Remember how I said it was unseasonably cold here and we were about to climb to higher elevations where it was even colder? Well, we conferenced and decided to take a ZERO day at the Mountain Harbour B&B/Hostel, where they serve the most unbelievable breakfast!! Fire Marshall & I left it up to Deal, since…
We are currently at a hostel in Elk Park, NC/Roan Mtn, TN at mile 1791.4 on day 118. And thank God we are in a hostel, because it is in the 30s and we are at a lower elevation (2,000 feet). I can only imagine what it is like up there in the mountains ……
Hello from Damascus, VA, a very hiker-friendly town we walk through. We are at mile 1716.6!!! We are merely 3.7 miles from the end of Virginia and the beginning of Tennessee, but I’m going to pretend we are done and just give you the summary of Virginia prematurely. So wow, I never realized how much…
Lots of people have been asking where they can send something (for example, home-baked goods) for Deal’s 35th birthday on October 6. Cell service has been crappy, so I’m sorry for the delay. Here’s the best place to send something (baked goods): Justin La VigneC/O Bob Peoples1278 Dennis Cove RoadHampton, TN37658Please hold for SOBO Thru…
We have completed Central VA, all 227 miles! It took us 12 days. We did stop in a few towns, mainly to resupply, shower & get a good meal, but we haven’t really taken any significant “neros.” We also stayed in the famous Woodshole Hostel, which our book describes as a little piece of heaven.…
We are in town tonight … Once again, our trail angel, Fire Chief (Fire Marshall’s dad) met us on the trail! He did this for a few reasons, but mainly because we are hiking right near Fire Marshall’s Alma Mater, so we had to make that pit stop! It was actually perfect timing and if…
We have completed 154 miles of VA! 854 left of the whole trail! And we just celebrated 3 months (94 days) on the trail! Seeing the numbers just feels like amazing progress!! Tonight, we are staying at a hotel in Waynesboro, VA. When we walked into the room, it smelled of alcohol cleaning products. One…
Lots of people have been asking what that item is that I am holding up in front of the state signs. It is a clear rock with a cross and the word “believe” and it was given to us by our second Mom in Phoenix. Someone had given it to her when her youngest son…
We are actually 30 miles into Virginia now, but I have yet to give my report on Maryland and West Virginia! MD & WV were the shortest states we’ll go through on the AT (47 miles combined), but they provided us with the MOST magic!! I’ll just give you the play-by-play. On Thursday afternoon, we…
On Thursday, we conquered our eighth state and entered Maryland! Oh and we hit the halfway point of the trail on Wednesday!! Oh PA. We did not love you, but we tried not to hate you. I have to admit, the second half was better than the first half and helped redeem the state. I’ll…
Hello everyone, this is Deal. Yesterday Steadee turned 33 and I do believe she had a great day, thanks to all of your cards, emails, phone messages and texts. The night before she indulged in some yummy backpacker desert meals. Then on her bday we hiked 23 miles to the town of Duncannon PA (through…
We are at mile 980.6 and I can confirm 2 things about PA. There are rocks and snakes (poisonous ones). I’ll just apologize in advance to our PA friends because I don’t think we’ll have nice things to say about the state when we complete it. We are not trying to be haters of PA…
We spent 3 wonderful zeros at my parents’ … Saw lots of friends and took care of all our bizness. Of course, the last 3 days were gorgeous … In the 70s, low humidity. Today, torrential downpouring. Thank you Mother Nature. Anywho, we are hitting the trail. I am not excited at all to hike…
Guess what we have been doing the last few days?? NOT HIKING!! I’m excited to tell you all that we are enjoying a few zeros at my parents’ house in NJ! We had this planned in our heads for a long time and actually, we haven’t taken a full day off since Hanover, NH, just…
We entered NJ this evening and it started to downpour … you would think our home state would be kinder to us!! So we quickly set up our tent and are hunkering down for the night. The good news is we have entered our 7th state!! As for my summary of NY, I have mixed…
Hello from mile 791! We are almost done with NY and I will do an update then, but for now, just a quick note. We are currently enjoying the overnight hospitality of my college friend, Shadow/Christine. Got to love these friends/family who live near the trail! Yeaterday, we stopped in Fort Montgomery, NY, to pick…
Today we hiked into New York. This is our 6th state (out of 14)! Unbelievable! Connecticut was a good state to us. Similar to Mass, it was relatively flat. The climbs were steep, but the good thing is they are quick. Surprisingly nice vistas too! Overall, the trail is nice and friendly. Hopefully someday, we…
Today, we got trail magic. This time, though, it wasn’t from a stranger, but from our family! My sister QuickQuestion, brother-in-law Yankee, nephew Bones and niece Curly Locks picked us (including Fire Marshall – we have reunited!) up from the trail in Kent and took us home to shower, launder and eat home-cooked goods. It…
We have entered CT! Which means we knocked another state off the list! Massachusetts was pretty good to us, especially for a state that never ranked high on our list. But the wilderness of Mass is something to talk about. Quite flat with a few notable climbs thrown in there from time to time. One…
My mom turned 66 today!! However, she has the energy of a 46-year-old! Maybe it’s from all the coffee she drinks … I wanted to give her a shout out because she is always a very thoughtful and loving person, but she is especially important to us while we are on the trail. She is…