We made it to New Hampshire and are taking a day off in Hanover. Twelve states down ... two to go. I've hiked 1743.3 miles and have 441.9 left on this trail. Needless to say, I'm a bit tired, but crossing the New Hampshire border yesterday has re-energized us all. Massachusetts and Vermont were muddy. That's an understatement - the trail was it's own river and the mud was ankle-deep, which sapped our energy and hurt the spirits a bit, but the sun finally came out and has been drying things up over the last couple of days. Sadly, in the mud we lost a couple more of our comrades who decided to walk off the trail.
The two states left, New Hampshire and Maine, are known to be the toughest yet, but hopefully we'll get some better weather for them. Maine had a record snowfall this past winter, which turns into a record snow melt in the summer. Additionally, New England has had their wettest summer in recorded history, thus the current mud situation. Southbound hikers that we have passed said that streams that we will have to ford (wade through) in Maine are normally about knee-deep, but are currently chest-high due to all the rainfall and snow melt. Oh goodie - this could be interesting. So conditions in the near future may not be ideal, but we'll push forward. At this point we'll crawl to Katahdin if we have to. The sun is shining for now and that's all we need so onward it is!
9 comments:
You look great! That's a good thing. Getting so close that you will for sure make it! Talk about mud - we have had (as of 8/23 anyway with more on the way) more than a foot of rain here in Tallahassee/Thomasville and it's still pouring down. The pictures, as usual, are fantastic. We look forward to seeing all of them! AB
Re the last comment - I forget that you don't get the daily news.......hurricane/tropical storm Fay passed right over Tally/Thomasville and pretty much stalled here. AB
Spoke with your mom yesterday and got an update. You're doing it, chica! Hope the rest of your journey is a whole lot drier. Stay safe and flourish, my friend. M & D
In the words of Bela Karolyi - "Yuuu can dooo eeet!"
The gang at Joe's Bike Shop may need some comforting - this is the address to the Tallahassee Democrat photo of Lake Ella this morning (8/25):
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=CD&Dato=20080824&Kategori=PHOTOS03&Lopenr=808240805&Ref=PH
AB
You are awesome!! I checked on your parents last week and besides the catfish in the pool they seem to be doing okay:)
Lizzie and Sanders had a fun 'monkey' birthday party on Sunday and missed Aunt Bec!!
I'm so proud of you and hope to talk to you soon! Miss you!!
Liz
Wow, you do look great! And those pics are amazing. I'm so glad you're such a good photographer so we can get a nice look at the journey you're on. Sorry about the mud situation, but there's always something to be said for a good challenge. Hope you are able to really enjoy the last leg of your hike. I can't wait to talk to you and hear all about your adventures, plus explain my own little adventure, and for the record, you can call me Mrs. Newman now. I miss our chats at the Black Dog! -Tara
wow... that's amazing about all that mud. That has got to be very demoralizing. Keep on trucking, even if it's tough! I'm sure you'll have less mud coming up than you did in VT. Have fun in them Whites!
oh -- from Sudoku
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