Shaw’s Hiker Hostel does a brisk business in Monson, ME at the gateway of the 100 Mile Wilderness. The proprietors Poet and Hippie Chick are devoted to the trail and live in service of the people walking on it. The hostel is the last town stop for most northbound thru hikers and the first stop for SOBOs. Every morning they serve a breakfast like you wouldn’t believe and shuttle exhausted, excited, nervous NOBOs back to the trail to begin the final leg of their journey. If you’ve made it this far in a thru the significance of the moment needs a poet to describe it and Poet understands this. The morning I took off into the 100 mile he joked with us as we loaded up, shared some trail history during the short drive to the trailhead, and recited a haiku to send us on our way. And he told us he was proud of us. I needed to hear that. I was proud of us, too.
The Stats:
Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi
Mt. Katahdin, ME: 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi
Total: 2,967.4km/1,854.0mi
Days: 104
Mileage per day: 28.5km/17.8mi
Zero mileage days: 11
Mileage per day, net of zeros: 31.9km/19.9mi
Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi
Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi
The Details:
August 20th – 3,089.8km/1,931.1mi Grafton Notch – 22.4km/14.0mi
August 21st – 3,117.9km/1,948.7mi Sawyer Notch Trail – 28.2km/17.6mi
August 22nd – 3,149.6km/1,968.5mi Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To – 31.7km/19.8mi
August 23rd – 3,181.8km/1,988.6mi Poplar Ridge Lean-to – 32.2km/20.1mi
August 24th – 3,216.2km/2,010.1mi Hostel of Maine – 34.4km/21.5mi
August 25th – 3,216.2km/2,010.1mi Hostel of Maine – 0.0km/0.0mi
August 26th – 3,247.4km/2,029.6mi Hostel of Maine – 31.2km/19.5mi
August 27th – 3,269.0km/2,043.1mi Pierce Pond Lean-to – 21.6km/13.5mi
August 28th – 3,305.4km/2,065.9mi Bald Mtn Pond Lean-to – 36.5km/22.8mi
August 29th – 3,334.1km/2,083.8mi Monson, ME – 28.6km/17.9mi
August 30th – 3,364.6km/2,102.9mi Cloud Pond Lean-to – 30.6km/19.1mi
August 31st – 3,403.4km/2,127.1mi Logan Brook Lean-to – 38.7km/24.2mi
September 1st – 3,440.3km/2,150.2mi Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to – 37.0km/23.1mi
September 2nd – 3,475.5km/2,172.2mi Rainbow Spring Campsite – 35.2km/22.0mi
September 3rd – 3,509.3km/2,193.3mi Foster Field Campground – 33.8km/21.1mi
September 4th – 3,517.6km/2,198.5mi Khatadin – 8.3km/5.2mi (BONUS Knife Edge/Helen Taylor Trail descent route: approx. 6.4km/4.0mi)
That’s a pretty common trail saying but Forecast was the first one to say it to me so I’m gonna credit him. Like most clichés, it’s trite when you first hear it but reveals it’s depth when you start to live it. I’ve never been much good at learning a lesson the easy way, so it took me almost 2,500 kilometres and a couple weeks basking in the punishing glory of the New Hampshire AT to finally start listening to what the trail was trying to teach me – although outwardly my hiking style remained unchanged (I just kept charging ’cause I guess that’s just what I do), my internal experience underwent a noticeable and positive shift. I was able to let go of my preconceived notions of what I thought thru-hiking should feel like, and enjoy it for what it actually does feel like (knee pain and all). A dream deferred is a tricky thing, but as I walked I was able to reconcile the gap between what I thought wanted out of a thru hike when I first started fantasizing about it at the age of 25, and what I came to understand that I needed from it when I finally got out there and did the thing almost a decade later.
(Forecast, if by chance you end up reading this – miss ya man, hope the rest of your time on trail was amazing)
The Stats:
Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi
Gorham, NH: 3,040.0km/1,900.0mi
Total: 2,488.8km/1,555.5mi
Days: 87
Mileage per day: 28.6km/17.9mi
Zero mileage days: 10
Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.3km/20.0mi
Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi
Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi
The Details:
July 30th – 2,521.6km/1,576.0mi Dalton, MA – 32.5km/20.3mi
July 31st – 2,559.4km/1,599.6mi Williamstown, MA – 37.8km/23.6mi
August 1st – 2,605.0km/1,628.1mi Goddard Shelter – 45.6km/28.5mi
August 2nd – 2,635.8/1,647.4mi Stratton Pond Shelter – 30.9km/19.3mi
August 3rd – 2,653.0km/1,658.1mi Manchester Centre, VA – 17.1km/10.7mi
August 4th – 2,684.6km/1,677.9mi Little Rock Pond Shelter – 31.7km/19.8mi
August 5th – 2,717.9km/1,698.7mi Governor Clement Shelter – 33.3km/20.8mi
August 6th – 2,734.9km/1,709.3mi Rutland, VT – 17.0km/10.6mi
August 7th – 2,762.9km/1,726.8mi The Lookout – 28.0km/17.5mi
August 8th – 2,807.4km/1,754.6mi Norwich, VT – 44.5km/27.8mi
August 9th – 2,847.0km/1,779.4mi Smarts Mountain – 39.7km/24.8mi
August 10th – 2,879.0km/1,799.4mi Hikers Welcome Hostel – 32.0km/20.0mi
August 11th – 2,894.2km/1,808.9mi Old Colony Ski – 15.2km/9.5mi
August 12th – 2,920.3km/1,825.2mi North Woodstock, NH – 26.1km/16.3mi
August 13th – 2,920.3km/1,825.2mi North Woodstock, NH – 0.0km/0.0mi
August 14th – 2,941.1km/1,838.2mi Galehead Hut – 20.8km/13.0mi
August 15th – 2,974.9km/1,859.3mi Mizpah Hut & Naumann Tentsite – 34.9km/21.8mi
August 16th – 3,006.2km/1,878.9mi Pinkham Notch – 31.4km/19.6mi
August 17th – 3,006.2km/1,878.9mi Pinkham Notch – 0.0km/0.0mi
August 18th – 3,040.0km/1,900.0mi Gorham, NH – 33.8km/21.1mi
August 19th – 3,067.4km/1,917.1mi Tentsite – 27.4km/17.1mi
Truer words were never spoken. Before I started this hike, I read constantly that the mental challenge of a thru hike is greater than the physical; read on for details on the section of the AT that proved to me how true this really is.
The Stats:
Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi
Upper Goose Pond Cabin, MA: 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi
Total: 1,937.9km/1,211.2mi
Days: 67
Mileage per day: 28.9km/18.1mi
Zero mileage days: 8
Mileage per day, net of zeros: 32.8km/20.5mi
Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi
Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi
The Details:
July 5th – 1,692.5km/1,057.8mi Ensign Cowall Shelter – 49.9km/31.2mi
July 6th – 1.741.0km/1,088.1mi Quarry Gap Shelter – 48.5km/30.3mi
July 7th – 1,768.5km/1,105.3mi Ironmasters Hostel – 27.5km/17.2mi
July 8th – 1,812.2km/1,132.6mi Middlesex, PA – 43.7km/27.3mi
July 9th – 1,841.12km/1,150.7mi Duncannon, PA – 29.0km/18.1mi
July 10th – 1.887.8km/1,179.9mi Tentsite – 46.7km/29.2mi
July 11th – 1,923.7km/1,202.3mi Hertline Campsite – 35.8km/22.4mi
July 12th – 1,953.4km/1,220.9mi Hamburg, PA – 29.8km/18.6mi
July 13th – 1,995.0km/1,246.9mi The Lookout Hostel – 41.6km/26.0mi
July 14th – 2,034.1km/1,271.3mi – Delps Spring Campsite – 39.0km/24.4mi
July 15th – 2,075.7km/1,297.3mi Delaware Water Gap, PA – 41.6km/26.0mi
July 16th – 2,075.7km/1,297.3mi Delaware Water Gap, PA – 0km/0mi
July 17th – 2,115.7km/1,322.3mi Brink Road Shelter – 40.0km/25.0mi
July 18th – 2,155.8km/1,347.4mi Secret Shelter – 40.2km/25.1mi
July 19th – 2,177.4km/1,360.9mi Warwick Drive In – 21.6km/13.5mi
July 20th – 2,208.0km/1,380.0mi Fitzgerald Falls tentsite – 30.6km/19.1mi
July 21st – 2,245.1km/1,403.2mi West Mountain Shelter – 37.1km/23.2mi
July 22nd – 2,265.0km/1,415.6mi Graymoor Spiritual Life Centre – 19.8km/12.4mi
July 23rd – 2,295.2km/1,434.5mi RPH Shelter – 30.2km/18.9mi
July 24th – 2,336.2km/1,460.1mi Wiley Shelter – 41.0km/25.6mi
July 25th – 2,369.6km/1,487.0mi Cesar Brook Campsite – 43.0km/26.9mi
July 26th – 2,422.2km/1,513.9mi Sages Ravine Campsite – 43.0km/26.9mi
July 27th – 2,458.2km/1,536.4mi Great Barrington, MA – 36.0km/22.5mi
July 28th – 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi Upper Goose Pond Cabin – 30.9km/19.3mi
July 29th – 2,489.1km/1,555.7mi Upper Goose Pond Cabin – 0.0km/0.0mi
Gazelle said that to me and Thomas and Tapo and Orange Aid on the third day of my Appalachian Trail thru hike. She was 640km/400mi into a NOBO FKT (northbound fastest known time) attempt and I was 50 miles into a flip-flop thru hike attempt which had started three days earlier in Erwin, TN. We were eating Little Caesars pizza in the Appalachian Station at 19E hostel in the midst of a storm that I’d pushed a 40km/25mi day through the Roan Highlands get out of. After a relatively pleasant first day on trail featuring a lovely sunset at Beauty Spot, it had started raining and not let up for 48 hours (it would continue to rain on and off every day for about another week). Despite my relief at being inside and out of the deluge, that kind of mileage is WAY too big for the third day of a thru, or at least the third day of my thru. Everything hurt, and I wasn’t at all sure I was ready to get back out there the following morning. I, to quote the mighty Dave Woodman Sr., “didn’t know whether to shit or go blind.” Dissolve you, indeed.
I’ve thought about what Gazelle said that night a lot in the intervening 40ish days. In one sense it’s literally true: water is the universal solvent and this trail dumps a lot of it on you, at regular intervals. And when it’s not raining it’s so humid that between the water in the air and the puddles and the sweat you’re never really dry. Combine that with the perpetual movement of hiking and you have a recipe for physical dissolution. Not to mention the joint-grinding, tendon-fraying potential of a trail that features a degree of elevation gain and loss equivalent to 16 times up and down Mount Everest. But it’s also true in a metaphorical sense: all your unnecessary qualms about being wet and dirty and smelly and bug-bitten just kind of melt away in the face of the realization that, no matter what each morning brings, you just have to keep hiking; I don’t worry about the rain so much any more. And I hope Gazelle hits her FKT.
The Stats:
Erwin, TN: 551.2km/344.5mi
Harpers Ferry, WV: 1,642.5km/1,026.6mi
Total: 1,091.4km/682.1mi
Days: 42
Mileage per day: 25.99km/16.24mi
Zero mileage days: 6
Mileage per day, net of zeros: 30.3km/18.9mi
Max. daily mileage: 57.3km/35.8mi
Min. daily mileage: 7.7km/4.8mi
The Details:
May 24th – 569.3km/355.2mi Beauty Spot – 17.12km/10.7mi
May 25th – 593.3km/370.8mi Clyde Smith Shelter – 25.0km/15.6mi
May 26th – 633.0km/395.6mi Appalachian Station – 39.7km/24.8mi
May 27th – 633.0km/395.6mi Appalachian Station – 0km/0mi
May 28th – 662.4km/414.0mi Moreland Gap Shelter – 29.4km/18.4mi
May 29th – 685.9km/428.7mi Boots Off Hostel – 23.5km/14.7mi
May 30th – 700.8/438.0mi Vandeventer Shelter – 14.9km/9.3mi
May 31st – 724.0/452.5mi Double Spring Shelter – 22.7km/14.2mi
June 1st – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 29.6km/18.5mi
June 2nd – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 0km/0mi
June 3rd – 753.6km/471.0mi Damascus, VA – 0km/0mi
June 4th – 779.2km/487.0mi Lost Mountain Shelter – 25.1km/15.7mi
June 5th – 807.2km/504.5mi Wise Shelter – 28km/17.5mi
June 6th – 839.4km/524.6mi Trimpi Shelter – 32.2km/20.1mi
June 7th – 855.4km/534.6mi Marion, VA 16km/10mi
June 8th – 889.8km/556.1mi Campsite – 34.4km/21.5mi
June 9th – 912km/570.1mi Chestnut Knob Shelter – 22.4km/14.0mi
June 10th – 950.9km/594.3mi Helveys Mill Shelter – 38.7km/24.2mi
June 11th – 618.5 Wapiti Shelter – 38.7km/24.2mi
June 12th – 989.6km/625.7mi Woods Hole Hostel – 11.5km/7.2mi
June 13th – 1,019.8km/637.4mi Pearisburg – 18.7km/11.7mi
June 14th – 1,051.2km/657.0mi Pine Swamp Shelter – 31.4km/19.6mi
June 15th – 1,091.4km/682.1mi Sarver Hollow Shelter – 40.2km/25.1mi
June 16th – 1,127.8km/704.9mi Huckleberry’s Hostel – 36.5km/22.8mi
June 17th – 1,169.0km/730.6mi Daleville – 41.1km/25.7mi
June 18th – 1,169.0km/730.6mi Daleville – 0km/0mi
June 19th – 1,209.3km/755.8mi Buchanan View- 40.3km/25.2mi
June 20th – 1,241.8km/776.1mi Harrison Ground Spring – 32.5km/20.3mi
June 21st – 1.260.0km/787.5mi Glasgow, VA – 18.2km/11.4mi
June 22nd – 1.292.2km/807.6mi Brown Mountain Creek Shelter – 32.2km/20.1mi
June 23rd – 1,340.2km/837.6mi Harpers Creek Shelter- 48.0km/30.0mi
June 24th – 1,375.7km/859.8mi Paul Wolfe Shelter – 35.5km/22.2mi
June 25th – 1,383.4km/864.6mi Rockfish Gap – 7.7km/4.8mi
June 26th – 1,416.5km/885.3mi Blackrock Hut – 33.12km/20.7mi
June 27th – 1,456.2km/910.1mi Country View Motel – 39.7km/24.8mi
June 28th – 1,513.4km/945.9mi Pass Mountain Hut- 57.3km/35.8mi
June 29th – 1,555.8km/972.4mi Mountain Home B&B – 42.4km/26.5mi
June 30th – 1,593.6km/996.0mi Rod Hollow Shelter – 37.8km/23.6mi
July 1st – 1,609.4km/1,005.9mi Bears Den Hostel – 15.8km/9.9mi
July 2nd – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 33.12km/20.7mi
July 3rd – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 0km/0mi
July 4th – 1,642.6km/1,026.6mi Harpers Ferry – 0km/0mi
daviddavewoody 