Category: Uncategorized
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Southern VA, Part I: The Grayson Highlands and An Unexpected Party
4/26-5/7: Damascus, VA -> Woods Hole Hostel The “Virginia Blues” is a well-known phenomenon on the AT, where once NOBOs reach Virginia, the novelty of the trail has worn off, the days get repetitive, and some people get depressed and question the future of their hike. It has been a long time since I wrote,…
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Alone into Virginia
4/8-4/25: Sam’s Gap/Johnson City, TN -> Damascus, VA Now back to our regularly scheduled programming… I’ve crossed off two more states and made it into Virginia! I’ve been without a hiking partner for about two weeks now, which has been a different but still very enjoyable experience. Where I last left off, I was rejoining…
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Eileen Kinney DuBois, 1935-2023
4/10/23: Erwin, TN This post will be a little different. On the morning of Monday, April 10, 2023, my Gramma Kinney passed away peacefully in her home. I was in Erwin, Tennessee when I got the bad news from my parents. Gramma had struggled with some health issues for a while and my family and…
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One month on trail!
3/31-4/7: Standing Bear Farm, TN -> Sam’s Gap/Johnson City, TN It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been on trail for over a month now! What a month it has been. We got a delicious home-cooked breakfast at Standing Bear before hiking out that morning. It was a short day for us and we spent a…
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The Smokies
3/24-3/30: Fontana Dam, NC -> Standing Bear Farm, NC Ah, the Smokies. The roughly 70 mile traverse of Great Smoky Mountains National Park was easily the most anticipated section of trail thus far, and it did not disappoint: it was both Sophie’s and my favorite section so far! The Smokies were at once impressive, humbling,…
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A New Hiking Partner, Separated, and Reunited
3/17-3/24: Franklin, NC -> Fontana Dam, NC It was an interesting, varied, and fun week on trail with Daniel. He got a real taste of everything the trail has to offer so far! I missed Sophie but was thrilled to reunite with her towards the end of the week as we prepared to enter Great…
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Cold in NC and 100 Miles Down!
3/12-3/17: Hiawassee, GA -> Franklin,NC Greetings from North Carolina! We’ve crossed into a new state, and reached the 100 mile mark, both big milestones! This has been by far my favorite leg of the journey so far, and Sophie’s too. When I last wrote, we were finishing up a lovely stay at Around the Bend…
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New Challenges & Ninja
There’s a common saying on the AT: “no pain, no rain, no Maine.” It’s a reminder of the obstacles that you must inevitably endure during a successful thru-hike. Over the last few days, we’ve gotten a taste – mind you, just a taste – of these and other new challenges. We headed out of Blairsville…
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The Adventure Begins!
And we’re off! It’s day 5 of my thru-hike, and it still feels a little surreal that we’re doing this, but we’re certainly doing this! I’m not going to bury the lede here, I’m having a GREAT time so far. The night before starting the trail, I felt very antsy to begin. I still had…
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Pre-Trail Preparation
On March 8th, 2022, I sent a text that changed my life: “Hi Sophie! Hope you are well. A while ago we had raised the possibility of hiking the AT together. And I believe you had said that 2023 might be the best year to do it. ..Did you mean it? 👀” I had first…
Out There 