Virginia Fall

Updating from the small town of Montebello, VA, we've now passed into and out of Shenandoah National Park are in the meat of Virginia's section of the AT.

We've had some of our roughest weather the last few weeks. In Maryland we hiked 15 miles in the rain, with the temperatures in the low 40's. This is Priya in a bathroom that we used to hang up our gear and cook dinner - the only dry place available.

Christian's parents met us in Harper's Ferry at the bridge crossing into West Virginia - the "spirtual halfway point", as this is where the Appalachian Trial Conservancy Headquarters is located.

Our first night in the Shenandoahs we slept under the stars at this sweet spot overlooking the valley.

Fall in the Shenandoahs...the leaves were amazing.

Some berries still left at the end of fall. We saw 4 bear in the Shenandoahs, all trying to stock up for winter.

A view of the trees as their leaves turned. The past couple of days have brought wind and rain, so from here on out we don't expect much fall foliage to be left.

We caught the sunset off these clouds as we hiked into camp late one evening.

Fall colors on a tree just south of Shenandoah.

Most of the leaves we saw had turned orange or yellow, but this stand of young trees had a cool red color.

Trees in the fog. We've been hit by more rainy weather recently than in quite a while, making staying dry and keeping equipment dry a challenge.

Getting deeper into Virginia has brought us back into bigger mountains - we've climbed above 4,000 feet elevation for the first time since Vermont, and have consistently been above 3,000 feet. We're looking forward to what the rest of Virginia has to offer, and the Smokies are beckoning.

Back in the Old Dominion

So we've left Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia behind, entered the AT's longest state, and now have less than 1,000 miles left in our journey. Pretty exciting stuff. Christian's computer doesn't want to act right, so no photos, but a few videos.


Into VA...


Maryland left us with a bang...two days of temps in the 40's and quite a bit of rain. We were lucky to be meeting Christian's parents in Harper's Ferry.


While visiting the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters, we happened to get interviewed by some Korean filmmakers shooting a documentary about the AT. At the end of the interview, they presented Christian with a t-shirt.


Christian's parents joined us for the hike out of Harper's Ferry. They also brought the rain - literally. Unbeknownst to us, the day we arrived at Harper's was the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid. The huge crowd of history enthusiasts expected to arrive was tamped down somewhat by the rain, but Christian's parents didn't shy away from the challenge.

1,000 Miles and Counting

***Note: Apologies, but this posting is almost a week delayed. Chris wrote it last Saturday while in Boiling Springs. Today, he and Priya have now passed the halfway mark of the AT, are in West Virginia, and will be meeting up with Christian's family in Harper's Ferry this weekend...stay tuned for more [timely] updates/photos.***




Checking in from Boiling Springs, PA, where we had the chance to spend some time with Priya's family. We've now crossed the 1,000 mile mark, and will cross our halfway point the day after leaving Boiling Springs. This update jumps around a little, with photos from New Hampshire and Vermont as well as from our recent states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

One of our last few ridges in the White Mountains. With the exception of the weather a couple of days, we had spectacular views and great weather throughout the White Mountains, not something many people can say.

Christian sitting by Lonesome Lake. In the backgroud is Franconia Ridge, which we'd just hiked over, still mostly covered in cloud.

Hiking into Hanover, New Hampshire, we passed this bog. The grasses were covered with cobwebs; pretty cool.

Some tall pines in Vermont.

Christian offers up his Nalgene to the good weather gods on Killington Peak.

On top of Bromley Mountain, Vermont. The spray paint was helpful, as the trail went over a ski resort with plenty of trails cut into the mountain.

Looking out over the valley in New Jersey. It's hard not to think of New Jersey as anything othe than turnpikes and chemical plants, but the latter stretch of the trail through the state was quite beautiful.

Cool looking vine growing up the tree.

Hiking through the Palmerton Zinc Superfund site. Ironically, the restoration of the environmental damage has reached a point where grasses have grown back, but few trees, resulting in the site featuring some of the most diverse grassland in the state of Pennslyvania. It also made for some gorgeous views.

The town of Palmerton opens the basement of its borough office up to hikers as a free hostel. It used to be the town jail, but the accomodations are actually quite nice. In Palmerton we also enjoyed a care package from Christian's parents and Priya's sister, full of lots of goodies......and V8.

A daddy long legs watches over the state game regulations. Those little guys are everywhere.

Tragedy on the Appalachian Trail.

Christian looking out from the Pinnacle in Pennsylvania. This outcropping was popular weekend spot, and we watched several hawks migrating south past Pennsylvania farm fields.


We encountered our first turtle on the trail. He wasn't quite moving our speed.

Laundry on the line in camp.

A couple hiking the opposite direction found wild grapes the day before, and told us about them. They were pretty tasty.

Christian fitting right in with a mural in Duncannon, Pennsylvania.

Beautiful sky over the Cumberland Valley.

There was a wedding going on mere feet from the AT in Boiling Springs. The juxtaposition between Christian and the bridesmaids was too much not to document.

Priya's family came along for a "slack-pack." Because they were in town with a car, we were able to do essentially a day-hike along part of the trail.

Since we were slack-packing, Priya decided to sherpa Christian's pack for a little while.

Everyone likes to complain about the rocks in Pennsylvania, but the state's treated us pretty well. We're looking forward to the leaves continuing to change, and good hiking in crisp fall weather.