Re-entry
Time, it seems, moves differently in the ‘real’ world. We officially left the trail on July 12th, when we pushed our injuries in a test hike and finally accepted their severity. After a morning hike today – far from the Appalachian Trail – the two months off trail might have been two minutes. I am […]
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The Journey
The last section has been a rocky one for us, both literally and figuratively. But even when the road is difficult Sam and I have discovered that old wisdom to be very true of our thru-hike attempt.
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Highs and Lows
The first three hundred miles of the second thousand have been a battle. From a week of milestones – 1,000 miles and the half way point – we went into a few weeks of slow progress. From the peak of physical condition and endorphin highs we now suddenly find ourselves battling shin splints, tendonitis and […]
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Trail Fit
So, May is drawing to a close and along my linear world of the Appalachian Trail it’s been a fairly slow news month. While the rest of the world has been busy with French and English elections, the horrifying events in Manchester and Trump imitating Nixon, the only news that really hits home for us […]
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Trail Scent
First of all apologies for the American spelling and typos that this will be riddled with. I am dictating as I walk and relying on the iPhone to hear what I say and turn it into text. We have come out of the great Smoky Mountains and on the other side of that six thousand […]
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200 Miles or so
A fortnight ago I was in my office, emotionally charged with anticipation of the challenge to come, combined with farewells and logistical stress of leaving London. We worried about everything, had list after list of things that needed to be done before leaving, and seemed to be busy with five things at once crossing items […]
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Departures
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Adapt
So, we have a bit of an announcement to make… after a long weekend of winter skills seminars and talking to locals in the Sierra mountains we’ve decided that the trail we’ve been planning all this time just doesn’t exist this year, because it’ll be buried under ten feet of snow when we get there. […]
Read MoreSuperheroes
So this is the blog entry where I’ll ask you for sponsorship. Some of you won’t read any further, and that’s fine. There is a saying on the trail, “hike your own hike” and the more I think about that mantra the more I think it is great advice for life. I’m going to talk […]
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Trail by Numbers
2 hikers 2,650 miles 5 months camping 43 ascents of Mount Everest (489,418 feet total climb) 150 meals of freeze-dried instant mashed potatoes 57 mountain passes 3 states 19 major canyons 91 national parks/forests/wilderness areas 1,000 litres of water to find, collect & filter 60% failure rate
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