gooch mtn shelter 15.8 mi total, 13.0 day.

day 2. holy cow. it started raining at 3 am and didn't stop until after 3pm. since i wasn't set up on completely flat ground there was water coming into my tent until i made some adjustments around 3:30 am.  wet and foggy and cold. yuck. met 3 guys from fla who are hiking for the weekend and then met jessica, charles, (both from Texas) will,(from upstate ny) and another guy whose name I can't remember (from Maine). all thru hikers. we all spent the night at gooch mountain. I slept in the shelter because it was so rainy. chased mice all night as they ran around us and over us - ick. I hiked from 8:30 to 4:30 over some pretty rough terrain and made a total of almost 13 miles. not bad. didn't think I could do that. raining again this morning and I need another 13 to get to next shelter. bad thing is that I'm sure I'm missing great scenery because of the rain and mist and fog.
hike on.
later.


-- Post From My iPhone

stover creek shelter

ok. second time trying to write this. just randomly lost cell coverage. it's 6 pm and I'm set up in camp relaxing. getting cool and dark. my sister and her family dropped me off at the approach trail this morning at 10:37 (I think I heard one of my nephews report the exact time). I hiked 6.6 miles of the 8.8 approach miles. cheated a little by having them drive up to the top of the falls. I reached the summit of Springer Mtn. at 2 pm on the dot. picture below is of my fat head and the AT plaque at the start of the trail on top of the summit. I hiked another 2.7 to the Stover Creek shelter and campsite. got here at 3:30 and decided to call it a day. met 7 ppl on the trail today including one trail maintainer and one trail watchman/expert. 5 section hikers but no other thru hikers.
was foggy and misty and muddy most of the day, so I didn't see much. although the dominant plant life changed about 3 or 4 times. not many critters to be seen today. my feet and shoulders and hips are already aching, but no blisters or knee problems. yippee i'm on the trail, i can't believe it!!
later.

-- Posted from the trail, L

last day at work

so I'm eating lunch by myself (good thing) on my last day of work. it has finally hit me; a sense of relief. odd, I've never felt this way when leaving a job before...not even when I left augustino's or blimpie's or video maniacs or papacito's or...never mind!
I'm now looking forward to the future; the trail and whatever comes next.  it's not my intention to use this site for posting such personal insights as those mentioned above and below. just the facts ma'am. these are just warm ups intended to loosen up the crowd. this is the opening act. get ready for the headliner...the main event.
thanks to all who have influenced me and helped me along the way (in no particular order below)... I'm sure I'll miss people but I need to mention many because even if I don't hike the entire trail, and I darn well intend to, it has already been a life changing event and so many have helped me get to this point. this is a rambling list, enjoy:
kandra (super K means more to me and has influenced me more than anyone - thank you for being you. no matter what happens I believe we will always be the best and coolest.) sharon and larry (for everything), the dwires, mary lou and jack, vivian and robert/bob, lorraine & doug & shay, tbone/crash/tyler, matthew and wendy, mitch and shanna and their irish kid patty, bill & virginia (thanks for NYC, el parador, and everything else), heidi (like a rock), bill & ruby davis, gene & dodi anderson, ross wichman, gaz briney (it's French and a cobra, I think), jeff and di, curt and melissa (returns food all the time), russ michaels, ryan, double A & V (and the most adorable child in the world-tasker), g & m, david A (thanks for everything-I'll keep an eye out for rattlers, see you at mcsanchez in woodside), bob slothower, elvis presley, meat loaf, journey (with steve perry), the rooneys & chuck knoll & bill cowher & mike tomlin & all of the pittsburgh steelers (the best franchise in the history of professional sports - cowboys and yankees can kiss my very pale white butt), brad and his mother-in-law, wilmer and mary, rich and tawnita, thomas jacobs, duane cramer and crew, the fort hays rodio, fhsu championship basketball team from 1995/1996 , midget buffet, terry cutler, scott boomer, mike cooper, mrs. mastin, mr. tangeman, howard peters, the entire staff at peter mcmanus cafe (more below), carol, crazy stevie, the artist and philosopher - geoffrey raymond (look him up because he does some really cool stuff), bobby the grave digger, jimmy perez (I owe you a shot-and so much more), pierre (keep riding that bike), milton (it's okay to live with mom and dad, I did it), milton's dad (for dealing with milton), lisa the wine lady (good luck with the boys), sean carrol (my favorite Irishman. I think of you daily), joe and james murray (joe owes me money!!! haha), irish donald (tied with gary, mitch, and sean for hardest working man I know), heineken bill, tim the IT guy who doesn't like me, and so many others. PMC CREW: justin, jamo, rich casciato (the artist, look him up), johnny, erin, bruce, ryan, ally, lawrence, howie, edgar, Natasha, joe, mike z.  

see you on the trail.

-- Post From My iPhone

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-- Post From My iPhone