A Family Adventure of the 2,185 mile hike from Georgia to Maine – 2014
May 28 – still Waynesboro
Overnight accommodations were easy to procure. The Town recreation department has a special park designated for free camping for thru-hikers and other long distance travelers (no vehicle-supported camping permitted). The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association has constructed a pavilion in this park that shelters a picnic table from the sun and rain, and rooftop so,at panels provide outlets for hikers to charge their devices. Read More
May 27 – Waynesboro
We woke up to the babbling of the brook in our wooded nook down the hill from the shelter. The area around the shelter was crowded with thru-hikers and others extending the holiday weekend, but the small topographical undulation that we dropped behind made it seem like we had the woods to ourselves. The sound of flowing water covered the noise of any of our neighbors. Read More
May 26 – Memorial Day
After a generous breakfast, we hit the trail until we happened upon a Memorial Day barbecue that some kind friends of hikers were offering to those happening by on foot. We enjoyed swapping stories while they spoiled us with pork kabobs, fresh caught tuna, home-baked cookies, watermelon, cantaloupe and cold drinks. Read More
May 25 – Devils Backbone
Hiking and backpacking with kids is always worth it. In the early years, Mama Bear and I had a 10% rule: if the parents had fun ten percent of the time, the trip was a success (we recommend upping this to 12%, both because we encourage others to set more ambitious goals then we do and in honor of our good friend twelve percent who’s headed out to attempt to hike the CDT in ninety thirty mile days–good luck and remember Cartwheel’s edict: “believe in yourself 12%”). As they get older and more independent, the fun factor for the adults only increases. Read More
May 24 – Families in the Woods
Memorial Day Weekend provides a respite from the workaday world (and warming weather) to pull throngs of people from the city into the restorative woods. Because we were passing through some park service land (which is better advertised then comparable forest service land) and because we are passing close to several high population areas, the population on the section of trail we passed through probably increased a thousand fold. And with good reason.
May 23 – Science for a Changing World
What had started as a pretty quiet evening camping by a shelter with one or two other hikers we knew turned into quite a lively morning as more hikers rolled in after dark and in the early morning hours. The kids awoke in their bunkbed hammocks after a night of mild shenanigans, excited for a new audience to which to detail who had climbed into whose hammock during the night, and who had been talking in their sleep about what, and which body parts were flailing when. Read More
May 22 –
An overnight rain drove Mama Bear and Cartwheel out of the unprotected hammocks and into the tent with RobinHood and me, but it had cleared by morning. We started the day with fried bagels and hard boiled duck eggs, then summited Apple Orchard Mountain for a view of some giant geodesic structure.
May 21 – Good for the Sole
After a morning of farm chores and a lunch of farm fresh food, we headed back to the swimming hole. Our farm-filled morning, however, left us with the unfortunate timing of starting a long climb at the hottest part of the day. A preemptive swim was in order. Read More
May 20 – Farm Family Kismet
After a long day walking along the shaded ridge line (past Taylor Mountain), catching glimpses of the valley below, we descended to a spectacular swimming hole. Our timing was impeccable, as a local family was there swimming and they invited us back to their farm for a home cooked dinner. It turns out that Thorpe and Kirsten Moeckel used to live in Bowdoinham, Me, just across the river from us in Dresden.
May 19
We made it out of town and up the hill for a ways to camp back in the woods. Town brought lots of new faces. We met some bicyclists who had started in Key West and are pedaling their way toward Canada. Now back on the trail, we’re meeting lots of new people who have returned from The Trail Days festival.
A Family Adventure of the 2,185 mile hike from Georgia to Maine - 2014 
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