The Trail Journal of Full Moon and Celestial Spirit

Georgia - Maine 1995

Mark and Janet in the White Mountains of New Hampshire - Fall 1997

The following is an abbreviated version of our trail journals (believe it or not!). Hope you enjoy them! I put some stats in there for those who are fixated with numbers. Average Daily Mileages are probably somewhat higher than indicated, if you throw out the short days we hiked into towns. As you can see, we started off pretty easy. Of course, it wasn't as if we had a choice! Being out of shape, fairly heavy packs, and high heat in the early going, kept our mileages down. Plus we enjoyed hiking with some individuals who were section hiking and enjoyed camping with them at night, so we slowed up some to accomodate our own desires! Later on, we realized that we had slowed a bit too much and were forced to jump from Harpers Ferry to Delaware Water Gap to get back on track. (Note - Our continuation of the Trail continued in 1997. We completed MD and PA in June and then did the section from where I broke my ankle in '95 (which was roughly 25 miles south of Hanover,NH) to Pinkham Notch in the Whites, where unfortunately we had to terminate our hike again due to Celestial Spirit suffering an ankle injury - so we still have 320 miles to go! If I can ever find some time, I hope to post the journals of our PA/MD section as well as our section thru the Whites! As of early 1999,we still don't know when we will finish, as Celestial Spirit continues to be plagued with the ankle problem she developed in 1977 and Full Moon had a case of rheumatoid arthritis hit him overnight in early 1998, which he is trying to overcome. But we haven't given up the thought - it's just delayed a bit. :)

Don't model your hike after our hike - everyone is different, both physically and mentally, and the weather can radically affect your hike as well. Just do what feels right each day to your body and your mind and you will have a great time! Try to keep up with others and you will find your hike much less enjoyable. Let us know if you enjoyed the journal or would like to see some other material included! To all of you '99 Hikers out there, hope you find something that will help you on your hike. Best of luck to you and hope to see you at Trail Days or passing thru Troutdale!

To help navigate you around the journal, just click on the month you wish to read and it will take you there. I have included pictures and am continuing to add to these. Some are associated with the text, but there are more on a separate page. If you would like to see a list of all pictures and have the opportunity to view them separate from the text, please click here. I have included notes with each picture.

I would also like to thank our good friend and hiking buddy "Allen" aka Allen Stibora of Albuquerque, New Mexico who has been so kind as to provide feedback, assistance, and encouragement during the writing of this journal.