Every year we experience such great support from "Trail Angels". Those anonymous ones that may leave cache's of food and water at the most appropriate place and time or those we meet in person that may offer food at a trail head, a ride to a town for resupply, a friendly word of encouragement.......or.....those special trail angels that just go WAY ABOVE and BEYOND to help out and support an AT long distance hiker. That person, or I should say that family, we had the pleasure to meet and spend some time with this year really deserved a page of their own. Our TRAIL FAMILY OF THE YEAR!
SARA ROBERTSON-RYAN AND FAMILY!
Sara and her husband Tom, son Zach and daughter Ryleigh were such gracious hosts for MacGyver and I for 2 days and nights at their home that certainly left a memorable impression on us.
So the backstory on how we happened to meet Sara and her family? She actually worked with my daughter Shannon while both of their families lived in Vermont a few years ago and they became close friends. When Shannon told her that MacGyver and I may be hiking close to her home (which is in Knoxville, MD now), she was very willing and excited to invite us to stay with them......for as long as we wanted.....to take a break from sleepng on the ground, eating trail food and using the privy....(in the woods). Well....it took us less than a second (maybe shorter) to say YES and THANK YOU! And what a treat it was! Home cooked meals, a soft bed to sleep in (in our own rooms!), and most of all, a great host family.
Sara on the left and my daughter Shannon on the right.
But then the great time did not end there! Sara, we found out, loves the outdoors, especially hiking, AND wants to LASH or Thru hike the AT some day. Soooo, MacGyver and I thought...maybe Sara and her son Zach may want to put in a few miles with us. Didn't take them long to say YES either! So we stayed an extra day and night and slack packed the second day. What a fun day with our Maryland AT "Tramily"!
A great big shout out and thank you to
the Ryan Family!!
Latest comments
27.09 | 17:20
Hi Possum! MacGyver and I finished up on Sept.7th with 351 miles in this year. False alarm on MacGyver taking ill. He was dehydrated but recovered in about 2 days. Was great to meet you this year!
27.09 | 17:16
Hey Pinnacle! Great to meet and hike with you also! And great advice on the next section we did. Thanks!
06.09 | 16:10
Great meeting you and your Brother at Eagles nest.
06.09 | 16:07
It was great meeting you and brother at Eagles nest
Pinnacle
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Great views from the top of South Twin Mtn!
Okay....starting on June 21st we decided to do a bit of "Platinum Blazing" at the AMC Huts. It was not the plan at all in the beginning for various reasons.....but the bad weather we are experiencing and lack of camp sites in the Whites; it made a lot of sense :)
Stayed at the AMC Highland Center June 21st and it was quite a place......and we celebrated MacGyver's Birthday!
On day 11, on the way to "Lake Of The Cloud" Hut, we had some good views around, of, and on top such mountains as Mt. Webster, Mt. Jackson, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Franklin.....and a pile of snow!
Day 12, June 23rd's highlight was summitting Mt. Washington. Its legendary for having very unpredictable, sometime dangerous weather but we hit it on perfect day...and definitely perfect compared to what we have already been thru in New Hampshire!
From the summit of Mt. Washington to the Madison Hut (where we stayed tonight) was only another 6 miles but the rock scrambles down were brutal...but the Hut they had Veggie Pot Pie for dinner!
Day 13, June 24 we hiked up, over and down Mt. Madison! Pics to follow shortly but let me just say that this was one of the toughest descents so far. Jagged black rock proved very difficult! Made it to Gorham for the night...thinking about the pending "Wildcats" ahead!
Day 14, June 25 we did the Wildcats. That first day wasn't too bad but that did change! This is MacGyver and I enjoying our first summit......forgot to mention that the Wildcats had 4 summits! But also, some good views
Stayed at Craford Notch Hut after the Wildcats for a much needed, inside a building, rest! Also met NOBO Thru Hiker "Big T" from Mississippi.
Well....the weather had been generally bad the whole hike; but things got much worse the next days (June 26 and 27).....dangerously worse
This is not a picture that we took (because we were too busy trying to stay alive!) but almost like one of the crossings we made (but ours was in deeper rapids). We crossed a flooded Rattle River several times with one crossing getting worse than the other. Made us pause a bit.......
June 27th we slipped and limped, soaking wet to U.S. 2 in Gorham and stayed at the Barn Hostel managed and owned by Paul. But about 2 miles or so before we reached U.S. 2 we passed by the Rattle River Shelter....and it looked like this....
Of course, our initial reaction, cold and tired, was "What Kind of Long-Distance Hiker" would violate so many unwritten rules of hiking etiquette!!!
Then we found out that those staying in the shelter (for multiple days at a time) were AMC trail volunteers and State Park staff helping out to shore up the trail as best they could during the unprecedented flooding that was going on.
MY TOTAL APOLOGIZE for jumping to conclusions without know the facts. Thank you for what you do!!
Okay...coming back to The Barn Hostel.....MacGyver and I fell in love with it at first glance! Growing up in the 60's and early 70's, this Hippy vibe that we saw and felt, made us feel right at home :). In fact, I think I stayed at a place like this when I hitchhiked to Southern California in 1972! :)
Best laid plans??