Problems with Blogspot

Ive heard from a few people that they have been having trouble commenting on the blog.  One such issue is pressing the backspace key and it freezes the webpage.  I am having similar issues also.  One issue i have is posts not publishing and everything i am writing while making a post just randomly all getting erased and i have to type the entire thing over.  I believe it is a Google issue since they operate blogspot.  One suggestion i was told to say is if you are commenting from a computer type the comment in a word document and then copy/paste the words into the comment box.  Thank you for bearing with the issues and i hope you are enjoying reading about my AT thru hike experience.

Day's 66-69: The Rest of the Shenandoah's

I have finished the Shenandoahs and am in Waynesboro, VA as I am writing this at the end of day 69.  In the Shenandoah's cell service was virtually nonexistent so I wasn't able to keep updating this blog.  I wasnt even able to get a call to go through on my sisters birthday to talk to her.  The Shenandoah's are gorgeous though and it was really an enjoyable spot.  I am adding this to my list of "come back in future list."  When i do come back I am going to drive skyline drive which is 105 miles long and goes through the park.  I will also plan on actually camping in the nice campgrounds they have rather than being a hiker like i am doing now.  I only saw 2 bears and neither let me get close enough to take a picture.  I did get about 20ft from both a 7pt and 8pt buck which was cool.  On day 66 i did 28 miles, day 67 i did 23, day 68 i did 21, and on day 69 i did 21.  The leaves have started to change to the point its becoming noticeable.  Here in Waynesboro i am going to sleep at the YMCA hiker campground area.  It's free and has a little pavilion.  The YMCA also offers thru hikers a free hot shower with soap, shampoo, and towel so I took advantage of that.  After that I walked down to the laundromat to do laundry which is where i am at right now.  After this i am going to go to Mings Buffet which is a famous Chinese buffet among thru hikers.  NOBO's have been telling me about Mings and how good it is since Maine so if it has that good of a reputation it must be good.  One issue that i am facing and will continue to face is hostels are closing for the season.  90 percent of thru hikers are NOBO's and there are so few of us SOBO's that hostels close after the northbounders are done.  The next hostel that is open still is 160 miles from here so that will be my next stop. 

Day 65: Shenandoah's Part 1

Let me begin with an interesting  story from last night.  So I was at a shelter by myself and in the middle of a crazy dream.  Its around 2am and next thing I know someone is waking me up shining one of those big super bright mag lights right in my face.  Thats the last thing i was expecting at 2am when in a shelter by myself on a rainy night is for somebody to be waking me up like that.  It scared the stew out of me coming out of that intense dream.  I sat up in the blink of an eye and was like Huh? Huh? Huh? as i looked around.  Man i haven't been that startled in a long time.  But it ended up being a game warden asking if i had seen a squirrel hunter that had gone missing on the trail yesterday in the area i had hiked through.  I hadnt but with all the rain yesterday i could definitely see somebody slipping and breaking a bone or having a medical issue.  Plus it was hypothermic conditions last night so hopefully they found him.  Poor guy.  But anyways today I did 23 miles and entered Shenandoah national park.  I already saw a bear which was cool; there are supposed to be tons of them here so maybe i will see one that lets me take its picture before it runs off.  This afternoon i hitched into Front Royal, Virginia which was easy i got a ride within 5 minutes and somebody came up to me after i got done shopping at the food lion while i was packing my backpack and offered to take me back to the trail.  Plus i ate lunch while in town at KFC and drank sweet tea.  There aint nothing like southern hospitality and sweet tea.  It sure feels good to be back in the South.  There was a park ranger hanging around the shelter earlier.  There has been a problem bear here that has ripped open 2 tents, stolen people's shoes, and walked right up to the shelter during the day while everybody is there.  So the rangers have to "haze" the young, juvenile bears when they do this.  First they blow an air horn to try and scare it, if that doesn't work they shoot it with a paintball gun, and if that doesn't work they shoot it with a 12 gauge shotgun and rubber pellets.  I want to get paid to shoot a nuisance bear with a paintball gun that would be sweet!  I would aim for its balls, i guarantee you it would never come back.  But the bear didn't show up this evening... i was hoping it would just so i could see it get shot with something.  I guess the people tomorrow night will be the lucky ones.

Day 64: September 25, 2014

Lots of rain last night and today.  It was forecasted to stop around noon but it never did.  I didn't leave the hostel until 9am trying to wait out some of the rain but i had to get moving so i hiked in the rain all day.  I did 22.8 miles today.  Good news though is the terrain was great today.  There is constant elevation change in the form of mountains and there is actually a trail rather than rocks everywhere.  Other good news is my shin splints i had had pop up again the other day didn't act up at all today which is a very good thing.  That zero paid off.  Tomorrow i enter the Shenandoah National Park which is something i have been looking forward to since before i started this trip.  Maybe the weather will clear up and i will see some nice views. 

Day 63: September 24, 2014

Today I am zeroing at Bears Den Hostel in Virginia. I am going to stay off my feet all day, hopefully take a nap, maybe watch a dvd, and rest those shin splints. I am also going to stare at my guidebook for a few hours trying to figure out where I will be each night for the next few weeks. All I have to go off in the guidebook is how many miles I think I will be able to do each day, what I think the terrain will be like each day based on elevation profiles, when I will need to resupply on food and how long I think it will take to do that each time, and the next hostel I hope to shoot for. This will hopefully allow me to figure out some mail drop locations for those of you asking me for them.

Day 62: Three States in One Day

This morning I started out in Maryland. I then moved onto West Virginia (only 8 miles of trail in WV) and ended the day in Virginia. I hiked a total of 26 miles. While in West Virginia the AT goes through the historic town of Harpers Ferry which was really cool to see. In Harpers Ferry is the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) headquarters. The ATC oversees the entire trail so it was kinda cool to visit there. While at the ATC headquarters they took my picture and placed it in the album of all thru hikers and section hikers this year that made it to harpers ferry. I am the 75th SOBO thru hiker to make it there. In comparison there have been 1,267 NOBO thru hikers this year to pass through Harpers. Just shows how big of a difference it is doing a SOBO vs NOBO thru hike. If you look at the ATC website they list the total number of completed thru hikes by year and about 50% make it to Harpers and only 50% of those people finish. On average each year only 1/4 people that start as a thru hiker actually finish. I actually read a few signs about old building and whatnot today but I still had to keep moving. One particularly interesting thing to me was Jefferson Rock which you can see in my photo's for today. Thomas Jefferson thought the rock posed a hazard to the townspeople below so he had 4 pedestals built underneath it so that it would never fall. It wasn't even that big he could have just moved it away from the cliff edge but then again I wasn't around back then so I'm not sure what the circumstances were. I ended today at Bears Den Hostel in Virginia. I am going to stay here tonight and zero here tomorrow. BIG news though, I have 999.7 miles to go!!!! The countdown has begun. I never knew WV and northern VA were going to be as rocky as they are or I would have bought more food and planned for lower mile days. I heard Rocksylvania was the worst of it, Maryland has some bad spots which it does, but nobody ever told me they are just as bad in WV and northern VA. My shin splints came back today making it very tough to do the miles. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned the shin splints before in the blog but I have been battling them since the Whites of New Hampshire. Any place that is super rocky and I do big miles or long stretches without zeroing I get shin splints. I describe the feeling as with every step it feels as though my shin bone is just going to snap in half thats what it feels like. Some days it affects me so much mentally I hope it snaps in half just so I can have an excuse to quit but I try not to think like that. The absolute worst days for me mentally and physically were back in Connecticut and New York. Between the insane heat, humidity, shin splints, blisters, lack of water situation, digestion issues I was having due to using Aquamira (don't think I ever mentioned that one before), and all the other stuff going on in those states I was sooooo ready to quit. Just in case these rocks continue to be bad I am going to plan low mile days for a long time. Maybe try and stick to 18-23ish miles a day. I am not concerned about the shin splints though they have gone away each time in the past I just need to not do big days on rocky terrain and they will go away again. To answer questions to some comments my favorite flavor pop tarts is Brown Sugar Cinnamon. With regards to my shoes I would like them to make it to the end but most likely I will have to buy another pair in about 500 miles.

Day 61: Keepin them big wheels a turnin

29 miles hiked today.  I'm not sure how long i will continue to be able to do these big days with less and less daylight but I will continue to try and keep pushing myself.  Maryland for the most part is a relatively flat state with easy hiking but there are portions that are very rocky.  Every now and then I came through historic areas which was cool.  One was the original Washington monument.  There was another cool one which was the War Correspondents Memorial.  There were also some old battlegrounds and stuff.  I was in such a big hurry today though i didn't read any signs just took pictures.  The weather today was phenomenal with highs in the 60s and a nice breeze.  Probably the nicest day yet and its only going to get better with fall coming.  Time for bed i'm whooped.

Day 60: Back in the South!

Thanks to those dumb boy scouts last night I had to cowboy camp it.  I hardly slept at all and here is the reason: rattlesnakes mainly but also bears and porcupines.  Pennsylvania is slap full of timber rattlers and copperheads.  Guess what?  They hunt at night.  They are also cold blooded and i was a huge warm spot on the top of a very rocky ridge (rattlesnake friendly area) that had no protection between me and a snake.  So i was on full alert but i eventually fell asleep around 1am.  I set up booby traps around me so in case a snake did come in my proximity i might hear it coming.  The traps consisted of garbage bags and plastic grocery bags lying around me.  I'm still alive though and never saw a snake so that's good.  Today i did a total of 20 miles.  I wanted to go farther but i had trouble hitching into town for resupply.  I spent 30 mins trying and needed to take a break to eat and get off my feet and right then Redbeard and Sardine walked up so they stuck their thumbs out.  15 minutes later a guy in a jacked up diesel f250 pulled over and I was like "heck yeah this is my kinda hitch."  He gave us a ride to Walmart.  After resupply we went to Applebee's for lunch and to watch football.  Sardine and Redbeard are huge football fans and every sunday they nero or zero in a town to watch football.  So after lunch i said my farewells to my two buddies i had just spent the last however many days with which stunk to leave them but hey we all hike our own hikes.  I was able to hitch out of town within 5 minutes of putting my thumb out so that was nice.  My goal was to do the 20 miles and hopefully get to the shelter before it rained but the rain came 2 hours earlier than predicted so i got soaked.  Whatever i'm used to it i guess.  Speaking of weather though i feel very blessed in that i have had mostly phenomenal weather in terms of rain since leaving Vermont.  This afternoon i crossed the Pennsylvania/Maryland border and the Mason/Dixon line.  Thats right, this boy no longer has a Johhny Reb target on his forehead.  I am on home turf now.  Hahahaaaa just kidding i dont care about that sorta thing.  But I do look forward to actually being able to order a real glass of sweet tea again.  No more waitresses looking at me and saying in their best southern accent imitation, "now Darlin, we aint a servin that sorda thang round hare."  Ahhh its gonna be nice to be in Virginia in 2 days i really look forward to that state especially after how boring PA was. 

Day 59: Halfway Done!

Ok i'm gonna skip to the end of the day first.  So Sardine, Redbeard, and I rolled into the shelter which was slap full of boy scouts.  I asked if there was room because i dont have a tent and there is a chance for rain and they said no and i needed to go somewhere else and we got there right as it was getting dark so that means headlamping it.  So we just left because we were ticked.  They had zero respect for thru hikers and thats not the way i remember being taught when i was in scouts.  The ATC runs the entire trail and posts at every trailhead the rules of the AT.  A couple of those rules are if an AT thru hiker comes to a shelter that is full of non thru hikers somebody that has a tent must leave to make room for the thru hiker because we take precedence.  The next rule is if you have a group of like 6 or more you aren't supposed to use the shelters so that others can have room.  That boy scout troop had a lot more than 6 people thats for sure.  A lot of us thru hikers like me rely on the shelters for sleeping which is why they were designed in the first place is for thru hikers and when a group of scouts of all people dont follow the rules of trail that ticks me off bad.  That boy scout troop had tents also so its not like they were tentless also.  So we moved on to the first stealth site down the AT and i am cowboy camping yet again.  Other than that it was a great day.  We only did 19 miles today.  At lunch time I was stopped at a shelter taking a break and there were two overnighters eating lunch also and this was their first day out and they had packed in wraps from a store.  The lady only ate half and gave me the other half because she was full!  It was delicious and I really appreciated her offering it to me.  It was full of all sorts of veggies, ham, salami, and a ton of other good stuff.  After that we went through Caledonia state park and sat around the soda machine like the hiker trash we are but a soda sure tasted good.  Immediately after that there was a road crossing that said free hot meal 2 miles down road at church for hikers and church staff at 5:30pm.  It was only 3 miles more to the shelter so we figured we would get a meal and still have time to make it to the shelter before dark.  Well we tried hitching into town for 20 minutes without success.  At one point two of us had our thumbs out and one person was waving my American flag and people waved or honked but nobody would pull over so we walked it.  We got to the church at 3:30pm which was way early but they had coffee and snacks and a sub for us while we waited for dinner.  Then one lady drove us down to a store where i was gonna get a pack of gum and a pack of pop tarts and Sardine and Redbeard had some Gatorade and the lady bought it all for us!  We then got a huge hot meal at the church.  Dinner was meatloaf, cake, pasta with gravy, and salad.  Then a lady gave us a ride back to the trail!  So it was a pretty awesome day other than that dad gum boy scout troop.  Plus I passed the halfway mark for 2014 several miles into the day.

Day 58: Friday September 19, 2014

There were tons of trains last night.  Literally every 10 minutes one would go by until about 12am then it died down to about every half hour.  They were really loud too so I didn't get much sleep.  Today I hiked with Redbeard and Sardine again 23 miles.  Nothing interesting to see today just walking through the woods until we got to Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  There was an AT museum there which was cool to look at and since the general store was closed on Fridays a guy at the park offered to take us to a convenience store 6 miles away and back for free.  I bought some ice cream and a soda which hit the spot.  We sat around the AT museum for a couple hours and were the biggest attraction in the whole park.  People were so interested in talking to us since we are thru hikers and finding out what its like on the trail.  It was kinda nice to get to talk since we hadn't seen a single soul all day until we got to the state park which was 20 miles into the 23 mile day.  Right after the park is the halfway sign for the trail but its from a couple years ago so were not officially halfway yet.  But tomorrow i will pass the official 2014 halfway mark!  Eventually we moved on to a shelter and hit the sack.  No trains around here so I should sleep good tonight.  Having my sleeping bag back is sooooo nice.  No more sleeping cold at least for a while hopefully.

Day 57: 9/18/2014

So yesterday i forgot to mention how i realized my fuel canister was out of fuel and the only place in town that sells them was sold out.  So I talked to Redbeard and Sardine to see if I could hang with them for a few days until i can get to the next store that sells fuel and use their fuel because they had tons.  They were all for it so today i hiked with them today.  We don't exactly hike together all day together just parts.  We all have our own paces and take breaks at different times so its kinda a big flip flop all day.  We did 25 miles out of Duncannon today to a campsite.  I am cowboy camping seeing as I don't have a tent but that doesn't bother me.  The only potential issue is this camping area is right next to some train tracks and i have a feeling there are gonna be a lot of trains tonight.  It was relatively easy hiking today with lots of farmland hiking which is my favorite kind of terrain.  I love the rolling hills of corn, hay fields, or whatever.  Its just gorgeous to me.  I also saw my second wild porcupine today.  He walked out on the dang trail right in front of me and stuck his quills out.  I gave him a few minutes and he didn't move so i took a lunch break and he was gone when i came back.  I couldn't exactly go around him the trees and bushes around the trail were so thick.  Just to let you all know I appreciate you all commenting on the photos and blog posts it is nice to see what people think of this and to know people are actually looking at them.

The Doyle

The Doyle was built in 1905 by Adolphus Busch aka the man who started Anheuser-Busch.  It essentially hasn't changed much since he built it.  The current shape its in is pathetic but its heyday has come and gone.  Duncannon, PA just doesn't get the visitors like it used to I imagine.  Besides the restaurant patrons nobody but hikers come to The Doyle any more. Looking around though I get a feeling like this was a really Ritzy place at one point.  For 25 bucks i am happy i got a shower, easy access to a post office and restaurant as well as the salon, a private corner room that has two windows, I got to resupply on food at the grocery store, and I got a bed with two pillows.  The beds not the most comfy but its better than my sleeping pad.  I did check for bed bugs and didn't see any.  Overall I can see why there is no sense in restoring this place due to how it doesn't make money like it used to.  Its sad to see this historic 109 year old hotel fall to pieces but that's life I guess.  Ohhh yeah you can tell this hotel existed in another day and age because it reeks like cigarette smoke in the halls and giant staircase even though there has been a no smoking policy for many years. My room doesn't stink though so that's what is important to me.  I posted some pics of the place to my photo account so be sure to check them out.  Also, check out the photos of the still in use old school fire station and vintage Mack fire truck.  The truck was gorgeous and is still in use to this day even though they have a newer ladder truck also.

Day 56: 9/17/14

Last night got really chilly thats for sure and a cloud ended up settling on top of the shelter with a breeze blowing in which made things worse.  That space blanket sure helped but it was still cold so I barely slept.  But I survived and have my sleeping bag now so its all good.  There were three others at the shelter last night and I apologized to them beforehand if I kept them up due to the space blanket and how loud it was.  It was a big shelter rated for 16 people though which let us be spread out and the two SOBO section hikers Mr. Mean and Wedding Walker were up in the loft and a SOBO thru hiker named Sweet Puddin, who I had passed a few miles before the shelter, and I were on the first floor.  It was 11 miles to Duncannon and I got here at 10:45am so I got breakfast at a diner then checked into my room at The Doyle.  I got a haircut today which feels great!  Before i took a shower today I realized my hair was so long, sweaty, oily, and dirty it could stand up on its own which is crazy.  So i got it all shaved off.  The pics below are before/after photos.  The other three hikers from last night rolled into town after I did and we all ate lunch together at the restaurant here at The Doyle.  From left to right in that photo is Wedding  Walker, Mr. Mean, Sweet Puddin, and Sharkbait (me before my haircut).  Later in the day two other thru hikers I had stayed at a shelter with two nights ago showed up.  Their names are Redbeard and Sardine.  So it was nice being able to talk to others here at The Doyle.

Day 55: Duncannon Here I Come Baby!

My body felt a little better today and I was up to doing a big day again.  It was 31 miles to a shelter and I finished at 7:05pm.  I hate finishing after dark so it makes me happy that i finished just in time.  This puts me 11 miles away from Duncannon where my sleeping bag awaits me.  I just have to survive tonight.  Its supposed to get down into the low 40s tonight so I broke out my emergency space blanket for when i need it later.  I am writing this at 8:30pm so it isn't cold enough for it yet.  Let me tell you what these days are getting so short it is tough to do big miles any more.  Im not sure what I will do but maybe just stick to 20 somethings if shelter spacing allows for it.  I got two things that are good news though.  Number one is I passed the 1000 mile mark first thing this morning.  Second is I think Rocksylvania has finally ended!  This morning there were a couple bad sections but then it chilled out.  The trail will always have some rocks I am in the mountains after all but at least the horrendous rocks are done.  In Duncannon there is an old hotel called The Doyle.  It is very old and run down but it is essentially a thru hiker tradition to stay there so I am going to.  Its only 25 bucks too and i want a shower.  I will do a post just on The Doyle it is going to be a trip...  Its time for bed now. 

Day 54: Rocksylvania Never Ends

Holy cow last night got cold.  I think it was in the lower 40s.  I hardly slept at all I was so cold.  My sleeping bag is gonna feel sooooo nice when i get it back.  These rocks are never ending and annoying.  I had the choice to either do 19 miles or 31 miles based on shelter spacing.  Seeing as how I am hurting from all these rocks and the 40 mile day as well as hardly sleeping last night i chose to do the 19.  Moral was low today but hopefully it will improve upon reaching Duncannon.  I am sleeping in the loft of a big shelter tonight.  There are 2 other SOBO's here so it was nice talking to them a little.  Other than them i only saw 2 people today.  Its pretty lonely out here but I knew it would be like this when I chose to do a SOBO thru hike rather than a NOBO which is party central from Georgia to Maine.  Tomorrow I have the choice to hike 13 or 31 miles due to shelter spacing so I am gonna hopefully do 31 which will put me 11 miles outside of Duncannon.  I will get to town on 9/17/14 it looks like. 

Day 53: September 14, 2014

After doing 40 yesterday i slept in a little and took my time today.  Putting on cold, wet shoes this morning really stunk but oh well.  Sometime this afternoon i got to a viewpoint which had an amazing view and it was sunny so i sat there for over an hour drying my socks and shoes.  I ate some snacks and worked on yesterdays blog post.  Eventually i made my way to Hamburg, PA where i walked a 2 mile roundtrip to walmart for resupply.  After that it was 9 more miles to a shelter.  I did a total of 23 miles today.  I didn't get to the shelter until 7:25pm which is after sunset.  These continuing rocks are annoying and painful.

Day 52: Rocks, Rain, and Miles

So i checked the weather forecast last night and wow i did not realize it was going to get as cold as quickly as they are predicting.  Today was forecasted to be all rain with temps never going above 61 with a cold front and after that every night in the mid to low 40s.  Yeah i dont think i can handle that with my current sleep system and my mummy bag is in the post office120 miles away in Duncannon, PA.  So i got this crazy idea that maybe i can do 120 miles in 4 days to limit the amount of nights i potentially have to sleep cold.  This morning i hit the trail at 4:15am in hopes to make it the 16 miles to the bottom of Lehigh gap before it rained.  Lehigh gap for SOBO's is a 1000 ft near vertical downhill boulder scramble and smooth granite slab.  It is renown as one of the toughest ascents/descents on the trail.  The trail between the shelter and the gap was easy as it crosses a superfund site.  From 1898 to 1980 there was a zinc smelting plant that let out toxic emissions i guess and it destroyed all vegetation on the mountain and polluted the ground. Well 2 miles before i got to the descent of Lehigh Gap it started raining.  I would not recommend to anybody ever to attempt that descent when wet... ever.  I made it down safely though and crossed the river to the other side of the gap.  It stopped raining just long enough to snap a picture of the mountain i descended.  If you want to see pics of the trail there look it up on Google because i didn't take any pics while it rained.  After that it continued to rain until 5:00pm.  I didn't get to my destination of Eckville shelter until 8:15pm.  That is 16 hours of hiking and I completed a total of 40.9 miles.  I wont lie it hurt to go over that many miles with how many rocks are on the trail and how wet/slippery it was today.  I believe i am out of the worst of the rocks though so thats good.  The reason i did 40 miles was this shelter is privately owned and is behind a guys house.  It has running water, is free to hikers, and more importantly is fully enclosed so I won't be in the wind since a cold front did just go through.  I will continue to push on to Duncannon because i really miss my down mummy bag.  I just want to curl up in it and not have to be concerned about being cold.  Tomorrow wont be as big of miles.  I have to go into Hamburg to resupply and i am going to try and find a sunny place to dry all my socks and shoes since they are soaked. 

Day 51: Rocksylvania

Today was my first day of hiking in the very rocky portion of Pennsylvania otherwise known as Rocksylvania.  To be honest it wasnt that bad.  Nothing near as bad as Maine was.  Yes, the rocks do twist your ankles and pound your feet as well as slow me down but i am used to that by now.  I didnt take any pics of the rocks today just one of a very beautiful piece of flat trail that had no rocks.  The nice thing is other than a steep ascent/descent into the occasional gap every 15-20 miles Pennsylvania is as flat as it gets.  I never broke a sweat today its that flat.  Pennsylvania is a long flat ridge walk essentially but there are trees on both sides so there aren't a ton of views.  Its not exposed basically.   16 miles into the day i came to Wind Gap where i had mail magic from my cousins Travis and Kristin.  Thanks y'all!!!  The beef jerky was the best part it is a delicacy out here because its so expensive.  After that i went to the dollar tree to resupply for the rest of my 3 day stretch.  I also stopped by Burger king for a late lunch.  I didn't feel like hitching in or out of town today so it was a 4 mile round trip road walk.  After town and a short climb it was another easy and rocky 4 miles to the shelter.  Add another 1 mile roundtrip to get water and that makes 5 miles that dont count toward my overall total.  I only did 20 miles that count today.  Big news though is i passed the 900 mile mark! 

I have been asked to photograph and explain what i eat on a daily basis so i will start with dinner but continue over the next few days to explain different meals.  For dinner i do 1 package of ramen noodles and something sweet like pop tarts, cookies, or a honey bun.  Healthy right?  I cook the noodles with my ultralight .9 L titanium pot, a snowpeak litemax titanium stove, and it is hooked up to a 4oz can of isobutane canister fuel.  I light it with a lighter.  It varies how long i can go on one can of fuel.  It depends on the water temperature, ambient temperature, wind, and how much i use it (once or twice a day depending if i have oatmeal).  I have gotten up to about 2 weeks on one can.  I think typical though is 18 uses... i think... shoot im justguessing.  I guess i will start keeping track.  The system works great for me and i have had no issues other than my lighters breaking back in the hundred mile wilderness when i started.

Days 49-50: Double Zero in Delaware Water Gap

A double zero here in DWG was much desired after that last stretch.  I did over 350 miles in 15 days which is an average of 23 miles a day which is insane considering the heat wave and lack of water in parts.  My feet have healed a lot during these past two days which is what i wanted.  The church hostel here actually has a 2 night limit and i was gonna stay at the Pocono inn here in town which is about .25 miles away because it was a rate i could afford but the pastor told me to avoid the place because there has been human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, and other bad stuff going on.  I heard some horror stories and met some hikers that stayed there and they said to avoid the place at all costs.  It is right next to I-80 so it is in a prime location for those kinds of activities.  But meanwhile the pastor asked why i wanted to double zero and i told her about my feet and she said i could spend a third night here if i wanted so thats what i am doing.  I read the book "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson while ive been here which was interesting to read and i will leave it at that.  Eating a bunch of town food has been nice.  The best meals i had here were french toast breakfast and a prime rib sandwich for dinner.  The pics on this page show a sample of what i eat in towns.  Seeing as the only laundry facilities in town are at the Pocono Inn i decided to use a couple buckets and some liquid detergent sitting around the hostel to wash my clothes and boy were they dirty after that last stretch.  I hit the trail again tomorrow on day 51 (9/12/14). 

In response to a few comments yes i know my grammar and punctuation is bad i dont really care at least while i am on the trail.  When i get done with this journey i will definitely get my act back together.  To another comment A-Bomb got his name because his real name is Aaron and that was a longtime nickname he has had and he has a tatoo of an atom bomb on his chest and i guess some hiker saw it when he started and gave him the trail name unknowing that it had been a longtime nickname.  Ironic huh?  With mail drops for that comment sorry i cannot remember who made it.  Thanks for having interest the best way to get an address to send it to would be to call my father who will give you my phone number or email.  If you dont have his phone number email trevorkmonroe@gmail.com

I dont check that email often so it may take me a week to respond.  I will not put my main email address or phone number on the public internet.  Also, i was told about a person that is reading this (i am remaining vague to keep you anonymous) that wants to meet me later down the trail.  I have been unable to find your comment you left so if you could contact the email above or get my personal email from the family member of mine that you know and contact it that would be great.  I appreciate the offer and will definitely take you up on it if i am in your area when you are there.

Day 48: Made it to Pennsylvania!

Today I hit Pennsylvania!  I did 31 miles to DWG where there is a church hostel.  I got my first real shower in 15 days and 350 plus miles which is when i was in Manchester center, VT.  It was a very enjoyable day and i hiked by myself because none of the SOBO's at the shelter had a desire to do more than 18 miles.  I woke up very early and hiked to a fire tower 1 mile down the trail and saw an awesome sunrise.  The picture affiliated with this post is what it looked like... to bad it darkened the nearby terrain though.  I finished the 31 miles by 6pm which was incredibly fast.  I went to the diner in town and got a burger which was good but i could hardly finish it my stomach has shrunk so much.  Here's the shocker though i weigh 145 lbs.  I lost 15 lbs in 15 days.  I am sooo skinny my waist must be down to a 29-30".  To be honest though i knew this would come eventually.  I am doing great though compared to most other SOBO's that look like they came out of a Nazi concentration camp so i dont look as bad as most.  I will zero in town for 2 days to rest up before i hit the trail again.

Day 47: September 8, 2014

My feet are feeling so much better today!  The Columbia shoes i have dont rub at all on the blister areas of my heels so its nice to be able to walk again.  This morning i made the trek back to town and got my shoes from the post office and mailed my Merrells to my folks house.  A little surprise from my mother was some of her homemade chocolate chip cookies!!!  Thanks mom.  I grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the deli and went back to the shelter where A-Bomb had been waiting for me.  A cool thing was on the way back from town I saw a porcupine.  That's the second one i have ever seen in my life and first i have seen in the wild.  We didn't get on the trail until 9:15am but we only had 18 miles to do so there was no rush.  Right at lunch time we passed High Point state parks visitor center where they give a free can soda to thru hikers.  No NOBO's had ever talked about NJ being rocky but it is.  It is very flat but rocky in portions and is a prelude to what Pennsylvania will be like.  Water still isnt readily available but the cooler temperature during the day helps a lot.  I believe we finished the day at 4pm.  We hauled butt.  It was nice hiking with A-Bomb all day its not often i get to talk to people because i hike so fast.  Tomorrow i have a big day planned with 31 miles to Delaware Water Gap, PA.  

Days 44-46: New York and New Jersey

Mileage for day 44 was about 20 i think.  Day 45 was 26 miles and day 46 was 18 miles.  I am writing this at the end of day 46 (9/7/2014).  I have been at God's mercy for water there just hasn't been a drop on the trail everything is dry.  There are a couple businesses or houses within half a mile of the trail that let hikers fill up on water that i pass each day which is the only way us thru hikers have been able to survive.  They are listed in the guidebook which is how i know where they are.  But to make it between them i have to carry 3-4 liters which is insanely heavy but thats what i gotta do to not get dehydrated.  The hiking in NY really drained me due to the heat and water situation.  Doing 15 miles felt like i was doing 30 thats how bad it was but thats over now.  It wasn't just me feeling this way either i have met some more SOBO's that said the same thing.  On day 44 the trail goes through Bear Mtn. Bridge zoo which they let thru hikers in for free.  The cool things I saw there were 2 bears and a porcupine which was a first for me.  I crossed into New Jersey on the evening of day 45 and a cold front moved through last night so the temperature finally dropped.  Highs are now in upper 70's rather than around 90 which made today's hiking so much more bearable.  I have to backtrack half a mile in the morning and walk another half mile over the border back into NY which is where i have a mail drop waiting for me in Unionville, NY.  The post office isn't open on Sundays which is why i couldn't get it today. In it is my already broke in pair of Columbia shoes that i like a lot.  The replacement Merrells that i got back in Cheshire, Massachusetts have held up phenomenally well except i keep getting new blisters in the same spot on the side of the heel on both feet which is really painful.  I foresaw this issue a while back which is why i had my mom send the Columbia's to me.  I wont let the Merrell's go to waste though i will send them to my parents house and wear them when i am done with the trail.  I have been hiking with another SOBO i met named A-Bomb.  Today was our second day ending in the same spot together.  He started almost a full month before me so i wont be surprised if i get ahead of him here soon.  There are actually 7 of us SOBO's here at the shelter tonight which is the most i have seen in one spot ever i think.  Being able to talk to people again has been a big mental boost which is much needed after going through NY.  I should be in Pennsylvania in 2-3 more days of hiking.  Ohh yeah, i want to give a big thank you to the Larkin's for the mail drop i got on day 44.  I read all the comments on the papers and really enjoyed reading them.  The comments and quotes really were a big mental boost for that day which i cannot stress how important that is.  This trail is impossible for me to fully describe how tough it is mentally... it is just beatdown after beatdown every day but I am hanging in there and having a big support group really is nice.  I will get pics uploaded.  There aren't many from NY.  That state was so brown from how dry it was and the views weren't all that spectacular so not a ton of pics there but NJ has been nicer so lots of pics from here.

Lessons from the Trail: Keep Your Mouth Closed!

This was hard to adjust to but i now essentially breath in and out through my nose.  The reason is how many bugs i have swallowed.  The first person on the trail each morning going each direction has to clear the spider webs from the trail until you pass each other.  Back when there were other people hiking i was always on "spider web clearing duty" because i was first out of bed 90 percent of the time  Well now there is nobody on the trail so the past 2 days i am walking into spider webs all day long.  After swallowing a bunch of spiders, mosquitoes, and flies back in Maine i learned to keep my mouth shut.  I am sure many of y'all can relate to this from some point in your life.  I think the worst is when you are riding a bike because you cant see them coming and they just nail the back of your throat causing you to cough.

Day 43: Dreaming of Water... (9/4/14)

Still hardly a drop off water in NY.  I slept in this morning seeing as how I only have 20 miles planned.  I am able to hike 3-3.5mph easily when in good health so I was in no rush to get up.  I dont think I hit the trail until 9am judging by the suns position in the sky.  I cannot remember whether i mentioned this or not previously but back in Manchester Center, VT i sent my tarp tent and 20 degree down sleeping bag home.  I purchased a 50" x 60" fleece blanket from Walmart and a silk sleeping bag liner from EMS.  Overall it saved me about 4 lbs and a lot of room in my backpack.  It has been so warm at night doing this minimalist thing is really paying off.  On cool and windy nights i still sleep in every piece of clothing i own though to stay warm... including my rain jacket.  I am hoping I can get by without my sleeping bag for another 3 weeks.  I enjoy sleeping in shelters so I am not planning on getting my tent back.  This limits me though as to how many miles I can do based on shelter separation mileage.  There are no NOBO thru hikers any more so I have no competition for shelter space.  To be honest there aren't many people at all any more now that school is in session and labor day is gone.  I think today I passed by a total of 6 day hikers thats it.  It is gonna get very lonely very quickly.  I haven't seen another SOBO in over 3 days.  Today I only did 20 miles.  I am staying at the Greymoor Spiritual Life Center ballpark picnic shelter.  It is owned by the St. Francis of Assisi Friars i believe and they let hikers sleep in the picnic shelter for free.  There is an outdoor cold water shower (all i did was wash off my head because i dont have a towel and its was cooling down for the night so i didn't  want to get cold), porta podies, an outdoor sink, and water spigot.  The best part though which I was not expecting is there is a power outlet!!!  I was almost out of battery power i have gone so long without being able to fully charge up.  I have been super conservative with my phone and kept it off most of the time.  I was actually going to get a motel room here in the next couple days because i was at the point i had no juice left.  So now I should be able to make it to Deleware Water Gap, Pennsylvania before i stay anywhere.  There is an actual hostel there which will be the first since Vermont.  The "see how long Sharkbait can go without a real shower or laundry marathon" continues!  I reek by the way.  I think when i get there it will have been 2 weeks without shower or laundry.  I have been and will continue to be taking it easy on miles due to the shelter hopping situation and mail magic i have coming.  The post offices have very limited hours they are open so i have to time it perfect when i get there.  Tomorrow morning i get one in Fort Montgomery, NY and on Monday morning I get one in Unionville, NY.  After that i dont have any scheduled for a few towns so I will be able to crank up the miles again hopefully.  I make it sound like mail magic is hindering me but its not i really appreciate those of you that are sending me food or are expressing interest in doing so in the future.  One last thing, I appreciate any prayers for my blisters on the side of my feet .  They are starting to heal i think and i have actually been able to walk the past 2 days without being in misery from the pain for the most part.  I will continue to treat them until they are gone and hopefully that will be soon.

Day 42: New York

Let me begin by recapping Southern Massachusetts and Connecticut.  They are buggy and have overall easy terrain but with some very steep mountain climbs.  Massachusetts has been my favorite state thus far which will sound crazy in comparison to how gorgeous Maine and New Hampshire are but I really liked Massachusetts.  Now here in New York it is still buggy and hot.  It has been 85-90 degrees during the day for the past 5 days i think.  Water here in NY is rare.  A lot the normal water sources are dry.  Thank God for the 2 times there was trail magic today at road crossings in the form of gallon jugs of water.  Ohh yeah and the few water sources there are all seem to be polluted.  A lot have signs next to them listing the bacteria in the water and others you can just look at it.  I treat all the water i drink anyways but hopefully i dont get sick.  Finding good water is gonna be really tough for a while it looks like.  On another note there are deer everywhere in NY which is cool to look at but must stink for NY drivers.  Ohhh how I hope I finish the trail in time for deer season.  Tonight I am staying at a shelter called the Ralph's Peak Hiker Cabin.  I believe it is privately owned as it sits on a private residential lot all by itself.  It is free to stay at and has tons of tenting grounds and 6 wood bunks inside with a desk also.  In back is a picnic table with a bunch of patio chairs.  There is a well with a hand pump and guess what... its contaminated also.  I am the only person here tonight.  The coolest thing about the shelter though is you can order pizza!  So i ate a large cheese pizza, some garlic knots, and had a pepsi.  I am going to sleep good tonight!

Days 39-41: Connecticut

I am writing this on the afternoon of Day 41 (9/2/14) in Kent, CT at an ice cream place where i am charging my phone also.  These past few days there were a lot of people on the trail with it being Labor Day weekend.  It has rained some in the evening but i have been able to avoid it by getting to a shelter in time.  I have only been doing 18-22 miles these 3 days so I didn't get to Kent to early.  The original plan was to get here Monday and pick up my Mail Magic which is my name for a mail drop or care package i just want to put an AT sound to it.  Well i realized the post office wasn't going to be open Monday so I slowed it down.  Thanks for the package mom it was great!  I saw my first deer of the trip on day 40.  It was 200ft away on a ridge and pretending to shoot it with my trekking pole as my rifle and letting out the loudest gosh darned BANG you've ever heard from a human voice made me feel a lot better.  I got a blister on both feet on the outside of the heel but below the ankle ball.  Right where the foot pad comes up the side of the foot.  Well the blisters are both underneath a callus which stinks because i am having trouble taking care of them like i would normally treat a blister and they hurt like a son if a gun.  I picked up a few things at a pharmacy here in Kent that will hopefully let me take care of them.  I could use prayer though because every little step is miserable.  I will cross into New York here in a few hours which means 5 states down and 9 to go!!!  Ohhh yeah I reek... i haven't had a shower since Manchester, Vermont.  I think i was there 6-7 days ago.