Bigger Than the Beard

Here's my obligatory before and after picture. From caveman to CPA! I shaved a couple days ago and finally finished the look thanks @activebarbers's great haircut. #postappalachiantrail #backtotherealworld #bittersweet #whosreadytohikesomemore #Iam #AT2015

Day 119 - 119 days, 4 pairs of shoes, 2189.2 miles and a shitload of poptarts later WE FINISHED THE #AppalachianTrail. The top left was from our first day on the trail and the bottom left was our view of #Katahdin on our hike yesterday. We have come a long way. When we started neither one of us had ever backpacked, but we dove in anyways. Less than four months later we've somehow surfaced, battered, bruised, and tired, but we surfaced. A huge thank you to everyone who helped us along the way. We couldn't have done it without you. Lastly, I want to thank @pistolzpete for putting up with me for all this time. No one else would have been so adventurous, bold and dumb enough to share this experience with me. Thanks brotha! I wouldn't have done it any other way. #APhittheAT #cantbelieveweredone #timetorest #cantwaittoseemyfamily #cantwaittoseemyfriends #mightgetdrunktonight #Maine #thruhike

Day 113 - Saw a fantastic sunrise as we set off to Monson, ME. In Monson we reached the edge of the 100 mile wilderness which means that only 114.5 miles stand between us and #Katahdin! #almostthere #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #Maine #pond #pondsonponds

Day 111 - Had some beautiful mountain views on top of Little Bigelow Mountain. Later on we walked through some swampy areas that looked awesome. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #Maine

Day 110 - 2000 miles!!!!!!! Ahhhhh yeah! That's right, I walked here from Georgia. 189.2 to go. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #2000mileclub #imissmymommy

Day 108 - Left camp around 6AM this morning and caught a glimpse of the #sunrise before hiking into Rangely, ME. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #Maine #highfiveforshowers

Day 106 - I fell behind Atlas and Double Down by about 2 minutes and completely missed the turn off to the shelter on the way up this mountain. By the time I realized I missed the shelter I was too far up the mountain to turn around so I just kept going until I was above tree line. I'm glad I did because it was an awesome view. The bad thing was that it was super windy and I couldn't stay up there so I hiked another 3 miles to the next shelter (partly in the dark). #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #thruhike #AT2015 #thruhike #Maine

Day 106 - We went through the #MahoosucNotch which was probably the most fun mile on the whole trail so far. It was a mile of going over and under giant boulders. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #Maine

Day 105 - We made it to #Maine!!! 13 states down and 1 to go. Wow we have come a long way since Georgia, literally and figuratively. I can't believe that this adventure is almost over. #Katahdin is just around the corner! #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike PS I'm not sure why I don't look that excited in this picture. Maybe I was in shock that we are actually in Maine. Or maybe it was because @pistolzpete tried to get everyone to take their shirts off and we said no lol.

Day 104 - Double Down and I decided to take a dip in a swimming hole by the trail. It was ice cold, but it felt amazing. On a completely unrelated note here's a mini story about what it's like to look like a bum. We went into town today to resupply at a Walmart. On the way out we needed to hitchhike back to the hostel so we took turns asking people coming out of the store for a ride. Yes, we were those annoying people asking for stuff. It was my turn to ask and I asked this lady with her son. She wouldn't even look at me. Straight up ignored me and then held her child close to her. Really made me feel like a hoodlum. Thanks lady. But then we got a ride and now I'm about to eat pizza so life is good. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike

Day 103 - Just realized this sign is impossible to read in my previous post so here it is by itself. It was posted about a mile from the summit of #MtWashington. #NewHampshire #WhiteMountains #thruhike #AT2015 #AppalachianTrail #APhittheAT

Day 103 - After doing a work for stay at Lake of the Clouds Hut we summited #MtWashington around 7:30AM. It was chilly to say the least. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #WhiteMountains #NewHampshire

Day 101 - Cool little spring where we got some water. #AT2015 #AppalachianTrail #APhittheAT #thruhike #NewHampshire #WhiteMountains

Day 100 - Jebus! We've been out here for 100 days?! Time is flying. The previous night we did some work for stay at one of the huts in the Whites. We got a free dinner, a place to stay indoors, and a free breakfast all for doing some sweeping. It was awesome. This was the lake right next to the hut. Straight ahead is #MtLafayette which is being fog blocked. Trust me, it's big. The plan was to climb that sucker but right after I took this picture it started raining harder and then the thunderstorms started. We didn't want to be one of those stories about people who were too cool for school to listen to warnings telling them to stay put, went up on the ridge anyways and then got struck by lightning. Instead we took a nice nearo in North Woodstock, NH and we'll hit the trail again tomorrow. It kinda sucks that we had to take a short day but better safe than sorry. #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #thruhike #AT2015 #NewHampshire #WhiteMountains

Day 99 - I am zee king of the mountain. The #WhiteMountains are no joke. I'm sorry for doubting you mountains. #AppalachianTrail #AT2015 #thruhike #APhittheAT #NewHampshire

Day 98 - The view cleared up right as we were heading down the other side of #MtMoosilauke and I had to post this picture. This was probably one of the best views we've had the whole trip. #AT2015 #AppalachianTrail #thruhike #NewHampshire

Day 98 - We finally made it to the infamous #WhiteMountains! Although I'm not sure if #MtMoosilauke is technically part of the Whites I'm going to pretend it is. We've been hearing all about how we were going to struggle with them but the views would be worth it. The view was definitely worth it but we showed this mountain who's boss. Granted we took a nearo today so this was our only climb, but still we dominated the ~4,000ft climb. #MountainClimbingMachines #AT2015 #APhittheAT #AppalachianTrail #thruhike #NewHampshire