Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Appalachian Trail

Last week Pop and I hit the Appalachian Trail (AT). We definitely underestimated how hard it was going to be but how could we complain? We were in Vermont in August and it was in the low 80s with virtually no humidity! Absolutely beautiful......


The days consisted of mostly long hikes (20 miles was the most I did) with small rests in between and nights in existing shelters. The trail has these shelters about every 7-8 miles so you can get away with no tent if the shelters aren't too packed.




As you can imagine, going for a week without much in the way of personal hygiene made this feel really good. I was able to take a dip in two different mountain lakes.

When it was all said and done, I hiked about 80 miles going from North Adams, MA to Danby, VT over probably a dozen or so peaks. The plan is to head back next year, pick up where I left off and make it to the New Hampshire border (another 78 miles or so) or beyond. At that pace it will take around 25 years to complete the AT so eventually I am going to have to have a couple of long trips in there. All I know is that I am definitely going back for more! I loved it.

We also got to hang out with the Pages (including Heather and Dany) and the Congdons before we left town. It was nice to visit with them again.

3 comments:

the andersons said...

Beautiful pics Craig. And what a fun experience... 1 year down, 24 to go.... :)

Carolyn Hansen said...

Great pictures! I'm not sorry that I missed the smelly boys though! :)

BIGSKYBLAST said...

Thank goodness for lakes, rivers and streams! Keep up checking off the "someday"s from your list! My list just keeps getting longer, though. There are so many wonderful places and wonderful things to see and do! ENJOY!