New Hampshire: The White Mountains

New Hampshire was the first time the trail took us above tree line. The trail was steep and rocky, and the weather unpredicatable, and often cold and foggy; but still, the White Mountains are a truly magical place. The trail followed ridges that ran above tree line which, (if the weather were clear), offered spectacular views all around. When we climbed up to the top of the first one of these ridges, Madeline and I both felt like we had stepped into the world of Lord of the Rings. Hope you enjoy these pictures. There's still more to come. - Jonathan

New Jersey

Madeline published pictures of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont with the memory card she returned with in October, so now it's time to fill in the missing states.....

New Jersey was a good beginning, marked by beautiful views of the Delaware River Valley, lots of fungus, plenty of trail magic, red eft newts, and wild blueberries. - Jonathan

Pictures will be coming

Jonathan just got around to loading pictures from memory cards to computer and I've just done a quick look through. There are some wonderful pictures, many that illustrate well some of the stories I recounted over the months, but it will clearly take the hikers awhile to go through them chronologically and figure out what to post. Check back sometime. They operate on hiker time. I kind of miss writing the updates. I definitely miss hearing of the adventures, but I do like having my hikers home.
~ Amy

And Then There Were None (left on the trail)

The doorbell rang a little after 5:00 this afternoon and I was greeted with a big grin worn by someone very familiar, though altered - a grizzled mountain man look, (but he wears it well). Like Madeline, he too gained 20 pounds on the trail. I dare say some is muscle mass; he definitely has a sturdier look about him. The experience of being home felt somewhat surreal, in part due to the length of time he's been gone, and in part due to having missed out on the opportunity for sleep last night. He has toured the house and commented on how different everything is, (it's not), communed with the animals, all of whom were welcoming, got a shower and a fresh set of clothes, had dinner, which Madeline had kindly prepared before going to work this afternoon, shared company and chatter, and retired for the night.

Shortly after we talked this morning, the manager of the truck stop restaurant asked him if he could use a hot meal. He accepted and was treated to the breakfast buffet on the house. He didn't get his first ride of the day until about 1:00 this afternoon, having waited a full 12 hours in the same location. That first ride, by a man on his way to work at the Honda factory, took him some 4o miles in the right direction. He went the distance with the ride that followed shortly there after. He was picked up by a woman, her daughter and grandson on their way to Louisville for Thanksgiving. As they were passing through Cincinnati, they dropped him at the Mitchell Avenue exit and he hoofed it on home from there. This woman recognized the hiker spirit in him as she had just completed her own journey on the Pilgrimage Trail which stretches across Spain. He enjoyed the hours spent with them.

So the trail is a little lighter today. He said he felt a sadness in that last day of hiking. He took it slowly and soaked it all in. He contemplated just sitting outside after having been home but a few hours, and even toyed with sleeping outside. I think he might be a little slower to acclimate to this altered life than Madeline was. It's hard to figure out what the next chapter in life will look like. The hitch home took three days but the kindness of strangers and the kind drivers that helped him made it a good final chapter. He was given two free meals, housed for a night and made $32 in donations that he never solicited. One can not hear these tales without feeling a renewed faith in the essence of good in people.

Alot of miles have passed under the feet of my two youngest children since this journey began on the fifth of July. It was definitely a journey worth taking. There are now adjustments to be made and memories to reflect upon. Stay tuned for a posting of pictures from New Hampshire to Maine and then south from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Given some time, Jonathan will have some reflections to share as well so we're not done just yet. I'm glad to have this boy back safe and sound. ~ Amy

I now have new respect for the term 'within walking distance'
~ Welches (AT hiker, 2000)

almost home

Got a 7 am call from Jonathan this morning and he's getting closer.....much closer. Right after talking to Madeline yesterday evening, he hooked a ride with a trucker heading to Chicago. Though this took him further north than his plan, he was getting much further west. He was left at a truck stop off I-75 about 135 miles north of Cincinnati at 1:00 this morning. He is waiting patiently for that next big ride home, and no, he does not want to be picked up. He's quite certain he'll make it home by Thanksgiving. He must be tired. ~ Amy

........and I can't find my way home

Two days of hitchhiking and Jonathan might be further from home than when he started. He hiked his final stretch on Sunday, slept in the final shelter of this journey, and then headed off the trail to Route 50 on Monday morning. Though he has experienced the kindness of strangers, he's not making any progress towards home. The waitresses in a small cafe were eager to hear his story and then not only refused to let him pay for his meal, but insisted he take $5 as well. At another point in the day, when he left his backpack outside to go in somewhere for coffee, he returned to his pack to find that someone had placed a $10 bill on top of it. He was able to hitch just two very short rides on Route 50; traffic was extremely light and didn't hold much promise so he rerouted himself to the expressway with the third ride. Late last night in the pouring rain, he was saved from his plight by some former hikers who offered him shelter in their home for the night. They returned him to his hitching location this morning and he continued his fishing expedition, now with a sign that reads, Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, in the hopes that someone would feel more kindly towards him. He had gotten two rides by the time he talked to Madeline early this evening from a truck stop in Bedford, PA looking for that big ride to take him home. When Madeline asked him if he'd like to be picked up, he said he just might, but not yet. He'll let us know.
~ Amy and Madeline

Bound for Home

Jonathan had the hiker's special at the Bear's Den Hostel as he came off the trail Friday night. For $25 you get a bunk, a shower, your laundry done, kitchen privileges, a frozen pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry's. The hostel resembles a castle in the woods with its turret and stone construction; it sits in the woods just .1 miles off the trail. The couple who run it have a newborn son named Jonathan. In addition to bunk rooms, there's a large common hiker room complete with TV, and piano and guitar for the musically inclined. The hiker kitchen is fairly well stocked with food that has been left behind by others, mainly groups that come through. It was well enough stocked that Jonathan was able to scrounge up cereal and bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. A friendly group of boy scouts camping on the grounds brought him in a piece of peach cobbler as he stayed on though Sunday night.

The hostel has a hiker board with pictures of all the hikers who have passed through its doors. Jonathan saw many familiar faces from the trail. Remember BAM (the middle aged woman with dog who started her flip flop journey around the same place in PA that Madeline and Jonathan began their journey)? She forged on ahead of them fairly early on when they detoured into New York and then had to wait for the replacement boots. But through trail registers, they knew she had made it to Katahdin, though no longer as BAM. Somewhere along the way she reclaimed her birth name, Nina. What they didn't know was whether she continued on with the southbound portion of the trail. After seeing her in the Bear's Den register, Jonathan knew she had gotten at least that far. He also learned from the folks at the Bear's Den that hiker, Bad Idea, was called back to duty in Afghanistan. Although his four year tour of duty was up, apparently one can be called back for an additional tour. Jonathan also had a chance to see the trail documentary that fellow hiker, Lion King made while thru-hiking several years earlier. Mostly scenic, set to music, it made him remember how good it had been - from the rich greens of the forests to the community of fellow hikers.

This last week since coming back to the trail after the Baltimore detour has been different. Jonathan has felt unusually weak and lacking in energy; progress has been slow. He suspects its mental, not physical. Taking the Baltimore break may have tipped the scales. Being with Colin and in the midst of the familiar art and music scene perhaps made him long to be back. The feeling definitely took him by surprise. He has decided to come home. It is weird for him to think about making this change but he feels the trail will be better appreciated another time. A lot of what makes the trail journey is kind of lost on him now. With the colder temperatures, the forest has lost much of its vibrancy, and without the familiar community of fellow hikers, the experience has lost something as well. He's heading for home.

The plan was to hike one last section ( in Virginia) on Sunday. This section is known as the roller coaster because of its series of steep ups and downs. It was constructed as such because the corridor of land for this area of the trail is very narrow, limiting the routing options. This last section puts him within about 3 miles of route 50 and a planned hitch hike home. Of course, his dad volunteered to pick him up, and of course, he declined the offer as a waste of resources. We have heard nothing from him since Saturday evening but we keep expecting him to appear at the door. ~ Amy

The Thanksgiving Trail Feast (that will never be)

Madeline and I thought long and hard how we could create the illusion of a celebratory dinner on Thanksgiving for one lone hiker likely to find himself alone in a shelter at the close of the day on Thursday. This is what we put together in a Thanksgiving box to priority mail ...... a yam wrapped in foil so that he could put into the fire to cook, dehydrated garlic mashed potatoes, dried corn, roasted almonds and pumpkin seeds, a pumpkin pie granola bar, home made cranberry fruit leather, a giant honey crisp apple, popcorn, instant spicy chai latte, a couple shots of good rum, dark chocolate studded with cranberries and almonds, and home baked cookies (by Madeline) - pumpkin chocolate chip and honey ginger snaps. It sounded like a feast worthy of a Thanksgiving on the trail. As we were packing everything to mail Saturday morning, we got the call .... Jonathan is coming home .... more on that later. We didn't mail the box. ~ Amy

Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the trail. ~ Noland Hisey (AT hiker '89)

Angels and Other People (and where they dwell)

Upper Goose Pond, Massachusetts
Here is the caretaker of the cabin who kindly provided us with a pancake and coffee breakfast following our night stay in this cabin operated by the Berkshire Chapter of the AT.

Becket, Massachusetts
The Cookie Lady provides rest and home made blueberry cookies at her blueberry farm where you are also welcome to pick.

Dalton, Massachusetts

Tom's house was one of the first hostels we stayed. The trail runs right past his house, (which is how Tom became so familiar with and to the trail). For years he has been welcoming hikers into his home with enormous meals, ice cream sundaes, laundry service, transportation, rescue, and all around support. We also slack packed for the first time thanks to Tom. The hiking poles in the yard were left by other thru hikers. Tom uses them to mark his house for the hikers.

Vermont's Green Mountains
This hostel was a surprise stop. We were not planning to stop in this town, however, we then heard about a somewhat "secret" hostel,(not listed in the trail books but welcoming none the less),and spur of the moment decided to hop off the trail here. It is not an official hostel; the couple, Chris and Arla, who own the house just let hikers stay in their barn for free. Word of it spreads by mouth only; that way they get some hikers, but not too many. It's a pretty creative space.

This is Zeus, a southbounder we met at Chris and Arla's.
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This is Chris, one of the people who owned the house - really nice.

And this is Arla with puppy, Marley.

Puppy Marley is the sad story. He was so very sweet and over the few days that I knew him, I grew very fond of him. Marley had already been returned to the shelter several times by a variety of different owners. Arla and Chris only had Marley for about a week when he got hit by a car and died. I was devastated. Lion King, What, Dehydra, Mark Trails, Jonathan and I stayed to help bury him. We found out later that after a week without a dog, Arla and Chris went back to the same shelter they had gotten Marley to look for another puppy. There were only two puppies that day and one was identical to Marley, only female. This puppy was approximately the same age as Marley and had been found in approximately the same area. Arla and Chris believe they have Marley's sister.

Rutland, Vermont
The Back Home Again Cafe where we stayed and worked with The Twelve Tribes.

One finds the most beautiful sense of community amongst the people of the trail.

~ Madeline and Amy