The Incident on the Appalachian Trail
Day 143: An Easy One
The trail still had its share of ladders, rotting plank walks, mud pits, and alpine bogs, and of course there were no switchbacks, but it was definitely more walkable than...
Day 142: The Mahoosic Notch
The Mahoosic Notch is a 0.8-mile jumble of car-sized boulders that fill the bottom of a narrow steep ravine. The trail winds over, under, around, and through these boulders. The...
Day 141: The AT’s Toughest Ten Miles
But when the trail gets really crazy, like it did today, I’d just stop and say, “You gotta be kidding me. That can’t be the trail.” It wasn’t that I...
Day 140: A Real Thru Hike – Part 1
Once I left the dirt road for the woods, I felt excited to be walking past the white blazes again. It felt right. My legs were a little shaky at...
Day 139: Off the Mountain
Then the discussion turned to the difficulty of hiking in the White Mountains. I got the sense that New Englanders have a strong Yankee pride in their tortuous trails. One...
Day 138: A New Plan
This is the way to hike the Whites. Short days, hut stays, and afternoon naps.
Day 137: Beaten Down But Not Broken
There are three ways up and four ways down Mount Washington. You can hike, drive, or take the cog railway up the mountain. If you’re going down, can also just...
Day 136: Lake of the Clouds
Everybody has at least one day where they think about quitting. And about 75 percent of those who start a thru hike do more than think about quitting. Most wannabe...
Day 135: Business as Usual in the Whites
My table neighbors had only two more peaks to go and were debating whether to do both or just one today. They warned me that the 1,200-foot, 0.8-mile climb out...
Day 134: Franconia Ridge – As Good as it Gets
I can barely convey how restorative it was to hike a steep mountain trail that had views. I’d stop, take pictures, and then just stand and stare, completely unconcerned about...