Day 48 to 58

Day 48 - 21.1 miles

After a zero day and new, new shoes I felt great. Had some good views and was in no rush. The trail is much easier here in Vermont. 

Beautiful sunrise before leaving the Green Mountain House hostel. 

My new, new shoes!!

This is a picture of Bromley Mountain. This is the ski resort I walked through in my last post. 

Day 49 - 17.4 miles

It was a cold, windy and rainy day. The temperature was around 49 degrees. I took several breaks to dry off in shelters and ended up hiking in the dark with my headlamp on. 

When I see rocks like this I just wonder, how did this get here?

Day 50 - 20.0 miles

Today was a good day. I made it to Massachusetts, my 4th state! I knew I would be heading into the town of North Adams, MA. I hit up the local all you can eat Chinese resturant. After I ate 4 plates of food they brought out my check.... I wasn't done yet. I stayed for about 2 hours. Needs less to say I was stuffed!

Vermont and Massachusetts state line. 

Day 51 - 14.7 miles

I climbed Mt. Greylock today. This is the highest peak in Massachusetts. It had a really cool tower on top and a very nice cabin. Hikers can stay there but it was expensive.  The clouds started to roll in as I was on the mountain top. 

View from Mt. Greylock

Made it into a town called Cheshire. I walked through a corn field to get there and saw this funny sign. 

Several north bounders had told me about the hotdog stand in town. I decided I needed to check it out and this is what happened. 

A Catholic Parrish in town lets hikers stay for the night so I headed there. On the way there I could feel extrem pain in my left shin. It turned out to be the start of a shin splint. 

Day 52 - 8.8 miles

Short day due to shin pain. I got a motel room and a shower. 

This is a view of Cheshire. 

Day 53 - 11.8 miles 

Left my motel room early with the hopes of a good mileage day. 

Even with the rest, Motrin, and an ace bandage my leg was still hurting!

Day 54 - 8.8 miles 

Another short day. Not only was my leg hurting but I was feeling weak and fatigued. I made it to Upper Goose Pond Cabin. At this cabin the caretaker makes everyone pancakes and coffee in the morning, so I stayed the night. 

Took a nap on the dock by the pond. 

I ended up going to bed around 5pm and slept all night till breakfast at 7am. 

Day 55 - 15.8 miles

Had pancakes, coffee and headed out. About an hour into the hike I got stung by 2 yellow jackets. My ankle swelled and it took my mind off my shin pain for awhile. No major allergic reactions. 

I also was having stomach pain throughout the day. As I was feeling sorry for myself I saw something large start moving very close to my feet. It was a porcupine! He immediately started climbing a tree. 

I watched him for several minutes. He started gnashed his teeth at me and I decided it was time to move on. 

Day 56 - 11.7 miles

Woke up this morning with extreme stomach pain. I was weak and nauseated. I made it to town and after talking to Moz, I might have got Giardia. Got antibiotic and rested in my motel room. After the shin splints and the stomach issues (and urging of family) I decided this would be a good time to take a few days off. 

Day 57 - Zero

Day 58 - Zero

Felling much better!! Ready to get back out there!

I have already told my family this but now I'm telling you: If at any point I feel that I might do long term or substantial damage to my body or my health I will leave the trail. I'm going to listen to what my body tells me and try not to be a hero out here... That's how people get hurt. 

Thanks you all for your comments, I love reading them when I get to town. Keep em' coming!

Total miles - 668.2

Miles left - 1,517.1

Enjoy!

 

Day 40 - 47

Day 40 - Zero in Hanover NH

Day 41 - 14.7 miles

The trail goes right through downtown Hanover and Dartmouth college. 

Went over the Connecticut River and I was in Vermont! State number 3!

On the way there was tons of trail magic. People left coolers of drinks out and food for hikers. Very exciting!

Day 42 - 21.5 miles

Great day! The trail goes through some private lands in VT. 

Made it to the Lookout cabin. This is a privately owned cabin that the owners let hikers use as a shelter. It has an awesome tower on top with an amazing 360 degree view. 

Day 43 - 8.1 miles  :(

Wimpy day. I rolled my ankle coming down Quimby mountain. I decided to hike down to Killington to get some food. ..... Then I got lazy. I decided to stay at the Inn and rest my ankle. 

Day 44 - 18.3 + 8= 26.3 (I will explain)

Woke up early and wanted to make up for yesterday. So I got out on the trail and I was killing it!! No breaks! Then I ran into a guy on the trail coming the opposite direction. We started talking and he said he was going south.... I said I'm going south too. One of us was going the wrong direction. Turns out I was going NORTH on the "Long Trail" (This is a trail that ends up running along with the AT and it's also a white blaze trail). I had gone 4 miles in the wrong direction on the wrong trail! Needless to say, I was disappointed. So that's why I did 8 extra miles today. I still had a nearly 4,000 ft climb over Killington Mt. I hit just over 500 miles today!!

"I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 1,700 more just to be the man who walked 2,200 miles and fell down at your door..."

Love you Melanie! 

Day 45 - 18.6 miles

Had a good day and hungout by little rock pond and ate some food. 

Day 46 - 14.8 miles

Had a great day. I was heading for Manchester Center, VT. Went over Bromley Mt. It's a ski resort and actually walked down a ski slope for about half a mile. 

Got a hitch into town and went to EMS (Eastern Mountain Sport) to change my shoes. The Solomon's I got were tearing up my heals. I changed to Brooks trail running shoes. I stayed at a place called Green Mountain House. Wow, what a great place. Jeff, the owner, is super nice. We have a kitchen to use, TV, sitting area and it's super clean. It's basically are own house for hikers. They also give every hiker a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream!

What a great place. With my heals blistered and hurting, a weather report of rain and a wonderful place to stay.... I decided to take a zero here. 

Day 47 - Zero at the Green Mountain House 

538.1 miles total

1,647.2 left

Enjoy!

Happy birthday Melanie!!

Happy birthday to my beautiful, funny, smart, yoga teaching wife! Mel you get more amazing and beautiful every year. I love you so much baby. Thanks for holding down the fort while I'm gone and for all your support. You're the best thing to happen to a guy like me. Your my best friend.  I can't wait to see you in New York!

I found some flowers for you on the trail. 

Love, love, love...

Day 30 - 39

Day 30 - 7.3 miles

Got a late start leaving Gorham. I was hiking by 11:30am. It was a hard 2,500 ft vertical climb over about 3 miles to the top of Mt. Madison. It was worth the climb for the amazing views. 

This is a view of Mt. Washington from Mt Madison. 

So throughout the White Mountain National Forest there are 7 "Huts". These huts are like hotel rooms and are rented by patrons and can hold up to around 35 people. These huts also will allow around 3-5 thru hikers to do a work for stay per day. The workers at the huts will give the thru hikers the leftovers from dinner. They also allow us to sleep in he dinning areas at night. Sounded great to me. 

This is the Madison shelter. It was the first shelter I stopped at and was able to do work for stay. 

Went to sleep with a full stomach and a roof over my head... It was awesome. 

Day 31 - 7.0 miles

Today I headed up Mt Washington. I hit the trail around 9:30 am and it was raining already. As I ascended the mountain the rain started coming down harder and the wind picked up. Then it started to sleet. The wind was blowing so hard that I had to leaning into the wind to stay upright. I found out later that the wind was blowing around 65mph. The visibility was about 15ft and I was soaked. 

Made it to the top of Mt Washington and dried out at the Summit House. I stayed up there about 2 hours then headed down to Lake of the Clouds Hut. I saw this sign as I came down. 

I was able to do work for stay at Lake of the Clouds also. I had dinner and a good night sleep. 

Day 32 - 19.1 miles

Got started late because the weather was bad till about 9:30am. The rain stopped but is was very windy and cold. I was wearing almost every piece of clothing I had, including gloves. I made it to the Zealand Falls Hut and did work for stay there too. 

Day 33 - 9.5 miles 

Made it a short day to let my body rest after a long day yesterday. Had some good views today. 

It's hard to see but this is a mountain rabbit. 

Chilling at camp. 

Day 34 - 10.3 miles

Beautiful view at the top of Mt Garfield.

Then went up Mt Lafayette, it was very steep. There was 2 miles of the trail on the crest of the mountain. It was a constant view and It was beautiful. 

Made it down to Lincoln, NH. I had heard from some other hikers to go to Chet's place. Chet is a trail angel that has his house retrofitted to provide thru hikers a free place to stay, wash clothes and shower. It is completely donation based. 

There was 18 thru hikers that stayed there the night. 

Day 35 - 8.8 miles

Hiked up Mt Kinsman today. Had a clear 

beautiful day. 

Day 36 - 16.8 miles

Went up and over Mt Moosilauke. This is the last part of the White Mountains. This sign really instilled confidence in me before my climb. 

There were some cool waterfalls going up the mountain, but it made most of the rocks wet. This made the nearly 1 mile vertical climb very difficult. I understood why they put that sign up!

This is on top of Moosilauke. 

Made it to Glenncliff and stayed at Hikers Welcome Hostel. This was a guys house made to accommodate hikers. It was almost a hippie commune. Everyone was very nice. 

This was the hiker area. 

Day 37 - 14.8 miles

Stopped by a campsite to use the privy, it was awesome. It was made to look like a castle and the toilet was a throne. 

And there was a dungeon.....

Day 38 - 17.7 miles

Another great day of hiking. On top of Mt Cube there was an old fire wardens cabin that hikers can stay in. 

And a fire tower you can go up in. Unfortunately is was cloudy when I went up there so I couldn't see much. 

As I was walking down the trail I saw a sign....

Bill is another trail angel and he give hikers free ice cream, water and sodas. This was just what I needed. Here are some pictures of his house. 

He even had a porta potty for us!

Day 39 - 10.9 miles

Easy 10 miles into Hanover. Hanover is home to Dartmouth college. The AT goes right through the town. Everyone is very hiker friendly hear. 

Day 40 - Zero day! 

Had to get some new shoes, mine were falling apart. REI is sending me a new pair but they couldn't get them to me before I leave town. 

Total miles - 442.1

Miles left - 1,743.2

Enjoy!