Bridge Jumping

We heard the water was deep enough to jump off this bridge 30 feet above the river. Thumper didn't hesitate to give it a try, so of course we all followed. It's an interesting feeling leaping off the edge and having little control of what happens next.

Bambi said she was never more scared in her life, but she jumped a second time anyway.

Unfortunately my camera phone takes so long to take a photo that I missed the jump. I have more photos and a video on my other camera that I'll post later.





Getting Water

Some people have asked where I get my water. Mostly it's places like this, usually followed by chemical treatment, but not always. If the source is a spring coming out of the ground I drink it straight. And then there are rare moments where I come across a magical source that flows directly under a McDonalds soda fountain.

Not Broken

Not broken! Just a muscle injury and some bruising or something. He knew I wouldn't just stay off of it, so he gave me a stylish hard-soled boot and some recommendations for taking care of it on the trail. I guess I'll just be limping for a while longer. I was really hoping for a magic pill... he appologized for having none.

We got a hitch to town and stopped in a pub for burgers. We will hopefully find a place to sleep tonight. I don't know though, I don't see any abandoned banks OR dugouts. We'll figure something out... we always do.

Waiting Room

In Hanover, NH at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital waiting to have my foot looked at. I have been limping for days and only moving 7 or 8 miles a day. Can't keep doing that, so here I am. I'm worried about a stress fracture, but doubt it's anything that bad. I will wait for the verdict.

As you see the girls are waiting with me. I feel bad since these are the most boring hours we've had in 6 weeks. I would understand if they wanted to keep hiking, but am really glad they are sticking around.

Last night I started thinking about all of the things I could miss if I didn't let the foot heal properly, so decided to hitch to the hospital to get an expert's opinion. We have had such a blast on the first 400 miles, I'm sure it will be just as amazing on the next 1700. I don't want my stubborness to see a doctor ruin all that.

Will update soon.

Mt. Moosilauke

Our last great mountain peak for 700 miles... or so they say. Northbounders have been telling us how hard Moosilauke would be, but we realized we've already been through the hard part, so this is no longer hard for us. We are experienced seasoned hikers. You might say I'm sounding arrogant, but please, just let me have this. I haven't had a good reason to be arrogant in years.

Also, wanted to say hi to Andy and Darcy. I can see why Andy and his grandfather spent so much time here. It is a beautiful mountain.

Sore Foot

Injury.. Actually more like wear and tear. A bone in my left foot has been hurting for seven days. I hoped that when I stopped to wait for the girls to catch up it would have felt better. We even took an extra day off and only hiked 16 miles in 2 days. You probably won't see a ton of progress on the map for a little while.
The upside is that we have our last big climb just ahead of us and we hear the trail gets easier for the next 700 miles. Hopefully it heals quickly. Yesterday it hurt so bad I worried for the first time that I might not make it to Springer. We stopped for a break and to cheer me up the girls gave me candy bars, did a dance routine, and were extra cheerful and hilarious.. So that's how awesome they are. They also said if I had to stop to heal they would be waiting with me. I feel very lucky to be hiking with them.