Greetings all! My last post was made the morning before I hit the trail again after staying with my wife, daughter and son-in-law for 5 days in New Jersey. I returned to the trail late that day in Salisbury, CT and since then have traversed Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and am now posting from the public library in Palmerton, Pennsylvania. As its been two weeks of steady hiking, I’ve got a lot of pictures and a couple of videos to share and will let those tell most of the story, but here are a couple of quick notes:

Wildlife: Over the past two weeks I’ve had some interesting encounters with creatures (see some of the pictures below). As some of you may know, I was passing through the NY/NJ part of the trail right at the time a student from Rutgers became the first ever black bear mauling casualty in New Jersey. I was within 15-20 minutes hiking time of the spot and found it a bit unsettling, especially when I encountered two black bears in a tree 15 yards off the trail around the same time. Luckily, they bounded down out of the tree and ran away, leaving me with a great story to tell but nothing more (thankfully!). Another ‘factor’ in recent days has been the high profile search for a fugitive cop-killer hiding out in the woods near Delaware Water Gap, PA, which I just passed 2-3 days ago. Never a dull moment on the AT!

Terrain Variety: Whereas the trail in Maine and New Hampshire features a lot of similar terrain, as I move further south I’m seeing much more variety on the trail…you’ll see a number of pictures on that.

Whereas I spent the better parts of August and early September hiking with a group of others, the past two weeks I’ve been hiking alone as I gradually catch up to those folks after having been off the trail with family. Both styles of hiking (alone, with others) are fun and I’ve had a great time enjoying the solitude.

Milestones: Finally, for those interested I have a couple of big milestones approaching. I’m currently at 930 miles and therefore will hit the 1000 mile mark later this week! Furthermore, the mileage mid-point for the entire trail is 1092.5 (half of 2185), so its likely that as of my next post I will be over half-done with the AT!

Enjoy this installment of videos and pictures and keep those comments coming!

Michael (Maxheap)

Wildlife 1: Nearly stepped on this guy…raising his angry head.

Wildlife 2: Many friendly deer like this one in CT

Wildlife 3: encountered a dozen or so wild turkeys on the grounds of a monastery near the trail

Wildlife 4: This hawk circled the sky lazily as I hiked by

Wildlife 5: Interesting turtle in NY

Wildlife 6: cows grazing right near the trail in NY

Wildlife 7: Nearly stepped in this while snapping a pic of the cows!

Wildlife 8: These guys came right up to a shelter provided by the farmer who owns them

Wildlife 9: Not one of the bears I saw in the woods. In Bear Mountain, NY, the trail goes right through a zoo!

Trail variety 1: squeezing through this with a pack was challenging

Trail variety 2: lots of rocky terrain in NY, NJ and PA

Trail variety 3: Trailside cemetery. For hikers who couldn’t make it over the rocks?

Trail variety 4: the trail goes right around this plant

Trail variety 5: train station directly on the AT, near Pawling, NY

Trail variety 6: I never get tired of misty RR crossings

Trail variety 7: easy way around a tricky cliff, for those so inclined (not me!)

Trail variety 8: from an interstate overpass on the AT

Trail variety 9: Lots of these cool old stone walls on the trail throughout New England

Trail variety 10: typical AT crossing over barbwire/electric fence. This spot was one of the places Wendy and I did trail magic for friends…in Kent, CT

Landscapes 1: misty morning in CT

Landscapes 2: Hudson river view from highway bridge

Landscapes 3: sun-dappled morning in NY

Landscapes 4: interesting obelisk on highest point in NJ

Landscapes 5: more sun, this time in NJ

Landscapes 6: beautiful overlook in PA

Borders 1: CT/NY border, taken by a friendly group of day hikers

Borders 2: NY/NJ border, minutes from where I encountered two bears in a tree

Borders 3: NJ/PA border- long bridge at Delaware Water Gap

Ordering Japanese takeout delivered to a shelter? Priceless!

Trail magic from the girl scouts! Thank you!

Another kind of trail magic awaited me at this shelter. Blue Moon? Boo-yah!

Apropos Walt Whitman quote in the zoo on the trail, Bear Mountain, NY

My setup when tenting

Don’t forget to hang your food high!

Love a good campfire

What passes for luxury on the AT

This sign greeted me on the bridge approach to Bear Mountain, NY

This town in NJ may have some splainin’ to do if the Vikings’ ownership see this picture…

Crossing into Vermont has been magical. For example, on August 28th we started the day by saying goodbye to trail angels Short-n-Sweet and Greybeard who hosted nearly a dozen hikers at their home the previous evening in Norwich, sharing with us the story of their son’s thru hike which inspired them to reach out and help hikers. We left their home before sunrise in order to hit our 20+ mile goal for the day. Our first break that morning was the home of the amazing Hart family, who have already provided support to 950 hikers this year alone. As we walked by they rang the bell on their porch and motioned us in for a huge homemade breakfast. The roadway immediately in front of their home runs about 30 feet above a whitewater river. Among hikers there is a tradition to dare each other to jump off the bridge. Egged on by my younger cohorts, I took the leap in my underwear, on a belly full of the Hart breakfast (see video below)! The jump was a gas and the water refreshingly cool. The video was filmed by one of my very good friends from the trail- Hero (from Mississippi)- who then jumped himself.

From there, we spent the day hiking through 20 miles of mountains, forests and meadows, reminding me very much of scenes from the Sound of Music. As we were emerging from the woods to a paved road, trying to decide whether to push another few miles, a truck rolled to a stop and the driver asked me if I had ever heard of ‘the Barn.’ The Barn is a word-of-mouth free hostel in Woodstock, Vermont, hosted for 22 years by Daniel Quinn (trailname: Bad Example). It turns out that the driver of that truck was none other than Dan himself and he invited us all to stay in the loft of his barn. While we pitched in with some light chores, dinner was being prepared for us by trail legend (and Jerry Garcia look-alike) Baltimore Jack. He has hiked the complete AT an amazing 9 times, including thru-hiking 7 consecutive years. It turns out that he and Dan are old friends and he was coincidentally staying with Dan while we were there. Baltimore made us an amazing spaghetti dinner with a huge salad, garlic bread with salami, and for dessert we had homemade pie from the ‘Pie Lady’ who sells home baked goodies and home grown produce next door.

Fast forward to August 30th where we did another 20+ mile day and were treated to ‘trail magic’ 4 times throughout the day, including a food and beverage booth set up on the side of the road by Jen, a bubbly young grad student from California who is out here doing PhD research on the psychology of thru-hikers. Jen’s booth was located at the point where Sobo (southbound) thru hikers pass their 500 mile mark, so it was a great milestone for us to celebrate!

And for me, the icing on the Vermont cake is the place from which I’m making this post. The Green Mountain House– in Manchester Center, Vermont- has a reputation among many hikers as ‘THE’ best hostel on the AT. Jeff the proprietor keeps the place immaculate and as a hiker himself, is very in-tune with hiker amenities. For $25, you get a clean bed, free laundry and showers, free beverages, a free pint of Ben and Jerry’s, free make-your-own breakfast and use of the spotless facilities which include the computer on which I’m posting this update, a great hiker lounge with huge color TV and well-appointed kitchen. No wonder that nearly every hiker I’ve passed going in the other direction has recommended Jeff’s place.

Today is 9/2 and I’ll hit the trail again early tomorrow morning, my daily hiking average now well into the 20 mile range. I’ll cross into Massachusetts in the next 2-3 days and from there the states will start piling up as the terrain levels out. The pictures below are from the past few days…I hope you enjoy!

Hero and Swish in Vermont, in what could be an Austrian meadow.

Baltimore Jack preparing his amazing spaghetti sauce

Grad student Jen (in blue next to me) with her aunt and uncle, providing trail magic and lots of smiles. Swish, SlimJim to my left) and I hit our 500 mile mark right at this spot!

The trail as it overlooks the Rutland, Vermont airport

Another fun suspension bridge

Amazing view from the same suspension bridge

The AT passes right through the Bromley ski resort. Per the sign, the run we hiked down is called ‘Run Around.’ I was just grateful it wasn’t a black diamond!

AT map with a blue square marking (approximately) what I’ve completed so far.”And miles to go before I sleep…”