John's Appalachian Thru-Hike Journal

John asked me, Michael Connick, to maintain his AT Journal while he was on the trail. As he's mentioned on other pages here, he communicated with me via E-mail.

John ended up hiking about 600 miles of the AT in 1999. He started at Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey and hiked south down into Virginia.

What follows on this page is John's Journal for March and April of 1999. Click on the hyperlinks immediately below to see his Journal entries for other months.

Go To Journal for May 1999

Go To Journal for June 1999

March 27, 1999 - A Big Sendoff!

Trail Journal

Date: March 27, 1999

Travel From: Parking lot next to National Recreation Center Delaware Water Gap NJ side

To: Kirkridge Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 8

Additional Miles: 0

AM Weather: Sunny warm 50's

PM Weather: Sunny warm 50's, after sunset clouds came in heavy winds then rain at midnight. It rained till 5 am.

Condition of Trail: In good shape

Breakfast: At home jello my daughter Debbie made as a surprise for me and it was GREAT. Then donuts,sausage peperoni and cheese roll. Coffee and water. All before I started the trail.

Lunch: Pop-Tarts water pita bread and chunky peanut butter.

Dinner: A Yogied Meal. Boy Scout Troop 312 Budd Lake were at Kirkridge Shelter and they offered me some of their rice and chicken dinner and water for coffee. I said yes right away and enjoyed it needless to say.

Snacks: Water and poptarts

People I Met: Troop 312 Buddd Lake,NJ and a number of day hikers and weekenders along the trail.

Animals: 6-8 hawks circling something in woods?

Notes of the Day: First day of my thru-hike. A very emotional day. My wife Barbara,son Sean, daughter Debbie, brother Bill, sister-in-law Kathy, cousins Dan and Denise. Some friends Michael, Mike, Sean and John. All these wonderful people saw me off on my adventure. They all walked across the bridge into PA and then the tough part saying goodbye. It was very emotional saying goodbye to people you love and care for.

Main Concern of the Day: My pack weight was more than I expected as I needed to carry 2 days of water that's 5 liters. Plus I had 6 days of food as I had no idea what my distance was going to be at the start. I never should have taken the aluminium frame from my Journey pack. Up tp 30 lbs of weight with no frame its great. Over 30 lbs a frame makes its easier to use by far. My sneakers are doing AOK with PA rocks so far. Tommorrow will be the real test.

Date: March 28, 1999

Travel From: Kirkridge shelter

To: Wind Gap, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 9.4 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: Overcast low 40's windy in open areas windchill 20's

PM Weather: Overcast sun tried to pop out no luck. 40's

Condition of Trail: PA ROCKS are VERY DIFFICULT. The sharp ones I can step over okay its the loose ones I step on and then went sliding. My ankle went in directions it wasn't intended to go. Trail is clear, no water in this section.

Breakfast: Coffee and pop tart

Lunch: pop tart and chocolate bar

Dinner: pizza in Wind Gap next to PO.

Snacks: hard candy

People I Met: saw 1 day hiker and that's all folks

Animals: Heard crows but saw nothing.

Main Concern of the Day: Breaking ankle slipping on loose rocks on the trail

Date: March 29, 1999

Travel From: Wind Gap

To: Leroy A Smith Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 5 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: sunny warm 60's breeze

PM Weather: sunny warm 60's breeze

Condition of Trail: PA Rocks were much better today. Easy trail walking today.

Breakfast: Ate at Wind Gap Diner had Large glass of milk and orange juice, pancakes and bacon.

Lunch: Water and pop tarts

Dinner: Coffee and pop tarts

Snacks: hard candy and water

People I Met: nobody once on trail

Animals: Just outside Wind Gap a chipmonk was barking at me as I walked by I guess their den? He was sqaking up a storm until I passed. Saw a few crows. A dark colored butterfly almost back like a satin with beige border on wings. Was following me for a while. It must have been my aroma;) Saw 1 hawk just floating. a few birds black atin in color eating bugs under leaves.

Notes of the Day:Trail Angel Art drove me to AT in am. I had his number from a mutual friend. Didn' take off on trail till 11:30. Made stop at post office and mailed home cinched balaclava and 5'x8' tarp, thanks Kevin for the suggestion, so that saved 12 ounces in pack weight. Only brought 2 liters of water. Shelter suppose to have dependable water source? PA trail maintainers you are super people who go out of their way to make the AT special. Okay with that out of the way what's with the pungee stick rocks along the trail in bunches??????? I can see 1 every couple yards if you want. But 10 or 12 at once is TOOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHHH. It is obvious you have several Vets from Nam on your crew. WELCOME HOME VET. Now lets knock off with buching pungees together:) Saw my first fur tree today and several white birches dotting the oak forest. Trail goes through state hunting grounds. Well the AT borders the hunting grounds. So no animal sounds are advised. Shelter is nice with a giant fire pit in front of it. Oh I saw a HUGE SCAT on the trail. This bear is BIGGGGGGGGG. I hung my food again tonight. Shelter all to myself. Didn't sleep very well last night. Going to bed early like at sunset. Boiled 5 liters of water for am and next day. According to signs on shelter and trail this maybe last water for 16 miles. I think I'm going to do some miles tomorrow if PA Rocks cooperate. Really nice views north of trail today especially at clearing where high tension wires are ocated. OH I FOUND THE CACHE FOR PA ROCKS. I took a picture an will present to the BOD at the next meeting. You can even see shaving where they were filing POINTSand JAGGED EDGES on THESE HUGE BOULDERS. Today was a beautiful day to be on the AT. It was all mine! today. That makes me feel special:) I guess thats all for now?

Main Concern of the Day: Breaking ankle slipping on loose rocks on the trail

Date: March 30, 1999

Travel From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Weathering Knob

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 10.5 miles

Additional Miles: 1 miles

AM Weather: 40's, sunny, no clouds, stiff breeze

PM Weather: 60's, sunny, some clouds, gusting wind

Condition of Trail: excellent. A good PA rock day. A nice walk on trail. Yesterday I mentioned about the pungee stick rocks along the trail. Well to show you what nice people the PA Trail Maintainer are I didn't see one today. Thank for helping me out.

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee,lipton pasta meal, pita bread. I was hungry.

Lunch: pop tart

Dinner: too tired maybe late night snack?

Snacks: hard candy

People I Met: 2 college students out for a few days on the trail. Their names were David Sommer and Kim Schaffrick they were heading for Wind Gap to end their time on AT.

Animals: Black birds singing at dawn. %-6 whitetall deer ran across the trail ahead of me. They were to fast for me to get camera out. My friend the butterfly was back again today. I got better look at him and he has blue dots on wing near edge. I was able to get a picture as it sunned itself. At Weathering Knob a group of 10-12 crows were playing follow the leader as they soared around on the winds. They looked like dive bombers coming out of the sun heading for a target. I think I heard one say, "Talley Ho"? They keep it up til almost dusk. At dusk the winds died off and they went else where to play.

Notes of the Day: Last night around 1 am a branch fell on the metal roof of the shelter and scared the begebees out of me. I think it was a full moon last night. It was very bright for sure. If you want to sleep later than sunrise at this shelter take the far right side of shelter. The shelter faces east and right side gives you most protection from sun. I slept on the left side. No I didn't get up I just turned over on my right side and walla no sun shine in my eyes. Mama didn't raise no fool. Left shelter around 9am. I'm in no rush. The trail was pretty easy today very level for the most part. I should not have set my nomad tent up on Weathering Knob. The wind were gusting around 40mph and difficult to set ant tent or tarp up. Lesson learned camp lower in the future. Full moon again it sure brightens up the scenry. Real tired at end ofday of hiking. Needed to carry 5 liters of water as no sources avaiable for 2 days. That extra 10 lbs makes quite a difference.

Main Concern of the Day: At the end of the day I checked my guide and data info and realized I could have refueled with water today. Lesson learned pay attention when reading data and guide info.

Date: March 31, 1999

Travel From: Weathering Knob

To: Palmerton, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 5.5 miles

Additional Miles: 3 miles

AM Weather: 60's and gusting breeze.

PM Weather: 75, sunny, gusting wind.

Condition of Trail: Toughest day on trail so far. More about that later. Beautiful morning again. Up at 6am and ready to hike by 7:15am. In a few more weeks I'll get better organized? To tell you the truth being the only one around I feel no pressure to get an early start. I like it that way. Hike down from Weathering Knob was difficult glad I waited till morning to do it. Got to paved road and went left to Danielsville, PA. Which is 1.2 miles from trail. Got a ride from a local hiker and dropped off at Blue Mountain Inn just before town. Clean and good food. During summer they see a lot of hikers. It wasn't busy so I downloaded my e-mail read it and answered it. It felt good to be able to answer my mail that quick. Took short walk to grocery store just .3 mile from diner. Good for short term supply. Very pleasant people. Went to PO and mailed home some more stuff. Make a left at traffic light and .2 on right is PO. I checked weight on PO scale and with 3 days of food, 3 liters of water included. Pack weight 29lbs. Once I get comfortable with my daily hiking range I can adjust food and water I carry. Went back to grocery store to get a soda and a hoagie was calling my name. So I bought it for lunch on the trail. Wrong I ate as soon as I got outside. Sat at their picnic table in front of store. I mean it was getting hot and the meat, cheese and everything else would go bad. Then I would get sick and have to go to a doctor. He would put me in a hospital and after running tests for a few days and then I would get staff infection. 2 weeks treatment and something else would be located and more test and more treatments. All this because I waited to eat the sandwich instead of eating it FRESH RIGHT AWAY. Boy I'm glad I didn't wait to eat that hoagie. I did save some of the coke for later on. Coke doesn't go bad like hoagies. Okay where was I? I got a ride back up to trailhead. After getting back on trail meet 2 young section hikers who were doing Hawk Mountain to DWG section. They told me I had a rough hand over hand climb just before coming to Lehigh River. They said it is one of the toughest sections of the AT. Wonderful just what I want to hear. A while later begins a 2 miles hike through total devastation due to zinc mining. Everything is dead or dying in this zone. It was erie as you see or hear any wildlife in this area at all. I meet 2 young day hikers going north. After the DEAD ZONE comes the hand over hand climb down to Lehigh River. Its about .5 mile in length but seems like many miles. A tough section north or south. Slippery rocks, very steep incline, strong winds and real uncomfortable hiking. Once I finished this section I celebrated by drinking the rest of the coke and changing to a dry pair of dirty socks. During my climb down I met that young couple again on their way back down. With no packs they had no real problem getting down mountain. Walked the 2 miles to Palmerton Town Hall and checked in at police dept. They have you fill out a form and then take you over to town clerk to sign and they give you a town info sheet of paper. These folks were all very nice. Only one staying at town hall. Took a much needed shower and went across street to laundromat and washed most of my clothes. Then I washed the ones I had on. Went to Bert's restaurant and had a good meal. It's next to laundramat. The PO is between the two. Back to Town Hall go settled and off to bed. The town has an boy scout doing his eagle scout project of building bunk beds NITE ALL.

Breakfast: Pancakes, bacon, large orange juice and large milk

Lunch: Coke and hoagie

Dinner: chicken parm, potaoes, corn, bread large milk, bread and butter

Snacks: I don't think so!

People I Met: Two young men section hiking and young couple dayhiking

Animals: My butterfly was following me today again. Has anybody figured out whattype it is from my previous description? With 3 sunny days in a row the bugs and bees were out in force today. Afew different birds and 1 hawk. Oh a large group of Canadian geese flying south early in am before I started my hike.

Notes of the Day: I had too much free time and got too winded today. All my gear is working quite well. The 801 New Balance sneakers are real comfortable and I've haven't even had a hot spot as yet. The toe flap from sole started peeling back after only 20 miles on AT. I'll have to get shoe glue and seal them up. If anybody has New Balance # please pass it on?

Main Concern of the Day: Got sunburned today. Need to pick up suntan lotion and block in AM.

Date: April 1, 1999

Travel From: Lehigh River Bridge

To: Oven Knob Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 7.4 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: 50's, cloudy

PM Weather: 50's, rain through the day and night.

Condition of Trail: Excellent a LONGGGG UPPPPPPPP from Lehigh River Bridge. What a nice sight to see and walk through a live forest again. Today was a good PA rock day.

Breakfast: 2 BLT's on rye

Lunch: Fresh fruit

Dinner: Lipton dinner, pita bread and coffee.

Snacks: hard candy

People I Met: Mark Ford, Seth Hite and Mike Madison section hikers from Easton, PA. They stayed at shelter for the night.

Animals: saw my first squirrel today.

Notes of the Day: Palmerton PD will give you a ride to trail. Bought food at IGA and finished laundry. packed and repacked pack and sent home a few items. Long climb up to start the late morning. Had the trail to myself until got to shelter. I am grateful I didn't have to walk through the Dead Zone and climb down into Lehigh River in a day of rain. As you climb up from Lehigh River you'll pass a spring and a chair cut from a downed tree. I met the man who made that chair last night at town hall. Tom, I forgot his last name. He has a tree service in the area. He and his wife were very nice people. Really enjoyed walkingthrough a live growing mixed forest today. Rocks weren't bad at all today. No hot spots or blisters as yet. Today my ankle feels 100% from Sunday. I'm really enjoying the solitude these past days. I was really relaxed and meditating and all of a sudden here come a D4 Dozzer churning up a woods road just off from the trail. End of meditation for now. Enjoyed the company in the shelter. These 3 were having a grand old time horsing around. Ate good today and feel good. Nite all.

Main Concern of the Day: None really enjoyed the day.

Date: April 2, 1999

Travel From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Allentown Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 10.1 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: overcast, humid 50's

PM Weather: sun tried to appear several times and finally did around 2pm. Got warm again mid 60's mostly cloudy.

Condition of Trail: Excellent good PA rock day again. One spot I don't like and that's "The Cliffs". Hand over hand and very slippery. The slippery part could be from my sweating.

Breakfast: 1.3 liter bowl of cereal and water, coffee

Lunch: pita bread and peanut butter

Dinner: Lipton dinner, pita bread, chocolate bar and coffee.

Snacks: hard candy and pop tart

People I Met: Hiked the first mile with the 3 lads from shelter. At "The Cliffs" met "High Tech Trailwalker" and had a real nice conversation with her. She makes a lot of her clothes and gear. She's an Ultralight Backpackers with a base load of only 18 lbs. She gave me some ideas I'll try when I get home. She uses her homemade tarp and hammock as a shelter. She does long distance sections at a time. She sent e-mail to a friend that I'll forward at next phone. Met Nick & Denise from Reading, PA and had a good conversatin with them at the Allentown Shelter. They tented it and I had the shelter to myself. This shelter is super nice. Even the privy was nice to sit a spell in. Both are only a few years old and very well maintained.

Animals: 2 grouse, squirrels, my butterfly friend, quite a few birds and chipmonks. Since the last few warmer days the bugs are coming out as are many more animals.

Notes of the Day: Another great day in PA. A mixed forest surrounds me all day long. Enjoyed the hike again today. I'm really enjoying my adventure.

Main Concern of the Day: A none day again.

Date: April 3, 1999

Travel From: Allentown Shelter, PA

To: Eckville Shelter, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 8.5 miles

Additional Miles: 3 miles

AM Weather: Overcast in AM, sun finally came out in afternoon. 40-50

PM Weather: 60

Condition of Trail: Excellent trail again. Another good PA rock day.

Breakfast: 1.3 liter of cereal and water, coffee.

Lunch: pop tart

Dinner: Not sure yet? Maybe pizza delivered to shelter? Lazee says one used to deliver last summer. I can always hope.

Snacks: hard candy

People I Met: Saw numerous day hikers and weekenders. Met Lazee the maintainer at Eckville Shelter. He's done a couple of thru-hikes.

Animals: The woods were alive with small animals. You name it and it was seen today. Was even serenaded by frogs at a small pond along the trail.

Notes of the Day: Up at 6am. Repacked my bag and now have everything inside except Nomad tent and flip flops. I'm using sleeping pad as frame for pack. Dah, it only took me a week to figure that out. Felt real strong hiking today. Even though it was overcast in AM the outlooks were exceptional again today. With all the foliage in full bloom they must look so different than being bare like today. It was an realitively easy hike today. Took my first creek bath and washed cothes Indian style. Boy is that water cold BRRRRRRRRRRRRR. But it felt so good to sponge off and rinse out my clothes. Got to Eckvile shelter around 1pm. Calling it enough for today. I believe tomorrow will be my first "0" mileage day at this shelter? It's really nice and looks so relaxing. Its only 4pm but that's all folks.

Main Concern of the Day: NADA ZIPPO!

Date: April 4, 1999

Travel From: Eckville Shelter

To: Windsor Furnace Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 9.1 miles

Additional Miles: 1 miles

AM Weather: rain early, in the 50s, cleared around 10am.

PM Weather: 50s light showers, cloudy and every now and again the sun would show itself.

Condition of Trail: Good PA rock day. Well marked as always and clear all day long.

Breakfast: last of dry cereal, Carnation instant breakfast and coffee.

Lunch: pita bread and chunky peanut butter

Dinner: Lipton dinner, pita bread and coffee

Snacks: pop tarts and hard candy

People I Met: A few day and overnight hikers. Not many on trail I guess due to rain?

Animals: Saw 2 pheasants just before this shelter hop across the trail and into the underbrush. An assortment of birds. While eating lunch at Pinnacle waiting for it to clear the local squirrel came begging for food. It must get fed by a lot of humans as it wasn't fearful of me.

Notes of the Day:

Main Concern of the Day: Another none to report day. I like it that way.

Date: April 5, 1999

Travel From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Port Clinton

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 6.1 miles

Additional Miles: 10 miles

AM Weather: rained during night 30's sunny

PM Weather: 50's sunny

Condition of Trail: Excellent almost a flat walk with exception of a few UPS and DOWNS. Beautiful scenery all day long

Breakfast: pop tart, Carnation instant breakfast and coffee.

Lunch: Wendy's chicken & pita

Dinner: junk food

Snacks: pop tart

People I Met: None

Animals: squirrels and a lot of birds

Notes of the Day: Averaged almost 2.5 miles per hour from shelter to Port Clinton. I was possessed to get to town. Hitchiked from Port Clinton to Hamburg and no one picked me up. So 5 miles highway walking. Got to town and decided to go to Tom Schaffer's outdoor store and walked 3 miles as no rides. They are very helpful in store but have a limited selection for backpakers. They offer shutle to Hamburg and Port Clinton. I just didn't want to wait the 2-3 hours for the ride. I walked about 1 1/2 miles and got a hitch into Hamburg to do laundry. Laudromat closed. A young man sitting in front of store was related to owner and he opened the place up. The door was locked by mistake? I was real grateful to be able to wash clothes. Also found out no overnight places to go to in Hamburg. A lady in the laundromat said she had a vacant apt next door she would let me have for $15 a night unfurnished. Now I don't have to walk the 5 miles to Port Clinton. Nice place, the building used to be the town hall years ago. Hamburg is a quaint old town. Did my laudry, took a shower, ate some junk food, and after awhile off to sleep. Ready to enjoy my day off tomorrow. Nite all.

Main Concern of the Day: All is well today.

Date: April 6, 1999

Travel From: Hamburg, PA

To: Hamburg, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 3 miles

AM Weather: 40's partly sunny

PM Weather: 40's rain

Condition of Trail: N/A

Breakfast: cereal & coffee

Lunch: Pizza and soda

Dinner: fruit, cheese and crackers

Snacks: fruit

People I Met: N/A

Animals: N/A

Notes of the Day: Today was my first "0" miles day on AT. I took the day off. I was able to accomplish a good bit today. Tomorrow I start a 75 mile section where no resupply is close by. So no e-mail until I get to Swatara Gap. They are calling for rain the next few days. This way the water supply will be aok. Looking forward to getting on trail tomorrow am. That first climb out of Port Clinton is a good one, so its a lite breakfast in the am.

Main Concern of the Day: Nothing bothering me today.

Date: April 7, 1999

Travel From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Near Black Swatara Spring, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 13.1 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: windy, sunny 50's

PM Weather: sunny 60's

Condition of Trail: Another excellent trail section in PA. That first mile from Port Clinton southbound is a double doozie of a hike. My calves were screaming when I was 1/2 to the top. This would be to much of a pitch for the Olympic down hill races but not the AT.

Breakfast: cereal & coffee

Lunch: pop tarts, orange juice, chunky peanut butter and crackers

Dinner: carnation breakfast and coffee

Snacks: pop tarts and apples

People I Met: I met Mike, 96 AT'er from Nantckett. He’s doing a section hike from Port Clinton north with some friends he was waiting for.

Animals: Birds are busy making nests as I'm sure most of the other animals were getting busy for the birthing season.

Notes of the Day: My friend Trey sent me an e-mail with the help of his Mom and they told me the butterflies name is Mourning Glory. So thank you Trey for solving that mystery for me and many other people. Since you helped me with the name I think I'll call the butterfly Trey? A good hiking day and good mileage. Good rock day in PA again. Spring is popping up all over the place. The difference since I started and today you can see a lot of new life growing through the woods. Also since I crossed the Lehigh River you can see the forest change to a fully mature forest.

Main Concern of the Day: None again today.

Date: April 8, 1999

Travel From: Near Black Swatara Spring

To: 501 Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 10.6 miles

Additional Miles: 1.5 miles

AM Weather: 40's, windy and sunny

PM Weather: 70's and sunny

Condition of Trail: Once again well blazed with several blowdowns left across trail. Of course this is in areas without a lot of rocks.

Breakfast: carnation breakfast drink, coffee and pop tart

Lunch: cheese and summer sausage

Dinner: Lipton dinner, rolls and coffee

Snacks: pop tarts and hard candy

People I Met: I met Jamie & Charlie from Kentucky doing flip-flop thru hike this year. Ridgerunner from Vermont doing long section of AT this year. Previous thru-hiker. From Baltimore there was David and his sons Paul & Philip with their friend Steve section hiking to Port Clinton. From Philipsburg, NJ Glen and his son TJ and their wonder dog "Dingo". By the way "Dingo" has 500 AT miles to her credit. Also Bruce from Kintnersville, PA. All are doing section hikes to Port Clinton.

Animals: didn't see any but heard the birds.

Notes of the Day: Good hiking day with guess what? More PA rocks. I wish the rock making company went on strike. The bottoms of my feet are feeling the rocks today. 11 days on the PA tail with rocks is finally taking its toll. I only feel the discomfort when I walk on rough stone. My guess is they are bruised and need not to walk on rough stones to get better? Talking to all the other hikers with boots they feel the same discomfort. It got hot yesterday, real warm. A prelude to summer hiking. Drank a lot of water today. Came upon a beautiful spot today at Hertlein Campsite with books and springs. This is an oasis on a hot day. I soaked in brook and relaxed for a good hour. The setting is great. Took several rest stops during the day as feet and heat were taking their tool. Got to 501 shelter and rested and decided that’s all for today. Had good company and conversation for the rest of the day. 501 shelter is a large 12 bunk building with a dome skylight. They have a solar shower and spring water spigot on side of house. Glen was quite familar with Michael's ultralight page and through that knew of my hike.

Main Concern of the Day: Nothing really today.

Date: April 9, 1999

Travel From: 501 Shelter

To: Bleu Blaze Hostel, outside Swatara Gap

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 14.1miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: 40's and rain since 5:45am

PM Weather: 40's and rain all day till 4pm. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr the wind today

Condition of Trail: Tad on the wet side. Does sliding down a hill screaming and yelling count as hiking properly?????? The PA rocks love rain. It allows the blood and sweat from previous hikers to be washed away and there they lay all clean and ready for the next batch of hikers to venture on them.

Breakfast: cold cereal, carnation breakfast drink and coffee

Lunch: pop tarts

Dinner: noodles, dinner rolls and coffee

Snacks: pop tarts

People I Met: I forgot their names. They are from Ohio and she is a previous thru hiker. They have 2 dogs with them. Nice people. Met Ann the owner of the Bleu Blaze Hostel. She's a wonderful woman. Her husband Dick died last year. Together they have hiked all but 700 miles of the AT. They have run a great hostel for years.

Animals: With the rain they were all falling down laughing at me all day long.

Notes of the Day: All set to get up at 5:30am and head out. Woke up and was just getting up when rains began. Back to sleep up at 6:30am. 9 of us in shelter last night. Another great hostel/shelter in PA. I waited till 10am before leaving shelter as the rain finally slowed down to a drizzle. Did 4 miles in 2 hours to William Penn Shelter where I meet that couple with 2 dogs. We talked for about an hour. Oh, it had started to rain at 10:30am and hadn't stopped till 3pm. Trail in good shape and not that difficult. Finally made it to Bleu Blaze and changed clothes, warmed up, got a hot meal in me and went to bed. People have asked a few questions and I'll try and answer them.

Zip Stove- The one I had was a prototype and still needs some adjustments to fine tune it. As I was having difficulties with it I sent it home for further development. The 2 titanium brackets were twisted while purifying 5 liters of water. This made it difficult to keep a level & stable cooking surface.

Replacement stove- The only lightweight stove available at Tom Schaeffer's was the Peak Micro which uses containers of butane/propane. I believe the stove to weigh 4 ounces and large canister weight is 8 ounces. They have a smaller canister that is around 3.5 ounces. I will have difficulty getting canisters along the trail and when available will get to a larger store and get another stove. Canisters can't be mailed via PO due to their regulations.

Gear sent home- 5'x8' tarp, nice to have but really didn't need it. Cinched Balaclava works great but overkill for temperatures I've had. I have a 2 ounce lightweight one I use each day. 72" entertainment center my cable service-doesn't cover the area ;-)

Assorted items- small playing cards, maps and data info I've already used in trip and a few other small items I don't remember right now. I found they weren't needed.

Fireball jacket- overkill for the temperatures I've experienced.

I've noticed that my tolerance for colder weather has increased tremendously since I started this trip. You can see in shelters the difference in clothing worn by the weekender and the one whose been out over a week. I definitely can be comfortable wearing less clothing than before.

I'll be mailing home the gloves, used data info, maps, 1 pair socks as 2 pair are enough and maybe set midweight capilene long johns. In a short time the 40 degree bag will be coming my way.

Main Concern of the Day: N/A

Date: April 10, 1999

Travel From: Bleu Blaze Hostel

To: Top of Stony Mountain

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 11.1 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: low 40's, windy and sunny

PM Weather: low 40's, windy and sunny

Condition of Trail excellent trail once again. A lot of new springs of water from yesterday’s rain. All springs and creeks are full to capacity.

Breakfast: cereal, coffee and carnation breakfast

Lunch: none; hey I got a real late start

Dinner: noodles and rolls with coffee

Snacks: pop tarts and hard candy

People I Met: Mike, George and his son Sean from Yardley, PA. Numerous BS troops from all over PA and 1 from New Egypt, NJ. That’s right in my backyard almost. Sorry I forgot to write the troop number down. 2 horses and riders on the trail. The older guy wasn't a happy person at all. I would guess he was asked many many times during the day WHY. BS Troop 569, Oley, PA

Animals: grouse, squirrels, birds

Notes of the Day: Felt chilled from yesterday’s long walk in rain. I just felt like goofing off. Laid around and caught up on e-mail and route for the next few days. Had a late breakfast. Didn't leave for trail till 11:30 am. All right, I was real lazy today. You know what? It felt real good and worth it. 10 miles is an easy walk in a day now. I think I'll do 30 miles and then stop and make lunch :-)

At the start I met Mike, George and Sean. They were all that made it for a weekend troop hike. Had good conversation and Sean shared his Jolly Ranchers with me. We got separated along the way and I didn't get a chance to thank them and say goodbye. So goodbye and thanks for the enjoyable company. The trail was fairly easy if it was for the water over flowing along the trail. Making good time and stopped to rest and look for planes making bombing, strafing and rocket runs at military base near by. The last 2 days you can hear them all day long. A BS Crew 512 from Delaware County, PA came and we were talking and they asked how much my pack weight was and where I was from. So I say about 26 lbs and I'm from the Jersey Shore. He mentions a man called Michael Connick who lives at the shore who has an ultralight backpacking web site. I said we were friends and go hiking together. Small world, hey. I continued on and from 3pm on I was the ony hiker. At 7pm I came to Stony Mountain a nice flat soft area and shared the area with BS Troop 569 from Oley, PA. A large group and very well mannered. Had great conversation with them and to bed by 9pm.

Main Concern of the Day: Another great day.

Date: April 11, 1999

Travel From: Stone Mountain

To: Peter's Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 9.6 miles

Additional Miles: 0.5 miles

AM Weather: heavy rain, strong wind, low 40's, windchill low 30's

PM Weather: same as AM

Condition of Trail: Plenty of water to be found for sure. As has been the case all along, the trail is in great shape.

Breakfast: pop tart and trail mix

Lunch: coffee and carnation drinks

Dinner: Lipton dinner and coffee

Snacks: trail mix

People I Met: Hawk and friend. Hawk was a 1978 thru hiker involved in accident and came off the trail.

Animals: some birds

Notes of the Day: Boy I am glad I got an early start. 2 parents from BS Troop 569 Oley, PA gave me a pop tart and trail mix before I left. It was calling for rain so I just packed up and moved out. Figured I would eat later on. It was cold and a strong wind was blowing. Said my good-byes and thanked them for their hospitality and off I went at 7am. A World Record has been set today. The rains came at 7:15 and lasted all day long. A lot of sliding and walking through water most of the hiking day. Wind was bitter and bone chilling. I was dry from my head to my thighs. The poncho and Zepher worked great. I had RailRider pants on and they blocked the wind from my legs. My hands I just couldn't keep warm. I have windproof gloves, but waterproof they’re not. I ended up rotating hands under poncho and inside Zephur. Got to Peter's Shelter at noon. I got out of my wet clothes and got into my sleeping bag and made some hot drinks and took a nap. I decided to stay the rest of the day and let the storm pass by. Sounds like a good plan to me :-) I noticed Gypsy's entries the last 2 shelters. Maybe our paths will cross?

Main Concern of the Day: All in all it was a good day.

Date: April 12, 1999

Travel From: Peter's Shelter

To: Downtown Duncannon, PA

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 11.8 miles

Additional Miles: 3 miles

AM Weather: low 40's, windy, windchill 20's, cloudy

PM Weather: partially sunny 50's to 60's and windy

Condition of Trail: Once again PA has excellent trail conditions. With all the rain lately I'm impressed how good the trails are. Even the rocks look all nice after rain has cleaned them.

Breakfast: coffee, carnation breakfast and cereal

Lunch: Lipton dinner, coffee and carnation breakfast

Dinner: BIG CHEESEBURGER & FRIES

Snacks: Trail mix

People I Met: Zero today until town

Animals: grouse, finally kicked up a turkey, squirrel and tons of birds of all types.

Notes of the Day: Not looking forward to leaving warm sleeping bag this AM. Its wet, windy and very cold with fog or mist. Got moving and packed up. Arranged my poncho differently. The wind has been blowing all over on the crest of the mountains. I attached light rope to back and front loops of poncho and tied them to rear and front of pack. This way the poncho won't billow as much and still afford good protection. It seemed to work quite well in classic windy weather today. Even though we had no rain today I wore the Zephur and poncho for protection against the strong winds today. It made it a lot more comfortable during the hike. In afternoon the sun played hide and seek. When in protected areas it was really warm when sun was out. The strong wind kept it cool even in the sun when I was in open areas. A fairly easy trail to walk today. It appears the PA rocks are being kind to me. Thank you, it is appreciated for sure. Walked into Duncannon and the Doyle is closed and no one knows when it will reopen. New owners and I guess they have plans for it? Walked back 1.5 miles to All American Plaza at Clarks Ferry motel. Cost $27.00 clean but no phone in room? Shower has real HOT WATER. Boy did those showers feel good. They have good food and a small convenience store for short term resupply. Oh, laundry downstairs was $1 for washer and $.75 for dryer. You can buy soap in the shop. Being a truck stop they have phones all over the place. They only have 6 rooms for rent.

Main Concern of the Day: That the motel room would run out of HOTWATER? It didn't! :-)

Date: April 13, 1999

Travel From: Duncannon

To: Darlington Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 12.6 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: cool low 40's and sunny

PM Weather: 50's cool breeze and sunny

Condition of Trail: What can I say: excellent once again. Some short ups, the rest was fairly level hiking. Even did some farm field hiking. I was told by Ted and Paul that corn covers these fields during the summer months.

Breakfast: 2 BLT's, coffee and juice

Lunch: pop tarts

Dinner: candy bar

Snacks: cookies

People I Met: 2 flip flop hikers from Maine: Cat Lady and Wing Man. 2 members of Mountain Club of Maryland: Ted Sanderson and Paul Ives at the Thelma Marks Shelter. They are doing a survey for a new shelter to replace the 40 year old Thelma Marks Shelter. They plan on naming it in honor of Earl Schafer.

Animals: quite a few grouse during the day.

Notes of the Day: Didn't have a good night sleep last night in Duncanon at the Clark's Ferry All American Plaza Motel on US 22. Thinking about some things back home kept me up a good bit. Got a late start and picked up some supplies at the mini-mart at the gas station on edge of town limits. Oh, the Doyle Hotel is closed, as is the bar. Unknown if or when it will reopen? I asked several different people in town for info on the Doyle and all I got was it was bought by someone and ended up getting given back to original owner and he closed it down. That's all I know. When I get to ATC Mid-Atlantic Regional Office tomorrow I'll pass the info on to them.

Had a nice conversation with Paul & Ted about building shelters and style and such. Nice to see additional hikers on trail yesterday. Enjoyed the trail till the end of day when I got real tired. When I got to shelter I bearbagged my food bag, had a snack and crashed around 7:30pm. Good night sleep is in order. I have a 16-17 mile trail day planned.

Main Concern of the Day: None today

Date: April 14, 1999

Travel From: Darlington Shelter

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 18.2 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: 40's and partly sunny

PM Weather: high 40's and sunny

Condition of Trail: Through farm fields and mature forest. I enjoy the walks along the creeks and streams. Very well maintained trails.

Breakfast: cold cereal and coffee

Lunch: peanut butter and bread

Dinner: PIZZA and soda

Snacks: pop tarts and candy

People I Met: ATC workers at office and Mike from Carlisie, PA

Animals: grouse, deer, birds and squirrels

Notes of the Day: Today will be my longest mileage day attempt. 18.2 miles to Alec Kennedy Shelter. I pass through a section of 12.3 miles of the trail where camping isn't permitted ;)

Left shelter at 7:30 am heading south. Oh, a side note here. If I'm supposed to be going to GA why is it I've been traveling west since I started ?????????? Or is my compass off that much??????? Maybe I'm on the wrong trail??????? This is the Alps isn't it????????

Stopped at Scott Farm Trail Work Center for some water and snack. They have a register behind a picture of a very nice person. See if you can find this picture? Not many people seem to stop here as register has few entries. Enjoyable and different type of trail mainly level with farm field walks. Stopped at ATC office in Boiling Springs. All there were very nice and cordial. It sure felt good to sit and relax after long day on trail 14.3 miles so far. After relaxing for about an hour I went for PIZZA and almost ate a whole pie by myself :-) Back to ATC office for some enjoyable conversation. Passed on info about Doyle Hotel being closed in Duncannon. They weren't aware of closing. They notified Main office and notice will be posted on web site. So, feeling refreshed I hit the trail for the next 3.9 miles to shelter. First 2 miles was level through town and farm fields and I had the after burners on high. They almost called the fire dept out as they thought it was a twister going through the farm fields ;-) Saw the old marker for the previous halfway of the trail. The last 1.7 miles are UPS and DOWNS. The old body was slowing down. A pop tart, some water and off to the races again. Blue Blaze trail to Alec Kennedy Shelter just ahead. I made it 18.2 miles and NOT A STEP MORE. Let me restate that. NO MORE HIKING TODAY. Meet Mike at shelter; he was scouting it out for his 2 daughters, Ashley and Brianne for their future 1st AT Adventure Trip. The young ladies are experienced hikers and campers. We may have future AT thru hikers brewing here? Actually felt pretty good but tired. That rest and meal in Boiling Springs was much needed. I'll need to remember that lesson. Keep the fire stoked and you'll get more steam for the engine. Had enjoyable conversation with Mike and off to bed and sleep. Deep sleep. Very deep relaxing sleep. A good nite sleep is what’s called for and it will not denied. Nite Folks.

Main Concern of the Day: What after hiking 18.2 miles what have I got to complain about? Nothing. Nada. Zero. Goose Egg.

Date: April 15, 1999

Travel From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Ironmasters Mansion Hostel

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 15.5 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: 40's, partly sunny and humid

PM Weather: cold, windy rain low 40's

Condition of Trail: As I've come to expect excellent conditions once again. I enjoy a fir forest and I walked through a fully mature one today. It was very enjoyable indeed. The trail was layered with pine needles and their compost. Like walking on air.

Breakfast: cold cereal and coffee

Lunch: pop tarts and chunky peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: mushrooms, spaghetti, meat balls, garlic bread, salad and coffee at the hostel. The best meal I've had to date on this trek. More on this epic meal later. Oh by the way, the Chefs for this epic meal were Lyndsay, Colleen, Wes and Zack.

Snacks: crackers and peanut butter and pop tarts

People I Met: Lawrence La Cosse from MI, a section hiker from Boiling Springs, PA to Springer Mountain, GA. He just started his journey yesterday. We'll probably be running into each other along the way. Good to see another southbounder. At least I'm not the only directionally impaired person on the trail. At Ironmasters Mansion I met Francine and her daughters Lyndsay and Colleen, Mary & Wes and their son Wes and family friend Zack.

Animals: squirrels, a large number of woodpeckers today, other assorted birds and deer.

Notes of the Day: Good night sleep at a nice Alec Kennedy Shelter. Didn't get up till 6:30am. Late start at 8:30am. Nice scenery along the way. Really enjoyed the rock climbing along the route. It was scrambling in certain areas. Here I go again, but I do like these PA rocks. I think I should call my therapist??????????????? Some of the trail turned into a stream of water from all the rain of late. Leaves are very slippery. Its like surfing on leaves at times. Hang 10 Dude.

Took a nice meal break today after 5 hours on trail. They seem to rejuvenate me. So for now they will become part of my daily routine. I'm starting to pay attention to certain signals my body is transmitting. When I tire easily on an up I'll drink some water and it seems to ease the grade a bit. If that doesn't do the trick I'll have a snack and that will solve the problem. Now that I'm trying to increase my miles I'll need to pay better attention to these body signals. Yesterday I was very attentive to them and I seldom was tired or felt weak. Just cold to the bone from the windy rain during the afternoon. A full breakfast, mid-morning snack, noon time snack, early afternoon meal, mid-afternoon snack, evening snack or meal. Trying not to make the snacks a sugar high, but more of a calorie boost. Pop tarts seem to fit the snack meal along with peanut butter and crackers. Once I tire of these I'll try different ones. My goal isn't to rack up big mileage days but to make the best use of all the daylight time now available. My average pace on fairly easy trails is 2 mph. With moderate grades 1.75 mph and with difficult grades it’s1 mph. I've gotten to 3 mph during one very easy section and as quite pleased with myself. I can see my speed increasing as my endurance increases. My goal isn't to fly down the trail just to have the ability to increase my mileage if needed. Also my ability to listen and follow these signals from my body. My feet are still doing well. No blisters to date. I did get a hot spot on my right heal today. Wet socks I believe were the cause. I stopped as soon as I felt the hot spot and cleaned my feet, brushing them and giving them a little massage, and then put some cloth duct tape over heal. As before I've never gotten a blister if I immediately treat any and all hot spots when I first get them. Cloth duct tape seems to work better than the plastic backed duct tape at least for me it does.

Meet Lawrence at Tagg Run Shelter and had an enjoyable conversation. Guess what it was about? Right food and gear and the trail. He'll stay at shelter tonight and probably meet up with me at hostel tomorrow.

Started to rain so my poncho went on but I neglected to put Zephur on; a mistake for sure. I had 7.4 miles to the hostel and it was 3pm. It rained hard on and off and then the winds picked up and it got COLD. I was hiking pretty fast and kept comfortable with shorts, silkweight capilene long sleeve shirt and poncho. I failed to listen to the body signals and grew tired and colder. Finally I ate a pop tart and drank water and I felt better within minutes. Listen to those body signals in the future, John! I should have stopped to put the Zephur on but foolishly chose not to. Some of that macho man shinning through time? The last hour wasn't real comfortable walking until I came upon the halfway trail marker for the AT. I got a real high from seeing the large marker and took some pictures in the rain. Finally got to the hostel and stripped off the wet clothes and drank Hot Coffee and felt great. Lesson learned put Zephur on under poncho when temperature is below mid 50's and windy. I would have been tired from a day of hiking but surely not chilled to the bone from the windy cold rain. Also listen to those body signals.

So at the hostel there were 2 families and an epic dinner was being prepared by the young adults as the parents relaxed. I watched them as I drank my coffee and warmed myself from a small table in the kitchen. The 4 Chefs went about their tasks liked a finely tuned team. They devised a plan where the parents would be doing the dishes after they cooked the meal. I was asked by the parents if I would join them for dinner. A resounding YES was my answer without hesitation. All sat down to mushrooms, spaghetti, meatballs, sauce, cheese, garlic bread, salad and soda or coffee. Excellent meal the critics raved. Just enough meatballs and spaghetti was left over for my LUNCH tomorrow :-)

All enjoyed a belly busting meal and now to clean the dishes from this gourmet meal. A chore worth the effort after such a fine meal. This was my best meal on the trail to date. As fate has it they are staying till Saturday am so I've been asked to join them for dinner Friday night :-) :-)

Tomorrow will be a "0" mileage day for me. Goof off day with spaghetti and meatballs for lunch :-)

Enjoyed some good conversation after dinner and off to a nice warm bed and goodnight sleep. Nite all.

Main Concern of the Day: After that meal what could I complain about?

Date: April 16, 1999

Travel From: Mansion Hostel

To: Mansion Hostel

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 0 miles

AM Weather: sunny 40's

PM Weather: 40's partly sunny and then thunderstorms

Condition of Trail: I don't care today was goof off day :-)

Breakfast: pancakes, juice and coffee

Lunch: picked here and there

Dinner: another epic dinner from 2 of the Chef's from last night: Taco's, baby carrots, sliced apples with caramel, soda and coffee

Snacks: cheese and crackers plus soda

People I Met: The 2 families at the Hostel are from Corning, NY

Animals: 0

Notes of the Day: Another 0 mileage day and it feels good. Caught up on my mail and received my new Journey backpack from Jay Richards Outdoor Store, 1-888-605-2470. The original one I purchased I had cannibalized and removed just too much from it. In an effort to save weight I went too far. The pack was made to have a frame to support 30+ lbs and the frame will stay in this one. Before I remove anything from this one I'll give it a week or so and evaluate carefully before I do any snipping. I called Jay the day before yesterday and ordered the pack and asked if he could next day air it to the hostel as I'll be enjoying a day off. No problem yesterday around 1 pm the pack arrived and it was all clean and pretty looking. I immediately wanted to drag it through the dirt pile in the backyard to give it character. I held off. I'll let time take care of giving this pack some flavor.

Now dinner time has arrived and Chef's Lyndsay and Colleen prepared the mixing for the taco dinner. They had a helper who seemed to get in the way who they called Mom (Francine). It was another belly busting meal and anybody who left the table hungry doesn't appreciate fine cuisine. Then clean-up and some enjoyable conversation.

Oh I spoke to my wife and daughter Debbie tonight. Debbie was accepted into the Cosmetology School at Voc Tech and is happy as can be. Needless to say Barb and I are proud of her and the hard work she did to get accepted into the program. Debbie also has high school cheerleading competition this weekend at Great Adventure. These gals from the Brick High School Cheerleading Squad have been training since last summer for various competition and sporting events. They have been kicking butt at the competitions and I'm sure will continue to do so this weekend. GO GIRLS, RIP THEM UP.

I finally got the opportunity to view my web page last night at the hostel. Michael you’re doing a great job, thank you very much. Hey folks, don't forget to visit Michael's Ultralight Backpacking page. There is a link to his page from mine. He has a considerable amount of interesting information posted on his page.

I really enjoyed this day off today. Only a couple of days and PA will have been hiked. It has been quite an experience indeed. One I'll always cherish for sure. Nite All Folks

Main Concern of the Day: You got to be kidding what could I complain about?????

Date: April 17, 1999

Travel From: Ironmaster Mansion Hostel

To: Quarry Gap Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 17.3 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: Cloudy and windy low 40's

PM Weather: cloudy and windy low 40's

Condition of Trail: Excellent. A good bit of road and woods road walking today. Mixed hard wood and soft wood forest. Some areas have been clearcut not many years ago.

Breakfast: cereal, juice, coffee, toast and bacon

Lunch: Lipton dinner, bread and carnation breakfast

Dinner: Carnation breakfast & coffee

Snacks: pop tart, cheese and crackers and candy

People I Met: Lawrence, now called Southbound Bear, and Kurt, Jude, Meredith

Animals: Squirrels and assorted birds.

Notes of the Day: Didn't leave till 9am. My adopted families at the hostel were cooking some good food and I was hungry. Adjusted my pack with 5 days of food and off to them tharrrr woodzz I go. Nice hike today. Stopped at Birch Run Shelter for early dinner. Not sure how far I'll go today. Pack feels fine. I adjusted it at lunch time to see if it feels diffferent. Adjustment works fine. Started to rain late afternoon and as usual the winds picked up. Reached shelter and they are twin shelters. Built 4 years ago and maintained beautifully. The landscaping is magnificent. It really looks like a set for a Pacific Islands movie. A stream flowing 20 feet from shelter. During night when I woke up several times it made me feel like peeing. This is the nicest shelter I've been to date. Had a good conversation with Meredith, Jason and SBBear. Good night sleep

Main Concern of the Day: Nope, not today

Date: April 18, 1999

Travel From: Quarry Gap Shelters

To: Tumbling Run Shelters

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 11.1 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: sunny warm 50's with strong gusting wind

PM Weather: 50's, windy sun playing peek-a-boo

Condition of Trail: Hiked past some nice streams, watching the anglers on 2nd day of trout season. Pretty level trail for awhile then ups and rock scrambling. I'm really enjoying the scrambling. Did some running with pack about 100 yards on very level ground. Felt good. I'm getting into shape. I can feel it and see it. Stopped at Rocky Mountain Shelters for Lipton lunch and rest. I had my customary start of day after 9am today. Actually left at 9:30am. 4 hours rest stop including a 2 hr nap :-) Did I ever tell you I LOVE NAPS :-) Just as I was leaving shelter rest Southbound Bear showed up. He was all showered up and taking it easy today. His feet are sore and wisely he's slowing his pace down. He talked of sending gear home next mail stop. 4:30, I left shelter and had 6.6 miles to go to next shelter and water before sunset. About a mile down the trail crossed a road and saw work building. Went over and got water. It’s one of those 1/2 way camps for troubled kids. Sure reminded me of boot camp. SIR YES SIR Glad those days are past for me. 3 years 11 months and 17 days in the USN was my contribution. Now that I had enough water for a day it matters not where I'll stay. Walked through bog trail, mature pine forest and hard wood forest that was almost mature. Got a picture of 2 deer grazing on a fire trail. I'm getting better at sneaking up on things. It was starting to get cold and rain was coming soon. Picked up the pace and decided I'll make the shelter for the night. 7:15pm, made it to Buzzard Peak, due to overcast skies couldn't see much. Plus sunset was here. Had 1.3 miles to go for shelter before darkness sets in. Will he make it? Now a word from our sponsor :-) Well I kicked in the after burners and walked into campsite at 7:40pm. I'm impressed with that, if I do say so. I just realized this should have been in notes of day. Oh well, change is good. Had campsite all to myself. The last 3 or 4 sites have twin shelter? Did a little house keeping and off to bed. Nite All

Breakfast: coffee, carnation breakfast and raisin bran with almond cereal

Lunch: Lipton dinner, carnation breakfast, bread and coffee

Dinner: coffee and carnation breakfast

Snacks: cheese and cheese cracker packages, pop tarts and candy

People I Met: Southbound Bear.

Animals: chipmunks all over the place, quail and many types of birds and 2 deer

Notes of the Day: look under Trail Conditions

Main Concern of the Day: Nope, not today

Date: April 19, 1999

Travel From: Tumbling Run Shelters, PA

To: Devils Racecource Shelter, MD

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 13.1 miles

Additional Miles: 1.5 miles

AM Weather: low 40's partly sunny and gusty wind.

PM Weather: 50's when sun out, when it was playing peek-a-boo in low 40's. Some light showers.

Condition of Trail: Need I say it again? It was excellent. PA gave me some boulder scrambling, some stiff ups and some pesky rocks. MD surprised me as the trail followed the base of a good sized boulder mountain for awhile. Then it assaulted the boulders and it was a good climb. The old heart was pumping some warm blood for awhile.

Breakfast: coffee, carnation breakfast and cereal

Lunch: Lipton dinner, carnation breakfast, coffee and bread

Dinner: carnation breakfast and coffee

Snacks: peanut butter sandwich, pop tarts, cheese crackers, cheese and candy

People I Met: Dog Tags, a northbound section hiker.

Animals: grouse, squirrels, chipmunks and many varieties of birds.

Notes of the Day: Around noon stopped at Deer Licks Shelters and took a bath and washed clothes. I don't use soap, I just sponge myself off and Indian style clean the clothes on rocks. It helps some and I've always felt better after doing it. So I'll continue to clean up this way on the trail. Today was interesting as I'm excited about completing PA and sad at the same time. In the next few days I'll meet up with one of my cousins. I hope she has a head cold? My appetite is growing daily. My lungs got some good workouts today. In about 200 miles I believe I'll be meeting some northbounders. Looking forward to that. I plan on going to Trail Days in Damascus, VA in mid May. Sitting at a picnic table at a shelter and the light is setting in the west. When I was approaching the Mason Dixon Line a tune was getting louder and louder? If was the song DIXIE :-) That’s all for now. Nite All.

Main Concern of the Day: That I’m not humming "When Johnnie Comes Marching Home Again"

Date: April 20, 1999

Travel From: Devils Racecourse Shelter, MD

To: Pine Knob Shelter, MD

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 12.3 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: rained heavy from 2am till around 8am. Cloudy and light showers in low 40's

PM Weather: 40's when sun was hiding and 50's when sun was shining

Condition of Trail: PA has nothing MD hasn't been showing today. Good steady ups including a heart attack up by power line. That was a down hill that was a ski jump. Did some boulder scrambling. First walked through a hemlock forest. Sure hope I pass through more of those during my adventure! Walking over very rocky trail. Nice old woods roads. A well maintained trail as always.

Breakfast: carnation breakfast, coffee and cold cereal

Lunch: Lipton dinner, bread, coffee and carnation breakfast

Dinner carnation breakfast, 2 peanut butter sandwiches and coffee

Snacks: cheese, crackers & cheese, pop tarts and candy

People I Met: Nobody

Animals: A flock of grouse, chipmunks, assorted birds and just missed a bear sighting

Notes of the Day: With the heavy rain a couple of puddles were in the shelter. My down bag with PDFE worked great and stayed dry. I forgot to put a garbage bag over the food bag when I hung it last night. Everything was in zip lock bags. But the mesh bag got wet and I needed to wipe all the bags off. Lesson learned: always put food bag in garbage bag. Late start and I was taking my time checking out side trail and lookouts. Found a domed shape privy that must be a Sears and Roebuck special. I took a picture of it. Really enjoyed myself today. Nice campsite tonight. I can hear the mice scrambling around inside. Rain tomorrow, so springs full again. I'll meet my cousin tomorrow and set up meeting spot and time. She lives near Baltimore, MD.

Main Concern of the Day: Just to pass on to all the nice folks who have e-mailed me. Now that I'm on the trail longer hours it will take longer to answer your mail. I really enjoy receiving mail and answering the mail.

Nite All Folks

Date: April 21, 1999

Travel From: Pine Knob Shelter

To: Rocky Run Shelter

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 7.4 miles

Additional Miles: 8 miles

AM Weather: cool low 40's and cloudy

PM Weather: rain, cool low 40's then some sun high 40's

Condition of Trail: Some rocks, new trail work being done, fairly easy grade of walking today.

Breakfast: carnation breakfast, coffee and cold cereal

Lunch: soda, cookies, hot roast beef dinner, salad, cole slaw, french fries with gravy and a vanilla milk shake in Boonesboro, MD

Dinner carnation breakfast, coffee and cheese & crackers

Snacks: crackers, soda, pop tarts and soda

People I Met: A group of 8 YMCA trail volunteers from Rochester, NY area along with counselor, retired ridge runner and local trail volunteer. All working on trail just south of Washington Monument. At first I thought I caught some one sharpening rocks on the trail. Had interesting conversation with all. Very nice people to volunteer a week’s spring school break for work on the trail.

Animals: Chipmunks, turkey (hunting season for turkey starts Saturday, sure hope I don't cough like a turkey :-( ) Herd of deer by shelter, assorted birds, and smelled a skunk but didn't see it :-)

Notes of the Day: Heavy rains till morning and cold in the am. Beautiful trail with all sorts of mixed forest. I enjoy history and the Civil War really interests me. This area is full of this type of history and other types, of course. I can see I'll be going slow in this area and enjoying every minute of it. Spent a good deal of time around the first monument erected for George Washington. It is a stone tower and was used by Federal troops as a signal station during the war. One can see in 360 degrees and for considerable distance from its tower. It was overcast today so I didn't see much. Went to Dahlgren campgrounds and took a HOT SHOWER in the rest room. Can you believe that the state of Maryland provides free HOT SHOWERS for hikers April through October. Dahlgren is the Admiral credited with improving the cannon. Visited several battefields along the trail reading all the info displayed. These raw recruits were just thrown into battle weeks after enlisting or being drafted. Savage battles where 1/2 the troops were killed and another 30% seriously wounded. Walked into Boonesboro for supplies and phone calls. Road too narrow to get picked up so it’s a 2 mile walk all down hill. Small but quaint town with numerous 18th century buildings still being lived in along the main avenue. Got a ride back to trail and headed into woods. Passed another battlefield where future President Rutherford Hayes was wounded during a battle.

Made it to Rocky Run Shelter and it’s unique. It’s set in a small valley of mixed wood forest, with a good spring to the left of shelter and privy the other side. The shelter was built 1940-1941 and is in excellent condition. It sports a glider swing for 3 in front of the shelter and 2 patio decks. One deck is in front of shelter and the other to the right side of shelter. 100' from shelter is a memorial to John Denver. It’s a beautiful setting and I'd like to revisit it in the future.

Main Concern of the Day: Great Day

Date: April 22, 1999

Travel From: Rocky Run Shelter, MD

To: Harpers Ferry, WV

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 15.3 miles

Additional Miles: 4 miles

AM Weather: overcast high 50's

PM Weather: sunny high 70's

Condition of Trail: Fairly easy trail, just so much to see along the way. MD skirted the boulders and set the trail on easier softer trail.

Breakfast: carnation breakfast, coffee and cold cereal

Lunch: crackers & cheese

Dinner ziti & meatballs, with bread & soda in Harpers Ferry.

Snacks: crackers & cheese

People I Met: Vermont Joe & White Rock from ?????? Vermont. They are section hiking from Harpers Ferry to Port Clinton. As the weather was beautiful, today scores of day hikers. Well around 10. With nice weather fast approaching I believe my moments of solitude are short lived.

Animals: A pheasant, squirrel, chipmunks, assorted birds including a large number of doves and my friendly butterfly "Trey". Who has been smart and staying inside during this recent cold and wet weather. Along the canal walk I saw a large number of turtles from little ones to granddaddies. Also saw the BIGGEST FROG I ever saw in my life. If I could have caught this guy I would have won the frog jumping contest at the county fair for sure. It was HUGE. I mean HUGE. How big you ask. Well when it jumped into the canal the splash caused a tidal wave down stream :-) Now that’s big. I even got a picture of it for you non-believers ;-)

Notes of the Day: Up early and ready to go at 8am. Calling for sunny skies and warm. Can't prove that by me. Heavy overcast skies. Nice trail after a good heavy rain like we had last night from 11pm to 5am or so. Real good thunder & lightning show. Boy sure wish I brought along my teddy bear for nights like this. They tell you to count by thousands to gauge the distance from the thunder till lightening. A couple of times I didn't say thousand and the bolt was here. No need for flashlight tonight. Not that I'll leave the shelter at all. Met Vermont Joe and White Rock, they seem like nice folks. I won't bore you with all the details about the Civil War I saw today. If the museum was opened I never would have made it to Harpers Ferry. That is a fact. Tired as I approached Harpers Ferry after walking in the sun all afternoon. 2 weeks of cooler weather and 1 warm day don't mix well.

Real nice folks at ATC office. I'll be going back in am to finish business and get some info.

Thats All Folks, Nite All :-)

Main Concern of the Day: Not today, Froggie.

Oh before I forget, today is my brother Bill's birthday. So if everyone could shout out the Happy Birthday Song to him it would be real nice. I should say scream it out cause he's hard of hearing if you know what I mean? If he was a car I would have traded him in on a new model. As he's my only brother and I wouldn't want to give him up for pennies. What offers do I get for him? Be gentle, he's the nicest old swayback-natured SOB you ever met in your life. So with all that said and done: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ;-) BILLY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

Date: April 24, 1999

Travel From: Harpers Ferry Area

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 8 miles

AM Weather: sunny warm 40's

PM Weather:

Condition of Trail: off trail today

Breakfast: last 2 of the gooooood homemade corn muffins

Lunch: pizza and coke

Dinner: Lipton dinner and coffee

Snacks: junk food day

People I Met:

Animals:

Notes of the Day: South bound Bear and myself did the tourist thing and

visited all the historical areas around Harpers Ferry. We did some healthy

walking to say the least. Bear bought a new tent and Leki poles at the

Outfitter Shop in Harpers Ferry. They have a good selection of quality

camping gear. He saved about 3 pounds by buying a lighter tent. His feet

will be very grateful :)

I headed back to hostel for the night. Monday I'll pick up some gear Bear

left at his hotel for mailing home. I definitely felt like a tourist today.

I didn't buy a thing, either :) You dun good John .

Main Concern of the Day: I don't think so :)

Date: April 25, 1999

Travel From: Harpers Ferry

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 1 mile

AM Weather: 60's sunny

PM Weather: 60's sunny

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: coffee and cold cereal

Lunch: hot turkey sandwich with French fries and gravy on both. Oh, with a

VANILLA MILKSHAKE, that was awesome. Meal was at small restaurant down the

road from hostel I'm staying at.

Dinner:

Snacks: crackers and cheese

People I Met: Boy Scout Troop 1988 from Montgomery Village, MD and King of

Spain, a northbound thru-hiker from Traverse City MI. This guy is really

ultralight. More to come.

Animals:

Notes of the Day: Last night I stayed up talking till 1am. That's the

latest I've been up since my trip started. A Boy Scout Troop, 1988

was camped in backyard of shelter. I had spoken with some of the folks

and boys yesterday. This morning I was asked to put on a display of my

gear and talk about long distance hikes. The boys and parents were very

attentive and asked some good questions and pointed out any mistakes I had

made. I enjoyed showing off my gear and setting up my Nomad tent. When I

was finished, they gave me one of their troop tee shirt. It's a beautiful

shirt and I'll enjoy showing it off When asked about how I got the shirt

I'll tell the story about Boy Scout Troop 1988 who gave me the shirt as a

gift for my presentation. One of the Dad's gave me a ride to Wal-Mart to

buy groceries for my week in town. Wal-Mart is 10 miles away. So, once

again the Boy Scout do another good deed. Thank you scouts and leaders

from Troop. Shortly after they left a "dayhiker"

walked into the hostel. His "daypack" looked like a schoolbag, maybe

weighing 12 lbs. He had that long distance look about him but he had be

a "day hiker" with that tiny pack. Wrong again. It was King of Spain

from upper MI. A northbound thruhiker. He's averaging 20+ miles per day

and his pack weights about 15 pounds with some food. We had a nice

conversation and went to restaurant near hostel for lunch. We talked

about the trail and conditions, food and resupply and the New York Yankees

:) He's a Yankee fan like me so the whole conversation was AOK. When we

got back to the hostel I went over all my gear for the 10,000,000th time and

will be sending home some more gear this week. Once I complete the list

I'll post it. Matter of fact I'll post my new revised backpack list.

Which WILL WEIGHT LESS :)

Main Concern of the Day: After all the good things that happened today? No

way

Date: April 26, 1999

Travel From: Harpers Ferry

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 2 miles

AM Weather: 60's sunny

PM Weather: 60's sunny

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: coffee, cereal

Lunch: pizza and soda

Dinner: chili and chopped meat with soda

Snacks: candy and vegetables

People I Met: Rainbow Bright, northbounder, then onto Canada; Gary from

Newport News who has read my web page and stopped in ATC office for hiking

info and we met; Amishrejec, northbounder from MO

Animals:

Notes of the Day: I'm going to get lazy this week, I can tell. I got a ride

into ATC office this morning with King of Spain. Both of us volunteered

today. Rainbow Bright arrived and the 3 of us went for lunch. Excellent

conversation was shared. Later in day Amishrejec arrived and he'll also

be staying at hostel tonight along with King and myself. I've met several

people along the trail who have visited my web site or Michael's and today

it happened again. Gary from Newport News arrived for trail info and

when we introduced ourselves he stated he had viewed my site before. It is a

nice feeling when you met someone for the first time and they already know

you from reading about yourself. We talked about lightweight backpacking

and he's off to section hike today. In talking to King, Rainbow and Amish

all have sent gear home during their trips. Currently King's basic pack

weight is about 13-15 lbs, Rainbow around same and Amish about 35 lbs.

All are averaging 20+ miles a day and are lean looking hiking machines. Amish was wearing a pair of $8

Wal-Mart shoes that had 200 miles on them and needed a little glue for the toe

section of the sole. King was carrying a fleece blanket for sleeping bag

now. He also was a avid book reader and was carrying a book for the

trail. Rainbow had a hairclipper in his drift box and shaved his beard

and head before he set off for the trail.

They mentioned I will become the southbound mailman delivering messages to

a hiker down the trail. Had fun working at ATC office today. People are

real understanding once you tell them I'm a volunteer on my first day at

work. Thank you all for your patience shown to me today and I hope the

rest of the week.

Main Concern of the Day: Just a beautiful day.

Date: April 27, 1999

Travel From: Harpers Ferry

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 0 miles

AM Weather: 60's sunny

PM Weather: 60's sunny

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: coffee and cereal

Lunch: pizza soda

Dinner: cheese, pepperoni, crackers and soda

Snacks: pop tarts

People I Met: Hirsch, Amishrejec, Tommy Sweats, Fanny Pack and No Brains

Animals:

Notes of the Day: A great day today. Meet more hikers and other

interesting people at ATC office. Got some interesting phone calls today

from prospective hikers from around the USA. They reminded me of myself a

few years ago asking the same questions I did when I called the ATC. King

of Spain's pack is really light. I started to call him "postage stamp".

I'll go over my gear again got to be able to send more home. Too bad I

don't live in the Garden of Eden all I would need is a fig leaf. Now

that's ultralight

The hostel is quiet without all the chatter from the thru hikers and

myself. Well, I'll be calling it an early night. Nite all folks. I went over

my pack and will be sending home MORE STUFF I DON'T NEED :) :)

Tomorrow I'll weigh the pack at ATC and add the 25 ozs for 40 degree

sleeping bag and know what I'll be carrying except food and water. I'll

post the completed list shortly. Nite All Folks

Main Concern of the Day: Nothing today

Date: April 28, 1999

Travel From:

To: Hapers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 0 miles

AM Weather: 60's

PM Weather: 60's

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: cereal & coffee

Lunch: pizza and soda

Dinner: pasta and coffee

Snacks: pop tarts and apples

People I Met: Weatherman & Doppler, Sorefoot, Tellico

Animals:

Notes of the Day: Real enjoyable day working at ATC. Meet 4 more thru-hikers today. Nice to see people around my age on the trail. The 3 men had lost close to 110 lbs of weight since they started hike. Had several interesting phone calls during the day from all over the country. I never realized how many people call the ATC daily.

Finally meet Fanny Pack, a 96 thru hiker. After work we went out and had some dinner and ran errands. I picked up a pair of Teva approach sandals, Solitaire flashlight and a new mesh food bag at a EMS store. Really enjoyed the company and conversation. He'll be going to Trail Days so we'll meet again then.

Found out ATC is having a booth at Trail Days so I'll help out while I'm there.

Got in late tonight with all the riding around with FP. I'm used to being in bed by 9pm. That’s hiker time to hit the hay :)

Nite All

Main Concern of the Day:

Date: April 29, 1999

Travel From:

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 0 miles

AM Weather: 50's sunny

PM Weather: 60's sunny

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: bacon, bagels, coffee and orange juice

Lunch: pizza :) and soda

Dinner: coffee, Lipton dinner, salad and pudding

Snacks: apples and soda

People I Met: Long Distance Man (98 thru-hike), Jashua, Chase, Yahtzeee, Cheech and Ericwiese, Captain, Morning, Dragline

Animals:

Notes of the Day: When I started to volunteer this morning another volunteer was there. He's Long Distance Man, a 98 thru-hiker. He started to talk and I remembered meeting him at Fingerboard Shelter, NY last year on a weekend AT hike with Michael and Sean. It’s a nice feeling to meet people from previous hikes. We enjoyed each other’s company and he told countless stories about his thru-hike last year. I listened intently and enjoyed them all. Laurie my boss has been driving me in all week and will be finally hiking Friday through Sunday with her husband on the AT. She gave me my ATC Volunteer shirt today and I was really proud to get it. It will remind me that I did take some time and give it back to the ATC for all their work over the years. I'll be posting my thoughts about my week in Harpers Ferry later on.

8 thru-hikers came into the ATC today. Approximately 25 thru-hikers have made it to Harpers Ferry so far this year. To this point all have had to hike through some steep snow in the Smokies. At times the drifts were 5' deep. A couple of the hikers must have been walking in chest high snow at times. Boy that sounds like fun ;) Can you see hiking all day long in adverse conditions like that? Starting dates are from February 25 to about March 10 for the group of hikers in the last week. Imagine my original plans were to start February 27 from Springer. It makes me grateful I got the flu. Most of the current hikers are going really lightweight and the average weight including all but food and water is 15-25 pounds. 70% are using 2 hiking staffs. All have had internal frame packs. 50% are hiking in some sort of sneaker. Average age 22 years old. Average daily miles 20+ miles per day. Largest weight loss so far: 40 lbs by 2 men in the 50's averaging 20+ miles per day. 50% said they were coming back for Trail Days.

I've enjoyed talking with these folks and learned a lot from their experiences. I had considered going to Springer now and hiking back to Harpers Ferry. I've decided to continue south to Springer and then get transportation back to NJ and then north to Kathadin.

Someone had suggested I take the trail name of "Yogi King" for some of my yogi stories. Well folks, I'm a rookie compared to this last week’s hikers. They have their PHD in YOGING. I've seen them in action and they are good. Some guy came in the ATC when 5 of them were there and he left 15 minutes later only wearing his BVD's. These hikers are REAL GOOD. John O is fine trail name for me thanks, anyhow.

A few days ago a thru-hiker called Hirsch had told me that someone had left some trail magic for me in a shelter further south. As I took this week off I wasn't able to get the trail magic. Today Ericwiese another thru-hiker said he ate my trail magic and gave me the note attached to bag. It reads, "These treats were left for John O 99 GA-ME. If they are still here Wednesday 4/28 that means he skipped this shelter So enjoy, Ron Richards" It was real nice of Eric to give me the note. Needless to say it will become another treasured part of my hike this year. Ron, thank you very much for your thoughtfulness it is much appreciated.

Tommorrow will be my last day volunteering at ATC. This past week I've taken more showers than I would have taken in almost 2 months of hiking the trail. The signs of spring are blooming more each day.

Main Concern of the Day: None

Date: April 30, 1999

Travel From:

To: Harpers Ferry

Number of Miles Hiked On Appalachian Trail: 0 miles

Additional Miles: 0 miles

AM Weather: 60's sunny

PM Weather: 60's sunny

Condition of Trail:

Breakfast: cereal and coffee

Lunch: homemade muffins, pizza and soda

Dinner: Maryland crab cakes, corn, lima beans, rolls, soda, ice cream soda and apple pie

Snacks: Homemade muffins the same lady from last Friday dropped off more homemade muffins from her B&B. They were so good. Did I mention the homemade muffins were so good?

People I Met: No new thru-hikers today. Several section hikers and day hikers

Animals:

Notes of the Day: Last day to volunteer at the ATC. Well I bought a few trinkets and mailed them home along with some other gear. Michael called today and we had an enjoyable conversation on a little about everything. It was real nice to hear him and talk. Before I left it seemed we ran into each other 3 times a week. He's been real busy at his job so he isn't always able to update the journal as quick as he would like to. Maybe we should all send mail to his boss and explain that he's working Michael too much and needs to lighten his work load?

Phylis and her husband Russ were also volunteers at the ATC today. They are really nice folks and I enjoyed spending time with them.

It felt funny at the end of the day going around and saying goodbye to all those I've worked with this past week. Once again I can honestly say that all who work at the ATC are great folks indeed.

I got all my gear together and figured my intended route.

NITE FOLKS

Main Concern of the Day: I don't think so.

Go To Journal for May 1999

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