Certificates

The end of the AT Hike at Buena Vista, Virginia. This day Eric and Matthew finished up the last legs of the 2100 mile hike from Georgia to Maine. Some day I will get around to posting photos from each segment along with some miles and days details. The exciting point was to know that they had both accomplished a enjoyable challenge and are still excited to take on many more adventures on the trail.

Almost Finished with the Appalachian Trail:
In the summer of 2006 I dropped Eric and Matthew off at the trail head near Buena Vista, Virginia. They had bypassed almost three hundred miles of Virginia Trail in order to end the summer at the northern terminus at Katahdin way up in Maine. This morning Matthew called from the town of Buena Vista as he was shopping for some food. That means they have completed the entire north to south trek of the Appalachian trail. This puts the number of days and nights on the AT of about 127. It has been an exciting adventure for the hikers and those who have been following along. They have a couple of more nights on the AT as they will wait for their dad to pick them up on Saturday at the Buena Vista trailhead. I have missed a few reports and there has been limited cellphone service. I hope to fill in some more details and add photos when the wandering hikers return home by Sunday. So far they have posted some great photos on the Mitoc site. http://mitoc.mit.edu/gallery/album883

Stream Crossing:

The trail guide from 2004 said the bridge was out. I would seem reasonable that by 2008 it would have been replaced. Such was not the case. Rather than double back and add six more miles of hiking the plan was to ford the stream. There was one problem and that was between the two hikers they only had one pair of CROCS. The creek was cold from the melted snow and the bottom was slippery. A simple solution was put into place. Step one Matthew puts the CROCS on his feet and gives one end of the rope to Eric.Step two Eric holds one end of rope and watches Matthew cross the creek. Step three: Matthew attaches Crocs to caribiner attached to rope. Step four: Eric pulls rope with attached Cocs across the creek. Step five: Eric dons the Crocs and wades across stream to meet Matthew. No problem. One pair of Crocs will be enough for these two hikers.

Back on The Trail:
This reporter has been in Minnesota away from the computer and busy visiting family. Eric and matthew called tonight from Thunder Hill shelter which is about thirty five miles from Buena Vista, VA. This will mark the end of their long adventure along the Appalachian Trail. Eric said it was the coldest night so far, Probably about ten degrees. There is 3 to 4 inches at 3500 feet where they have set up the tent in the shelter to provide for more heat. They were in the process of boiling water over a big campfire. This hot water will go into Nalgene bottles which will be deposited near their feet in comfy sleeping bags.
The weekend with Amanda and her Mom was a fun time as they visited Mr Jefferson's Monticello and stayed at Natural Bridge. They were glad to take a rest, eat some Chinese food and sleep in warm motels. I will try to write some stories from previous days and then back date them so Eric and Matthew have some stories from the trail and readers will be able to share in more adventures with snow, snowshoes and scenic trails.

Garrett's Expert Weather Forecasts:

The weather has been in between cold rain, snow and icy conditions for the past couple of days. In order to ensure safety and avoid hypothermia the hikers have been relying on the expert forecasts of Garrett. He sits in his warm and comfortable MIT dorm while monotoring the radar and charts in order to provide a personal forecast to the AT hikers. . Garrett warned of some afternoon freezing rain but determined there may be a window of opportunity between weather events when it may be possible to hurry up the trail to the shelter past Daleville, Va . It is great to have their own personal weather expert providing up to the minute advice. .

Great Camp Fires:

As is the custom the fire was going good tonight. Tommorow at noon Amanda and her mom will arrive to pick up the hikers and bring them to a nice motel to get a warm nights sleep, good company, good food and maybe upload some photos. I am sure they will not be loafing in the motel but finding some more adventures close by. Gocery shopping and laundry may also be some of the activities.

No Fire Tonight:

The camp for the night was a few miles out of Daleville, VA. It was a little cold so Eric was calling from the comfort of the tent which they set up in the shelter for protection from the cold wind. A fire would have be great for warmth but the lights from Daleville were visible and they deemed it would be a good idea to heed the no fire signs and keep warm in the tent. The drinking water is coming froms springs with Agua Mirra for purification. Meals include Lipton meals and powdered mash potatoes. The winter solitude of the AT has continued as they met one hiker today who said they were the first hikers he had seen in two weeks.

Camping in the Snow:

The snowshoes have proved to be extra weight most of the time but today The hikers strapped on the snowshoes for and hour or two. The snow was melting and about 4 or 5 inches deep. There was at least some slight vindication for toting the snowshoes along for the past two weeks. Some of the water for the day came from a cistern and some from melting snow.

Snow on the trail:
It was only two inches of snow and not enough for snow shoes yet but it is sure pretty and there is hope for more. The hikers had another big fire last night and have rearranged their jobs. Eric has been in charge of fire building and Matthew sets up camp. This is a big change as Matthew usually is first one to be building the fire . As I wrote before, to Eric and Matthew a campfire is a requirement when sleeping out on the trail. It provides warmth, comfort and a genuine feeling of living in the great outdoors. The plans for next weekend are to meet Amanda and her Mom in Daleville, VA. That is another 60 or so miles up the trail. At the 20 mile per day pace the guys are maintaining, they will need to slow down or they will arrive in Daleville by Thursday. Maybe their wishes will come true and it will snow enough to slow down the northward progress.

Click here for a few photos Eric and Matthew posted of the first few days.

http://mitoc.mit.edu/gallery/album883

Nice Folks in Pearisburg, Virginia:
The hikers set up camp up high on the mountain top outside of Pearisburg in hopes the would have some snow at a higher elevations. It was below freezing but they opened the vents in the tent to cool down a little. While in Pearisburg they restocked on groceries and white gas. They were hoping to buy gas by the ounce but ended up buying a gallon. When they returned the extra gas they couldn't carry along, the woman at Ware's Market was extra nice and "insisted" on giving them a refund for all the gas. With numerous trips back and forth into the market, the hikers got to know the store people pretty well. Matthew commented a few times how nice the people in Pearisburg were. One man gave them a ride to Walmart and another woman offered them a ride to a nearby hostel. She was concerned they were going get some icy weather and needed a warm place to stay. They politely decided to camp out but were grateful for the kindness of people along the trail. On Sunday morning they had their snack on the West Virginia border as the trail winds north.
The trail today has been level and somewhat featureless and they can see farms in the clear valleys while they are hiking in the clouds and fog. Once again they are stocked well with food and hoping for some substanial snow. Garrett is manning his post at MIT and his weather forecast for the trail called for some flurries. Matthew could "feel that it was wanting to snow". I could also feel that he and Eric were also really wanting it to snow. My best estimate is that after Sunday's camp, the distance to completing the long hike will be about 150 miles.

To Damascus, VA and beyond:
We got a call fom Lick Skillet Gap saying"We are back on the trail." The hikers spent Thursday night at a hostel in Damascus called "Dave's Place". It was good to get off the trail and into a warm dry place after a rain soaking day on the trail. They got an early start and hiked the 18 miles to Damascus by 1:30 Pm. This gave then time to pick up a package at the post office, go to the library to load some photos on the MITOC page, wash clothes, dry out, buy some groceries and eat a good pizza.at Sicily's Pizza. While eating they struck up a conversation with a couple of old timers with one turing out to be the mayor of Damascus. Oh yeah, among the many tasks to accomplish this day was to enjoy some well earned ice cream. For those who are reading closely you can relax because the hikers now have water purification tablets, a solid pot grabber and a good selection of tasty morsels to maintain their energy.
After Friday's hike, the miles left to complete the trail should be less than 190.
In order to arrive at Lick Skillet Gap where they left off in 2004, they hired a driver with a van to shuttle them about 100 miles up the road.

This was the same place i picked up Eric and Matthew in June 2004. They have learned a lot since then over the course of 2000+ miles on the AT.

A Day of Trail Magic:
"We didn't expect people to be so kind to hikers in winter but today was amazing," said Matthew. "We were really running low on energy and the food in our packs was getting mighty slim. Then we stopped at a shelter and came upon a pack of six Protein Plus energy bars. Some kind person left them just for us. Later we came across two MRE's and a gallon jug of Spring watter. Now we are prety well set for food until we get to Damascus which is 19 miles up the trail."

Last night they thought about putting up the tent in the nice weather but instead went a little farther to a shelter. It turned out to be a wise decision as the skkies emptied a bunch of rain on the rooftop between 2:00 am and 6:00 am. Amanda had told them about weather reports that predicted the rain. As they woke up dry the skies cleared and they had another nice day to hike. Tonight they ended up at Double Springs shelter and plan to get an early start to make it to Damascus before the post office closes so they can pick up more supplies. The forecast for Thursday looks like rain. As we talked on the phone Matthew heard an owl hooting and then some coyotes in the distance. His mother told him to be careful.

A great use for the GPS:
The weather has been nice and warm so the Nalgene bottles were getting low on water as Eric and Matthew headed north to Virginia. The guys forgot the water purifying tablets back home so they have had to boil water or snow. This takes a lot of work and is a slow process. Matthew checked his trusty GPS and found there was a church very close to the trail. Thinking there might be some water the guys bushwacked up the hill. The church at Buck Mountain was closed but sure enough there was a working water spigot on the side of the church and they were able to replenish the water bottles and continue on another 20 mile hike for the day.
As of Tuesday the 8th, they had hiked over sixty miles during the past three days. The stop for the night was the Watauga Lake Shelter. The nioght before they stayed close to Moreland Gap. The trail has been muddy in parts as the has snow melted. Later as the ground dried, the tennis shoes came on and the boots went off. They are dissapointed the snowshoes have not been used yet and will be very frustrated if they carry the extra weight and just get warm temps with sunny days. I think the sunny days would be just fine.
The food pickup at Laurel Fork Lodge worked out fine but they did not have many choices and no fresh food. They hope they have enough to get them to Damascus, Virginia in a couple of days.
During Eric's call we got to listen to "natural firecrackers" as Matthew tossed dried Rhododendron leaves into another big campfire and Eric held the phone close. "No campout is complete with out a good fire" say Matthew and Eric.