July 11, 2004
What's goin' on..
Dad and Ruth have spent their time in Poughkeepsie "flipslacking" (as Dad calls it). They jumped ahead to just south of Greylock Mountain in MA, and have been working their way backwards to Greenwood Lake (south of I-84 in NY), hoping to be able to catch up with some folk they haven't seen in awhile...
We'll create a special album for the flipslack so all the hikers they saw can check out their pictures. 
| Day | Miles | |
|---|---|---|
| June 29 | 90 | 23.1 miles1 to Unionville |
| 91 | 27 miles2 to Greenwood Lake | |
| July 1 | 92 | rest day in POK |
| 93 | rest day in POK | |
| 94 | 19 miles3 - flipslack in MA | |
| 95 | 20.7 miles4 - flipslack in MA | |
| July 5 | 96 | 18.6 miles5 - flipslack in MA/CT |
| 97 | 21.5 miles6 - flipslack in CT | |
| 98 | 21.9 miles7 - flipslack in CT | |
| 99 | rest day (rainy - fixed Erin's car) | |
| 100 | 22.4 miles8 - flipslack in CT/NY | |
| July 10 | 101 | 12 miles9 - flipslack (finished skipped section5) |
| 102 | rest day in POK |
Total: 186.2 miles..
The 5 month plan..
| Month | Target | Actual | Diff | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 400 | 314.4 | 85.6 | |
| May | 450 | 477.6 | -27.6 | |
| June | 500 | 565.5 | -62.5 | -7.5 |
| July | 424 | |||
| August | 400 | |||
So, 85.6 - 27.6 - 62.5 says they're 7.5 miles AHEAD of schedule. We've added 24 miles to the July section of the plan because the original 400-450-500-400-400 plan only totalled 2150 miles, and the trail is 2174(.1).
June 29
June 30
They made their way north, still with packs, to Greenwood Lake. Chris and I had left Dad's car there a few days before, and so they drove that back to our house.
This was a LONG day - they were so excited to get OFF the trail, that they pushed to get to the car. Dad said the last 9 miles or so were pretty rough for the end of an already long day.
July 3
who they met: Spot; EZDoesIt; WildCat; StumbleBum; Spearamint; CoolHandLuke and Ruby
July 4
who they met: BlueJay, WideLoad, SugarDaddy and Hawkeye; LoveBug and DeadManWalking (they started in December in Florida!); Camel and friend Jesse; SoCo and HappyFeet; Homeboy! and Sara Lemley (finishing what she started last year); Burning; Country and Ramblin'Man; BurningBoots and Jaybird, from ME;
July 5
who they missed: Flippy
who they met: MILO!!; OptimusPrime; Bramble and Storm (dog); NoBeard and NoDog; Pennsylvania Mule;
They also saw some people from the Poughkeepsie area, one of whom I happen to know.
July 6
who they missed: BearBehind
who they met: BearBagHanger; Pablo (Chile), Molly (WA), and Laura(OR); Salonga and MediumPace; Bandacoot (from Auburn, ME); Burrito; Zach; Little Chicken and Coyote; DragonFly (ME) and Ashtray; Chigger and MeerKat; Jordon;
July 7
who they missed: Flora and Fauna
who they met: Giggles and 30/30; Comin' and Goin', they're doing a freewheelin thing, and skipping the rest of NY/CT/MA, and heading up to Vermont to ride bikes for awhile; Paluka; Theo (Tay-o); Fuzzy and Stargaze; Bean and Root (the dog); Weber and Hans; Tank and BoneSpur; Nobody and Alright; Daybreak; Delta;
July 9
who they missed: Hydro, Krooked, K-OS, Marathon; SouthernBoy and Achilles; M and Sunrise
who they met: The Roman Noodles, SpeakSoftly (with an unnamed friend), Over/Under; K2; Lwhop (Leave without pay); Trunks, MountainDew, and SnowMan; Switchback and Zippy; Wizard, Mushroom, and Pokey; Sojourny; MississippiMule, MellowYellow, WicomicoWalker;
They handed out oranges, too. Who says hikers can't start their own magic?
July 10
Made up a skipped section, and I got to go, too!! Chris, Pete, Jasper and I all went on this one.
who they/we met: Sierra Marmot and Flippy, Matt from Chicago
I have to say, I am SLOW compared to these guys. 12 miles tuckered me out (and poor Jasper, too!) - though I suppose it would get easier after several days in a row.
The trail itself on this little section was pretty easy: the last part was boggy marsh-walk (lots of balancing on wooden beams over nasty puddles of black stew), and the mosquitoes were out in force; the first part had only one hill, with a few view-spots along the top that could sort of be called a ridge-walk, but half-heartedly at best. There was a nice breeze, which kept it from getting too hot, and the sun was out - a pretty day, all told.
References:
- Branchville, NJ (Culvers Gap), 1307.4 miles
1 Unionville, NY, 1330.5 miles
2 Greenwood Lake, NY, 1357.5
3 Dalton, MA, miles to 1554.5, to Lee, MA (US-20 Jacob's Ladder), 1535.5
4 Lee, MA, to MA-23, Lake Buel Road, 1514.8 miles
5 Skipped a section. Went from MA-41, South Egremont, MA, 1502.8 miles to US-44, Salisbury, CT, 1484.2 miles.
6 From Salisbury, CT, to CT-4 near Cornwall Bridge, CT, 1462.7 miles.
7 From CT-4 near Cornwall Bridge, CT, to CT-55 near the NY border, 1440.8 miles.
8 From CT-55 to NY-52 near Stormville Mountain, 1418.4 miles.
9 Made up the skipped section: MA-234 (1514.8 miles) to MA-415 (1502.8 miles).
Comments
question: how can you start in december in florida? is there 'unofficial AT' there or something? just wondering how deadmanwalking and lovebug did it.....