a previous hiker named Longhorn there offering us soda. We inquired if he was heading the way we were going and he said he lived there. We hopped in the back of the pick up and headed the 8miles to the store. When we arrived there Longhorn propositioned us with an offer we could not refuse. “How bout y’all come back to my house and do some work splitting and stacking wood for me and I’ll fix you lunch, dinner, and breakfast and you can shower,” he said. We replied in unision, “hell yeah.” So after picking up our groceries it was back to Longhorns humble chateau. We started right off with lunch then got down to work. I will spare you all the details of this stay but let me break down some highlights. We stayed two nights, split probably 10 cords of wood, celebrated our friend Cornbreads birthday the first night we were there and Pemmy was able to rest there for two and a half days. Longhorn treated us with fresh vegetables from his garden, a delightful assortment of beer, big breakfasts, lunches, and dinners including pasta, red beans, turnip greens, pancakes, apple cobbler, ice cream, fruit salad and so much more. He even drove into Blacksburg where Virginia Tech is located so we could rent a movie. We worked hard for him but it felt great using our upper bodies and having plenty of water to drink and a shower right there. We were there over three days but only zeroed one between the hike in and out. This was a much needed moral booster and we left feeling great mentally.

<- Working at Longhorn’s House

However, Pemmy continued to cough. We hiked out 9miles from Longhorns leaving Pemmy not feeling very well. The next day we woke up at our scheduled 5am time with big miles planned. After two miles Pemmy doubted her ability to go on feeling the way she did. Being the chivalrous men we are, we accompied her on her hitching campaign to get to Daleville to take sanctuary at a motel. After hours of beating her over the head about going to a doctor she conceeded and agreed we would find medical facilities the following day. No facilities were available in Daleville which is a large town that the trail goes through, so it was off to the busy metropolis of Roanoke to seek out the Valley View Urgent Care. While Pemmy sought her medical attention it was up to us to locate lodging for the night at the best price. After talking to receptionists at four different hotels the shining star who could not be an ounce sweeter, Bonnie at the Main Stay Suites offered us a whopper of a deal. Her manager even gave us bottled water. Basically the cheapest we could find was the best hotel room available in the area. Complete with kitchenette, living room, and double bed bedroom, and an outdoor pool. Essentially, this place rocks at half price. Thank you again to the Main Stay Suites. Pemmy rang us after her doctors visit and yes it was a good thing she went as she had a ’severe upper respiratory inffection.’ She is doing much better now that she has antibiotics, inhalers, and cough medicine. Recovery time also included us going to the movie theatre and seeing a matinee of Indiana Jones, followed by sneaking into Kung Fu Panda (which was awesome and hence the title) and then 10 minutes of Sex and the City because Pemmy wanted to watch it, but it made us want to vommit… I still don’t feel clean.

Q: Wow, that sounds like quite the adventure and good luck. Where to now?
A: Oh you bet. The stars have really seemed to align for us on this trip and we thank everyone so much who have been willing to help us out. We don’t often mention the people who give us rides but they are always some of the kindest and most interesting people you will find in this world and we thank them too. Actually, we are off to find a hitch right after we finish with this interview. It is back to Daleville where PopTart, who was seperated on extreme heat day 1, has made it. He has passed us by 40 miles during our down period and we plan on skipping that section for now so we can hike out with him. Leaving this section gives us a great excuse to come back out here and hike again in the future. We recognize the importance of taking care of ourselves mentally and physically. We plan on getting back to Daleville, hitting up the outfitter and hiking out some minimal miles for the still aching Pemmy. Well, it is about that time and PopTart is in Daleville waiting for us so we really should be going.

I want to thank these hikers for their time during this interview and wanted to share a quote from seasoned thru-hiker, No Pain, who is currently on his fifth thru-hike attempt. No matter what you are doing, sitting at a pool, walking ten feet to the store closer to the trail or just making it a mile to the stream that you want to play at for the day, No Pain says, “Now that’s how you get to Maine!” Thank you for those encouraging words, No Pain.

This is Howard Carson signing off for the A.T. News. Happy Hiking.

(deleted inane ipod rant)

Since celebrating JJ’s birthday the boys have been taking it slow. Covering 40 miles on from Pearisburg they hit the summer heat wall. Due to scorching days and marauding Gypsy Moths their spirits were a bit low and they decided to take up a kind man’s offer for free room and board in exchange for splitting a sizable amount of his firewood. This puts their aggressive schedule to be at Harper’s Ferry by the end of the month in doubt, but I think it’s good move to make sure they don’t get entaggled in any heat related mishaps. They said they were about to hit the trail again and hopefully were going to hike around the heat in the mornings or evenings.

In other news, I’m also joining them at Harper’s Ferry to complete the half of the trail I never did. If anyone needs cheap labor, computer hardware or networking work, or wants to buy any of the electronic gadgets I’ve dumped on craigslist drop me a line. I’ve got a decent war chest ready for when I join them, but as their unexpected misadventures show it is always nice to have a bit extra.