Hey everyone,
We are back on the trail and loving it again!! :)
Lets see where did we leave you at... Damascus for Trail Days i believe. Well Elliott and I ended up staying there for 4 days because we were waiting for Uncle Jonny's Hostel to forward our mail drop to the Damascus Post Office. Trail Days was super fun. We met a lot of people that had thru hiked in previous years who had a lot of wisdom and encouragement. When we realized that it was going to take awhile to get our package we asked the Damascus Post Office to forward it to Troutdale, about 50 miles away. We resupplied and set out.
We left so late that day that we only went 1.5 miles and set up camp. It had rained on and off during Trail Days and again that first night out. We had sent our cold weather sleeping bags home because for 2 weeks we had not been sleeping inside them... bad choice. It got down to about 35 degrees that night and we had 45 degree sleeping bags. We shivered most of the nights and morning. It was raining when we woke up and we were slow moving. We did not pack up and leave until after 12:30 pm.
That day since we left so late and because we were not in the best moods we only hiked 7.6 miles through a very cold rain. Which was fine because we decided to do what we want while hiking and not push it if we don't feel like it. That night we had a shelter to ourselves so we set the tent up inside the shelter to try to dry it out. We also had picked up some Jiffy Pop from a pile of food someone left in the woods. GREAT IDEA. After eating dinner we made hot coco and jiffy pop. Who knew that could be such a mood lifter. That night was very cold as well even with zipping our sleeping bags together and wearing all of our clothing.
5/18 We had a decision to make. Hike 6.6 miles and sleep at an elevation of 3,399 or hike 18 miles and sleep at an elevation of 5,430. Since we knew it would be even colder on top of the mountain we could only go the 6.6. So another short day of hiking in the rain.
The next day we summited the mountain. Can you guess it? Yup through the rain, but good news! By the time we were on our way down the rain and fog cleared up and we saw some of the most beautiful sights we have seen so far. The Grayson Highlands were amazing! And there were wild horses hanging out. They were not scared of us and actually liked to lick us because we tasted like salt. One horse even tried eating my rain coat. We hiked 17.3 miles that day and camped by a stream in one of the coolest camping areas we have been at. It warmed up a little and we were able to sleep.
The next day we hiked 15.8 miles in 6 hours and hitched to the Troutdale Baptist Hostel. The provided us with an amazing free dinner and a short Bible message. Guess what- No rain that night :)
We hiked 14.5 miles the following day and about 7 miles in another Baptist Church was offering shuttles to their church for lunch. We ate so much that the next 7.5 miles went pretty slow. On our hike that day we saw 52 millipedes!!!!! Yup we counted the whole day. Elliott didn't really get into it until I got to 35. That night we hitched a ride back to Troutdale and went to church the next morning.
The last couple of days we have been in Marion hanging out with Jon Schleef! We are both very excited to be hanging out with a such a great friend!
Tomorrow we hit the trail again. :) More adventures to come!!!!
p.s. i just figured out how to respond to comments... so go check it out
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Some photo's Dan had taken
Cooking breakfast by Justice Creek on our second day out. Shortly after this photo a stray dog followed us the rest of the day.
Hanging out
Another rainy day on the trail.
This is the border of GA and NC.
Very Exciting!!
Hanging out after Trail Magic provided by Tatter Chip.
He had soda, moon pies and Gatorade! It was awesome.
Lots of peanut butter for energy. A hiker will eat pretty much anything.
Day One - Waterfall
So many great views!!!!!!!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Changing things up a bit
So the other day we were hiking... because that is what we do... and it was very hot, we were both tired because of the thunderstorm the night before, the trail was hard that day with lots of straight up and straight downs and we realized that we were not having very much fun. Prior to this we had decided that we HAD to do 15 miles a day to get to Harpers Ferry on time and ...well ...Elliott and i do not do well with restrictions while we are on adventures. Around mile 315 we hopped off the trail and got a shuttle to a hostel to reevaluated our plan and adventure. We camped at Uncle Jonny's Hostel and then decided to go to Trail Days in Damascus,VA. Trail Days is the largest backpacker gathering in the world. There are free meals, showers, gear giveaways and tons of hikers from all over come to celebrate the outdoors. The First Baptist Church is a huge supporter and offers most of the free stuff. This has been a great break for Elliott and me. Trail Days has been a great way for us to get excited about hiking again and remember to "hike our own hike." We plan to hike north out of Damascus, missing about 130 miles of trail that we will go back and finish later this year. This changes our title slightly to Flip Floppers/ Leap Froggers... our plan is to complete as much of the trail as we can- while also enjoying ourselves and resting when we need to. We are excited about the change of scenery and will continue to keep you all updated on our progress.
Jack Rabbit- Dan Brunner- has moved on since Hot Springs and seems to be doing some great mileage. So from here on out it is just Elliott and me wandering around in the Appalachian mountains.
Jack Rabbit- Dan Brunner- has moved on since Hot Springs and seems to be doing some great mileage. So from here on out it is just Elliott and me wandering around in the Appalachian mountains.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
pictures from Karen
Elliott in his sleeping bag in a shelter in the smokeys. This was after our fist 20 mile day.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Quick Update
The library is closing soon so this will be a quick update.
(P.S. I have a much greater appreciation for libraries since we have started. They are so welcoming and open to letting strangers use their resources... i guess we forget this when we have everything we need in our homes.)
So the day we left Gatlinburg it rained on use. A super clod and blowing rain up on the mountains. Elliott and I hiked about 5 miles in it before we got to the shelter. We were pretty much soaked from head to toe, but luckily the people that got to the shelter before us had started a fire. We were not with any of the hikers we had met before and I was the only girl that night so finding a private place to change all of my soaking wet clothing was interesting. We both had dry clothes to sleep in and our sleeping bags stayed dry :)
The next day there was snow on the ground and the trees were covered in ice. It was beautiful! Hiking on the ridge we could see that the mountain tops were all wight, but just below 4,500 ft you could see there was no snow or ice. We hiked about 13 miles and were still at a pretty high elevation so we decided to press on to get to warmer temps. We hiked another 7 miles into Davenport Gap and were excited to see some of the friends we had made (i hugged then all because the crowd the night before were not my favorite people).
On May 5 we hiked only 10.7 miles and took our sweet time. We stopped at Standing Bear Hostile to get some snacks and have a cold soda (yummy- and i thought i was going to quit drinking soda... yeah right i need those calories and the sugar... maybe i'll quit when i get back). Standing Bear was pretty cool- it is an old farm transformed into a hostile. It seems like hikers stay there and then come back to visit or work.
For some crazy reason on May 6 Elliott and I hiked 23 miles. At 4:30 pm we made the decision to hike 4 more miles, which turned into 10 more. I guess when you can keep walking that is just what you do.
Today we only did 3 miles. We may stay in Hot Springs or we may move on- not sure yet. We will for sure go sit in a Hot Spring for a little while though.
Guess I am faster at typing then I thought...
Have a great Mother's Day tomorrow!
Oh Hi Mom (Reible and Kasprzak) - Happy Mother's Day <3
(P.S. I have a much greater appreciation for libraries since we have started. They are so welcoming and open to letting strangers use their resources... i guess we forget this when we have everything we need in our homes.)
So the day we left Gatlinburg it rained on use. A super clod and blowing rain up on the mountains. Elliott and I hiked about 5 miles in it before we got to the shelter. We were pretty much soaked from head to toe, but luckily the people that got to the shelter before us had started a fire. We were not with any of the hikers we had met before and I was the only girl that night so finding a private place to change all of my soaking wet clothing was interesting. We both had dry clothes to sleep in and our sleeping bags stayed dry :)
The next day there was snow on the ground and the trees were covered in ice. It was beautiful! Hiking on the ridge we could see that the mountain tops were all wight, but just below 4,500 ft you could see there was no snow or ice. We hiked about 13 miles and were still at a pretty high elevation so we decided to press on to get to warmer temps. We hiked another 7 miles into Davenport Gap and were excited to see some of the friends we had made (i hugged then all because the crowd the night before were not my favorite people).
On May 5 we hiked only 10.7 miles and took our sweet time. We stopped at Standing Bear Hostile to get some snacks and have a cold soda (yummy- and i thought i was going to quit drinking soda... yeah right i need those calories and the sugar... maybe i'll quit when i get back). Standing Bear was pretty cool- it is an old farm transformed into a hostile. It seems like hikers stay there and then come back to visit or work.
For some crazy reason on May 6 Elliott and I hiked 23 miles. At 4:30 pm we made the decision to hike 4 more miles, which turned into 10 more. I guess when you can keep walking that is just what you do.
Today we only did 3 miles. We may stay in Hot Springs or we may move on- not sure yet. We will for sure go sit in a Hot Spring for a little while though.
Guess I am faster at typing then I thought...
Have a great Mother's Day tomorrow!
Oh Hi Mom (Reible and Kasprzak) - Happy Mother's Day <3
Monday, May 2, 2011
Crazy Hikers
We are currently 204.7 miles into our hike. Which means we are one eleventh of the way done. Woooo! Our longest hiking day so far was 17 miles... i was pretty tired after that, but think I could do it again.
The scariest night so far was when the really bad storms went through Alabama. We were in a mountain gap in our tent. There were high winds and a thunderstorm. We were listening to trees fall and branches were hitting the side of our tent. Needless to say we both prayed a lot that night. All people in the camp were kept safe and able to hike the next day. Needless the say we both thanked God a lot that day for our safety.
Yesterday we woke up at 4:00 am to hike to Clingman's Dome, 6,643ft- highest point on the AT, to watch the sun rise. We had to hike 3 miles uphill in the dark... I was really hoping to see a black bear, but no luck. We got there while it was still dark and super windy. Elliott and many others busted out their sleeping bags to wrap around themselves to stay warm. It was the coldest weather we have experienced so far, but totally worth it. We had fun watching the sun rise with the 8 other hikers that also got up early with us. The funniest thing was that all the hikers that got up early are the ones that usually leave camp last in the morning, including us. Elliott and I usually sleep in and then hike late... so many people get up with the sun and get to camp by 3 pm. We get up when we are done sleeping and usually get to camp before its dark.
Funny Trail Randomness
- Usually by the end of the day we are a little delusional. One day Dan was imagining that we were all animated Wisconsin icons. I was the cheese, he was the sausage and Elliott was the beer. Cheese, sausage and beer with legs hiking the AT. Believe it or not we probably talked about this for a good hour.
- There is a kid out here, who i have not met yet, but i hear is really nice, that calls himself Kid Supertramp. He has a backpack strapped to a backpack, is trying to afford the hike with food stamps, gave away his fleece for a plastic sheet because "it can be a shelter and keep him warm," tried eating a raw acorn.... he is trying to do the AT "Into the Wild" style. I'm not sure he will make it.
- Elliott and Dan both say the have more gas when they hike up hill. This is bad news for me because they are both faster then me... guess who is always downwind.
We hope you are all doing well!
Take care and have fun ______fill in the blank____ (Having your second child, buying and preparing your house, getting that job, working the job you currently have, moving, planning your summer vacation, planning your wedding, ect)
God Bless
The scariest night so far was when the really bad storms went through Alabama. We were in a mountain gap in our tent. There were high winds and a thunderstorm. We were listening to trees fall and branches were hitting the side of our tent. Needless to say we both prayed a lot that night. All people in the camp were kept safe and able to hike the next day. Needless the say we both thanked God a lot that day for our safety.
Yesterday we woke up at 4:00 am to hike to Clingman's Dome, 6,643ft- highest point on the AT, to watch the sun rise. We had to hike 3 miles uphill in the dark... I was really hoping to see a black bear, but no luck. We got there while it was still dark and super windy. Elliott and many others busted out their sleeping bags to wrap around themselves to stay warm. It was the coldest weather we have experienced so far, but totally worth it. We had fun watching the sun rise with the 8 other hikers that also got up early with us. The funniest thing was that all the hikers that got up early are the ones that usually leave camp last in the morning, including us. Elliott and I usually sleep in and then hike late... so many people get up with the sun and get to camp by 3 pm. We get up when we are done sleeping and usually get to camp before its dark.
Funny Trail Randomness
- Usually by the end of the day we are a little delusional. One day Dan was imagining that we were all animated Wisconsin icons. I was the cheese, he was the sausage and Elliott was the beer. Cheese, sausage and beer with legs hiking the AT. Believe it or not we probably talked about this for a good hour.
- There is a kid out here, who i have not met yet, but i hear is really nice, that calls himself Kid Supertramp. He has a backpack strapped to a backpack, is trying to afford the hike with food stamps, gave away his fleece for a plastic sheet because "it can be a shelter and keep him warm," tried eating a raw acorn.... he is trying to do the AT "Into the Wild" style. I'm not sure he will make it.
- Elliott and Dan both say the have more gas when they hike up hill. This is bad news for me because they are both faster then me... guess who is always downwind.
We hope you are all doing well!
Take care and have fun ______fill in the blank____ (Having your second child, buying and preparing your house, getting that job, working the job you currently have, moving, planning your summer vacation, planning your wedding, ect)
God Bless
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Walking by Lake Michigan
