Checking in from the Holiday Inn Express in the historic town of Fort Montgomery, NY. It's our two year anniversary so to celebrate we're taking a day off. The fact that we got the biggest hotel room either one of us has ever been in for a super-cheap, hooked-up rate definitely helped in our decision to stay put an extra day. Fittingly we're also only a few days away from our 3 month anniversary of being on the trail and 787 miles along. Time flies, but mostly it's just weird- our hike through Maine seems like a lifetime ago! Hope you enjoy the new batch of shots. We'll be in Maryland in a couple weeks and will keep people updated about where to possibly meet up with us. Get in touch with us so we can start figuring some stuff out!
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| Crossing the bridge out of Hanover into Vermont |
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| I found these vibrant Chicken of the Woods mushrooms by our tentsite at the Moose Mountain Shelter. (Don't worry, they're the only wild mushrooms we feel safe picking bc we've had them before and there are no poisonous look-a-likes) |
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| We sautéed them with olive oil and garlic and made them into a Thai Green Curry which definitely tasted better than it photographed. |
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| Merrell sends thru-hikers one free replacement pair of shoes. Mine came none too soon in West Hartford, after 450 miles of hard use. |
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| Looks like some drama with Floss (Sobo from Austin, TX) and Ellie, but it's just what you look like when you're climbing hills all day. |
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| Floss and Ellie heading down the trail near Woodstock, VT |
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| Well it's about time... |
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| Thundering Falls, VT |
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| Rutland, VT |
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| We stayed at the Yellow Deli Hiker Hostel in Rutland |
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| The hostel is donation based and run by the Twelve Tribes Religious Community. They invited all 15 hikers staying there to their Friday celebration and meal. Basically they're a hippy religious group that provides the most amazing hospitality we've had on the trail without pushing their beliefs on you at all! |
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| They also provided the most amazing breakfast of fresh homemade yogurt, breads, and oatmeal. l to r: Sir Stooge, one of the 12 Tribe members, Ellie's head, Floss, River, and A-O. |
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| Yellow Deli interior |
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| Church being renovated in Rutland |
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| 500 miles in! |
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| Since we hit Vermont, there have been old stacking stone walls everywhere in the woods. Some easily date back several hundred years and were around in pre-revolutionary time. |
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| Clarendon Gorge, VT |
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| Blondie (Sobo from Canada) on right, and family panning for gold on the left of the Mill River in the gorge. |
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| Rock cairn wonderland |
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| Very meticulous |
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| All aboard the AT mothership |
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| Top of Bromley Mountain Ski Resort |
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| The quaint, old fashioned Mrs. Murphy's Donuts in Manchester Center was definitely the saving grace for the too-touristy town. |
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| The view from Stratton Mountain Fire Tower is what inspired Benton McKaye to come up with idea for the Appalachian Trail in 1921 |
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| Remnants of the caretakers cabin near the Glastenbury Mountain Fire Tower |
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| Misty Vermont |
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| Enthused |
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| War memorial on top of Mount Greylock on 9/11, the highest point in Massachusetts |
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| Ceiling inside of the monument |
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| Massachusetts field |
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| Monument to commemorate a 1200 pound wheel of cheese made for Thomas Jefferson from the milk of all 900 cows in the town of Chesire, MA. It was imprinted with Jefferson's slogan "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." They guy on the plaque delivered it on a sled in the wintertime because it was too heavy for a cart. Most interesting monument so far. |
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| Blueberry Patch at "The Cookie Lady's" house. You stop in and she brings you free cookies. Being an AT Thru-Hiker goes against everything you ever learned from McGruff the crime dog- we always take candy from strangers. |
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| Upper Goose Pond Cabin is a free place run by the Park Service for hikers. |
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| Dinner on Upper Goose Pond |
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| The caretaker at the cabin makes everyone blueberry pancakes in the morning. Falcor, her enormous Irish Wolfhound stands about 7 feet tall on his hind legs. |
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| Ellie with Falcor and Bella |
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| Ice Gulch |
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| Corn and Willows |
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| The Connecticut State line in the idyllic Sages Ravine |
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| We popped in to the town of Salibury, CT to use the computer in the library. We had no clue it'd be one of the nicest ones we'd ever seen! |
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| In front of "The Giants Thumb" |
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| Rand's Field, CT |
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| Fog in the Housatonic Valley |
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| Ellie is an American Ninja Master |
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| TV Party in Cornwall Bridge, CT |
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| Morning from St Johns Ledges |
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| Spacin' out in NY |
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| Old wooden water tower in a field in NY |
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| This called a stile and it's used to get over the barbed wire and electric fences in all of the fields we've had to walk through since VT |
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| Mine eyes have seen the glory- a wood-fired pizza truck on the side of the road right off of the trail. it may as well have been Christmas morning. |
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| A train to New York City stops right on the trail on the weekends |
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| The Dover Oak is the oldest oak on the entire trail. It's over 300 years old and 20' 4" around. |
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The RPH Shelter is close to a road so you can actually have pizza delivered there. This amazingly nice group of hikers from NY out for a weekend trip refused to let us pay our share and treated us to a brick oven pizza feast!
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| The picnic pavilion on the grounds of Graymoor Monestary was where we saw the highest concentration of wildlife on the whole trip. We saw 5 does and a buck, a fox, a gaggle of wild making the craziest noises, and a bunch of owls. There was also beautiful bell music every hour from the chime tower. |
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| Making dinner in a blur under the pavilion |
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| Oh beautiful for spacious outdoor Bingo pavilions. |
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| Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River |
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| There is a free museum/zoo that the trail winds through. The building in the back is an almost 100 year old toll plaza, and this is a handmade cedar flagpole. The whole zoo was from a time when the term "made in china" wasn't in the vernacular. |
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| Bears eat spears. |
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| The geology exhibit |
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| Yes, the lowest point on the AT (on every level) is definitely 2 bears born in captivity surrounded by turkey vultures- waiting for them to die in captivity. Boooooo Zoooos! |
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| AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road, | |
| Healthy, free, the world before me, | |
| The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. | |
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| Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune; | |
| Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, | 5 |
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
- Walt Whitmam |
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| Pringle machine? Whuuuuu? |
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| Our suite at the holiday inn. Don't look shocked Kramer, that really is another huge tv in the other room AND a king sized bed |
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| 7 pillows seems just about right |
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| Hint, mentioning your 2 year anniversary on the phone while making a reservation increases your chances of getting a Jacuzzi tub for cheaper than we've paid for some really "divey" motels. |
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| Sauna life. |
