Appalachian Trail

[astepatatime]

A friend of mine set out to thru-hike the AT this year.  He actually added to the distance by starting out on the Pinhoti instead of at Springer (the traditional start point for a NB hike).  Some of you may know him - goes by the trail name (and geocacher name) of Gubbool.  He's got about 800 miles logged on this trip so far.

Our family took a road trip to Washington D.C., and with a little help from the GPS, we were able to meet up with him near a town called Bland, VA.  Funny little town - more of a village with one main crossroads.  Yet to AT hikers, it's a major stop.  In the time we were waiting to meet with Gubbool, we gave two other hikers a ride into town.  Then gave our friend and another hiker a ride.  At the town Dairy Queen, we had 7 hikers sitting around swapping stories, and 6 more were working their way into town. I was just really suprised at the number of thru hikers at one place at one time.  The general numbers I've heard is that 3,000 attempt a thru hike each year, and about 300 make it.

Also couldn't believe the variety of gear.  A few (usually the older hikers like my friend) had top end gear.  Others (usually very young people), looked almost as if they got out of bed one day and decided to go on a hike.   Whatever shorts and t-shirt they had on is what they went with.   Amazingly, two of them were doing it in basically flip flop sandals!

All seemed like nice people, well-grounded, and genuinely interested in other people.  Maybe once you strip away all the trappings and materialism of modern life, and spend a fair amount of time by yourself, human interaction takes on new importance.  Kind of nice.

[astepatatime]

Saw the introduction from new member BPitt earlier and his mention of the AT.   Earlier this year I posted the above note about a friend of mine who is thru-hiking it.  He made this epic journey even longer by starting out on the Pinhoti.

Well...an update:  He's still at it!   Recently left Massachusetts and crossed into Vermont.   That left him about 590 miles left.  He's 1900 miles into it (including his start in Alabama).  Pretty impressive!   The finish through VT, NH, and then Maine is some pretty tough miles, at altitude, as fall starts to arrive.  Weather can be a problem.

If anyone is interested in reading trail logs, he updates his web log Finding Warren  .   Hit the "First" link to go to the first entry in the log.

[Joshua Szulecki]

astepatatime,

I'm stuck here in NY, a few miles from the Bear Mountain Bridge, and I can tell you fall will be early this year, so I hope he is making good time.

It has been dropping into the 40's at night, and it stays cool until almost noon, and never really gets hot, although the sun is still pretty strong so it feels like it is hot. I had forgotten how fast fall hits up here, since I've been in Alabama for the last three years, and it hits about 2 weeks earlier here than in Maryland, where I was for the decade and a half preceding Alabama.

That said, I'm loving 70's and low 80's in August. I'm just waiting for some clouds.

[bpitt]

I hope your friend does well. I can agree with your statements that, yes, most everyone on the trail are geniunely nice. Let's face it, we live in what some call the conservative Bible belt, or at least I do. I too, tend to be conservative, yet, I found myself talking with a guy from Jersey who told me he was basically a liberal and all that. Now, I ain't starting no political/religious/whatever debate. I'm just saying, for the short time I spent on the trail, all but the basic things were forgotten, and everyone was the same, irregardless of opinions, views, beliefs, etc. We were all in the same boat, rather, on the same trail. I hope to see those people again, and hope they're doing well, and I wish them luck and God's blessings in life. Kinda weird coming from me, being conservative and all, but I gotta say, people are people, we're all the same.

[Cuffs]

A friend of mine set out to thru-hike the AT this year.  He actually added to the distance by starting out on the Pinhoti instead of at Springer (the traditional start point for a NB hike).  Some of you may know him - goes by the trail name (and geocacher name) of Gubbool.  He's got about 800 miles logged on this trip so far.

Our family took a road trip to Washington D.C., and with a little help from the GPS, we were able to meet up with him near a town called Bland, VA.  Funny little town - more of a village with one main crossroads.  Yet to AT hikers, it's a major stop.  In the time we were waiting to meet with Gubbool, we gave two other hikers a ride into town.  Then gave our friend and another hiker a ride.  At the town Dairy Queen, we had 7 hikers sitting around swapping stories, and 6 more were working their way into town. I was just really suprised at the number of thru hikers at one place at one time.  The general numbers I've heard is that 3,000 attempt a thru hike each year, and about 300 make it.

Also couldn't believe the variety of gear.  A few (usually the older hikers like my friend) had top end gear.  Others (usually very young people), looked almost as if they got out of bed one day and decided to go on a hike.   Whatever shorts and t-shirt they had on is what they went with.   Amazingly, two of them were doing it in basically flip flop sandals!

All seemed like nice people, well-grounded, and genuinely interested in other people.  Maybe once you strip away all the trappings and materialism of modern life, and spend a fair amount of time by yourself, human interaction takes on new importance.  Kind of nice.

Is this Gubbool?  I know him from GC.  I ran into OBH the other day!  He is planning a trip north to Maine to meet him!