woodstrehl's blog
September 27, 2007 – Schenectady, New York
Submitted by woodstrehl on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 5:23pm.We have settled into Schenectady to visit family and recover from our last nine day walk across MA and VT. Our friends Jane and Bob completed the Appalachian Trail on the last leg of this walk. Wonderful! We hope to finish the Northeast part of the AT over the next week and a half with weather at least half as good as during this last walk. Sunny and cool every day with chilly nights. Superb hiking weather.
September 6, 2008 – Eastham, MA
Submitted by woodstrehl on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 7:26am.We are departing as the Nor’easter arrives. First foul weather since we have been at Cape Cod. We left the Appalachian Trail last week after completing a final section of trail in Maine. Having finished the entire trail in the states of Maine and New Hampshire, we can say that the hardest is over. This year’s walks led us to treats of chanterelles and blueberries. Wonderful. As always the rugged northern mountains gave great views of themselves. Fabulous.
August 23, 2008 - Twin Mountain, NH
Submitted by woodstrehl on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 5:52pm.We have just completed a three day hike on the A.T. in western Maine and have now finished the trail across both Maine and New Hampshire. This gives satisfaction because frankly these are tough mountains and we wanted to finish the Trail here while we were still able.
August 7, 2008 – Newry, ME
Submitted by woodstrehl on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 9:55am.Today we were supposed to be hiking near here, but the weather has kept us in. We enjoyed a fine if somewhat damp walk ending Monday of this week between Carratunk and Monson, ME. We found it hard but strengthening. The weather promoted fungi and we dined on oyster mushrooms and two kinds of chanterelles. We snacked on blueberries and saw one moose. There were fine views from two rock-topped peaks. We camped near the peaks where beds of spruce leaves provided fine padding and where the altitude discouraged mosquitoes.
July 31, 2008 – Greenville, ME
Submitted by woodstrehl on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 9:53am.We are camped in the motorhome at the summer home of friends on Wilson Pond. Their one-acre woodlot is similar to ours and provides a wonderful view of the lake and the mountains beyond. Loons call at night.
June 25, 2008 – Qualla, North Carolina
Submitted by woodstrehl on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 4:02pm.Having remained stationary, there has been less reason to report our progress these months of May and June. That is about to change as we relocate to our little house on South Mountain in Pennsylvania next week, but there we have no Internet access and only poor telephone access, so I provide this update of the pilgrims’ progress.
May 26, 2008 – Memorial Day – Cherokee, NC
Submitted by woodstrehl on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 2:18pm.Another beautiful morning in the Smokies and we have a busy day planned. On Saturday we bicycled the loop road in the isolated valley tucked in the mountains called Cades Cove. There isolated structures remain of a remote agricultural community that developed in the mid 1800’s and was purchased by the National Park Service in the 1930’s. Many of the structures that remain are primitive of log and rough-cut lumber.
April 30, 2008 – South Mountain
Submitted by woodstrehl on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 2:06pm.We are “home” again even if only for less than a week to see Chuck’s parents, our daughter, our house, and a bit of that good old South Mountain springtime. We drove here yesterday from Cherokee where our motorhome remains waiting for our return this weekend. The drive was long and the Ford Focus is not the most comfortable vehicle for a long driving day, but the radio and a book on tape made the time go by more quickly. The greening Appalachians and blooming dogwoods and redbuds provided fine scenery.
April 25, 2008 - Marathon FL
Submitted by woodstrehl on Fri, 04/25/2008 - 12:21pm.We have returned from the Dry Tortugas. We enjoyed six days there residing three nights on the boat and three camped on Garden Key. Scored five life-birds and probably twenty year-birds there. Were enchanted by the stark scenery and dramatic wildlife above and below the surface of the turquoise sea. Met wonderful people on our boat and other boaters, campers, rangers, and volunteers.
April 18, 2008 - Key West, FL
Submitted by woodstrehl on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 1:35pm.Greetings and a short note from Old Key West. We board the "Playmate" this evening to join our bird tour of the Tortugas over the next three days. Then on Monday morning we will leave the boat to camp for three more days on Garden Key in the Tortugas. On Thursday, we will catch a ferry to return to Key West and then drive back to Key Vaca (Marathon).
