On Top of Jay Peak

Well - we  are finally on the trail. Today is our second full day of hiking. On Tuesday morning we drove to North Adams, MA and parked the van. We won't see it again until we walk off the final steps of the southern end of the trail in about a month. We got a late start on the ride north because the shuttle driver was late due to a communication mishap, but we were on our way by 12:40 and got dropped off at the Journey's End parking lot on the Canadian Border by around 5pm. Then it was a short hike in (less than a mile) to the Journey's end cabin where we camped for the night.

Yesterday morning we woke early and began the day's hike, about 9 miles. It was our first time with full packs on in a number of years and the morning didn't feel too bad. It was exciting to see the actual northern point on the trail (that was about 1.3 miles from where we slept - as we weren't officially on the trail yet). We took photos at the border marking, the same place we have photos of the boys from 13 years ago when they finished their own northbound hike.

The afternoon was tougher on us. We had a quick lunch at the Shooting Star shelter then set out for a grueling 3 hours of ups and downs and turns as we made our way up around and over Doll Peak. The trail was very wet, rocky and slippery but we made it to our next camp, Laura Woodward Shelter by 3:20. We were pretty damp and cold and I spent quite a while in my sleeping bag just trying to get the chill off. Andre made a great fire and a good meal and we got to bed by 7pm!

Had a great warm night of sleep in our sleeping bags then up and out by 8 AM this morning. It was a steep mile and a half up the ski slopes to Jay Peak where we are right now, warming up and drying out again from the dampness and also charging our phone, computer & kindle. As we've had no sun yet, it seems doubtful we'll get much use out of our solar panel for charging.  All is well, as we are sitting in the tram restaurant at the top of the slopes, waiting for the restaurant to open at 11:00. Haven't been able to upload photos yet, so those will come along with the next posting.

Until then...

Ready, Set, HIKE...

Today's the day! Just finished packing up and checking out where we will be parking the van during the trip. We are sitting in McDonald's posting and having a last healthy (haha) lunch before we get picked up by the taxi service that will shuttle us to the Northern Terminus of the trail at the Canadian border. Will post photos the first chance I get.

Love to all and Cheers!

Pre-packing for the Long Trail

Well, after a great couple of days with the entire Audette clan, including our boys, celebrating our niece Emma's wedding, we got down to business doing a "pre-packing" for our month-long backpacking trip that begins on Tuesday. We've been in a hotel for the last three nights for the family festivities, so this morning we brought in all of our camping gear, food & supplies from the van and spread it out all over the room to sort, organize, and generate the various lists of items we'll need to pick up, things we need to test to make sure they are still charged or working, things we'll need to add in at the last minute, etc.

As I write this, we are charging our computers, phone, kindle, and the new battery packs that go with the new solar charging system we will be using for the first time on this trip. Tomorrow we will do a last trip to the grocery store, work through our lists, pack our re-supply box and bring it to the post office to send ahead to the post office in Waitsfield, VT where we will pick it up half-way through the trip.  I plan to post one last blog entry tomorrow and then will post as I'm able from the trail, every 5-6 days or so when we have Internet (when we pass through a town, on top of a mountain, etc.).  Until tomorrow....

Winding down in Rhode Island

Well, we are coming up on our last week here in Rhode Island and have begun to prepare for our next adventure, thru-hiking Vermont's Long Trail. We pulled the trigger on a mode of transportation to get from the Massachusetts state line (North Adams), where we will be leaving the van, to the northern terminus of the trail at the Vermont/Canada border. After much research and a few tentative plans that would have involved a number of different legs, including Amtrak train and then a series of buses and/or private shuttle, we decided to go with just one shuttle from Mass all the way to the Journey's-end trail in northern Vermont. We have made reservations with a private shuttle service for pick up in Massachusetts at mid-day on Tuesday, Sept 24th and should be dropped off at the actual trail head in Northern Vermont by dinner time.

On Monday of this week, after a visit with my brother Scott and his family in central New Hampshire I had the opportunity to try out my new hiking boots when Andre & I hiked Mt. Monadnock.  The day started out a little chilly but blossomed into a perfect fall hiking day.

 

 

The boots worked well, with very little rubbing and no blisters - not bad for a brand new pair - so they should be good to go the 273 miles over the mountains of Vermont in a few weeks. Over the last week or two we have been picking up random items we needed to purchase before the hike and we will get down to some preliminary packing and organizing in the next few days.

Between these mini shopping expeditions for miscellaneous hiking stuff, we also made a number of repairs to the van that have been piling up including the re-positioning of our Satellite radio antennae, re-stringing one of the day-nite window shades, repairs to window screens, and getting a new remote van key for me for the van, as I accidentally flushed mine down the toilet a few months ago (don't ask!).

We also fit in a brief trip to the Rhode Island beaches this week when we were driving around visiting some old haunts. These photos are from Galilee and also Sand Hill Cove, where we spent many summer days with the kids over the years.

 

 

 

 

We are looking forward to the upcoming week when we will enjoy reunions with a number of relatives who are coming into town for a family wedding on Saturday (one of the reasons for our visit home). Also traveling to Rhode Island for the wedding are our boys, from Delaware and Pittsburgh, respectively, so we are very excited about getting in an extra visit with them before we disappear into the woods for a month. It should be a great last week in Rhode Island.

NOT!

Good Morning and hope you enjoyed Andre's foray into temporary insanity a few days ago. If it left you wondering if things are "okay" in the Audette household (or van-hold, as would have it), worry not.  All is well and we are happily enjoying our first few days back in New England. Andre just has these occasional bouts of insanity where he falsely believes he can compete with my vast superiority. I have disabused him of that notion once again, and we are on firm footing once more...

Honestly though, I think he posted that as a cover-up for the fact that he has been too lazy to post of late.  We have been busy, though, but all in a good way. Coming home has been nice. The weather is beautiful and to our surprise it is already solidly Fall here. The evening temperatures are cool and the days have been sunny and 75 - 80 degrees,

We've had a productive and enjoyable first few days back in our home state, visiting relatives, going to a few of our old haunts, including a great show at Nick-a-Nees n Providence with one of our favorite RI bands, and starting to gear up for our long backpacking trip in a few weeks.  We are planning to hike the Long Trail in Vermont for 3-4 weeks before we head back to Florida to start working for the winter.  Here are a few of the things we've done in the past few days..

Back in the home state at last...

Finally, a good pizza again!

 

Sorting through the storage unit

Visiting with Robin (my sister)

 

Catching a show with "Mark Cutler & the Men of Great Courage"

 

Local Legend Rudy Cheeks joins Mark 

Why the silence? (Andre)

You may have been wondering why the silence from Andre of late. Well, it is your fault. Based on your overwhelming appreciation for Andre’s blog entries over Laura’s, Laura, who fancies herself a writer, has conducted a violent coup. She has seized the keyboard and threatened violence or even worse, a full-time job, if I write anymore blog entries. So, for the time being, I leave you in the somewhat capable hands of Laura until the situation is resolved…….

From Blue Hens to Tartans

Well, we left the Delaware Blue Hens behind a few days ago and headed toward "Tartan-land" for a visit with Nick at Carnegie-Mellon (CMU) in Pittsburgh. The CMU sports teams are nicknamed the Tartans as a nod to Andrew Carnegie's Scottish heritage and sport a Scottish Terrier as their mascot. It's pretty funny to see "Bad to the Plaid" shirts around campus and who can question he ferocity of a sports team represented by a cute Scottie on their shirt?  Not me.

We had good travels from U-Del to CMU, stopping in Frederick, Maryland, Rocky Gap State Park, Harper's Ferry West Virginia and finally Cumberland, MD as we made our way west to "the burgh".  In Frederick, we walked around Carroll Creek Park, enjoying the beautiful water flower exhibit, the likes of which we had never seen before. It was stunning.

We enjoyed spending a few hours walking around Harper's Ferry National Park. It was the first time we had used our free annual "Volunteer" National Park pass we'd gotten upon completion of our Big Bend gig, and it also afforded us the opportunity to walk once again on both the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal Tow Path, a bike path that goes from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC that we'd ridden end-to-end with the boys many years back. These trails meet briefly at Harper's Ferry.

We spent one evening at Rocky Gap State Park, enjoying the beach late in the afternoon, and one night in Cumberland, MD, home to the start (or end, depending on your direction) of the C&O Canal Bike Trail. We spent a few hours in the evening walking around the town and enjoyed listening to some free outdoor music at a downtown street festival before turning in for the night. The hotel we stayed at was right on the bike path, so we were able to run on the bike path in the morning before heading out.

Eventually got to Pittsburgh and had a great visit with Nick. On Saturday night, we walked around down by Point park, Heinz field and P & C park, where there was a Pirates game being played. We enjoyed seeing the new water fountain on the river at Point Park and also touring Heinz field which was open to the public during this weekend prior to the start of the NFL. They were gearing up for a PITT vs. FSU college game to be played in the stadium on Monday night, so there was Pitt stuff as well as Steeler stuff to be enjoyed.

After a great visit in Pittsburgh, we are finally heading north and East again toward Rhode Island. Looking forward to many long-awaited reunions with friends and family.  Look out - WE ARE COMING YOUR WAY!!