What is the equivalent of climbing Everest 16 times?

[1ADAM12]

Keep up the great work guys! I am enjoyed your trail journals

 

[Blue]

I did get to meet up with Hot Cheese & Birdbath on Saturday, after a rain storm in Dalton. I walked SB on the trail for a bit, and there they were!

We had some snacks and then dinner. They both look great - heathly & happy. Brian walked into a grocery store recently and came out with a whole chicken and a whole cake, so you can imagine that food is on their minds frequently!

They are sticking to their schedule as Toe Cozy listed in a previous post.

I didn't get to Tanglewood - bad scheduling as Josh Bell was there Friday and Yo Yo Ma on Sunday, and I was there Saturday! Next time.

 

[roadtripper]

Seema - any idea where you'll be this Saturday or Sunday? Bunchberry & I might come join you guys for a day if you'd like some company.

I'll bring extra gushers and other items of such deliciousness

 

[DougPaul]

DebW reported to me that she briefly met Brian and Seema just N of October Mtn shelter on Saturday morning.

Doug

 

[sli74]

hey everyone. It was great to meet DebW and to get Doug's hello from her. We also met a guy at october mtn leanto on the trail crew whom we met our 3rd night on the AT in GA. Very cool. Also it was WONDERFUL to see Liza and eat the yummy treats she brought and thank you Liza for treating us to dinner.

we decided to take a night in Williamstown, MA tonight because we had a very rough night last night and we hadn't taken a real shower since vernon, nj. Yuck. So. Here is our very tentative schedule for the next week. I list shelters for each night but we will be within a couple of miles of that shelter north or south.

monday williamstown, ma
tuesday congdon shelter
wednesday goddard shelter
thursday just south of stratton pond shelter
friday either in manchester center or bromley shelter
saturday night we should be at big branch shelter
sunday night we should be at the secret private shelter halfway between clarendon and governer clement shelter, but definitely not at either of those 2 shelters.

 

[bunchberry]

Seema and Brian,

It's been so great to read about your progress and to hear from others that you are doing really well! I hope to catch up with you two this weekend with Roadtripper, and we promise to bring treats I know I've been out of touch, but I've been thinking about you and your journey just about every day! Woohooo!!!!!!! Can't wait to see you

katie

 

[Toe Cozy]

Update

Just got a call from Seema. Lost the cell connection though, so this is all I've got so far for an update.

They are running behind schedule by about 7 miles. Tonight they'll be at Story Spring Shelter.
Friday night they should be someplace north of William Douglas but south of Spruce Peak.
Saturday morning they will go in to Manchester Center to resupply. If you want to hook up with them there, it's probably best to wait around at the road crossing/parking lot on Route 11 until they get back from town. Or get there really early and give them instant trail magic of a ride to Manchester Center. I'd do that myself, but I'm going to be away this weekend. That stinks.

Anyway. I'll post more if I get another phone call update.

 

[roadtripper]

Toe Cozy/Seema - any status updates? Bunchberry & I are trying to see if it makes logistical sense to try to meet up on sat.

a few questions...
~ where do you think you'll be staying Friday night (and how far is it from the 11/30 A.T. crossing?)
~ what time on sat morning do you think you'll reach the 11/30 A.T. crossing? more like 6am or more like 10am?
~ also, where are you planning on staying Saturday night?

- Greg

 

[Toe Cozy]

Official Sighting and Update

I met up with Seema and Brian at Story Spring Shelter 3.6 miles south of the Kelly Stand Road crossing near Stratton Mountain. I hit the trail at about 7:50am and got to the shelter sometime around 9:15 or so I'm guessing. I could hear them chatting with some south bound thru hikers and it was fun to sneak around the corner and surprise them. They both look great and it was great to catch up with them. I'd brought brownies, OJ, fruit and Take Five bars for later. I hiked with them back to the road crossing, had another snack and before the next storm hit got back in my car as they headed on up the trail.



As of right now they will possibly make it beyond William Douglas Shelter tonight but more likely they'll stop there and call it a day. Tomorrow they'll have about a 6 mile hike out to 11/30 and should be there by about noon then they'll head in to Manchester for a resupply and hopefully be back on the trail by 3pm. They may be staying Saturday night near Peru Peak shelter or at the Griffith Lake tenting area (more likely). Peru Peak is 10 miles north of 11/30 so it will be a long, long evening of hiking. A possible plan for meeting up with them and delivering some trail magic would be to hike south on the AT/LT from 11/30, meeting them on the way out and then taking them in to Manchester for supplies and continuing on the trail North as far as you feel like going with them. Then you could hike back to your car on Sunday.

 

[dentonfabrics]

Hiking day after day in the pouring rain with wet everything has got to be a drain on those guys. It's a credit to their persistance...

 

[roadtripper]

Hiking day after day in the pouring rain with wet everything has got to be a drain on those guys. It's a credit to their persistance...

Any guesses as to the % of days on a typical complete journey in which it at least drizzles at some point during the day? I'm guessing probably 25-30%.

 

[sli74]

it was super exciting to be surprised by toe cozy today and to eat a yummy second breakfast of brownies. Thanks jen you are the best. We got a second surprise on top of stratton where we got to see and hang out with little bear and craig on an unplanned meeting.

we spent a lot of time catching up with old friends and making new friends today hence we are camped about 8 miles or so from vt 11/30. We are still trying to get to the road crossing by about noon. We will need about 3 hours in town and then we will head back out on the trail. We are aiming for peru peak shelter but are not opposed to stopping at the bromley warming hut for the night if we don't make it out of town till later in the day. Can't wait to see roadtripper and bunchberry.

toe cozy, thanks again for the yummy food and for being my update person.

i will try and check email before we start hiking tomorrow otherwise catch ya'll at vt 11/30.
everything has been wet and soggy and muddy since we got to the northeast at least we have water.

 

[Meri]

Here is Seema and Brian's very optimistic/super tentative schedule (Seema's words) for next weekend (as of Sunday August 10th):

Friday August 15th: Happy Hill Shelter
Saturday August 16th: either the hostel in Etna, NH or VFTT Jason's house (or maybe Moose Mountain Shelter)
Sunday August 17th: Smarts Mountain Tentsite or the Firewarden's Cabin


Nancy and I spent Saturday night at Bromley Shelter with Seema and Brian - it was great to hang out and visit with them and also to see Bunchberry and Roadtripper! We all spent some of that sunny summer day doing the resupply thing in Manchester Center, hung out at the trailhead enjoying all manner of delicious foods, and were even serenaded by a guy with a guitar playing Dylan tunes before heading north on the trail! Good times!

Seema - Nancy and I hoped the sunny, dry (but not too dry!) weather would follow you guys north, but shortly after getting back to the cars we heard thunder, got some sprinkles, and more rain a bit later. So glad I got to see you both! Hopefully I'll catch up again for another night soon!

 

[Toe Cozy]

Hey Meri...congrats on your first ever post. Glad to know that Seema and Brian were well entertained over the weekend. Hopefully all of our visits won't slow them down too much, but I suppose that's a risk.

It poured here in Springfield, VT all day. I wished I could find them on the trail and whisk them to my house at the end of their day for warm showers, clean bed/clothes, a real dinner and then back to the trail tomorrow morning. But alas, that's not what happened. Hopefully their spirits aren't too soggy.

 

[sli74]

At minerva hinchey shelter right now. It was so wonderful to see nancy, meri, bunchberry and roadtripper on saturday. Thank you all for the super yummy treats. It really lifted my spirits to see so many friends. We had such fun on saturday but sunday quickly went downhill. We had a couple of thunderstorms and hail which hurt a lot. It has been cold rainy muddy and slippery. Wish we could dry out a little but no such luck for atleast a few more days.
i will keep everyone posted and maybe we'll have great weather again next weekend.

 

[Blue]

You guys aren't hiking the trail, you're swimming the trail!

I hope you have safe water crossings, especially in NH (I'm sitting next to the Merrimack River in Manchester, and it has that murky brown, flood stage look to it).

You're almost on your home turf!

 

[bubba]

...It has been cold rainy muddy and slippery. Wish we could dry out a little but no such luck for atleast a few more days.

Welcome to the NE - 2008!

Good to hear you're progressing... many got a personal update from Little Bear at the ADK BBQ... I even found out about your trip! So you were "there" as best you could be this year!

Keep it up, travel safe and know that the miles are dropping off at a steady pace. Maybe I'll get over that way before you go by!
-bubba

 

[daxs]

When will you be in Maine? I will be in Baxter and the Moosehead Lake area from the 7th through the 11th of Sept if you need anything.

 

[sli74]

We got picked up by Toe Cozy at VT12 yesterday and had the most amazing evening at her home. Thanks TC, you are awesome. She fed us a steak dinner, let us shower, do laundry and sleep in her oh so comfortable guest bedroom. We will be leaving here in a few minutes to head back to the trail. I am not sure when the next time we will be at a road crossing at the end of our day's miles but I will keep posting as we progress because another night at a friend's house would be awesome and there are so many of you that have offered. So, here is the REALLY tentative plan for the next few days. We will likely be just south of these places each night since this is an ambitious plan for us.

Aug 15 - Happy Hill Shelter
Aug 16 - Moose Mountain Shelter
Aug 17 - Firewarden's Cabin
Aug 18 - somewhere a few miles south of Glencliff
Aug 19 - Beaver Brook
Aug 20 - Kinsman Pond Campsite
Aug 21 - resupply in Lincoln and maybe stay with one of the VFTT friends who has offered or push onto Liberty Springs Campsite if noone can pick us up.

Hope some of you can catch up with us while we are in the Whites.

To those who've offered to pick us up and take us home for the night: I will post here as often as I can with updates. If you see that we will be at a road crossing for resupply or at the end of our hiking day, feel free to email me at hikingnorth at gmail dot com to coordinate with us. No promises that meeting up with us will be easy but it would be so great to see more friends. Thanks.

sli74 (aka Hot Cheese)

 

[marty]

Seema and Brian,

Ray and I hiked Stratton and Pico last Saturday. I was hoping there was an outside chance we might see you, but weren't so lucky

Best of luck to you as you head on through Northern New England!

Marty