pursuitofwilderness

I am through the densely populated northern states and into New Hampshire. Pennsylvania was awesome with some of the flattest terrain. I was able to log a 34 mile day. I saw a few more bear and a ton of blueberries. Right at Lehigh Gap in PA, I met a couple who put me up for a night and fed me. It was one of the best random blessings I have had on the trail. I met then totally soaked after a storm and 5 days of no shower. They have me a bed, shower, laundry and a few home cooked meals before sending me on my way.

NY and NJ offered delis closer to the trail where a hot sandwich and a beer for the evening became a nice routine. I stayed at Toni’s deli where he let hikers camp next door. Only problem was the area was lodged in 100 ft between a highway and a railroad, which ran all night.

They are no car sounds now and the mountains have become more serious again reaching over 4,000 ft. Today was my first day in the whites. It started good with a guy making omelets for trail magic. He would make you as many omelets as you wanted with whatever you wanted in them. I ate a total of 10 eggs, but was far from the record of 24 eggs in one sitting. After I climbed Moosilauke mountain at 4,800 ft. It was a 20 mile day with over 3,000 ft of elevation change.  Now I’m staying in Lincoln NH for the night in a hostel and I’m excited for another day in the whites tomorrow. I officially have 26 days left on the tail, as my plane ticket back to NM is on the 25th of August. It’ll be a tough but doable last couple weeks.

I wanted to share some of the more ridiculous stories I have seen or heard involving our furry friends.

Early on during one of the rain storms a fellow hiker had a skunk try to get into his tent during the night. The result of him trying to get away was a bite and a series of rabies shots.

Joules had a battle to the depths with a mouse early on who was also seeking shelter in a storm. I woke up early one morning (4 am) and set out my snacks for the day while cooking breakfast. I heard a water bottle move and (with my headlamp on) I spotted a mouse, no longer than my thumb, mustering all he had to drag a full size snickers bar across the shelter floor.

Though food is hung to protect from bears, there are plenty of other threats to your nourishment. Blazeberry ( a fellow hiker) was the victim of an early morning raccoon raid, in which the bandits climbed a tree, jumped on his food bag, slashed a hole in it and feasted! I was the first to notice when I peered out of the shelter and saw a raccoon chomping down on a poptart.

Many of us including myself, carry a Ursack, which is a Kevlar bear “proof” food bag. However, they are not pony proof, as a fellow hiker discovered in the Grayson Highland when a pony chewed a hole in her bear proof food sack. This is not the only havoc they can raise as one only needs to google “pony kickers hiker in the balls” to find out.

I am notably in full summer. The humidity has kicked up and the mosquitoes are ravenous. Berries are everywhere as well as wild life. I recently saw my first porcupine ever!! Unfortunately was fetching water and didn’t get a picture. They are more awkward than I expected, waddling slowly even when trying to get away. I have now seen seven bears, of which the only unconformable experience was with a mother and cub. The cub ran to one side of the trail and the mom stayed on the other giving me a stern look. So, I backed away and waiting 20 minutes until they reunited and sauntered off.  Though people thinks bears are the greatest risk, personally ticks and road walking scare me the most. I have found five ticks (all not attached) one was especially tiny and I was happy I noticed. On that note, I can say I feel totally at home in the woods now (aside from the occasional mosquito swarm). I have gone 11 days without a shower or laundry, sleep very well in my hammock, and feel pretty good about foraging as well. I can eat blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, porcini mushrooms and chicken of the woods. However, as I have moved north, mulberries and strawberries haven’t been seen. With that being said I am looking forward to finishing and enjoying the niceties of civilization.

 

P.S. for those of you on Instagram I have recently started posting some of my recent travels through VT and NH!! Feel free to check it out.

 

I had a nice visit with Sam’s aunt and uncle in Albany the last couple of days, where I was spoiled with good food, company, and a dry clean bed. Before Albany I walked 210 miles in 10 days. I’m hoping to keep up a decent pace so that I can finish in about 30 days, but this will be very weather and terrain dependent. I can finally feel the end in sight, as I only have 600 miles to go. Since I last posted I have made it through New York, Connecticut, and tomorrow I’ll be through Massachusetts.  Here are some pictures of last couple of weeks.

 

  

  

When I started I somewhat scoffed at the notion of ultralight (UL) backpacking. The gear is expensive, you lose comfort, and items tend to be less durable. People’s definition of ultralight changes, but I would describe it as having 10 lbs or less as a base weight. For comparison I am at nearly 20 lbs. I definitely see the appeal of UL now. With less pack weight longer distances are much more attainable and there is less stress on you body. My original thought was always that years ago people finished the trail with far heavier equipment, however we also used to ride horses for transportation under that logic. If I were to go UL my core items, shelter, sleeping bag, and pack would need to be replaced making the idea cost prohibiting, but it is definitely something I will try in the future.

 

Here are a few more views from my last couple days through NJ and NY.

Finally out of PA! The rocks were not as bad as people said and the climb out of Lehigh gap was beautiful, but intense (a 1 mile scramble up the mountain side). I have had two more bear sightings now. One was a mother and her cubs who gruffed at me and sauntered off, and the other was a large adult who walked past me next to the trail. The lone adult barely acknowledged my presence. Both bears were substantially larger than the two I saw in the Shennies. Now I’m interested to see what the rest of the North East has to offer.

I can now regularly snack on wild blueberries and blackberries. Recently in New Jersey I have started seeing manor or edible mushrooms including penny buns!

So far I have been pretty pleased with my gear choices. I get almost better sleep in my hammock than in a hotel bed at this point. My pack fits well and carries weight nicely and I don’t feel like its too heavy over all. Nice I began I replaced my:

• REI flash 50 with an Osprey Aether 60 — because my hip belt on the flash broke. I sent my under quilt in to be replaced because a stitch came out.
• Shoes — I’m about to be on my third pair of shoes as I wore through the first two.
• Sleeping pad — Recently my wife ship me her air pad to replace my foam sleeping pad, which has been an excellent choice.
• Spork for a long handled version.

And I bought a new dry sack for my clean cloths and a compression sack for my sleeping bag. At this point if I was to change anything else I would get a lighter sleeping bag as mine is 3 lbs, which is a lot. Although I like my hammock, carrying a sleeping pad and a under quilt increases my overall weight. Some people use a pad in there hammock as opposed to an under quilt, however, I find this to be tedious and uncomfortable. Over all a tent is probably a lighter more convent option for a though hiker. This is all really nit picky as my starting gear choices will be fine to finish the AT.

 

Here are some cool views I’ve had over the past couple of days!!

Day to day routine has become pretty settled in. I wake up around 5-5:30 am and start hot water while I break down camp. Then I eat breakfast, consisting of instant grits and oatmeal and then finish packing my bag. I usually camp around water so I will filter enough to leave camp with 2 L of clean water. Then I stuff my hip pockets with snickers, honey buns, cliff bars, and starburst before I start hiking. I can average 2 mph with breaks at a leisurely pace now. I usually plan water before I leave in the morning. I snack through the day, but lunch is often cheese, meat or avocado with tortillas. I try to walk 18-24 miles per day now, which ends up being 9-12 hours of walking a day. When I get into camp (either a campsite or shelter) I hang my rain tarp for the hammock or throw my sleeping pad down to claim a spot. Dinner then consists of freeze-dried backpacking meals, Knorr pasta sides, or ramen. If all went well I have some time to relax before going to bed by 9:30 pm. I somewhat plan my weeks while I am in town as I don’t like to carry more than 5 days worth of food at a time. When I get into town I inventory food, make a shopping list, shower, put on clean cloths, and start laundry before going about fining the highest calorie per dollar dinning establishment in the vicinity. In towns I try to either split a cheap hotel room with people or stay in a hostel along the trail. I probably manage to shower and resupply about every 4-5 days. Last, but not least town means beer, and nothing ever sounds better than a cold beer!

               

 

The flora and fauna on this trail have been amazing, and being out here forces one to acknowledge how many interesting plants and animals are around on the east coast. All the colorful millipedes, ants, spiders, flowers, bear, deer and other living things I always wonder why there are not more nature documentaries about habitat here.

 

I wanted to wait to write this until I had seen a bear and now I have seen two! It should be pointed out that they were small black bears. I have seen numerous deer, fawns, and a raccoon that raided someone’s food bag in a tree. And plenty of mice in shelters (one even tried to run off with my snickers bar, which was four times his size. As far as reptiles and amphibians, I have seen box turtles, painted turtles, red salamanders, newts, ring-neck snakes, and water snakes, tons of king snakes, numerous garter snakes, toads, and a few types of frogs.

For birds I have seen ruffed grouse, turkeys, bluebirds, cardinals, a bald eagle, vultures, gold finches, woodpeckers and a few beautiful tanagers and many more. Flowers have come into bloom with trillium, tiger lilies, and mountain laurels blossom’s being some of the most noteworthy.

Lastly people have asked me what kind of food could be naturally sourced. Unfortunately it would be impossible to just live off the land hiking the AT (Simply because of the caloric requirements that are needed). Initially acorns were probably the only food one could forge, though polk salad and nettle could be eaten with the proper preparation. I have found oyster mushrooms, chicken of the woods while hiking and even morels are supposed to be present at some point. As summer progresses mulberries, strawberries, black berries and blueberries have all started to appear.

As for hunting it is effectively not feasible. It is forbidden on large portions of the trail, not to mention the legal nightmares surrounding possessing a firearm on a trip like this.

As I continue, I have actively been attempting to increase my woodsman-ship, learning to identify new plants for the possibility of moose and porcupine as I travel farther north.