Hanover NH 1732 done and 442 to go

Hi Everyone and goodby VerMUD

Except for the last two days we had a pretty wet and muddy week. I almost had to put VT as my second least favorite state just after PA. I am posting today live from the Dartmouth Outing Club Office, http://www.dartmouth.edu

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After a great stay at the GreenMountain House, we were dropped off in a down pour and we were rained on all day on the 24th. You could tell which way you were going on the trail by the way that the water was flowing. If the water was flowing at you it was uphill and with you it was down hill. The flats were just mud and the trails were really rivers. We both really questioned our judgement about not staying another day in town but we hiked 15 miles and we were dry for the evening. This was the wettest we had been and the new waterproofing on our boots did little good as we were wet on both sides of the boots and we stopped a couple of times to wring out our socks.

On the 25th it was a little sunnier and we dried out some, but the trails were still pretty muddy and wet.

We did an 18 mile day on the 26th and climbed up the 2nd tallest peak in VT, Killington Peak. It is also a very large ski resort and the Gondolas were running. We had supper at a restaraunt on the top of the mountain and then hiked another 4 miles at a shelter around 7pm. We decided to stay in the shelter as we were the only ones there and it was late enough no one else was going to show. It was a good thing we did, because the sky just opened up and we must have received another 2 inches of rain. The thunder and lightening were fantastic.

On the 27th we did a resupply in Killington and stopped at a great deli for breakfast/lunch. These places seem to really draw us in. We only hiked 12 miles, on the muddy root filled trails.

We did a 22 mile day yesterday the 28th and then tented. The trail was much smooter and actually kind of nice with lots of pine needles for footing and lots of old growth pine for views. As I said the last two days really helped my opinion of VT.

We crossed the Conneticut river about an hour ago and crossed from Norwich VT into Hanover NH and Dartmouth was right on the trail. Not sure yet where we are going to stay tonight. We need to resupply and do laundry and take a shower. There seems to be a strong odor wherever I go and I can not belive it is really me. Places are hard to come by to stay in this college town, but, I am sure we will come up with something.

The computer I am on will not allow me to post any pictures. If I find a computer later today, I will post some of our past weeks wet pictures.


We will be in Gorham NH in 4 days and then into the White Mountains. We have gear that we shipped ahead waiting for us in Gorham. REI is also going to replace my hiking poles for the second time. They have been great to deal with on this and are shipping me new poles no questions asked.

Until next time.

Red Dog and Lucky Dog

Manchester Center VT, 1636 done & 538 to go

Hi everyone from Vermont or as the trail sign said when we walked in VerMUD.

Patty and I are both doing great in our treatment for Lymes. Thanks for all your comments and concerns. I am amazed at how fast the antibiotic cleared up my symptoms.

It has been a wet and muddy week on the trail this week, but we finished off Mass. and crossed into VT. We are taking a day off today as Patty needs a shopping fix and there are a number of outlet stores in town. We are staying at a hostel that is only a week old with a great owner who has been very gracious. He is a retired print shop owner from Ohio and an avid hiker, so he convinced his wife to move to VT and open the Green Mountain House. He has an entire house that sleeps 8 just for hikers and he lives next door. The hostel has everything a hiker needs; beds with pillows, shower, internet access, a washer and dryer, and a kitchen. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of people along the trail. We left Tom Levardi's house in Dalton on the 17th after he allowed me to take him out to supper at an Old Country Buffet. He had a total of 9 hikers sleeping in his house in Dalton and he was another great host. We also squeezed 9 hikers into a very small SUV to get to supper.

We left Tom's and had a great breakfast at a small family run eatery called Duff and Dells. While Patty and I continued north as we have the entire trip, a number of hikers were taken 24 miles north to hike back south without packs and stay at Tom's for another night. This is the most common type of slack packing however, Patty and I have elected to make this a complete north bound hike without slacking back south. We had a great lunch in Cheshire Mass. after a local contractor stopped and told us he would take us to a great restaurant for lunch. He came with us, had lunch and then gave us a ride back to the trail and told us we could stay with him the next night in Williamstown after we crossed Mt Greylock. After lunch and a 14 mile day we tented at a shelter and visited with a south bound hiker from South Korea.

We crossed Greylock Mtn on the 18th in hot and humid conditions. Greylock is the highest peak in Mass. and had some nice views and a monument to Mass war dead at the top. We crossed the road that went into Williamstown and North Adams around noon and had lunch at a great AYCE Asian restaurant and then did a resupply at the grocery store next door. We declined on the offer to stay with the contractor and hiked a couple more miles up to a campsite where we tented for the night. The heat sure makes it a lot tougher and it has been raining almost every evening.

The 19th was another hot and humid day, but we did cross into Vermont. The first 100miles or so of the A.T. in Vermont is also part of the "Long Trail". The Long Trail goes from the Mass. line the entire length of Vermont to the Canadian border for approx. 280 miles. We are meeting people who are hiking the long trail and also starting to meet a lot of south bound A.T. hikers coming from Maine. Most hikers who start a thru hike from Maine do so around the first of June and so they are about 6 weeks out. This area reminds me of NE MN and the Superior Nat. forest. We even have seen quite a bit of moose sign and just missed seeing a young cow moose that a day hiker had spotted just before we met him.

The 20th was another hot and humid day and at this point everything we have is a little damp. We have given up on rain gear a while back and just plan on getting wet if it rains. We always keep something dry to change into when we hit camp, but it is warm enough that it just does not pay to try to wear rain gear. We have even shipped our rain pants ahead to save a little weight. We tented at a shelter and got the tent set up just before a huge thunder storm hit. We were in the shelter making supper so stayed dry and then went back to the tent for the evening. It rained off and on all night, but we stayed dry. The REI Quarter Dome has been a great tent for us.

We woke to more rain on the 21st and hiked in the mist and rain all day. We had a 3000 foot climb over Spencer Mountain and a fire tower at the top, but with the mist you could not see anything and then tented near the Spring Creek shelter with a couple of teachers from Germany who are section hiking the A.T. It was a great evening as the sun came out long enough to dry just about everything and the two Germans had carried some beer and shared one with me.

We hiked the 3 miles into Manchester Center on the 22nd and hitched the 5 miles into town. We had breakfast and then picked up a box dad had shipped to us at an outfitter. Patty bought a new "outfit" for the trail as she said she is tired of wearing the same thing for 4 months. We picked up a few other things and some groceries and called Jeff from the Green Mountain House to pick us up.

It is pouring rain right now, but, I am going to try and post the following pictures if the signal will get through the rain. We picked a good day to take off.

1. Patty and I in front of the Green Mtn. House.
2. The way we got to the Green Mtn. House.
3. Patty's favorite lunch snack.
4. Patty entering VT.
5. Me on top of Mt Greylock, highest point in Mass.

Dalton MA, 1555 done, 620 to go

Hello everyone from Mass.

http://dalton-ma.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={2896A805-FD93-4F62-A290-AF8C4E721E6D}

Since I last posted, Patty and I have finished off New York and Conn. and are just about done with Mass. I should probably update everyone on Patty's Lymes disease status. She is doing fine and hiking like mad. She is doing so well that I thought I would start on the medication also. Actually I was watching a rash on my leg that continued to spread and I had a number of the other symptoms of Lymes also, so I was able to obtain my own prescription. After 3 days I am also feeling much better. I have posted a picture of one of the posters warning of Lymes that are along the trail.

Since it has been a while since I last posted, I will use our journal to try and update everyone.

July 6, we were dropped off at the bridge on the Hudson by Art and Susan, (See Photo). We hiked 15 miles and camped with a group from a girls camp. All were Jewish and the leaders were from Isreal. They shared their supper with us and I spoke to them about hiking the A.T., (See Photo). It was a little loud, but, we enjoyed talking with both the kids and their leaders.

July 7, was a 20 mile day for us. See Patty is feeling better. Weather was in the 80's with humidity around 100%. We were both soaking wet by 10 am. We met some old friends we had not seen in almost 2 months. It is nice to be able to hike with other people now and then as it adds to the conversation.

July 8, Still hot and muggy, but a decent trail. I keep telling Patty, one of these days we are going to have an easy day of hiking, but, it just has not happened yet. The trail still has an awful lot of ups and downs. We had a great lunch where the guidebook said there was going to be a hot dog stand. The hot dog stand was gone, but a restaraunt owner who also caters was set up for the first day with his portable kitchen. He had ribs and pork sandwich's and all kinds of great food. He also had free drinks for hikers. It was great and beat the normal lunch of tortilla's and tuna or peanut butter.

July 9, Only did about 13 miles today, but, walked into Conn. It is still very hot and humid. Saw another huge rattle snake and shot some pictures. Just picture the last one only a little bigger. We arrived in Kent Conn. which is a very upscale town and resupplied and then decided to spend the night. We had a very nice room at the Fife & Drum Inn. Patty finally bought a hat, so check out the picture of her picking blueberries to see it. We received several inches of rain while in town during a huge thunderstorm. We stayed dry once again.

July 10, Finally a cooler day with lower humidity. We hiked along a larger river for about 5 miles and really enjoyed the trail. Still quite a few ups and downs, so it was not an easy day, but, we only did 15 miles.

July 11, Another 20 mile day, but the weather was still great. We are walking through some old growth spruce and it is an interesting forest. We camped at plateau campsite.

July 12, A big day for us as we hit the 1500 mile mark, (See photo). We also entered Mass and a very beautiful area with many small creeks and rivers. We hiked across Bear and Race Mtn's and also a mtn. called Everett where we picked a lot of blue berries. The low bush blue berries are really in full swing and the high bush are just starting. It has been good eating for the past few weeks. We also had an offer to go home with a guy who we thought was rather well to do. We found out later he was a commodity trader on Wall Street. The only problem was he was heading south and we would have had to go back down what we had just climbed up and then climb up it again the next day. We stayed with our rule of not hiking what we had already hiked and had to turn him down. We tented with a group of other hikers and met someone who used to swim with one of our neighbors while in college at Carlton who would be known as "Beaker" by our neighbor.

July 13, Hiked 8 miles into Great Barrington Mass and resupplied. I also picked up my prescription for taking care of the dreaded Lymes. After having breakfast, doing the resupply and having lunch, we caught a ride back to the trail and hiked another 7 miles where we camped.

July 14, It started raining after midnight and rained all night long. Everyone had a difficult time of getting out of the tents in the morning and we did not get going until 9 am. That is our latest start of the trip. We hiked 14 miles and camped on some town property that was adjacent to a small secluded swimming beach. We did not see anyone and it was a great opportunity to clean up.

July 15, We did an 18 mile day to get to the Cookie Lady and when we got there no one was home. We were disappointed, but, we camped on the edge of the property and were able to get water without haveing to filter or treat it. That is always nice.

July 16, Hiked 10 miles into Dalton and were in town in time for lunch. The guidebook said there was a man on the trail as we entered town who took in hikers. The book was right and we are staying with Tom and about 5 other hikers in his house. He does not take any money for this service and also runs people around to where they need to go. It is really amazing the generosity some people show to hikers.

We may take a day off tomorrow with him and then do another short day of about 8 miles before meeting with friend Art Stegan again who wants to hike over Mount Greylock with us. This is the highest point in Mass. at a little over 3500 feet. If Art joins us we will definitly be a lot lighter hiking the 15 miles up and over.

We continue to do fine and are already making plans on how we want to finish this hike off. We still hope to be done by the first week in Sept.

Take care

Red Dog and Lucky Dog.

Bear Mountain Bridge NY 1388 done 786 to go

I thought I would add another quick post since we are taking an extra day off. Sorry no pictures today.

As planned yesterday we were dropped off where we finished on Wed. Patty and I hiked 14 miles and over Bear mountain and came down into Bear Mountain State Park were we were met by a mass of humanity all trying to enjoy the 4th of July. We were told this state park is the most heavily used in the state of NY and there were thousands of people around the small lake and all over the picnic grounds. They also have a small zoo and the trail goes right through it. The zoo contains all the native animals from NY state and it was rather interesting listening to the comments from all the people from NY City as they walked through this zoo.

The reason we are taking today off is that Patty really had a rough day yesterday and was not feeling very well. She had all the symptoms of Lymes Disease and she had pulled a deer tick off her leg back on June 3. She never did develop the standard bulls eye rash, where the tick bit her, but she did have a rash in a different location. We went into a brand new walk in clinic this morning and with the symptoms she had and the possibility that another tick may have bit her causing the rash we all thought it was best if she went on the antibiotic just in case it is Lymes. She is doing fine, although still not feeling 100%. We will have the results of the blood test on Tues. She is still planning on hiking out tomorrow if she feels better. It sure is nice to be with friends when something like this happens. Art and Susan have been very good to us and we will have slept in the same bed for 5 nights in a row. We probably needed the break anyway.

We had a good day off on Thursday touring New Paltz, NY and going up to the Mohonk Hotel on Thursday evening, check out http://www.mohonk.com

Patty and I are both ready to get back on the trail and continue north. We still hope to finish in early September if all goes well.

I will keep you posted on Patty's condition, but she is tough as nails.

Red Dog and a sick Lucky Dog

New Paltz New York

Hi Everyone

As I sit and type this it is pouring rain outside, but, Patty and I are staying dry while visiting friend Art Stegen and his wife Susan at their home in New Paltz. We are about 40 miles north of the trail and taking a day off today. We have approximately 780 miles to get to Mt Katadin in Maine.

We left the church hostel in Vernon NJ on Tues July 1 and caught a ride two miles to the trail with a very friendly Water Works forman who was nice enough to stop and pick us up- Thanks. The church hostel was a great place to stay and many churchs along the trail have opened up their fellowship rooms or created special "hiker hostels" for A.T thru hikers. It is a great ministry and a great service to hikers. This church even had items for sale for hikers that would normally only be available from an outfitter. Socks, fuel and other supplies that hikers need were made available when a member of the congregation came down to see if we needed anything. Some of the churh hostels ask for donations and some don't. We are always glad to contribute to these great trail angels so that they continue to offer this service to hikers.

We had a tough hike on tuesday that took us over numerous rocks, but, gave us some good views of Greenwood Lake. After 20 miles we were met by friend Art. Art was my biathlon coaching mentor and we have traveled around the country and around the world together when I was coaching biathlon for the National Guard. Art's wife Susan had a great meal prepared for us and we enjoyed spending the evening catching up.

Art hiked with us yesterday after his wife Susan dropped us off where he had picked us up the night before. We hiked a 14 mile stretch after getting a little later start and Susan picked us up.
Art and Susan gave us a tour of West Point on our way home and then we had a very nice meal at a German Restaraunt owned by a former biathlete who I had not seen in 10 years.

We actually slept in this morning and then Art took us on a tour of New Paltz and then helped us run some errands that we needed to take care of. Susan has a great dinner planned and it is really nice to just live like a normal person for a few days. Art is going to drop Patty and I off tomorrow morning and we will do another 14 mile section and then we will spend one more night with him, before we take off again. The nice thing about hiking the trail with Art and hiking tomorrow is that we have taken most things out of our packs and it is almost like hiking without a pack. They call this "slack packing". You could really get used to that type of hiking and it is a nice break. It was also nice because we hiked over and through some very difficult stretches where you needed both hands and a light pack. We will take off again Saturday morning and leave all of the comforts of Art and Susan's home for life in our tent.

I have posted the following pictures:

1. A very large bear that wanted blueberries more than Patty did.
2. A hen turkey that had a huge brood of chicks. No chicks in photo
3. Patty sitting on the start of a mile long board walk that took us over a very dry cattail swamp.
4. The start of our hike with friend Art Stegen.
5. Patty and I standing at an overlook of the Hudson River at West Point.

I think it has rained almost an inch since I started typing this. Glad to be here. We will have slept 4 nights in the same bed for the first time since we left home. A day off and a couple of slack pack days have been very good for us.

Happy July 4th to everyone.

Red Dog and Lucky Dog