PUDs.... Are We Having Fun Yet?

Pointless Up and Downs (PUD) are the 515,000 reasons the AT is harder than the PCT. That's the total feet of elevation change in 2190 miles.

So you'd better pack some fun! Here's mine...


Eärendil (ɛ a rɛ́n dil)

My trail companion... named after the starlight given to Frodo by Galadriel in LOTR for safe passage in times of darkness. Fellow AT travellers say there are lots of those!

 

It's already shared many trails in the NH White Mts with my niece, Alana and her staff, Ceridwen (Celtic godess of poetry). 



I added my head ornament (eat your heart out Gandalf) but the original was a gift from my great friend Jerry (shown below with his lovely wife Lee) during their visit to the White Mts in Oct '21.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Awesome First Day... and Night

Image
Camped under the stars in my hammock! It's perfect weather, 70 clear and breezy daytime, 50 at night... No rain yet. Cindy at Start Trail Angels (and hosts of Boots Off Hostel, Hampton, TN) who watched my stuff while I slack-packed the first mile. Tonya fm FL who I'm met on the way to this beautiful waterfall... she last me like I was standing still!
Read more

The Fickleys - Super Zero Day Hosts

Image
Meet the Fickley family... Thomas, Natalie and their 5 boys (ages 2-8) and baby girl! I don't even know how to begin sharing about the AMAZING generosity theses guys showed, but here goes... Several times, Thomas drove an hour on very steep roads to take me to and from Reids Gap. The first day, he literally rescued me after a 21 mile hike from hell.  He was incredibly flexible despite my being almost 3 hrs late. Natalie is a SUPERB cook!!! Her brothers had done the trail years ago, so she even knew to order me my own large pizza!  Thomas let me drink all his beer and grills a mean steak! The boys lavished me with praise for every magic trick... and you know how shy I am? They were so excited to show me all their Lego Star Wars projects. They have enough models to film the entire series! After a MUCH needed Zero Day, Thomas returned me to Reids Gap so I could slack pack the last 19 miles to Rockfish Gap where he then picked me up. The next morning (after consuming mass quantiti...
Read more

Zero Day at 4 Pines Hostel

Image
Spent the entire day chilling with Yogi, Squirrelly and Forest Lore'ist (see D49 post). She had shoes too small but got new ones today! The 3 call themselves Fellowship of the Oak. Wish I had half their energy! Here we are with Sprocket, caretaker (and Den Mother) for 4 Pines Hostel. It's like a commune and was a great place to spend 3 nights. I even made everyone waffles this morning. ... using eggs from their chickens!
Read more