Days 57 and 58

Andrew Thompson: AT Record-Holder

Day 57: NH 25A to Franconia Notch - 35.5 miles.
This was the hardest day yet on the Trail.  I know there will be harder, but the mileage, the accumulation of fatigue, and the tough terrain took their toll on this day.  Mt. Moosilauke was really neat and Andrew ran with me in this section.  The next section was 16+ miles unaided over the Kinsman Mtns to end the day.  It was tough and slow with lots of hand-over-hand climbing.  I was determined to not be out after dark on this day and pushed very hard to make sure that I wasn't.  16.3 miles in 6.25 hrs sounds super slow, but I can assure you it was not.  Absolutely amazingly beautiful country here in NH, but in the same breath tough and unforgiving.

Day 58:  Zero Day.  I was pretty whipped after yesterday and woke up to driving rain this morning.  I got up and got ready to go, but made the decision at 7am that climbing up to 5,000' and doing a 28 mile day with no aid-spots (read bail-out spots) in weather that was 48 deg and driving rain at 1,500' would not be fun and potentially dangerous.  I really needed a day to rest-up for the final push anyway and I think my wife has been missing me a little bit.  I don't think 30 years from now I'll care whether I finished the AT in 69 or 70 days, I just want to make sure I can finish in one piece at this point.

Days 54-56

Right after we shot this video Adam saw two bears within two miles of each other -- one was small and jet black, the other BIG with a chocolate coat.

Day 53

Quick info update: 33 Miles - Manchester Center, VT to North Carendon, VT

Another rainy day, but the sun did come out for about an hour.  Better trail conditions on this section.  Not much wildlife today, but I think I may have seen a marten (see pic) early this morning.  Hanging tough, but tired of the Long Trail mud.  Tomorrow we'll peel-off from the LT and hopefully its shoe-sucking mud as well.  Bring on some sunshine!??

Days 51 and 52: A Moose is on the Loose

The Encounter

Stay Tuned

Here is the wife updating from McDonald's in Manchester Center (hoitey toitey - but I wore my cutoff jeans and stinky sandals with my head held high in the factory outlets).  I hope that we have internet service tonight because I'm sure Adam will have quite the story from the 22 mile section he is currently working on.  It was raining to start out and now just plain gloomy looking, but he had a full pack and a good jacket as he left.  You will also want to stay tuned for his animal report from yesterday's adventure.  All is well and we are trying to keep from getting ahead of ourselves - BUT, Maine is growing so close.  Thanks for following us along this adventure.  We really enjoy all of the comments on here and facebook (maybe one day blogger will let us comment back).  
 - Kadra

Day 50

Not much to report from today.  I did 29-miles and it rained all day.  The rain was heavy for the last several hours making it that much more miserable.  Tomorrow we'll be in VT . . . bring on the Long Trail!

The Nightly Ceiling View

Day 49

p.s. Kadra corrected my poor grammar (give the tired guy a break!) -- "I should have run more".  I promise to be more polished in future video posts.

Day 48

. . . just think, Andrew Thompson would be finishing his record setting thru-hike of 47 days 13 hours today.  I still have over 600 miles to go.  Definitely puts my journey into perspective.

Days 46 and 47

Days 44 and 45

Day 43

I'm still not able to leave comments due to a glitch with Blogger (at least I assume).  Thank you all for the comments . . . knowing folks are following along and supporting me helps more than you will ever know.

Day 42

Back on the itinerary and went 34 miles.  Good to get the mileage back to where it needs to be after a few days of "healing".  My shin continues to be problematic and is slowing me down, but I'm still heading north.  Rough day with rain most of the afternoon -- just enough to make the rocks that much more treacherous.  I was impressed  by the beauty of New Jersey.  Had some great views and saw two bears today.  The pic below was taken by Kadra on the 11-mile section that she ran with me.  The bear was within 20 yards and made no attempt to move and was totally unimpressed by me banging my poles together.  Kadra thought it was cool.  I'm glad we got to share the experience.  Half-way done with NJ and looking forward to coming close to the NY line by the end of tomorrow!

Blueberry Bush Bear

Rocksylvania pic

Good Riddance!

Days 40 and 41



Wind Gap, PA



Beating the mid-day heat last week

Day 39

Red-Spotted Newt (lots of them on the Trail today)

Rainy day.  Only did 26-miles and plan to do the same tomorrow to get back on the itinerary schedule.  Shin is still causing a lot of pain, but the bright side is that it's not getting worse.  I'm hoping the lighter days will give it a little break.  Kadra did an 11-mile section with me today thanks to my parents for shuttling the car.  She got to see me fall on some of the many wet rocks and break one of my fancy trekking poles.  Not good, but thankfully Clark let me borrow a set.  I'll need them to get out of Rocksylvania.

Day 38

PA 645 to Port Clinton (PA 61) - 26 miles

Day 37

Days 32 to 35



Self Portrait at the Half-Way Point - All down hill from here! . . . right.




Great seeing my friend Briana and her beautiful girls

Oscar trying his hand at the Subaru





The Offending Shin



Day 30 and 31

Kadra's Grandparents on the AT!

These were their first steps ever on the trail at ages 81 and 85

Day 30 (Front Royal, VA to Bear's Den Hostel) -- 34 miles

Ran with Harland Peelle for a few miles, who gave up most of his morning to find me out there on the trail.  Thanks tons Harland!!

We stayed last night at the Bear's Den Hostel after watching a beautiful sunset -- such a cool place.

Day 31 (Bear's Den Hostel to South Mountain Inn) -- 37 miles

Stopped by the ATC and got my picture taken -- see below.  The WonderBoy Paul Davis met us later and we had a great run up to South Mountain.  The biggest surprise of the last two days came when Grandpa Vernon and Grandma Ginny met us to celebrate Kadra's birthday (a few days early) with a special celebration at the Inn.  The rest of us rednecks ate Sloppy Joes, Coca-Cola cake, and Ben & Jerry's back at the Davis' homeplace in Shepherdstown and had a great visit with many outstanding people including Bradley Mongold and his patient girlfriend, Jill.

Day 29

Skyland to VA-522: 37 miles