Flip Flop Hikers: Nero

Showing posts with label Nero. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Smudgy Cheeks Day 89 & 90 (Friday, June 24th through Saturday, June 25th)

Today I only hiked 1.1 miles to get to the road where my sister and brother-in-law were picking me up. There are not as many roads here so I wanted to make sure that they could find me. I met Sprout and Bubbles there too. We are together again.

I was surprised to see my dad drive up! He came to surprise us with trail magic. He brought coney sauce from home and made hot dogs, potato salad, fruit, and cookies. It was really nice to see that and I know the other hikers who stopped appreciated the food!

Tomorrow I plan on resting during my zero and spending time swimming at the hotel! Then we will be back on the trail with Freddy!

Days: 89 & 90
Miles hiked: 1.1
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 735.9
Bear: 1
Chipmunk: 1
Deer: 1
Lizard: 1
Snakes: 4
Toads: 2
Vulture: 1
Zoo Animals: 2 foxes, 1 porcupine, 1 bobcat, 1 turtle, 2 bears

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Smudgy Cheeks Day 69 (Saturday, June 4th, 2016)

I hiked 3.1 miles to Salisbury Connecticut today. I need to pickup a food box to resupply.

It's totally a NERO and I'm going to relax for the rest of the day. I'm almost done with things like laundry, shower, and putting my food away. It feels good to be clean! I am staying at Vanessa's house tonight. She is a lady that houses hikers and has been for 19 years! She is a very nice lady who washes your laundry for you! She doesn't feed me until breakfast though. I'll be happy to get a good meal to give me the energy to get going tomorrow morning.

It was a beautiful hike today

Trees are changing to more evergreens

The Thumb Rock

Trail today

Had to climb up these

Vanessa's House

Day: 69

Miles hiked: 3.4

Total Miles hiked on the trail: 564.3

Bear: 1

Chipmunk: 1
Deer: 1
Lizard: 1

Snakes: 3
Toads: 2

Vulture: 1

Zoo Animals: 2 foxes, 1 porcupine, 1 bobcat, 1 turtle, 2 bears

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Bubbles Day 16 (Tuesday, April 12th)

The David Lesser Memorial Shelter was a beautiful place to stay. We were the only people in the shelter at night (there was a hiker down the hill camping.) It was only nine miles to Harpers Ferry. We had originally planned to go into town, grab our mail drop from the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservatory) headquarters, and be on our way to the next shelter (which is about 8 miles out). We realized that we had scheduled a zero day in Harpers Ferry so we decide to just get a hotel and stay for the night.

The Sprout on the way to Harpers Ferry (entering the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park)!

Only 0.4 more to go!! (taking a break on some steps)

Potomac River

The ATC was pretty cool. We got to take our pictures and I’m officially the 25th flip flopper this year (I’m not sure why Sprout and Smudgy Cheeks are 26 and 27 since they were at the ATC before me!!) It was also really cool because Mayhem was at the ATC. When Smudgy Cheeks showed up, and then Sprout, he knew I wasn’t far behind. He had to get going but wanted to say hi so he walked down the trail until he saw me. This was just the encouragement I needed to finish my hike!! Thanks Mayhem!!!

Smudgy Cheeks, Bubbles, Mayhem, and The Sprout

Man do I want an AT Hammock!

It felt great to reach our goal of making it to the Harpers Ferry ATC!!

The Sprout in front of the ATC Visitor Center

Hiker hunger is the real deal! For the first 10 days (except when we had Coney dogs) my appetite was not very big. After we dropped our packs at the hotel, Jeff and I walked to the pizza shop to order dinner to-go. We walked out with 2-16 inch pizzas, a foot-long Italian sub, a large order of mozzarella sticks, and an order of chicken wings! Then, I was so hungry while we were waiting for our food to be cooked I ate a bag of chips and a Coke!

The hotel had a washer and dryer so I did our laundry and we hung out there for the rest the night. Although it is really nice to take a shower, it is weird taking a shower with short hair. I went to put shampoo in my hair and had enough to clean 2 feet of hair! I LOVE having short hair and I'm thinking of going a little bit shorter.

We are going through our food drop and getting ready to pack for our continued adventure tomorrow.

I'm so happy to see spring blooming!

How old do you think this house is?

The Sprout put his hand in here on purpose. Grrrrr.

St. John's Lutheran Church today

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The Sprout Day 9 (Tuesday, April 5th)

Last night was a really cold night. We stayed at Pass Mountain Hut with three other guys and one girl. We got there early in the day because we only had a four mile day. I tossed and turned most of the night and regretted not putting my tent up once everyone else showed up. The tent would've been warmer too.

We woke up today around 5:45 and were on the trail by 6:30. We wanted to get up early and two of the other hikers were already up so it just made sense to get up and get going.

We went 13 miles today. That puts us at 94.4! It feels so good to be making progress and to be on the trail putting miles in. I'm really glad we did a flip flop hike now that we're out here. We've been hearing stories about the bubble in Georgia. There are just too many people in one spot. We're seeing just the right amount of people.

I was happy to get going today because we were going to pass The Wayside. They're famous for blackberry milkshakes and it's a common stop for thru-hikers. Even as cold as I felt I was going to slam a milkshake and grab something to eat. Sadly, they were closed and don’t open until the end of the week!

Tomorrow is a ten mile day and then we will take another Nero at a hostel in Front Royal. Our food package is waiting for us at the hostel too. We've been talking to a few people that have stayed there and it sounds like a nice place with really cool owners.