trail magic

if there's one thing an AT hiker believes in, it's trail magic. people have asked me what this is and let me just say: it's real.

let's pretend you're walking down a long rugged trail and you're super tired of drinking water from a creek and you just pray for a coke to appear. well folks, lots of times that is the exact moment that a kind stranger will have left you a cooler full of all kinds of "soda" as they say in the North.

OR you're just so ready to have something to eat besides ramen noodles and tuna and lo and behold, there is a cooler full of chocolate made from scratch cakes filled with icing AND a cooler full of cokes!

I'm telling you, it happens over and over again. but only when you're not looking for it or expecting it.

in other news, we have gone 188 miles and are staying in Stratton, ME for a couple nights. we did 15+ miles today over some crazy high mountains (over 4000 feet) so I'm just about worn out.

good night you guys!

ps tony has lost 18 lbs and I have lost 6.....

Catatunk

well folks....we officially are done with 151 miles of Maine!

I had a horrific day yesterday!! Felt terrible the whole day long for some reason, but the trail goes on!

we camped out by a pretty gross stream last night and this morning I woke up PUMPED and ready to go! tony is always pumped and doing annoying things like pushups and jogging up mountains but today I felt amazing!

we hiked the 15 miles into Catatunk, ME. a man in a minivan picked us up after I ran into this old guys house who was mowing his grass to use his phone to call the man in the minivan who gave us his number while we were up on top of the Pleasant Pond Mountain. Which sounds cute and more pleasant than it really is!

anyways, now we and 6 of our trail friends are at the northern outdoors lodge! we had an all you can eat buffet and then participated in a corn hole tournament. we were eliminated on out second round.....so! tomorrow we will wake up and head out to the trail once more!!!

we still miss y'all and we still love each other!

114 miles later....

today i thought me and tony were going to kill each other. my blisters were hurting, i was super sore, and he kept saying we're not gonna make it, we're not gonna make it. BUT then like always on the AT, something happens that makes things better...

our wonderful new friend James showed up. we had hiked with Jim for about 5 days earlier and he caught up with us! he helped break the tension and helped us through the last few miles until....we got Monson, Maine!!!!

Which is the end of the "100 Mile Wilderness" which is the most remote part of the trail. 11 days without a town or real food or a bed!

so we have gone 114 miles in a little
over a week! over mountains, over roots, over HUGE rocks/boulders, through mud but here we are!

I ate a quesadilla, took a shower, and am doing laundry for us and our adopted son James. it may not sound like much but it is amazing!

we will stay here a day or so then head
on out to the next section of the trail.

Love and miss all of y'all!!!!!!

rocks and roots

OMG.

Since July 12th, we have done 40.7 miles on the AT.

7.12.12----We got up at 0400 after staying the night at Phil's cabin..He dropped us off at the Ranger Station at Katahdin Stream Campground where we signed in and got started on our journey! Phil kept telling us this will be the hardest climb on your trip. "It will be grueling, treacherous, painful, rocky, etc etc etc. Climbing that Katahin, to me, was beautiful, challenging, intimidating,etc. We climbed hand over hand for about 2.8 miles up Abol Trail and then we hiked the remaining 1.5 or so miles to
the summit. AND then we literally bouldered our way back down the side of the mountain. I was terrified the entire time!!
I earned my trail name"Scooter" from my graceful descent. Tony's name is "Hacksaw" because he came out with an American Flag bandana and looked just like a WWF wrestler. I have no idea who that guy is!

Anyways, from the 13th to the 15th we have just been going up and down mountains and down valleys and staying in our tent. We have met
some wonderful people along the way too.

In fact, today I was just feeling worn out and tired and overwhelmed with how much further we had to go, and I was sick of water from the creek and I had blisters on both feet. These 2 angels came out of the woods when we were done and brought us a 6 pack of Pepsi!!!!! I literally almost cried with happiness.

Tomorrow will be a short day ( 8 MILES) so we can recover from the last 4 grueling days....hope everyone at home is doing well! We love and miss y'all!

Y'all is a word only the McKays use up here!

Maine

Well folks, we made it to Maine. Our flight left this morning at 630 am from
Nashville. We had a connecting flight to Washington DC and from there, we flew to Maine!

From the teeny tiny Bangor airport, we walked about half a mile to our "the airport mall" which consisted of a Marshall's, a Fashion Bug, a Dollar Store, and a grocery store.

We ate lunch and got the rest of our food. Let me just say, it is super hard to find things to cook that you don't need milk, eggs, butter etc...

Our guide Phil picked us up with his dog Ellie and we are now at his vacation home...which has no running water...our next shower will be in approximately ONE WEEK! Anyways ole Phil is super nice and super helpful and encouraging!

And he's waking us up at 4am...and says if we survive tomorrow, we will be fine the rest of the way....

AND MY GENIUS SISTER LAURIE PASSED HER BOARDS!

Talk to y'all soon!

inspiration

"we need to get away from the familiar and explore not only what is around the next bend but also discover the strength and beauty that we have within us"
--Warren Doyle (has traversed the AT 16 times)


our flight leaves in FIVE days!