Dalton, Massachusetts

Jack called tonight from Dalton, Massachusetts. I didn't talk to him long because he had little cell phone reception but he did get to tell me a little bit about where they are staying. The trail runs through the town of Dalton. There is a man that lives on the trail and Jack heard word of mouth and read it is his "AT Bible" that this man (and a few others townfolk) allow hikers to camp in their yards when they are walking through town. Jack and Randall walked up to his house and saw some other hikers out front. Jack asked if they thought he would let them camp in his yard and the other hikers said "He'll probably let you sleep in the house." Jack spoke to the man and he said they could stay in the house and to put their dirty clothes in a pile and he would start a wash!

His cell cut out before I could get this man's name or any details about what they've been up to. Hopefully he will call me back tomorrow.

The Today Show

I talked to Jack Monday night and he said they were trying to hitch hike to a small town outside of the city in order to take the train to New York Monday night. The plan was to be on the Today Show. He even told me not to tell our mom because he didn’t want her to worry about them walking around NYC all night. At 2:45am I got a text message from Jack that read “We’re walking around Times Square”. At 5:11 he sent a message that said “We’re second in line for the show”. He called me about 6:40 and said that last night they found a bench to sit on and some cardboard to make signs out of. The signs said “We walked 1450 miles to get here.” At 7:00 am I turned on the Today Show and when they scanned the crowd I saw the foursome with their signs and rain gear. I also got some text messages from people that I told to watch and they saw it too. I just talked to Tyler’s mom and she called their local news station and told them about the show. The station said they are going to air it on their news if the boys get any air time.

New York, New York

Jack called home today. They have completed the New Jersey section and are now in New York state. Jack said the terrain of New York State was very difficult compared to Virginia and New Jersey, which were like sidewalks. In NY, they climbed over one granite boulder after another. One night they camped near West Point and could hear the practice artillary fire of the cadets. They crossed the Hudson River on the catwalk of a four lane suspension bridge. Supposedly the hikers can get a view of the NYC skyline but because of the haze, they missed seeing it.
Jack hasn’t used much trail food up because he said there are so many snack bars where they can get hot food. They passed through Bear Mountain New York which is a recreational park for the city people to visit. Since they were there on a Saturday it was packed with people. Jack said he felt like he had walked into the World’s Fair.
Before the boys made it to Bear Mountain, Tyler met some trail workers who said they were doing work on the trail at Bear Mountain. He got their numbers and the boys called them when they got there. Jack and Tyler hung out with the workers and saw their progress. They have been working for 5 years to re-route this section of the trail and it is supposed to open next Spring. Jack and Tyler were the first hikers to actually walk on this new part.
They spent a night at the Greymoor Spiritual Life Center. The monks allow the hikers to sleep at the picnic shelters near their baseball field. They also have a crude outdoor shower rigged up for the AT hikers.
On Monday the boys are catching a 12.00 train ride into the city. They are going to call Jason Russell, another Holly Hill native and try to meet up with him if his work schedule allows it.

Jack's 2 week visit to the South Carolina Low Country

Some of the stuff Jack did at home.

Jack's Visit Home

On June 26^th, after Jack had walked 1000 miles, he caught a ride from Harper’s Ferry to Anderson, SC with Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth, Tyler’s Parents. Mom went to pick him up and they stopped in Gray Court for a night so Jack could see our grandparents. Saturday Mom dropped him off in Columbia where his truck was. He spent time with friends from college and began his binge eating that would last for the next two weeks. Wednesday he headed to Holly Hill and Thursday and Friday he did major yard work for my mom and grandma. We also went swimming at a friend’s pool and pulled Jack on his skateboard behind the golf cart. On the fourth a big group of us from Holly Hill went out to Morris Island which is right off the Charleston harbor. We stayed out on the island all day where we saw lots of friends. July 6^th our dad’s side of the family moved into a beach house on Folly where we stayed the week. My mom’s brother and his family were staying at Wild Dunes so they came over for dinner and we went to see them on Isle of Palms for a day. My mom’s sister came down from Laurens on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. We also met up with a lot of friends throughout the week that lived downtown Charleston since we were so close. Jack did lots of surfing, eating, and catching up with family and friends. Saturday we left Folly and went home for the big Stephens- McClure wedding in St. George. This was especially fun because we saw most of our friends from high school, indulged in an open bar/ free food, and danced to a live band. Then Sunday morning we began the journey of dropping Jack off on the AT at the Delaware Gap in New Jersey, visiting family friends in Pennsylvania, and getting my dad to Cleveland, OH for his last appointment (which went VERY well!). My mom, dad, Jack, and I piled in my grandmother’s Impala where Jack and I sat in the back with a cooler and some other small bags! Both our knees were hitting the seats! We drove for about 11 hours and then we finally made it to PA where we stayed the night. Sunday morning we were just taking our sweet time while we waited for Jack to talk to the other guys. When Jack got off the phone with Randall we realized they were very close so we rushed out the hotel to go find them. We didn’t really know where we were headed and we were in a slight hurry because the boys were waiting for Jack on the side of the road. We were so worried about finding this spot that we forgot to fill up with gas so halfway up the mountain the gas light turned on! We all started to panic because we didn’t know where we were or where we were going and we were on a deadline. Luckily we turned down the right road and saw Randall, Tyler and James just standing there and waiting. Jack jumped out and unloaded his stuff. Our Hellos and Goodbyes were very quick because the car was steadily running out of gas. We left them there and went to the nearest outfitter where we got directions for a shortcut to some gas. On the way back out we passed the boys again. Jack was waiting on us to come back by so he could give us his camel pack which he decided he didn’t need anymore, so mom snapped a picture real quick. We left there and finally got gas, ate lunch, and we were on our way to Pennsylvania. Of Course I needed a bathroom break so we stopped at a rest area about 30 minutes from our destination. Wouldn’t you know that the car died and we had to have AAA come out and save us.

Jack is now hiking through New York and he and James will be catching a flight to Memphis for Blake McManus’ wedding on August 8^th.

PS Jack also went through a slight transformation from the time he came off the trail to the time he got back on. The evidence is below!

New Pictures from Virgina