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writing is hard sometimes

hola its be a while been a a seriously crazy journey i think a vast majority of hikers have relized its not only just hiking to maine its a begining to an endless adventure it has striked courage in a lot of people experiences things they never thought they could do cause of normal life so people really do go wild in so many ways (good ways) ...
so i left off in the shanandoahs which i didnt aqua blaze cause it was crazy expensive so hiked out with machete at night and begin the truck in mrs janet had said to hike as much of the road as we could cause there were way more views so we did. It was amazing and so much wild life black bears, snakes, owls, turkeys and my buds invictus and road kill saw a bob cat, WILD!! So while hiking on the road after going to a "touristy" pit stop and getting ice cream machete and i got stopped by two rangers asking us for our permits (which we had no idea about and NO other thru hiker had) we said we had no idea and what was it for they said its a free permit to check the amount of people coming in and out and for our saftey (silly) they had said theyd give us one and to give them our ids, which i thought was weird for a free permit. And they did and as she gave us our ids back she gave us a lovely 75 dollar ticket for hiking without a permit!!! WHAT!! If anything was to happen to either one of us we have id on us and whats a silly permit going to do if we get hurt or whatever. Needless to say i was pretty pissed off what a dumb thing expecially for two young kids that have a long way to hike still on a budget i had even said to the ranger the same thing..ERRR..so in fustration we hitched out of the shanandoahs to front royal where we played music to take care of the ticket. In front royal playing music a couple stopped and said hey you two want to go to washington dc? DUH and adventure yep! So we went to dc on a whim and while there meeting with a friend at big bear cafe discusing where in the world to sleep :) the lovely waitress heather invited us to crash at her house we stayed up telling her stories and her telling us hers letting us shower and do laundry!! I made her the most amazing breakfast in the morning in return for her kindness. The next day we met up with piper and his friend and guess what?! got a ride to ct where i grabbed my car and went back..its just about forth of july and everyone was talking about going guess where? DC haha so i collected a car load of kids and dogs ha and went to dc where heather again was so kindly welcoming (shes hooked on crazy hikers) while at her work again the was a kid sitting next to our table outside and seemed like an adventure kid just so happens he is and while at heathers fourth of july night the kid walked into her house named johnny and he wanted to come join us :) and he did we set out ready to hike and then the idea of the catskills came up and so we went and playing in waterfalls, then in was saratoga for a jam band show, woodstock ny, went up to the adarondacks and stayed at patches families lake cabin AMAZING, then lake george, and the one above it between vt and ny i cant think of it right now then burlington then camels hump part of the long trail crazy now it trail time agian dont know where im going to pick up but ill let you all know on a crazy journey:)
LIGHT AND LOVE!!

life is play

:) I havnt updated in a while been just playing away so im 150 miles just about from the half way point!! WHAT!!! im in waynesboro VA. After going home my whole hike has completely changed and for the better im really taking my time and living it up!! ive met some really amazing people who also want to just take there time and see everything we can!! Ive have experienced the real beauty in strangers mainly from hitch hiking all over virginia, yes hitch hiking! SO back tracking to the graceland highlands where i got to pet wild ponies!!! UNREAL!!! My friend ambassador and myself hiked all the way around the graceland highlands exploring the blue blazed trails to just see where we ended up, which was wrapping around the entire park and ending up exactly where we left of haha pretty silly but we really got to see some beautiful spots that other people couldnt. After playing with ponies a group of us decided to hitch to marion va the warrior hikers had a parade to be at on memorial day so i thought itd be fun to go. Our hitch was crazy seven hikers, seven packs, two huge horse saddles, and my little doggie on the back of a truck with no gate, pretty silly!! these two girls we had asked to get a ride from before they snagged us said they didnt even know where they were going so the truck people said theyd bring us to the main road, well the two girls followed the truck thinking one of us was going to fall out ha! Truck dropped us off and the two girls drove us all the way to marion!! Awesome! Hung out there for a day and hitch back to the trail were we were at this shelter called partnership, everyone gets sucked in..showers close to town and alot of good people! I ended up meeting with three lovely people with guitars which you can imagine my excitement..one of which we played for about six hours i just sang and sang! Hiked out after a couple days of hanging there piper one of the guitar players and i thought itd be cool to go and busk (play music on the street for money) so he hiked out with b-line, ambassador, and i (been hanging with them since damascus) We didnt end up making anything we were in this town atkins which there nothing in :) Got to this pavilion 12 miles later were the lovely Miss Janet picked up a bunch of us to go to the captains house for a weekend party (what a time!!) She brought us back hiked out and started our own "not your typical trail magic" (trail magic by hikers) We fed some hungry kids! 

.....Parisburg VA started hiking out and it was gross street walking powerlines and a nasty cigarette plant, hiking with piper and machete we said it was time for a little break and thought lets go to nashville and lets busk..we made and adventure bound sign to get there ended up going back to the captians haha, then from there we hitched to blacksburg VA made some money, then to roanoke VA which is were we got hooked up by this lovely couple took us for lunch and dessett and brought us back to the trail!! Were we hike macfees knob and tinker cliffs...absolutley beautiful it was 20 miles and machete and me took 3 days to do it. Its was amazing!! In daleville VA after that and machete rooster mike your hike and i decided to go to the beach frome daleville we hitched to waynesboro(where i am now) to charlottlesville to richmond..richmond was wild needless to say and made good money busking!! Now here and ready to knaoe the shanandoahs!!

LIght n lOVE to you all!!

damascus

So after being home which i forgot to say was a 22 hour bus ride which mrs janet so kindly took me to. I had to get back some how and boy did i get the hook up mrs janet had said to call up her friend who had thru hiked in 2010 and that she was a wonderful lady, i called her up and got a ride all the way to damascus. Thank you ever so kindly for the trail magic city slicker!! I not only got a ride but made a new lovely friend that lives in my home state SWEET!!
Got to damascus and reunited with all of my people definitely one of my happiest moments when i got on  the bus i never felt so lost having been with crazy hikers all the time and in the woods or small cute and friendly towns and back in the concrete jungle not so pleasant i missed it and had only been on the bus for 10 min :) being home was funny i felt unreal i had no idea what to do all i could think about was hiking hahaha silly..
in damascus im sure you all heard while walking in the hikers parade a man who apparently had a stroke drove into or marching pack and plowed through us hikers me and ellie mae who i was thankfully carrying where push out of the way and safe it was a blur a terrifiying blur. Thankfully my friend saint croy got into the back of the car and put on the parking brake!! Thank you saint croy!! Then it was panic time there were people injured all over and under the car hikers all lifted up the car and medics pulled them out i left as soon as the car was lifted i didnt want to see that i just looked around for my buddys but was to shaken to really check i just grabbed my good friend blue and said lets get away. Everyone is okay!! thats whats important!!
But on a better note it was an amzing time ellie mae get hooked up with a pack from ruff wear and is not rocking an amazing doggy pack THANK YOU!!
hiking out now

LIGHT N LOVE 

Ahh ha ha

Hey I'm back ha I havnt updated in a while in Erwin I got nero virus which was horrible throwing up for hours and hung in Erwin at the mayors while there was fiddle fest people from the area eating good food and playing some good ol blue grass music we stayed the night there was funny cause they ha peacocks and the noises they make we're too funny. After that machine a warrior hiker invited me and cookoo to stay a farm they were invited to and got to hang out with the owners of colony earth Xavier an Jamie hawk they have a beautiful life going on there for them and a lovely family they were we helped them set up a green house pick nettle and ate lots a food! Soooo after having the nero I wanted to visit home for a week and I did surprised the day lights out of everyone it was awesome

340 miles Erwin TN and learning

So 140 miles til VA yay hiking just get easier! I really have been learning alot about myself and life around me you really never think about how privileged we are with everything in our every day lives we truly are blessed individuals its amazing to me more and more everyday. I think about the silly things that use to frustrate me on a daily basis like driving for example i would get so ticked of at someone driving stupid but whats the point there not going to stop riding my tail or not going to speed up we need to slow ourselves down in our everyday life's were constantly going to fast and really missing the little things and forgetting about them which made me feel like i wasn't doing anything wasn't experiencing anything when i was always, i have always known it but never like i do now. The excitment of having a shelter to stay in at night when its pouring rain even though your packed in it like sardines, everyones smelly, people snoring, rolling all over...i could not be happier being dry and comfy. This was a little test of life two days ago we were walking and the supply of water was not plenty so my nalgene water bottle was just about empty and gatorade bottle was the same, i kept dwelling on the fact i was thirsty and wanted water then and now i was very flustered and was slamming my poles in the dirt all angry :( but then i thought why am i thinking like this its so silly water will be in a mile or two and there will be plenty to relax look around (which was a amazing mountain side with tiny white flowers and green grass everywhere tangled with old trees and big rocks) and as i calmed down i just smiled and was grateful for all the water i got to have that day even if i couldnt have anymore id be fine i was grateful for the tiny sips i had left..and then a quarter mile later...water :) life taught me the quickest lesson..patience and to be grateful. The more i continue to walk and think, which is what i do all day everyday, i analyze life as we know it. we create our own problems whether we except it or not its just crazy.
On a hiking note...My bag has much improved in weight ive dropped so much random little things i thought id need but never will..i have also purchased poles which have really been an amazing help on my knees walking down hill..we ended up taking 4 zeros in hot springs cause of a hiker festival going on it was great i was able to talk to a granite gear rep named fix it man (he really is the man) he gave me a new hip belt for my pack (my was too big) put it together for me all for no charge :) grateful kid i am! i ate so much way too much there its was crazy! The nature has been BEAUTIFUL like a dream blankets of flowers everywhere it seems unreal looks like snow all over. Met alot of new great people hung with the warrior hikers (veterans sponsored kindly to hike the at) there amazing group of people..there are so many incredible individuals its hard to tell you about all of them. All you need to know is they are all such kind and caring free spirits :)


....little line from a little book...

Less hasty am I than the wind, yet i must go. We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us. :) 


Lovin you all...keep smiling everyday and be thankful for what you have..constantly remind yourself about your blessings...life is beautiful and a huge blessing within itself

PICTURE TIME!

mmm tasty

relax

bald we camped on

max patch

max patch drying out gear

me a hoopin

boys will be boys - bitte goat and cookoo

i hoop on mountian tops

hiking all day cookoo, k2, long gone, wal mart

mountains are meant to be climbed - hot foot, shaman, cookoo

cheoa bald campin

smokeys pines

blood mountian snow

blue mountian sheleter (coldest night ever)

 b-line and why not kickin it

wal mart, k2 and cookoo

Through the Smoke

After hitching a ride back from resupply in Robinsville for the smokie mountians with very heavy packs supplying ourselves with seven days of food which in a hikers case seems more like double that..haha we got to climb up and up one of which was jacobs ladder a nice directly up climb ha nice time to get food :) Right before the smokies was our last stop at the Fontana damn which was pretty beautiful from up high on the mountians up close still beautiful but not as clean looking. Its funny your all the way up on ridges of mountians and you see your destination from afar and you get super pumped and it seems futher and further away its like a mirage. Stayed at the fontana damn shelter which is called the fontana hilton cause theres showers and bathrooms. I experienced some interesting dinner that wal mart and bitter goat came up with are you ready.... :) ...a dozen boiled eggs, mustard, and instant mashed potatoes on bread with hot dogs haha actually tasty!! WE cowboy camped that night so we could get a quick and early start the next day (cowboy camping is sleeping with just your sleeping bag on the nice patch of grass easy mornin packing) Started hiking at 5am and began our journey into the smokies at first it they seemed like all the mountians until we got to higher elevation which had grass all over and blankets of tiny white flowers it was like walking through a story book, amazing. You go in and out of pine groves and the views are endless. Hiked up to Charlies Bunion which will be one of the most treasured spots ever it was unreal! Clingmens Dome really wasnt that cool hiking up it was sweet it was like vermont hiking but the top just seemed like the top of mount washington touristy and concrete which really does take some of the beauty out. We got out of the smokies in 4 days which was nice cause you have to camp/stay at a shelter every night and its kinda sounds silly but having to be somewhere and not having the freedom to pick and choose you camp location not cool and the fact that day hikers or section hikers get to reserve shelter space and if its pouring rain and youve been hiking all day nestled in your sleeping bag and get kicked out for someone whos staying one night and gets to dry there stuff the next day it kinda makes a thru hiker a little fustrated and not including that we have to pay $20 just to hike the smokies and you have to do it in seven days HA joke! But it was beautiful after the smokies i felt a real sense of freedom really relizing that i really have it made i get to hike and see eveerything happen around me all day everyday its unreal the feeling is really unexplainable! Another one momentous thing was max patch your on top of a mountian all grass it was crazy! i melted into the ground that day the sky was blue the sun was shining and i was surrounded by the best company :) Also hiked our longest day 21 miles its funny nothing hurts everyday any more my body is really getting use to the hiking! OH i chopped ALL of my hair of yesterday and it feels so good all the boys did to but really silly like LT cookoo bird has a mullet, walmart has the creepiest mohawk, saint croy has one patch of haor on the top of his head and one patch in the front rediculous! We are in hot springs NC now just chillin out got to take a shower and wash clothes which was needed badly and if you know me you know that when i say shower badly it must be real bad :) haha! but i have pictures and i hope you enjoy! Light and LOve to all of you!

the woods now

the woods when we started

the ice storm of boredom

on a peak with some fun

part of the crew on clemens dome

me and k2 on charlies bunion

Sunshine

We have some sunshine finally!! I love that my blog is just on run on sentence with occasional explanation points :) we are in the NOC right now leaving in a bit after resupllying. While in Franklin , NC we all learned a lot the main thing to slow down all of us were starting to feel the amount of miles we have been doing 16 mile days take a tole going up and down. Down is pretty harsh on the knees. I also learned that my pair or hiking boots I had purchased we cause acheleis tendentious on my left. I thought it was I bruise at first but it just kept swelling and not really noticing it, not good. When in Franklin we went to and outdoor store named outdoor 76 and the guys working there gave us the feet 101 they helped us all extremely and we all thank them more than we can explain. They fit me to a new pair of trail runners which were a size and a half bigger than shoes I had gotten for the past few years!! Crazy!! We took two zeros in franklin cause my acheleis needed to not be swollen ha. K2's foot and knee were also having issues as well as LT cookoo bird with some nasty blisters, he got new shoes too. Franklin was awesome too Rom Haven the owner of the budget and saphirre inn was awesome he took us where ever we needed to go, one of which was a Chinese buffet were I learned that my eating truely has grown seriously!! All of us had at least 5 plates :) just yesterday in NOC I ate a pound burger salad and dessert in like 5 minutes pretty funny some older thru hikers by us were just amazed at the amount I ate! Before we got here after taking two zeros in Franklin feeling healed up we decided to keep it slow and only hike 5 miles got to a beautiful shelter on a grassy hill and relaxed yet again had some great company with two older fellows named gman and noodles, love the daylights out of those two just positive beaming guys.  Also this kid nibble we keep running into who also shares are silly sense of humor :) so we ha heard that thunderstorms were coming in that night and it would be yet again chilly. It got very chilly rain just turned to ice on everything getting to almost an inch thick all day the next day it rained LT cookoo said it'd be a goo idea to take another zero on account I hold cold it was, not to excited to sit again all day. It was in our bet interest, we realized it when a group of Boy Scouts came in and 3 were hypothermic! Two other thru hikers followed and stayed in with us ET (English tony) and frenchie there packs and hats were covered in ice and they were freezing! In the shelter we created stories from the names of previous hikers and it kept us quite entertained, all about Gerald renalodo the professor that studied river otters and went on a mission to the amazon with his companion gnat. They ran into a intense battle between the river otters and sea otters...see what happens when you have little to entertain yourself we rotated the story person to person and boy it got weird :) It was most defenitly the longest day I have had really missing a warm house and my smelly Ellie. It was good though to have a crappy day cause the next day when that sunshine came out it was truely heaven. We all thought we were going to get smushed, branches breaking and falling everywhere including the shelter, very scarey!!
The next day we hiked in the best weather we have had yet! And had the most amazing views continuously though the day! Also met a new part of our crew a kid named long gone who is one hell of a speedy walker! We all spent the night in a shelter right on the trail woke up and began the walk to NOC. The night there was sweet I got to play guitar and hula hoop which I missed strings so bad. I played and was joined by these lovely girl names hammy and flow who played cups :) that night was refreshing everyone was there taking a load off! Blue was there with his family and they bought us trail magic brews and boy we were grateful thank you blues mom!!! I met a young girl the age of 9 named pink panther hikin with her mom and dad, that is one lucky lady :) slept on grass that night for the first time in a while I slept great, minus this guy named noodles drunk ranting an raving(soo funny) he is a riot!
Now in robinsville really resupllying for the smokeys a week adventure! Well be goin through Fontana first and stay the night in the "Fontana Hilton" a really nice shelter with showers (I havnt showered in a week, I smell great) mile mark 151!!! Life is good!

Franklin, North Carolina

In Franklin, it's been oh soo cold still had snow two nights ago yet again and rain. It's raining now haha..camped out in a grove of rhododendrons which kept us some what out if the weather all the shelters were full..shelters are the best way to go when the weather is sour. I feel hungry all the time it's unreal pop tarts are heaven and I never liked meat, now give me anything ill woof it down. I love eatin but all who knows me knows I love to eat anyhow just now times it by a million :) hike d 16 miles today and got a ride to town LT cookoo birds foot has some nasty blisters so were all taking a zero tomorrow plus we needed to resupply. I have two walking sticks now which are a LiFesaver!!! Help my knees so much everyday a new lovely pain but you keep on keepin on. It was just amazing crossing the North Carolina border, 13 more to go!

Time to relax

Ohh boy life is grand soo we have been moving like crazy got a nice crew going and have established a trail name which is silly Radigasta (Radigast the brown from the hobbit tied with rasta lady) been strolling through the woods with Long trail, Ktosummit, Bitter goat, and wal mart..many others too all of which have been nothing short of awesome :) the weather has been wild we climbed blood mountain in a windy snow ice all over which I enjoyed gave some mental challenge. Stayed at neels gap hostel that night, amazing!! A wonderful man pirate was an awesome host got to shower eat snacks and movies in the afternoon washed clothes everyone that works there was really great with tips and tricks. Had a beautiful dinner with an assortment of things. The best was all of us tired walkers all sat down together and just laughed and laughed, sharing stories, watching the most crazy movies, and just plain old being silly. I think every night the past few nights I've laughed more than I have since I was a kid just pure bliss. No matter how cold and wet it's been :) the past few days have been a haul stayed at neels gap then I. The morning hiked 18 long miles to blue mountain shelter (so bitterly horrible cold) then yesterday hiked 16 miles to low gap shelter actually got a little sleep and today hiked 4 miles to dicks gap were we all got shuttled to town and now at the holiday inn ready to take a relax day!! Ohh yeah!!!! Nothing has been more luxurious haha..not kidding :) it's funny your apatite really does go high I have eatin stuff I never really would have everything is amazing!! Oh and we all had the first taste of trail magic two ladies at a gap giving us always hungry hikers coffe tea, hot chocolate, sausage and cheese biscuits, fruit, and on and on. It's was perfect after staying in the long cold night. I can keep on going with everything going on we have finally been getting views too which has been a real booster!! 12 miles to the border already!! Only one problem being the smokey mountians they got 3 feet of snow and zero degree weather not what is good to hike in but it's is going I be sunny the next fees days!!!!!

White blazes white blazes!

So started at Amicalola falls stayed the night in the shelter which was cold but I stayed warm thanks to my amazing gear. Woke up still so cold and began the truck up 604 stairs a nice welcoming to the trail, so we hike the approach trail all that day hiked up springer mountian which was so satisfying! Stayed the night at Stover creek shelter and glad cause it poured like crazy! Woke up with rain got packed up slowly hoping the rain would let up and thankfully it did! Now staying at another shelter don't know the name it's dark so dunno.. Oh day one miles 11.6 day two miles 13!! Happy safe surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful things not to much green right now still cold but saw a. Few pilliated woodpeckers squrriels chipmunks the usual :) light n love to you all I'm pooped!

Far thee well

AT starts today!!! Keep posted :)

The low down

Soo..this is what's happening we are renting a car tonight from Orlando airport and driving at 5 am tomorrow morning to Atlanta airport getting there at noon. Then thanks to Ron Brown a amazing thru hiker assister he will be picking is up at the airport and taking us to Amicalola Falls well night hike for how ever long then set up camp!! Just so you all know a day behind :) so very excited!!

Just throwing it out there thank you survivor Dave and Ron Brown!! If you ever need a lift thru hiking to trail head in Georgia hit those guys up!!

Gearing Up

This is my gear:



My Pack - Granite gear crown 60L  
Pack cover - Sea to Summit Ultra sil            

Sleeping Goods -
Sleeping bag - Western mountianeering 15 degree down bag
Sleeping pad - Big Agnes insulated Qcore pad
Big agnes dry sack that blows up the sleeping pad (pretty sweet!!)
Sleeping bag liner- Cocoon silk mummy liner (also adds 10 more
    degrees of insulation)
Pillow- use my clothes

Food and Water -
Dualist system cook pot (includes 2 mugs, 2 bowls, scraper/brush,
     camp soap, olive oil, hot chocolate, and green tea)
1- Spork!
2L outdoor product water bladder
1L patapus water bag
32 oz Nalgene bottle
Water purifier - steri pen adventure
Chain mail simple outdoor solutions bag
One dry sack loaded with my tasty dehydrated creations for
breakfast and dinner, tuna creations, power bars, home made trail mix,
muscle milk, green vibrance (a powder that consists of alot of vegetables
 kale, spinach, wheat grass,. etc.) bee pollen, maca powder, chia seeds,
a variety of spices

Clothes -                       **= ditching as soon as it gets hot
1- Vasque GTX womens hikers
1- Pair of Crocs (for in town and night)
1- Pants zip off  **
1- Thermal pants **
3- Tee shirts (it is a lot but im tiny and they are super light HA)
3- pairs of socks
2- pairs of underware
1- base layer long sleeve shirt
1- Tecwic base layer coat **
1- sports bra
1- thermal **
1- pair of athletic shorts
1- wool hat **
1 - smartwool gloves **
1 - Berghaus raincoat (sick ultra light raincoat)

Other -
50 ft. rope
Gerber knife
Swiss army knife
Spool of floss for any repairs
2 - needles
A bit of wire (had my crocs break before wire is a perfect fix)
Blister and band aids (little first aid kit)
Nikon p500 camera
1- Toothbush, toothpaste, 4 oz Doctor B's, floss, tweezers, nail clippers
A small quick drying camp towel and washcloth (super tiny)
A note book with two JELLY DONUT PENS!!!


I think that covers it WOOW :)

Starting Tomorrow

So i am in Orlando Flordia right now! It is warm going from conneticut weather to here, humid! I came to meet up with my hiking buddy Bruce. We will most likely be renting a car to drive from Orlando airport to Atlanta airport. From there we are still figuring out there are quite a few buses picking up from the airport to the trail heads the plan is to start at Amicalola Falls which is more of a gradual hike to springer mountians summit. Getting to climb a nice 604 stairs to the top! Hoping to hike 10 miles to Springer mountian shelter.

This is me and thank you

My name is Chanelese and i am about to go on a journey that has been long awaited, i am thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. I begin the hike on March 20th...so two days away! The people in my life have been more than supportive. The good energy that i have received has been a blessing and i thank you all more than i can explain! It hasn't even hit me yet even though i get on a plane tomorrow. I am completely ready, pack packed and drive up high. My pack only 27 pounds with five days of food and water!  I have been dehydrating foods: apples, bananas, pears, blueberries, raspberries, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, mangos, and the list keeps on going. My family is so amazing and supportive they will be helping me throughout the hike by sending me tasty foods. My mom will keep on dehydrating, my dad is my anchor he'll be sending me supplies throughout the trail. Which i can't thank them enough! Also all the beautiful people that have met while working at Me and MeGees and Mama Rouxs you have made me more driven than i can say, i will be able to complete any challenge with the energy sent to me. If any one messes with me too i have a bamboo sword! Hahaha (thank you Vaughn!!) My friends have also been more than supporitve and oh i will miss them! But all your butts will be meeting up with me! And so my adventure begins...with one thing left... deciding whether to bring an instrument or not!! Hard one :)