Trail Family

I’m dedicating this post to my Trail Family, those hikers I’ve met and befriended on the AT, CDT, PCT, and back on the AT again. It means the world to a thru-hiker to meet someone you recognize as being from your own tribe, a hiker who has not only walked the same miles, but lifts your spirit on lousy days, shares your joy on the days when you overcome an obstacle, and generally transforms thru-hiking into a collective adventure.

I’m worried I’ll miss some names here, but from my first AT hike there are the Dukes (Birdie, MAV, Hero, Swish, Slimjim and Herc) and the Brown Blazers (Hydro, Stringbean, Toastface, Ducky and Dirtybird). Then on the CDT I added Impala, Hammer, Cougar, OB, Chickenfat and T-Pain. And on the PCT I added Northstar, York, Muggle, Little Mouse and Pololo.

On this hike so far, I’ve counted hikers like Sunshine, Jukebox (2×) Chattahoochee, Shower, Perfect Timing and others as potential new trail family but in most cases we haven’t seen each other in a month and generally speaking I haven’t spent enough time with any others hikers this time around to make that connection, until recently meeting Cloudsplitter and Spice. Spice NOBOed the AT a year or two ago and Cloudsplitter is currently about halfway through his section hike of the AT, interleaving his hiking time with career obligations. We hiked together only a couple of days but we ended up pulling similar miles (25ish for consecutive days) which led to camping together, friendship and finally to an incredible zero at their home in Boonsboro, Maryland. They’re not currently on the trail full-time but with any luck I may get to hike with them again in Maine when they head up there later this year to finish some of Cloudsplitter’s remaining miles. It’d be my honor as they are two of the best hikers I’ve met out here this time around and absolutely part of my trail family. I’d also like to mention Wedge, another member of my tribe who’s also a fellow Deadhead so he gets bonus points for that. We met and chatted long into the evening at a hostel and that may be our only meet-up, but there was that connection, for sure.

In other news, I’m about 1200 miles into the hike now with about 1000 left to go, writing this from two days north of Duncannon, PA.
I’m tired and want to be on the trail early so I’ll end it a bit abruptly here, but I hope you enjoy the latest pictures and videos from my YouTube channel (73-85 are all new).
All the best from your weary (but healthy) trail correspondent, Max.