The days are really blending together, if I didn't write up these summaries each night I wouldn't be able to remember what happened each day. It was raining yet again when I woke up, so I stayed in the hammock until 7:30 am. I finally packed up camp and was on the trail, in the... Continue Reading →

Another early morning out of town and we started our way up the hill. The rocks are starting to get a little more serious, but nothing crazy yet. About a mile before my lunch shelter the skies opened up and poured. I was drenched for 20 minutes before I got to the shelter and was... Continue Reading →

Pennsylvania has a reputation among hikers for being rocky, the kind of rocks that will wreck an ankle. So far, it hasn't lived up to the reputation - I'm sure I'll find the rocks soon enough. It's mostly been flat and I made decent time over the first 11 miles with my hiking buddy of... Continue Reading →

I stumbled across the official 2019 halfway marker about 0.5 miles after leaving the shelter this morning. I'm glad that I didn't miss it entirely. I also found the original halfway point marker of the AT. It poured last night and today was still near 100% humidity so the trail never dried out. Having my... Continue Reading →

Another long day without many exciting things to share. The morning started out with rain that continued to the afternoon. With a little more experimenting and adjusting I was able to get my feet to a point where they seem semi-happy. I found the 2018 halfway sign but must've missed the official 2019 1/2 marker... Continue Reading →

The lack of arch support made my foot pain a lot worse today. The new insoles do a great job for the ball of the foot but almost nothing elsewhere. I tried doubling up the insoles by stacking the new ones on top of the old ones. It felt good, but there isn't enough room... Continue Reading →

The group got together for breakfast at the hotel, it really was energizing to see everyone again. I hope we're able to meet up again before the end of the trail. I picked up my new insoles this morning before hitting the trail, they don't have as much arch support as I'm used to but... Continue Reading →

Harpers Ferry is the town closest to the halfway mark of the trail and there's an Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) branch there. Hikers passing through can register and get a new hiker number, so my goal was to be there before they closed at 5 today. I was on the trail by 8, thinking that... Continue Reading →

It's really exciting that my mileage count is in the 1000's now. I know it's just another 100 mile mark, but for some reason it's a huge mental boost for me. The rest of the tramily only wanted to do 15 miles today, so I left camp around 9am while they were still in bed.... Continue Reading →

I'm really excited to be back on the trail. The shuttle picked us up at 1030 and we were following white blazes again. The whole crew agreed to cover 15 miles today and set off at their own pace. El Dorado's knee is still bugging him and my feet were back to hurting after just... Continue Reading →