We did it!!!

the 2000 mile mark
a funny end to the 100 mile wilderness

check out my jacket to see how windy it was
Ben rips!

a proud moment

Well it's official, we hiked the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine 2,175 miles in total. Ben and I summited Mt. Katahdin at 8AM September 3rd, 2007. It was a little later than expected due to an unexpected intestinal illness that we both caught 3 days from the end. We were able to get out of the 100 mile wilderness to rest for a week before returning. My father was kind enough to bring us home, my mother kind enough to drop us back off on some logging road in the middle of no where and our good friend Jayme was there to bring us home at the base of Katahdin. It was a wild day with cold temperatures and winds steadily blowing at 45-50mph. It was once again another test of our endurance and it seemed so fitting. My eyes teared as the summit and famous Katahdin sign were in sight, a day I have dreamed of for so many years. Ben and I walked hand in hand for the final steps and together touched that sign, the end of a nearly 6 month journey. We are proud to have completed our trip and will work our way back into "normal life". Thanks to everyone for the continual support and encouragement it has been more appreciated than you can imagine.

This will be our last posting except maybe a few more pictures!



Much love,

Ben and Amanda

Monson, ME

We arrived in Monson earlier this evening and are gearing up for our final stretch. We picked up our last box of food at the post office and had a yummy lunch at the Monson General Store. There are about 9 thru-hikers in town tonight, many of them we've hiked with for quite some time. The past several days have been amazing with many great ponds and more mild terrain. We tented along the shores of Bald Mountain Pond last night which provided a great sunset and lots of loon calls. The 100 mile wilderness and the hike up Katahdin are all that remain and we plan on enjoying every last step! We may have to plan a get together with a slide show and dinner to finally reveal some of our photos!
Much love to you all and may you know each one of you have provided motivation to help us get here!!
Love,
Ben and Amanda

MAINE!!

Greetings from Stratton, Maine!! Sorry that it has been so long since we last updated this, but the opportunities for getting online have become limited. We are both doing well and are now less than 200 miles from Katahdin! We plan to summit on August 29th if all goes as planned which is exactly 2 weeks from today. If feels wonderful to be walking in our home state again and it's hard to believe this journey will soon come to an end. We have had wonderful weather through most of the higher elevations in both New Hampshire and Maine and spent the night last night in a warming hut on top of Sugarloaf. We'll be heading back on the trail soon and sadly this computer won't allow me to post pictures.
love to all at home, we'll be there soon!!
Ben and Amanda

Glencliff, NH

Hi Everyone,
A quick update. We are in Glencliff, NH and have now hiked ~1775 miles. We are looking forward to getting back into the White's; our old stomping grounds! My body is doing better after some rest and we cannot wait to steam those "sters" on the summit of Mt. K.
Love to everyone at home!

Killington, VT and Maine again?!

Hello all,
On the trail we are currently in Killington, VT and have been really enjoying getting back into some larger mountains in Vermont. We also now have <500 miles to go! The weather has been pretty good with off and on T-storms/showers and it is true the trail in Vermont is muddy! We reunited with our friends Rodeo Clown and Trash Bag who we have been hiking with now for 800+ miles. We have been having a blast with them and together we refer to ourselves as the Mountain Furies (a name we gathered during our biking adventure).

I have had some continual issues with my feet and back and this past week it got to the point where rest was really the only solution. So the Mountain Furies rented a car and drove to Maine for a 3 day vacation with the hopes that my body will be ready for the final trek to Maine. As we enter into New Hampshire we'll try to keep folks posted on where we will be and when.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support and motivation it really is appreciated!!

Love you guys
Ben and Amanda

Dalton, MA and Tom's House

A quick hello from Dalton, MA! We were not planning on staying here, but have had a few troubles with our tent ( no worries though) so decided to stop by Depot Street where Tom opens his home to hikers. We were greeted with huge ice cream sundaes, took showers, were allowed to borrow clean clothes and then got a ride to a great restaurant for dinner.
We are good and we keep walking, one step at a time Maine here we come!

Oh and we are working on ideas of unique ways to celebrate on top of Katahdin so if you've got any ideas let us know!
Boiling and eating lobsters on the summit was our idea?!?

Much love!

Taking a break from the Berkshires

PHOTOS!!

Nothing like a blueberry pancake breakfast at home!
Dad and Ben playing in the compost
Enjoying the views in New York
Palmerton, one of the most polluted places in America!
This racoon had been standing in the river looking for food and then climbed this tree when we passed by.
In the Bear Mountain Zoo looking at home far we've come and how much further we have to go.

Our bike riding adventure


Hog Nose snake

Crossing into PA
One of the nicest shelters to date
The half gallon challenge

Yesterday our vacation from our vacation began when my dad and step mom picked us up around Great Barrington, Massachusetts and drove us home to Maine! It was so wonderful to see them! Both Ben and I are looking forward to having a few days without hiking to allow our bodies and feet to rest and to take a break from daily hiking, which at times is mentally challenging.

On the trail we have now hiked ~1506 miles and are about 50-60 miles from the Vermont border! We had a wonderful welcome to Massachusetts with more climbing and some great views, which reminded us of hiking at home! We are really looking forward to the final 3 states and it's amazing for us to think that we have already crossed through 11 of them. We are excited to be close enough to home to have friends and family join us for some of our hiking in New Hampshire and Maine.

That's all for now, love to you all!