Thru-hike is finished!

Just wanted to add a quick update while I have good wifi. I finished my thru-hike today! 2184 miles from April 3 - August 26. What a ride! None of it would have been possible without the support of my family and friends. Love you all so much. I will be posting more pictures in the near future. Take care all!

Hey, ALL!

I'm entering the hundred mile wilderness with my best friend, Michael Pacella, and my brother today. We're planning on summiting Katahdin early on the 26th! Only 114.5 miles left of this epic journey. There will likely be many river crossing, a lot of mud, and a ton of fun. Thanks for all your thoughts and support thus far. We're not likely to have any service in the wilderness, but I'll see if I can get any service on the mountains. Someone said I might have service on Katahdin. We'll see.

Take care all,
One Speed

Sighted!

One tall, handsome, smelly hiker named Matt at the Appalachian Trail Conservatory Headquarters in Harpers Ferry, VA on June 11, 2012.

The White Mountains!

To call what I've just been through beautiful would be a disservice. It has been about the best week of my entire life. I've been putting in major miles every day, hiking at night most nights, and eating a TON of food! I'm loving the scenery. My favorite parts are usually above treeline. It's kind of magical when you pass through the last wisps of trees into a gentle breeze and great visibility. Above treeline isn't without its perils though. Up there, weather is at best unpredictable. I've had to outrun thunderstorms and hunker down when crazy wind picks up. In some ways it reminds me of the beach with its sun and wind. I just love it... Alright, enough of that. I have a huge slack pack tomorrow (Doing the Wildcats into Gorham, NH). Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

View on they way to Lafayette Mountain.

On top of Mount Madison!

Sorry for the sparse blog posts, but my phone is having severe issues. I currently will have my real computer every few days as my parents follow me up the AT in their RV.

It appears that pre-season and practice are both over. Today I enter the White Mountains. The "toughest" and most "technical" portion of the entire AT is here. I will report back the actual severity of the mountains afterwards.

I'm going to hike the Whites with Crush, a compsci/math junior from Brown University. I re-met him a few days ago, and have been hiking with him since.

It's truly starting to become a blast. The views are spectacular. The climbs are challenging. The closeness to the goal is almost palpable. I love it.

I'll try to include GPS cookie crumbs of my trip for the rest, but I can't guarantee how that will work. It's the first time I've tried to do such a thing.

Thanks for all your patience.

One Speed

Here is picture taken from the Smart Mountain fire tower. Hope you enjoy the view as much as I did.

July 25

Woke up later than everyone and still made it to the next shelter in better time than the other hikers! They call me sleepy head and such, but if I can hike faster... I don't care. I get to sleep more. It's good with me.

Sleeping tonight at the Clarendon Shelter. Tomorrow I will reach the 500 miles left mark. I've been hearing rumors that Hanover is trying really hard to get designated as the best trail town. I don't know if they'll get it, but SoBos have been talking about all sorts of free or reduced price food places in Hanover. I'm pretty stoked about that.

Today's hike started with a slow uphill that paralleled a beautiful lake for a while. It entered an alpine forest for a while, peaked at a spot with about 100 cairns placed in random locations, and then headed toward a river. Today had a lot of really neat water features. Most notably were a waterfall and a rapidly flowing river. HillHiker and Jersey elected to stay a shelter south of where I ended. I ate dinner with them, had a small nip of Johnny Walker, and headed on. After a quick rock scramble and some neat trail magic (candy and fruit), I ended at the shelter. Mousetrap, Diesel, and I made a huge fire using pine scraps and the better part of a downed birch tree. Best fire thus far.

I'm trying to make it to Killington, VT tomorrow.

July 24

The Green Mountain Hostel was a nice stay. Twenty dollars bought a night's room, laundry, use of a kitchen, a shower with towel, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Even though the storm kept me up most all night, I'm glad I stayed there. I'd rather be inside during a storm of that magnitude than outside. Lightning and thunder were prevalent and close until at least three in the morning. The morning was enhanced by coffee brewed by Sugar.

After eating half a box of cereal and some doughnuts, I started up the trail like a flash in my gaudy trail runners. An hour passed and I found myself in a cloud on top of the Bromley Ski Resort. Visibility was limited due to fog, but it was exhilarating because it reminded me of the Smokies.

The rest of the day consisted of hiking through alpine forests around lakes while dodging the occasional cold rain storm. At one point we ascended along a ridge to find a staggering view of the Taconic Mountains behind us. These are BIG mountains that we were close enough to really appreciate their magnitude.

Tonight I find myself in the Big Branch shelter. We're (Jersey, Hill Hiker, Big Sky, Diesel, and Sugar) listening to a flowing river and hoping to not catch much rain tonight.