Evergreen's Jeff Daniels nears New Hampshire on the AT

As of Monday, Jeff Daniels of Evergreen had less than 500 miles to go in his quest to “thru-hike” Appalachian Trail as he neared the Vermont-New Hampshire border.

Reporting from Cooper Lodge Shelter near Rutland, Vt. on Sunday, Daniels, age 53, noted that he’s hiked a total of 1,697 miles of the world-famous trail, which begins in Springer Mountain, Ga. and ends 2,181 miles away in Katahdin, Maine.

As of Tuesday of last week, Daniels had hiked 1,640 miles of the trail, which is commonly called the “AT.” Daniels began his trip on March 13 and hopes to finish his trip in mid-September.

The Appalachian Trail 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.

On Sunday, he began his final push out of Vermont and into New Hampshire.

“I have less than 500 miles to go,” Daniels said. “It is a major milestone for the trip.”

On Saturday, Daniels climbed 3,500-foot Killington Mountain, which is the second-highest peak in Vermont. He finished the day by setting up camp at a shelter on top of the mountain.

“I cooked supper, and then followed the rest of the hikers to the summit for 360-degree views,” he said. “What a great sunset! We all had on every stitch of clothing we were carrying. Temps were to drop into the upper forties, and it was windy, but the reward was an incredible sunset.”

On Friday, Daniels logged an ascent of 1,000-foot Bear Mountain.

“It started looking more and more like rain, so I checked the radar,” Daniels said. “I actually had a signal (on his cellular phone), and the rain was coming fast. So I flew the last 4.6 miles to this shelter, and literally made it by inches before it started raining.”

Daniels closed out the week by reflecting on his quest to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.

“I realized this morning that this adventure that I started with is still an adventure at every turn of the trail,” Daniels said. “But somewhere back in Tennessee or southwest Virginia, it also became a journey, not just a journey along the Appalachian Mountain ranges to Katahdin, that 'Greatest Mountain' as the local Indians called it, but a journey into my soul and mind.

“As I walk along, usually alone and in my thoughts all day, I find that this journey is about me personally, as well as the trail experience. I came to realize this morning that there is a third component on this trail, and that is it is now a quest, a quest to finish this long adventure and journey, a quest to take what I learned these almost five months home with me, and apply it in everyday life - patience, compassion, understanding of others who are different from you but have a common goal. And yes, a quest to finish something I started dreaming about since I was that scrawny, shy little kid who saw an Appalachian Trail sign in the Smokey Mountains, and wondered where it went.”

(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.”)