It Lives On

The dream continues with most amazing clarity I’ve ever seen. We as a human race do not come close to appreciating what has been put around us. We live in such a negative society when there is so much around us that we could be appreciating. Tonight, as I reflect on the past few years of my life, I think about how much I’ve taken for granted and how much I have to be thankful for. Everything is beautiful in its own way. Everything has a lesson to be learned from it. Whether good or bad, those lessons are what shape us into who we are as individuals and turn us into better people. 

The Four State Challenge, Northern Virginia, and the Shenandoah's

My lack of posting has been absurd!!! I guess you could say I've been busy walking a lot. It all started out with southern Pennsylvania. Landon and I stupidly decided to do what's called the 4 state challenge. You have to step foot in PA, MD, WV, and VA. We stated at 9:30p.m. and didn't finish hiking until 1:30 the next afternoon! We officially hiked 63 miles in 36 hours and boy did my body let me know! I was sore as all get out! Next came northern Virginia and what's called "The Roller Coaster." this was a 13 mile section of nothing but 800ft climbs that had absolutely no point to them at all. Boy did I LOVE that section. What was my reward after this preposterous section.......Shenandoah National Park. Some of the most beautiful manicured trails we have seen yet on this journey. We also just so happened to enter the park on Labor Day weekend so the park was crowded to say the least. The crew, however, didn't mind flexing our thru-hiker muscles in barreling up hills while passing wimpy day hikers! That really makes us feel good about ourselves. I am now sitting in the Waynesboro, VA library reading magazines and waiting for my phone to charge up. As of now, we have calculated that if we do 23 miles a day, 6 days a week we will be finishing this hike on October 18th. This is a rough estimate as I well know by now that anything and everything can happen, but it's definitely a moral booster as the bulk of those miles (543 to be exact) will be in Virginia. I am still enjoying myself, but as the miles fly by and I see the end in sight I can't help but get excited about reaching Springer Mountain. 1327.7 miles down, 856.5 left to go!!

A Hiker Diet

My food in town the past 24 hours has consisted of:
Sausage omlet with hash browns
A pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream
A brownie
A whole bag of Reece's pieces
A pie, cinnamon roll and 6 cookies

The amazing thing is.......I'm still losing weight!! Im already at 156lbs down from 171lbs

Lessons and Morals

When someone tells you something on the trail.....don't believe it. Just wait and see for yourself how it is. For example:
"New York and New Jersey sucked! They were so rocky and nasty."

My experience: New York and New Jersey have been awesome and I've loved most of both states. They've had awesome views and awesome trails.

Moral: Don't listen to lying Northbound Thru-Hikers.

Thank You

Today I had to say goodbye to two new and amazing friends. Landon's brother, Taylor, and one of his good friends, Amy Stafford, joined us hiking for the past three days. Needless to say we all had a blast together just chilling in the woods and hiking through New York. It was nice to have people to talk to that didn't just talk about hiking. We had stimulating conversations and just an all around good time. I've found that the woods are a very good place to get to know some one very quickly and that's exactly what happened with Taylor and Amy. Though they may not read this blog I have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming out into the woods and making a thru-hiker very happy. You all are amazing.
On a more technical note, Landon and I have done 800 miles on the trail as of tomorrow and tomorrow will be our two month mark out here. It feels like so much longer than two months and these next 2 months and some change will absolutely fly by for us. I am also constantly counting down the days until I see mom and dad in PA. Though I'm having surgery to fix my toe :/ it will be great to see them right around the halfway mark.
I'm sorry there aren't more pictures, but there has been literally nothing to take pictures of recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't taken a few.

My restlessness intensifies every minute I'm in town. My yearning for the trail never seems to go away. It is now setting in that the only place that I truly feel alive and at peace is deep in the woods. The nights are calm and cool and the mornings are filled with beautiful sights, sounds and smells of a fresh new day on this earth. The presence of the Lord truly shines in the beauty of the forest especially in the cooling breeze on a hot day, or the clearing of the trees revealing a picturesque landscape. The payoff after a long day of walking always outweighs the pain and energy put into those grueling 25 miles. The knowledge of my what my body needs and the better understanding of it are things that I will never be able to forget. Knowing that I can push out those last 5 miles or knowing that I can make it up this hill because, "No mountain lasts forever" truly amaze me once completed. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be able to push myself as far as I have already without breaking down. Knowing this truly does propel me forward for the rest of my hike along with the relentless support from friends and family emotionally walking every step of the way with me. Without that support, I know that I would have quit a long time ago. Without that support, my dream of a thru-hike would have been finished before it even started. Thank you do much for what you do to help me out in my journey. I may not even know you, but you have no idea how much I appreciate you.

The Grind of Things

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. To be honest there hasnt been much to post about and it's been raining almost every day for at least a little while. Yesterday Landon and I left Dalton, Massachusetts where we zeroed after going through Vermont in 7 days. We stayed at a place called the Birdcage. It's a free hostel that is run by a man named Rob Bird. Rob is on of the most selfless trail angels I have met on my journey so far. He took care of us like we were his own children and made sure that we had everything we needed. He is truly a gift to hikers. We stayed at a cabin last night where we are getting blueberry pancakes before we leave. Landon's parents are going to meet us in 2 days and were gong to zero at his house in Connecticut before continuing our journey further south. Well it's time for pancakes. Here are my pictures
Well the pancakes were amazing as expected!
Day 52
I am at Landon's house in Farmington, CT taking a zero. As an extra bonus the Olympics are on and I am permanently fixed to the tv. Sorry there haven't been more pictures of the trail. It has literally been a green tunnel with very limited views. We did however walk through some cow pastures and corn fields within the past few days. It's been pretty cool! We walked past the monument where Shay's rebellion happened. That was also pretty interesting. The amount of American history that we've encountered so far is very cool. Well physically I am doing fine. My toe is bothering me, but it isn't enough yet to stop me! I'll be having surgery in Pennsylvania when Mom and Dad come up to visit me. The recovery shouldn't be more than 3-4 days and then I'll be back on the trail.