the trek

Day 148 – Sick Leave

Day 148 – Sick Leave

It was a rough night – chills, shivering, runny nose, and coughing. By morning I knew I wouldn’t be hiking today, especially with the big storm moving in. I turned...

Sep 24, 2023 : Jon
Day 147 – Hikers Hike

Day 147 – Hikers Hike

I’ve got a full-blown, honest-to-goodness cold. But hikers hike, or so I’m told. Hey, that rhymed!

Sep 24, 2023 : Jon
Day 146: The Hurricane Birthday Zero

Day 146: The Hurricane Birthday Zero

I spent the day in Rangeley, Maine, sitting out the non-hurricane, nursing a cold and celebrating my birthday. And by celebrating, I mean sitting in a motel room doing nothing...

Sep 24, 2023 : Jon
Day 145: The Day Before the Storm

Day 145: The Day Before the Storm

I also had near-perfect hiking weather - just chilly enough that I wasn’t soaked with sweat on the climbs but not so cold that I needed to layer up. Or...

Sep 20, 2023 : Jon
Day 144: What? Another Easy One?

Day 144: What? Another Easy One?

The thrill of hiking in the woods is back. As I sped along a soft, well-graded trail at over two miles per hour, past moss-blanketed terrain, bear-scratched trees, and fragrant...

Sep 18, 2023 : Jon
Day 143: An Easy One

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...

Sep 17, 2023 : Jon
Day 142: The Mahoosic Notch

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...

Sep 16, 2023 : Jon
The White Mountains Is Where Crying Is Required

The White Mountains Is Where Crying Is Required

I wrote this a week behind and with one very tired braincell. The laws of reality, grammar, and human speech are dead to me after walking almost the entirety of...

Sep 16, 2023 : Guinevere Drabik
Day 141: The AT’s Toughest Ten Miles

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...

Sep 16, 2023 : Jon
Day 140: A Real Thru Hike – Part 1

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...

Sep 14, 2023 : Jon