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  1. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roper View Post
    Congratulations to you all! I've been section hiking since 2007, and I'm 1500 miles behind you!

    The blue flower is gentian.

    I think the "oak leaf lichen" is actually a bunch of oak leaves. The tree probably suffered some kind of wound or disease that triggered the odd display of leaves, a type of epicormic branching. (That's my guess as an old forestry major, but I can't tell for sure without walking up to it, touching it, smelling it, sensing it.)
    Thank you Dan. I wish I knew more about the various flora and fauna we encounter on the trail. I sometimes tell people who are afraid to go out in the "scary" woods that if they knew the names of the things out there, it would help. So now I know the name of the flower gentian.

    As to the lichen, I googled it and wikipedia says it's called Lobaria pulmonaria, or tree lungwort, oak lungwort, lung moss, and a few other names. So it really is a lichen after all. Cool stuff!

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nanatuk View Post
    Congratulations! Love the Certificates as well. Glad you didn't let a little ATC dereliction of duty stop you from celebrating your accomplishment.
    No way! We walked too far to not celebrate! And honestly I'm much happier with Bob Peoples' signature than somebody I don't even know.

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher & Snacktime View Post
    Congratulations! I'm foolishly proud of having been a small part of your adventure, and completely envious! What's next?
    There are SO MANY people who have been a small part of our adventure, from you and HMom and others WBers who have moved on, to random strangers we've met on the trail, shuttlers, hostel owners, people we've shared a shelter with, or a storm, or a hard climb - we all are a small part of each others' adventures!

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by FlyPaper View Post
    Interesting. I've posed the question before. What is the shortest longest section of anyone who has completed the trail. Most people that complete the trail generally do at least one very large section at once. In your case, your longest section is 103 miles. I don't recall anyone else claiming to have completed the whole trail who's longest section is less than 103 miles.
    That issue came up in a thread a few months back - maybe it was your thread??? Anyway, within the limited sample of respondents, I did have the shortest longest section. I'm pretty sure though that there are gobs of hikers that don't hang out on WB and we wouldn't have heard from them. Whatever, I'm happy to claim the title until somebody else snatches it.

  5. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by PatmanTN View Post
    Congrats!
    Hey if you guys decide to do the Wind River HR, be glad to lend you my map set.
    Patman, that trail sounds intimidating. If we can persuade ourselves to give it a try, we'll definitely borrow your maps.
    Hint, maybe you should drop in to the shop and work on talking Mark into it....!

  6. #46
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    Thanks again, everybody for your posts. I am so grateful for the encouragement and fellowship enjoyed here on White Blaze - with anonymous people I'd never recognize in real life! And yet, I recognize your spirit, your love of the trail, and you feel like family to me.


  7. #47
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    Thanks, Illabelle, for giving the information about the oakleaf lungwort. I looked it up and learned something delightfully new.

    By the way, I've been section hiking since 2007, have accumulated 600 miles, have missed one year (2018), and my longest section to date is 75 miles (Uncle Johnny's to Dennis Cove Road).

    Take care.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roper View Post
    Thanks, Illabelle, for giving the information about the oakleaf lungwort. I looked it up and learned something delightfully new.

    By the way, I've been section hiking since 2007, have accumulated 600 miles, have missed one year (2018), and my longest section to date is 75 miles (Uncle Johnny's to Dennis Cove Road).

    Take care.
    Well Dan, it sounds like you might snatch that shortest-longest title from me!

    Seems like most people put a lot of value in the Big View - from a mountaintop looking out into the far reaches of forever. I don't disagree; that's a marvelous view.
    But I also enjoy the Little View - like a closeup of the small world at the base of a tree, or on the side of a rock. I get excited about damp rocks/logs that have an abundance of mosses, lichens, liverworts, hornworts, and other vegetative forms. Their variety, and the areas where the different species overlap are mesmerizing. These small places are foreign to us, in the sense that we live among larger things: trees, shrubs, grass, flowers. Kinda makes you wonder about the creatures that may be lurking in the world of small things.

    One time I was occupied ... um ... over a cathole ...... and I watched a tiny living fiber moving around in the moss of a tree nearby. It was probably a parasitic worm of some kind, much smaller than a piece of spaghetti and probably at least a foot long. That thing tied itself up in a knot then untied and stretched out. It was very squirmy. I left it alone!

  9. #49
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    Oops. Ignore.
    Last edited by Dan Roper; 12-01-2020 at 00:31.

  10. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    That issue came up in a thread a few months back - maybe it was your thread??? Anyway, within the limited sample of respondents, I did have the shortest longest section. I'm pretty sure though that there are gobs of hikers that don't hang out on WB and we wouldn't have heard from them. Whatever, I'm happy to claim the title until somebody else snatches it.
    Yes, I went back to the old thread. We were in the same discussion back then. Obviously there are many section hikers that will never read this. But I find that few section hikers really finish the trail. Of the people I meet on the trail who are not day-hikers, it seems about half are thru-hikers, and of the other half, very few seem like they're likely to finish the trail.

    I guess I'm kind of repeating the same things from a few months ago. Curious about other's experience. Of the section hikers you know (and this is directed at anyone reading), what percentage seem like they have a serious chance of finishing the whole trail? And of those that seem serious, how many of those have not done an extremely long section?

  11. #51
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    Quite an accomplishment...and your postings on Whiteblaze will hopefully help those who follow.
    Order your copy of the Appalachian Trail Passport at www.ATPassport.com

    Green Mountain House Hostel
    Manchester Center, VT

    http://www.greenmountainhouse.net

  12. #52

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    Congratulations! You hiked your own hike and made the most of your experience.

  13. #53

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    Congrats!!! I have truly loved sharing section hiker info back and fourth over the years and comparing notes My day is not too far away now myself! What an amazing accomplishment!
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  14. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gambit McCrae View Post
    Congrats!!! I have truly loved sharing section hiker info back and fourth over the years and comparing notes My day is not too far away now myself! What an amazing accomplishment!
    Honestly Gambit, you are such an energetic hiker that I was sure you would finish before we would. Surprise, surprise!

    You don't have a lot left. But if you're finishing at Katahdin, you'll have to sit around and wait till it opens in June. That's a long time. But that mountain is worth the wait, truly epic.

  15. #55

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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    Honestly Gambit, you are such an energetic hiker that I was sure you would finish before we would. Surprise, surprise!

    You don't have a lot left. But if you're finishing at Katahdin, you'll have to sit around and wait till it opens in June. That's a long time. But that mountain is worth the wait, truly epic.
    Slated for 2 week trip revolving around July 4th, 2021

    Also, My energetic days are over at 32 LOL I have lost the ability to do 10 by 10am, or 20 by noon. Now I will still get my 20 in, but it will be from 8am to 4-5 pm haha I am very proud that I got a 16 and a 20 in the whites....I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull that one off
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  16. #56

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gambit McCrae View Post
    Slated for 2 week trip revolving around July 4th, 2021

    Also, My energetic days are over at 32 LOL I have lost the ability to do 10 by 10am, or 20 by noon. Now I will still get my 20 in, but it will be from 8am to 4-5 pm haha I am very proud that I got a 16 and a 20 in the whites....I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull that one off
    Oh my, believe me at 32 you are still young, very young!
    At least compared to us around twice that age.
    The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
    Richard Ewell, CSA General


  17. #57
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    Congratulations to you both and to all who finished as section or thruhikers this year. Keep hiking.
    "Sea Eagle"

  18. #58
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    PS-I too finished the Trail in sections last year over a period of 22 years. Initially I was just doing sections that especially interested me or hikes I got invited on but around 2009 decided to do the whole thing. Not sure why the change but the desire was so strong only my own demise would have stopped me I too will keep hiking.
    "Sea Eagle"

  19. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Debbie View Post
    PS-I too finished the Trail in sections last year over a period of 22 years. Initially I was just doing sections that especially interested me or hikes I got invited on but around 2009 decided to do the whole thing. Not sure why the change but the desire was so strong only my own demise would have stopped me I too will keep hiking.
    Congrats to you Debbie! I understand (and I'm sure many others do as well) your strong desire to finish. Now we need a new obsession.

  20. #60
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    Thanks. Also thanks for the pictures-they brought back memories, especially the tree tunnel on Roan mtn. Re: new obsession, there ARE more trails. Pct, cdt, north country etc. My current obsession is simply to take a fun hike to someplace on the AT where I can enjoy snow and cold temps again. Not much of either in Miami
    "Sea Eagle"

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