Alex McCafferty

6/26 – Day 57 7.7 miles from Stanimals 328 Hostel to Calf Mountain Shelter   Up to this point, whenever we hiked a half day or a nero we would always go the distance to town and spend the remainder of the day relaxing. In Waynesboro, we had a groundbreaking idea: rest in the morning … Read more

6/21 – Day 52 19.2 miles from Black Rock Overlook to Glasgow   It was the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, better known as Hike Naked Day on trail. We obviously wanted to participate, but since we still have some shreds of decency remaining we decided that simply taking off our shirts … Read more

6/8 ‐ Day 39 20.1 miles from Knot Maul to Jenkins Shelter   We lazily refused to walk down a steep 0.2 mile spur trail to get water at the shelter, opting instead to pack up and eat our breakfast at the Knot Maul Branch a mile further north. I was sitting on the bridge … Read more

6/1 ‐ Day 32 2.5 miles from TN/VA border to Broken Fiddle Hostel   Damascus is a major milestone on the AT. It is the symbolic southern terminus of the trail in Virginia, as well as the site of the largest hiker gathering in the country, Trail Days, which takes place mid-May. Cabbage, Happer, Spout, … Read more

5/24 – Day 24 16.9 miles from Bald Mountain to Mountain Inn   The rain stopped in the morning by time the first hikers in the shelter were stirring. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make the sensation of putting on a full, sopping wet outfit feel any better. We suited up in our sloshy sockies around 7:30am. … Read more

5/18 – Day 18 17.5 miles from Snowbird Peak to Bluff Mountain   We awoke to a warm sunrise visible through the trees from Snowbird Peak. We had a bit of a late start but hiked with Happer down the mountain in good time. At the bottom, we stopped at Groundhog Creek shelter where I … Read more

5/10 – Day 10 12.7 miles from Cold Springs to NOC   From our site at Cold Springs, we continued north along Copper Ridge and reached Rocky Bald. The morning sun was just kicking into gear and soon ate the remaining fog that settled at the basin of the distant peaks. We crossed Telico Gap, … Read more

5/5 – Day 5 11.1 miles from Tray Mountain to Hostel Around the Bend Today, Amy and I had to make a difficult decision: we were getting off the trail. We made it nearly 70 miles, a day short of the GA/NC line and had the time of our lives while doing so, but we … Read more

4/30 – Day 0 8 miles from Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain   The day finally arrived. The countdown on our phone that we checked daily for almost a year was at “0”. Amy graduated from college, we moved out, and suddenly found ourselves on an airplane to Atlanta, GA. The flight arrived nearly 20 … Read more