Endless P Summer

Post PCT ’16 and The Wonderland Trail

I’m currently sitting in the Portland airport waiting patiently to fly to Boston. My hiking season is coming to an end and as much fun as I’ve had, I’m looking forward to seeing my people and adapting back into my non hiking life. And showering regularly.

I’ve had a very enjoyable summer. A rich, full, fun life experience. Let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to since I lasted updated this. On 8/26 I got in to Seattle, spent a couple of days there and on the 28th was heading north from Steven’s Pass on the PCT(Pacific Crest Trail).

In case you didn’t recently read last summer’s edition of this blog, I’ll refresh your memory. In 2015 I started hiking the PCT from the Mexican border and walked 2461 miles before the remaining miles of the trail were closed due to wildfires. It was a tough pill to swallow, I felt like I had crushed it for months, my body was feeling good and mentally I was determined to walk to Canada. There was never a point where I felt like I wouldn’t finish.

All of a sudden the trail was closed down and weeks would pass before it reopened, so the unfinished 188 miles hung over my head for a year. It was hard to constantly explain it, like there was this asterisk on my 2015 PCT thru hike. So back to recent history. S+M, Tim Tam Slam, Schemes and myself got back on the trail on August 28th and got right back into our old habits: walking. These women are fun, fast, tough, and formidable hikers. Most importantly they laugh at all my jokes, or a lot of them anyway and at the same time keep me entertained. Plus, Washington state is dope. We had a great trip.

After 4 or 5 days of walking through old growth forests, over long ridges and through these big old mountains we got into Stehekin, WA. This little resort town sits on the end of Lake Chelan and can’t be reached by cars. Stehekin is only accessible by float planes, boats and hikers. All supplies are ferried there by barge twice a week or something like that. Oh yeah they have this bakery there that is legendary. Some bozo tried to tip us off about it like we hadn’t been hearing about since Mexico last year. Thanks for the pro tip bro!

Sadly S+M had to get off trail in Stehekin due to a knee injury. She’s leaving in a few months to join the peace corps in Guinea and naturally wanted to prevent further damage. The rest of us continued north through a spectacular section of trail that included North Cascades NP. The weather was cold and wet but our spirits were high and after a few days we finally crossed into Canada completing our hike. It felt real. Rejoining my friends out there made it what it was. I could have finished this section in July or even waited around last September to finish but wouldn’t have been the same if I had walked it solo or with a different crew. Thanks girls(if you’re still reading).

From where the trail ends in Manning Park; Tami, Schemes, myself and two new friends Jobin and Cougar, took a bus to Vancouver where Tami proceeded onto Portland and Schemes and I spent the day exploring this foreign city. Schemes and I then took a bus to Seattle from where she flew back to Southern California via Colorado for awhile before she goes to Antarctica to study rocks for a few months.

I stayed for a few days in the Eastlake neighborhood with my friends Dave and Nikki from home. They’ve been living, working in and exploring different cities this year but the word is they’re about to road trip back to Mass and get married and all that good stuff. While I was there we went out to the mountains, swam in alpine lakes, explored the city, and ate noodles, it was great.

From Seattle I decided to get myself down to Mt. Rainier NP to hike the Wonderland trail. It took me a day of city buses, walking and hitchhiking to get there but I got there. I then proceeded to crush this trail. It’s 90 miles around the perimeter of the massive Mt Rainier and because of a glitch in the permit system for some reason I had to do a 36 mile day to get to my first campsite. Nbd. #crushcity. It was fun, nonstop nfa hiking from sun to sun for 3 days and arguably the most beautiful stretch of weather I had all summer. Plus the scenery was just the tops! Climbing Rainier is most definitely on my to do list.

From Rainier I hitched south towards Oregon. I caught a series of rides and made it to Cascade Locks where I caught up with my friend Roadrunner who had just recently returned from Burning Man. We had planned on hiking the Timberline trail but the weather up on Mt Hood turned to shit, so we headed towards the coast instead. First we spent a night at her folks house in Salem and her mom gave me a tour of Oregon’s capital. Along with Roadrunner’s dog Shasta aka Santa’s Little Helper we carried on to Pacific City and up to Rockaway beach where we stealth camped for the night.

The next day we drove up the coast stopping at the Tillamook cheese factory, Cannon Beach the home of Haystack Rock of Goonies fame, up to Fort Stevens Park, to the city of Astoria, over to some waterfalls and through an elk reserve. It was a fun action packed beautiful day. A great way to spend my last full day on the west coast. Before returning to her life of living on the Columbia River Gorge and crushing mountains Roadrunner dropped me off in Portland where I met up with Tami for noodles and she put me up for the night. After getting to Canada Tami had returned to her off trail life in Portland but I have a feeling she’ll be hiking the long miles again sooner rather than later.

I’m flying to Boston and about to return to my life in Lynn for awhile. I’m happy about it, excited to see family and especially looking forward to meeting my brand new nephew Will. I’ve got some good stuff coming up too; hoping to get back into climbing and also running again since I signed up for the Stonecat 50 miler in November and I anticipate this winter to be chock full of skiing and snowshoeing. It’s a lot of fun to live in the woods, spend every night in a different place and travel wherever I want to go but the time has come to go home. And as much as I love the Pacific Northwest and the mountains, Lynn is home and I have a nice little life there. Real talk though, can’t wait to do it again!!

“To Live is to Fly” -TVZ

-Endless

Instagram @endlesspsummer

Thank you to everybody that helped me do my thing. Rides. Meals. A place to stay. Taking time out of your life for me. People were so gracious. If any of you come through Massachusetts make sure to get in touch. I’d love to return the favor as long as I’m not on a trail somewhere. You know when people say stuff like that you have to be careful because there’s people like me that will always take you up on it. S+M, Schemes, Endless, TimTamSlamMt JeffersonRoadrunner and Shasta

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 Posted on October 2, 2016 by

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The Colorado Trail

Oh hot damn! What a great month, I absolutely loved the Colorado Trail. Let me try to recap it here for all my gracious readers. On July 28th I started hiking SW from Waterton Canyon just outside of Denver and finished the trail August 21st in Durango, CO.

Before I get into the details of the trail itself I’ll tell you a little about this crew I was hiking with. I guess I’ll go in order of height.

Nomad is the tallest, and a Colorado native which was helpful. He’s a formidable, experienced hiker having thru hiked both the AT and PCT and who by far ate better than anyone else on trail. As knowledgeable as he is about the outdoors, Colorado, and cooking trail dinners he knew little about social media. So we got him interested in Instagram and by the end of the trail he was hooked like a teeny bopper. Find him there @dan.ferguson(his first.last name, how original). Everyone else is tied at 5’8″ so there’s no method to this madness.

BK aka Baby Eater, another native Coloradan, is a super strong hiker and has all kinds of info about the mountains here. He’s currently on a quest to hike the Colorado fourteeners, spread the word about Snowbank Brewing in Fort Collins, CO, stuff his face with pro bars and red vines, and he uses his engineering degree to fashion handmade spoons out of trash he finds in his pack. And according to his mom, he carries a pretty heavy pack. (Check out his blog here: ramblinram.com also his IG name @ramblinram).

Prickly Pear is either from Michigan or outer space and was our captain, because she carried the CT guidebook and wore a Garmin hat. She is probably the fastest and funniest hiker in our crew and also the most feral. There’s a chance she was raised by wolves, or at least in a cave. Other hikers took to calling her Prickly Pear last year on the PCT because of the way she came off to people and the name just stuck. #peardontcare. She really doesn’t, that’s also her name on the gram: @peardontcare.

Queen B is another formidable female hiker with over 5000 long distance miles on her feet. The B is a skilled, yet sometimes clumsy thru hiker and is also noticeably cleaner than most people who live in the woods. Not only can she rap the whole Hamilton soundtrack but can back it up with obscure facts about the early American politician. QB taught us all the words to Townes Van Zandt’s Tecumseh Valley. Her version was pretty good but she decided she wouldn’t sing it with us anymore because the rest of us kept butchering the tune. I disagree. Oh yeah, she takes great pics too. Check them out @sarahikes on Instagram.

The 5 of us met last year on the PCT and all hiked together for different periods of time. On the CT however we stuck together the whole time and then some. We had lots of fun and really got along well. It was very enjoyable for me to be hiking in a group again after doing the AT as a mostly solo mission earlier this year.

In all, the CT is something like 484 miles, with an average altitude over 10,000 feet and lots of miles above treeline. It is pound for pound the most scenic long trail I’ve hiked. If that makes any sense. I won’t say that it was easy but the tread is pretty smooth, the climbs aren’t too vicious and it’s well marked. A relaxing 20-25 mile a day pace is very doable on this trail. And the scenery is absolutely spectacular. Everytime I turned a corner or hiked over a pass, a whole new world of mountains presented itself.

There really wasn’t any drawbacks to this trail but the biggest challenge we faced was weather. And we saw all kinds of it: rain, hail, snow, corn snow, and graupel(you might have to google that one). According to the natives(BK and Nomad) there’s a chance of a thunderstorm everyday in CO. Fortunately we were all successful in dodging  lightning bolts, but sometimes we had to take preventative measures. If we were about to go up a pass and the skies weren’t at least as bright as my future we would have to consider hunkering down for a little bit. Once, when we had miles of trail above treeline in all directions we got caught in a massive hailstorm. We ran and dove and crammed into a little voidspace in a 6 foot high shrub that smelled like farts. For about 45 minutes the hail still pelted us and everyone besides the Pear got pretty wet and cold, but it was more fun than it sounds. Other times when quick storms came on we threw up the biggest tent, all got in and read each other ‘the Wizard of Oz'(Spoiler alert: the book is way different than the movie).

I also saw lots of wildlife out there. A couple different herds of sheep(wild mountain sheep and also domestic sheep up there grazing), a bunch of moose, deer, coyotes and I had a red fox walk right up to within a few feet of me. This is the primary reason I carry a tennis ball with me, to play fetch with wild fox, coyotes and wolves. Just kidding, but seriously.

We stopped in half a dozen different towns throughout the trail; Breckinridge,  Leadville, Salida, Lake City, and Silverton. The mountain towns in Colorado were fun and the people there were cool and good to us. We had to get into town every 4 or 5 days mainly to see how many medals the US had won.

In all seriousness I loved this trail and recommend it to anyone who thinks they can do it. I’ll definitely hike it again someday.

Once we got to Durango the adventure wasn’t over. We had talked for awhile about renting a car and going on a little victory lap to see some of SW Colorado’s beautiful places. BK rented the car and was the driver while the Pear DJ’ed. (I thought she did a good job but apparently if Nomad heard Tom Jones’ ‘What’s new Pussycat’one more time he promised to jump out of a moving vehicle). The road trip was sweet! We went to Mesa Verde NP(a world heritage site that I highly recommend), Telluride and Bridal Veil Falls, Orvis hot springs in Ouray, The Black Canyon of Gunnison NP, Hanging Lake and Sprout Rock in Glenwood Springs and on our last day we climbed Mt. Bierstadt covered in snow at 14,065 feet. It was awesome. We ate dinner and ice cream together in Denver last night and then began going our separate ways.

Nomad put up me and QB last night at his place and this morning I caught up with my buddy Big Cheese from the PCT, who just relocated to Denver(he got so fit last year they started calling him Little Cheese). Anyway he gave me a ride to the airport where I’m catching a plane to Seattle. I’ll be meeting up with some of my friends from last year’s hike; Schemes, S+M, and Tami and the plan is to get on the PCT at Steven’s Pass in Washington and hike north about 180 miles to the Canadian border. Last year I hiked almost 2500 miles of this trail and when I got to Steven’s Pass it was closed because of wildfires so we hitched around to the monument. I’d really like to finish the trail this year so wish me luck, that way I’ll know if you read the whole blog post. Anyway if you’d like to see pictures of these adventures, feel free to follow me on Instagram @endlesspsummer.

-Endless


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 Posted on August 26, 2016 by

 Hiking

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Post AT, Pre Colorado Trail

I decided to update my blog just in case you’ve been sitting around wondering what I’ve been up to since my last post. I flew into Seattle July 11th and stayed only for a few days before I unexpectedly had to fly back and forth to Mass. For a couple days I explored the Emerald City(that’s what they call it) and got a chance to meet up with some friends from home, Dave and Nikki before their trip to Alaska.

I also caught up with my buddy Malibu and we went for a massive bike ride around Lake Washington. Last year this dude rode his bike from Seattle to San Diego, hiked the PCT, then rode a bike home to Seattle from Manning Park. He had an extra bike just for this kind of situation and I did my best keeping up with him. I don’t have too much road biking experience but my only real problem was I kept getting my right foot caught in the baskets. I fell 3 times, not bad falls though, but only when I was stopped at an intersection and lots of people could point and laugh. I’ve laughed at plenty of people falling though, so I deserved it.

When I returned to the Pacific Northwest, July 17th, I headed out towards Snoqualmie Pass and the PCT. I caught a bus and then a couple of quick hitches and was on trail around 6pm. From Snoqualmie Pass I headed north on a  familiar section of the PCT to do a 2 night out and back. About two miles into this incredible little slice of heaven I ran into Ram and Red Feather out for a day hike. I met them both last summer before they had met each other and they informed me that they just got married. Long trail, the PCT, but small world.

After a couple nights my friend Sweetums joined me and we hiked up the Denny Creek trail to the magical Malakwa Lake. Sweetums learned me on all kinds of stuff hiking. A total badass, and if I wasn’t my own idol she’d be a front runner for that title. Check out her blog here: chasingmydaydream.com. She was off to solo the Enchantments in a day and I was headed to Yakima,WA to see my friend Jenn. Sweetums drove me part of the way and then I caught a couple hitches including a beautiful ride through Yakima River Canyon. Jenn came through with a ride the rest of the way, put me up at her place, and drove me to the bus station the next day. We went out in Yak Vegas(I heard that’s what the locals call it) had a fun night with Jenn(a friend of mine from years ago who spent some time in Lynn) and Katie, who I met last year while I was out that way, and some of their crew. Only by a few days did I miss out on their fly fishing trip to Idaho. Timing is everything.

From Yakima I planned on joining my buddy Boone in Oregon and get on the PCT for awhile. I took a bus to Seattle, then ran across the city to catch another one to Portland. Boone and his girlfriend Katie did me a solid. They drove from Bend to Portland and back to pick me up. 3+ hours each way. The two of them had been hiking north from Crater Lake, Katie was about to head home and Boone was continuing on to Canada. It was great to see these two and we drank milkshakes and ate pancakes and all that good thru hiker food.

The following morning Katie dropped us off at Santiam Pass and Boone and I crushed a bunch of trail. So nice to be back on the PCT in Oregon, soft smooth trail and gentle elevation gain and loss, not to mention the spectacular views throughout the hike. Going from Maine on the AT to Oregon on the PCT is like swinging a weighted bat and then a wiffle ball bat. After about a hundred miles we got up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. This is the hotel from ‘The Shining'(the outside scenes anyway). We surprised our buddy Speed when we joined him stealth camping in the woods nearby and then I could barely sleep because I was so excited about the brunch buffet at the lodge. This is the greatest breakfast ever. I mean that’s in my opinion, but I’d like to know where to find a better one. If I was ever to be executed(hopefully that doesn’t happen) I’m going with the Timberline Brunch for my last meal and if they don’t have that I’m going with pad thai pizza.

Two more days of hiking and I got to Cascade Locks, OR. I ate some lunch and took a shower that I also used to wash my clothes real quick. So now I’m trying to get to Portland and I’m standing on the road with my thumb out for like ten minutes without anybody even slowing down or look twice. Miraculously my friend Roadrunner, who lives in town unbeknownst to me, spots me from the opposite direction and yells to me a la Billy Ocean, “Get outta my dreams, Get into my car!” At least that’s what I heard. What she probably really said was,”Hey Endless, you hobo!! Get in the car I’ll give you a ride.” It was awesome. Great to see her and catch up then she drove me all the way to Portland. The options for flying from Portland to Denver were weak so I audibled. I took a bus to Seattle then a red eye from there to Denver with a quick layover in Minneapolis.

In Denver I met up with PCT friends BK, Prickly Pear and Queen B for lunch. The 4 of us plus Nomad are starting the Colorado Trail tomorrow. Then I crashed the honeymoon of the freshly married Fannons. It was great, went out on the 16th Sreet Mall and staying with them in this sweet Air BnB tonight. Things are good, I’ll be hiking the next few weeks with a fun and formidable crew and I’m excited about Colorado. Don’t hesitate to subscribe to this blog if you want to hear what happens next and as always feel free to follow me on Instagram @endlesspsummer

-Endless



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 Posted on July 29, 2016 by

 Hiking, Pacific Crest Trail, Thru hiking, Uncategorized

Katahdin!

It’s been awhile since I last updated this blog but I’ll try to bring you up to speed on my last few weeks on the AT. I tried to get a post out about every ten days or so while on the trail but those last few weeks were tough, I barely had time to stuff my face and read myself a bedtime story at the end of the day. Anyway, I finished the trail on July 5th and it was glorious. For real, it was quite a thrill. I didn’t start off thinking I would bomb through it so quickly but about a third of the way in I decided to at least make an attempt to do it in 80 days. Early on in the hike I was averaging around 25 mile days and my body felt really strong, it almost felt like I was going easy on this thing. In northern Virginia I did a little arithmetic and figured if I hustled a little I could get home to Massachusetts in time for the Fannon/Borrelli nuptials in early July. Once I made that decision it was crush city out there. For real this was an NFA, bare bones, thru hike at a suicide pace. For me, it was thoroughly enjoyable but I’m not sure I would recommend this style to others going out to hike the AT. Unless you’re really into punishing yourself all day long for weeks on end.

The last two states, New Hampshire and Maine, were without a doubt the most difficult of the entire trail. In my opinion they provided the best scenery and, especially Maine, were the most remote. I’ve been hiking in NH’s  White Mountains since I was a kid and thought oh yeah no big deal I can handle it, but traversing the state with a pack was super tough. Nothing I couldn’t handle though but it did slow me down.

I had been used to doing 30+ mile days since Virginia but in the Whites my pace slowed to a crawl, averaging about 25’s through the rest of the state. It was fun though. Most of the time the weather was great, ideal for looking around and swimming in icy cold streams. My favorite way of reminding myself how alive I am is to jump in the coldest water possible on a hot day. It’s also a good way of holding myself over until my next shower, since I went 12 days without one(new record if you were wondering, showered in North Adams, MA and then not again until Bethel, ME). #livefreeordie.

When I got to Franconia Notch, my buddy Patrick came up to camp with me for a night and hike a few miles. He took me to McDonald’s and a gas station to resupply then got me all caught up on gossip and the antics of his life. It was fun.

The one time in NH where I ran into lousy weather I was probably in the most inopportune place. I was getting up to the Presidentials just leaving the Mitzpah Spring Hut where I stopped for a quick snack.(the huts in the Whites are different than the shelters. They’re staffed and heated and have beds and meals for like $100+ a night. Not really my style but they treat thru hikers pretty well. If we do chores we can spend the night on the floor for free and after meal time they give us tons of leftovers. They feed us like dogs, in a good way.

One time I stopped in a hut and they gave me a huge bowl of cold steak tips and a piece of day old lasagna the size of a baseball glove. It was awesome!) It was overcast and I could still see the summit of Mt. Washington when I left but once I got to top of Mt. Pierce the wind picked up and it started raining. All of a sudden it got wicked cold, super windy and was raining cats and dogs.

This next section of trail is above the treeline and exposed for miles. I knew I could reach the next hut in a couple hours so since there wasn’t any thunder or lightning I went for it. Ride or die and all that stuff. I was not in a very favorable situation, it was actually pretty miserable. I was soaked to the bone and about as cold as I get, but when I got to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut I couldn’t have been happier. Everybody there was pretty much in the same boat, excited to be inside, comparing their harrowing weather stories and high fiving each other. I waited out the storm for about 3 hours and when it seemed to clear up a little I went for the summit of Washington and got there around 5. The guy working up there told me to expect 70+ mile wind gusts but probably no precipitation. So I pushed 6 more miles to the Madison Springs Hut and made it, obviously. The rest of NH wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn’t as dangerous either.

A couple days later I crossed into Maine and hiked through Mahoosuc Notch, the gnarliest and most notorious mile of the whole trail. Reading about it won’t do it justice, you’ve got to experience it yourself. My parents met me again in Grafton Notch and for a couple days I felt like Scott Jurek with a legit crew. They got themselves a new Maine atlas and found all these small roads where the trail crosses, it was almost like they were showing off. So I stayed with them at their place in Bethel for a night and because of their knew knowledge of the road crossings was able to slack pack a couple of small sections. It was really cool. My mom hiked with me for one of the sections and they both provided trail magic for me and some other hikers, giving us food and rides to hitchhikers.

The rest of Southern Maine was no joke. I did a 100+ mile stretch into Caratunk and it was packed with incredible mountains, ridges, rivers, lakes, and moose. Naturally I crushed it. I was surprised that there was such great hiking so close to me that I just never experienced. I’ve always just gone to the Whites when I go hiking and this incredible resource is so close. So many places I plan on returning to. Including the Caratunk House B and B, run by a former AT and PCT thru hiker Paul. Highly recommended. Paul has all the thru hiker staples: milkshakes, cheeseburgers and French toast and it was cheap.

From there it was about 40 miles to Monson and the beginning of the dastardly 100 mile wilderness. I tried and failed the breakfast challenge at Pete’s in Monson but left town with a full stomach and about 4 days worth of heavy food in my pack. The 100 mile wilderness goes from Monson to Abol bridge where there’s a store about 10 miles south of Baxter state park(two thumbs down for the store). The wilderness is out there, no civilization or cell service or anything. A week prior to getting there I had planned on meeting my mom at the Katahdin stream campground the night of the 4th.

After a day and a half of lots of little mountains I woke up on the morning of the 3rd with 66 miles of relatively flat trail, although rocky and rooty and muddy and buggy. I did a 38 mile day to make sure I had just an easy 28 miler into Baxter and got there shortly after 6pm. This must have been what hiking in the 90’s was like, no phones, just do what you have to do in order to be where you say you’ll be. So on the morning of the 5th I got up super early, and joined by the most badass 62 year old woman I know, bombed up Katahdin. The weather and the views were phenomenal. Reaching the sign at the summit was an indescribable feeling. So I won’t even try. We basked in the glory of the day at the top with a handful of day hikers then slowly made our way down and then home to Lynn.

The AT was great. Hard as anything I’ve ever done but beautiful, fun, and rewarding in ways I can’t put into words. If you’re thinking about thru hiking, go for it, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I spent the last few days at home and it was great. Got to see my family which should be increasing by one any day now when Mike and Erica have their baby. It’s too bad they didn’t time it better and have the baby while I was home, but whatever. Also got to officiate at my friends Joe and Kristen’s wedding. No big deal, only one of the greatest dance parties of all time.

One of the benefits of putting such a whooping on the AT is that now I’ve got more time for adventures. Right now I’m layed over in Philadelphia on my way to Seattle.  Don’t be too jealous though I just got stuck on a plane next to a giant with humongous elbows, no regard for my personal space, and who kept burping up the bologna sandwiches he had for lunch. Other than that, things are cool. Stay tuned if you want to see what I’m up to the rest of the summer and feel free to follow me on Instagram @endlesspsummer.

-Endless




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 Posted on July 11, 2016 by

 Appalachian Trail, Hiking, Thru hiking

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Live Free or Die

Mile 1757

Live free or die from mosquito bites. Just kidding that would be horrible and the bugs really haven’t been bad, tonight was the first time I had to apply Deet. But seriously, live free. I crossed into my 13th state today, New Hampshire. The thing is all states aren’t equal, there’s different lengths of trail in every one. If I remember I’ll try to include the mileage to each state at the end of this post. New Hampshire and Maine make up about 450 miles total and are supposed to be super tough, especially the White Mountains. I’m familiar with the trail through the Whites and I know they’re no joke but I really don’t know what to expect from Maine. I just better see some moose up there.

Last week I finished up New York and there was definitely some good hiking there. Plus you’re never far from civilization so you can get to a deli everyday and stuff your face with Italian subs, that’s what I did anyway. The trail passes through Connecticut for about 60 miles and it was pretty and everything but what stood out was how expensive the towns were, especially for a cheapskate like myself.

I had to go to the PO in Salisbury, CT to pickup some new sneakers. While I was there I went to the market and into a couple stores and let’s just say I won’t be taking any dates to Salisbury, CT in the near future. Massachusetts, no doubt,has the best people on trail. And I’m not just saying that because I’m from there.

First of all, earlier on the trail, every  time I would tell somebody I’m from Mass they would be like, “Oh you’re walking home?” Then I would think to myself, “No, dummy, I’m walking to Katahdin where I’ve been just about as many times as I’ve been to the moon.” And then I would feel like I owed them a geography lesson and explained where Lynn is and how the trail slices through the very western most section of the state. Anyway the trail through Massachusetts is pretty awesome and the people were great.

My first day in the state I was walking along and it was pretty cold and all of a sudden the skies just opened up. I mean it was raining cats and dogs and this went on for a couple hours. My rain gear was soaked through, I was cold, and I was a little miserable. When I finally got to a road I stuck my thumb out just hoping to get somewhere dry. After just a couple minutes, Brenda and Joe pulled over and asked me if I wanted to eat some food and warm up. This was awesome. I really can’t put into words what an incredible turn of events this was. They took me to their house where I showered and they fed me pastrami sandwiches. Brenda, Joe and their daughter Rachel invited me to a graduation party that afternoon and gave me an open invite to stay in their son Ryan’s yurt.

It cleared up so I decided to get back on trail but I’m sure it would have been fun. Brenda told me they look out for hikers and take care of them in memory of their late son who was a hiker and a traveler. It was so nice to have someone looking out for me that day.

The following day I stopped at the Cookie Lady’s house right off trail. This is an older couple who sell hard boiled eggs for 40 cents and the chocolate chip cookies and their stories are on the house. This has been going on for like 30 or 40 years and it’s awesome. That night I got into Dalton, MA where trail angel Tom Levardi lets hikers crash in his yard and then cooks them breakfast before they move on.

Leaving Dalton I prepared for altitude sickness summiting Massachusetts high point Mt. Greylock and then made it into North Adams where my parents came out to visit me for the night. What’s cool about my parents coming out, besides putting me up in a hotel and buying me a few meals, is that they’re super supportive. When I tell them I’m going to live in the woods for awhile and walk really far they’re like, “Oh cool! How can we help?” So they’ve been very helpful, which has been great.

I’ve spent the last 5 days in Vermont. I did this section last September and once again it was beautiful. It’s green, there’s good climbs, mountain lakes and refreshing rivers for swimming. The AT coincides with Vermont’s Long Trail for about 100 miles so I met a bunch of people doing that. Supposedly the northern half of the LT, which I haven’t done yet, is the tough half. At least according to my sister Molly, a former Vermonter and Long Trail alumnus.

Last night I walked about a quarter mile off trail in Woodstock because I had heard about this ice cream shop. Turns out the place closes at 5:30, even on a Friday night in June. Bankers hours I guess. So I’m walking back to the trail and local trail angel Dan Quinn offers to let me stay in his barn. I declined and told him I was just hoping to get a soda at the IC shop. He said he’d help me out if he could but he doesn’t have any soda. Then he tells me to wait a minute, he runs into his house and comes back with a 2 liter of ginger ale. He told me how his friend and Appalachian Trail legend ‘Baltimore Jack’ left it there a little while back and told Dan to hold onto it. Baltimore Jack hiked the trail a bunch of times in the past and had been a fixture in the AT community for years. He died earlier this season before I had the chance to meet him but I feel like he provided me trail magic from beyond. I shared it with the couple staying in the barn and it was just what I needed to get through the last few miles of the day.

Again today I had some great trail magic. I stopped at Randy Hart’s house in West Hartford, VT and he cooks pancakes for hikers passing through. And across the street from him is the ultimate swimming hole! For real, there’s a bridge with a 30 foot drop into deep water with a sandy beach on one side and a big rock to chill on across from it. If you’re ever in the area on a hot day like today, find the bridge and take the leap. At your own risk of course. Alright if you made it this far through the post I’ll keep my word and leave the approximate miles for each state. This is what I remember anyway.

Georgia 70, the trail runs the border of North Carolina and Tennessee for awhile so I’ll say 400 miles combined, Virginia has the most at 550, West Virginia 4, Maryland 40, Pennsylvania 230, New Jersey 80?, New York 120?, Connecticut 60, Massachusetts 90, Vermont 150, New Hampshire 150, and Maine the final state and second longest 270.

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 Posted on June 18, 2016 by

 Appalachian Trail, Hiking, Thru hiking

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In the Northeast

Mile 1414

Greetings from the Northeast! I’m not sure what exactly is considered the Northeast but I’m north of the Mason Dixon line and East of the Hudson River, so I’m definitely in the Northeast. Getting here was a challenge of course, but it’s been awesome. In order to get out of the South I had to pass a series of challenges or ‘feats of strength’ if you will. Starting with the 4 state challenge, which I crushed. I was moving pretty well all day and the trail through Maryland was good for putting up big miles. Except for the end, the last 7 or 8 miles included a rainstorm, a few good climbs and a very serious downhill. It was a long day, but I’m glad I did it.

The next day I passed the halfway point and the day after that there’s this store that has the “Halfway Half Gallon Challenge.” It’s really just a gimmick to get us to buy ice cream. You don’t get it for free or anything if you finish it. Still I had to do it, I’d been training for this moment my whole life and had 100 percent confidence I could do it. Anyway I got to the store around 8:30 in the morning. I primed my stomach with some pop tarts and a danish and hiked about 5 or 6 miles from my campsite to work up an appetite. I worked on my strategy for days leading up to this event and thought I was being pretty savvy going with Neopolitan(van/choc/straw), this way I wouldn’t get burned out on one flavor. Since a carton of ice cream is only 1.5 quarts you have to drop another 3 bucks on a pint to complete the challenge, and their selection was terrible. I chose peach and it was only ok. This was like the easiest challenge ever. Then I hiked all day.

The real challenge is the state of Pennsylvania. PA is notorious on the AT for being the hardest or the least favorite of all the states. There’s all these super sharp rocks that shred up your sneakers and wreak havoc on your feet. People have come up with clever names like ‘Rocksylvania’ or ‘the Pennsylvania Foot Massage’ and I do not like foot massages. Plus there’s snakes, I saw a huge rattler and a buttload of rat snakes.

Worst of all for me was the allergies I dealt with in PA. I walked through a field of hay or grass or something, got this stuff all over my arms and legs and had a pretty significant allergic reaction. I had hives all over, sore throat, was sneezing like whoa and one of my eyes swelled up all crazy. I felt like Thomas J in ‘My Girl’ ///SPOILER ALERT/// except I didn’t die. I still hiked all day, but then it rained on me, it absolutely poured. It was not my day.

If it wasn’t raining in Pennsylvania, it was hot and humid. I’m not complaining or anything, I still enjoyed myself, but I can see why people aren’t crazy about the place. I blasted through there and got to Delaware Water Gap, a town right on the border of Jersey, a week after I got into the state.

New Jersey and New York have been pretty sweet. It would have been a nice touch if Jersey had speakers on the border playing Bruce Springsteen, or at least Bon Jovi, but they don’t. These states are underrated. They’re tough and slow going  with lots of rocky ups and downs but really scenic, much more than I expected. Today I climbed through the lemon squeeze, hiked up bear mountain, through a trail side zoo and over the Hudson River on Bear Mountain Bridge which was quite spectacular. I don’t feel too far removed from civilization though. They call this section the deli run because of its close proximity to towns and restaurants. It’s a good section to stuff your face.

I’ve had some really good trail magic lately. A bunch of people have hooked me up with rides, Luke and Anna May drove me back and forth to WalMart so I could resupply in Port Clinton, PA. In Jersey I caught a ride in a big camper from a bunch of fun dreadlocked kids coming from a festival. I also got a ride back to the trail from a guy named ‘Sidecar’ not to be confused with the awesome Seattle trail angel of the same name.

In New York My friend Jessie drove up from Jersey, took me to Greenwood Lake and fed me a big piece of blue fish that she had just caught. My friend Angelika, a world traveling New Yorker who I met when I first started this hike in Georgia, met me at Harriman state park and took me out to dinner. Sometimes I wonder how I can be so lucky. Really. Things are going great. The trail has been fun, tough but fun. My body is feeling really good, besides the allergies which I’m on the other side of. And it’s been fun to take this on as a physical challenge. It wasn’t really my plan to move this quickly when I started but I’m sort of crushing it and I’m enjoying the pace.


If you’re interested in seeing more pictures of my hike, feel free to follow me on Instagram @endlesspsummer

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 Posted on June 8, 2016 by

 Appalachian Trail, Hiking, Thru hiking

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Just Shy of West Virginia

Mile 1019

Today I showered and it may have been the best shower of my entire life. At least top ten. Showering is one of my favorite thru hiking activities and I do it so infrequently. I’m not normally a dirty dude. In my non-hiking life I stay pretty clean and shower at least daily, but out on the trail, bathrooms aren’t always readily available to me. It’s hard to explain how good it feels to scrub off a hundred and something miles worth of sweat, mud and grime. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy feeling like a feral beast. Everybody out here smells like a wild animal and it’s to the point where only day hikers and people in towns can smell us. A hot shower after 4 or 5 days on trail is indescribably amazing. Even if the good of it doesn’t last very long.

Okay enough boring hygiene talk. Things between me and the Appalachian Trail have been going quite nicely lately. I feel as if I may have cranked up the pace just a hair and am moving along rather quickly. Knock on wood but right now my body feels fast and strong and my legs have been firing on all cylinders. Donuts and soda have been powering me through long days of cranking out big miles. I’ve still been hiking primarily solo on this trail but I’ve met lots of great people and some very formidable hikers. For a few days I hiked with ‘Badger’ and ‘Grouse’ and their dog ‘Shenny’. This is a fun couple who hike fast, enjoy slack packing, and eat ramen by the block. The other day I spent an afternoon bombing down the trail with ‘Svagnum P.I.’to beat an incoming thunderstorm. This girl, who is from Iowa, somehow pinpointed my accent to Lynn, Massachusetts. I was totally impressed. This morning I hiked with ‘Lava Monster’. We crushed about a dozen miles through ‘the Rollercoaster'(a section of trail named for its many steep ups and downs). This guy who is a competitive ultra runner can really fly on the trail. Today, however, was his last day since he was getting off trail in Harper’s Ferry. I’ve also come across some pretty sweet trail magic in the last week. The other night after a huge day, I got to a lodge within Shenandoah NP. I was hoping to get some hot food but the bartender already called last call. He still hooked me up with a Sprite and half a pizza which I promptly devoured. ‘Slay’ who was at the bar, let me crash on her site at the adjacent campground. Good thing because it was already super late and there wasn’t any good camping for miles afterward. Sunday, my friend ‘Shadowhawk’ from the PCT was passing through Waynesboro, VA while I was there. He treated me to breakfast and hooked me up with a ride back to the trail. A few days back I came across the Lexington, VA hiking club serving food at a road crossing and it was perfect timing. I guess they do it once a year and that day was my day. They insisted that I eat like forty cookies. #realtalk. Today ‘Shaggy’, a local thru hiker, and his mom were serving sodas and food and providing shade at a road crossing. Nothing like an ice cold Mountain Dew at a road crossing during the middle of a hot day of backpacking. I felt like we should have been on a Mountain Dew commercial.

So tomorrow is a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I’ll be attempting the 4 State Challenge. Right now I’m tenting in Virginia about a mile from the West Virginia border. The challenge starts here, follows the trail for about 4 miles through Wild and Wonderful West ‘by God’ Virginia (really thats what they call it) then travels through about 40 miles of Maryland before ending in the 4th state of the day, Pennsylvania. It will be a big day but I’ve got faith in myself plus I have a plan. I’ll get up early, start walking, and listen to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ like 200 times in a row. Then as I enter PA I’ll switch it to ‘Chariots of Fire’ for the last 20 minutes or so. What could possibly go wrong?

Let me leave you with this little story. While hiking, I wear this green university of Oregon track tank top every single day(it stinks). You may be familiar with it if you’ve seen any of my recent pictures. I wear this jersey for no good reason besides its comfortable AF. I’m not from Oregon, I didn’t go to school there and I’m not a fan of their sports. I have nothing against the place, I love the state actually, and of course as a runner I’m pro Prefontaine. Everybody I come across has something to say about the shirt, it’s usually just, “Go Ducks!” or “PRE!!” But tonight a girl, who was section hiking southbound, told me how she’s a huge fan of Steve Prefontaine and his quotes and dropped this gem on me. “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today feels like a good day to die.” Morbid, sure and I’d regret dying, but inspiring. I’m about to crush it tomorrow: 4 State challenge at a suicide pace, let’s do the damn thing!!

-Endless

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 Posted on May 27, 2016 by

 Appalachian Trail, Hiking, Thru hiking

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Daleville, VA

Mile 729

Virginia is a big state, especially by AT standards. There’s over 500 miles of trail through Virginia and it makes up about a quarter of the entire AT. Right now I’m about halfway through the state and its been really cool so far. There were rumors that it was really flat and you could just cruise but I try not to believe the hype. I don’t know what people were talking about, there’s been lots of ups and downs plus some awesome stuff to see.

Grayson Highlands State Park is home to Mt. Rogers(the state high point) and also a whole bunch of wild ponies. These things are everywhere and make me feel like a giant when I stand next to them and pretend they are horses. Over the last couple days I’ve come across some incredible rock formations. Yesterday I saw the Dragon’s Tooth and today I walked out on to McAfee Knob and along Tinker’s Cliffs. They were all pretty rad. You’ll either have to take my word for it, google images, or visit them yourself because my pictures don’t seem to capture these places quite the way they looked in person.

Trail Days is a big hiker festival held every year in Damascus, VA. Lots of former and current thruhikers flock to this little town for a weekend in May for a hiker reunion of sorts. There’s food, gear vendors, a tent city(exactly what it sounds like), bonfires, a hiker parade and all kinds of festival stuff. A lot of people time there hikes so they’ll get to Damascus right as the festival is going on.

Since I was in Pearisburg, about 150 trail miles north, I was on the fence about getting back to Trail Days. I figured I’d try to hitch and if I didn’t wait too long I’d head back. I like for things to go beyond my control and just happen and I lucked out with two quick hitches right away. One of them being ‘Rookie’, a former thruhiker who was driving from Maine to Damascus. Trail Days was quite an experience and I’m really glad I went back to it. Lots of people that I met earlier on trail were there and because of our different paces I didn’t think I’d see them again. I also saw people from the PCT last year and that was awesome.

I ate breakfast with my buddy Diatom who’s also on the AT this year and who I hiked with for 300+ miles in Washington state last August. Of course I ate tons and tons of food at the festival, made some boring gear adjustments, and was even summoned for a few interviews. No big deal, I’ll probably just be the new face of the Visit Virginia marketing campaign. My friend ‘Hey Girl’ interviewed me for a podcast called ‘Sounds of the Trail.’ This podcast is pretty entertaining, it consists of interviews of hikers who are currently out on the major hiking trails in the country. If you’re into podcasts and hiking like I am, then you should check it out. My interview might even make the cut.

I left Damascus Saturday afternoon and got a great hitch all the way back to where I left trail a day earlier. ‘Rocket Man’ a former hiker and long distance mountain biker drove me about 30 miles past his destination just to help me out. It was over the top generosity and he provided me with some stories of his lifetime of adventures. This guy has really lived. The culture surrounding this trail is inspiring. Trail magic comes in many forms and lots of former hikers come back to help people out. I got rides into town this week from Dan-O and Sarah who travelled all the way from Hawaii to provide trail magic. And just tonight I met a couple from Marblehead, MA(so close to home). ‘Cabana Boy’ and ‘Dutch Tape’ drove me and a couple other hikers to the Golden Corral buffet(where the owners were probably happy to see me leave) and around town to run some other errands.

Things are going well. I’m feeling good, moving quickly, meeting great people, and enjoying my hike. If you’re interested, follow me on Instagram for more pictures. @endlesspsummer -Endless



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 Posted on May 18, 2016 by

 Appalachian Trail, Hiking, Thru hiking

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