Georgia to Maine

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Our first 20 miler!

    Day 35, 20.3 miles, 364.5 total, Iron Mtn. Gap to Erwin, TN We hit the trail early today because we needed all the daylight we could get to attempt our first 20 mile day. The day started out with a quick climb up to 4,300 feet before leveling off for a bit. Then we had…

  • Erwin and the dead squirrel

    Day 34, 11.1 miles, 344.2 total miles, Erwin, TN Today we got underway around 11:00am for our 11.1 mile day starting at Spivey Gap. I was able to do a little bit of client work before starting, so that worked out well. The hike started out with a short climb, but there was still some…

  • What a difference a day makes!

    Day 33, 13.4 miles, 333.1 total miles, Erwin, TN Today Stretch and I hit the trail around 9:00 at Sams Gap and started climbing Big Bald Mountain (elevation 5,516). Boy, was it cold! We summited around 12:30 and the wind was whipping. The temperature was probably around 20 degrees with a wind chill of below…

  • Nature Delivered

    Day 32, 8.7 miles, 319.7 total, Erwin, TN Today Stretch and I slack packed from Sams Gap to Devil Fork Gap. We started around 9:00 and walked in the rain for about three hours, but we didn’t seem to mind because we only had 5-7 pound packs on our backs instead of the normal 35…

  • Great day, “Butt” more rain and snow on the way

    Day 31, 9.4 miles, 311.0 total miles, Erwin, TN Last night the cold set in and the wind howled all night long. My zero degree sleeping bag kept me nice and warm so I was pretty happy. The tent sites were all sloped so I kept waking up down at the bottom of my tent.…

  • 300 miles!

    Posted a day later, no cell coverage Day 30, 12.1 miles, 301.8 miles , Jerry Cabin Shelter Today, we got dropped off by our trail angel, Marlene. The sun was shining and we headed up, and up, and up! We climbed 2,500 feet up to 4,700, but it was over six miles so it wasn’t…

  • Should we hike today? Ah, no.

    Day 29, 0 miles, 289.7 total miles, Greeneville “Eco-No-Lodge” Last night Stretch and I had to make the call to stay put in Greeneville another day. It was a bit of a disappointment, but we didn’t want to risk getting hurt. This is what the weather looked like this morning. I think we made a…

  • Hail, thunder, lightning, and a trail angel

    Day 28, 8.9 miles, 289.7 total miles, Greeneville, TN Today started out perfectly. We had a nice continental breakfast at the Magnolia Inn and then were swept away to the trail at 8:00 by our new friend Jim…who sort of has a resemblance to Santa Clause. Our plan was to hike 13.7 miles to Little…

  • Back in Hot Springs: a bear, slack pack, and a pillow

    Day 27, 5.9 miles, 280.8 total miles, Hot Springs, NC Last night I stayed at Sretch’s house in Charlestown, MA. We grilled, had a few drinks and watched “A Walk In The Woods” which had us belly laughing at different scenes. It was a great evening. I gave Dana a call around 9:00 and while…

  • Take two: Heading back to the trail this week!

    It’s been two years since Stretch and I left Hot Springs, NC. We’ll be heading down there this week to pick up where we left off in 2019. Our plan is to fly down to Charlotte on the 26th and catch a ride into Hot Springs from a nice gentleman that works in the Welcome…

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