We have been encouraged by others to give a by-the-numbers account of our hike, so without further ado, here it is!
2,176.2 miles
14 states
168 days/5.5 months
35 days of rain in the first 42 days
3 major blizzards (in TN, NC & GA)
43.5 miles & 4 states in longest day
20,000,000 steps (exactly!)
17 pairs of shoes/boots
9 packs
7 sleeping bags
4 pairs down booties
1 backpacker guitar
2 harmonicas
1 recorder
1 shaky egg
2 cameras
2 stoves
1 roll of TP at a time
1 cheap LOVE necklace from Walmart
446 frogs
129 red eft newts
5 black bears
4 moose
2 box turtles
20 snakes
1 porcupine
2 pileated woodpeckers
lots! of deer, mosquitoes, black flies, slugs…
1 loon swooped on by 1 bald eagle
1 evil squirrel and 2 evil mice who chewed our stuff
1300 french fries consumed in one sitting! (that’s 9800 calories and 530 grams of fat)
9 items each off McDonald’s dollar menu in one sitting
1/2 gallon of ice cream each in one sitting
300 snickers bars
100 lbs of GORP (trail mix)
2 grocery carts of food in every town
3 blueberry pies from Beef’s cousins
4 food flops: “Think Thin” bars, mysterious rotten vegetable from CO, habanero cheddar cheese, pickled sausages
2 bee stings (1 near-deadly)
1 bad ankle sprain
3 vomiting incidents
2 frostbitten toes
4 different personality types on the Enneagram
6 books/stories read aloud
1 song composed for the trail (lyrics coming soon)
1 celtic festival attended
1 movie theater visit (Mamma Mia! in Hanover)
20 songs on the VT Mafia Greatest Hits list
16 movies on our post-trail film festival list
59.32 dollars in Flamebo’s combined bank accounts after final reckoning
11 lbs net weight gain
125+ trail angels & mafia connections
12 days apart before our first reunion!
