Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail ! 

UPDATE:
Mon, Oct 8 (Columbus Day)

Yippee!!

She Did It!
"Samwise" has completed her long, and sometimes arduous, journey through the mountain tops from Georgia all the way to Maine!

On Thursday, Oct 4, 2001, Julie and I climbed the final mountain of the Appalachian Trail. Mt Katahdin is a 5267' tall mountain of walking, climbing, crawling, clawing and falling. While the book says it is 10.4 miles round trip, it is really felt like about 25 miles going up, and at least 20 miles coming down. Most of the AT hikers chose to leave their large packs down at the base camp, and only carry a much smaller and lighter "day pack". Julie chose to carry her normal pack.

If she had realized that there was a such an overwhelming portion of rock climbing/crawling/clawing, she would not have taken her regular pack.

UPDATE: Tues, Sept-25

Julie called tonight from Monson, Maine. She said that it was pouring rain on her at the time, but she didn't care because she was going to stay in a hotel tonight instead of a leaky tent!
I think the light at the end of the tunnel is helping to keep her spirits up too.

The minor injury of the week was when she slipped on some wet rocks and pulled a muscle in her ribs or something. I asked if she possibly cracked a rib, but she said no, it wasn't that serious or painful.
Oh - - and her boots are falling apart again. I think this is the fourth pair of boots that she has used on the trail.

From here on out she will be in no-man's land.

She will pick up her last maildrop at "White House Landing" next monday. The mailing address is technically Millinocket, Maine, but the truth is that they really are in the middle of nowhere.

For the week between Monson and White House Landing, she probably won't see a single road, not one power line, no telephones, no street lights, no cars, no evidence anything created by man.

Tuesday I will be driving up to Baxter State Park in northern Maine to pick up my wayward wife and try to drag her back home. =)

On Thurs I plan to climb the final summit with her. Weather permitting, we will climb Mt. Katahdin, take lots of pictures from the top, then try to hurry back down before we get blown off by one of the storms that like to hit the mountain this time of year.

Friday or Saturday we'll make the long drive back here to civilization.

If you want to send any final letters of congratulations, you can send them to the 'lodge' where we are staying Thursday evening. Send them ASAP to arrive by Oct 3 or 4:
      Julie Crawford, c/o
      Appalachian Trail Lodge
      33 Penobscott Ave
      Millinocket, ME 04462
don't forget to write "Hold for AT Hiker" beside the address too.

(OR; you can send them here at home, and I'll bring them with me to Maine.)

Sorry the web site hasn't been updated in a while. Hopefully I'll be able to add the last journals once she is back and things return to normal. I will add the link to the latest Photos tonight.

Thank you for your support!!!

UPDATE: Wed, Aug-28
She is still hiking.

She is somewhere in northern New Hampshire, near North Woodstock. In another week or so, she will be crossing into Maine! Then, the almost entire month of September will be spent hiking through Maine.

She says that the trail keeps getting tougher, and more rugged. And the mountains seem to get steeper all the time too.

She called me on Saturday from Glencliffe, NH. She said that she is still enjoying the trail, "for the most part."

The temperatures have been pretty similar to what the rest of us have been experiencing - - HOT. Only recently (the last week or so) have the temperatures been nice. Lately they have been in the 70's - 80's during the day, and 40's at night. Which is a LOT nicer than what she was experiencing. It was pretty hot for most of July and August!

This week she has entered the "White Mountains." Formerly infamous for holding the world record for the highest windspeed ever recorded. It still might have held the record, except the anemometer broke at 200+ MPH, so no one knows what the top wind speed really reached that day. They are also pretty tough terrain.

This week, she also crossed above the treeline for the first time, so that is something new and exciting.

Finally;
There are only four (4) maildrops remaining. (!)
The maildrops listed on the website are all correct now.

You are encouraged to encourage her with cards & letters. And we both thank you for the cards & letters that you have already sent. =)

UPDATE: Sun, Aug-19
Talked to her Tuesday & yesterday.
She was in pretty good spirits because she had just gotten a new light-weight back pack, AND new boots. Both of them are lighter than what she was using. She has looked for a lighter pack several times before, but couldn't find the right one. This one lightens her load considerably!

Overall; she is doing allright. She says that she is still enjoying it.

Her feet have a few blisters from the new boots, and her legs/knees are always sore, but she is still enjoying it.

She is in Vermont now, but should be crossing into New Hampshire soon.
The terrain keeps getting rougher, and she says that that the toughest is still yet to come!

Again; feel free to send her a card or letter. Please note that the maildrop addresses has been changed. Some of the original mail drop addresses have deleted, and new ones added.

UPDATE: Mon, Aug-6
Samwise called me yesterday.
I asked her how she was doing, she replied "Ok."
When I asked her how the trail was, she said Tough!"

She sounded a little tired, and it seems that the duration of this undertaking is starting to get to her.

Feel free to send her a card or letter. The next few addresses are listed on the address page.

UPDATE: Tues, 31-July
She should be crossing from New York state into Connecticut today or tomorrow.

She is doing well, for the most part. Her knees are always very sore, and her feet/ankles frequently hurt. And she seems to be colliding with boulders occasionally. She said something about having to constantly climb over boulders and/or rock climbing since the trail is no longer a nice little footpath through the woods. Combine this with a 40-pound pack on her back, tired legs, slippery rocks (it rains a lot), and just a bad sense of balance and you get a girl with a lot of bruises and scars on her legs.

I will be sending her winter gear to her tomorrow. Even though August seems much too early to start carrying long underwear, she is in the mountains, in the Northeast, and the night-time temperatures are already getting rather chilly on some nights.

She could always use a letter from friends & family.
The next mail drop address is:
        'Please Hold for A.T. Hiker'
        Julie Crawford
        c/o General Delivery
        US. Post Office
        Dalton, MA 01226
She should be there Tues/Wed of next week, so any cards letters should be mailed to that address by today or tomorrow!
The next maildrop is 10 days later. I'll send that address in another email.

In other news,...
I had to move her website. The members.nbci.com/jtcrawford address hasn't allowed me to update for at least a week or two. They warned that it would shut down, but it wasn't supposed to be until Aug. sometime. I moved her site to another free web host. Hopefully this one will last a little longer.
Please continue to use this web address (www.zulie.com). I will keep this one pointed to the current location, wherever that may be.

There are a few new journal entries posted, but mostly I have spent my time moving the site to a new host.

After you check out her new journals, be sure to visit the 'Photos' page. There is a link to the latest roll of photographs there.

. . . after you mail her a short letter, that is. =)

UPDATE: Wed, 4-July
Samwise should hit the HALFWAY POINT today! !
. . . at least i think it was today. It might be yesterday or tomorrow.
Oh well. It seems more symbolic to hit reach such a major milestone on a patriotic holiday.
At least she is hiking with a good friend from church ('DS') for this week, and had someone to share the experience with.
I don't know if she gave herself a trailname for just one week (I'll call her 'DS'), but Samwise did comment that while DS may have short legs, (and has children that are Samwise's age) Samwise was the one who had trouble keeping up!

UPDATE: Mon, 25-June
What a busy weekend! It took four days to fit it all in!

Thursday afternoon/evening I drove to the Shenandoah Nat'l Park to meet up Samwise. Unfortunately, there was a tractor-trailer wrecked on the interstate which caused traffic to back up and made me over an hour late. (and I was already a little late.)
We rented a cabin in the park and stayed out of the thunderstorms that night.

Heavy thunderstorms were again predicted for Friday night, and while I had planned on returning home Friday morning, she convinced me to stick around and bring her home friday night. =)

We had to head out early Saturday morning because she had a schedule to keep. Several people from church were planning to meet her on the trail at noon, where the AT crosses one of the picnic areas in the park. Even though it was very foggy, misty with scattered showers, and just generally WET, everyone came out to the park and we had a great time. ..even if we did have to move to another picnic area in the park - - the only one with a roof over the picnic table.

After the picnic, she had more miles to put in before I picked her up again before dark and we headed to a hotel in a nearby hotel for the night.
Sunday morning it was back to the trail for Samwise, and I had to drive back here to civilization.

UPDATE: Tue, 19-June
Just talked to her a few minutes ago.
She's doing alright, just a little hot and tired. When it's not raining, it tends to be very hot and very, very humid.

I will be driving out to meet her after work on Thursday. She is now traveling through the part of the trail that comes nearest to us.

Several people from our church are also planning to meet up with her for a picnic in the Shenandoah park on Saturday. It sounds like she is looking forward to that. =)

UPDATE: Sun, 10-June
She's back on the trail again.
I dropped her off friday morning, exactly where she left off. The pulled tendon in her right shin is much better now.

While she was home, she was able to get ahead on a few things. Like calling the insurance companies about the Doctor visits that she has made in towns along the trail, and baking enough hiker breads to last her the next several months!

UPDATE: Tues, 5-June
Well;
Right after I posted this last update (Mon) she calls and says the Doctor has told her to get off her feet for 3-4 days. Should she stay there in a hotel for a few days, or would I go get her?

. . . I told her that I'd be there in a few hours.

She was scheduled to spend a couple days her at home anyway, it just got moved ahead a couple weeks.

UPDATE: Mon, 4-June
OK, Guess What.
She called me last time from a gas station pay phone that just happened to be near the trail. No town or anything, just a gas station.
Well, right after she spoke with me she went in and asked the guy running the gas station if there was any place dry nearby where she might be able to spend the night (ie: hotel, hostel, cabin, lodge, ..abandoned farm, etc.)
He said "Sure! We often let hikers stay in our converted garage. I'll have my wife pick you up on her way home from work."
In the end she got to stay in their basement, with a real bed, a hot shower, use of the washer & dryer, and even a hot meal with the family!

In short; Hiker Heaven!

UPDATE: Fri, 1-June
Just talked to the super-hiker (like 10 minutes ago).
She is doing well health-wise (no blisters, sprains or broken bones), but the constant rain for the last several days is getting to her. She was soaked to the bone. Cold and very wet. And all she had to look forward to was a semi-wet tent in the rain tonight.

Wed, 16-May-2001
Talked to the super-hiker this morning.
She was just leaving the latest town, hitting the trail again.
She seems to be enjoying the hiking life. Even with the tired muscles and sore joints. =)
On her way into town, a couple days ago, she literally walked a marathon (With the 40-lb pack!) She covered a little over 26 miles in one day!
...it makes MY knees hurt just thinking about it!

Sat, 5-May-01: (Cinco de Mayo!)
Samwise is doing well. She arrived in a town yesterday, and was able to call me.

Yesterday when I talked to her, she was rather concerned because her ankle & calf was very swollen and the calf really hurt. This morning she saw a doctor there (in North Carolina) and ruled out the worst. Possibly an infected bug bite or something.
She was in much better spirits when I talked to her today. =)
 

UPDATE 14-April-2001:
The first Journal entry has been received and posted!
Check her Trail Journal page for her thoughts on the first two days on the trail.
She has also finished Georgia, and is now hiking along the TN-NC state borders.
 

UPDATE 9-APRIL-2001:
THE HIKER-MEISTER IS NOW 2 DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!! SHE IS ALREADY AT HER NEXT SCHEDULED LODGE/BUNKHOUSE. THE BLISTERS AREN'T TOO BAD YET, BUT SHE HAS THEM.
HOPEFULLY AN OFFICIAL TRAIL JOURNAL SHOULD BE COMING SOON.

UPDATE 5-April-2001:
SHE IS ALIVE!
AFTER HIKING ALL WEEK, SHE IS NOW IN A TOWN AT A LOCAL HOSTEL!
THIS MEANS A SHOWER, HOT MEAL, SOFT BED, AND A TELEPHONE!!