Finishing New Hampshire...trudging through the snow!!!!

     Last time we were on the trail we had to concede 89.3 miles of Maine to Mother Nature and then received notice from our landlord that we had to vacate the house we were renting.  We made it to Fayetteville, NC to move our belongings into storage and appeared before the Magistrate.  After two weeks in Fayetteville we were finally able to get out of Fayetteville and head back to the trail.  The plan was to head up to Virginia where we left off and hike north for 5 days and then spend Christmas with a paratrooper brother in Maryland.  We made it to Virginia, but I just was too depressed from the debacle in Fayetteville to hike, so we headed to Illinois to visit family for Christmas.  Grandma's cooking and family time did us both well and we headed to Maryland to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my paratrooper brother Terry and his wife Patrice.

     We met Terry and Patrice on Clingman's Dome in Tennessee when we were hiking north.  They are both amazing people and were great hosts.  Patrice is an amazing cook!!!  The time with Terry and Patrice was great for our minds, bodies and souls.  We left Maryland on Friday 26 December for North Woodstock, NH and the home of our new friend and trail angel Lois.  Arriving back in New Hampshire felt good, but also overwhelming.  I moped around at Lois' house for a few days and then finally got back to hiking.  Having been off trail for almost a month I was hurting, but am feeling better and getting back into the swing.  My left foot/ankle is still talking to me, but doing ok.  While in Illinois I borrowed my brother's snowshoes and have had the chance to use them once.  I haven't been pounding out as many miles as I need to each day, but I am doing my best and making progress each day.  

     As of today, Thursday 8 January, I have Mt. Cube, Smarts Mountain and Moose Mountains to go up and over and I will be done with New Hampshire.  Due to the weather we skipped them this past week and I will knock them out beginning tomorrow, Friday 9 January.  Then we will be in Vermont and moving southward.  Here are our latest pictures, enjoy!!!

Thanks again for everyone's support!!!

Our last day in Maine.  It had snowed overnight and was still coming down.

At least Mother Nature kicked up out of Main with a beautiful snowy sunrise.

A cool invention up here in the Northeast, a grate built into the floor of the porch so you can clean off your shoes/boots and the dirt and snow has a place to fall below.

New Years Eve 2014...who is this masked hiker??

'Tis me, Hendo hiking over Mt. Mist.

Hendo's Mom on the AT in her Kahtoola Micro-spikes.  Mom drives to the end of the hiking section each day and parks and hikes in and meets up with me.  So I get to hike with her for about 1/2 to 1/3 of the day.  I miss following her all day though.

Hendo's Mom and Hendo finishing up 2014 hiking on the AT.

Cute icicles in a babbling brook.

The only thing that sucks for me and winter hiking is sweating.  No matter how little I wear I still sweat.  My gators have been working great keeping snow out of my boots and my feet/lower legs warm.  But you can see how it was so cold that my sweat froze inside my gators. 

Hendo's Mom and Hendo at the Warren, NH Redstone Rocket.

The Redston Rocket in Warren, NH.

Click here for the story behind the rocket.

Information kiosk at the Warren, NH Redstone Rocket

Happy New Year!!!  We overslept on New Years Day, so we didn't make it out to hike, but Friday 2 January, we were up and back at it!!!

First hike of 2015 on the AT.

Hike into the Light!!!

It was just me and my shadow hiking this morning.

Hiking near the Dartmouth Skiway.  A know covered stone wall with a white blaze marks the way.

Another awesome trail angel near Dartmouth Skiway offering free water and ice cream to AT hikers.  Needless to say I passed, but the pink flamingos were an nice touch on a cold day.

Today I went over Holt Ledges and needed my brother's snowshoes on the north/non day-hiker side of the mountain.  They worked great!!  MSR Denali Snow Shoes.

We saw this gorgeous owl sitting on a powerline.  We stopped and watched it for a few minutes and were lucky enough to watch it swoosh down and nab it's dinner.  So awesome!!

Smiling for the camera.