After 27 days, I have completed the 281.8 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. The journey this far has been incredible, and I am overcome with gratitude for each of these days, all of them quite different. This is an important moment for me to reflect on my goals and even the fears that … Continue reading Saturday, August 04 “I FINISHED MAINE!!!!”(Kreg) →

Mahoosuc Notch! The single most difficult mile on the trail. Car- and house-sized boulders for an entire mile. It doesn’t look like a trail at all, and it’s closer to rock climbing than hiking. Sometimes, you scramble through a hole beneath a boulder so small that you have to take off your pack and drag … Continue reading Friday, August 03 “The ‘Hardest’ (or ‘Most Fun’) Mile” (Kreg) →

Old Speck and Baldpate! Ahhhhh gorgeous!!! I was planning to zero today but the weather was good so I lit out in the AM. 15 miles and two amazing mountains. Baldpate with its dome of exposed rock and Speck with a huge observation tower on top where I got my first view of THE WHITE … Continue reading Thursday, August 02 “Best Day of Hiking So Far” (Kreg) →

I did a short walk in the morning and then spent the day at the Human Nature Hostel. Super cool place to stay. The guy who runs it built the place from the ground up, mostly from wood, and it is one giant geodesic dome. The guy served three tours as a Marine in Iraq and … Continue reading Wednesday, August 01 “The Geodesic Dome” (Kreg) →

Mud mud mud mud. Hopping between roots, rocks, and logs to avoid the mud. 14 miles of mud. Stepping on roots and rocks all day kills the arches of your feet and your ankles. Muscles that I didn’t even know I had in my feet are sore. Still, I got an amazing view of the … Continue reading Monday, July 30 (Kreg) →

Last night, after finishing my journal entry, the “worst thunderstorm in years” rolled over Saddleback, according to the owner of the hostel I’m sleeping at tonight. Laying in my tent, the thunder rolled in louder and louder with each passing minute. Luckily, I was between two peaks, even if still above 3000 feet. I felt … Continue reading Sunday, July 29 “Hail” (Kreg) →

Ten years ago, I led a group of incoming freshmen at Harvard into the wilderness of Maine. We hiked “the Saddlebacks” - three peaks in Southern Maine. For the majority of that trip, I led my group along a rugged but well-traveled trail marked with white blazes. At some point on that trip, my co-leader … Continue reading Saturday, July 28 “Nostalgia” (Kreg) →

After a day off in Stratton, I got dropped off at the trailhead early. The day started with a big climb and descent, but an early day into camp means a lot of waiting around, so I pushed up Sugarloaf. Right as I got to the top, the clouds moved in, thunder started, and rain … Continue reading Friday, July 27 “Scary Day” (Kreg) →

Zero day in Stratton.

The Bigelows were AWESOME. Avery Peak was a climb, but you end up on this awesome ridgeline. It was really foggy, so I couldn’t see very far, but the fog would literally roll over the top of the mountain with me on it! I got to stand there as a cloud went over me, and … Continue reading Wednesday, July 25 “The Bigelows” (Kreg) →