AT – Twig Adventures

BMT & FHT Summary & Stats

Both these trails were relatively short, hence this short(er) post. Some thoughts and findings from the BMT: First, thanks to all the volunteers that make this trail happen! Yes there are blowdowns and overgrowth, because all that stuff happens daily, especially in the summer! Trail maintenance is a constant thing and I saw how dedicated the volunteers were in trying to keep up with it. Thank you! Anyone looking for solitude and that remote wilderness feel will find it on the BMT. I saw only 7 BMT thru and section hikers in 2 weeks. Some of the climbs and descents were brutal but there were also a lot of cruisy sections, especially parts following old road beds along the ridges[…]

AT Trail Days 2024

June 7, 2024 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Wednesday- Sunday, May 15-19th It was a wild week at AT Trail Days in Damascus VA. I embraced it all, from camping in the woods in Tent City, to the commercial hype from all the vendors, to joining in the AT class parade through town, to dancing in the rain and mud around the bonfire to the beat of drums. I’ve never been to a rave and this may be as close to one as I get. I wanted to complete my Triple Crown of Trail Days, coordinating the timing of my Benton MacKaye Trail hike to end just beforehand, and a Foothills Trail hike directly after. In this way, I killed a whole bunch of bears with one stone.[…]

BMT Day 14: An Early Finish

June 2, 2024 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024, 0730-1230Laurel Gap Shelter to Baxter Creek Trailhead, Northern BMT Terminus, mm 289.712 miles (plus another 4 mile road walk to get back to my car at Standing Bear Hostel), Gain: 1100′, Loss: 4840′, elevation 1710′ BMT Done! (save for the 16 mile section I have to go back to finish someday). Unfortunately it was a not-so-rewarding final 12 miles view-wise, but I did have a fabulous morning waking to the bird song surrounding the shelter. I slept so good that the songs were the one and only thing that woke me. Well, I did have a little mouse visitor sometime in the night, but my food was hung on the bear cable and there was nothing[…]

BMT Day 11: Smoky Beaches

May 31, 2024 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Saturday, May 11th, 2024, 0650-1810Fontana Hilton to Chambers Creek 98, mm 222.626.7 miles, Gain: 4340′, Loss: 4420′, elevation 1745′ It was a big mistake pitching my tent so near the bathroom. Between the noise of people coming and going and the horrendous stench much of the night, I didn’t sleep very well. Yet I also heard the dogs barking intermittently down at the shelter, so I was glad I didn’t stay there either. I guess all options were bad. I should have just kept hiking a ways into the Smokies, permits be damned. Not surprisingly, I got packed quickly and was the first hiker out of there. So long AT comrades…in 2 days I’d gotten my fill of them (yet I[…]

BMT Day 1: Picture Perfect

May 25, 2024 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, 0740-1900Springer Mountain Shelter to Wallalah Mt., mm 2121 miles, Gain: 4400′, Loss: 5050′, elevation 3086′ My goodness, what a beautiful trail the BMT was at the start! Green tunnels, waterfalls, swing bridges, rivers, creeks, and mountain top sunsets and sunrises. I didn’t set an alarm and woke with the dawn. The birds were in full swing with their songs, so lovely. The sun came up over the ridge and the rays penetrated brilliantly through the trees. While having breakfast at the shelter, RocknRoll asked if I’d screamed in the middle of the night and if I was ok. It was such a peaceful night, but perhaps I had a night terror. Or maybe it was one[…]

BMT Day 0: The Approach

May 15, 2024 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, 1400-1930Amicalola Falls State Park (famous Stone Arch at the beginning of the AT approach trail) to Springer Mountain Shelter, mm 010 miles, Gain: 3270′, Loss: 1300′, elevation 3780′ It was an auspicious and serendipitous Day 0 to get to the start of the BMT. In actuality, it was a several day journey to get to this point, which I’ll try to quickly sum up. Two days before, I drove from Miami to Gainesville so I could split the drive and also reconnect with my friend Eve. I met her through the Florida Trail Association and we had adventured together a lot in years past. She moved from Miami to Gainesville a few years ago, which made[…]

2022 Year In Review

March 8, 2023 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Mogollon Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail

I wanted to do recap of all my hiking in 2022, which is something I should’ve been doing since I started this blog in 2017. Maybe I’ll do some back-posts over the next winter season to cover years 2017-2021. I like collecting stats in one tidy place. Call it ego or whatever, really I just want to keep track of everything for personal reflections. 2022 was a pretty busy year! I thru-hiked one specialty route, the Mogollon Rim Trail (MRT, courtesy of Brett Tucker and Melissa Spencer) and also one official National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT). These 2 thru-hikes were quite different from each other and afforded a very wide array of habitats, conditions, and experiences. They[…]

2022 ALDHA-West Gathering / Triple Crown Awards

February 28, 2023 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Saturday, September 24th, 2022, Keystone, Colorado I just wanted to do a quick post about the 2022 ALDHA-West Gathering. This is an annual event where hikers are honored for having completed the Triple Crown of Hiking: the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail. I actually completed this trilogy the year prior, but given my Aug-Nov southbound hike of the AT, it was too late to submit my accomplishments for that year. I guess it was meant to be, since having the Gathering in CO aligned perfectly a visit to my home state after the PNT. A hiker friend, Tim Sharp (aka Nine Lives), gave me a ride to and from the event. I only attended one day[…]

AT Trail Angels & Trail Magic Recognition

February 22, 2022 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail

This is a free-flowing list recognizing the many instances of trail magic and trying to thank the many, many amazing Trail Angels I met along the way. I apologize in advance if I missed mentioning anything or anyone specifically; it’s not intentional, just a casualty of my sometimes faulty memory. First, thanks to all the hostels owners, shuttle drivers and support staff at the cool places I stayed…the AT has an outstanding network surrounding it, catering to the needs of so many hikers. Such folks really make the experience unique and sometimes even life-changing. Many of my best hostel experiences were in New England, particularly Maine (Green Mountain House in Vermont, AT Lodge, Shaws, Maine Roadhouse). There were also some[…]

AT Summary & Stats

February 2, 2022 kaulua26 Appalachian Trail

It took a long time to collect my thoughts and summarize my stats for the AT. In reviewing the details of my journey, it’s striking to me just how many events occurred every day. My experience was not monotonous at all, with plenty of diversions to keep me entertained and on my toes. Some parts held a lot of nostalgia while other parts were quite a surprise in terms of their difficulty and enjoyment. The AT is not much of a wilderness experience but it’s a fun adventure through a diverse region of the US. And the trail itself holds some of the most physically demanding terrain of any I yet hiked. While it doesn’t rank as high in my[…]

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