(This post is meant to be read before Early July and the Zombie Hiker) Hello all, sorry I've been gone so long but it's been a rough couple of weeks. It would be a simple thing to file down the mishaps of the past month into a short, concise statement that would explain everything but…Read more Prelude to June (and a brief apology)

In hindsight the troubles that were to befall me throughout the month of June had, like most little troubles that grow into big troubles, inauspicious beginnings. I crossed into Massachusetts on June 1st. It was my fifth border crossing and marked nearly 800 miles of steadfast progress. The day should have been one for celebration.…Read more Early July and the Zombie Hiker

After a couple hours of hiking, I emerged from the woods and walked into the the little provincial hamburg of Salisbury. On the way there were some sort of local volunteers deploying road blocks from golf carts retrofitted with police lights. I wondered what that was for. Looked official. Turns out it was Memorial Day…Read more May 30- June 1: The Bearded Woods Dine and Bunk

Thoughts today about the sun, and heat, and people flaring and cooling like emotional embers.  We see the sun everyday, but people only rarely think about it as more than a big molten ball that'll give you melanoma if you're not careful. It's a constant in all our lives, Earth's night light. But we forget…Read more May 29: Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Left Wiley shelter before dawn and made Kent, CT by noon. It was a town sprung up around prep school and so there were ice cream, girls, cool taverns, and used books aplenty. Inspired by the heat I sent home my cold weather gear to my parent's new, lakeside address that as of yet doesn't…Read more May 28: Kent, A Little Utopia 

Woke at 5 today. Left camp by 6. Hiking early morning may become the norm. Predawn rays don't quite have the same kick as sunlight around noon.  At the 8 mile mark I stopped in at Telephone Pioneers Shelter for a snack. The place was occupied by a doggedly-upbeat dad out from the big city…Read more May 27: A Healthy Withdrawal 

The summer heat hit in full today. A warm morning turned into a sun-burnt skin kind of afternoon. Nothin for it but to hike through.  The one positive is that the trail in New York unravels beneath a thick canopy cover. The bad news is that the heavy foliage traps heat. So even as I…Read more May 26: There’s Always A Concert If You Know How To Listen 

(Written by Dan Diehl) AT Adventure (May 22nd, 2016)Finding Nemo (Nathan) What started as a spark of an idea when my son announced that he would be hiking the Appalachian Trail became a reality today. After a weekend of being with my fraternity brothers, drinking too much beer, one of my brothers, Pete Boyle, was…Read more May 22: A Mad Dad Special – The AT From Dan’s Pespective 

Breakfast the next morning was something of an adventure in and of itself. As recommended by Doug, we headed to the cafe the locals swore by. It was a small place, almost an apartment kitchen, the room itself a sub lease underneath a Motorcyle shop. Behind the counter a short, eccentric, bottom-heavy New-Yorker with a…Read more May 25: Today I Crossed The Hudson

May 22 - Woke late today predisposed to take it easy for two reasons: first, there were only 13 miles to go before the next shelter and second, Bellvale Creamery was only 0.1 miles off the trail, which meant ice cream in the early afternoon. Another thing of no small consequence: today was the day…Read more May 22-24: We’re not in Bama anymore Dad