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Brunswick, GA October 20-26, 2024 Our checklist for Utopia to return to the water is getting very small. For the most part, she is ready for splashing now. The yard has scheduled our launch for Thursday the 31st and we have a slip reserved with the marina starting then. Since the yard is only open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday and does not allow owners on site during off hours, our project list has sort of become our “job”. Each morning, we get up and head to the b

October 12-October 19 Brunswick, Georgia This week we really got started in earnest on getting the boat back in seaworthy shape. After the initial excitement of getting back to the boat it began to sink in that we had a bunch of work to do on the inside and the outside. Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to focus on what we do during each week to get the boat ready and what snags and/or issues we run into during this process. We promise once we are back in the water

No hiking, no boating, just a lot of in between.

As the title of this week's blog states, we are at the end of our Appalachian Trail hike after 157 days and almost 1700 miles.

This week involved a lot of sitting around.

Begin: Day 147- Saturday, September 14, Carver Gap , TN End: Day 152- Thursday , September 19, Flint Mt. Shelter Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 21.1 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1607 Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 327.7 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “09-08 TN” folder. Sorting by name is recommended. ——————— Hump Mountain Saturday 9/14- Day 147 Start: Carver Gap, TN - 380.8 End: US 19E, Mtn Harbor, TN - 395.6 Miles: 14.8 Ascent: 2348 | Desc

Begin: Day 140- Saturday, September 7, Damascus, VA End: Day 146- Friday, September 13, Roan Mountain,TN Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.2 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1519 Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 396 Day 140- Saturday, 9/7 Zero Day Damascus, or Trail Town USA, was a nice place to spend a zero day. All of the locals were super friendly and our hostel, Lady Di’s B & B, had loaner bikes for us to use around town. It was nice to do our chores by bike instead of walking

Big Miles Begin: Day 132- Friday, August 30, Bland, VA End: Day 139- Friday, September 6, Damascus, VA Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 20.7 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1444 Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 471 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “ 08-27 VA South ” folder. Sorting by name is recommended. Day 132- Friday 8/30 Start: Bland, VA - 592.1 End: Burkes Garden Hostel - 571.4 Miles: 20.7 Ascent: 4307 | Descent: 3738 Pam, our shuttle driver pic

Begin: Day 122- Tuesday, August 20, Daleville, VA End: Day 131- Thursday, August 29, Bland, VA Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 19.6 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1323 Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 592 A lot is packed into this post in an attempt to being it up to date while we have internet availability. CENTRAL VIRGINIA Day 122- Tuesday 8/20 Start: Daleville, VA - 731.7 End: Lamberts Meadow Shelter - 721.2 Miles: 10.5 Ascent: 2200 | Descent: 1450 Cool morning weather ha

Begin: Day 117- Thursday, August 15, Buena Vista, VA End: Day 121-Monday, August 19, Daleville, VA Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 20.1 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1184 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “ 08-10 VA Central ” folder. Sort by name is recommended. ————————— Day 117- Thursday Start: US 60 Buena Vista - 809.4 End: John Hollow Shelter - 789.3 Miles: 20.1 Ascent: 4355 | Descent: 5383 Our shuttle driver dropped us off back at the trai

Begin: Day 112- Saturday, August 10, Waynesboro, VA End: Day 116- Wednesday, August 14, Buena Vista, VA Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.8 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1105 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “ 08-10 VA Central ” folder. Sort by name is recommended. Day 112- Saturday (8/10) Start: Waynesboro, VA - 864.5 End: Humpback Rocks Picnic Area - 851.5 Miles: 13.0 Ascent: 3179 | Descent: 2024 It felt very good to get back on trail this m

The Southern Shenies Begin: Day 105- Saturday, August 3, Big Meadows Lodge, Shenandoah National Park, VA End: Day 111- Friday, August 10, Waynesboro, VA Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 19.9 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1051.0 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “07-31 VA Shenandoah” folder. Sort by name is recommended. ————————— Day 105- Saturday Start: Big Meadows Lodge - 927.1 End: Lewis Campground - 918.4 Miles: 8.7 Ascent: 1381 | Descent: 1

This is an extra long post. Typically we try to keep posts under a 5 or 6 minute read, but this has been a challenge, even after a fair amount of trimming, because we are having such a wonderful time on the start of our southbound hike and there are a lot of fun stories to share. Instead of stretching this across two separate weeks, it is written as two parts, both about a four-minute read. 1) Harpers Ferry to Front Royal 2) Front Royal to midway into Shenandoah National Park

Stratton, ME to Carratunk, ME plus a a little bit of WV

Carroll, NH to Gorham, NH

Begin: Day 77 (Saturday, July 6) Lincoln, NH End: Day 81 (Wednesday , July 10) Carroll, NH Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 10.4 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 825.3 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the NH 2 folder. Day 77 - Saturday 7/6 Start: Flume Gorge, NH - 1824.2 End: Liberty Springs campsite - 1826.7 Miles: 2.5 Ascent: 2478 Sleep: Tent Since the previous day was a 17-mile day, we decided to leave a little late from the Notch Hostel and made

Begin: Day 70 (Saturday, June 29) Hanover, NH End: Day 76 (Friday, July 5) Lincoln, NH Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.7 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 797.7 Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the NH 1 folder. DAY 70 - Saturday, June 29 Hanover, NH - 1755.0 Miles: 0.0 Sleep: Building It had been two weeks since we last took a day off from hiking. As with most of our “zero” days (a day where no trail miles are completed), we did our usual chores li

Begin: Day 63 (Saturday, June 22) Manchester, VT End: Day 69 (Friday, June 28) Hanover, NH Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.6 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 729.3 This week's photos are in the VT folder. Thundering Falls DAY 63 - Saturday, June 22 Start: Pinnacle Lodge - 1658.1 End: Big Branch stealth site, VT - 1674.5 Miles: 16.4 Ascent: 3289 | Descent: 3623 Highest Peak: Styles peak elev. 3375’ We woke up Saturday morning at the Pinnacle Lodge near Manchester, Verm

Begin: Day 55 (Friday, June 14) Becket, MA End: Day 62 (Friday, June 21) Manchester, VT Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 19 Total Trail Miles Hiked: 631.6 This past week, we completed the part of the Appalachian Trail that traverses the Berkshire Mountains and have now entered the Green Mountains. This week's photos are in the MA & VT folders. DAY 55 - Friday, June 14 Another impromptu long day Start: Berkshire Lakeside Lodge, MA - 1557.3 End: Dalton, MA - 1576.3 M

Begin: Day 49 (Saturday, June 8) Cornwall, CT End: Day 54 (Thursday, June 13) Becket, MA Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 21.3 (longest to date) Total Trail Miles Hiked: 531.6 This week we added photos to CT and MA DAY 49 - Saturday, June 8 Return to Trail Start: Cornwall, CT - 1484.5 End: Belters Campsite, CT - 1495.4 Miles: 10.9 We finally left the motel after long three night stay. Lemonade’s stomach was feeling well enough to move on so we did a gentle 10-mile