2016 NOBO Wrap-Up

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Name: Eva Raimondi
Trail Name: Statler
Age: 25
Start Date: February 25
Finish Date: August 4

Favorite Section of Trail: Vermont! The people were wonderful, and the trail was mostly actual footpath instead of rocks! Some hard climbs that made you feel like you were working, but beautiful pay-offs. Just a great vibe the whole state!

Favorite meal creation: Not exactly a creation, but switching from Maruchan ramen to the more expensive Shin Ramyun made a big difference. It was spicy and more like something I’d eat at home. Sometimes I’d toss in bacon bits or a packet of mayo/cream cheese to temper the heat.

Advice for future thru hikers: Just listen to your body. I got sick in New Hampshire and was miserable. The only way I could enjoy Maine was by taking a day off and sleeping 15 hours. Some days you’ll do big miles, and other days you just won’t feel like it. It’s frustrating in the moment, but it ultimately made the rest of the trip ten times better.

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Name: Andrew Lopez
Trail name: Polar Bear
Age: 20
Start date: February 20
Finish date: August 3

Favorite section of trail: Knot Maul Branch Shelter to Chestnut Knob Shelter

Favorite meal creation: Nutella just Nutella

Advice for future thru hikers: Night hike at least once.

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Name: Emma Wright
Trail name: Wonka
Age: 21
Start date: February 29
Finish date: July 14

Favorite section of trail: The White Mountains – they kicked my butt but had spectacular climbs and views

Favorite meal creation: By far the best lunch I ate regularly was a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, tuna, and Craisins wrapped up together like a burrito

Advice for future thru-hikers: Mentally prepare yourself to be wet, cold, hungry, and sore more than you’ve ever been in your life but for some reason love it. You will have bad moments, but remember why you’re out there, take care of yourself, and just keep walking. Rain ends, sleeping bags are warm, towns have food, and a little Vitamin I (ibuprofen) goes a long way! Remember: it’s just walking.

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Name: Ben Paltiel
Trail name: Portage
Age: 22
Start date: March 4
Finish date: July 15

Favorite section of trail: Franconia Ridge and the Whites, then tossup between Roan Highlands and Harriman State Park.

Favorite food creation: Creamy Chicken ramen noodles with chicken chunks and sesame stir-fry sauce.

Advice for future thru hikers:
Stop worrying so much about the gear that you bring. Yes, it’s important to bring the right things, and having a light pack is nice, but it’s going to have no bearing on whether or not you finish. If a piece of gear makes you sane and happy, that is a piece of gear worth taking.

 

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Name: Garrick Perry
Trail name: Doctor Trails
Age: 26
Start date: February 28
Finish date: July 31

Favorite section of trail: White Mountains

Favorite food creation: 3 cheese tortellini with marinara sauce, dehydrated veggies, and tuna

Advice for future thru hikers: be mentally strong, and always say you are going to finish and you will!

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Name: Garrett Silveira
Trail name: Digger
Age: 24
Start date: March 2
Finish date: July 28

Favorite section of trail: Favorite section was the 100 mile where I really started to fall for Butter xP
Favorite food creation: I liked stuffing with butter and beef ramen.
Advice for future thru hikers: Go with more money then you think you need so you can go slow and just enjoy everything rather then being forced to push big miles because of a tight budged. 4-5 grand after equipment.

 

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Name: Jacob Downing
Trail name: Clean Skittle
Age: 18
Start date: February 28
Finish date: August 3

Favorite section of trail: Maine

Favorite food creation: Hot buffalo style tuna with mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, and Fritos on a tortilla.

Advice for future thru hikers: It will be hard but don’t quit.

 

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Name: Phoebe Whiteside
Trail name: White Rabbit
Age: 18
Start: March 2
End: July 20

Favorite section of trail : Maine

Favorite food creation: What I ate was honestly so normal, best packaged food discovery though was dry pasta sauce mixes

Advice for future thru hikers: 1 – never allow the idea of quitting to be an option – hate it all you want, but it’s your life now, and you can’t just not live. 2 – audiobooks will SAVE you

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Name: Lisa Maher
Trail name: Dill
Age: 23
Start date: Feb 25
Finish date: July 20

Favorite section of trail: Maine

Favorite food creation: instant hummus with crushed up goldfish crackers and cheese on a tortilla.

Advice for future thru hikers: Don’t stress too much about the gear. You’ll figure out what works for you pretty quickly. And taking it slow is the best! That way you get to actually spend time enjoying the views, different features (like excellent swimming holes) and get to spend more quality time with your trail fam.

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Name: Becky Tisherman
Trail name: Waldorf
Age: 24
Start date: February 25
Finish date: August 4

Favorite section of trail: Grayson Highlands, Virginia. Wild Ponies!

Favorite meal creation: Bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese, dried beef, and Cheetos with a side of sour patch kids

Advice to future thru hikers: Whenever you get overwhelmed or just fed up, it’s okay to go into town for a day, even if you have just been there. It’s better to take a day off to clear your head, then to keep pushing yourself with you’re down. Some of my favorite days were when we spontaneously went into town early and got off the trail a bit. I definitely felt better getting back on the trail the next day.

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Name: Jeremy Puissegur
Trail name: Zataran
Age: 24
Start date: Feb 25
Finish date: Aug 4

Favorite section of trail: Maine

Favorite meal creation: Chili Ramen noodles, bacon instant potatoes, and jalapeño cheddar cheetos

Advice for future thru hikers: Take it easy and go as far as you feel like for the day, don’t push it too much. If you feel the need for a break, TAKE IT!

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Name: Heather Murphy
Trail name : Butter
Age: 26
Start date: February 26
Finish date: July 28

Favorite section of trail: 100 mile wilderness

Favorite food creation: Thanksgiving: potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberries

Advice for future thru hikers: remember that thru hiking is ultimately about having an incredible time. If you’re not enjoying yourself anymore, slow down, hike with amazing people and realize that it’s the simple joys that make the difference.

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Name: Erik Jenkins
Trail name: Lost Pony (L.P.)
Age: 26
Start date: March 2
Finish date: July 23

Favorite section of trail: 100 mile wilderness

Favorite meal creation: idk my favorite but peanut butter with (real) maple syrup sammiches towards the end were delicious!

Advice for future thru hikers: turn around and go home before its too late! Otherwise embrace the pain and struggle and you might just enjoy it.

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Name: Florian Lerch
Trail name: Cous cous
Age: 24
Start date: March 3
Finish date: July 30

Favorite section of trail : this is very difficult to say, i don’t have really one favorite section, Virginia was nice and New Hampshire and Maine was nice too, and … Yeah the whole AT was a great section.

Favorite meal creation: do you really need an answer about this from me. Cous cous with ramen and garlic!!!! The Best combination is the chicken ramen with the mushroum flavor couscous and cheese!!!!

Advice for future thru hikers: Don’t trust little bigelow!!!! And use the big Sawyer squeeze (instead of the mini)

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Name: Isabel Low
Trail name: Quixote
Age: 25
Start date: March 4
Finish date: July 8

Favorite section of trail :Southern Maine

Favorite meal creation: Tortellini Alfredo: fry one packet Tyson chicken in olive oil; add 8oz tortellini (or shells), dehydrated peas, red pepper flakes, dried onion and garlic; cover with water and bring to a boil; cover and let sit ~10 mins; add a bunch of butter and cream powder (or powdered milk), parmesan and 8oz. cream cheese, stirring in more water if needed. Devour.

Advice for future thru hikers: savor it. There’s a lot of tough stuff, but take the time to enjoy the little things because it’ll be over before you know it.

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Name: Alan Kamman
Trail name: Northstar
Age: 54
Start date: March 2
Finish date: July 24

Favorite section of trail: definitely Maine

Favorite meal creation: Idahoan baby red potatoes with real bacon peices and cheddar cheese!

Advice for future thru hikers: plan some extra time for unexpected stuff like injuries. Don’t forget, you are on vacation!

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Name: Eric Weisberg
Trail name: Tesla
Age: 26 (now 27)
Start date: February 22
Finish date: August 3

Favorite section of trail: Vermont because of the views and amazing amounts of trail magic

Favorite meal creation: Mashed potatoes with spicy tuna

Advice for future thru hikers: Make sure you bring something warm you can change into after hiking in the rain all day. Also be aware that waterproof clothing doesn’t really work after several hours hiking up mountains in the rain.

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Name: Tony Green
Trail name: Oso
Age: 42
Start date: March 6
Finish date: August 4

Favorite section of trail: Hiking up to Katahdin

Favorite meal creation: Peanut butter tortilla with a Honey bun and pre cooked bacon with honey drizzled over top and rolled up like a burrito…

Advice for future thru hikers: Go as ultralight as your budget will allow it will pay off in the end game (after 2000miles)

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Name: Rowan Ballman
Trail name: SealTree
Age: 19
Start date: Feb 28
Finish date: July 14

Favorite section of trail: I really enjoyed the mid Atlantic. Wether it was towns only a day apart, a shelter you could order food too, or all the stops for food less than .5 off trail, looking at you bellvale creamery. I thought the section while long was very relaxed with good vibes and easy hiking. But in terms of beauty my top 3 states would be New Hampshire, Maine, Tennessee. The whites are hard to dispute as one of the most beautiful areas in the country let alone on the trail. Maine is just so wild and challenging, it is a perfect way to wrap up a thru hike and nothing makes you appreciate breath taking woods, vistas, and lakes of Maine like hiking close to 1950 miles to get there. Lastly Tennessee sticks out for me as the gem of the south. it was the state where I got my trail legs and pushed myself hard on miles completing the damascathon (40miles) in one day, the roan highlands are so amazing with views on par with the whites, also kincora!! And uncle johnnys. Finally the smokies! Some don’t like the smokies, be it the weather or permit situation, but the sun was shining while I went through and the memory of Charlie’s Bunion and the mount cammerer Fire lookout bring me back to those early days on the trail.

Favorite meal creation: For breakfast I loved cereal with breakfast carnations, usually chocolate flavor, for cereal I preferred captain crunch but really anything delishous will do, mix these together in a plastic bag and then add a cup or so of water and you will be fueled for the first portion of the day’s hike. The meal im most proud of is my Siracha pizza. You need tortillas, shredded cheese, pepperoni, siracha, and tin foil. Throw all the ingredients together on half the tortilla then fold it over like a Casadia, wrap this in tinfoil and place it over a good spot on the fire, give it a few flips and try not to burn it!

Advice for future thru hikers : My advice for anyone thinking of a thruhike of their own is that it’s the hardest it will be at the beginning so push through the first few weeks until you get your legs, also hostels are quintisentiall to trail life so go have fun at a few, and finally don’t worry to much about gear as you will find what works best while actually on trail and you can buy and upgrades to hear you need while on your hike. One last thing, bring a luxury item that you will use often. I had moccasin slippers which were great when feet were beat or wet and need warmth.

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Name: Adam Boland
Trail name: Tarp
Age: 36
Start date: Feburary 26
Finish date: August 4

Favorite section of trail: Maine! So many lakes. Also, the really flat part in the 100 mile wilderness was nice because, you know, it was flat.

Favorite meal creation: I hate all the trail foods! So I suppose my go to meal was coffee/hot chocolate/protein powder.

Advice to future thru hikers: For the love of God please filter all the water. Don’t be a fool like ‘ol Tarp because Giardia will mess you up man, and it hits you at the worst times! What a mess. I’m sorry Statler!

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Name: Doug Poisson
Trail name: Darkwater
Age: 51
Start date: February 25
Finish date: August 7

Favorite section of trail: Mnt. Moosilauke north through the Bigelow Mnts.

Favorite meal creation: Thanksgiving dinner: stuffing, instant potatoes, powdered gravy and chicken in a bag (too much for one person–even if that person is a thru-hiker).

Advice for future thru hikers: Regardless of your age or fitness level, listen to your body. Sometimes it will tell you to go for it and push hard. Other times it will tell you to slow down or rest. Not listening to your body can put your entire thru-hike at risk.

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Comments 4

  • Northstar : Aug 13th

    Toast, Nice post. Thanks for including me! Its a lot of people I hiked around so Im glad to be part.

    Reply
    • Pink Lemonade : Aug 26th

      Hey this is really random but I think I met you on the trail!! I was southbound so it was brief but do you have a red rain jacket??

      Reply
      • Northstar : Aug 30th

        Yes I do! Where were we at the time?

        Reply
  • TBR : Aug 17th

    These are great … and the question about food was brilliant.

    Wonka (Emma Wright), you hauled it! Impressive.

    I think Tarp (Adam Boland) has a story to tell … “What a mess. I’m sorry Statler!”

    Reply

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