#athike

July 20, 2018...made it to Monson, ME at mile 2076.4 by noon after a nine mile morning. Had to Ford one river. When we got to the road there was trail magic in the form of tasty cakes so we indulged while waiting for a shuttle from Shaw’s Hostel. Last zero day tomorrow (and it’s the town festival day with fireworks) before we hit the trail Sunday (with a prediction of rain ALL week)! 100 Mile Wilderness bring it on!

Anyone starting their thru hike soon? We make this Appalachian Trail ornament to commemorate this super awesome achievement. I can personalize the back with trail names, dates, sections, mileage or whatever is meaningful to you. This is my favorite ornament to make, I love hearing your stories. Good luck hikers, happy trails! #appalachiantrail #thruhiker . . . . . . . . . . . . . #hiker #takeahike #exploremore #goexplore #AT #athike #personalizedgifts #appalachiantrail2018 #forageworkshop #handmadeisbetter #etsymaker #hikerstyle #optoutside #backpackergirl #backpacking

July 28, 2017 This morning we conquered the Mahoosuc Notch (with JD in photo). Known as the hardest and most fun mile on the AT, with lots of rock scrambles over and under boulders. It took us three hours to go the mile but it was fun. Ran into the Bounders, a couple, with their dog, Scout, for about the fifth time. They are traveling north but hiking south by leap-frogging north with two vehicles. One is a huge RV. Found out they live in the Bahamas! After the Notch we had to hike up the Mahoosuc Arm, a steep 1.5 mile, 1600 foot ascent! Made it to Speck Pond Shelter (mile 1918) for a long 5.1 mile day!

July 27, 2017 Had an awful night's sleep in the Shelter because some young hiker decided to get drunk and threw up in the Shelter at 11:30 at night. That's the short version of an awful night! Hit the trail in the morning and made it to the NH-Maine border. Thirteen states completed! That was the highlight of the day! It started to rain in the afternoon and we arrived at the Full Goose Shelter (mile 1912.9) soaked and cold after a long 9.6 mile day with lots of wet, steep rock face ascents and descents!

July 26, 2017 It is always hard to leave a Hostel, especially a nice one as is the case with the White Mountain/Rattle River Hostel. But we headed out this morning for what turned out to be a relatively moderate hike to Gentian Pond Shelter (mile 1903.3) for a 11.8 mile day! Yes, folks, that photo of Mike on the trail with all those rocks is an example of what the trail has been like and that's not the steep version! Sleeping in the Shelter because there is a threat of rain tonight and a Boy Scout troop showed up before us and took most of the tenting spots!

Survived our wet, cold night and packed up a wet tent and hit the trail early to get to US 2 (mile 1891.5) for our night at the White Mountain/Rattle River Hostel. It was a 12.6 mile day with thankfully no rain! We have less than 300 miles to go and in two days we will enter Maine for the final push!

July 24, 2017 We had a nice dinner with Ringer and Jailbird last night at Mr Pizza. Headed out this morning in the rain (it was hard to go since most were taking a rainy day zero). It rained lightly all day and we stopped at the Carter Notch Hut for a bowl of soup to warm up before pushing on to a stealth spot near Zeta Pass (mile 1878.9) for a wet and cold 8.5 mile day. The photo is us bundled up and eating "indoors" with our wet clothes hanging up in the tent!

July 23, 2017...had an easy 4.7 mile day to Pinkham Notch (mile 1870.4) and hitched a ride into Gorham. Got a ride in about five minutes from a guy from Maine who owns an old ambulance with "Ski Bum" on the side! Staying at The Barn Hiker's Hostel for the night, did laundry and showered (both overdue after six days on the trail) and ate lunch at Subway. Resupplied at Walmart and heading out shortly for a burger and a beer! It's supposed to rain tomorrow and our original schedule was for a zero day but we have decided to make up the extra day we spent on the Presidents and chance it and head out to tackle Wildcat tomorrow! If all goes well we will only be out two days, one night, before hitting US 2 (3.5 miles away by road, 21 miles by AT trail) and be at another Hostel Tuesday night. The weather this past week was FABULOUS (very thankful for that) but the cell coverage was poor so that's why there was no blogging all week! As always, thanks for following us on this journey!