AT Mass 2020 – Postscript
November 13, 2020 § 2 Comments
Ali and I spent a week, only one week, on the AT in Massachusetts for Cripe’s Sake, and though we accomplished our goals, we did not get through the entire encounter at no personal cost. I think Ali fared a LOT better than I did overall, the dude ate bone broth for dinner, and really I did very well on the trail, however, there was no real way my feet were going much further. If I had to put it politely, I complete fucked my feet over. Don’t worry, I am NOT posting any pictures of my feet (that is mainly because I didn’t take any, which implies that if I had, you would be viewing at least one right now), but take my word for it, they paid a price for this journey. When we got back to Ali’s car, I switched from my boots to my sandals, BUT I DID NOT REMOVE MY SOCKS. So, I put that great reveal off until I was comfortably sitting in the safety of my house in Ocean NJ.
« Read the rest of this entry »AT Massachusetts – That’s a Wrap
November 12, 2020 § Leave a comment
When we left off our last discussion, we were three, and happy and warm in Mark Noebels Shelter. For Ali and myself, we had just over a day remaining on the trail, and for Paul, he would accompany us to the summit, and there would branch off onto a side trail for a change of scenery. Mailman was with us as well, and had his own plans for the day. The only downer to start the day, is the rain did finally arrive before the sun came up, and there was a steady, moderate amount still falling from the sky. Today, at least the morning, would require proper rain gear, but, considering we weren’t under any real time constraints, there was no rush to get going. Even Mailman had his reservations about venturing out.
« Read the rest of this entry »AT Massachusetts – Treats on the Trail
November 9, 2020 § Leave a comment
By now you are aware that four of us started this adventure, and now only two remain. We have four days, including our biggest day, behind us now, and 3 and half days ahead of us. Since we started up the Race Brook access trail, we haven’t crossed a road that has contained anything remotely treat worthy, so we have been eating nothing but what we brought with us. While this doesn’t change on Day 5, it does change on Day 6, and then again on Day 7. Also, though Kevin got the call that told him if he wasn’t hiking then he should come home, and so home he went and we would not be seeing him on our last two days, we did pick up a new hiking mate for one night on the trail. That and more details follow in this edition of The Adventures of The Bird and The Persian Prince.
« Read the rest of this entry »The Persian Prince and The Bird
October 29, 2020 § Leave a comment
Ali used his normal a.k.a. as his trail name, The Persian Prince, and I saw no need for yet another alias in my life, so I simply used my cycling nickname, Big Bird, or just Bird. It’s the culture of thru hiking to have an alias. One it gives you a little bit of anonymity, but in another it actually better identifies you. You tell your family you are going to “off the grid” (though that really isn’t the truth anymore), for a long period of time. You tell them where you are going in, where you expect to come out, and more importantly when you expect to come out, and if you are diligent, you sign all the registers along the way, so that should you not come out when you are expected to, then authorities can scan those registers and try and find the last place you checked in.
« Read the rest of this entry »AT Massachusetts – Baby Seal
October 21, 2020 § Leave a comment
Baby Harp seals have to be among the cutest most innocent looking creatures on the planet. I know, there are a lot of critters out there whose young are super cute, and that includes human critters as well, though let us be clear, sometimes, there are some real ugly babies. But this isn’t about ugly babies, it is about cute and innocent, and launching into something with the greatest zeal and perhaps over estimation of just where on the fitness scale one actually sits.
« Read the rest of this entry »AT Massachusetts – Planning
October 19, 2020 § 1 Comment
Last year, 2019 Christmas, I started and knocked out the Connecticut portion of the Appalachian Trail. You can read about that here and here, and maybe even here, however in preparation for that trip, I purchased the AMC guide book for that section, and what came with that was also the maps and guide for Massachusetts as well. So, it should not surprise to anyone, that as I was mass transiting back to NYC, I had already started thinking about what it would take to knock out Massachusetts as well.
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Big Bird's Adventures 