In print and images, our Appalachian Trail journey continues. Although we didn’t accomplish our goal of a one-season thru-hike of the AT, the Trail taught us many things, including patience and perseverance.
We’ll be back to the AT, a piece at a time, to complete the trail, starting after Florida hiking season wanes. Meanwhile, it’s fun to reminisce, and so we present our AT blog posts in chronological order for your enjoyment.
For those who’ve asked: yes, we’ve started writing a book about the AT, and Not Quite Thru is the title. It will draw from our experiences but will by no means be a bound copy of our blog posts. If you’d like to be alerted to when the book is available – and to receive blog posts in your inbox when we’re on the AT again – join our mailing list.
JK & Navigator on the Appalachian Trail, 2012
Walking into Love (3/8/2012) - As a youngster, I played in the woods, scrambling over boulders and walking a trail through lush leafy glades to school each day. Looking out my bedroom window, I could see a mountain where people [...]
Prepping for the AT (3/10/2012) - Furniture against the walls of the apartment continues to vanish as the piles of gear, from winter jackets and gloves to bottles of Dr. Bronner’s Soap, loose stuff sacks, and technical t-shirts, grow. A stack [...]
Ears to the Ground (3/13/2012) - As the packing continues for our March 15th departure date, the storage unit is nearly full, and the apartment is almost empty. With only two plates, two glasses, one cup (I’m not a coffee drinker), [...]
Living out of a pack (3/18/2012) - It’s been more than a decade since I lived out of a backpack for more than a week, and the experience brings back echoes of those rambles through Europe and Asia. We’re not quite to [...]
And we’re off! (3/19/2012) - As seen in Dahlonega, here we are at the kickoff event for thru-hiker season. We were fortunate to share table space with Gene Espy, the second man ever to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail. He [...]
Trail Magic Begins (3/21/2012) - Being invited to speak at the 2nd annual “Spring on Springer” Dahlonega Trail Festival sparked a chain of events that propelled me forward to be standing on a mountaintop today with my sweetheart, the Appalachian [...]
Home Sweet Home (3/24/2012) - All set up in our Lightheart Duo. Rain or shine, this is home. Been hiking for nearly a week and getting stronger and more fleet of foot every day, and more adept at setting up [...]
The Basics (3/26/2012) - A sign that means welcome relief. At Gooch Mountain, the tent sites were on a mountain slope and even a walk to anywhere in camp meant a workout. [...]
Frame of Reference (3/29/2012) - I jumped back from the edge of the campfire ring, startled. In the dim light and in my mind’s eye, the crackled, gnarled wood of a well-season timber had the same etching pattern as the [...]
Breezin Thru (4/1/2012) - Sure, John’s having an easy time of it! We’d wondered about the camp chair ourselves. When we caught a shuttle a little while later into town, one of the gals said, “that chair’s been here [...]
The Enchanted Forest (4/2/2012) - Less than a week in the woods, and we are soaked, bedraggled. The morning fog never lifted, so a walk in the clouds turned to a fine mist of rain and then a downpour as [...]
On Blood Mountain (4/4/2012) - The very name felt ominous – Blood Mountain, standing tall above Slaughter Creek. None of the simple trail materials with us provided a backstory, so I imagined it a dark place along the Trail of [...]
Loose Wrapping (4/5/2012) - Our second day of rain, we stopped for a snack. I looked at John and said, “your Dad is right, maybe we aren’t wrapped too tight!” Just then a couple of German girls came along [...]
The Right Gear (4/9/2012) - A week into our hike, it was obvious my old backpack and rain jacket had seen better days. The aches and pains and chills that I didn’t need to have came from a source that [...]
The Corona Effect (4/12/2012) - Having never camped on mountaintops before, it was a delight to discover what spring in the North Georgia mountains means after the rains depart and the skies are bright. We pushed hard after our first [...]
Zero Days Aren’t (4/15/2012) - Long distance hikers take “zero days” – that is, days where you don’t hike any trail miles – to take care of off-trail tasks like grocery shopping, laundry, medical visits, and the like. Usually zero [...]
The Memory of Feet (4/18/2012) - “I’ve never done a rock scramble!” said John, looking dazed and worn atop Albert Mountain. “Three times my pack pulled me backwards and I had to hang on for dear life.” It wasn’t an easy [...]
Tough Choices (4/21/2012) - Hiking the AT isn’t easy. Having section hiked parts of it years ago, I thought I was up to the challenge, but even with years of hiking experience, it’s like starting from scratch for both [...]
Walking with Spring (4/23/2012) - In the low elevations of North Carolina, spring is in full leaf. As we’ve walked north from Georgia we’ve watched the understory transform from a smattering of wildflowers to a symphony of colors and textures. [...]
Sage Advice (4/25/2012) - “Your pack weight,” said Dan, “is directly proportional to your happiness on the trail.” Returning to Franklin after sore knees plagued us both, we sat with Dan “Sheltowee” and Nina “Waterfall” Rogers, friends and experienced [...]
Max Patch in Snow (4/27/2012) - Not a sight you’d expect to see in late April, but as we came to Max Patch, it was covered in snow. We did not climb it this day, opting for warm and dry and [...]
Endurance Athletics (4/29/2012) - As a former triathlete, John had the background to understand athletic training. I’m new to the game, having done little since high school. Seeing our hike as a study in athletic training is a new [...]
Ups and Downs (5/3/2012) - Looking back to where John was, I could see the pain in his eyes. No fire, just a weary lost expression. We were headed for Wayah Bald and kept being fooled by false summits. The [...]
Artist’s Palette (5/6/2012) - As we left Tray Mountain, the skies settled into a permanent overcast that permeated the day. It felt like drizzle but didn’t, the skies heavy about leafless trees. Climbing the long ascent to Kelly Knob, [...]
The Sheltered Life (5/8/2012) - As a couple, we prefer sleeping in our tent at night. One of the features that makes the AT appealing to long distance hikers, however, is the shelter system, three-sided buildings with sleeping platforms that [...]
Hiker Crossing (5/10/2012) - Step lively at Fontana Dam as the traffic zips by! Get Shareaholic
Rocky Top (5/11/2012) - Almost lost my hat on Rocky Top, up in the Tennessee Hills … winds were blowing strong on Rocky Top, guess they always will. Get Shareaholic
The Smokies (5/12/2012) - “How did you like the Smokies?” asked Waterboy. It took me a minute to think about the answer. “Beautiful, but difficult,” I said. The Great Smoky Mountains include some of the tallest mountains in the [...]
Above the Clouds (5/13/2012) - After arriving cold and wet at Icewater Springs Shelter to watch it rain, rain, rain the rest of the day, we awoke to this amazing vista from the shelter: looking down on the clouds with [...]
The Trail Provides (5/15/2012) - We’d stopped for a lunch break on a Georgia mountaintop when John stood up to marvel at something in a tree. “Look at this!” He reached up and found a stout length of rope perfect [...]
A Different Perspective (5/17/2012) - When you’re on foot, it’s a little strange to be walking up an Interstate ramp. This was our first interstate crossing on the AT, under I-40. Many more to come. [...]
Hitching a Ride (5/18/2012) - Soaking wet at Winding Stair Gap, we cowered close to the roadcut as thunder boomed and lightning crashed across the mountains. How would we get to Franklin? Our friends weren’t able to pick us up [...]
Weathering the Storm (5/21/2012) - It was not a good start to the day. John had a deep, deep cough and couldn’t stop sniffling. The drizzle that we walked in the day before turned to a downpour for the afternoon, [...]
A Sobering Reminder (5/22/2012) - After five weeks on the trail, Sandy and I still snuggled together in our enormous Big Agnes sleeping bag every night, recapping the events of the day and laughing out loud at our own mishaps [...]
Laid Up (5/25/2012) - (Just a reminder – these posts aren’t in “real time” but lagging 2-4 weeks. We’re well now, thanks!) We hadn’t planned to spend a week in Hot Springs, the first town where the AT ambles [...]
Hospitality (5/27/2012) - Warm meals, hot showers, and comfortable beds with pillows: such are the kindnesses extended by friends as we hike, and it makes all the difference when our spirits are sagging. At the Hostel at Laughing [...]
Big Stink (5/28/2012) - There’s no getting around it: thru-hikers stink. It still bugs me that I can smell it even after I shower. Daily strenuous activity + weekly laundry + no flush toilets + stinky clothing + no [...]
Tulip Poplar (5/29/2012) - One of the easier trees to pick out while walking through the hardwood forests of the Appalachians, the tulip poplar has distinctive tulip-blossom shaped leaves and a large and extremely showy flower that we’ve been [...]
Big Butt Mountain NC (5/30/2012) - I’d hiked here a half dozen years ago and wondered how it got its name. On the AT, you finally figure it out. Get Shareaholic
Gotta Go (6/1/2012) - One of the aspects of the AT thus far that I’ve been thankful for are the privies at shelter areas. They aren’t always the cleanest places, but they’re a welcome sight when relief is needed. [...]
Hiker Feed (6/2/2012) - Word spreads up the trail fast. “Hiker feed at Unicoi Gap! Pancakes tomorrow at Burningtown Road!” We always seemed to miss these traveling feasts until we laid up in Hot Springs. We heard whispers in [...]
Lord Willin (6/5/2012) - Still recuperating and exhausted at the nearly 14 mile day into Jerry’s Cabin the prior day, I collapsed onto the platform of the Flint Mountain Shelter. It was lunchtime, and the combination of a bright, [...]
A Couple’s Hike (6/6/2012) - What’s it like hiking the AT as a couple? After years and miles being individual hikers, it’s what Sandy and I are learning. Living out of only two backpacks requires more team work, much more [...]
Salamanders (6/8/2012) - As we hopped rocks climbing a cascading stream north of Devil’s Fork Gap, John yelled out “look what you missed!” There, on the wet rocks, an equally aqueous brown salamander blending right in. For the [...]
Showy Newts (6/9/2012) - And some are much more obvious than others…. Get Shareaholic
Cruel Shoes (6/10/2012) - John’s feet hurt. Bad. It started right out of Allen Gap, but he’d had hints of it in Hot Springs, buying Superfeet insoles in hopes that they would help. En route to Jerry’s Cabin he [...]
The Meadow (6/11/2012) - We didn’t make it to the meadow to camp as we’d planned – we stopped at Sam’s Gap to take care of John’s aching feet. But this meadow is certainly one of the beauty spots [...]
Big Bald (6/12/2012) - One of the finest views we’ve had on this hike appeared at Big Bald, a mile-high mountain north of Sam’s Gap. Open and expansive, it’s a place where thunderclouds gather easily. We enjoyed 360-degree views [...]
AT Ambassador (6/14/2012) - It’s Friday night in Erwin, Tennessee and we and Plodder are setting up our tents on the lawn of town hall. “We’re Occupy Erwin!” we joke. An antique car cruise is going on a couple [...]
Burst Bubble (6/16/2012) - As luck and timing and pace would have it, we’re caught in the bubble: the maximum flow of northbound hikers on the AT. We’ve been in it since the Smokies. Waves of hikers pass us, [...]
Bye Bye, Balds! (6/18/2012) - After a gorgeous night at the iconic Overmountain Shelter, a historic barn with one heck of a view, we climb the last of the North Carolina balds. These grassy-topped peaks since Roan Mountain offered excellent [...]
Obos (6/20/2012) - Getting our official photo taken at ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry, we’re waiting for the volunteer to get us into their 2012 archive photo album. “You’re section hikers, right?” she asks. “No, we’re thru-hikers, but [...]
Camper Karma (6/22/2012) - It took two hops to leave the southern Appalachians behind and continue north. Our friends Sally and Johnny got us to Damascus to pick up our maildrop after picking us up just past Big Hump [...]
Walking Thru Time (6/24/2012) - One of the most appealing aspects of jumping north to Harpers Ferry to continue our hike was finally immersing in history. While walking with spring was beautiful, the leafy green tunnel of the trail has [...]
Maryland Rocks (6/26/2012) - Everyone warns you about the Pennsylvania rocks, but no one ever mentions the rocks of Maryland. They start off somewhat innocuous, jumbles of small stones that make up the footpath. Then you climb to the [...]
PATC Pride (6/28/2012) - While Lord Willin knew that PATC was the cream of the crop of trail maintaining clubs along the AT, we didn’t get our first taste of just how much so until Maryland. Although an old [...]
Mason-Dixon Line (6/28/2012) - Here we are reaching the Mason-Dixon line! I was thrilled to find that the AT followed an old streetcar line here. Dad would have loved that discovery. Get [...]
The Extra Mile (6/30/2012) - There are Trail miles, and there are miles. Trail miles count towards getting the Appalachian Trail finished. Every day, however, we find ourselves putting on the “extra mile,” the one that doesn’t count but that [...]
9 to 5 (7/1/2012) - One of the absolute truths of a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail is that it is not recreation. It’s a job, filled with repetitive tasks. Find and purify water. Fix meals. Determine how far the [...]
In Gettysburg (7/3/2012) - Stopped at the side of the highway as our tour bus waited at a restroom, I could see a distant cluster of towers on the mountain to the west. “Hey, that’s Pen Mar!” We’re visiting [...]
Fourth of July (7/4/2012) - Wishing you a very happy Fourth of July and hoping you’re enjoying it outdoors! This is at the Overmountain Shelter in North Carolina, along a route Colonial patriots marched 170 miles to roust the British [...]
Peanut Soup (7/6/2012) - We get pretty creative on the trail, trying to make one-pot meals more interesting. It took two months before I figured out how to make pasta with tomato sauce and cheese “as good as home.” [...]
Chance of Rain (7/8/2012) - “At least one out of every four days,” said Ginny, “It’s going to rain.” Somehow it’s felt like more than that. Waking up to the latest downpour – which our sheltermates had no interest in [...]
Thunderstorms (7/11/2012) - There is a visceral reaction that happens to a hiker when the air becomes charged with electricity. It might be fight or flight mode, adrealine racing. Or glancing nervously at the skies, walking faster. I’ve [...]
Sheltermates (7/15/2012) - It rained, of course. Rain pattered down through the thickening canopy overhead, leaving the mountain laurel and persistent rocks with a glistening sheen. Climbing up from our dropoff point at Caledonia State Park, we knew [...]
The Quarter-Gallon Club (7/17/2012) - Hiking in a misty rain, we followed one of the easier stretches of trail so far, treated to gentle climbs, short stretches of rocks, and the moist fragrance of a spruce forest filling the air. [...]
Slackpacking (7/19/2012) - Two days of supported hiking to make it through Memorial Day Weekend: it was my idea, and it seemed like bliss. We’d already encountered large groups of hikers heading into the woods for the holiday, [...]
The Cumberland Valley (7/22/2012) - Traversing the broad Cumberland Valley, we’re finally off the rocky ridges that led us here and into gently rolling hills topped with farms as far as the eye can see. For much of its length, [...]
Out of (New) Balance (7/25/2012) - It was a given my shoes would fail. I’ve been hiking in New Balance running shoes for a decade – men’s size 9D, my feet shaped like bricks with no arches to speak of – [...]
Jarred (7/27/2012) - Diving into the tent the night before as a violent thunderstorm met us head-on atop Cove Mountain, we ate little, instead huddling on a single air mattress as the storm raged around us. Stepping over [...]
Duncannon (8/7/2012) - Having lived in the Pittsburgh metro for more than a decade, Duncannon came as no surprise to me. It was a novelty for John, however, to walk the streets of a gritty little riverfront town [...]
On Peters Mountain (8/9/2012) - The year, 1996. An outing with Keystone Trails Association to celebrate the installation of stone steps leading almost straight down the steep slopes of Peters Mountain to a spring – a rare commodity in these [...]
Zen vs. Zombie (8/11/2012) - One of the major delights of our thru-hike has been my ability to slip into the moment and stay there. One foot in front of the other, soaking in our surroundings, noticing the little things: [...]
The Haircut (8/13/2012) - With nearly 500 miles behind us and the daily temperature rising, it’s time I got a haircut. We pulled off the trail for resupply and ended up staying an extra night. Across the street, a [...]
The 501 (8/16/2012) - After our unplanned zero in Lickdale, it took sheer willpower for John to return to the trail today. Roadwalking to Swatara Gap and climbing to the ridgetop, he was a zombie. Sore feet and a [...]
Downhill Fast (8/18/2012) - Today, I started to hate hiking. I knew that wasn’t a good thing, but I couldn’t help myself. It had not been a good night. Chased by thunderstorms across a stone-studded landscape, I finally collapsed [...]
An August Farewell (8/21/2012) - Standing in the historic museum in downtown Palmerton, discussing zinc mining with the volunteer whose family had deep roots in the area, I thought I saw a ghost, a reflection in the front window. “It’s [...]
Pilgrimage (8/23/2012) - “Why are you here?” We were finishing up dinner at the 501 Shelter when Coach popped the question. I laughed. That’s the question John and I asked hikers all along our journey. More often than [...]
Re-entry (8/25/2012) - It’s hard to believe that we’ve been off the trail now for two months. Life has a way to quickly pull you back into the “reality” of “normal.” I adjusted back more quickly than Sandy [...]
Reflections on a “Not Quite Thru” (8/27/2012) - Every day I find myself thinking about our time on the AT, slowly realizing that you don’t have to do a thru-hike to have the trail change you. With only a quarter of it behind [...]
