So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Aves and I have been reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy lately and I thought that a fitting title to this post. Although, "you can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you just might find, you get what you need," from the Stones would have been pretty fitting too.

This post is coming shortly after we've made the decision to close off our hike. We'll be following this post with more details and some more great pictures but here's the short version:

From Catawba our start was amazing. Joe from the Four Pines Hostel allowed us an easy 6 mile slack pack and a two night stay to get back on our feet. The next day we were under full packs and hiked up and over the Dragon's Tooth, a stone monolith with great views. We spent that night in our new tent (there's also a post coming about gear changes we've made and what we've learned thus far). The next couple of nights we spent in shelters along the way talking with true SoBos about everything they've experienced that we missed.

The 48 miles that we were able to do before getting back off the trail again were spectacular. It felt great to be back on the trail and in the wilderness again. We walked through pastures, over stiles and over some of Virginia's shorter mountains. But then four days ago we hit a couple miles that were pure rocks. It felt like we were back in Maine getting ready to hit Mahoosuc Notch. I was as careful as I could possibly be and it took us over an hour to get past it all. Afterwards though, my foot was complaining loudly. 600mg of Advil later and we made it to the shelter for the night. The next day I was able to make it the 10 miles to the Captain's house. The Captain is an awesome trail legend who lives thirty yards from the trail across a creek. Hikers like us take a zip line to get there, it's pretty awesome.

At this point I was figuring the pain may just be muscular, a product of not using it for a few months. The we took a zero the next day hoping the pain would subside and we could keep going. Then another the next day and another today. The pain isn't subsiding.

Basically it comes down to money and as much as we'd love to say that we could afford a hotel until I'm healed, we can't. Not that and everything else we'd need to afford to rejoin real life after our hike is over.

We really have still had a most excellent adventure. We've learned a lot too. Now that we've done enough of the trail to learn what it is but so little of it overall, we're already planning a true thru hike again in a few years. I have about two years left in my degree so we may be able to get the time again when I graduate. Hard to say for sure. One thing that is for sure is that Jess and I are thru hikers at heart. We know we have the knowledge and desire.

This isn't the end of our blog though. In a few days we'll be back in front of a computer and be able to post the details of the past few days with the last of our pictures, the gear changes that we made since the beginning and some helpful tips for anyone planning a future through hike. For now though we need to get some sleep, we have a long drive back to Wisconsin coming up tomorrow.

Left Hand and Aves are back!

We're here. We've made it back to the trail and seen our first white blazes in over two months. Coming from the middle of heavily populated Long Island to scarcely populated Catawba is inspiring. Almost like we'd lost our way but now have found it again amongst the mountains and the forest.

Our drive down was fantastic. As we headed south along highway 81 we saw signs for Hershey, PA. We didn't pass up the opportunity. I snagged a Hershey Bears hat (my favorite AHL team which used to be affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche) and we headed over to Chocolate World. Smells exactly like you'd think it would. We didn't spend near as much time as we could have there but we did get to hop on the free virtual tour ride and snag a bag of the new pumpkin flavored kisses.

Last night we stayed in Winchester, VA, about three hours further down the road. I just want to rant-NEVER EVER EVER use Travelocity for anything! They didn't get our reservation to the hotel we were staying at and when we tried to cancel told us that we would be charged the full amount for canceling the day of our reservation. I spent the next hour arguing with an awful "customer service" rep who eventually agreed to just refund our money but couldn't send me a verification email that this is happening. I hope she was telling me the truth but I still have a feeling that the battle isn't over. Meanwhile the guy at the Red Roof Inn took awesome care of us and gave us a discount on our stay even though he had nothing to do with what had happened. So all in all still a good night, but boycott Travelocity whatever you do.

Now we're at Four Pines hiker hostel with the owner Joe who picked us up in Salem after returning our rental car. We're lucky again, to come back to the trail and find out that fall hasn't come yet. Some trees have started to turn but for the most part everything is still green. Seeing fall happen was on our most wanted list and it looks like we're still going to get it.

So here we sit. The night before returning to the trail and it's calm and beautiful. Minus the sounds of Joe's son's ATV it's completely still. Tomorrow we begin anew and are we ever ready!

The Tale of Two Beginnings

Life. Sometimes it happens. Like crazy awesome trash drummers in the middle of NYC.

After leaving Maine, and Boston (Thanks again and again everyone!!! We couldn't be here without you!) we since have been on Long Island, NY. A different adventure all together, excellent all the same. Most of my family is here and my grandmother was very happy to let us stay while my foot mended itself. We weren't able to explore as much as we could have (say, without a broken foot) but we got as many mini adventures in as we could squeeze.

This was my first trip to NY without a real time limit and it was great getting to spend some good time with my grandma and some of my cousins. Oh and some family friends from England that just so happened to be there at the same time. Funny the way things have been working out.

We were able to go to both a Mets game (vs. the Colorado Rockies no less), and the 9/11 memorial. The baseball game was fulfilling as we got Jess her first hot dog at a baseball game in NY and the 9/11 memorial was breath taking. It costs 6 million dollars a year to keep it running and in my opinion is worth every penny. A memorial is meant to honor and to remember and there's no way any dishonor or forgetting will be happening while those fountains exist. There is even the "Survivor Tree" that was saved from the wreckage and nursed back to health off-site, then returned to the new ground next to the footprints of the towers. Also can't forget the new world trade buildings. Stunning, even now while they're only just over 50% complete.

Nathan's, the best!

The metal plate the rose is lying  on wraps around both fountains, and has an engraving of every person lost in the attacks.

One of the two "infinity pools" or footprints of the original twin towers, backed by the 9/11 museum which should open soon.

Other New York highlights include hanging out with my cousin Michelle who took us to her husband's band's show on Fire Island, out to the end of Long Island to shop at Montauk and see the lighthouse, to check out incredibly lifelike dinosaur statues and to a number of their favorite places to eat. I've got to say I am now completely hooked on Bubba's Burritos. It's kind of like Chipotle, only bigger and unsurpassedly tastier.

Midst all the fun, we also journeyed out past Lady Liberty to Ellis Island. Absolutely inspiring. My great grandmother came through there from Germany, and to learn about everything she went through was incredibly moving. The journey all those people took to make a better life for themselves... reminds me somewhat of our hike. I understand that the two are incomparable but there is something I understand in the want for travel. The inkling that there's something better just a little bit further. There are spots inside the museum where the curators have removed some of the plaster to show the graffiti that the immigrants left behind. Similar to that left behind on the walls and ceilings of our lean to's.

Ellis Island's Great Hall

Some of the graffiti

And, since my grandma kindly let us borrow her car whenever we wanted, we also got to see the three new tiger cubs at the Bronx Zoo, just put out for public viewing a week before we saw them.

The three cubs and their momma

I could write all night about everything we've done and everyone who did so much for us and with us while we were out here, but it's late. Right now, it's 3:15 in the morning and I need to get to sleep. But there's a reason I'm still typing and a reason I titled this post the way I did:

WE ARE LEAVING TOMORROW MORNING TO GET BACK ON THE TRAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've recently had my foot looked at by a physical therapist (thanks Frank!) who referred me to a sports podiatrist and given me the official go ahead to start hiking once again. I've also ordered custom insoles that should prevent this from happening again and give me a better hiking experience overall. I learned that I'm quite flat-footed, which I never knew. 

Due to our time off the trail, being out of shape and still wanting to be done by Thanksgiving, we are skipping some major mileage. We will be picking up the trail in Catawba, Virginia on Saturday. It is our hope that we will be able to return and hit this portion that we've skipped either next year or the year after. For now, though, we still have over 500 miles left this year and are extremely eager to get started. 

With all that out of my system, I'm headed to bed. Ready to begin anew! Next time you hear from Jess and I we'll be in Virginia and will once again have made the transformation into Left Hand and Aves!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

dot dot dot

I was thinking today about how many people have read this blog that we probably don't know, or who don't get updates through our parents on what we're up to. Andy's been planning to blog on our goings-on, so I won't get too into it, but we ARE still in New York and we're still holding out hope for continuing our hike. But since Andy's foot is still hurting, we can't commit to whether or when that can happen this year.

Random aside: our southbounder friends have recently been entering New York. Strange to think about.

Anyhow, I'll let Andy fill you all in on the rest!

From Maine to Boston

Even being off the AT, we wanted to pack in at least a bit more adventure as we progress further into waiting/healing mode. Luckily Andy turned 25 just in time for us to rent a car, and just as luckily the family we were staying with was able to drive us to Portland (a couple hours away) to pick up our rental. It was a snazzy new Ford Focus in which everything was mysteriously operated through a computer screen. Even changing the radio station the first time took more random button pressing than my pride was prepared for.

From Portland, we headed to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After our three days of slackpacking past Rangeley, we were about five more days of hiking from Gorham, the town at the northern end of the Whites. By car, it took just a couple of hours. One of the stranger aspects of being off the trail but still in the vicinity of the trail for so long is that it gave us a much clearer perspective of the areas we were (or in this case, would have been) hiking through. Not only does it all look very different by road than it does when you're in the woods (we were suddenly looking lazily up at peaks that we would have been gazing down from, muscles burning), but we could see just how strangely the trail winds and curves. Not that a direct course is by any means the point when you're looking to walk through the woods for half a year, but it is a strange feeling to zoom past miles after mile that you know has the potential to contain so much exhaustion, exhilaration, and adventure.

I should probably mention that our main reason for going to Gorham, rather in wallowing in what could have been, was to pick up mail both there and in nearby Franconia. We hoped to be able to drive up Mount Washington, too, as it's said to be the most spectacular peak in the Whites, but Andy's GPS said the drive would add three hours to our trip and it was just too late in the day. It was really too bad--the Whites, and Mt. Washington in particular, are notorious for bad weather and that day was as beautiful and clear as could possibly be hoped for. But of course we'll be back, both to finish our thru and likely just to vacation.

In Gorham, we had one of our massive resupply boxes from Andy's mom waiting (full of extra delicious snacks that she threw in!), and we also got a package from one of our blog readers! It was so exciting that I didn't want to wait to dig out a knife--we sliced the tape on it with my credit card. Inside were a bunch of hiking goodies in perfect travel sizes--including two of the most adorable mini tabasco bottles I've ever seen. Pretty awesome, since Andy had been missing hot sauce on the trail! Thanks so much, Peter!

Next up was Franconia. I don't think that Franconia is a very common trail stop (it only gets a small mention in our guide book), but we had sent our bounce box there to avoid the more expensive lodging of North Woodstock/Lincoln. And then it was off to Massachussetts with a perhaps fitting greeting of gridlock rush hour traffic. Luckily, my friend Michelle lives outside of the city and we were able to skirt our way around most of it. The mass of cars and people and tightly packed spaces was sort of like a mini culture shock--a sensation that took a few days to start wearing off.

I might have mentioned this in an earlier post, but it was sort of unbelievable that Michelle offered to take us in. We were good friends in high school, but for college our whole group spread out around the country and some, including the two of us, haven't seen each other since. Anyway, it was really great and we ended up staying with her for about two weeks. In that time, she took us to a lot of places we'd never otherwise get to go and made an appointment for Andy to see the most legit orthopedist yet. And in an extra bout of luck, Andy's dad was in the area for a business trip and was able to meet up with us. He took us out to lunch at a marina and dropped us off at Andy's appointment. It was wonderful to be able to see him, especially with all the craziness we've been going through since getting off the trail.

One of the things that we kept remarking on during our visit is how funny it is to be in an area with so many different states nearby. In Colorado it's not necessarily hard to get to another state, but odds are good that you'll just find flat dusty nothingness when you get there. In Massachusetts you get on a highway for a couple hours (rush hour traffic excluded), you could hardly help but cross a state border. Taking advantage of this, Michelle took us to Rhode Island twice. The first trip we went to Providence where we walked around a park that must have contained about 15 wedding parties and the second trip we went to Newport Beach, where we drove past massive houses, got solidly burned on the beach (oops), and walked around a very cute downtown.

We didn't do a ton in downtown Boston, but we did walk around some and visit the science museum. We've been kind of torn on this time off as to what to do with ourselves since 1) the budget needed for city roaming is a bit different than the one we have for mountain roaming and 2) walking probably isn't the best for a broken foot (and the crutches hurt, too). But we did do a lot of pack weight cutting, even returning our much-loved tent and ordering a much lighter one. Andy's parents even bought us summer-rated sleeping bags for our birthdays that are also significantly lighter (our current ones are rated for 15 and 20 degrees, the new ones for 40). Regardless of whether we can get on the trail again this year, we've definitely learned a lot of what we do/don't need when we get going again. Hopefully we can get Andy to another doctor next week for a new x-ray and a healing update with good news!