Slideshow

Hi friends!  I've finally put together a slideshow about the places we saw on the hike.  Enjoy! 

-Jo

Warrior Nation!

Life since the trail

The northern terminus with a list of people who helped us along the way...

Hiking the Great Eastern Trail was a life-changing experience for both of us.

We are continually reminded of all the help we received and the friends we made along the way.  The people are what made this trip everything it could be, and we can never thank you enough for being part of the journey.

Since we finished the trail, Bart has started work as an athletic trainer and his team is having a great season.  Jo has been in Minnesota helping her parents with some projects and is doing a lot of writing.

We will be at ALDHA's The Gathering this weekend, presenting on our hike at 3PM on Saturday.  More information: http://www.aldha.org/gathering.html

We hope our paths will cross with all of you in the near future.  Thanks to all, from the bottoms of our hearts and boot soles.

Heading home

No we didn't walk back! Three wonderful people helped get us home. Pat Monahan from NY(no not the city) took us to Duncannon PA where we ate lunch at the famous Doyle Hotel with(thanks for lunch) Pete Fleszar who traveled us to Morgantown WV(not before dumping us out of his convertible to hike a section of the GET West Route) (glad he thought it was a good idea) to Peggy Pings where we indulged in burgers, salad and potatoes before leaving to the Center Of The Universe!(My back porch Mullens WV!) sorry no squirrel gravy Peggy was walkin not huntin this year!

Northern Terminus

We made it! Posing at the northern terminus of the GET. Thanks to all that helped along the way- trail volunteers (trails don't build themselves )- people who followed us on our blog and our feet, backs, legs and other body parts for putting up with our constant abuse.
Stay tuned for further updated pics, wit and wisdom now that we will be around computers.
HillBillyBart & Someday

End of a journey

Lots of views and cool trail people gave us a nice warm hug to end our journey!

Final lunch

Our last lunch alone. Fitting!

4 miles left

4 miles to go WhewHooo! I hope there are fire trucks and jugglers on unicycles awaiting us!

Huff and Puff

An appropriate trail name for todays start of our end journey!

1 barn, 2 non-barns

Pat out with us today hiking through fields covered atop clouds of bliss.
HillBillyBart

2 barns, 1 non-barn

Today was a hikers delight on the Crystal Hills Trail.
HillBillBart

Crystal waters on Crystal Hills

Pat Monahan hiked 15.1 of our 21.1 mile day. His dogs hiked 30 miles! Could not ask for better company. They have a wonderful trail with lots of years putting it together.-HBB

Crystal Hills Trail views

Our first day and night in NY on the Crystal Hills Trail! Barns and fires luckily not one and the same.
HillBillyBart

Our last border!

We made it to NY! Thanks to all our PA friends that make trails and adventures like ours happen.

A migrating rock

Today, while hiking in Pennsylvania, Bart found a rock about half a meter long and a third of a meter wide. It was perfectly flat.

"Wow!" he said, "This is quite a find!"

I remained unconvinced. Although northern Pennsylvania is not rocky compared to southern & central PA, rocks are far from extirpated.

I said, "I will give you a dollar if you carry it to New York."

It went into his pack.

Northern MST

Pete hiked with us for a couple hours. Here are some of today's views. WOW!
HillBillyBart

Pat and Pete

Hikers are always hungry! Thanks Pat and Pete for a wonderful evening! Always entertaining!
HillBillyBart

Gnats

OK gnats I'm ready! What do you call a group of gnats: flock? Grouping? Gathering? Pride? I just call them annoying. Why or is it the same bunch that follow me for miles or do they have some sort of gnat relay?

MST water

Scenic views all along the Mid State Trail.

MST water

More Mid State Trail!

Rain rain...

This is my view from inside the tent. It's really hard to [get the motivation to] pack up when it's raining and thundering. My boots just got dry yesterday from the last rain! It might be a sandal day. Luckily Pete is coming north to visit with us and so if we survive the day, we will have a roof and a friend.

Happy Acres

The sign don't lie-the party's inside! Big thanks to Jae Z, Tiffany, Amber, and Big Dave for making us feel welcome when we stopped in a couple days ago! Jae Z - make it happen on the AT!!! Thanks Happy Acres! You've absolutely heightened our trail experience!

Morris

After much needed beer and pizza the step outside the tavern opened the sky releasing its heavy cloud volume over the Morris Fire Department.

Best ever: listening to Bart on the phone planning...

Best ever: listening to Bart on the phone planning his next backpacking trip. Still having fun, even when our feet aren't.

Zombie feet

I'll be leaving my feet in Pennsylvania!
HillBillyBart

MST sights

Woolrich, Inc

Woolrich has been a very welcoming town and company. So glad to revisit with Bruce and Barbara on our hike for lunch-thanks! Here they are (L to R) enjoying the evening with us at the Lodge.

Trip

To our Trail Angel Trip: thank you for the sanity break, good stories and best pizza on the trail.

Bart's Elevation Profile Lament

I'm gonna walk up a 1000 foot mountain
Feel like I'm gonna die
Then I'm gonna walk right back down that mountain
Hang my head and cry
Cause I'm walking up another 1000 foot mountain
Scratch my head and wonder why
That I'm walking back down that mountain
Just to get to the other side
-Bart

Skittles

There are few foods in life I have taken for granted, but one of those precious few has been ripped away from me.

I have always enjoyed the tangy congealed high fructose corn syrup of Skittles. As a child I favored the flavor with red #40, but as I matured, so did my taste buds. Soon, I most yearned for the combined taste of yellow #5 and blue #1. LIME!

And now it is all over. Gone. Lime has been replaced by sour apple. SOUR. APPLE. This is an abomination and an insult to my taste buds and my humanity.

Please, Skittles, reverse this folly.

PS. We have been in the woods too long.