Yesterday was the hardest day so far. Courtney came last night to slackpack us so I was on the trail at 5:45am. It was one of those days where the only people hiking were thru-hikers. It was pouring and cold as I left. The trail has become overgrown and extremely muddy, rocky, and full of roots. Every time I hit a branch, a night’s worth of accumulated rainfall would fall on me. The shortest option for the slackpack was 31 miles because there were no other road crossings – not even a dirt forest service road. That in itself, especially with several big climbs, is a big day.

However, I also had to do Mahoosuc Notch, the hardest mile on the whole AT in slick conditions. It wasn’t too bad with just a daypack though and it was a pretty cool area. It was a mile between 2 cliffs where large boulders have fallen over the last couple thousand years. I had to climb over, around, and under these large boulders and there was even ice still in some of the crevices. I finally got done at 9:15 and gladly took my soaked shoes off. Today we’re slackpacking another 20 miles.

Tanya had a busy weekend on set near Canal & Broadway for a 2-day shoot. MotionX-GPS marked the spot. By Sunday she had worked 28 out of the past 34 hours. But it was well worth the effort. Tanya tweeted “Thank u @kevin_slack & crew! This shoot was incredible. Easily 1 that I will never forget, no matter how many brain cells I lose 2 whiskey.” Now she’s off to the next project, heading to Atlanta soon. Stay tuned…

I’m writing this from the place with the worst weather in the world, Mt Washington. This is the highest point in the Northeast and holds the land speed wind record of some 280 miles per hour. This picture is of the trail leading to the top. The vegetation, mostly shrubs, grasses, and lichens, are only found on a few mountaintops in the lower 48 and hundreds of miles north in the arctic tundra. The weather today is cloudy, windy, and in the lower 50s. The average summer high is 51 and and average winter high is 15.

Posted by Mr. DeVoe on 21 July 2009

Hello,

Mr. DeVoe uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G and is sharing with you the following track:

Click on this link to display the track in Google Maps. This link will be valid until Aug 20, 2009 9:59 AM PDT.

Here is the view from yesterday’s first peak of the Whites. This was probably the best view of the whole AT so far. These mountains are tough but very rewarding. They remind me a lot of the Adirondacks.

Here is a picture of Maine Junction, the place where the Long Trail and AT split. We continued east after here and are heading toward New Hampshire. We’ve been fortunate enough to slackpack for a few days now and are covering over 20 miles a day. Mr Giroux is still here and holding up well.

Mr. DeVoe uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G and is sharing with you the following track:

Click on this link to display the track in Google Maps. This link will be valid until Aug 13, 2009 10:59 AM PDT.

Here is Chad DeVoe’s latest track using MotionX-GPS. They recently passed the 1500 mile mark on the Appalachian Trail – an incredible feat.

Glenn had a great ride on Sunday to continue his training for the Vätternrundan 2010.
Here’s the track: