Bears Den Hostel.jpg

Bears Den Hostel.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Well today I zero'd at Bear Den Hostel, which was just what I needed. I have learned that I am more a cold weather hiker than a hot weather one. I have trouble with the heat and humidity.

So today I read 3 chapters in our men's bible study book, 12 ordinary men by John Macauther. It is really good. Then I ate half a pizza while watching the movie Cars. Then I talked with Amee and took a nap till more hikers showed up. Oh, I also helped Hopeful by vacuuming and making the beds. lol. I dont mind helping out, since I was resting all day. Currently there are 6 hikers here plus me. I just ate my other half of my pizza and will be enjoying my pint of Ben & Jerry's real soon. This is the 2nd best hostel to date. Kincora holding the top spot.

I guess this was the summer home of a washington doctor built in the 30's, then the patc bought it up.

Tomorrow I plan to hike past 1000 miles and maybe even into Harper's Ferry. Yeah! Then I will determine if I will go on or stop there.

Shepherd.

CoolFly Problem Solved

Hello all - Happy 4th of July!!

Thanks Mac and PS for the suggestions. I ended up biting the bullet and taking off the built in windscreen of my potstand in hopes that it would allow heat to escape; allowing my stove to breathe more efficiently.

As you can see in the video below, it worked. I will take the windscreen next to my stove with me when I start my hike in 16 more days. Sorry it is sideways...didnt realize it until I copied it to my computer.

Shepherd

Mac: Thankfully no firefighters were needed with my first video attempt! lol ;O)

Overheating CoolFly stove.

Hello all!

Only 19 more days till I will be back on the trail, so I took the day today getting my gear organized. I was playing with my new stove that Pastor Scott sent me (thank you!), and am having a problem getting 2 cups to boil before it overheats.

I don't know if it is because of the heat (about 75 degrees out) or because of the windscreen on my pot stand, so if anyone has had similar problems or know how to resolve the problem....comments are greatly welcome! Mac or PS...any suggestions?

I did poke out about half of the windscreen holes to open up the area around the stove, which did give me about 3-4 more minutes of burn time before the stove overheated. So, maybe punching out the rest of the holes might do the trick and just use an external windscreen. Also I have tried different heights of the wicks, which didn't change the outcome.

The stove is a CoolFly alcohol stove from minibulldesign.com. Here is a short video of what it looks like when it overheats....this is about 12 minutes into the test.....

Shepherd.

PS - Thanks for the Heini wrap! It is nice to be able to pick it up without burning my hand! It was very easy to put on!

And the WINNER is.....

Well it still looks like some people are still wondering if I am getting back on the trail or maybe they are the people who don't know that I had gotten off the trail yet. But anyway, there are still some people looking at this blog!

So in that case, I will post who won the "Biggest Loser" game that I set up before I left. It was a game to guess how much weight I would lose on the trail with a tie breaker question of how many poptarts I would eat!

Well I ended up loosing 17 lbs! I weighed in at 150 lbs...down from 167 at the beginning! I hope to keep it off as long as possible! So...the winner is!

With a guess of 152.5 lbs, which was the closest without going over...is Liz Ayres!!! Yeah!

So her winning gift has to deal with FOOD, which is what I dreamed about all the time on the trail! She is getting a $30 gift card to my favorite pizza joint....PAPA JOHNS, and a $30 gift card to my favorite ice cream location....COLD STONE CREAMRY!!!! She has 4 kids, so both should come in handy!!

Shepherd!

p.s. Stay tuned cause I am healing well, and getting the hiking bug again! Lord willing, I will be back on the trail at the end of July or beginning of August! I need to work a bit to save up some more money in the meantime!

Front Royal - Nero

Day 59: 5/2. Officially hiked 2.9 miles to US 522 this morning, to procure a ride into Front Royal with Team Deustchmark. It was a warm night last night with the temps hovering in the low 60's, which caused me to sweat quite a bit in my 15 degree sleeping bag. Definelty shedded some layers during the night!

Well, hitching into town is always an experience especially with a group of 5 smelly hikers. So Bad Hummus was up for the challenge at getting us a ride. His family is from India, so he looks kind of threating especially with his big beard. So we timed him. Almost immediately a cop actually turned around in the road and came back to where he was trying to hitch a ride. We were like...oh no...he is in trouble, but the officer just wanted to make sure no one was injured. Which was nice, but he didnt offer us a ride! So then 10 minutes into the event, he was able to get a guy in a truck to pull over and give us a ride into town! Yes! He even showed us where the all you can eat buffet was! How nice!

So then we just chilled out at the visitor center and outfitter, since it was still to early for lunch. Then at 11:00, we hit the AYCE buffet at Victoria's, which was a pretty good one...if I must say. I have become quite the critic on AYCE's since being on the trail! Yeti won top honors by putting down 5 FULL plates of food. Then we waddled over to the post office for maildrop pickups and then went to the Quality Inn for the day.

Parents are wonderful! Toddy Bear's parents were in town and met us. They graciously bought us lunch and paid for our night in the hotel room! Such kindness, and I am not even in Team Deustchmark. I am blown away by there generousity. Again, thank you.

So right now, I have been resting my leg, putting ice on it and taking the routine doses of Vit I throughout the day. Although, I have like no appetite for some reason. I had to force myself to eat lunch today, and will have to for dinner as well. My stomach has just been doing flip flops on and off during the day. Took some Pepto Bismol as well, which usually helps. It might be the ice cream I had at lunch, or just the shock of real food for a change. This is pretty usual in towns that I visit. My body must not be as young as it once was. Plan on getting some Papa Johns for dinner, and that I will not turn down!

So the next 4 days are LOW mileage days. Day 1 -15, Day 2 - 15.3, Day 3- 14, Day 4 - 9.4 into Harpers Ferry. So my right shin should do ok. I cant wait to see Amee and have a couple of zero days!

Andrew: GORP = Good Old Raisens & Peanuts! A hikers must. Never have a day without it! And nope...havent had to use the Flagyl yet! It is my most valued possesion I carry with me!

Well, it is getting dinner time! God bless. Thanks for all the prayers with the shin splints.

Shepherd.

Gods trail magic.jpg

Gods trail magic.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Day 54. 4/27.

Found my first morel, which are the greastest things about spring. I guess they are really popping up. Havent had time to really hunt them yet. Only if i had some flour, butter & a frying pan. yum.

I am sure it brings back memories for grandma, who is the greastest mushroom cooker ever, and of course grandpa was the greast mushroom finder ever! He found some huge one's.

Anyone else out there enjoy morels?

Shepherd.

The Dutch Haus

Day 52: April 25th.

Officially hiked 18.1 miles to the Fish Hatchery Rd, then walked another 2.5 miles (unofficial) to Montebello, VA.

This is where the Dutch Haus B&B is located! Lois & Earl are in their 8th year doing this. They actually offer a free lunch to all hikers whether they stay or not between 11-1 pm, but I wasnt able to get there in time. So, I will get to enjoy their dinner and breakfast! They give us cool robes to wear around the house while our laundry gets done! Very cozy! Spruce & South Side are here as well. They both slacked packed 25 miles today. I havent gotten the chance to slack pack (which means you just hike with a day pack with a few essentials) yet. I would like to hear other hiker's opinions on whether slack packing is "allowed" on a thru-hike or not. So far there have been a mixture of hikers who say they would and many who say they wouldnt. I dont think I would turn down the opportunity if it came up, but doubt it will. Currently I have carried my full pack the whole time.

I officially broke the 800 mile mark today over Cold Mountain, where I called and actually talked to my co-workers today! It was great to hear their voices and their encouragement, and of course a patient was trying to get out of bed! It never fails! lol.

I am officially at 811.5 miles form Springer & 1364.7 miles from Katahdin! Tomorrow, I have a tough downhill hike down "The Priest", which has 36 switchbacks! But, then I have a equally large climb up 3 ridges mnt. So the saying is true, "If you go down, you will soon be going up!"

Just John: Great to hear from you and welcome to the blog! Would love to meet you and especially if you have trail magic! Thru-hikers crave trail magic! lol. I always wear a blue bandana and carry a hiking stick. My picture is on the post of the "one month snapshot". Also, how is the trail in PA? I have heard that it is pretty flat and the rocks dont come into play till near the end!? I also heard Maryland isnt too bad as well.

Rich: I have a tarp (1 pound) and have used it successfully on the trail. I currently use the shelters if possible, but have come out dry using the tarp in a rain storm! Most hikers still carry tents, but tarps are becoming more popular, esp. with ultralighters. I recommend the website, http://www.backpackinglight.com/. Very informative, esp. their forums!

Jen: Great to hear from you. I miss seeing you guys and esp. Kayden. Tell him I said hello! I bet he wont recognize me at Matthew's graduation! lol. Congrats on your job in Lafayette, we hope to see you often!

Alyssa: Yes, I forgot about the mouse count! I have seen 8 dead mice at the shelter. 1 alive, and another one ran over my head while sleeping. The MBG's (Mouse-B-Gone's) are working well lately, since I have 2 fresh ones! I gave out the rest PS! Thanks again!

Eikenberry: Yes, I hope my beard grows quickly! Any tips on how to make it grow faster would be much appreciated. I dont think Amee will want me to keep it once I am finished with the hike! lol. Also here is the updated poptart count!

Poptarts: 102
Snickers: 44

Bill Bolander: You should try to stay here if possible! 4 stars! Great food and wonderful place to sleep! Highly recommended!!!

Pete/Wendy: Is getting married tomorrow!! Yeah! God bless you guys and have a great honeymoon! It is finally here!

Shepherd.

Homeplace Restraunt.jpg

Homeplace Restraunt.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

April 20th...lunch.

Well I didnt plan on eating here but in the registers, hikers kept saying that they were hitting up the homeplace's AYCE. So, not turning food down I hike into Catawba for lunch. That is where I found CJ eating his 3rd dessert! It is southern cooking family style and all you can eat! I had fried chicken, ham, mash potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, green beans, fried apples, & cherry cobbler with ice cream. Yummy!

So as we were leaving met POW & TLC again & Leslie (now Viewfinder). I guess TLC broke her foot, so they got off the trail in Damascus, and drove here for dinner. Now that is how famous this restraunt is. My prayers go out to TLC. God bless & speedy recovery.

Pearisburg, VA

Day 42: April 15th.

Got into Pearisburg at 11:30 and immediately went to the Pizza Hut's AYCE lunch buffett with CJ, Rat Sandwhich, Matthew & Five Bags. We put a dent in their profits today! lol. 5 hungry hikers and pizza! Yeah baby. We did a short 8.2 miles into town, so we are officially 624 miles from Springer & 1552.2 miles from Katahdin!

Amee got into town at around 1:30 and we checked into the hotel. I got a shower and we went to wash my clothes and go to the post office! With a side trip to Dairy Queen for another Blizzard!

Pastor Scott! Got the package and the goodies! THANK YOU so much! I loved the Mouse-B-Gone stickers! Also I havent read that book and I needed some new reading material! Thanks again! Will let you know what I think of it! Also I think I will go with the coffee system and try to make some more friends on the trail with free coffee! Thanks for the system and the coffee and filters...way more than I had expected. I love to lighten my pack!! To God be the glory!

Then we went to Virginia Tech and ate at Boston Beanery, which was delicious! Tomorrow is the one year anniversery of the VT shootings, so there are alot of news vans around and vigils planned for tomorrow. We may try to check it out if we can find it. CJ actually is a graduate of VT, so he will be there.

Well enjoying my rest days with Amee. Time to chill and watch a movie.

Debbie: Yes, tell Doug I use my pepsi can stove every night! It has worked wonders. I even gave one of my 2 extras to a guy who needed to go lighter with his pack. He was very thankful! Grandma, I love you! Hope you enjoy reading about my adventures!

Margie: Thanks for the mention of leaving the day with my posts. I have been actually thinking about doing that, but thought it showed when I posted. It actually only shows the time. So that will be a future addition! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Lakewood: It is too ironic. As I sit here at this computer at the Motor Lodge Inn, I looked over and on their pinup board is your "thank you" picture at Katahdin! Too funny. It is the first time Amee has seen a pic of you ..I believe. I am hoping my beard gets as long as yours was! lol.

Clifbars.jpg

Clifbars.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Day 40: Well we officially hiked 23.8 miles to Jenny Knob shelter. We are 593.2 miles from Springer & 1583.0 miles from Katahdin.

Nothing much happened today except a lot of ridge hiking. It did snow on us this morning, which is a lot better than rain! So we had some wicked weather here lately. Two days ago it was in the 80's and today snow! Tomorrow is calling for more snow. Yeah.

Here at the shelter is 5 bags, Matthew, CJ, Flying House of Steve and his 10 year old daughter, Necter. They are thruhiking as well.

Also about the pic. I tried my first Clifbar yesterday, and it was the best energy bar I have tasted. 4 stars here!

About yesterdays post, I started the fire to dry out my clothes, which I washed due to all the salt! I am not sure if I mentioned it or not.

Also sorry about the Verizon ads at the end of my posts. I am not sure why they are there & Amee just informed me of them today. Will try to correct the problem in Pearisburg. I hope they are not to distracting.

Shep.

Joe and Kaye Boggs.jpg

Joe and Kaye Boggs.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Here are CJ's parents, who went out of their way to feed and house 4 hungry thru-hikers. They are wonderful people, and I cant thank them enough for all the love they have shown me. To God be the glory.

Thanks again.

Shepherd.

Home Cooked Meal.jpg

Home Cooked Meal.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Well I am stuffed! Check out the spread that Kaye fixed us. She had to be cooking all day. We had roast beef, potatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, beets, corn bread & salad. For dessert we had peach blueberry cobbler with ice cream, brownies, apple cake & oatmeal raisen cookies. Wow! thanks again for such wonderful hospitality.
It was delicious! To actually have food with vitamins and minerals was such a treat.

Sonic ordering.jpg

Sonic ordering.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Here is CJ and Dynamite ordering from the sonic drive up. It is like Dog N Suds in Lafayette, but way better.

CJ ordered about $15 worth of food, but Dynamite and I only ordered about $9.50 worth. Doesnt Dynamite look like Napolian Dynamite (that is where his trail name came from!)

I got the #6 - Chicken Club Toaster with onion rings and rootbeer. Also I got their famous breakfast burrito! Yummy! Well as a thruhiker, pretty much anything tastes great!

Also Lakewood: Gave Uncle Johnny your message for you! God bless.

Shepherd!

My Sonic Experience.jpg

My Sonic Experience.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

First things first, please try to forward this posting to Trey Gardner at FBC!

Well I first learned about Sonic from Trey, himself, who is an avid lover of Sonic. He is SUPER excited that a Sonic is coming to Lafayette, IN this summer! He told me that they had the best onion rings ever, and that I should definelty eat there when an opportunity presented itself.

Well today, I experienced my first Sonic. We realized that Erwin had a Sonic about 2 days back, and it has been the topic of discussion ever since. CJ and Sam raved about it, especially their breakfast burritos. Dynamite and I had never eaten there, so we didnt know what all the hype was about. We do now!

Well thanks Trey for letting me know about this hidden treasure!

Shepherd aka Jeremiah Redden

Uncle Johnny's

Day 26: Easy 6.3 miles into Erwin, TN where we are staying at Uncle Johnny's hostel, which is the nicest hostel to date! Super friendly, warm showers, warm bunkhouse with TV and plenty of movies to choose from! Cant beat that for 15 bucks! Bill: Stay here when you hike! Thanks Scott for the upcoming warning on the trail over Roan! I have heard it called Groan Mnt! Lois: This is the section in the "Then the Hail Came" called Hump and Groan...I wish I had a copy to read while I travel it!

So far it is CJ, Dynamite, Sam & I for the night. We already showered and headed into town for the all you can eat Chinese buffet at the China Kitchen! Yummy! I had 3 and half plates, so I am doing better with the AYCE!

Then we went to the Food Lion to resupply for the next 4 days, and of course I got a pint of Ben & Jerry's to eat while watching March Madness! Finally, I get to see my first 2 games! Hoping Davidson pulls off the upset!

Tonight for dinner it will be Sonic, which will have it's own post in tribute to Trey....an avid Sonic fan...so stay tuned! Then it is a sermon by Pastor Broggi and probably National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for a night cap movie!

God bless,
Shepherd!

Hercules and Fal.jpg

Hercules and Fal.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Day 23: Hiked 19.6 miles to Little Laurel Shelter. officially 291.3 mikes from Springer & 1884.9 miles to Katahdin. Planning on Cowboy camping tonight...aka sleeping under the stars.

Had some trail magic again today. Spent 1 hour & 45 mins. at Hercules & Fal's house. They fed me red beans & rice and peach cobbler ala mode. Plus root beer in a frosted mug & sweet tea! Also, they are both believers in Christ, and they shared their faith and offered books for thru-hikers about Christ. I took Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. Thanks again! Please pray for their ministry, since they are located 300 yards from the AT trail.
They had a picture at Max Patch with horizontal icycles (sp?) on the white blazed posts. It was amazing!

Tomorrow we will do another 20 plus day and Jens leaves us to go back to school. He has been with us for the past 4 days on Spring Break.

God bless,
Shepherd.

NOC.jpg

NOC.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Well day 12 is in the books. Officially hiked 16.5 miles (my longest so far). I am at the NOC, which is 134.9 miles Springer & 2041.3 miles to Katahdin. The NOC is the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which would be a nice place for a retreat. lol. Tomorrow I plan to do 16 miles to Brown Fork Gap Shelter, then to Fontana Dam the next day.

Thanks everyone for all the encouraging comments. They really help.

Russell: Great to meet ya. I hope to check out your program on YouTube when I get the chance! Lord willing I will have many opportunities to share my testimony, even if I can't I hope by my actions I stand out for God! Since I am His ambassador on this trek! I would be happy to hike with anyone out here.
Bill Bolander: When you get to this area when you start your hike. The 6.5 miles from Wesser tower to NOC is tough! Lots of steep up & downs. Not many switchbacks. Rivers end has great food. Wesser General store has limited food.
DaisyGirl: Yeh, glad my trail name isnt Cookie Monster!

Breakfast Club.jpg

Breakfast Club.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Day 11. Good morning all. Spent the night at the Sapphire Inn. For all you future thru-hikers, Ron Haven treats you right. He is awesome. For 35 bucks for a room with free shuttle to and from trail. Also they have shuttle services around town for free. So if you need to go into Franklin..check out Haven Budget Inn. 4 stars!

We are at Wilson's Diner for breakfast. Plan to finally eat something other than poptarts. Eggs and biscuits!

Well heavy rain is in the forecast with baseball size hail. Will only do 11 miles today to get to wayah shelter.

Here at breakfast is popeye, california joe, greg, macky, lil mak, chair, limestone, cahoda, krt, & silas.

Shepherd.

Mountain Feast.jpg

Mountain Feast.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

Well, we made it into Franklin, NC at about 4:45 pm, without Captain Jack. We are unsure where he is. He shouldn't of been too far behind us, but he never showed up. Popeye is getting nervous about him, and will probably have to take a zero day tomorrow because of this.

Today was a day of firsts. Funny thing was this morning I didn't think that there would be anything exciting to talk about, but that wasn't the case.

First of all, I passed the 100 mile mark today! We did 15.9 miles (the most in one day!) We are officially 107.6 miles from Springer and 1068.6 miles to Katahdin. Wooo hooo! Popeye said after the first 100 miles the miles really start adding up...I sure hope so!

The other first was that I went the wrong way for the first time! It happened about 3 miles after I left the shelter this morning. I apparently took a blue blaze trail, and about 5 mins later I realized I was going the wrong way! Thankfully it wasn't like 1 hour until I noticed my goof. Popeye told me on his thruhike in 2001, he went 5 miles before realizing he was going on the wrong trail! So he went 21 miles for the day and only 11 of them counted for the AT!

Well after Mooney gap, the rain clouds started to form. So I pretty much ran up Albert Mnt, and once we got to Big Spring Shelter it started to rain! Then of course it continued to rain the rest of the day! I am so thankful I am in town tonight! Although tomorrow's forecast calls for even more rain and possibly hail in the higher elevations! So any prayers would be greatly appreciated for the storm to hit tonight or wait till tomorrow night! I do plan to stay in a shelter tomorrow!

Well Popeye and I are staying at the Sapphire Inn and right across the street is a restraunt called Mountain Feast...and feast we did! They had an AYCE buffet with fried chicken, beef sirloin & fried catfish! Oh, the fried catfish was sooo good! I did better this time on the AYCE...able to eat 2 plates full! That was because all I had today was poptarts, snickers, milky way, PB and cheese crackers and a handful of GORP.

Tomorrow I will get some denatured alcohol and head back to the trail around 9-9:30 in the morning. I plan on doing 15.8 miles tomorrow to Cold Spring Shelter.

Note: Captain Jack finally arrived at the motel at 6 pm. Popeye will be greatly relieved! Hopefully he won't have to take a zero day tomorrow and will continue to hike with me! Love their company!

Also, thanks Russel for checking out my blog and following me as I head to Maine! Appreciate the encouragement!

Lee: I never smell! I always smell like a fresh mountain spring! lol. Yeh, if I could only bottle it up and send it to you! ;O)

Scott: Thanks for spreading the word about my blog. You can tell anyone you want about it. I hope to get the people who do Trail Journals to check it out...that way they can allow people to update their journals right on the trail like me. Instead of having to do it later when they find a computer. I don't know anyone else who has tried this type of journal for the AT...hopefully it will catch on!

A Word From Our Sponsers.jpg

A Word From Our Sponsers.jpg, originally uploaded by Hikingfool.

I defintely think that Snickers & Poptarts should be official sponsers of the AT, with Paydays close behind.

Since it has been a week now on the trail, I thought I would post some running totals on my favorite items to eat!

1. Poptarts - 12 (individuals)
2. Snickers - 5
3. Paydays - 3
4. DQ Blizzards - 1
5. AYCE - 1
6. Pint of Ben & Jerry Ice Cream - 0