HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN MAY 2006 – BEAR MOUNTAIN NY – GREAT BARRINGTON, MA (127 Miles)
This hike was made with my nephew, David Meyers. It was the 4th successive year that David and I backpacked together. It was also the longest section. We have now hiked together about 400 miles.
7 May – To Dennytown Rd Campground, 15.3 Miles.
Robert Meyers, another nephew, drove David and me from Great Neck, NY – a Long Island suburb of NY City, to the Bear Mountain Inn in NY – about 50 miles north of NY City. He dropped us off there at about 8:45 in the morning. The weather was good. We immediately headed downhill for about a mile to the Bear Mountain Bridge, which spans the Hudson River a few miles south of West Point. After crossing the river we then had a pretty challenging uphill trek over a feature called Anthony’s Nose. At the top there were supposed to be grand views of the river valley but we only noted them in passing. The trail blazes had obviously not yet been renovated for hiking season. Consequently we missed a few and ended doing a bit of extra hiking. Our destination was a camping area near Dennytown Rd. We were able to renew our water a couple miles before getting there, but we still needed more on our arrival around 5 PM to cook and be ready for the next day. According to the guidebook we were supposed to find a spigot on a pump building, but we couldn’t locate it. We then went up to the camping area where we found a group of 50-60 Hungarian émigré families. They were resident between Boston down to NJ and were having an annual outing. They had a huge amount of food and invited us to join them. We ate big time! Salmon, chicken, beef patties, salads, pie, beverages, etc. They topped off our water and left us with some Gatorade besides. After we had been there an hour or so, they left and David and I had the area to ourselves. We put up our tents and hung our food bags. It began getting a little buggy – at least for me, so right about dusk (about 7:30) we were in for the night and quickly into the land of nod.
8 May – To the RPH Shelter, 10.7 Miles.
This was planned as a short day – a chance to recover from an ambitious first day but still move forward and get our legs under us. We started a little late – 8:30. I was up a bit earlier than David but did not want to disturb his beauty rest since we didn’t have far to go. Besides, as it turned out he felt a little ill the night before and it was carrying over. The terrain was rolling. Enroute we had beautiful views of Canopus Lake. The hiking was work, but not a great challenge. On the way we passed two guys from Atlanta out doing a section hike, one solo section hiker, and a couple others. All were southbound. When we arrived at the shelter around 1 P.M. we were both feeling strong. We considered taking a break and then pushing on a few miles to some spot where we would “free camp.” However, we decided to relax and acclimate. The RPH shelter had “luxury” accommodations. It had once been a one-room building, but one wall was taken down. There were individual wooden bunks. There were also a couple chairs. The picnic table was under cover, and there was a water pump next to the shelter. We ate some hot food at mid-afternoon. This gave us the freedom to move on and not have to cook while away from a good water source. In short, we decided to stay. We both put our heads under the pump and washed up a bit. I noticed that in the two days of hiking I had begun hammering a toe and expected to loose the nail. I did lose it about a week later. Around 6 P.M. we were joined at the shelter by two guys who had just finished their plebe year at the US Naval Academy. Joe was from Orange City, CA and was out on his first back packing adventure with his roommate Bryan from White Plains, NY. They were out for a week. David and I both noted that they were carrying some heavy stuff. One of them was toting a Bible that must have weighed 3 lbs. This was one of the very few shelters immediately adjacent to a road and on the edge of a town. We discovered that you could have pizza delivered there. Hmm – really roughing it! At any rate the two young guys decided to do that, so David and I ordered a small pizza as well. We had eaten so much the night before and earlier (our own food) that we actually gave the USNA guys some of our order. The night was cool but not uncomfortable. Good sleeping weather. Unfortunately, after two days, I had a fair number of bug bights. Everyone else was totally bug-free while there were noticeable welts on my forehead and on one of my arms. Oh well. I religiously applied my prescription antibiotic cream – Bactroban and kept my complaining to a minimum.
9 May – To the Telephone Pioneers Shelter, 16.7 Miles
We got started bright and early on a cool hiking morning at 6:30. After about five miles we came to NY Route 52. We diverted from the trail about 0.3 miles to the Mountain Top Deli on the outskirts of Stormville, NY. We spent about an hour there wolfing down drinks and great sandwiches. A good portion of the other people who came in while there were from what appeared to be a cement factory that was virtually next door. By the time we got there it had warmed up a bit so we also grabbed some Gatorade to go. We then hiked another five miles to the Morgan Stewart Shelter where we took about a one-hour, boots-off break. When we left there it began to rain lightly so we put on our pack covers. The rain felt good. We moved out rapidly to try and beat any heavy rain and were successful. Near end of the day we went around a beautiful mile-long lake with the ominous name of Nuclear Lake. It was the site of a nuclear research facility that was shut down in 1972. In the early 1990’s the site was “restored.” Not sure exactly what that means, but I gather it means that its O.K. for folks to hang around. When we got to the Telephone Pioneer Shelter, we found it was a few hundred yards off the trail, and there was a gorgeous swift running stream that we crossed to get there. When we arrived there was already one guy there. It was Paul with Bunyons, an experienced 53-year-old hiker who was a retired machinist from PA. He was working his way up from the Delaware Water Gap (NJ-PA border) and intended to go to Mt Kathadin in ME. He was going slowly. He said he didn’t go out of shelters into the rain, and he had minimal outfitter-type gear. E.g. he was hiking in jeans and workman’s boots. He didn’t carry a stove – said he cooked in the fire pits. Paul with Bunyons told us a lot of stories – some of which we took with a heavy grain of salt. Since we had filled up at mid-day, David and I both decided not to cook. I had a power bar and a Baby Ruth bar. David boiled some hot water and we both had tea.
10 May – To the Ten Mile River Lean-To, 13 Miles
(Note: The structures that are called shelters from NY and to the south are called lean-to’s in the New England states. On this day we crossed into and spent the night in CN.)
We started out at 7 A.M. After 3 miles we came to the Metro-North Railroad, Appalachian Trail Station. It was next to NY Rte 22. Well, this station is a place where a lot of section hikers get on and off the trail. Even thru-hikers occasionally divert from the trail here to and from NY City. We were surprised at what was (more accurately, what wasn’t) there. Essentially it was a platform that was about 10-12 feet long, a bench, and some signs/bulletin board stuff. Not even any type of cover. Never the less, the bench was inviting and we took a break there. Not long after, Paul with Bunyons showed up. We were pretty surprised. We thought that he was more hobo than hiker, but he had obviously made good time since he was still in his sleeping bag when we left the shelter. He diverted into a town a bit down the road, and we quickly continued on. After a while, when we came to the West Dover Road, we saw “The Dover Oak.” This tree is reportedly the largest oak tree on the AT. The guidebook says its girth, four feet from the ground is 19’ 5,” and it is supposedly 300 years old. We took a couple pictures, but they did not do justice to the immensity of the tree. After having hiked about nine miles we came to Wiley Shelter – the last shelter before CN. It was about 11:30 Again the terrain was tough but in comparison to other portions of the AT quite reasonable. After about forty minutes, Paul with Bunyons showed up. We were going on another four miles to the Ten-Mile River shelter in CN. Paul was not going to join us. He wanted to use a fire pit to cook, and in CN there were no fire pits or open fires allowed. When we left to push on, that was the last we saw of Paul. With the rain that came during the remainder of our hike he might still have been holed-up at the Wiley shelter five days later. Our last four miles of the day we went over a fairly challenging hill. When we got to the Ten-Mile River Shelter we were again pretty funky, and sweaty – albeit not sweat drenched as in the warmer months. The shelter was well taken care of – as were all the shelters in CN. However, all were also of not very pleasant design. They were small, low-roofed, and had no table. Never-the less the shelter was very nicely situated with an open field in front and a campground near by along the River. The campground was where the Ten-Mile River came into the Housatonic River. There was a water well with pump in the campground so I put my head under it and got David to pump. It was pretty cold water, but after some prodding by me, David put his head under too. We both cleaned up a bit with our bandanas and then went down to the river. It was now sunny and there was a little accompanying warmth. The river was gorgeous as we waded in and cleaned up a bit more. As it turned out we were the only ones at the shelter. We spent some time airing out our clothes and ourselves and then closed up what was probably the pleasantest out-of-doors portion of our hike.
11 May – to Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-To, 15.7 Miles
Started hiking at 7:45. The trail was surprisingly demanding. It was not all that steep but very gnarly. I once bloodied a shin on a rock, and once I smacked my head on a tree limb while catching myself from falling. After a mile or two we were in light rain so the rocks became slippery. After 8.5 miles we diverted about a mile of the AT into the town of Kent, CN. The first thing we came across on the outskirts of the town was a $40K/yr prep school – Kent Prep. It was an awesome group of facilities that were kept manicured. When we got to the center of town we stopped at a service station/convenience store and got some drinks. While we were sitting on the curb we noticed from the cars and way people were dressed that we were in a pretty “toney” place. Later, the waitress in the restaurant told us that a lot of very wealthy people either lived in/around Kent or had second/”country” homes there. After a while another section hiker, Popeye, a 63-year-old who was a retired executive from Boise Cascade and who lived in LA, joined us. We found that he and I had a lot in common regarding our hiking experiences. Popeye was pretty much running out of gas and was looking to get off the trail pretty soon. He was followed by Running Bear, a 58 year old retired policeman from Kent, Ohio. The two of them had been sort of hiking together for four or five days. Running Bear was out to hike about half the AT. He showed up with his legs pretty bloodied. Dave and I left our two fellow hikers and found a local restaurant in which to grab a meal. Meanwhile, despite staying well covered and with minimal bugs around, those in the area continued to find me. I assiduously continued my use of Bactroban. A day or so earlier, I noticed some stitching coming out of the side of my boot. It had gotten a little worse and I was somewhat concerned it could continue to progress and cause me significant problems. Had little choice but to wait and see. When we went into the restaurant, the temperature had begun to drop quickly and looked pretty ominous. Fortunately, by the time we got out, this little weather hole seemed to have passed. We left Kent about 3 PM and did a blue blaze (followed a trail other than the AT) for a few miles. With the walk into Kent, the blue blazing probably saved us not more than half a mile. We ended up walking along the Housatonic River for about 5.5 mikes. It was wide, shallow (but deeper than any rocks over which it may have been flowing) and moving pretty well. It was beautiful and had no development on either side. Strangely, it seemed like it was much larger upstream than what we had seen where we had started the day – a dozen or more miles downstream. We arrived at the Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter around 5 PM. David spotted what we both thought was a hornet or wasp nest up in the roof area. We agreed that since I was willing to take the risk, I should knock it down. Well I did, and we were mortified to find out it was a birds nest with several eggs that broke when the nest came down. After a while the mother bird came back looking for her nest. She returned many times. It was really a very ugly feeling to know we had destroyed the nest and the eggs. David and I had a bit of self-doctoring to do and which we did shortly after arrival. Then much to our surprise, Popeye and Running Bear joined us at the shelter around 6:30. It was a surprise because when we saw them in Kent they were talking about finding a room there for the night. This was undoubtedly our most social evening and the four of us chatted pretty well non-stop till about 9 PM.
12 May – to Cornwall Bridge, 4.1 miles
Some place in the middle of the night it began raining – no, it began pouring! The sound on the shelter roof made it seem like it was time to start lining up the animals two by two. In the middle of the night I had to pee. I stripped down completely except for my rain jacket to do it. The alternative was getting my clothes soaked. Around 6 A.M. we were all awake but lying in our sleeping bags. All were probably think the same thing. “What now?” and/or “Do we really want to go out into that?” I felt like yelling, “Swim for it boys!” We had no idea we were at the front end of about the heaviest rain the region had seen in seventy years. Well, David and I had planned a short hike with the day being primarily a rest day in the town of Cornwall Bridge. Popeye and Running Bear at some point along the way decided that was a prudent course of action for them too. Around 7:30 David and I dove out to the trail and the pouring rain. The trail pretty well followed the river. I wasn’t long before we were as wet as if we had been swimming to town as opposed to hiking. The town wasn’t much. In addition to a couple stores, and a couple other businesses, all we saw was a general store/deli and three hundred yards away, a “mom and pop” motel – The Hitching Post. We got to town around 9 A.M. and went immediately into the general store where we had hot coffee and egg sandwiches as we sat at a table in the back where we talked with some of the local “regulars.” We found out that this portion of CN was a regular “exclusive prep-school alley.” As we understood it the men we talked with were craftsmen/maintenance guys. I know one indicated he worked maintaining some large estate. We then moved on to the motel around 10:30. An Indian family, the Patels (a very common Indian name) owned it. While the motel was pretty minimal accommodations, it served our needs very well, and it was well situated. Also, Mr. Patel, for a reasonable cost, was willing to help us slack-pack (hike without packs) the next day. As we came out of the store and walked down to the motel we got a bit chilled (still quite wet) and immediately showered and got a load of laundry done. It all felt great as we arrived in the same clothes we started with and hadn’t showered in six days. Running Bear and Popeye pretty much followed suit and shortly Popeye came by the room and we chatted for an hour or so. In early afternoon it was back to the store for some delicious home made clam chowder. In the early evening, we went back again and I had a meatball grinder, fresh fruit salad, and some ice cream. Meanwhile it continued to be raining and ugly all day. David and I were pleased to be feeling good, and we were exactly on schedule based on the plan to which we had had agreed. We also felt quite fortunate that this hugely soggy, chilly day came on the day that was primarily a mid-trek rest day.
13 May – Slack Pack (back to Cornwall Bridge from Falls Village), 14.5 miles
On this day we deviated from our original plan to take the opportunity to hike without packs and spend another evening in Cornwall Bridge. Around 7:30 Mr. Patel dropped us off at Iron Bridge, a one lane bridge over the Housatonic in Falls Village, CN. It was a spot where the AT intersected with civilization and was about 14.5 miles away in the direction we were heading – north. The drive gave us an opportunity to chat with Mr. Patel who was an interesting and industrious fellow. Everything was sodden and rains threatened but, interesting enough, we had only minor, intermittent light drizzle while we were hiking. It was cool and overcast – actually pretty good weather for hiking a long way. There were lots of up and down hills – short hills that were work because of the repetition, even if the hills didn’t show prominently on the map. Along the way we enjoyed a couple nice overlooks where we had good views despite the ill weather. At one of them we had a fair look at Lime Rock Race Track. After about eight miles we stopped at the Pine Brook Swamp Shelter for about 45 minutes of boots-off break. I might note that our boots started the day quite sodden and it was a pleasure to get them off and our feet aired. After we picked up hiking again we ran into Running Bear who was moving along nicely, seemed strong and was stilled intending to go all the way to Mt Kathadin in ME. A little while later, at a very interesting rock formation, we ran into Popeye. It was his last day of hiking and he seemed awfully fatigued and ready to be finished. This was the last time we had contact with these two fellows who were good companions over about three days, and we all wished each other well. As we continued down the trail we ran into Trek, a hiker who had retired after 20 years in the Army and was from NH. Based on the information we put together, I would say Trek was in his late 40’s. He said he was doing his fourth thru-hike in four years. I thought, but didn’t say, “Get a life.” He related that his pack was about 28 lbs. – a bunch lighter than ours were, and that he was hiking around 25 miles a day. We later found out that hiking was about all he was doing in his post-Army days. By this point in the day we had been told a couple time that there was a stream in our path, Guinee Brook, that was dangerous and not fordable. There were signs telling people to divert downstream about a mile on a dirt road, and the rain had aggravated the situation. Trek, of course, paid no heed and related that he had forded the stream that was screaming and waist deep. Later in the day we met Sam-I Am from FL. He seemed in his early fifties and was out doing a section of about 300 miles of the AT. He too warned us about Guinee Brook. When we told Sam-I-Am about Trek having forded it, Sam-I-Am confirmed that “The man must be totally crazy.” Later, when we got to the brook, David went down to the streambed – I avoided the extra climb down and back up – and took a few pictures. He wasn’t so sure it was as dangerous as reported. David and I thought we had been making good time, but we didn’t finish our hiking until around 4:30 that afternoon. Perhaps we simple took too much time stopping to break, chat with four different people etc. Never the less, we were surprised at how long the day’s effort took. When we got back to the motel, we again cleaned up, went down to the general store for some food, paid our motel bill and organized our gear to move out with full packs the next morning.
14 May – to Brassie Brook Lean-To, 12.8 Miles
Mr. Patel dropped us off at the same place he had done so the day before. Only this time, instead of hiking back to the motel, we continued our journey northward. The streams continued to overflow their banks. The falls on the Housatonic River just upstream from Falls Village were quite dramatic – well beyond anything David or I had begun to imagine. The sky was overcast and again everything was sodden. Just before 11 A.M. we made a decision to divert into the town of Salisbury, CN. By the time we got to the town it had started raining with some authority – and it continued the remainder of the day. It also started getting cold. After spending and hour in the town – eating of course and hanging out in a coffee shop, we continued north. Over the course of the early afternoon we passed two groups of about a dozen plus students from Yale. They were out for an overnight designed to help train them for a program that involved bringing freshman out for a hiking/camping adventure. The temperature continued to drop and from when it started raining onward, we wore our rain jackets. This was the first time I wore my rain jacket while actually hiking. We arrived at the Brassie Brook shelter and campground around 2 P.M. The shelter was just at the top of a deep draw in which a brook could be loudly heard tumbling over the rocks. On of the groups of “Yalies” arrived shortly afterwards. They undoubtedly would have liked to use the shelter, but chose not to join us and went off a couple hundred yards to camp. David and I had the shelter to ourselves and no one joined us later in the afternoon either. The shelter had a bear box for protecting food – the only one I have seen in New England. We put our food in first. David, who actually did so later, remarked about the amount of junk the Yalies had put in the box and which just about filled it. It seemed very new and was located a few hundred yards away – but not in the direction of the camping sites. Within a few minutes of getting there and ceasing our vigorous hiking, both of us were chilled – heavy duty chilled. I got into my sleeping bag around 2:30 wearing my wet tee shirt. I wanted to dry it out so I could avoid having to put it on wet in the morning. I also brought in my wet socks and made them part of my “pillow” area. Pretty funky but it help dry them a little bit. David made some food or tea and followed into his sleeping bag a half-hour later. Before he went into his bag he checked the little thermometer he carries on his pack – 46 degrees. After a while I warmed up adequately – but just barely so. My sleeping bag was designed for as low as 45 degrees and the bag liner gave me a few degrees to play with, but we know the temperature continued to drop later in the day/during the night. The toughest part of our afternoon and night here was that I repetitively had to get up during the night – far more often then my normal once or twice, to empty my bladder. I suspect the continued sound of the babbling brook help instigate this need. Each time it was drizzling and a major discomfit that required a new round of re-warming. Absent getting up for my personal needs, I was in my sleeping bag, zipped over my head from 2:30 on the 14th until the next morning. It was the most miserable night I have spent out while hiking.
15 May – to Mass Rte 41 (Near S. Egremont, MA), 13.2 Miles
When we woke up we decided we needed to get moving quickly to get comfortable, as soon as possible. Getting out of our sleeping bags at 6:30 and putting on cold, clammy clothes and totally sodden boots was a challenge. The thermometer read 42 degrees. We broke camp around 7:30 when, fortunately, there was a few hour pause in the rain. We had to make a series of climbs and descents. The first was over Bear Mountain (not to be confused with Bear Mountain, NY) which brags of having the highest point on the AT in CN. It had rock faces that were a bit treacherous when wet and slippery. There was an inclement weather by-pass. We thought of taking the by-pass, but decided, “naw, let’s go for it.” Shortly after Bear Mountain we crossed into MA. In quick succession we had to negotiate up and down Race Mountain and Mount Everett. Again, both had a lot of rock faces, and again we skipped an inclement weather by-pass. David and I both fell a bunch of times – me being old and clumsy, more times than him. In fact I think I probably set a one day personal record for hitting the deck or catching myself on a small tree or branch. Good thing I bounce well. The catching oneself on a branch or tree is another story. David and I both got scratched up a bit from that. We took few breaks, and when we did, we began to chill quickly. For the second day, we were hiking wearing our rain jackets while hiking. This was for warmth – nothing was going to keep us dry. In some cases the rocky trail actually turned into a stream, but water, wet boots, etc was no longer an issue. In fact, one of the treats of the day was passing a multitude of streams that were gurgling their way downhill at full tilt. We arrived at the Glen Brook shelter about mid-day. It was our original, short-day destination. However, it was an ugly shelter, the weather was ugly, and for at least the second day in succession we saw notices warning about “active” bears. I suppose the stuffed bears in my house are the inactive ones, but we got their drift. So we decided to push on. This meant coming down over a piece of mountain called Jug End. Essentially it was at the northern end of a stretch of ridgeline that dropped precipitously into a low ground section just south of Great Barrington. It was a bit dicey -- cold rain and slippery rocks all the way. We were glad to finally get down. We crossed Jug End road and went about a mile on low, flat ground. At some points the trail was so flooded here that we were essentially walking in a shallow pond. When we got to MA Rte 41, the makeshift plan we executed was to walk towards South Egrement about a mile away and hitch hike as we went. If we hadn’t gotten a ride before reaching South Egrement we intended to try and call a taxi from there. Fortunately, after a quarter mile or so a fellow who had just graduated from high school picked us up and took us where we wanted to go. This was the Comfort Inn in Great Barrington about six or seven miles away. We had stayed there the previous year when we had hiked to the same area after starting out in the north at North Adams, MA. It’s a very nice place, and we were able to negotiate a hiker, old fogy, military retiree rate ($80+ dollars) that saved us more than $20/night. Considering how we much we munched at their continental breakfast – our room was only a few doors away from it, it was a very good choice for us. Again, we did laundry, showered, ate, watch TV, had access to email, ate, etc. and felt very good physically and about what we had accomplished.
16 May – Mass 23 to Jug End Road, 12.9 Miles
The next morning, our last piece of hiking, was another hike in the rain. We left our backpacks at the motel and configured daypacks. Then we took a taxi to the trailhead on MA Rte 23. Our spirits we high and knew that we would be finishing exactly what we set out to do on our ten-day adventure. We got on the trail at 8:30 and were headed south toward where we left the trail the previous day. Again, rain jackets were the order of the day for warmth. After a couple miles we stopped in at the Tom Leonard Lean-To in Ice Gulch. It was a terrific facility – as those things go, much nicer than those we had dealt with in CN as well as most of those we saw or used in NY.. Of course we stayed only for a quick break and snack, and then we hiked up and over East Mountain. There were some slippery rock challenges we hadn’t expected but no major issues. On the far/south side we ran into Frog Caller. She was a woman in at least her mid-sixties that appeared to be by herself. She was sitting on a log snacking in the rain. She told us she was from ME, had hiked most of the AT, and was hiking with her son who had gone on ahead. I didn’t comment, but it seemed to me that there should be no way her son shouldn’t have stayed with her. Shortly afterwards, since we were doing this last day of hiking from N-S we ran into Running Bear and had a quick but pleasant “reunion.” We mentioned Frog Caller and he said he would look out for her. We then ran into Sam-I-Am, and, again, clued him in to Frog Caller. The trail was filled with lots of little ups and downs that seemed interminable, but oddly we had some good views despite the weather. When we finally got back to low ground, we again crossed the Housatonic River. Although we had continued to move upstream, the rains had swollen the river severely. There was a stretch of 1-2 miles where the AT was in some field and tracked totally parallel to a road. We decided it made sense to walk on the road instead. Along the way we came to a dairy farm where there seemed to be at least a couple hundred cows. As we went by, some of the cows came over to the fence to socialize with us. About two miles from our destination we came across a monument to the last battle of Shay’s Rebellion. You need to check your American history for that one. We also caught up with Obie from Warner Robbins, GA. He was about 6ft 6 inches tall and was also slack packing. Actually, his normal routine was for his wife to drop him at a trailhead and hike to another trailhead where she would pick him up. He also said he passed Frog Caller and pretty well stopped for a while to give her assistance in getting down a rock slope. We really did not feel she was up to being out there, but she seemed to know what she was doing. We also came to the belief that she really was not hiking with her son, but told that to people so they wouldn’t think she was alone. I have to give her credit for being gutsy – if not totally rational about what she was doing. At any rate we hiked with Obie to where his wife was located even though it meant going a mile or so past our original destination. Again, we were soaked to the bone and chilled when we finished. Obie and his wife then gave us a ride back to the Comfort Inn in Great Barrington.
Post Script.
The next morning David’s girl friend, Sarita , a child psychiatrist, drove from Boston to Great Barrington to pick David up. I had originally planned to continue to cultivate my beard for a while, but I decided it looked ugly. Hence I shaved before she arrived. David and Sarita dropped me at a bus stop in Great Barrington. It was about a four-hour bus ride down to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC. From there I went out to Long Island to my sister’s home where I had left my car. – End of Adventure.
Our total distance hiked this year was about 128 miles. David and I did what we set out to do, were minimally worse for the wear, and overcame some interesting challenges. As usual we met interesting people on the trail and in towns. David and I have now hiked together four years in succession and have enhanced a great relationship as we walked 400 miles, shared rooms, shared beauty and hardship and acquired feelings of personal satisfaction. He has now completed hiking the AT in five states as well as having partially hiked in a couple more. I have now hiked all of the AT between Damascus, VA, which is adjacent to the NC border and Mt Kathadin in ME. That’s more than 1,700 miles. I think I am getting the hang of this hiking thing. Every year it seems a little harder on my aging bones and the pack seems a little heavier, but I have continued to find the effort rewarding, cleansing of the mind and a great excuse to eat whatever the heck I want.
SLW
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