Jeff Daniels of Evergreen continued to approach the New Hampshire-Maine border earlier this week as he continued his effort to become what is believed to be the first Conecuh County resident to “thru-hike” the world famous Appalachian Trail.
On Monday, Daniels, 53, reported to The Courant from Pinkham Notch, a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire. He covered 79 miles of the trail since Monday of last week and has hiked 1,862 miles of the trail, which begins in Springer Mountain, Ga. and ends 2,181 miles away in Katahdin, Maine. As of Monday, he had 319 miles to go before finishing the hike, and he was about 30 miles from the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Daniels began his trip on March 13 and hopes to finish his trip in mid-September. The trail, commonly referred to as the “AT,” is arguably the most famous hiking trail in the world. The trail passes through 14 states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
During the past week, Daniels has experienced a number of rainy days as well as temperatures that dipped down into the thirties.
“I’m definitely glad that I went ahead and got my winter gear,” he said. “I’ve definitely needed it. We went to bed one night near 4,500 feet and we were expecting the temperatures to get down into the forties. When I got up, I could see my breath, and it was down into the thirties. It was the first time that I’ve had to zip up my down jacket since starting the trip in Geogria.”
During the past week, Daniels traversed the Presidential Mountain Range, which includes Mount Washington, the second highest mountain on the AT.
On Monday, Daniels was preparing to tackled what’s generally considered to be the “Toughest Mile of the AT.” Called Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm, these portions of the trail, which actually measure about three miles in length, this portion is also called the “killer mile” by many AT veterans.
“This part of the trail is pretty tough because you’ve got all these boulders that have fallen into a steep ravine,” Daniels said. “In a lot of places, you’ve got to remove your pack and go under, around and over them just about the best way you can. It’s very challenging. It’s a lot of hand over fist climbing.”
Also this coming week, Daniels expects to enter the Wildcat Mountains, which contain four or five sizeable peaks.
“And I’m still on track to finish on time,” he said. “I actually gained some time this week, so if I needed to take a longer break for whatever reason, I could do so and still make my Sept. 16 flight home out of Bangor, Maine.”
(Daniels is keeping an online journal of his trip, and it can be read at www.trailjournals.com/moondoggie. Also, look for continuing updates about Daniels’ trip in future editions of The Courant.”)
No comments:
Post a Comment