Madison to Carter Notch - The longest 14 miles of the trail. After being spoiled by the Madison Hut Crew I hiked to the top of Madison Mountain. The view was amazing, but I could see the cairns down the mountain to Pinkham Notch and it looked like a long journey. It took my 6 hours to get to Pinkham Notch and I saw Mercury a SOBO on the porch. I crawled onto the dry bench looking to camp and stay there. Mercury was also un-motived to hike anywhere. I went inside in hopes of being told that the weather was so bad I should not hike anymore. The desk clerk was chipper and happy and looked at his co-worker and said yeah I hiked to Carter Hut last week in just 3 hours. After a meager lunch, I headed up the mountain for the long journey to a stealth campsite. I crawled up the mountain and slide down the other side to the Carter Hut, where there was no work for stay. But I did meet ShortBus and Stead Fast.

The Whites - The Appalachian Money Club manage the white mountains in NH and the weather. The journey from Crawfords Notch, NH to Gorham, NH was epic. It seems that the mountains area amazing and beautiful, but I would not know because the clouds, rain, and misty really made the view hard to see. The hut system of the whites provides a little bit of warmth food and love. Hiking up from Crawford Notch I ran up the cliffs to the Mizpah Hut and hoped to work for stay. The college students who managed the hut said it was too dangerous to hike to lake of the clouds, but when they found out I was thru-hiking, I was told I would have no problem making it to the next hut. The head cook let me stay, my work for stay consisted of drinking tequila in the dungeon and cleaning the freezer. I am not sure who benefited more.

On the Trail - The final journey north to Maine has started. My mom and dad dropped me off on Sunday at The Delware Water Gap and I started to follow the black bears and rattle snakes north. 

May 23 - Today I was scheduled to hike 12.4 miles from to Wildcat Shelter on the AT and hike 1.6 on a side trail to Greenwood Lake NY to resupply about 4 miles into my hike, I met a dog walker who out of the kindness of her heart offered me a ride to town! Yeah! No one really likes road walks or side hikes any way. So about 40 minutes later, which was only 1/4 mile to her car I got a ride to town, shopped at CVS pretty good selection and got a ride back to the trail. Since it is more convient for her, she is dropping me off 6 miles north of where she picked me up. Crazy Dog Walker Lady! So my plan is to leave my pack at the ice cream store and run 6 miles south and then turn around and run back 6 miles north to my pack and then hike 4 more to the shelter. So my 12.4 mile day just turned into a 18.4 mile day! "A good deed never goes unpunished," my punishment is 6 miles of extra hiking.

Mastering the art of cooking in your office

I bet you did not know you can cook the following items in a microwave or hot pot

• Hardboiled Eggs
• Fried Eggs
• Pasta or Quick Rice
• Oatmeal

Parking

The key to finding a place to park my truck is to be very familiar with the town parking regulation, limits, and traffic patterns. Since it is now winter and dark at 5:00 pm, living in the truck means I can go to bed early. Unlike the summer, when it stayed light until 10:00 pm or later it was more challenging. I typically park in a residential area with little or no traffic. I try to find neighborhoods of family's that are quite in the evening and morning. I also have to make sure there is not too many street lights so that I can go to sleep in the dark. I have to get to my truck late in the evening, so that no one sees me crawl into the truck and get up early enough that no one sees me leave. There are many streets close to campus that provide this opportunity. It is also nice to have friends on the campus and local police who recognize my truck, if necessary.

Worth Every Penny

I bought a gym membership for $419 at the university. The gym membership includes:

• Unlimited Showers and no water bill
• Unlimited Clean Towel, I never have to wash one again
• Free Cable TV from 5:30 am - 11:00 pm (with mild exercise)
• Hot Tub
• Pool, Weight Room, Track, and more  
• Free Wi-Fi

This comes out to $35 a month!