Appalachian Trail.

Day -1: driving. Visiting Uncle Brian. Dropping Paul off. Enjoying the finer things of class and hearing stories of an unexpected traveler.

Day 0: Panera breakfast. More driving. A visit to Grandma. Peanut butter pie. Even more driving. Getting lost. Getting found. Meeting with the Maloneys. Camping. Night hike. Fire.

Day 1: Wake up. Pack up. More driving. Getting lost again. Getting found again. Getting to a trailhead.

Putting packs on that were waaaay to heavy. Saying goodbye to the Maloneys. Starting hiking. Sweating. More hiking. Realizing we started at the wrong place. Near breakdowns. Almost tears. Asthma attack. Up and down mountains. Too much weight.

More walking. Carrying way too much weight. Sun went down. Still walking. Head lights. Setting up tents in the dark. Eating dehydrated dinner. Camping by 4-H facility.

Day 2: up and at em. Breakfast. Packing up. More hiking. Soreness. Kind mom lightening the load. 2 bears. Up and down more mountains. Slept in Gavel Springs Hut.

Filtering spring water. Sweet book of journeys. Blackberry shake (without the blackberry).

Day 3: packing up. Easy day. Stopping every 4 minutes. Contempt for the trail turns to fun in the pine forests. Mom and Justin’s food fight. Throw-up TVP. Camping. Fear of bears. Sassafras root tea. Silence at 8:30.

Day 4: October 1. Government shut down. Uh oh….we’re in a national park.

Through hikers who were depending on the Wayside Stores. Unloading so much extra food. Struggling parents. Going to hitch-hike…but the park’s closed…so there are no cars. Wait! A lady! She’ll give us a ride. Or she’ll join us backpacking since we have extra food. Kristen joins our motley crew.

 More hiking. “There was a bear” songs. Hiding away from rangers. Clifty. Mutts. Slips. Foot. Funny guy with the beard. S’mores all around. Playing cards. Cool people, amazing stars.

Day 5: Wrong spring. Lost mother. Stony Man. Amazing views. Still hiding away. Lots of cyclists who are enjoying the ride of their lives with no cars. Try to find a ride. But the parks closed. Nobody’s here. No cell service. No rangers. Street dance on the yellow lines.

Dad hitchhikes to our car. Mom freaking out. Nice ranger, nobody’s gonna come search for us. Back to the backcountry. Birds Nest #4 hut. Oz. Human. Junko. Gear talk. Sharing stories. Stunning stars. Falling asleep on the log.

Day 6: Hiking out. Driving to Big Meadow Lodge, our would-be last night of luxury. NOBODY around. Raid the walk-in cooler. Left money. 4 rangers drive up. Enjoying  a victory snack. A family of naturalists spends 100 years looking at the plants in the meadow. Drop off Kristen. Have to beat the lock to get through. Overlooks. Mama bear and 3 cubs. Locked in? Yep.

 Life-saving lady dives up and unlocks the gate. Onward. Subway. Breyer’s Ice cream. Driving through West Virginia. Scariest drive of my life. Dark, twisty, foggy roads with deer. Get to Uncle Don’s. Chili. Showers. Sleep.