Our Appalachian Trail Hike: 5% Done!

We made it! We hiked the 100 mile wilderness and arrived to Monson in two pieces. It was a quest to see a moose (we did not), a chore to slog through the rain in some of the toughest terrain (draining on morale), and in the end, we ran on pure determination to reach the mighty hiking Mecca of Monson, ME (pop. 666) and pulled out a 20 mile day to get to the world renowned hiking hostel Shaws. Some of the highlights included eating mountain blueberries at the top of peaks, seeing two snakes and hundreds of toads, and meeting all the fantastic people we have on the trail.

We've been hiking with a couple from FL, Jared and Traci and they've been great company through the tough spots and to enjoy the peaks as well. We meet a great couple from MA Bob and Amy who treated us with such hospitality, you would have guessed they were family. We also meet the two Carolin brothers from CT and PA and they were a blast to chat to around the camp before turning in. Bob and Amy as well as Sean C. have been gracious and generous enough to offer to meet up with us and offer us a hand as we get closer to their homes. The trail really shows you a great part of humanity and you get to meet some really genuine and awesome people along the way.

As far as hikers go, we've meet NOBOs, SOBOs, flip-floppers, section hikers, and even some overweight, baby-carrying day ~~hikers~~ walkers. We've met Girl with 4 Dogs, Scrubbs, Dirty Bobby, Jo Hee, Dustin, Elvis (Tigger), Superdave, Backflip, Grad School, Lego, Cologne, WhyJayBrave, Wolverine, and Challenger just to name some off of our heads. They have all been great company and have made the hike more enjoyable and the 100 mile wilderness less lonely.

Our favorite place to stay was the second lean-to we visited, Rainbow Stream. It was overlooking a small valley in which the stream ran by the lean-to and up a short hill was soft pine-needle campsites. We swam in the stream before falling asleep to its continuous babbling. We were also grateful to hole up in Cloud Pond lean-to to escape the day of rain before even heavier showers mounted an onslaught on us.

Our legs and feet are sore, our joints need oil, have a small infection on a cut (getting treated), but after these two good nights of sleep and stuffing our faces with good food, we're ready to march on to the mighty metropolis of Caratunk (pop 108 but has a post office).

The 100 mile wilderness was quite an adventure in and of it's own, but the trail awaits for us to find more. Here are some pictures from our hike: