Two Daves Go to Maine

Peace Corps

2007-09-07T10:25:00.001-06:00

Hey all,

Just in case there are still people who check this blog out, I'll let you know that my (David Garfunkel - Stash) Peace Corps blog is http://holadavid.blogspot.com.

More Pictures!

2007-07-16T09:48:00.000-06:00

I added about a dozen new photos to the Flickr site. They are from Remix's camera. Enjoy!

Stash

All Good Things...

2007-07-11T00:17:00.000-06:00

Remix here, posting for the last time.
[NOTE: Stash also posted so be sure to check his out below too!]

Minnesota is too flat. Trail withdrawl started to hit late yesterday afternoon, before then I was too busy being dead tired and driving back from Maine. I knew when I saw the last white blaze on top of Katahdin that I was loosing my lodestar. Now back in the world of infinite ways to waste time, cell phones, cars and gas stations I wish I knew which direction I was headed. I have faith that I will find my new path and journey again.

Read Stash's entry below, all of it is true. The 100 mile wilderness was no problem, Katahdin was a beast, and our PBRs were cooled by the 40-50 mph winds on the top of the "greatest mountain."
A couple things that were left out of his thoughful entry: The fourth of july was spent at White House Landing. The only place to resupply within the 100-Mile Wilderness. Stash and I each enjoyed a full pound cheeseburger, two slices of pizza, a pint of ben & jerry's ice cream, a few sodas, snickers and potato chips and we had a packet of cheese crackers for dessert.
The morning of the fourth, en route to WHL we encountered a sign on the trail that said "pond, view of Katahdin." We had been driven all morning by the thought of food and were making great time (over 3 miles an hour) so I walked the 30 feet to the right to see this view...WOW. it was our first clear view of Katahdin, up close and beautiful. I'd spotted the big K before, from 100 miles away or in the clouds up close, but nothing as powerful as this. I remember laughing so hard that my eyes teared, Katahdin was truly awesome. (there are pictures of this viewpoint on Flickr, the ones with the k behind us to on the right.)
Working backwards, we also had a great stop in Monson. Our last town stop ever. Kentucky Blue, Stash, and I stayed at Shaws, ate delicious BBQ, tried the soft drink "moxie" and lobster rolls. I think we all learned an important lesson that day. Don't drink MOXIE!

I now find my self reading the trail journals of others still out there, as you all have done with us over the past four months. In the end I wouldn't have changed a thing about our trip. It was our first long distance hike and we did it well. To my family and friends who sent us encouragement through the mail or through posted comments - Thank You. Both made my trip better. To anyone I've met on the trail - I think of you daily. To Stash - Lets go hiking man.
Remix

The End of the Journey...A Note from Stash

2007-07-10T14:50:00.000-06:00

Hello!

We're finished! As I write this, I'm sitting back at home in Minnesota - kind of a surreal experience. At around 9:00 AM on July 7th, Remix and I reached out and finally touched that old sign at the top of Katahdin that we've been walking towards for 2,174 miles. 03/10/07 to 07/07/07 - kinda cool. We finished in 120 days, which is a pretty fast time. People gave us a hard time throughout the entire trail for moving at the rate that we did, but we mostly smiled, ignored them, and hiked fast enough that we never had to talk to them again. Luckily for us, the three others that we finished with on the 7th were good friends of ours - it was nothing but a truly positive experience. The Traveler, Tau, and Kentucky Blue were all up there with us, enjoying the moment.

In order to reach Katahdin, northbounders have to pass through the 100-mile wilderness, a 100-mile stretch between Monson, ME and Baxter State Park where there is very little in the way of resupply. It's one of the most vaunted stretches of trail - people freak out about it for months in advance. As usual, we found it to be slightly over-rated. It was slightly more "wilderness-like" than most other sections, but it was mostly flat and relatively easy walking. Tree roots and stretches of boggy areas were our biggest obstacles, but we managaed to cruise throught without event.

When we reached Abol Bridge (the last stop before Baxter), Blue and the two of us bought a bunch of beers and rented out a lean-to on the property. It was our last night together on the trail without our friends. We had a really good time reflecting on the past 2,000 miles and few months. We slept well and woke up to The Traveler and Tau standing over us at about 6:00 AM. We spent the morning with them hanging out and eating breakfast - another great way to spend our last hours on the trail. Without further ado, we hiked the last 10 miles to Katahdin Stream Campground where we eagerly awaited the hot dogs and beers to be brought by Blue's friends. Remix and I were also particularly excited because Peace Train (recently updated to 'world's most loyal friend') was finishing up his 28 hour drive from Minneapolis to pick us up. Everyone arrived without incident, tired from the drive but ready to climb Katahdin the next morning.

Remix, Peace Train, and I all got started on the 7th at around 6:30 or so in the morning. We were going to leave earlier, but it was slightly rainy and foggy. The five mile ascent up Katahdin is the most difficult on the entire trail. Winds of up to 50 mph were gusting as the clouds whipped around us for the couple hour ascent. It was intense, but also intensely beautiful. For us, it was more of a celebratory hike than anything. We'd had our time to reflect during the previous few days - this was now our chance to get up top and be on top of the world...

They say it takes 5 million steps to get from Georgia to Maine. As the sign came into view at the top of Katahdin, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make the last couple hundred happen, but my feet somehow kept moving. Very few words were exchanged between the five of us at the top - somehow a teary-eyed "congratulations" and a hug or handshake is more than enough.

The three others headed down almost immediately. It was probably about 35 degrees with a whipping wind. However, we decided to stick it out and hang out for a bit. Peace Train made his way up shortly after we did, and we started our personal celebration. I carried up around 10 or 12 PBRs, and we made quick work of them with the help of some other day hikers that decided to help us celebrate. Remix turned on his radio, and we enjoyed our last couple of hours on top of the Big K. We took some pictures - some serious, most of them funny (as is our style). My personal favorite is posted at the top of the blog. I also put a bunch more on our flickr site. I'm sure Remix will post again soon and put some more pictures up as well.

The last couple of days have been kind of a blur. Over 30 hours in the car on the way home - too long, but that's okay. Trying to catch up on sleep and heal my body without putting on 50 lbs. I guess we'll see about that!

Not much else to say, I suppose. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to every person who posted on the blog and otherwise supported us in our adventure: my mom, dad, sister, and brother; Dave's family; Bakery boys; Rose and family; ultimate friends; everybody from Camp; friends from the Mac Grill; friends we met along the trail; strangers who somehow stumbled on our site just to offer words of encouragement - the list could go on and on...I know I missed people, but just know that you were never missed when your actions or words of encouragement pushed me those extra couple of miles each day. I couldn't have done it by myself - and for that reason, I'd also like to say a special thanks to Dave/Remix. People looked at us like we were crazy when we said we'd hiked the whole way since Springer together. It takes a special kind of relationship to be able to spend that much time together and have such a (nearly) flawless trip. Suffice it to say that "TwoDaves Hike the Pacific Crest Trail 2010" is already in the works.

As for now, other adventures await the both of us. I'm looking forward to what lies ahead - Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and, well, the rest of my life! Life is good, everybody...Enjoy the ride!

Stash/David Garfunkel

A quick update from the trail

2007-06-27T11:01:00.000-06:00

The Daves are in Stratton, ME. We've hiked the Mahoosuc and Crocker mountain ranges since leaving Gorham, NH. The Bigelows will be tackled tonight and tomorrow. Southern Maine's trail loves to go steep up and then right back down. In the past week we've seen rain/hail with high winds to hot/humid with no breeze. We have a date with Monson , ME on Saturday night and then it is off to Katahdin by the seventh of July.
Kentucky Blue is still rolling with us. In Rangeley, ME we ran into some old friends at the Gull Pond Hostel: Boone, his bro, and Redo. A good time was had by all.
Stash killed a bear and Remix ate it.
Kentucky Blue sketched the whole thing.
The humidity is getting to me, I should post this soon.

Done with the Whites!

2007-06-21T09:31:00.000-06:00

Hello from Gorham, NH!

We are officially 16 miles from Maine. Unbeliveable - almost 1900 miles hiked, less than 300 to go.

The White Mountains were breathtaking. By far the most scenic section of the trail to this point. I'll post some pictures so you can have a better idea of what I'm talking about.

We slowed down throughout NH - sometimes doing as few as 9 miles per day. We pulled one 20 mile day through the Whites (a huge accomplishment) - this was complemented by me leading us on a 2 mile detour. Frustrating, but we're feeling great.

We've been hiking in a group, also - which is also a change of pace. Three ladies - Kentucky Blue, Tapeworm, and Redo - have been accompanying us through the mountains. It's been a lot of fun. We're leaving Tapeworm and Redo tomorrow, but it looks like Blue and the two of us will be cruising to the finish. The finish, coinicidentally, is about two weeks from Saturday. After about 105 days of hiking, 15 more seems pretty doable.

Anyway, I'm once again on a public computer with a waiting line. I know these updates are short - the pictures hopefully can show you how we are really doing. Life's great, though. We're both exactly where we want to be, in good spirits, good health, and an almost perfect state of mind.

Thanks for checking in, everybody - and we'll talk to you soon!

TwoDaves

Ver-Mud!

2007-06-08T14:40:00.000-06:00

Hello from Rutland, VT!

Sorry about the extended period of time between posts - believe it or not, internet is actually more difficult to find here than in the SOUTH! Once again, I'm on a public computer that'll kick me off, so brevity is going to be my friend...

Updates, state by state:

New York: Our last post was from the house of Henry Hudson, a great guy who picked us up off the side of the road in NY out of nowhere! We were beat, hungry, and dirty - he took us to his house, let us shower, fed us steaks, took us shopping - the works! It was great. The rest of New York was less awesome - overly hot, bouldery, and kind of long in general. Thru-hikers start hitting a wall at this point, but we powered through to Connecticut.

Connecticut: What we originially planned to do in ONE day turned into THREE. But that was alright with us. We were tired and somewhat negatively set in our minds after NY, so we took some time in CT. We ended up in Kent, CT our first day for lunch - the yuppiest town this side of Wayzata. Definitely not a hiker town, even though it was only 1/2 mile off the trail. Lots of rich looking guys rolling around in BMWs and Tommy Bahama pink shirts. Still, we got some good lunch and that was alright.
A day or two later we ended up at the house of our trail buddy Conqui (conquistador). The Two Daves, Conqui, Trocar, and Joe from Iowa all spent the night at Conqui's - a great rest in some beds with, once again, steak and corn. More trail magic! The bummer was that Conqui (lack of money) and Joe from Iowa (business at home) both had to get off the trail. It was sad to see them go after soooooooo many miles, but sometimes finishing the trail isn't a priority. We set off the next day with Trocar in hopes of finding some glory in Massachussetts.

Mass: Together with CT, the most beautiful states we've seen since down in Virginia. Really nice mountains (yes, actually mountains!) and a great stop at Upper Goose Pond Cabin. For a $3 donation, you get a four-walled shelter and a pancake breakfast! All you can eat, baby. At the end of Mass. we ended up in Dalton, where a trail angel named Tom Levardi took us in for the night. Once again, rides all around town and dinner on the house were the themes for the night. The generosity of people is truly unbelievable. His food helped us power over Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in over 600 miles - we flew up it, and down into Vermont.

Vermont: MUD, RAIN, and more MUDDDD!!! Ridiculous. My feet are completely black, even after a shower. My shoes are absolutely ruined, but we both got new ones today in Rutland (thanks, families!). We walked into a tropical storm (sheets of rain for hours upon hours) - that, coupled with the recent snow melt made for ridiculous walking conditions. Mud up to our ankles on about 1/2 the trail. Recently it's dried up and we're looking forward to nicer weather. The Green Mountains, by the way, are breathtaking. When you get up this far north people love to talk about the Whites in New Hampshire, but the Greens are awesome in Vermont. Rutland is treating us great so far - all is well!

Well, that was pretty quick - but, that's all I have time for right now! We have two more days until Hanover, NH - home of Dartmouth - and the beginning of our penultimate state. And, as of right now, we have one month left! We're planning on summitting Mt. Katahdin in Maine on July 8th. I guess we'll see!

Oh yeah, and I found out I'm (Stash - David Garfunkel) going to the Dominican Republic in September for 2 years for the Peace Corps. Awesome, as well.

Life's good. Hope everyone back home is doing well, and we'll talk to you soon!

TwoDaves

Finally Photos

2007-05-24T22:31:00.000-06:00

O frabjous day! I finally found a computer to post photos. We posted a lot of them tonight. We are in NY at the moment at the home of an incredibly nice trail angel named Henry. Leaving NJ in their dust, Stash and Remix banged out the first three tirty mile days with out too much trouble but each morning we found our selves sleeping later and later. So today, in the 90 degree heat, we decided to adjust the three state challenge.
We will be covering the same ammount of ground in the same number of days but instead of taking it slow before and after Conneticut we are spreading it out. New York is a beautiful state, but not one to mess with. We find ourselves hiking hand over hand up a mountain very often every day (fun but slow.) We did the 'Lemon Squeezer' earlier today and will begin tomorrow morning with crossing the Huson River bridge.
Thank You all for your comments, we love hearing from our friends and family back home. We are safe and smiling.
-R&S

Done with Rocky Pennsylvania!

2007-05-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

Hello all,

I've got to keep this short because I'm at a public library in Stroudsburg, PA with a time limit! We pulled into Delaware Water Gap, PA yesterday afternoon and spent last night with a couple friends eating too much pizza. Today we've been doing laundry, shopping - the usual...but it's gone well so far.

Pennsylvania eventually lived up to its rocky hype. It sucked, really - the rocks were quite frustrating and tiring on the ol' feet. We're both pretty happy to be over with it. Apparently New Jersey is still a little bit rocky, but PA was definitely the worst of it.

Our next week will potentially be our hardest of the entire trip. We're going for around 215 miles in one week, including completing Connecticut in one day - 52 miles. Probably overly ambitious, but you don't accomplish crazily amazing things without making crazily reckless decisions!! Well, it's not that reckless, but it should be fun.

Anyway, that's about all for now. This time I promise we'll post pictures! Check 'em out.

TwoDaves

HALF WAY!

2007-05-08T13:05:00.000-06:00

Hello!

Well, it's official. We passed the half-way mileage point yesterday afternoon! At mile 1087.3, we only had 1087.3 miles to go. And, as of right now, we have even less! We've since crossed the 1,100 mile mark and are now hanging out in a house outside of Boiling Springs, PA. We were outside of an Appalachian Trail Office in Boiling Springs waiting out the pouring rain when a stranger pulled up and offered us a place to stay - with shower, laundry, internet, food, the works...the generosity we experience on a daily basis is truly remarkable. Turns out he's a hiker himself who just puts people up whenever he can - awesome.

We left Waynesboro and entered the Shenandoahs on May 1st. The Shennies were supposed to be a super easy stretch of trail that everybody loves. Well, we had a less than awesome experience, to say the least. The trail wasn't very arduous, but we had some mishaps. Stash literally fell ON his face, smashing his sunglasses into his forehead and breaking his trekking pole in half. We wish we had video of it - a priceless fall. Our friend El Train also took a tumble, injuring his pack. Then, a mouse ate through our food bag even though we hung it from a tree. Oh yeah, and we got rained on. So, after all that, we decided to treat ourselves to some good food at the lodges throughout the Shennies. They're pretty comparable to places like Bluefin Bay or Caribou Highlands on the North Shore - mostly filled with people who want nothing to do with actual outdoor adventure, but love spending time (and money) in beautiful spots. So we ate over-priced meals for a couple of days and got the morale back to a positive level. Then we sent some more stuff home, which always makes us happy. Right now, Stash's pack base weight (without food, water, fuel) is 14 pounds - Remix weighs in at 15. Pretty good, considering most people probably carry 8 to 20 pounds more than that.

After the Shennies the dynamic duo and El-train hit Nor-VA or Northern Virginia as it is known to everyone else. The first 10 miles were incredibly rocky...then way too easy and flat and soft and beautiful. We resupplied in Front Royal, VA and on our way there we ran across something the government doesn't want you to know. A huge caged-in park where they keep wild animals (read: engineered dinosaurs) and there was a break in the fence! Seriously though we didn't see any animals in this huge weird fenced in area, but they were huge bamboo patches. Nor-Va's simplicity forced the mind to wander to make the hiking interesting. Our hitch in to Front Royal was also interesting, with two former thru hikers in their eighties and their son in his fourties picked us up and just before we got out of the car at the grocery store they handed us a Cinco de Mayo beer. So there we are, in the middle of a packed parking lot, Remix is in his underwear, all of us haven't showered in ten days, and we have mostly full Modelo's. Quite a scene, and it was quickly taken care of.
At the very end of Virginia is an infamous section called "The Rollercoaster" where the trail goes "Straight up a hill and then back down, and then right back up and right back down, like fifteen times!" Or so the story goes. It WAS much more of a challenge than the flat walking we had seen the two days earlier, but not as bad as all the hype (this overly-difficult-hype is a recurring trend on the ATizzle.) Stash and Remix hit the seven or eight (not fifteen) hills with a smile as this section reminded them of earlier, more innocent times (like Georgia where this was the norm.) North of the 'Coaster was the last 20 miles before Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. As we ate breakfast that Virginian morning Stash remarked, "I bet we see Trocar walk by this morning" and Trocar walked by with Joe from Iowa and Conquistador in tow, the three of them also headed north to Harper's. Trocar for those of you who don't remember is our undertaker buddy who we last saw on our FIRST day in Virginia. We'd caught up to him (passing him the previous night as he slept) and saw him on the LAST night in VA.
Harper's was/is a big deal for us. The psychological half-way and a town that sticks in the mind of a thru hiker.
Rolling in around two in the apres-midi our starcrossed hero's found LI (the fastest hiker we know) and some Gyros. With a zero planned for the next day we took it easy.
The next day Remix headed out to get pop-tarts and a hair cut (watch out ladies.) Both were a sucess. The hair chop makes Remix look more respectable, so when he stuck out his thumb to hitch back to Harper's Ferry the FIRST car to come along stopped. That is a good hair cut.

Perhaps that most memorable part of Harper's Ferry for us was meeting a man named The Traveler. The Traveler has hiked more miles on the AT than all but one other person in the entire world. The Traveler is a legend. The Traveler has hiked some of the trail every year for the last forty years. The Traveler once hiked 10,000 straight miles over the course of a couple of years. It was cool to meet The Traveler.

Oh yeah, and he's crazy wealthy and bought us lunch and dinner - also cool. We paid for almost nothing during our whole stay there. And, maybe the coolest part yet - The Traveler invented the quad-state challenge. The quad-state challenge involves walking from the Virginia/West Virginia border, doing all of West Virginia and all of Maryland and ending up in Pennsylvania - in ONE day. It's a total of about 43.5 miles. Stash was so inspired by meeting this guy that he decided to try it. Remix decided to walk all of Maryland (still over 41 miles).

So, after eating dinner with The Traveler, Stash hiked backwards to the border of VA/WV during the night. After a restless night of sleep, he awoke at 2:45 and started hiking at 3:04 am. An hour later, when he reached Remix, he woke him up and kept going. After 40+ miles of hiking, Stash got to the Mason-Dixon line (the Maryland/PA border) at 6:04 pm - 15 hours of hiking. Remix had left an hour after Stash that morning and showed up right around 7:00 pm. Mission accomplished.

Needless to say, our legs have been recovering slowly from such a long day. However, we're back rolling again. Pennsylvania's been great so far.
If you read the current issue of Backpacker, the MD challenge is mentioned...so is another one: THE HALF GALLON CHALLENGE at the half way point thru hikers eat a half gallon of Ice-Cream. So Remix sat down with Chocolate and Stash with Cherry Jubilee (Hershey's Ice Cream since wez in PA.) Twenty two minutes later Remix was done with his box and feelin fine...Stash put the last bite down at minute forty-five and at minute forty six all bites previous came back up as he ran behind the general store at the half way point. A success.
We will be posting photos from the famous Doyle Hotel and then pushing on through PA. Upcoming is a challenge Stash thought up today, and we've decided to try....the THREE STATE CHALLENGE. We'll do NY/NJ in six and CT in one day so three in a week. Sounds reasonable right? We're looking forward to the more remote states up north VT, NH, ME. Farther from town and the mountains return.
To all of our loved ones we think of you often.

Burnin' Up Virginia

2007-04-30T14:54:00.000-06:00

Shalom and Aloha everybody!

Remix and I are currently in Waynesboro, VA, 848.1 miles from the beginning of the trail! As per usual, our day off is being spent both running around town and sitting in our motel room doing not much of anything at all. We each got a brand new pair of shoes - it turns out that walking for 20 miles through the mountains everyday does a number on a pair of shoes after a while (you learn something new everyday). We also ate our usual 1/2 gallon of ice cream between the two of us, took some 'painkillers' (read: PBRmeASAP), got some new socks, and hung out with some of the Waynesboro denizen. This is actually the biggest town that we'll pass through on the trail - it's maybe the size of Minnetonka...? At any rate, not overly huge and definitely still has that "south of the mason-dixon" flavor.

We've been hiking for the past 3 days with a new friend, El Train, from Chicago. We covered 77 miles during those 3 days - once again, moving at a pretty good pace. We're about to enter Shenandoah National Park (a stretch of about 100 miles). We were considering attempting to finish the Park in 3 days, but we've since tamed our perhaps over-eagerness and have settled for four. From where we are right now, it'll take us about 7 days to get to Harpers Ferry, WV - this is the 1,000 mile mark and the (psychological) half-way point! Kind of unbelievable that we've made it this far already - not very long ago we were trudging up Springer Mountain on the first day of our hike.

We're both feeling pretty healthy. That being said, today's day off is a welcome break. Here's a short list of a few injuries and other problems that you might see us sporting on a day-to-day basis: blisters, broken toenails, bruised feet, swollen feet, flattening arches, sore back, sunburn, tick infestations, shin splints, lack of ability to grow facial hair (I think that's a by-product of trail life), and utterly breathtaking handsomeness (that's genetics).

Due to the fact that we've been running around town so much, we both neglected to bring our cameras to upload new pictures (sorry!). We'll probably have to wait until Harpers Ferry to do that. Instead, you might try looking at our old pictures, crossing your eyes, and attempting to see us in 3D (like Magic Eye). If that doesn't work, picture two dudes gracefully limping down a rock-covered trail for 10-12 hours a day up and down mountains for four months with the drive for food being the only thing that brings them into camp each night. Very nice.

Well, I suppose I'll end this rambing mess of a blog and let Remix take a look to make sure that I haven't said anything too crazy. We've both found ourselves sort of slipping...not like Jack Nicholson in The Shining type of slipping - more like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty type slipping. Perhaps not as sharp as we once were when we interacted with society on a day-to-day basis, but probably never more in tune with our abilities to push ourselves above and beyond that which we thought was physically possible before we began.

Anyhoo - we're off to get some groceries. Take care, and we'll post again in about a week!

TwoDaves

Dinkin in Podunk, VA

2007-04-26T15:15:00.000-06:00

Stash and I are in Glasgow, VA for a resupply and a nero (short rest). We've been truckin since we last checked in. Since Pearisburg we've done an average of 23-25 miles a day; these last few days we've really felt back in the swing of things with great moods and great hiking speeds. The weather has cooperated too, there have been a few showers but just enough to cool us off. We usually rest during the hottest time of the day by planning lunch/refilling H20 between 2-4 pm and then press on another seven to ten miles.
Here on the AT there is something called the "Virginia Blues" where hikers quit Virginia because they supposedly either 'lose what they came out here for' or get frustrated with the length of Virginia (one quarter of the entire trail)...
It would be easy to get such 'Blues' if you didn't come out here for the beautiful vistas, smooth trail, waterfalls, interesting rock formations, wildlife, or people.
Sarcasm aside, Virginia is (personally) the most beautiful state yet and with only ten days left of this state no sign of the blues yet!!
Currently we are staying at the 'Tired Feet Restaurant and Motel' (the town's only restaurant or motel) with a fellow hiker El-Train. Hopefully we'll be able to catch the Daily Show while we are preparing our meals for the trail.
There aren't as many people on this section of the trail as we have pushed ahead of the crowds. Usually we will run into only one or two people per day, and see them for only the few moments of conversation before heading off alone. All of this may change as we enter the Shenandoahs in a few days, where there is likely to be a higher density of tourists and day-hikers. Hopefully they have food for us.
That's about it for now - be sure to check out our new photos - we're posting between 5 and 10 new ones!

-Remix & Stash

Pearisburg, VA!!! - P.S. Check out the VIDEO below!

2007-04-19T09:47:00.000-06:00

Hello again!

Well, here we are in Pearisburg, VA - home of...uh...not too much, as you'd expect. That's okay, though - they have coffee and Hardee's and some "beds," so it works for us. On a more somber note, we're coincidentally only about 25 miles from Blacksburg and the VA Tech campus - there's a lot of commotion, as you can imagine.

As far as the hiking goes, it's great as always. We're at mile 622 (only 1500 more to go!). We've done some crazy miles since Damascus. We did 75 miles in 3 days to get to Atkins, VA. We didn't post there because, as far as we could tell, there was no internet. We couldn't even find tortillas for our breakfast burritos!

We heard the weather was going to be bad (apparently a huge storm rocked the entire East coast), so we holed up in a motel in Atkins for a day. We watched 3 movies and did pretty much nothing - an excellent way to spend a "zero day." The next four days were once again pretty adventurous...

After we thought that we had beat the cold spell, we were once again confronted with sub-freezing temperatures. The video that we posted below this post shows us about an hour before we set up camp in a pine forest. It was nuts, really. 70+ mph winds, freezing rain...a beautiful day. The video quality isn't phenomenal, but you get the idea. As far as other multimedia goes, we posted a few more pictures, so check those out as well!

After a couple more days of sleet, snow, rain, and the like, we finally got some warmer temperatures and learned how to enjoy hiking again. Our last two days (Tuesday and Wednesday), we did a 23 mile and 32 mile day, respectively. Pretty huge - kind of like the blisters on our feet. We only have a few hours in town today (luckily, there's not too much to keep us here!) before we push on towards Waynesboro, VA. We have to make a stop somewhere around Daleville or Troutville in the middle, but we're not really sure exactly what we're doing. We always try to make plans, then always deviate from them. That's half the fun, though - and hey! we're done with a pretty huge chunk of the trail, so we must be doing something right.

Anyway, it's good to hear from y'all (look, we're learning how to speak southern!) as always. Let us know if the video deal works - maybe we'll be able to post more in the future. We might be able to post in Daleville, but more than likely we won't be able to until Waynesboro in about 10 days. So, until then, have a great few days and we'll talk to you soon!

TwoDaves

Video From the Top of Whitetop Mountain, VA

2007-04-19T09:02:00.000-06:00

Ok so Remix and Stash are trying something new (the video betrays our amateur film-maker status). Right after filming this we crossed the very top of Whitetop Mountain and two great things happened: It started to rain and the wind picked up a bit - Remix lost all the feeling in his legs ( I was wearing shorts ) and Stash's FrogToggz rain gear almost ripped off his body as they ran across the bald top of the peak leaning hard into the wind to stay upright.
We were soaked to the bone and had to camp after this dash across the mountian, we found a nice spot with minimal snow as the freezing rain dropped like our body temperature, fast. We did have a very nice warm night in our sleeping bags and our tarp worked beautifully.

The Friendliest Town on the AT

2007-04-10T16:29:00.000-06:00

Belated Easter Greetings! Stash and Remix arrived in Damascus, VA late Easter Sunday, but we're getting ahead of ourselves...
The North Carolina-Tennessee Border experienced a Dogwood Winter with temperatures below freezing for the past week. Thursday we hiked across the Roan Highlands with the actual temperatures around 20 degrees plus a wind with gusts of up to 50 mph (it was impossible to walk in a straight line). Little Hump and Hump Mountain (of the Highlands) were intense yet beautiful with the Hoarfrost on the shrubs dotting the balds. We stayed the night at Kincora; Bob Peoples' Hostel. (for all you camp folk, Bob is the AT's Bruce Konkler)
The next day we hiked 24 miles in the cold with our Undertaker friend, Trocar, and stayed again at Kincora.
Saturday we sadly left Kincora for good and headed out for what would be one of the coldest nights yet (in the teens to single digits.) Minnesotans may not understand why we thought that was cold but I, Remix, only had a 40 degree sleeping bag! We made camp with our friend 'Eleven' and made a fire for the first time on our trip. The fire kept us warm until bed time, and we survived the night using a few tricks: first, our tarp is breezy but warm without allowing condensation; second, we put a space blanket below our sleeping bags; third, we heated bottles of water and put them in our sleeping bags. We slept like babies, the hard part was breaking camp in the bitter cold outside!
Sunday we hiked 34 miles with our friend 'Eleven' straight into Damascus... Our longest day yet. We strolled in around 9pm and the whole town was quiet and closed...except for a Pizza Place! it was wonderful, we ate until we had trouble moving.
Stash and I decided to take two 0-days here in Damascus, but we've been busy!(a "0 day" is any day that a hiker makes no progress on the trail. This is different than a "nero" (nearly zero), where a hiker might walk 5 miles into town and then stay the night).
We met a nice hiker named Sparkler who drove us to Walmart, an AYCE (all you can eat), and lent us two bikes for a 17 mile bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail. We put a picture of her and the two of us on the Flickr site (which has been updated, by the way - CHECK IT OUT!). Maybe a 17-mile bike ride wasn't the best way to spend a 0-day, but we survived alright. The rest has been well-needed, though, and we're feeling rejuvenated.
Besides our adventures with Sparkler, we've spent our extra time buying food for the next few days, checking email, updating the blog, cleaning and drying our gear and ourselves, and generally being WARM for the first time in about a week. We also make a point of eating until we just about explode every time we sit down for a meal. We hear a lot about people getting to Maine and looking like refugees or POWs - we're doing our best to not let that happen. Calories are our friends - most people would say that's the best part about hiking. You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and it's good for you!
Anyway, we take off from Damascus tomorrow morning. There's rain in the forecast, but nothing like the snow and freezing temps that we've recently seen. We're pushing hard to Atkins, VA by Saturday morning (75 miles away) so we can get to the post office and pick up some packages. So, we have a tough few days ahead of us, but our bodies are rested and are spirits are high.
We'll try to post again on Saturday - but if we can't, you can be sure to hear from us in about a week or so from Pearisburg, VA.
Until then, take care and we'll talk to you soon!

TwoDaves

A Note From Peace Train (aka Joe Cline)

2007-04-06T07:39:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends of Stash and Remix,

Forgive the length of this post. I don't really do the whole brevity thing. The Daves invited me to post here, to tell about my experience from the perspective of a non-thru-hiker. I could have written much more, an indicator of how excellent my time out there was. Also, there's a new post from Stash and Remix from Monday night. Read that if you haven't already.

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to hike with the Daves for five days last week. It was a WONDERFUL week. First and foremost, I was so glad to see my friends. When I arrived in Gatlinburg, TN, I was greeted by the two of them looking fit and care-free, both with near constant grins. They immediately gave me the trail name "Peace Train" and told me many stories of hikers and mountains. I was so happy to be chillin' with these two! We resupplied, attempted to cut weight from my pack, drank beer, and hung out with several other hikers. The next morning, after a trip to the post office and a stop at the world's laziest outfitter, we got in my car to head to the trail. We packed five in, the three of us and our hiker friends, Ken and Steph. It was crowded, with packs on laps. Nonetheless, it was a fun ride up into the Smokies. We got on the trail at Newfound Gap (like the fast-food version of the Smokies), which was absolutely crawling with tourists who very obviously wouldn't step foot on the trail, some wouldn't even get out of their cars.

And so, it was in this environment that I took my first steps onto the Appalachian Trail, fittingly, up the first big hill. The first day of hiking was rewardingly beautiful, and astoundingly exhausting. The vistas in the Smokies are frequent and breath-taking. The climbs in the Smokies are long and also left me with very little breath (partially due to altitudes that sometimes rise above 6,000 feet). By the last day of the trip, I was a veritable hill-climbing machine compared to that first day, during which I was slow and dispirited. Regardless, we hiked. We did just 11 miles, but it felt like twice that. Our hike that day was punctuated by two things: 1.) a stop at the amazing overlook, Charles Bunion; and 2.) the rumors of thieves stealing food from hikers the night before. The AT is a highly efficient rumor mill, because people pass, and are passed by, other hikers all day. We spoke with a volunteer Ridgerunner (sort of a volunteer ranger, just there to help hikers if they need it), who told us that, should we meet the thieves, we should just act casual, but if they tried anything, we were to "jump 'em, and beat their asses." We hiked on, fortunately not running into the two (described to us as a stocky curly-blond man and a VERY LARGE Asian woman). Content and wiped (I was anyway), we arrived at our first shelter. I am not sure that I could really appreciate the trail on that first day. However, I immediately appreciated the shelter-culture. Imagine twelve people of different ages and backgrounds camping in the same place, brought together by their desire to hike and their love of the woods. They've walked the same path but have had different experiences of it. Everyone talks and jokes with one another. Everyone cooks, organizes, relaxes, and sleeps side by side. It's very nice, and it just works (probably because people who have decided to do nothing but hike for 4-6 months are essentially unparalleled in chillness).

The next day went much better. We did 13 miles. I didn't feel like I was going to croak, at least not as frequently. More stunning views. The thieves were apprehended. I was, of course, continuing to enjoy my time with Stash and Remix immensely. Additionally, it was during this second day that I began to realize how fantastically lucky I was to be sharing in this AT experience with them. It is a HUGE experience. My five days felt pretty serious. Four months of hiking like that began to seem achievable to me, but only because Stash and Remix had helped me gain some perspective. It was wonderful wisdom coming from both of them. It went something like this: "Isn't this life great?! We don't have anything to do today but hike these miles. No real reason to hurry. And we ARE going to hike these miles today, so there's no sense in fighting it. Just hike slow, take a comfortable pace. Think about how sweet it is that our only obligation today is to hike - no stress, no worries, beautiful surroundings, good friends. Enjoy it!" They were right. It is very liberating to have only one goal for the day, one objective. As you can imagine, this advice came at a time when I was tired and discouraged. But it helped. And, I could tell that these were words that they had taken to heart already, at some point when they were tired and discouraged. This was their hiking philosophy.

So, with those ideas in my head, and a new appreciation for the experience, we hiked 18 miles the next day. Don't get me wrong, there were challenges on that (and every) day, not least of which was a 3000 foot climb followed by a 1200 foot descent, all in the last 7 miles of the day. We got into camp at dusk. It wasn't exactly a triumphant entrance, but despite being whipped, I felt good. I was proud. I saw that night that a hard day of hiking makes you feel really good about yourself. And, although those miles hadn't challenged the Daves in the same way that they had pushed me, I could certaily imagine nights in the past (and future) where they felt just as I did at that moment.

The last two days of hiking went off without a hitch. My body was getting used to the long hours of hard work. Our packs were getting lighter as we ate more and more food (the food on trail was not fancy, but filling and delicious all the same). We hiked 13 miles each day, which felt fulfilling, but not terribly difficult. On the last day, we'd done our miles by 2:00pm. On that day, we hiked down several thousand feet, and had the treat of entering Hot Springs, NC. The reason it is fun to go into Hot Springs is that the trail does switchbacks right down a mountian and into the little town, then walks right down main street, only to return to to mountains again on the other side of town. When we arrived in Hot Springs, I felt like a champion. But for Stash and Remix, that moment of exhaltation won't come until Katahdin. They were happy, and as you know from their previous blog, they would go on to hike 10 more miles that night.

The experience of the trail was beautiful. It showed me a lot about the Daves. It showed me a lot about myself. I met warm, genuine, good-humored people like Ken and Steph, Big Gulp, The Iron Chefs, The Umbro Commandos, Magnum, and Papa Hawk. I met equally great (if not a little crazy) characters like Bowser, Mongo, Colby, and Rebel Yell. I gained an appreciation for the Trail. I gained an appreciation for the simultaneous hard work and simplicity of the trail lifestyle. I wanted to keep walking with Stash and Remix. I am grateful to them for letting me join them. They are great friends, and I wish them the best as they continue their journey.

Peace, Love, and Ultralight Gear,
Peace Train (Joe)

Hello from Erwin, TN

2007-04-02T14:36:00.000-06:00

Hey Everybody!

First off, let's just say that posting would be a lot easier if we didn't keep ending up in town on Sundays in the South. Finding Internet for any extended period of time is never easy - suffice it to say it is almost impossible on Sundays. However, all that aside, we're in Erwin TODAY, a MONDAY, so we can update. Yahoo!

Well, as trail life dictates, so much has happened and, at the same time, so very little. The monotony of trail life has set in a little bit, so it is those small surprises and randomness of the A.T. that keep us going everyday. I'll start with a basic schedule of what we do on a "typical" (if there is such a thing) day:

We probably wake up between 7 and 7:30 with the sun. It's kind of nice to never need to set an alarm, but it is extraordinarily NOT nice having completely lost the ability to sleep in. Our favorite breakfast food is our world famous TwoDaves' Breakfast Burritos - Tortilla, butter, powdered milk, Nutella, peanut butter, raisins, chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and honey. Sounds like a mouthful, and it really is. But, when you're planning on hiking over 20 miles through the mountains, you need your fuel. While we eat we usually break camp, tossing all of our stuff into our bags. We each just lost a couple more pounds from our pack - we estimate that our "base weight" (weight of pack w/o food, water, and fuel) is between 15 and 20 pounds. Pretty good, considering people used to routinely carry over 50. Fully loaded, we carry right around 30 pounds...

After we break camp, we usually walk for about 2 hours (covering about 6 miles, depending on terrain) and stop for a "bar break" (Snickers, not Smirnoff). You might be beginning to recognize that our days practically revolve around food. Our goal is to eat around 5,000 calories every day - and that's barely enough. Anyway, a Snickers and some jerky in our stomachs, we traverse another 6 or so miles before lunch. Lunch usually consists of some tuna with as many Mayo packets as we can stand squeezed into the packet. Then we'll much on some macadamias or some dried fruit. Delicious...

After that, we walk some more (surprise, surprise) - depending on how we're feeling it could be between 4 and well, many more than 4 miles. A few days ago we started hiking from Hot Springs, NC at 10:30 pm after a few beverages (prescribed, of course, by our other hiker friends). We ended up crashing at about 3:00 am after hiking almost completely by the light of the moon. Not a typical night, but pretty incredible nonetheless. Anyway, we digress...

We usually pull into camp around 7 or 8 and set up our tarp in a few minutes. Then, we'll break out dinner. Velveeta Shells 'n' Cheese is a personal favorite of ours, but we've recently been bestowed with a ton of free Mountain House culinary delights (just add water, out comes beef stroganoff - crazy). After we eat and do dishes, we usually pump about 3 liters of water for each of us for the next day. Recently, our pump has been acting up so it's an arduous task, but it gets done. Bedtime usually comes around 9:00 pm. It's too dark to do anything after that - plus, after a 20 mile day, it's well needed.

Speaking of miles, we've been covering great ground. As we write this, we are officially 338 miles into the A.T. That leaves a whole lot of miles left, but we're feeling great about what we have accomplished. We're planning on getting to Damascus, VA in about 6 days - that will put us at mile 459. Damascus is not the mathematical 1/4 point, but it is generally considered to be the mental 1/4 point. We'll have done all that in about 1 month - which, to be honest, is really fast. We've been passed by one other guy in the last month - and we caught him today. Now, we're not really in a race mentality, but it is fun to put huge miles behind us. In the last three and a half days, we've hiked about 83 miles, including a 27 mile day yesterday. We followed that up with a cool 15 into Erwin today.

We got into town off the trail and are staying at Uncle Johnny's Hostel (or something like that). 15 bucks for a shower, bed, transportation into town - not too bad. We're splitting the $3 laundry charge - also not too bad. All in all, the trail life is not too expensive. We often get asked by non thru-hikers how we can afford this lifestyle. First of all, we both acknowledge that we're lucky to be able to do this - that being said, it's probably going to end up costing us about $2,000 to spend four entire months on the trail. Pretty cheap, really.

So, this has all of a sudden gotten rather long. There are a bunch of stories to tell at some point or another. Joe (or Peace Train, as we dubbed him) was with us for 5 days through the Smoky Mountains and out. It was a great time, as we expected it to be. And he did extremely well, considering he was hiking with two of the faster hikers on the trail after nearly 3 weeks of trail life.

Anyway, we'll sign out for now. We're about to upload some pictures to our Flickr account - be sure to check them out! Otherwise, keep posting! It's great to be hiking, but we definitely miss everyone at home - so it's great to hear from you! Our immediate plans include hiking to Damascus in about a week - we're actually stopping for a full 24 hours there, so we'll update again then. Until then, take care and we'll talk to you soon!

Stash & Remix

Message from Hot Springs, NC

2007-03-31T18:20:00.000-06:00

Remix called from Hot Springs.
They are there; Friday 3/30 2:15 pm.
No other message.

Posted by RemixDad

Phone call from Gatlinburg, TN 3/25/07

2007-03-26T11:24:00.000-06:00

Remix & Stash found some All you can eat country buffet with blue grass accompaniment. But no internet.
They arrived in Gatlinburg a day early to meet Joe. Hiking fast.
Thanks to the Vulcan (sp) Trail Association for the wonderful support/trail magic.
Joe met them at the motel and they reprovisioned.
Took Sunday off to rest up and with the idea they could use the Internet today.
No internet in the town, hense this dictated post.
Meeting wonderful folks aong the way.
Hiking 70 miles with Joe and leave him in Hot Springs, NC - in about a week.
Then on to Erwin, TN

Posted by RemixDad

Phone call from Fontana Dam, NC

2007-03-21T12:32:00.000-06:00

Remix & Stash are fit and happy. Did 75.9 miles in past 4 days.
Leaving sub-freezing temps, windy and rain behind us.
About to enter the Smokey Mountains. We await Joe. Meet him in Gatlinburg.
R&S

Chillin on Cloud 9

2007-03-15T13:35:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Hiawassee, Georgia, the friendliest town the Daves have been to yet. Dave and Dave ceased to exist as of the 14th, with the trail names Stash and Remix taking their place. We get a funny look when we introduce ourselves as Stash and Remix, but we probably got weirder looks when we introduced ourselves as "The Two Daves." (Can you guess which one of us is Stash and which is Remix?)

We stopped hiking at 4:00 pm on the 14th, and hitch-hiked to the nearest hostel, Cloud9 where, for $20, we got Internet, a bed, a shower, laundry, a trout dinner, and some crazy stories from some trail bums that crash here often. We met one guy, Mala, who's been on the trail since '92. Other friends made include a drunken Alabaman named Big Ol' Boy and a couple of other ladies named Wonder and Pebble.

Just finished resupplying in Hiawassee - got some Hardees as well. MMM MMM Good. Now we're off to hitch back to the trail, hike four or so miles, and crash for the night. Our next stop is Fontana Dam, North Carolina...we'll update then.

Happy Trails!
Stash and Remix

p.s. Trail Update. We've been making good time. Wednesday we had hiked 5 miles and 1500+ ft up before 10:30. At that time the day before we hadn't hiked but twenty feet before meeting Bruce and Myrtle, two locals providing us trail magic. As we crossed the road to the trail they scrambled to get their coolers and folding chairs out for us. They gave us bannanas, orange drink, and cookies... oh and that thing that every hiker loves to give away, advice ;) We jawed with them for a good twenty minutes before escaping their kindness to begin hiking.

to all trail angels, thank you.
-s&r

A journey of 2,174 miles begins with one step....

2007-03-13T14:21:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

Rose and Sara reporting as the Daves head north from Neels Gap, GA.

The Daves officially started their long walk to Maine on Friday, March 9. We arrived at Amicalola State Park and started the approach trail to Springer Mountain. After a very long climb up, we reached the summit that evening. At the top the Daves met their first thru-hiker, Jay Bird, who had just completed his 6th thru-hike and his 2nd yo-yo trip (GA to ME to GA) that day. We camped at Springer that night and despite windy, cold conditions, the tarp tent held up on its first night on the AT.

Over the next couple of days we hiked several mountains in the Blue Ridge range including: Hawk Mountain, Sassafras Mountain and Big Cedar Mountain. Through the ups and downs of the hike, a few popular trail songs emerged with each Dave giving magical renditions of Chingy's "Chain Hang Low", "Needy Girl" by Chromeo and Justin Timberlake's "My Love" (AT hip-hop will soon be sweeping the nation).

Along the way, the Daves had the opportunity to meet more hikers headed their way including: Boo-Boo (a 50-year old solo female who had such a heavy pack, she ditched half of it by Neels Gap), Mingus Kahn (a hippie with bad knees and an impressive beard), Tattoo (Mingus' counterpart who brought an iPod stereo on the trail) and three 20-something guys from NY (Pythagoreous, Tin-Tin and Joseph Stalin).

Since everyone the Daves met seemed to have a trail name already, finding their own became an obsession. Rejected ideas include: Bill Bryson, Sconie and Sota, Loser (of sunglasses), Hitler and Babycakes. For now it appears they have settled on Dave #1 and Dave #2, but creative suggestions are more than welcome.

On Monday, March 12 we climbed Blood Mountain (4,461 ft. and the highest point along the trail in GA) and left the Daves at Neels Gap, a hostel/store that sits right along the trail about 30 miles from Springer.

So far, the Daves are safe, upbeat, dirty and taking the AT by storm. From the few days we were with them we KNOW they will make it to Maine. For anyone who has the chance to visit them along the way, DO IT. It is an amazing time and you're guaranteed beautiful scenery and a few laughs (Joe they can't wait to see you). Keep the comments coming and the Daves said they would post again the next chance they get.

Happy Trails,
Rose (Mouse Hunter) and Sara (Caboose)

PS To Dave & Dave: I'm bossy.

Trapped Tourists

2007-03-09T00:40:00.000-06:00

Before the post begins a word of advice: "Do Not Go To Ruby Falls or Rock City, but if you do, bring $3"

Arriving in Nashville was eventful. Dave and Dave were questioned by two southernly police officers who suspected we were 'Johns' buying these two ladies for the night, or hour.

(Two Daves): "Gee Whiz, hiking the Appalachian Trail sure will be fun. And boy oh boy, it is quite delightful sitting in this car outside of this motel whilst Rose and Sara check in. Let's listen to some Nelly...

*Rose and Sara enter the car*

*Police Officers Approach*

(Officer 1): "What are y'all doin' here?"

Dave G: "Checkin' In"

Searl: I convinced the officer that we were not lonely and were going to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Rose: To which to police officer replied, " I have a lot better to do with my time than hike."

(Officer 2): "Did you say hijack or hike? Because if you said hijack, that is bad."

(Officer 1): "Why did you two boys let these ladies walk alone? There is someone doing crack around the corner."

Searl: "They wanted to walk alone!!" (Definitely not a Southern gentleman.)

..........

After a beautiful night's sleep...

Everybody: "We're in the SOUTH! Let's go to Waffle House!"

*Cut to: Each person filled with a mediocre (at best) breakfast, Dave and Dave are standing in the cashier's line, waiting to pay.*

Random Guy: "Y'all can go ahead, if you're with those ladies."

Daves: "Thanks."

Random Guy: "Don't want 'em to run away on ya!"

Dave S. (Jokingly): "Haha...maybe you." (Points at Random Guy) ....... "Or him" (Points at Dave G.)

Random Guy: *Pause*

Random Guy: "So...six months ago, I come home and I find the house cleaned out. I mean, she was gone."

Daves: *Awkward Silence* (In our heads: "Yikes")

Dave S: "That'll happen...Well, at least we have the keys."

Random Guy: (Excitedly) "I got the distributor cap!!!"

...and then we were on the road again, away from the overly-gentlemanly cops and the sorrow-stricken single southerner.

-Next Stop: Lookout Mountain, home of Ruby Falls, Point Park, and thousands of stranded, south-bound tourists. Chattanooga, TN, home of the American Dream. A tourist trap, more than anything, but fun, nonetheless. We decided not to spend the $3 to enter the park, but instead looked longingly at the view through the gates. (Apparently our $3 is better spent on trying to achieve optimum hangover status before hiking between 10 and 15 miles on a sometimes quite mountainous A.T.)

-So, we're in Atlanta, ready to embark. It's 2:19 on Friday morning, and we're supposed to get up in five hours to begin. Thanks so much to Rose and Sara for bringing us to this point - it would not have been the same trip down without you...

And, an enormous Thank You! to those well-wishers who have posted on the blog and sent us emails. Your encouragement means more than you know...

Next Stop: Neels Gap, GA. We'll talk to you then...

Happy Trails,
THE DAVES (+ Rose and Sara)

Can we leave yet?

2007-03-05T21:58:00.000-06:00

Hey Everybody,

Well, it's Monday, March 5th, and Dave S. and I are in the final stages of planning for the thru-hike. We're taking off on Wednesday, so I guess that we'd better be at the very final stage pretty soon. Anyway, that's not the point here...

I just want to encourage every person who visits our little blog here to leave a comment whenever you check out the site. I know that it may sound a bit cliché, but we do look forward to hearing about things back home, just as you (hopefully) want to check up on life on the trail. This is not to say that you need to access "Two Daves" five times a day and tell us everything, but it is going to be important for us to hear from you. That being said, if you don't get a very timely response, please realize that we might only have access to the Internet every week or two - however, I promise that I'll do my best to respond to all posts, and I'm sure that other Dave will do the same.

So, in summary, let us know that you're checking up on the blog! I promise we'll try to make it as interesting as possible.

Thanks!
DG

Test Post

2007-02-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

This is a test post what hopefully will become our trail journal, connecting us to you people back home.