Less than 2,000 miles to go

Hello fine people of the evening,

Things are well. Glad to be in to town once more, though it will be 24 hours or less. Life has been treat u4s well aside from 4 days out of the 5 of rain. After the first few hours, you are hopeful for better weather, but you truck on anyways. If anything, surely makes you appreciate the sunshine when you are chanced to peep it through the copious foliage overhead. 

up on top of Mt. Katahdin; a scared shrine to NOBOs; we SOBOs wonder more about Springer in GA. 

Anywho, how are people out there? Almost that special, free time of year known as July 4th...mmmMmmm; sounds sweet!

Hard to believe it has been 2 weeks since I left Indiana on a Greyhound bus bound North to some place named Maine. Quite an interesting place it is here. People are genuinely  nice and the 2 towns I've been in so far (Monson & Stratton) are quite small; under 600 and 400 people respectively. The industry of lumber and paper has been somewhat lost to Chinese companies, though local wood is harvested and trucked north to Canada, or to the coast to go overseas. 

3 lovely friends I made and hiked with for 5 days (Mckenzie, Michelle, and Erin)

my typical camp set-up, as long as it's not raining, then I'm in the lean-to

So, what else? What of my actual Leave No Trace project? Progression has been slow as I first learn the in's and out's of trail life, but I have managed to procure numerable pieces of insignificant trash. Some along the trail (so easy to to spot the not among the green forest floor. Shelters are a magnet for loose bits of trash. Luckily, I have spotted no human waste carelessly heaped aside, though if I look diligently enough, I'm sure I'd have a bit 'o luck. :) We are afforded some comforts of the greater society in the backcountry privies - "maintained" by the Maine AT Club. That is encouraging for bodily business. 

If ever a person wanted to gain more of a routine, the AT is the place. You wake up and first thing, before sometimes the bathroom is, pack up your sleeping bag and liner, deflate and fold your Thermasrest, and then perhaps a body function. It is becoming a normal part of the morning. Breakfast follows - which usually lasts as long as it takes for you to cram something simple and easy down, then pack your pack to get ready to hike. Because it starts to get light around 4am up North here, we are up between 5:30 and 6:30 (depending on our miles to hike that day and the weather), and on the trail less than 40 minutes later. 

a wonderfully relaxing and often refreshing Maine lake - of which there has been many

Rainbow Stream lean-to in the 100 mile wilderness. nothing like flowing water in the eve to soothe the tired hiker

I quite enjoy this, though it took some getting used to: the rain this week and 2 back-to-back days of 20+ "flat" miles. On to Rangeley, Maine next. About 100 more miles in Maine and then New Hampshire; where the White and mighty mountains are a-live. 

Happy life and freedom to all on this 4th; think of something that makes you appreciate Freedom! (shout-out to you Luke Mehall for inspiring the truer meaning of the 4th). 

Happy walk-about,

Al

As of June 14:

shower count: 2

laundry count: 2

100 Mile Wilderness...done

Hello Friends,

This post will be short because my time is limited. Just got on the inter dot web for a few minutes to check email and pop a quick burst out here. 8 days in, 7 of which were spent in the 100 mile wilderness, and life is well.

Was glad to have a bed, good eats, and a shower (though the streams and lakes were a close 2nd to the real thing).

Hope peeps are well out there; be giving ya'll a more thourough update here in a week or so - whenever I get more of space to type, etc.

Happy wanderings,
Al :( )

Go time!

Well, the hour is growing later. The sun dips in its course westward; the time has come.

This train was bound for [some iteration] of glory.

See ya'll on the flip side!
Al

Coming down the line...

A great deal has been poppin' here for me as I witness my final week of prep dwindle down. Last night marked the 1 week and counting mark. I could not be more thankful for the excitement ahead! I sometimes wonder if my thankfulness expressed in written reflection was apparent in my demeanor in the moments passed?

I cannot say I am a man who wishes very much. I've seen too many people wish for things they do not have, only to be disappointed with the outcome of their wish in the end. So in this, I feel comfortable with myself wishing to be thankful to those that have helped me along the way. Take for example, the Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course I took this past week at a residential summer camp called Indian Head, just north of Honesdale, PA.

The other 11 students (varying in age from 20 to the mid 40s), and 2 instructors, compiled a uniquely engaging and satisfying concoction of wilderness medicine. The interesting thing is, which brings evidence to how life gives us what we truly need, is that I was slatted to attend another WFR course in West Virginia until it was cancelled and I was left with 2 weeks to find a new course.

The Indian Head course was a bit more money and further travel time, but in the end it was the exact dose of what I needed. This amazes me; again, how life hands us what we need! Often we cannot truly be understanding of these moments until they have passed. In this post-activity reflective space, I smile. There are powers at work in this world that are just under the consciousness of our cognitive minds.

So, in addition to learning medical treatment skills, protocols, and care for backcountry crisis, I got to meet a handful of cool people. A few of them happen to even live near the trail in Vermont and New York, and the Northeast portion of the AT was an area I had yet to make contacts with. I am amazed by the cascade of events that led me to the far side of Pennsylvania to meet a cool bunch of folks and instructors, who ended up enriching my life then in the moments shared, and after in the spaces to be filled yet in life.

Many thanks again in this reflective space for the gifts that people have shared with me. I hope to portray thanks for those that take time to help me shine a little brighter in the world - even if they didn't realize they were doing it.

So, happy summer time! 6 days and I'll be north-bound on a Greyhound bus for Maine. I hope to post before then as I round out the final stage of prep and packing. After that, look for updates and pictures every few weeks (and if you haven't, follow the Experience by Email - box to do so is to the readers' right).

Be well in the happiness and sunshine we choose to embrace,
Al

:)