Father and Son on the AT

Andy was planning on a hike with the guys this weekend.  Because Abric had been sick, I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking Harrison with him.  (H and Z had been at each other's throats all day long).  He OK'd it with his friends and took Harrison with him.  Harrison was so excited to have his own pack.  It only had a pair of clothes, some snacks, and a bottle of water, but he felt very grown up.
Harrison also borrowed my headlamp that I use to read in bed at night.  He was loving it.
Here are they guys: l to r:  Andy, Jeremy, Dave.  Mike also went, he must have been taking the picture.
Rise and Shine little campers!  Andy and Harrison in their little bivy tent.
Harrison saw Dave with his walking poles hiking up the hill, so Harrison felt that he needed some sticks.  Andy said it was a pretty steep incline.   About halfway up, Harrison said, "Dad, this is a tough hill.  Here is one of my sticks to help you hike up the hill."  We thought it was so cute that Harrison actually offered one of his sticks to Andy to help lighten his burden.  

The H.A.M.

It's that time of year again! Andy and his friends Dave, Shawn, and Mike got together for the Hike Across Maryland on the Appalachian Trail. Andy and Dave hiked it last year with Andy's brother, Michael. (Click HERE to see pictures and to read the post from last year.) This year, my good friend Josi (Dave's wife) was with me to be the support crew. Two pregnant women with 5 kids was quite a sight! Here are the kids, hiking up the A.T., hoping to see one of their Dads on the way down to meet them. Front to end: Harrison, Zane, Grace, Ewan, and Will. I think Will carried those sticks around for a good hour.Mike got in first just before 1pm. Here is Josi showing him the next rendezvous point on the map, 7 miles away. He ate lunch, changed his socks, rested a little bit and then was off again. That guy was on fire!
Andy and Shawn showed up just before 2pm. They took off at 2:30. We planned to meet up with them in two hours at Gathland State Park, the next meeting point.
Josi and I tried to have some good photo oppurtunities with the kids, but its hard to get 5 kids to look at you and smile all at the same time. This was an old chapel built by the widow of the guy who invented the gun that was used on the U.S.S. Merrimack, an iron-clad ship used during the Civil War.

Dave showed up at the lunch rendezvous at 3pm. We were both starting to get really worried about him. His knees had started giving him a lot of trouble, so he decided that he was done for the day. After 23 miles, you can give yourself a pat on the back, Dave!! That is still a HUGE accomplishment!
Josi brought some kites from the dollar store and they were a huge hit. The kids had fun running up and down the hill to keep the kites in the air. A state park with Civil War ruins in the background was a beautiful spot for the next rendezvous.
There goes Mike, once again the fearless leader, wasting no time to get back on the trail.
There goes Andy and Shawn after a quick stop at meeting spot #2.
I think Zane had a little too much fun searching for sticks, flying kites, and running with his friends. That sleeping position cannot be comfortable. (This picture was actually taken at rendezvous #3, but the guys literally gave us their packs and grabbed a bottle of water. They planned to run the final 3 miles into Harper's Ferry, WV.

We were serenaded by some of the reenactors in Harper's Ferry as we waited for the guys to come across the finish line. She sang "Dixieland".
We saw Andy when he was crossing the bridge across the Potomac River from Maryland into West Virginia. Ewan yelled, "Go Daddy!" I love how Ewan is running toward his very sore and tired Daddy.
Here is our own reenactment of the completion of the 2008 H.A.M. Mike had actually crossed into WV about 45 minutes ahead of Andy and Shawn. They were good sports to go back up the hill and run down again. I know they could barely move.
Josi took this picture of us on the banks of the river. I look like "crizzap", but figured I should post this picture so my mom and family can see my growing belly. Andy looks pretty good for just hiking 41 miles across the entire state of Maryland.

The guys made great time. Last year, it took them 15 1/2 hours. This year, Mike ran/hiked it in 12 hours and Andy and Shawn ran/hiked it in 12 hours 45 minutes.

Father-Son on the AT

Andy took Harrison and Zane on their very first backpacking trip. They have been camping before, but have never had to hike to their campsite. Andy took them on the Appalachian Trail, but they only hiked in a mile and a half.

Harrison wore Andy's hydration pack and we picked up a child't hydration pack for Zane. It took him a couple tries to figure out that he had to "bite" the mouth-piece to get some water.

On the trail. . . it was the boys's job to keep an eye out for the white marks painted on the trees to keep them on the trail.
All the boys at the AT shelter near their campsite. . .(l to r) Tom, Conner, Harrison, Brennan, Zane, Andy.

Delaware Water Gap on the AT

Andy and his friends, Dave and Jeremy, hiked the Appalachian Trail this weekend at the Delaware Water Gap (near New Jersey.)

Here they are at one of the shelters.

Andy pitching his bivvy tent.

Dave, Jeremy, Andy.

The guys hiked 4 miles the first night. They didn't even get to the trail head until 10PM since it was such a long drive. They hiked 22 miles the second day. They said that they had found a great campsite along the trail. (pictured above) Someone had set up a fire pit and there were two really nice spots for tents. Just one problem. . . no water. They still had 3 more miles to go.

The last day, they hiked 6 miles and crossed from PA into the New Jersey border.

I'm glad Andy had a good time this weekend, getting his "guy time" in. He needs that and deserves that. Janelle and I had a great weekend of our own. We went to the outlet malls in Lancaster and I finished Harrison's school shopping.

HAM--Hike Across Maryland

On Saturday, Andy, his brother Michael, and his friend Dave set out on a 41-mile hike along the Appalachian Trail (AT). Their goal was to complete the H.A.M., or Hike Across Maryland. The AT runs from Georgia to Maine along the Appalachian mountain-range. They wanted to complete the state of Maryland in one day. There actually is a hiking club that holds the HAM every other year. The guys tried to register, but it is only available to members of some Maryland hiking club, which the guys couldn't join. So, they decided to do their own "rogue HAM" and I was lucky enough to be their support van. :D

Andy left the house early Saturday morning to meet at Dave's house. They guys then drove west to Pen Mar, the trail head at the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. They started their hike at 6:45AM. I met them at 2:00PM where the AT crosses a country road. Since the guys only took their hydration packs with some granola bars, I had to meet them with lunch, gatorade, more water, a change of socks, and some mole skin. They had already done 22 miles at this point.

While we waited for the guys, and since the boys needed to get rid of some extra wiggles, we started hiking northbound to meet them coming their way south. Harrison and Zane were so excited once they saw them along the trail. Here they are coming down the hill.

Here are the weary travelers having a nice lunch break. They are only half-way done and are starting to feel the aches and pains, but are motivated to keep going.

Dave doctoring his feet.

Here are Andy's feet. He's giving them an "airing" while he changes socks. The dirt went through his shoes and socks.

Here are the guys at Gathlin State Park, MD, where the AT intersects. I met them here at 6PM. They were getting tired, but I surprised them with some "trail magic".....cheeseburgers! After 28.7 miles, they are really starting to get sore.
I tried to let Ewan crawl around the van to get a break from his carseat. He was happy to not be strapped in. When I did try to buckle him back in his seat, he straightened his little body. He refused to sit down. He actually stood in his car seat. (He really can't stand yet, but he was just DONE with being in his car seat!) We decided to stay there for a little while longer. I changed his clothes and nursed him and cuddled him until he went to sleep. Thank goodness for portable DVD players because that kept Harrison and Zane entertained. The boys were troopers!

After one more meeting at Weaverton, they guys were ready to be done. They only had three more miles to go and it was all flat, so I think that made it easier....mentally. Physically, all three of them were hurting.

I met them at Harper's Ferry, WV. They came walking in around 10:30PM. After 15 1/2 hours of hiking, they were finally finished. What awesome guys. Andy said they talked about how they had truly pushed their physical bodies as far as they would go. They felt like they had learned a lesson about enduring to the end, because they could have gotten in the van and quit at any one of our stops, but they kept going. GREAT JOB GUYS!