Done.

Well, its been a while, I am aware. Just wanted to let you all know, for those waiting in suspense, Tyler has successfully completed the trail. You have probably figured that out by now since he's made his rounds in several towns. But he's currently being a BIG beach bum, can't say that I blame him. Once he returns from the beach, we have plenty of awesome pictures to upload to close out this amazing adventure. Stay tuned...

Almost there!

Tyler has 5 more hiking days left, i'm driving to Maine and we're hiking up Mt. Katahdin together. He is now in the 100 Mile Wilderness, which is the last stretch of Trail before reaching Baxter State Park near Millinocket, Maine.

He switched to Keens when his last pair of shoes wore out, and they have been giving him problems. Its not enough support and the sandle is rubbing blisters despite layering up the socks. Atleast he only has 5 days left.

Maine!!

Tyler has officially walked from Georgia to Maine, although he's not finished with the AT yet. He thinks he will finish August 22, or he better finish because I'm driving to go pick him up.

They have experienced terrible weather the last 4 days, it gets very cold and rainy. He thinks he had is worst day yet yesterday just because of the conditions. The views are supposed to be beautiful through the area they're hiking, but they are always in a cloud and can't see anything.

He broke a hiking pole (sorry Donna & Michelle).

Damus and Chatterbox finished!

Damus and Chatterbox, or Nathan and Chad, finished a couple days ago in Maine. Congrats to both!!

Wet and Rainy

Its rained a ton yesterday and today! But the boys are toughing it out to stay on schedule. They're 6 miles behind the schedule to finish on August 22. But planning on making up 5 of those in the 20 mile hike. He will be at the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glen Cliff, NH 03238 in 90 miles.

Dalton, Mass

I finally got to see Tyler after 2 looong months in Dalton, Mass this weekend. He's skinnier and smellier, haha... but hanging in there. Nathan got lymes disease last month as he was passing through this town. When we stopped by Tom's house, a man that lets hikers camp in his front yard for free, there were stories of 3 other hikers that were battling it. It is very prevalent in this region. Tyler's got deet to keep the ticks away.

Here are some of my favorites from the newest picture album, if you want to see them all, click on the link on the post underneath this, Enjoy!

New Pictures Added to Webshots! See link below....

by jenmartina

Bennington, VT

If anyone wants to send anything to Tyler... you can send a package to the next post office stop which will be in Bennington, VT:

Put on the package:
"Save for AT Thru-Hiker Tyler"
Bennington Post Office
Bennington, VT 05201

He will be in Bennington, VT next Wednesday or Thursday.

New Jersey & New York

Tyler has hiked out of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and is now in New York. The mayor of Unionville, NY invited thru-hikers to his house when they pass thru. The group stayed there on Saturday night.

While waiting for a package at Delaware Water Gap, PA they went intertubing on the river.

They have seen a lot of wildlife lately, some baby skunks, baby raccoons, and more bears. Luckily, they haven't seen any rattlesnakes.

Tyler is amazed at how things work themselves out on the trail. For example, they were eating breakfast at a cash only diner... and realized they had no cash mid-meal. A man came over and struck up a convo about the trail, and decided to take care of their bill. I was on the phone with him yesterday, and they were hiking near a road, a woman rolled down her window and gave them some snacks. People are so nice to the hikers!

I think they are still miserablely hot during the day. Tyler fell asleep at 9pm without an appetite for dinner last night. They're not eating as much, drinking more water, and sweating more... which means he will probably start losing even more weight... i think he's lost about 18 lbs so far during the trip.

Skuter, Jesse, and Katy (Jesse's Girlfriend) hiked into Port Clinton, PA yesterday and picked up a mail-drop. Skuter caught back up with a hiker he met in Damascus named Snake, and his friend White Fish. Snake, White Fish, and Skuter went diving off these cliffs (he said about 50 ft tall)... this seems a little dangerous but he told me after the fact, oh well. The Yuengling brewery is very close to Port Clinton and for free you can tour and get 2 beers out of it. They were doing that at 10am and hiking that afternoon.

They should be catching back up with Hammerdown and Billy Bagels soon.

The biggest obstacle right now is the heat. Their schedules have changed... they wake up around 6-7am, hike til lunch and find a "watering hole" or a cool place to hang out and hike in the evenings again. Skuter's gotten pretty lucky because Jesse's family lives close by and has been helping them out a lot, kinda like what I did when he was in the south.

Tyler pretty much face planted yesterday and said he got pretty bruised up. I guess he wasn't looking down and tripped over something. He was glad no one was around to see the fall.

The official finish date is scheduled for August 16.

1,000 Miles - Harper's Ferry, WV

Skuter passed the "unofficial" half way point yesterday and has officially hiked 1,000 miles since March 1st! On Tuesday night he stayed at Bears Den, in Bluemont, VA... his favorite hostel to-date. You get laundry, bunk, shower, a pizza, free long distance calls, and a pint of Ben & Jerry's for $25.

He hiked into Harpers Ferry yesterday, and crossed the 1,000 mile-marker. He wished he could spend more time in Harpers Ferry but they stayed at The Town's Inn hostel and were hiking out this morning. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy's headquarters is in this town, so they're going to check that out before they leave.

Now that he's gotten too far away for me to go visit almost every weekend, I've started doing mail drops for him, I will try to put on here what post offices I will be sending stuff too. He'll definitely be in those post offices so if you would like to send him a care package you can. He can't carry a lot and I send him his meals, so a few snacks and a card will be the best bet.

I know pictures make this a lot more exciting, but I am not seeing Skuter for a while :( I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures when I get to see him again, probably in a month.

BEARS!!

Although Tyler didn't want a bear to sneak up on him in his hammock while he was sleeping, he was about to die to see a bear for the first time. On the day that he spotted his first bear... he ended up seeing 7 in one day! This was when they started hiking in the Shenandoah National Park. Supposedly they are plentiful and not that afraid of humans. He got to take a picture of one that was hanging out in a tree, but all the other ones ran off as soon as they spotted him. He said there were 3 cubs and 4 big bears all in different areas.

Appalachian Trail Days, Damascus, VA

Press Play to watch the slideshow OR click on the "jenmartina" link to see all pictures:


jenmartina

Pictures from Bailey's Birthday Party, Sent by Jennifer

Cold and Wet in Virginia

Its been wet and rainy for Skuter and Hammerdown as they try to catch back up with Bill and Jesse. They are supposed to be in Waynesboro by Thursday. Jesse's friend Wyatt is picking all the boys up and they are headed to Damascus, VA for Trail Days... a festival in Damascus for the Appalachian Trail. I am meeting them there for the weekend, I think you can tent for $5 at a campground close by, so this will be a relatively cheap weekend. Supposedly they have a huge water fight at the festival. They have picked up the pace and are hiking 15-25 miles a day. Unfortunately, Skuter sent all of his warm clothes back with me, so he's pretty cold this week and its difficult to start a fire because its so wet, so the goal is to walk really fast to get warm so they can make it to Waynesboro on Thursday.

700 Miles!

On the climb to McAfee Knob, outside of Roanoke, VA, Skuter has reached 700 miles, about 1/3 of the trip. This last weekend he got to spend time with friends and family. Thanks Connie and Jerry for being great hosts, it was wonderful seeing you! He also got to go to Bailey's 4th Birthday Party. I know he really enjoyed seeing all of his family, what a great surprise.

He had an awesome day on Tinker Cliffs, they actually found this really cool hidden campsite and stayed there for the night. He got a scare while he was camping, a deer crept up into the site and he thought it was a bear. He's hiking with Hammerdown and his girlfriend, Marjessica (visiting from Florida). We hiked into a campsite on Sunday night and made vegetable kabobs.

Unfortunately, you've probably seen in the Roanoke Times about the AT thru-hiker that was hitching a ride and got sexually assaulted: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/160510
Tyler found out tonight he knows the hiker, but that she is back on the trail and in what seems to be good spirits. Keep her in your thoughts, she's probably going through a lot right now.

Hammerdown, Skuter, and Marjessica are now right outside of Daleville and hope to make it to Buchanan on Thursday.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures

If you like what you see go to this website for ALL of the pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/jenmartina?vhost=community

I know I haven't updated in forever!! The boys walked through Pearisburg, VA last week and got picked up by some Hokies and hung out in Blacksburg last weekend. They have hiked almost 700 miles now. Hammerdown and Skuter are going to be near Roanoke this weekend and we are going to stay with Skuter's uncle and aunt, Connie and Jerry and spend a little time with his family. I think he's trying to take advantage of all the people he knows along the way in Virginia before he gets up to New England. Pictures above are of Furniture, Skuter, and Hammerdown in Atkins, VA and of Ishmael (drinking milk and eating bagel). He is a thru-hiker from Winston-Salem. He's hiking before he starts college in the fall.

Damascus Stories (con't)

Left to Right: Matt, Skuter, Kirk, and Justin out side of "The Place" in Damascus, VA.

Tyler got a visit from Matt, Kirk, and Justin in Damascus last weekend! I want to thank you guys again for going to meet "Skuter" on the trail, it means so much to him for you to travel all that way to see him...

Damascus...Tyler stayed at The Place in Damascus, which is a hostel ran by the Methodist church. You can make a donation and stay at The Place for two nights while you're traveling through. We frequented Dots Inn and met Lone Wolf while we watched the Masters and had a beer. Lone Wolf had some great jokes and stories from hiking the trail, he's thru-hiked 5 times. Tyler and him played golf on Tuesday. I think Tyler found a great friend we will definitely have to go back to see him during Trail Days in Damascus next year.

Jesse, Bill, Chief Daddy, Hammerdown, and Skuter OR more popularly known as the Asa-Dachi Mafia got official badges to put on their kilts (Yes they all have kilts now). Jesse's girlfriend Katy came to visit and had made them badges and they turned out awesome!!

Skuter got a chance to hang out with Damus (Nathan) and Chatterbox (Chad) last weekend. Unfortunately, a stroke of badluck hit Damus when his backpack got stolen in town. Its common to leave your pack outside of a restuarant before going in, but someone decided to take advantage of the honor system and run off with Damus' pack. This is NOT a common occurence and I don't think it has EVER happened at the restaurant he was in. It took a few days off the trail, but through a collective effort he was able to pull some things together for a new pack. Thanks to Snake, another AT hiker, he has another pack. The worst part about the whole thing... the journal is irreplaceable.

I talked to Tyler today, I am actually going out their (Mt. Rogers National Recreation Headquarters) this weekend (big surprise) and hiking with them until Sunday. The BIIIG news is they passed the 500 mile marker today!! They went through the Grayson Highlands this week and got to see the wild ponies that roam freely.

Damascus, VA

This is a picture of Free Hugs, Furniture, Skuter, Bill, Chief Daddy, and Hammerdown at Augusta's Appalachian Inn - www.augustasappalachianinn.com (they got their picture on the website too).

Skuter and Jesse went over Roane Mountain yesterday. Tyler said it was his favorite day yet because the weather was great and the views were even better. They walked right up on a controlled burn of one of the balds and were escorted by one of the rangers around the burn, about 2 miles. Tyler said they were burning about 1100 acres... its a routine thing to maintain the bald. I am meeting up with him in Damascus tomorrow and Kirk, Justin, and Matt are coming!!

Slideshow of Tyler's Favorite Photos & New Hiking Buddies - Chief Daddy, Hammerdown, Bill, and Jessie

Slideshow

350 Miles!

Tyler has hiked 350 miles as of today!

He has been hiking with a group of guys that all started by themselves. There is Bill from New Jersey, Jessie from Pennsylvania, Chief Daddy from Atlanta, and Hammerdown from Ohio. They were in Erwin, TN this weekend, and plan to make it to Damascus, VA on Saturday. Bill and Jessie both celebrated birthdays within the last week, so while in Johnson City we all went out to this great sushi restaurant called Cafe One 11.

I hiked in 4 miles and spent the night in one of the shelters. Good thing there was room because it poured rain all night. Then we hiked 4 more miles the next morning to the Indian Grave Gap. Uncle Johnny's Hostel in Erwin gives $15 shuttles back to the trailhead, so I got a ride back to my car.

Tyler has been doing very well and has enjoyed the group he has hiked with this week. He was dealing with some shin splints last week, but they seem to be doing better. (Going slower downhill helps to prevent getting them.) Damus and Chatterbox had written April 3rd or 2nd (can't remember), in the notebook at the shelter... so I know they are about 3 days ahead of Tyler. They are going faster than usual, especially because they are pressed for time... school starts back in August.

I will post some pictures next...

Hot Springs, NC

I met Tyler, Nathan, and Chad in Hot Springs on Saturday. It was about 1.5 hours away from Knoxville, so it wasn't a bad drive at all. Nathan and Chad hiked out of Hot Springs after lunch hoping to knock out a few more miles while Tyler decided to stay overnight to experience the town and catch back up with Nathan and Chad in a few days. The AT runs along the sidewalk in this little town so almost all thru-hikers take this time to gear up and get to know their fellow hikers. We met a lot of cool people anywhere from Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Here are a few pictures I took along the way.

Slideshow

Peter Cottontail on the Appalachian Trail

This was so they wouldn't forget it was EASTER!! Who doesn't love Peeps and Cadbury Eggs?

Knoxville Visit Update and AT Visit at Stecoah Gap

I will be picking them up in the Smokies near Gatlinburg on Monday afternoon, and taking them back to the trail on Wednesday morning.

I met them at Stecoah Gap, near Fontana Dam on Thursday afternoon and hiked in to the next shelter, about 2.5 miles straight up hill with 20 lbs on my back, but I led the pack. I realized they carried on a conversation the entire uphill climb, while I was struggling for breath and red in the face. You can really tell they've built up an endurance for this sort of thing. I brought them a 20-piece friend chicken and biscuits from Bojangles, we rationed it out in our bags and carried it into camp with us. They ate it all by the time I hiked out the next morning. The shelter was crowded, about 15 people on site. I had to use the "ladies room" so Tyler showed me the "privy" which was basically an outhouse with no walls, whats the point in building a bathroom with absolutely no walls? I would have rather found a tree to hide behind of, and that I did.

They will be in the Smokies today!

Nantahala Outdoor Center and KNOXVILLE VISIT

The boys left Franklin, unaware they would have the longest day yet. They were enticed by a man giving away free hot dogs, and let about 4 hikers pass them and grab the rest of the space in the shelter they were planning on spending the night in. Then, they decided to hike to the next shelter... because they were hiking with headlamps in the dark, they passed the next shelter. They eventually ended up at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Because all bunks at the center were already full for the night, the boys camped out on the floor of the dining hall. A nice man from the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club fixed them pancakes the next morning! They hiked 28 miles that day...

I am going to see them tomorrow, I am very excited!! (Hopefully I can keep up)

KNOXVILLE VISIT: They will be in the Smokies soon... and one day in about 1-2 weeks I will be going over to pick them up. They have plans to take a 0-day and come into K-town for some R&R. This would be a great time to send a care package if you want to. You can send it to my home address and I will get it to them: 457 Amanda Circle, Knoxville, TN 37922.

North Carolina

They made it to North Carolina! I spoke with Tyler this afternoon, and they are going to be in the town of Franklin, NC to resupply tomorrow afternoon. Tyler and Nathan were a little sick this week, and stayed a day in Helen to fuel up on Vitamin C. From Helen, they hiked into NC. Tyler said the weather was terrible on Saturday, they even hiked in hail at one point. They're very excited and in good spirits and feel they are accomplishing more miles and building their endurance!

Also, I haven't mentioned this yet, but all hikers make up a "Trail Name" or nickname for the hike. Tyler is Skuter, Nathan is Damus, and Chad is Professor... but I think either Chad or Nathan changed their name to Chatter Box at one point, but I can't remember. I'll update when I know more info on that.