A perfect place to camp at George W. Outbridge Shelter first night out.

Camped at Wiley Shelter near the CT border where we "Thought" was going to be a working pump for much needed water...NOT! Do you think the angled roof was by design?

Had an unscheduled stay early on at Linda and John's Blue Mountain Dome in Kunkletown, PA. Unique and very friendly owners....a rather "interesting stay" but they had water and a place to shower! Slept in there garage....and tried not to get run over by their cars!!

Kirkridge Shelter

Dinner of beef Stroganoff!

Photo Bombed by "Tigger"

Spend 2 nights at Mosey's Place in Port Jervis, NJ . Mosey is a 2015 Thru hiker and a wonderful person......she made the BEST breakfast!!

Had to share the hostel with some unigue animals.....

....that sometimes got out of their cages!

This is Mosey

Camped at a Franciscan Monastery near Peeksville, NY....near their ball diamond that had showers and a pavilion. Cool and large place.

We were in good hands at this campsite!

The evening of day 12 near Canopus Lake Beach within the Clarence Fahnstock SP. Also met a lady from Shanghai, China section hiking NY.

Station INN B&B in Pawling, NY. Nice town that treated hikers great.

A small attic room...but comfy.

Always a "fun thing" to do on the trail....laundry. Can't you tell how excited MacGyver is :)

Notice the LARGE amount of extra water I am carrying! MacGyver was doing the same.

Stealth site we built just before the CT border.

Vanessa Barton's Hostel in Salisbury, CT.

A 300-year-old house

okay....I could have been a bit less cluttered

Stopped at this rather "Weathered" Shelter for a break....as you can see, beavers have been cleaning their teeth on the floor!

Re-supplied and stayed at Birkshire Lakeside Lodge in Becket, Mass on day 21 and 22 (zeroed on the 22nd due to storms). Great family owned business and a shout out to Diana, Henry, Mike and Bonita!

MacGyver taking inventory...and having dinner :)

Stealth site the evening of the 23rd day near a creek feeding into a beaver pond. . Nice and compact.....and also check out the "clean and orange" water. We were told the color is from tree tannin....and not from beaver $@#%#

Camped here the evening of our 24th day. Tom's place is right on the AT (which goes thru the town) and has let hikers camp in his backyard for decades and is a legend among the long distance hiking communnity. Many thanks Tom!!

Father Tom's Campsite in Cheshire, Mass. Great place to take a break (or camp) with all the "creature comforts" a backpacker wishes for: Porta Potty WITH toliet paper, trail magic, picnic tables and chairs, loaner bicycles and water you didnt have to filter!

Stayed at the Williamstown Motel, in Williamstown, MA on Day 26 for Resupply, Laundry, great Tex-Mex meal....and a "casual" rest.

Right before the Vermont border crossed this "uniquely" painted bridge. Maybe Massachusetts is saying goodbye?

"High and Tight" Campsite near Congdon Shelter at mile marker 1,610

In true MacGyver fashion, he came up with the idea of using nature to help protect our tents from the mud. Using fern leaves as part of the ground cover!

Goddard Shelter at mile 1,625

MacGyver doing some window shopping in Manchester, VT. And yes the one pictures appears to be a Cat Spa?? We heard different things about Manchester before we got there but we found them very hiker friendly. Great place to visit as a non-hiker also. And a big shout out to Nancy and her son, owners of the Pinnacle Lodge where we stayed for a night. Nancy even drove us around town where ever we wanted to go.

Lost Pond Shelter at mile marker 1,670 for the evening of day 32....and some hot dinner

A first for me...a dirt floor shelter

2 nights and re-supply here including a zero. The best home-brewed coffee we have tasted this year by Steve the owner!

Home for the evening on Sept. 22 at mile marker 1,734.

A bit of a lean to the floor! Made it tough not to roll off the sleep pad.

Last night on trail was a..... "Happy" One!

MacGyver crafted a huge fire from white birch tree bark...that was even wet. Still doing his MacGyver thing till the end! And the fire wasn’t only for warmth. Great for drying out gear!

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??