Bubbles Day 24 (Wednesday, April 20th)

We had a great start to our day.  We had an easy hike into Caledonia State Park.  Hiking past the plants on the way into the park reminded me of being in Florida.   Specifically, Myakka State Park.  Totally crazy since we were in the middle of Pennsylvania and not Florida! There were also giant pine trees.  GIANT.  As in, put your arms around them and you only get halfway around the tree!

When we got to the state park we sat for a few hours and charged our phones.  They were almost out of juice.  We were saving the batteries in case of an emergency.  It was great to catch up with our families.

We walked across a trout stream.  Dad has been trout fishing there and caught his limit!  I talked to a fisherman for about 10 minutes about his gear and fishing.

This is the stream where dad caught his limit!

It was so beautiful!

We also walked past Quarry Gap Shelters today.  It was beautifully maintained and I could tell that the caretaker was passionate about what he did.  He loved his shelter.  He had a sundial, painted ducks inside the shelter, and potted plants.  We really wanted to stay there but we knew we needed to keep walking because it was only six miles from where we started.

Sundial at Quarry Gap Shelters

I really enjoyed my hike today, other than my feet hurting.  I’m looking forward to my visit to REI this weekend!  I just keep thinking, a few more days until I get new boots, I can do this!

The trail was serene

Evergreens are my favorite!

An exciting thing happened today!  Just last night I was planning an epic game of capture the buff and today I captured my first buff!  Actually, as I was hiking down the trail, I found a buff and picked it up! It looked like T-Bone’s.  When I caught up to him at camp I returned it to him.  Even though he hadn’t even realized he lost it, I’m 1-0!!

Another highlight of getting to camp was I biffed it in front of T-Bone and sprained my ankle again.  I went down like a sack of potatoes!!

That night it was only Sprout, T-Bone and me at the shelter.  We were just a happy little family (T-Bone doesn’t know!)  We sat next to the fire, talked to T-Bone, and I told him that he is my BFFF (poor guy!)

I was really on a natural high all day.

Bubbles Day 23 (Tuesday, April 19th)

Happy birthday Rachel!!

It took us awhile to get ready in the morning.  We slept in our tent at Deer Lick Shelter.  We were very happy we decided to stay in the tent because the shelter has carpenter bees in the walls, bzzzzzzzzzz!!  

We were moving slow this morning and spent some time playing with our GoPro.  We took videos and messed around.  We both named each other a different trail name.  I named Sprout The Destroyer because he literally destroyed our dookie trowel (our poop hole shovel).  He called me Single Batch.  He asked me what I wanted for breakfast and I told him that I wasn’t hungry.  While Sprout was gone taking a dookie I made coffee.  As I was pulling things out of my pack I grabbed a packet of peaches and cream oatmeal.  I was like, huh, this is good.  I proceeded to make myself a nice little breakfast.  When Sprout came back, not only was he upset because he broke the trowel, but also because I didn’t make him breakfast!  That Peaches and Cream oatmeal was Goooooooooood.  I offered him the last bite but it was like a slap in the face.

The Destroyer

We've been looking for T-Bone on the trail but had not found him yet. We were being silly making Go Pro videos about how we were looking for him and he strolled into camp!  It was a sign that all things on the trial happen for a reason.  If we had gotten up and out early we wouldn't have seen T-Bone.  We ambushed him with our GoPro camera.  We were a little jacked on cowboy coffee.  T-Bone left and we finished getting ready to go on the trail.

The Antietam shelter was next to two beautiful streams.  There were two brown trout swimming in the stream that Sprout spotted.  We were excited!  We looked for worms and got the line ready to catch and release.  Two day hikers walked up and we showed them.  Instead of being quiet they got really loud and scared them away!  We were NOT HAPPY.

We walked past Tumbling Run Shelters and ended up stopping.  We got to meet the caretaker, who was an older gentleman. He was passionate about what he did.  He had just removed the toilet from the privy, scrubbed it clean, and put it back in.  He doesn't get paid to do this.  It’s all volunteer work!  Thank you!!!  I really wanted to be the first one to take a dump in the clean privy but it wasn’t time.  Another thing that was cool was one shelter said “snoring” and one said “non-snoring!”  The only uncool thing about the shelter is that Sprout and I would be separated if we had stayed there (I would have been in the shelter that was rockin’).

We would have loved to stay at BOTH of those shelters but we were on a mission!!

There was a lot of uphill hiking after we left Tumbling Run Shelter.  My feet weren’t hurting because most of the hike was uphill.  Thank goodness!

By the time we got to the shelter I ran down the hill because my feet hurt so bad that I wanted to just get to the shelter and put my crocs on.  At the shelter was Captain Underpants (we met him at Antietam shelter earlier in the day), T-Bone, and Vinny and Lizzy (arrived after us.)  We had a nice fire and talked about all sorts of things.  One thing that sticks out in my head.  I decided in the near future that I’m going to plan a giant game of capture the flag (buff) with all thru-hikers in the woods somewhere.  Talk about an adrenaline rush.  I can just see, Class of 2016 playing capture the buff, at Happy Trails next summer!

We camped under pine needles and it was beautiful.  The shelter maintainer there carves wooden spoons and leaves them on the trail.  I was looking EVERYWHERE (under the shelter, on the floorboards, in the ceiling) but I didn't find one.  Bummer!

Cowboy Coffee

Antietam Shelter

The Sprout watching our fish

Tying the hook on our line

Porterhouse Guest Blog Days 19-21 (April 15-17)

Hello Internet.  I am honored to be writing a guest entry blog for my little sister, her husband, and my little bro.

Hiking the Appalachian trail is absolutely amazing for day hikers.  Walking the entire thing, day in and day out, is quite an impressive feat, I am extremely proud of all three of them for taking on this journey.

To be honest I wasn't even planning on seeing them on the Friday afternoon that I did.  I just happened to be working in the area at the time.  Jeff went off on a wild tear after a verbal argument with Maggie that morning, and started walking South, so I spent the afternoon driving through trail towns looking for him.  I didn't find him before I met up with Maggie and Robby, but the first thing they had me do (after they ate the Subway I brought them) was take them to the bus station in Frederick, Maryland to try to save Jeff from hopping on a bus. It was synonymous with the final scene in a movie:  we show up to the Greyhound station to save Jeff from himself and the three of them walk the Appalachian trail happily ever after, but he was already gone(Jeffy is back on the trail already. He told me he regretted it the next day and couldn't wait to get back on the AT.)

The timing of my arrival to the party was perfect Maggie had been upset about Jeff leaving, Robby had been consoling her, but they were both in need of some comedic relief (just picture the skipper walking to the mound and tapping his right arm at the bullpen, that's me running out of right field).   The timing may have been perfect but my preparation for a weekend on the trail wasn't. I honestly thought I was going to go buy them some provisions, walk up to the campsite, eat dinner then head home.  Somehow I ended up sleeping next to a campfire for two nights in a $10 Walmart sleeping bag, my golf shoes, a pair of khakis, a button down shirt, and my winter jacket that happened to be in my back seat.  Sleeping on the ground, outside for two nights, next to a fire doesn't sound like something that most people would find enjoyable.  However, it was a soul soothing experience to just listen to the sounds of the wild while gazing at the moon and stars.  It's funny how the best things in life truly are free. I highly recommend to anyone that needs to do a little self reflection, get out in the woods with your loved ones and a few libations.  You'll know what's important when you get home.  Connecting with mother nature really lets you know how insignificant your problems are and what's really important in life.  I spent the entire weekend at peace with my life thinking of my beautiful wife, crazy family, and adorable daughter.

Maggie (trail name bubbles) had told me on our trip to Wal-Mart that afternoon of the wonderful and eclectic group of people they had met on the trail and how excited she was for me to meet some of them. She also explained to me the definition of trail magic, which is doing good deeds for strangers and making positive things happen.  I decided to make trail magic the mission of the weekend and it was a success.  The first night at the campsite I met some really cool people. The first was a gentleman from West Virginia who had just retired (trail name T-Bone.)  T-bone had come up to sit around our campfire and share a drink with us. He is a prime example of what my little sis and her husband Robby (trail name Sprout) had told me about the people you meet out on the trail. We discussed classic rock concerts we've attended, he told us about his daughter getting married this summer, his expeditions hiking various trails in Virginia and West Virginia and the places he recommended to check out.  All in all, what a cool guy.  T-bone retired back to his tent shortly after dusk and we poked around the fire howling at the moon late into the evening. That night, well after AT midnight (9pm I believe), a couple of guys, who were out on the trail for the weekend to attend the flip flop festival in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, set up camp next to us. They joined us at the fire and presented me with my first taste of trail magic sharing their provisions.  We were hanging out like we were old friends staying up to the wee hours of the morning discussing bears. These guys were obsessed with bears, every conversation with them somehow circled back to bear talk.  It started off as a bear here or there but ended up full blown bear talk by the end of the night.  They hoped to sight some bears on the trail but to their dismay none showed.

The next day I woke up at dawn.  Actually I had to get up a few times to put some logs on the fire in the middle of the night because the temperature dropped down into the low forties.  When I awoke I had one thing on my mind, trail magic.  The fellas at the campsite packed up their stuff and were gone before I could reciprocate the favor and sprinkle some trail magic back their way.  Bubbles and the Sprout woke shortly after and made me some cowboy coffee which I am now obsessed with. The Sprout and Bubbles had a plan to keep on hiking but I'm just too sweet (NWO for life) so they had to take a zero day to hang.   A zero day is a day for rest and relaxation with zero miles hiked on the trail.  Bubbles feet were something out of a horror movie, her boots weren't manufactured correctly, and her one foot was in bad shape (serious hammertoe).  She had tried to boil some water to soak her feet in epsom salt the night before but her trail pot was too small so by the time she boiled the last of the water it was cold when she put her feet in it.  Of course I, sprinkling trail magic every which way I looked, sprung into action taking the Sprout with me to a different walmart to buy a bigger pot and more provisions.  The grueling .7 miles I hiked back and forth, twice, was rough but I'm an appalachian trail hiker now so it's no big deal.  When we got back to the campsite you would never know these two had been outside for a month because I went a little Poppa Lip overboard on the food (my dad is notorious for overpacking in that department).  We had stuff for hobo pies, sandwiches, breakfast essentials, a pork tenderloin, s'mores, chocolate, candy, hot dogs, and plenty of cold drinks.  It was a really good day.  Bubbles and I spent the afternoon sending enthusiastic Cleveland Browns videos to our family (it's the best time of the year to be a Browns fan; the off season). I'm not going to lie, I really enjoy having a campfire, I burnt pretty much everything I could get my hands on (that Bubbles would let me throw on the fire). The Sprout was definitely on the burn team too.  We spent the evening giggling like school girls and eating like Americans. Trail magic was just everywhere.  The night before T-bone had told us that all he really missed on the trail (besides his family) was coffee.  Guess who got a cup of cowboy coffee before he left camp...TRAIL MAGIC.  That evening a group of Boy Scouts invaded the campsite.  Obviously, it was time for more trail magic.  Operation "s'more some boys" took place that night when the Sprout and I walked into their campsite and gave them the remaining s'mores supplies.  These Scout masters really need to get their act together!  Who takes two dozen kids into the woods without s'mores materials? I mean honestly.  Although the pork tenderloin was a little peppery that night it was a blast.  The next morning, as the boy scouts left camp, Bubbles launched operation "Skittle Scouts" by giving every Boy Scout an overflowing fistfull of skittles on their walk out of camp...TRAIL MAGIC.  For some reason I pictured the bear enthusiasts loving operations "s'more some boys and Skittle scouts".  I think they would have been proud of me sprinkling fairy trail magic dust everywhere I went.

The last morning was a little somber for me.  I longed to throw away my responsibilities and continue walking with the party but it just wasn't in the books for me at this point in my life.  I'm sure my wife and baby would've been there for me at the end of the trail but probably not my job!  I made us scrambled eggs with cheese, some bacon, cowboy coffee, and toast on the fire, which had, at this point, been burning for almost two days.  One of my favorite parts of the trip was drinking filtered spring water, it was so tasty.  The Sprout and I were talking about how cool T-bones trail name is.  I was saying mine should be rib-eye or something like that jokingly and then a stroke of genius hit the Sprout and he gave me my trail name "Porterhouse".  I then helped pack up camp, pick up all the trash I could find, hugged it out with my sis and brother, and walked south as they continued north.

The experience was completely revitalizing.  On the .7 mile walk back to my truck I thought about the inspiration for their journey.  Our mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis over twenty years ago and is bedridden.  Maggie told me how every time she thinks she can't proceed she thinks of our momma and then presses on.  Our mom isn't looking for sympathy, she literally has a sign over her bedroom door facing her that reads, "Paradise is a state of mind".  She is a perfect example that you get to pick which side of the bed you get out of every morning.  She can’t even get out of bed, but still stays positive everyday.  I thought about how our mother's condition, strong christian faith, and positive outlook on life has helped mold us into the good people we are today.  She is an inspiration to us all.  As I walked down the mountain I thought about this and wept tears of joy.

Best Regards,

Johnny "Porterhouse"

Camping by the fire

Beautiful

Bubbles Day 20 (Saturday, April 16th)

We woke up today and got ready to go.  We broke down our tent down, packed our food bags, and packed our bags.  We were ready to put our bags on our backs and leave Porterhouse when we decided that we were going to take our first true zero today!  We wanted to spend more time with Porterhouse.  We knew it was going to throw our schedule off but we didn’t care.  We need the physical and mental rest.  We made Porterhouse his first cowboy coffee and he is now a cowboy coffee fanatic!

I made a cup of coffee for T-Bone because he said he was really missing coffee.  We didn’t have any extra cups so we improvised and cut a can in half!  It worked out perfect.

Porterhouse and Sprout decided they needed supplies from Walmart so they left and I went to get water from the spring.  I washed some of my clothes (away from the spring).  While I was washing clothes I saw Quarter Mile leaving.  We had a nice talk.  She’s a super nice person and I really want to keep in touch with her.  Shout out to Quarter Mile!!  Love you girl!

When the boys got back Porterhouse had champagne, strawberries, and orange juice for mimosas, chai tea, epson salt, and a big pot to heat up water.  He said I was having a Bubbles Spa Day.  Talk about tranquility!!

We had the Mimosas, bacon, and eggs.  They were all divine!!  The guys also came back with a pork tenderloin for dinner and Coney dogs for an appetizer!  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a coney dog.

I tried to soak my feet last night but my pot was way too small to heat up enough water.  By the time I had hot water in my pot, the water in the bin was cold.  When they went to Walmart Porterhouse bought me Epson salt and a big pot so I could soak my feet.  It was AAAmmaazzing!!  Porterhouse knew that my feet were hurting so he got all these things and called it my spa day!  What a great big brother!

After doing laundry I fell asleep next to the fire and the boys ate my third of the pork tenderloin and my corn on the cob!!  Typical!!

We had fun and spent the day laughing like old times.

Porterhouse busted out of his $10 Walmart sleeping bag!

Making cowboy coffee

T-Bone and Porterhouse

Porterhouse and T-Bone

Porterhouse, Bubbles, and T-Bone

Pine Knob Shelter

Bacon for breakfast!!

Spa Day Mimosas

Doing laundry

Eggs and bacon for breakfast

Spa day foot soak

Face Timing Rachel

Sunset after a great day!

Porterhouse and Sprout loving life!!

I love a Coney Dog!!!

Bubbles Day 19 (Friday, April 15th)

Today was the day I lost a brother and gained a brother.  Johnny saved the day!  Smudgy Cheeks and I got into another huge argument.  I was talking to him about my expectations for him on the trail and tried to explain to him what I want to get out of this hike.  He was not listening and felt like I was attacking him.  He ended the conversation by calling me some nasty names (in front of T-Bone which was super embarrassing too).  Smudgy Cheeks said he is leaving the trail, turned around, and left!  I was upset because we couldn’t communicate to each other how we were feeling.  The dumbest thing was this fight happened at a camp site (along the trail) that had free showers.  We didn’t even take advantage of them!

I sat on top of the mountain and text my dad and sister to try to figure out what to do.  They both assured me that Smudgy Cheeks is an adult and could figure it out.  I sat up there and cried.

We left the top of the cliff and continued on the trail.  We stopped at the Washington Monument off the trail.  It got struck by lightning last year so we couldn’t go up in the monument.  Three hikers were inside of the monument (they were trying to get out of the storm) when it was struck.  They were all fine after visiting the hospital.  This is the oldest Washington Monument in the US.  It was pretty fascinating.

Washington Monument

We also saw a 4.5 foot black snake.  It was our first snake.  A chipmunk barely got away from the snake too!

We rested for a minute and got back onto the trail.

Lucky for us, Johnny text me and said, “I’m in the area if you want to meet up.”  I was down so I told him to please come and meet us.  He met us with some trail magic!  He had Subway with subs, cookies, chips, and pop!!  We also enjoyed some beverages in brown paper bags.

In the meantime Dad heard from Smudgy Cheeks and knew that he was at the Frederick, Maryland bus stop.  Dad called Johnny and told him.  We quickly figured out where the bus stop was and tried to rescue Smudgy Cheeks from leaving the trail.

When we got to the Greyhound we asked around and were told that they had seen Smudgy Cheeks and he hopped on the 1:30 bus heading towards Cleveland.

I was crushed when we found out that the bus had already left.  I quickly realized that I could sit, cry, and let myself be upset or have a great time with my brother Johnny, who I never see.

Johnny drove us to Walmart because he decided that he was going to spend the night with us at Pine Knob shelter.  We bought a bunch of food for the evening and Johnny bought himself some camping supplies (a $10 sleeping bag!)  He slept out under the stars next to the fire ring.  That’s called cowboy camping!

Bubbles and Porterhouse (Johnny) 

Dad said Johnny’s trail name should be City Slicker.  He was wearing his nice work clothes.  Johnny thought he had a pair of tennis shoes in the back of his truck but they were actually golf shoes that were a size too small!  He was on the trail wearing a collared shirt, khakis, and golf shoes! His real trail name is Porterhouse.

Trying to make trucks honk on a bridge

We stopped at my dad's favorite bridge over the AT. He hiked here with his Boy Scouts. We had a lot of fun trying to get the trucks and cars to honk!!

We spent the night laughing.  T-Bone came over and we had a drink together.  We got to know him a little bit better which was great.  We also met two guys from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  We invited everyone at the shelter to join us at the campfire but only T-Bone came over.

It was a great end to a stressful day!

Porterhouse drinking his first fresh spring water from a mountain spring

Making a stick for roasting hotdogs over the fire

Porterhouse was extremely prepared with his knife!

Beautiful sunset

Lost another nail today!

Bubbles Day 18 (Thursday, April 14th)

When I woke up today I was happy to see that even though my fingertips are burned it’s not as bad as I thought last night.  They still hurt though.  I also started the day by giving myself a foot massage.  The sunrise was incredible so that really helped to improve my mood!

Jeff and I got into a huge fight this morning.  I told him he couldn’t just leave a fire going without helping to put it out.  He was really mad and stormed up the trail.  When I got to the shelter this afternoon he acted like nothing happened.  I hope this is the end of our fighting!

There are two shelters here.  The new shelter is beautiful.  The old shelter is by the spring and had a low roof but it still looked cozy to sleep in.  We decided to sleep in our tent (we do most nights because it’s nice to have privacy).

Cozy old shelter at Rocky Run Shelters

I heard from Ox today.  He is on the mend!!  He thinks he’s going to be able to get back on the trial in 7-10 days.  This is great because he originally thought that he would be out for months!  He was so helpful to us when we started and I can only hope for a positive outcome and hike for him.

We met four people at the shelter today.  Finn and Daniel were a father and son duo who were section hiking during Finn’s spring break (he lives in California with his mom).  Daniel lives in Baltimore.  They were the nicest, kindest (I know means the same thing but there needs to be a word that means more than nice) people.  They offered to let us use their pot and stove if we wanted to and we had great conversations with them.  Unfortunately, they were heading southbound.  We would have loved to camp with them again.  Shout out to Finn and Daniel!  You’re the type of people that make the trail special!

T-Bone was also camped out at Rocky Run Shelters.  T-Bone worked on the West Virginia Turnpike for 34 years before retiring.  He is a super nice guy.  Hopefully we will get to camp with him again!

The last guy we met was a guy named Woodchuck who is a section hiker.  He told us his favorite trail story.  He said this was real trail magic.  I might have the trail names mixed up but here is the story:

Inchworm and Happy were hiking the AT in New England (not with each other.)  Inchworm became disoriented and lost.  He started to become hypothermic.  The hypothermia made his brain go crazy and he took off his backpack and his warm winter coat.  He was stumbling through the snow and was at the point of dying from exposure to the elements.  Luckily, Inchworm stumbled into Happy’s campsite, running directly into his tent.  Happy realized what was happening and ripped Inchworms soaking wet, half frozen, clothes off of him and stuffed him into his personal sleeping bag.  Then, Happy ran to the nearest shelter to get help and a rescue team was sent in.  Inchworm survived.

The following year both Inchworm and Woodchuck were on a thru-hike.  Inchworm was telling Woodchuck the story of how a man saved his life on the trail the year before.  After telling the story he said the man who saved me is named Happy.  Woodchuck had just spent some time with Happy and knew that he was only a shelter ahead of them (he could tell because of the shelter log books.)  Inchworm immediately packed his things, threw on his pack, and hustled up the trail to meet the man who saved his life!  They ended up hiking together for a while (Woodchuck could tell by the logs).  He said this kind of thing happens on the trail because it’s a small community and everyone becomes connected.

Bubbles and WoodChuck

Bubbles and T-BONE