Trail Logs for March 1 through March 29, 2001

March 1  6:50 PM.  Allentown Shelter, Pennsylvania.  March 1st!  Winter will end later this month and appropriately enough, I saw 3 echelons of Canada geese flying north today!  Spring is on the way. I saw the first real example of the infamous Pennsylvania rocks today.  According to lore, there're so many that the round ones are there to trip you and the sharp pointy ones stab you when you fall.  Well, it's not all that bad, so far at least.  It's just hard to find a trail at all and hard to find places to set your feet.  The trekking poles certainly help. March 3  5:00 AM.  George M. Outerbridge Shelter, PA. Because it's 17 miles to the next shelter and likely too wet to camp easily, I stopped short yesterday (17 miles).  The very tough conditions traversing steep rock faces in icy conditions with new snow hiding the ice also contributed to the decision.  So it's up early this morning to see if I can manage a 30-mile day today. March 4  7:00 AM.  Travel Inn, Wind Gap, PA. A big storm is coming in tonight so I came off the trail yesterday evening to make some arrangements to ride out the storm under a real roof.  With 2 to 3 feet of snow expected, and high winds, I feel that's the wise choice.  So I've made arrangements to stay with Bernice and Rich Roesing, the parents of my sister-in-law who live an hour or so north of here. March 6  7:20 PM.  Still Meadow Farm, Pennsylvania. I'm here at the Roesing's ranch enjoying another nice rest.  They've taken very good care of me and I've enjoyed the chance to see their home.  The big storm that was expected fizzled, hitting harder north of here, but even so we've had about a foot of snow in the last 3 days.  That's just enough that I don't feel too silly having bailed.  The last time I walked through a foot of new snow was in the Smokies, and that was not much fun.  I plan to head back to the trail in the morning, so we'll see how much snow is on the trail. There's a chance of another "noreaster" this weekend.  Winter is not giving up just yet.

March 7  2:00 PM.  Backpack Site #2, Delaware National Recreation Area, New Jersey.  Back on the trail again, and a new state to boot!  It was a very nice day, sunny and above freezing.  Many thanks again to Rich and Bernice, who dropped me off at Wind Gap with a hot breakfast in my tummy at 8:30 AM.  There were some footprints near the trailhead, but soon I was snowshoeing through untracked snow.  Beautiful, but hard going despite the snow being no more than a foot deep except in the deepest drifts.  But I got in about 20 miles today, including a resupply stop in Delaware Water Gap.  Not bad, although I did have to camp out in the snow.  But it should be a clear, cold night with no wind and a full moon.  Beautiful.

March 8  7:00 PM.  Brink Road Shelter, New Jersey. It was another snowshoe day, 20 miles of it.  It's melting, but there are still some drifts up to two feet deep.  It was less sunny today than yesterday and colder  16 degrees this morning.  Brrr.  Winter is not giving up without a fight. Since I mentioned it several weeks ago, my Bell's Palsy is nearly gone now.  Over time the movement came back in my face and strength returned to the movement.  I was blinking again within two weeks.  It was one of the strangest maladies I've ever suffered, but it's ending well.  I still wear the glasses instead of the contact lenses though. March 9  7:30 PM.  High Point Shelter, New Jersey. Before I forget, I'd like to thank Dee for the care package at Delaware Water Gap.  The tuna pouches especially were great.  No cans! Today was yet another snowshoe day.  2 to 3 inches of new snow during the day made for difficult navigation when some of the white blazes were covered.  But usually I could see where the trail was, under the snow.  The trail went by the High Point New Jersey monument late in the day today.  It looks a lot like the Washington Monument in D.C.  I didn't take the side hike up to the monument though, because I missed the turn in the snow and it was getting too close to dark to go back and search.  This is Friday night and it's just 7 miles to Unionville and my next resupply box.  The post office is open tomorrow until noon, so I should make it.  It's a good thing the P.O. weekend thing is working out okay this time because it would not be fun trying to do big miles on snowshoes to make it work.

March 10  8:30 PM.  Livingston Creek, New Jersey.  Today I picked up my resupply box in Unionville, New York, but the trail follows along the NY-NJ border for a bit here and I'm still in NJ right now.  It was also the nicest day in quite a while  sunny and mostly above freezing.  Much snow melted today, but there's still a lot left.  On the last big climb, about sunset, there were enough footprints to make the snowshoes unnecessary, so I took them off and immediately I felt much less tired.  It's a lesson I've learned before, but shoe weight is critical.  One of the keys to my high mileage is my lightweight running shoes.  Those snowshoes may be necessary, but when they're on, I may as well have heavy boots on.  It's a good thing they're the lightest ones I could find.  (Northern Lights Elites.)

March 11  6:45 PM.  Wildcat Shelter, New York. I stopped a little short today (15 miles) because my left leg has shin splints.  I'm not sure what that's from, but it's probably related to all the snowshoeing I've been doing lately, including about half a day today.  There were lots of New Yorkers out day hiking today (Sunday) given mostly sunny skies and a high of around 50 degrees.  Some of them sure looked like they had cabin fever!  One lady, out with her husband, commented about what a beautiful day it was when we passed on a windy ridge, temperature 40 degrees, ankle deep crunchy snow and the sun gone behind a big cloud!  I guess I'd have been perkier too if my leg wasn't hurting. I saw three guys from New York City out day hiking, too.  They had taken a bus to the trail and were going to catch another at the other end of their hike.  I guess you really CAN do anything in New York City.  March 12  9:00 PM.  William Brien Memorial Shelter, New York. The shin was quite sore again today, but I took it easy and made it through the day without aggravating it too much.  But that took over 12 hours due to the slow pace.  Some of that was due to the terrain, though, with some class 3  steep climbs and a fun jaunt through "the lemon squeezer", a narrow rock passage. It was a very warm and sunny day, and I'm sure lots of snow melted, but there's a lot left, too.  Because of the many weekenders' footprints to walk in, I didn't need to use the snowshoes, though.  That helped the shin, too.

March 13  7:30 PM.  Camping near the Osborn Loop junction, New York.  Today I crossed the Hudson River!  The snow continues to melt and the rain today helped that some, but not as much as bright sun would have.  After a long, hard day yesterday, and a rainy morning, I got a late start on my walk into Bear Mountain where I resupplied.  Usually I'm up at first light, but this morning I didn't start hiking until 8 AM.  So today was only a 13 miler. Bear Mountain has a very interesting Trail Museum and Zoo.  The AT goes right through it, past the ticket booth!  But the booth was closed today, so no fee ($1) was required.  The zoo contained a couple bears, a bobcat, a porcupine and a couple foxes, but the most interesting thing for me was the tree and shrub identifications.  There are many plants that I've come to recognize this winter, but I did not know their names.  Now I can put the names, Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron, to the shrubs, and I have a better idea of some tree types, although that's a difficult task with no leaves growing. March 14  8:00 PM.  RPHC Shelter, NY. My shin splint felt a lot better today until I aggravated it crossing a stream.  I was actually on my way back across the stream because I couldn't find any white blazes over there, when the snow bridge that I was on collapsed into the water.  It wasn't too bad  just one wet foot, but I really felt the left shin for the rest of the day.  Still it was a good 21-mile day through lots of deep snow.  As I've said before, really tough going. March 15  8:20 PM.  Telephone Pioneers Shelter, NY. Beware the Ides of March!  This Ides of March I'm either going nuts or I'm enjoying one of the fringe benefits of privation and solitude, insight.  I've been pondering the nature of suffering.  In some sense, I've become very familiar with certain types of physical suffering here on the trail.  I feel the allure of the radio ads for a trip to the Bahamas when I listen for weather reports.  I deal with various pains every day due to the constant walking.  But I do not suffer in the sense that my experience is unbearable.  Some of it I would not part with even if I could.  Pain, for example.  Pain is my body's way of telling me to avoid injury.  Cold is a message to do something to get warmer.  All have purpose.  I have also noticed that there is always something to suffer over.  If it's not a big pain, it's a little one.  If the worst thing happening to me is that I have a pebble in my shoe, I'll notice that.  It seems to me that the body and the mind are made to work that way.  No matter how comfortable we try to make our lives, there's a little piece of our being that has the full time job to point out something we're suffering over, even if something has to be imagined to fill the bill.  Thus, suffering is unavoidable.  Some of us, like me, are lucky enough to be able to choose our pain.  I choose to walk too much.  But because I chose that pain, and have control of it, I do not fear it, and it does not have power over me.  Other people may not be able to choose their pain, but I believe the same absence of fear is possible if they realize that, if this pain were gone there'd be another.  A familiar pain is not much different from a chosen one.  And once the fear of pain is gone, there is no true suffering. March 16  8:30 PM.  Mt. Algo Lean-to, Connecticut. I decided this evening that a hot shower is not worth $95, even when it's snowing.  That's the price of a room in Kent, Connecticut, which is about 1 mile from here.  When I got here I decided that I'd be just as comfortable eating and sleeping in the shelter as in town.  Maybe more so here in the peaceful woods.  The hot shower was a big factor weighing in for town, but not $95 worth.  So, tomorrow I'll walk into town, get my box, do my laundry, wash up in a bathroom somewhere if I can, eat lots of pizza and save my $95 for some other time.  Today I saw the first robin and the first red-winged blackbird of my hike.  Spring really is coming on fast.  The snow earlier is now rain hitting the tin roof of the shelter.  It sounds nice from a warm, dry sleeping bag.  My shin is still sore.

March 17  8:20 PM.  Hatch Brook, Housatonic State Forest, Connecticut.  Just like last night, it's above freezing, but snowing.  As you can imagine, it's pretty wet.  I'm under my tarp tonight, no bare ground around yet, so I'm on the snow.  Wet, wet, wet.  But I've got a little cocoon of dry under here and that's all I need.  I resupplied in Kent today and hit the jackpot as far as care packages and letters go.  Three!  So, many thanks to Sven, Marge and Kim.  All your support, moral and caloric, is worth a lot out here, especially on a night like this.

I have fun complaining about it all, but it's days like this that bring on Spring.  It was 50 degrees and partly sunny today.  A nice day really.  March 18  7:30 PM.  Limestone Spring Lean-to, Connecticut. It was a steep ½-mile climb down here from the AT, but it's only 5 miles to Salisbury from here, so it's the right place to stop.  It should clear up and get cold tonight, so the down hike into town tomorrow might be colder than I've seen for a while.  I saw three wild turkeys today and then got a look at their tracks.  I've seen a LOT of these before.  Thought they might have been geese. I heard from my second cousin Kim that there are a number of home-schoolers out there now reading these notes as a social studies lesson.  Welcome aboard!  I hope you all find my musings useful and appropriate.  I write what I feel at the time and that's not always pretty. Here's a comprehensive health update.  My Bell's Palsy is 100-percent better.  It was never bad enough to affect my eating much.  I just had to be careful not to bite my cheek, and it never affected how food tastes or smells.  I still wear my glasses though.  My deep cough is also 100-percent gone now and my shin splint is nearly gone  just one twinge today coming down to the shelter.  All the problems scared me a bit, so I haven't been pushing the mileage as hard as I was.  I may have found the limit of my ruggedness, but I hope not.  I'll need to push very hard this summer to get thru the high mountain states while the snow is gone.  Hopefully there's a longer-term training effect that I can keep building on. With the lessened effort and much deeper snow, I've not been averaging 20 miles per day, even if the bad-weather zero days are not counted.  That worries me because I'm giving up some of the schedule cushion I built earlier.  It's not a crisis; even if I should fall two weeks behind schedule on the AT, I still have a shot at the Calendar Triple Crown.  But I'd like to keep my cushion and I'd like to start the PCT in time for the kick-off party at Lake Morena on April 27-28th.  For those not familiar, the last weekend in April is the "traditional" starting time for northbound PCT thruhikers.  This will be the 3rd year that there's been a party to celebrate the occasion and help send off the hikers. March 19  8:00 PM.  Glen Brook Lean-to, Massachusetts. The states are small in New England and I'm now in another one, my 11th so far.  It was a beautiful, sunny and cold day today and the last day of winter!  Yes, at 8:31 AM tomorrow morning, the sun crosses into the northern hemisphere, and the days finally become longer than the nights.  Maybe I'll be able to get rid of this funny-looking balaclava tan.  Basically, I have a burned nose and tan cheekbones.  The rest of me is white. I walked through an area called Sage's Ravine today.  It's a narrow canyon with a beautiful stream flowing through it.  There are a series of waterfalls and pools.  It must be a great swimming area in the summer.  Today it was just beautiful to look at all filled with deep snow.  The big pools were clear and some of the waterfalls too, so the combination of snow and water was spectacular.  Yes, I took pictures.

March 20  7:30 PM.  Mt. Wilcox North Lean-to, Massachusetts. It was another bright sunny day for the first day of Spring.  Finally.  But as I get farther north, and closer to the center of the last big nor'easter storm the snow is getting deeper in spite of the warm sunny weather.  Strange but true.  This afternoon the snow was so soft that I was post-holing in my snowshoes!  And like most days, this morning I was walking on the snow crust until 10 AM.  It certainly pays to get up early and take advantage of the good walking conditions in the morning.  This morning I was walking by 5:30 AM.  March 22  7:00 PM.  October Mountain Lean-to, Massachusetts. What a nasty day, but let's start with yesterday.  My friend Gabriel was in Boston on business, so we got together for dinner last night in Lee, Massachusetts.  That sounds easy enough, but with several phone calls from pay phones and some changing plans, it was a minor miracle that we got together at all.  But it worked out great as I got into Lee just as a big storm was hitting.  It was a good night to be in a motel, with a mix of rain and snow that continued through the day and is finally tapering off to flurries tonight. So Gabe dropped me off in the rain this morning and I hit the trail in some of the worst weather I've seen yet.  The new snow and warm conditions have made snowshoe travel really slow and difficult.  It's not uncommon to sink in a foot or so.  Yuck.  The exertion of getting to the ridge top in that mess meant I overheated and had to stop to take off a layer.  Then on the ridge the wind was blowing 30 mph through the ice-coated trees.  On goes the layer again, both times getting me wetter as I have to take off the poncho, pack and wind jacket to get to my fleece.  Then the driving wind and rain pushes more wetness into me.  Then I get off the ridge and start to overheat again, but this time I slow down a little and sweat a little.  All the while I'm averaging only 1+ mile per hour.  So even 16 miles is out of the question given an 8 AM start.  Well, here I am at a shelter after a 7.2-mile day.  I've used the extra time this afternoon to try and dry out, which is difficult at 36 degrees.  I got too wet for safety.  I really need to streamline my windy-rain hiking procedure.  Fortunately, I don't get too much practice.                  Anyway, it was really great to see Gabe and talk about the goings-on at home in California.  March 23  8:30 PM.  Travelodge Pittsfield, a short bus ride from Cheshire, Massachusetts. Today was warmer for me  mostly because it was a colder day.  The answer to that riddle is, it snowed instead of raining so I was much dryer and I managed 21 miles, mostly in snowshoes.  The colder weather firmed up the snowpack, which made for easier going.  It's difficult to tell how much new snow has fallen, but it could be a foot.  The white blazes keep getting lower on the trees.  They're now waist-high at best.  (Typically they're at eye-level.)  The forecast calls for more snow for the next 3 days.  Ugh. While walking today and noticing how hungry I was after the short day yesterday, I realized that what I had done, essentially, was turn calories into dry clothes yesterday.  Usually I turn calories into miles, but sitting around in the 36-degree shelter putting on and pulling off various insulation layers trying to keep warm and air out the evaporating water really burned up the calories.  That's also where I ate an entire 3,000-calorie cheesecake that I bought to supplement my "diet".

March 24  8:00 PM.  Mark Noepel Lean-to, Massachusetts. What a day!  Ugh.  Net distance, less than five miles.  I tried valiantly to get over 3,491-foot Mt. Greylock today and failed.  It just can't be done this time of year on the AT.  The Saddle Ball Mountain ridge leading to the peak is covered with dense evergreens and the snow is 5-6 feet deep on average.  Between the two, there's no way to get through the dense branches that high off the ground.

The AT itself was the only route through for as far as I went.  But most of the white blazes were buried under snow and even where the route was evident it was too often a crawl-way through the branches.  And all branches today were glazed with ice and dropping snow when touched.  I got pretty wet on a partly clear day.  Only later as I was backtracking did a snow shower really kick in.  So today was a very disheartening one.  I had figured on being able to go cross-country with map and compass in areas where the snow hid the AT.  In fact, I've done so a few times in the past already.  But this was different.  I spent the time walking back here and this evening pondering my options.  It's 27 degrees now and I'm really tired of being cold and wet much of the time.  My plan of record is to finish the AT before starting the PCT, but I've had a "backup" plan of hiking a month in southern California if New England gets too bad weather-wise.  I'm tempted to do so, but perhaps not yet.  There is a road over Mt. Greylock that ought to be hikable, so I have an option here.  I just hope this is not going to be too common in the many high mountains coming up.  We'll see. March 27  7:30 AM.  Mark's home, Bennington, Vermont. It's been a tough couple days.  The day before yesterday I backtracked on Mt. Greylock to a road traveled by snowmobiles.  I took that road up to the stunningly beautiful summit of Mt. Greylock.  There's a war memorial tower there and a lodge that's closed this time of year.  Like the trees I've been trying to walk around, under and through, they were covered in ice.  It was surreal, like an ice city in a dream.  I picked up the AT again for a mile or so down the mountain, but it soon went into the trees where the snow is deep and disappeared, so I bushwhacked to the road again and got back on the AT at lower altitude.  Then I crossed North Adams and started up the next hill.  I had time enough to get to the Congdon Shelter on the far side of a 3,000-foot mountain if the trail was obvious.  It wasn't.  So I scouted for blazes until it was clear I had to go back to the Seth Warner Shelter.  But when I crossed Mill Road, there were a couple guys skiing by.  We talked a bit and Jim Niedbalski who has hiked the AT and the CDT, and is working on the PCT by sections, offered to have me stay at his home down the road.  So I did.  He confirmed that this is unusual weather for this time of year.  The last 3 years saw nowhere near this much buildup of snow.  I would usually be tramping through mud, at least at lower elevations.  We also talked about his CDT trek in '86.  Although he was southbound and went through New Mexico in October and November, he confirmed my belief that April might be a reasonable month to hike there.  As you can see, I was already thinking of switching to the CDT for a while.  But the next morning, yesterday, I went back up the hill intent on using map and compass to follow the ridge over the high point and hopefully picking up the AT on the other side.  When I got up high on the ridge, the trees were stunted and thick, much like on Mt. Greylock, although there were no evergreens.  Once again they were covered with ice from the freezing rain last week, and loaded with the new snow that's been falling every day this week.  Once again I was wet and frustrated, reduced to crawling, climbing and crashing through the trees.  This time I made it through to easier terrain, but no AT.  More map and compass brought me to the next hill where I could just barely see the summit sign above the snow, and two white blazes.  More map and compass got me down to Sucker Pond, where there should have been some white blazes, but I couldn't find them.  Instead, I found a forest service road that appeared on my map.  So I walked in the snowmobile tracks for several miles, then down a plowed road to the AT.  By this time I had made up my mind that this was futile.  I was not hiking the AT.  It couldn't even be found much of the time.  And my mileage total for three days since Cheshire was 32 miles!  It was clearly time for plan B, not just a temporary funk that would pass if I pressed on.  So I stayed on the road and got a ride into Bennington, where I'm staying with Mark, a slightly off-balance but harmless enough soul.  So today I'm making plans to get to New Mexico.

March 27  6:30 PM.  On the Greyhound bus, bound for Albuquerque, New Mexico. With the change of plans, much preparation that was thought to be needed months from now is being performed right now.  My father Roy is sending out resupply boxes for my stops in New Mexico and collecting some new gear, like more water-carrying capacity, an in-line water filter and maps for me.  My brother has my GPS receiver.  All this must get to New Mexico in the 2-3 days it will take me to get there on the bus.  That, and the cost of a last-minute one-way airline ticket are why I'm not flying. It is a most fortunate coincidence that one Allen Stibora, a New Mexico resident, recently contacted my father and volunteered to help me when I "finally" get to New Mexico.  Little did he know how soon I would call!  Allen has been extremely helpful, not only volunteering to shuttle me to the trail near Chama, NM, but answering the many questions about climate, gear and water availability that I have.  He is truly a Godsend.  As always, many, many thanks to the people who help me along on my trip.  Without them my quest would be so much more difficult and less enjoyable. March 29  6:15 AM.  Greyhound bus.  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Well, I've made it through my second night on the bus.  It's no better than I remember from my bus trip from San Jose to San Diego to start the PCT back in '97.  So many stops in so many towns that I can't remember them all.  But this time it's easier.  Probably because I'm coming off the trail rather than from home.  I've been sleeping well and don't have that "lost" feeling.  And just like on a long hike, on a long bus ride you get to know your fellow travelers, at least those with whom you share enough stops.  And the bus stops are a little like town stops on a thruhike.  Hurry to get food and maybe brush your teeth, then get back on the bus before you get left behind. And I'm adding a few new states to my list.  As I believe I mentioned earlier, there are 22 states on my hike and Vermont was the 12th so far.  This bus ride is adding Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas to the list, so when I get started hiking in New Mexico, that will be the 13th state hiked and the 18th state visited on this trip.