Sprout Day 209 (Saturday, October 22, 2016)

It felt great getting into my warm camp clothes last night. I had on my base layers, an extra pair of pants, two pairs of socks, my base layer top, and my puffy jacket! Usually, I'm too hot to sleep in any of that but it was so cold last night. It was in 30’s and the wind was blowing. We woke up early but it was so cold there was no way we were getting out of our sleeping bags. We eventually got up and moving around 10:00!

I don't think we've ever started getting ready that late but it felt good to lay in the warm sleeping bag. Everyone else at the shelter was doing the same thing and thinking the same thing, it was too cold! We got up and had some breakfast and coffee and tried to stay warm. My boots were wet and I was waiting to put those on last. When I did put them on it felt like I was walking on needles because my feet were ice cold. We had to start moving to warm up.

We planned on going 16 miles to Boots Off Hostel to get dry and resupply enough to get to Erwin, Tennessee. We had to stop first thing in the morning for water and that took longer than usual because the water source was shAllow. It was so cold we were moving quick to stay warm. On the way down we saw a bunch of signs warning about a problem bear around the shelters in the area. We made great time getting to the hostel and had our fastest day yet. We made it the 16 miles before 6:00.

Boots Off Hostel is a new hostel and it's only .2 miles off the trail. It's nice, clean, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. All the bunks were taken so we paid the ten bucks to camp outside. Whiskers and Toad are camping outside too. It's not nearly as cold as last night and we are lower in elevation so it’s a lot warmer. We were able to wash and dry our clothes and had dinner as soon as we got here, a delicious chicken alfredo and eggplant parmesan. After dinner, the owner Jim took us to the Dollar General for a resupply. The inside was nice and toasty with a wood burning fireplace and there was a big TV with college football playing. I’m really glad we stopped here.

Day: 209
Miles hiked: 16
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1767.5
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20

Donkeys: 2
Grouse: 1
Horses: 15
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Sprout Day 97 (Saturday, July 2nd, 2016) (NEED PICTURES)

We hiked into town today. We had to hike quick so we could get our food drop box. We had to get there before the post office closed.  It was a tough hike but we made great time! It was wet all day from the rain last night.

We also made it to New Hampshire today and it felt great to pass another state border! There are a lot of people in this town who will host hikers and we found a nice lady who was going to take us in for the night. We realized how many people were staying there and ended up getting a room at a local motel. We wanted to have a bed to sleep in and a place to dry off for the night. It felt good to have our own little spot for the night! We can't wait to get further down the trail in New Hampshire.  The Whites are going to be scary but we are looking forward to the challenge.

Day: 97
Miles hiked: 11.3
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 884.2
Bears: 0
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Horses: 12
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 2
Squirrels: 11
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Smudgy Cheeks Day 70 (Sunday, June 5th, 2016)

I hiked 4.1 miles today to the next shelter.  I stopped earlier than I wanted to because it's supposed to rain all day.  It's annoying to get clean cloths wet!  Especially when you are already wet from sweat and rain.   I'm taking my time, no need to rush because the big maintains are coming my way!  That's when I'll lose more weight and really gain those trail legs!!

Only 689.2 miles to Katahdin!!!

Trail today

It's fun to watch the rain from the dry shelter

Rain is everywhere!

Rainbow!

Day:  70

Miles hiked:  4.1

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  568.4

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

Smudgy Cheeks Day 40 (Friday, May 6th, 2016) 301.2 miles total!!

I hiked nine miles today in the cold rain.  The clothes I hike in are wet now.  I'm going to try to dry them.  I'm also going to charge up my electronics for the rest of the day.  I'm happy I hit 300 miles today!  This is such an accomplishment.  We are also hanging out with Tricks again tonight.

It's hard to hike up rock scrambles in the rain.

You've got to watch for double blazes.  That means the trail is going to turn soon!

Sprout Day 33 (Friday, April 29)

Day 33

It was wet, cold, and rainy today.  It felt good staying in Duncannon again last night at the Doyle. We met some cool people and it will definitely be something we will never forget. We stayed up late with Tricks last night watching movies and talking. He gave us a ride to 325 after we ate breakfast.  He is such a cool guy and I'm really happy we met him.

Lots of room in Tricks car!!

As soon as we got dropped off it started raining, it was a constant drizzle.  We went ten miles today through rough rocky terrain and the rain made the rocks slippery.

We walked past Peters Mountain Shelter today

Inside Peters Mountain Shelter

We hit our 300 mile mark today! It feels so good to be this far! We stopped at 300 miles to take a celebration video. It's crazy to think we're out here doing it.  We’re actually hiking and getting more miles everyday.  To me 300 miles is huge.  It's the furthest any of us have ever backpacked.  Each day I feel like we learn something new or something gets easier.  We're lucky to have people back home that care about our journey and people who want to help us along the way.  The trail gives back and will take care of you.  It feels like we're meeting the right people at the right time.

300 miles baby!!

Rocks on the trail!

Pretty sure these are ferns popping through??

Love it

Awesome fire pit!

When it's rocky like this the white blazes are on the rocks!

Blue blaze to the spring

We camped here

Day:  33

Miles hiked:  9.6

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  303

Bears:   0

Butterfly:  8

Chipmunk:  2

Cows:  24

Crawfish:  1

Deer:  20

Horses:  12

Inchworm:  1

Really Big Dog:  1

Mouse:  1

Nest of bugs:  1

Rabbit:  1

Skunk:  1

Snail:  1

Snake:  1

Squirrels:  11

Toad:  1

Trout:  2

Turkeys:  4

Turtles:  107

Vulture:  6

Woodpecker:  1

Smudgy Cheeks Day 33 (Friday, April 29) 233.5 Miles

Today we hiked 9.3 miles from State Route 22, through Clarks Valley to Pine Tree Camp Site.  The hike was long, with a lengthy bit of it on top of the mountain ridge off of Peters Mountain.  This place reminds me off a family vacation area that we used to go to when I was growing up in West Virginia called Holly River State Park.  I've already set up camp so now I'm going to relax as much as possible.  I don't have any service on my phone and 70% of my gear is soaking wet!

Gray clouds in the sky today

More train tracks to cross over

The rocks were very slippery

Reminded me of Holly River State Park

This would have been a great place to sit and relax, if the sand wasn't soaking wet!

I thought this was a beautiful spot.  It almost looks fake.

This looked like a great fishing spot

It was very soft under the evergreens