John & Becky
Week 6 - There’s No Place Like Home
Day 1 - Carlisle to Duncannon. When Becky dropped me off Monday I had no idea this would be my last day on trail. It was a beautiful day...
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Gray Blazing the
Appalachian Trail
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."
C.S. Lewis
On April 15, 2019, John and I will embark on our adventure of attempting a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
When you hike the AT, you follow the white "blazes" painted on the trees and rocks along the trail. As time has gone by trail lingo created other "blazes." Blue blazes head to water, yellow blazes take you down the highway and pink blazing is chasing love on the trail. We decided that since we are both over sixty it was time to coin the phrase "gray blazing" which is hiking the trail when you're a bit more seasoned in life.
We are creating a journal of our trip to share with friends and family who would like to follow our adventures and misadventures on the trail. We are starting with a few posts that attempt to explain our love of this trail and once we are out there we will try to post about once a week. But keep in mind our priority is to simply survive the trip, so documenting might take a back seat. You can sign up below if you would like to get notices when we post anything.
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John & Becky
Week 5 – Cold Rain, Flatlands, and Big Changes (Mile 202.8 – 269.0)
Day 1 – Monday cold and rain were in the forecast. Of course we had sent our cold weather rain gear home the week before. We decided to...
John & Becky
It Is Well - Safety Update
By now some of you may have heard about the tragic incident that occurred on the Appalachian Trail this past weekend in Virginia. A...
John & Becky
Week 4: Crossings - West Virginia, Maryland and a Flooded River (Miles 161.2 - 202.8)
On Wednesday, May 8, we left Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia and headed toward Maryland. Our walk took us through some of the streets...
John & Becky
Week 3 – Showers, Flowers, and a Roller Coaster (Miles 108.2 – 161.2)
Wow! What a week of hiking! We arrived yesterday afternoon in historic Harpers Ferry, WV after an eventful, blessed, and tiring week! The...
John & Becky
Week 2: Oh Shenandoah! (Miles 45.5 – 108.2)
This week we hit two landmarks. We hiked over 100 miles and finished the Shenandoah National State Park. We are so very glad we started...
John & Becky
Gladiators in Training
A couple days ago I was getting ready to hike and I told John, “Sometimes I feel like a gladiator getting ready to do battle.” I strap on...
John & Becky
Tramily - The Unexpected Gift of Hiking the AT
Technically, the word “Tramily” in AT lingo refers to a group of people with whom you hike a large section of the trail. Since we are...
John & Becky
Week 1: Expect the Unexpected
Miles 0-45.5 Note: This week we survived. It took pretty much all our focus and energy so writing was not a priority. Consequently, this...
John & Becky
The Cost of a Dream
by John (no trail name yet) So finally it‘s time to go! Our dream is now reality! We have wrapped up all the loose ends, loaded and...
John & Becky
Oops! We Did It Again.
It should tell you something about our personalities that even after our last “trip” – pun intended, we were ready to gear up and do it...
John & Becky
Appalachian Emergency Room
We were excited that very next fall when we were able to put together another section hike of the Appalachian Trail. We were now armed...
John & Becky
Trail Legs
I can’t even begin to describe what it felt like to be left alone on Springer mountain in the early morning darkness on our first section...
John & Becky
Sprouting
Our first trip to Georgia to section hike was a huge learning experience for us. Two biggest mistakes we made were purchasing flimsy foam...
John & Becky
Germination
Hello, my name is Becky and I’m an information junkie. I love to research things so Google has been both a blessing and a curse. Many...
John & Becky
The Seed Is Planted
Several years ago, John and I took a week off just to reconnect after having an extremely hectic season at work and home. We desperately...
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