Month: October 2017

Day 59 (101717)

4:45PM Start Day 59 (101717)

•4:45PM (ZERO DAY)
•8:00PM Sleep at Tara’s in NJ
•7:00AM Wake up, eat breakfast, pack
•1:35PM To trailhead
•1:50PM On Village Vista trail head
(Add .8 for walking up
side trail back to AT)
•2:10PM On AT (Mile 819.9)
•4:45PM (Estimate) NY/NJ Border
(Mile 823.6)

4:45PM End Of Day 59
APPROX 3.7 Miles
(Add .8, Village Vista Trail)

Day 57 (101517)

**Facebook Post 101517 at 10:20AM**

Crossing the Hudson!!!!

**Facebook Post 101517 at 9:06PM**

New Jersey less than 25 miles.

 

4:45PM Start Day 57 (101517)

•4:45PM (Estimate) Bog (Mile 794.4)
•5:45PM William Brien Memorial Shelter (Mile 796.2)
•6:45PM Stream (Mile 798.3)
•8:15PM Arden Valley Road (Mile 800.4)
•7:00AM Wake up, pack
•8:00AM On trail
•9:15PM Surebridge Brook (Mile 802.2)
•1:00PM (Mile 807.7)
•3:30PM (Mile 811.8)
•4:30PM Lakes Road (Mile 814.2)
•4:45PM (Estimate) Trail Junction
(Mile 814.9)

4:45PM End Of Day 57
APPROX 20.5 Miles

 

Day 55 (101317)

**Facebook Post 101317 at 11:36PM**

Fear No Evil

So, between Fox sending me updates as to all the weirdos to watch out for on the trail, and the ever present gut feeling I am supposed to go by when I first meet someone, but may or may not be accurate, sometimes I feel like I am missing something. I think they call it FEAR.

I’m not sure why as I Parkour over wet rock on the edge of a cliff, I can be filled with anxiety about loosing my teeth, breaking a leg, or falling 60 feet, but I still show up and do it. Being a woman solo hiking through the backwoods of states where I have zero familiarity, I somehow loose that healthy feeling of fear to a large degree. Maybe something is broken in me. Maybe I’ve been hiking too long. Maybe I have delusions of grandeur where I just believe somehow if some crazy jumps out of nowhere and tries to kill me I’m capable of escape or overcoming them with my Wiley ways. Who knows?

What I do know is the older I get in general, the more fear I loose. Be it meeting strangers in the night on a dark trail, walking highways alone for miles seeking resupply, or even at home going through motions of every day living, there are things to be fearful of, yet a lot of times it never even crosses my mind. Inanimate objects like wet rock do keep me on edge, but the fear of being mugged or worse somehow slips my mind entirely. Don’t think people all around me don’t try to bring this up, they do. Friends and family like to make sure I’m aware I could potentially get hurt. Thanks guys… I got it. At times, I will even have interesting encounters on trail, where I think to myself, maybe I should have been scared right there. What’s wrong with me? Why didn’t I freak out more?

For instance, last year I was walking through the Smokies at around 10PM, alone in the dark, at top speed trying to get to a shelter to camp. You are not allowed to just camp anywhere in that park. You have to camp at shelters or designated sites. So, being its late and I’m tired as hell, I’m booking it trying to make miles and get to my destination. My headlamp did not have fresh batteries, so I could only see maybe 10-15 feet in front of me, otherwise it was just black. I’m in the zone, huffing and puffing my way up and down mountains, when all of a sudden just out of reach of my headlamp, and directly in front of me, I hear a growl. I can only assume it’s a sizable bear. I stop in my tracks and freeze. I don’t scream. I don’t run. In fact, I’m bizarrely calm. Then I hear it run off, I’m guessing. I heard brush move heavy and fast. I stand there for a moment. In my head I think, if it was going to attack me, it would have already done it. I can’t go back. So, I have to move forward. Clock is still ticking. It’s late. I’m tired. The goal is still the shelter. So, I begin to walk forward, and keep walking. And that was that. I eventually got to the shelter. BUT after this incident, I thought wtf. Why didn’t I react more? Scream? Run? Something. I was afraid, I guess, but I wasn’t at the same time. Analyzing that event after the fact, I wonder about myself sometimes.

Where is the fear?

Which brings me to today’s rant… I’ve mentioned this to several women hikers, and it seems like this happens frequently. Older men say the strangest things to me when I’m on trail. I’m not sure if they are just trying to make small talk or are genuinely concerned for my safety or just freaking weirdos, but…

Young dudes don’t say weird shit to me typically. They pretty much seem comfortable with the idea there are more and more women on the trail hiking solo. It seems normal to them, but… It’s as if at times when I come across men from a slightly older generation they either seemed shocked I’m out in the woods, or I’m out in the woods alone, or I’m just out of my house and not in a kitchen barefoot with babies. Not sure but they always seem perplexed and start saying the weirdest stuff ever.

I mostly get the “Are you alone?” comment. I’m not sure what business of theirs it is if I am or am not, but this is the question I get over and over again. Not sure if they realize it, but asking me if I’m alone is a pretty weird freaking question. (Serial killer wanting to know if I’m an available target kind of question.)

When I come across women on trail, it’s pretty much the last thing they would ask me. We would exchange pleasantries such as, “Hi! How are you doing? Great! Happy hiking! Bye!” That would be pretty much it, unless we sat around and started going on about gear for a minute or two more. But older men like to get weird on me.

After asking if I’m alone, the next question tends to be “Is there anyone behind you? Where are you spending the night? How far are you planning on going today? Where did you camp last night?” Now these follow ups would seem pretty natural I guess, but when they follow the “Are you alone?” question, that’s just weird.

So back to fear… You’d think I would get all sketched out. Nope. Not typically. Usually, I just get annoyed or pissed off and start rebutting the comments, then hike on as if to say, “Catch this, crazy person!”

Here’s one where there was no rebutting though. I’m walking alone in Maine. It’s a pretty cold and still day with an overcast sky. As I make my way up a mountain, in the distance I see this little old man with coke bottle glasses and what appears to be a satchel, not a pack. He’s scruffy, but doesn’t look homeless. He actually looks like he’d be some sort of old farmer type. Blue jeans and a flannel, baseball cap and a beard. In this instance, he does send off some sort of alert in me, mostly because he doesn’t look like he belongs on a hiking trail. No gear, and not the right clothes, and he’s moving slow. Real slow. I am going in the opposite direction, so I get closer and closer with each step. As I do, the image of weird backwoods Maine rednecks I have heard so much about in the past come forward in my mind. To spite the gut feeling this dude ain’t right, I have to pass by in order to proceed, so I just casually say hello and keep moving swiftly. He turns to me and doesn’t return greeting, but asks me if I’m a south-bounder. I say yes, and in this totally creepy voice he squeezes out “Good luck.” For some reason I kept thinking for the next three miles he knew of the serial killers waiting to pummel me as I summited the next mountain top. So fucking strange. Like in a horror movie. I hike on.

I also love the many many many older hiker guys who are going to give me all the reasons why I shouldn’t be hiking this time of year, why I shouldn’t be alone, etc.. Recently after leaving NH, I entered VT. Not long into this next state I pass a north-bounder guy maybe in his fifties. He sees me and says “Are you one of the southbound ladies I keep hearing about?” I’m like, “Well, that depends. What are they saying?” I laugh. He doesn’t tell me, but immediately comes back with “You know Winter is coming. You’re not going to make it. It’s going to get cold. Etc., etc., etc…. Literally, I should have put my hand to my mouth as if in shock and come back with some wiseass remark like “No! Really? OMG! What am I going to do? Maybe I should turn around!!!!!” No. I just give him the eye roll and a “This is not my first rodeo.”

This last one sort of made me chuckle. I am walking fast and I come across two older guys in kilts getting water. They have planted themselves right in the middle of the trail. So, I have to wait for them to gather their stuff to let me by. The older of the two gents happens to be the one who greets me while I wait. He does so not with a “Hello!”, or “How are you?” but (again) the first thing out of his mouth is “Are you alone?” Yeah… Then he asks me if there are any hikers coming behind me. “No”, I say annoyed. (Sound familiar?) “Where are you heading?” (Southbound, obviously, ya yank.) “However far I get, old man.” “Where do you plan on camping tonight?” This odd exchange continues and finally the guy’s friend has their crap out of my way. I bid them adieu and off I trot thinking I didn’t ask you why you decided to go out in the woods wearing a skirt, what gives asking me all kinds of questions? He just seemed bewildered I would be out there alone, with an intention of walking perhaps over 2,000 miles and not be scared for my life. Seriously, I don’t know. Maybe I should be scared. And now we come full circle.

Should I be scared? Well, yeah. Breaking teeth or a leg doesn’t feel good. Walk slowly, look down, think before you step. Getting lost??? It happens, but not to me typically. I know how to use a compass. I bring maps and guides. I’m covered. Serial killers? Yeah, they exist, but am I going to never leave my house because of it? No. Seriously, I’m more likely to get mugged leaving Walmart than walking in the woods. Bears? Sure, sounds scary, but I’m also not the sort of idiot who leaves candy bars in my tent at night. I have a bear bag and line, and I use it when bear boxes aren’t available. Again, not my first rodeo.

I have a theory… I am often accused of being a lot younger than I am when I’m out here. Not because I’m young looking necessarily, but more because I think it’s still pretty unusual a woman my age is out hiking long distance in general. Most of the hikers out here by far are in their twenties. It also goes the other way too, many are retirees. Middle age, forty somethings, are not in the majority. Most are enslaved to a mortgage they need to pay and someone’s college tuition. So, they don’t have the time or money.

Hear me out… I’m guessing most of the men I come across out here think I’m their daughter’s age when they first meet me. So, they think they are either helping or they are pissed my parents let me do this, alone. So, they get confused when I trot up. They want to tell me to go home, but they aren’t my dad. So, instead they ask a lot of weird questions trying to figure me out. Or they start up with the warnings about weather, or getting lost, or whatever… I think they may have my best interest at heart. Like they are actually concerned I might get hurt out here, but they actually have just as much of a chance of that as I do, if you think about it.

Anyway, I think that’s why I get so many weird comments. Just for the record though, it’s a bit sexist. I don’t go around warning young solo hiker men of the dangers of being out here. That would be ridiculous, just like its ridiculous to warn me. I assume before they left their house they probably had some indication of what they were about to get into. We all know what the risks are before we buy expensive gear, train, drive hundreds of miles to get here, etc.. I think it’s pretty obvious what the risks are. And sure, some weirdo might kill me. I might also fall off a cliff. In fact, statistically is think the latter would be more likely.

Hear me… I am perfectly capable of finding my way across state after state lines, walking long distance over huge mountains without the assistance of a boyfriend or male companion, and I’m not dead yet. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it, but I actually am an adult and by being so, I assume the risk. I’m good with it. Really. I am. I choose to die living. Risk is something we face every time we walk out our door. I just like to add a little extra dose of it to my life. Maybe it might be good for me to be a little more fearful, but I’ll work on that right after I finish hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Live fast and take chances ya’ll. Nobody wants to die just watching life happen on TV. Get out there!

4:45PM Start Day 55 (101317)

•4:45PM (Estimate) Taconic State Prkwy. (Mile 760.5)
•6:15PM RPH Shelter (Mile 760.8)
•7:15PM Shenandoah Campsite
(Mile 762.0) Sleep
•9:30AM Fahnestock Trail (Mile 767.2)
•12:00PM Beaver Pond Outlet (Mile 769.8)
•1:45PM (Mile 773.0)
•3:30PM (Mile 776.8) Chapman Road
•4:00PM (Mile 777.6)
•4:45PM 780.2 Appalachian Market
(Mile 780.2)

4:45PM End Of Day 55
APPROX 19.7 Miles

 

Day 54 (101217)

**Facebook Post 101217 at 12:17PM**

Taking a break.

**Facebook Post 101217 at 6:17PM**

Welcome to New York!!!!

 

4:45PM Start Day 54 (101217)

•4:45PM (Estimate) Pastures (Mile 742.5)
•8:30PM Telephone Pioneers Shelter
(Mile 744.0) Sleep
•6:00AM Wake up, pack
•8:00AM On trail
•9:00AM (Mile 746.6) Nuclear Lake
•1:00PM Old Stormville Road (Mile 754.6)
•1:30 NY Rte. 52 (Mile 755.7)
•4:45PM (Estimate) Taconic State Prkwy. (Mile 760.5)

4:45PM End Of Day 54
APPROX 18 Miles
(Add 1 mile for walking to Deli & Pizza)

 

Day 53 (101117)

**Facebook Post 101117 at 4:35PM**

Kent, CT (Mile 722.5)

**Facebook Post 101117 at 8:50PM**

I woke up today, a little over a week after I had gotten back on trail, near a stream. It was cold out and I attempted to tear myself out from underneath my warm down-quilt so I could venture out of my tent and into the darkness at 6:00AM for a pee and to start packing it up. I had been waking up late the last couple days due to lady issues and the increase in rain, but hey, it happens.

The struggle to get moving is pretty much routine at this point, except recently. A change has taken place. I have begun to travel with partners. I’d say traveling with others can sometimes lead to delays, and I won’t say that I haven’t spent a morning or two waiting for everybody to get packed up, but once on the road, we as a team, have been kicking butt.

The two lady hikers I now am acquainted with keep a good pace, and it’s nice to have some company for the brutal days and long nights. Plus, they travel with a very cute dog named Blue. Who, by the way, is an excellent bear deterrent.

About two days into getting back on trail, I joined up with my two new friends who also happen to be traveling south, Erin and Taylor. They flip flopped from McAfee Knob in Virginia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, and started south. I had met them previously, first while passing through Hanover, VT, where we were all shopping at the same grocery store for resupply, ending up outside near the trash around the same time. I asked them if they knew where the rec center was. They didn’t, and after brief conversation, we parted ways.

Later, I ran in to them a second time at the Dunkin Donuts in Cheshire, MA. They were sitting outside snacking and relaxing with their dog. As I left, I noticed hikers so I gave them a wave, but didn’t realize I had met them before. Pushing on into the woods I forgot all about the threesome until I took a break. Taylor, Erin and Blue, the dog, hiked on up and ended hanging out with me while I snacked on fruit chews. After some chat and laughs, it seemed natural that we hike on together, and have been hiking together now for just under a week.

The girls are behind schedule, as am I, so we have been motivating each other to increase miles, chasing the sun. Pretty soon the chilly air and random showers will be turning into full blown snow. Since they are from Texas and I’m from Florida, I don’t think any of us are prepared for that. Although, since beginning our hike together the weather has been kind overall. Rain happens, but in generally insignificant amounts, and the cold has been mild, if even enjoyable. I’d say our only issue is the frequent tick check breaks we have to take for Blue their dog.

It’s been bad. Through MA there were quite a few of those little blood suckers. I even found one crawling on my arm at one point, and another on a pants leg, but CT… CT has been the worst. In fact, as I write this blog, the girls are going over the dog with a fine tooth comb. Last night there were at least 75 on him, and they spent an hour prior going to bed just picking them off him. This morning seems to be a repeat, almost an equal amount of them everywhere on that poor dog. It makes for delays in our schedule, but it also reminds me to check myself. To spite this, we have still been hitting the trail hard.

Today we are walking into Kent for resupply, but the goal is to move into Greenwood Lake, NY, by Sunday evening. It will be hard hiking since surprisingly enough CT is pretty hilly and has been reminding us all of a little Southern Maine with its rocks and climbs. I’d say, even still, we have all been sailing through it pretty flawlessly so far. We constantly remind each other this isn’t the worst we’ve seen and we just keep going.

Like typical hikers, we each have an individual pace, but manage to stay together in the long run. The ladies have even taken to my lack of hitching and riding in cars, and we all walk into resupply together.

It’s funny, I would imagine hooking up with a hiking partner who doesn’t accept rides into and out of towns would be a pain in the butt, but I’m guessing they are more open to the idea because they have a dog and that puts restrictions on where we can stay or eat, someone has to stay with him if we shop, etc.. So I guess that might make them kind of a pain in the ass hiking partners too, but somehow to spite all our issues it works anyway, and we manage to move right past whatever comes up and still hike like bad asses. I love it. Nice job ladies!

My friend Fox is well behind us at this point, but it turns out she too may skip a section and come and join us in NY. I’m still waiting for confirmation from her end. It’s not always the easiest to coordinate a meet-up when you are walking mega miles every day. Half the time, you have no idea where you will be and when. If she says it’s a go though, the more, the merrier.

She’s been having issues traveling solo and has come across a few less than savory male hikers. As the bubble thins, there emerge hustlers, the homeless, thieves and psychotics who pretty much live off the trail full time. When the bubble is in full swing, they tend to blend in, but when it’s not, chances are you might find yourself alone with someone at a shelter or campsite that might not be all that safe to hang with. I myself, haven’t had any issues this year, or in general, but you hear stories passed around campsites and from hikers who have had unhappy encounters.
So, we invited her to hook up with us. I hope she does. I think it may be safer at this point. Hiking with us, she can at least have my company until Boiling Springs, and Taylor and Erin’s until McAfee Knob. Safety in numbers! And besides it would be like we were an all female hiking machine!!!!… Be afraid. Be very afraid. LOL

 

4:45PM Start Day 53 (101117)

•4:45PM In Kent, CT
•6:15PM CT Rte. 341 (Mile 722.5)
•6:45PM Mt. Algo Shelter
(Mile 722.8) Sleep
•4:00AM Wake up, pack
•6:20AM On trail
•10:05AM (Mile 728.5)
•12:00PM Ten Mile River Shelter
(Mile 731.2)
•1:00PM (Mile 732.2)
•2:30PM Deuel Hollow Brook (Mile 734.7)
•4:45PM (Estimate) Pastures (Mile 742.5)

4:45PM End Of Day 53
APPROX 20 Miles
(Add 1.3 miles from Grocer to trail head)

Day 52 (101017)

**Facebook Post 101017 at 9:56AM**

To all my hiking friends:

I will be officially completing the last of my miles in Boiling Springs, PA. If you are in the vicinity or nearby and would like to accompany me as I cross my final miles, please let me know. I’d enjoy reuniting for such a huge hiking moment and the completion of 2,189 miles of goal. It only took two seasons, but who’s counting? LOL

 

4:45PM Start Day 52 (101017)

•4:45PM Guinea Brook (Mile 711.3)
•6:00PM Silver Hill Campsite (Mile 712.3)
•8:30PM Stony Brook (Mile 715.1) Sleep
•6:00AM Wake up, pack
•11:30AM Choggam Brook (Mile 719.8)
•2:00PM CT Rte. 341 (Mile 722.5)
•4:45PM In Kent, CT

4:45PM End Of Day 52
APPROX 11.2 Miles
(Add 2.2 Walk into town, Outfitter, Pizza, Grocer)

Day 51 (100917)

**Facebook Post 100917 at 5:37PM**

Entered Connecticut this afternoon!!!

 

4:45PM Start Day 51 (100917)

•4:45PM US Rte. 44 (Mile 690.7)
•8:00PM Stream (Mile 692.8)
•9:00PM Limestone Spring Shelter
(Mile 694.2) Sleep
•6:00AM Wake up, pack
•8:00AM On trail
•12:45PM Hang Glider View (Mile 702.2)
•1:30PM Sharon Mtn. Rd. (Mile 704.5)
•4:45PM Guinea Brook (Mile 711.3)

4:45PM End Of Day 51
APPROX 20.6 Miles

Day 50 (100817)

**Facebook Post 100817 at**

Sadego’s Rules from the Trail:

•Do not chase shelters.
(Meaning if it’s 1.25, .9, .5, .3, etc., off trail, you don’t need to go there. Skip it and go to a shelter on trail, or camp. (Unless, of course, that shelter has a caretaker who makes you pancakes in the morning.)

•Do not chase views
(You will see so many views. If you have the time, awesome. If not, there is no need to walk 1.5, .9, etc., however many miles down some side trail to see a view. If you just stay on trail and walk a little further, another is coming and it will take no effort to get to.

•Do not chase water
(There is no reason to be walking down every blue blaze attempting to find water. Sometimes things are dry. Walk past a dry spring, keep going. Trust even if you pass four or five, eventually there will be one running and it will be conveniently laid in front of you.)

•Do not take water if you can’t hear it running, if it smells funny, or you see it is heavily discolored or has a lot of particle content. Also don’t take water situated near pastures.

•Do not trust a rock, log, root or board to be dry when it looks dry, not slippery when it could be, or not to move when it just might.

•Bogs can be much deeper than you think.

•Stay in shelters when you know it’s going to rain.

•If it’s hot, camp high on the mountain. If it’s cold, camp low on the mountain.

•For every down, there is an up.

•If you have the information available to you, read up on what’s next, know what’s coming.

•Do not carry too much weight, take the time to customize your gear to fit your weight ratio. Your knees, ankles and shoulders will thank you.

•Weather changes everything.

•The more quickly you accept everything you have with you will be wet at some juncture, the more sane and happy your hike will be.

•Do not panic.

•It’s OK to ask for help.

•It’s OK to take a break.

•You are stronger than you think you are.

•Parkour is an art form highly valuable on trail.

•Have two trekking poles, they may possibly save your life, but at worst your ass.

•Do not camp near roads or in shelters or anywhere where locals like to get drunk and party. Usually they are trashed (meaning have garbage everywhere), and drunk locals plus hikers equals possible bad situation. Remember, they know the lay of the land better than you.

•If you are behaving yourself in the woods it would be rare you should ever have to defend yourself against wildlife, or possibly have to harm wildlife. They don’t care about you unless you are doing something stupid, usually.

•Be kind and others will be kind to you.

•Everyone has a story.

•Never judge a book by its cover. You have no idea who the person hiking up to you is.

•The trail provides.

•Day hikers, Weekend warriors, townsfolk, and tourists love to speak with hikers. They will ask you every question under the sun, and many will attempt to give you advice. Nod politely.

•Asking another hiker about a climb, section, weather, gear, whatever is fine, but remember the answers you receive will be as unique as the individual. Their hike is not your hike.

•”Hike your own hike.” is a term for a reason.

•If the situation or person in front of you gives you any hint of a bad vibe, bolt. You don’t have to tell anyone why you are leaving, where it is you are going, or anything. You owe no one explanations. Trust your gut.

•If you feel like it’s dangerous, its because it probably is.

•Hiker hunger will have you craving strange food, or rather all food, and cause you to over resupply. Keep your head on straight when entering groceries.

•Your feet will feel better tomorrow.

•Always push forward.

•Your mind can make a decision in a millisecond. That doesn’t always mean it’s a good one.

•You can take a million steps forward, but it only takes one improperly placed one to bring everything to a crashing halt.

•If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

•Somedays you will want to quit. Don’t.

•Its going to rain. It’s going to be too hot. It’s going to be too cold. You are going to sweat. You are going to shiver. You will be hungry. You will be tired. You will be dirty. You will miss everyone and everything you know from the world. The struggle is worth it.

•You only live once. Fill it with memorable experiences.

•Go ahead; try the impossible.

 

4:45PM Start Day 50 (100817)

•4:45PM Dirt Road (Mile 670.6)
•9:00PM Glen Brook Shelter (Mile 677.1)
Sleep
•7:00AM Wake up
•9:00AM On trail
•4:30PM Salisbury, CT (Mile 689.8)
•4:45PM US Rte. 44 (Mile 690.7)

4:45PM End Of Day 50
APPROX 20.1 Miles