Here we are as we get ready to load up the car for our trip!

This site was assembled as a resource for the friends and family members of Kes and Harold Messinger as a means to
keep in touch as they embark on their 6 month (??) odyessey to tame the Appalachian Trail. In addition to keeping a
journal of their progress, it also has maps you can use to track their locations, information resources about the trail in
general, and contact information.

Trail Journal direct from Kes and Harold:

This section contains information from phone messages and e-mails from Kes and Harold describing their adventures.

Captain's Log: Monday night,April 2nd, 11:30pm	We find ourselves knee-deep in gear and granola, and lost in the thought that in exactly one week we will be spending our first night out (on the trail, that is). Are we Ready? Absolutly, and absolutley not. We are excited to get out there for this journey/adventure we have joked and dreamed about for over a year. Now, still not quite packed, we sit amidst dust balls, scatterd paper and memories (bring up sentimental "leaving home" music). We are but two lonley people - lonley for the call of the wild, the hooting owl, the croaking of the tree frogs, the chirping of the crickets. If only Aunt Jezebel were here to see us, how proud she would be. And old Uncle Remus, we miss him. Stay tuned for our next entry when Harold says to Kes, "I thought you packed the sleeping bag."
Captain's Log: Saturday April 14th First Report from the Trail - We have already encountered many alien life forms that resemble human beings...	Harold said to Kes, "I thought you packed my sleeping bag" the first night in camp, and hence our adventure began. Friday the 13th we arrived in Neels Gap, GA, roughly 30.7 miles into our journey. The trail actually runs right through this little town. So far, the weather has been great until last night, when it began to rain mid-evening. Of all things to hike up in the rain on Friday the 13th, this morning we went up "Blood Mountain." While it did not extract its namesake from us, we decided to splurge here and are staying in little cabins about 5-6 miles from the Trail, but a shuttle is provided to run us back and forth. Some of you have asked us about the contents of our packs. Basically, we are each carrying about 35 pounds on our backs (including water), although when Harold has to give me a piggy back ride, his load increases significantly. Our packs contain 3-5 days worth of food and all our gear and clothes. As for the people, we have met a few through hikers so far and every day we meet many making smaller trips (weekenders or people taking small extended hikes like 4-6 weeks). Most of the people are single men (all you single women looking for a husband, take note) and we are the only married couple so far, much less the only Jewish married couple observing Passover. We don't have trail names yet, although one person already called us "Smoky and the Bandit." At this point, we anticipate arriving in Franklin, NC on or about April 24th. If you would like to send us mail, please send it no later than Weds April 18th or Thursday April 19th to allow time for delivery. Our 'address' there is: Kes and Harold Messinger (or Harold and Kes Messinger) General Delivery Franklin, NC 28734 After that, we anticipate arriving in the Nantahala Outoor Center about 2-3 days later, another mail drop: Nantahala Outdoor Center 13077 Highway 19W Bryson City, NC 28713 (800) 232-7238 (Call to find out how to address mail to us here) Stay tuned for the next time when Kes asks Harold "Did you remember to bring the food this time?"
Captain's Log: Thursday April 19th Second Report from the Trail - Encountered our first friendly (and stupid) aliens...	After 3 great days of hiking 10-12 miles each day, we arrived in Hiawassee, Georgia on Wednesday morning, April 18th. We woke up to a coating of snow and ice (but not enough for igloos or snowmen). It was so cold that our water bladder systems (not the bladders inside our bodies) were frozen solid ! Do you know how hard it is to get a plumber up in the mountains? (ba-dum-bump) We got off the Trail at Dick's Creek - about 64 miles from Springer - to resupply and relax. Unfortunately, Harold's back has not been excited about the 35 pounds it's carrying. We saw a Doc (yes, they do have real doctors out here in the boonies) and will be heading back out to the trail tomorrow (Friday) morning to hike the ~10 miles to NORTH CAROLINA! We'll take it easy and re-evaluate how our bodies are handling the miles as we go. A few observations: Powdered eggs rule! they cook up great and are mighty tasty too. Rah! eggstore.com! Passover noodles are terrible. We tried to cook them and our pasta turned to a stewish sludge. Sun is good...rain is good (keeps the body temps down)...wind is not good, not good at all (ever hear of that thing called wind-chill...well out here, it's more like wind-freeze). Some guy we met hiked 20 miles...in one day.. a windy day...what a wimp!! We hiked 12 miles one day so together we hiked 24...four more than that wus!! The views are breathtaking, in particular clouds rolling in and out of the mountains when we reached the peak of Blood Mountain. The vistas are our rewards for the up, down, up, down, up, down, ... you get the picture... Speaking of pictures, we should have some on this site in about another week (provided we are really nice to Drew :-)! We also met up with some interesting characters: "slow-poke", an older guy wearing a metallica t-shirt and takin his time...a very sweet guy from oklahoma A mother and daughter combo hiking for a month together, and then the daughter will continue on. "Duct tape" - a guy who mistakenly covered his foot in Duct tape to prevent blisters. Warning: Duct tape has a corrosive binding in the glue and ate through part of the guys skin.Ouch! So boys and girls, use bandaids instead. Tune in next time when Harold says to Kes, "Oh! I thought you said 'PACK the belgian waffle maker in the bottom of your pack.' That's why I brought all this confectioners sugar!"
Captain's Log: Sometime in May...Somewhere in the Mountains...Somewhere on the Trail (hopefully)...	When we last checked in, we were heading out from Hiawassee, GA - ~9 miles shy of the GA/NC border. We passed a tiny sign affixed to a tree that said simply,"GA/NC", took our picture and celebrated our first state crossing! We camped that night at BLY GAP, met a fella named "Shoe" who was leaving the woods in the morning, and he generously gave us his cool little "ESBITT" stove - basically, you burn a small fuel tab the size of one of those Jelly packets you get at a diner (CAUTION: do not eat or try to spread on toast!). This Esbitt stove is simple, easy, and lightweight cooking at its best. This being our third stove in less than two weeks, we feel like we know what we're talking about. Along the trail we met up with some kind strangers who fed us greenbeans and fried squash and some good cornbread. However, just before the beans were served, Bud, our host removed a big fat piece of...well...alright...LARD and tossed it out. What could we do? We ate the beans. The lard flavored beans. (We have to say, it was good.) But, after being "larded" harold's tummy did not feel so good. We recovered, and hiked into Franklin, NC. Once we arrived, we agreed that Harold's back was in too much pain to continue as planned along the Trail. We decided to take a break, and take some time to build his back slowly. A night at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), a long weekend in Wilkesboro, NC for the Merlefest bluegrass festival. We got lost, wandered a bit, and ran across this cute spotted dog. No seriously, we ended up getting a ride back to Chapel Hill where we spent a coupe nights and now we are in full rehab mode at our secret Training Facility. We are hiking everyday in great locations and slowly building the weight on Harold's back. So far so good. Observations thus far: Do not camp at the Rainbow Springs Campground outside Franklin. The people are weird and unfriendly (and missing so many teeth they are difficult to understand). You live, you learn. The Franklin Sheriff Department ROCKS! Kes rode "Shotgun" in the squadcar with Deputy Timothy. After making bail, Harold was released. Eagle Creek Outfitters in Franklin has great employees. Powdered hummus has been nixed from the food drops. Anyone interested in ALOTTA dry hummus, contact us. You live, you learn. Powdered falafel, on the other hand, is quite yummy. Powdered eggs still rule. You learn, you live. We'll leave you with this final riddle: "Why do hikers climb up mountains?" The answer will be in our next update (if we can figure it out ourselves)...
Captain's Log: Late June - Early July...all good things must come to an end...too bad this one did so early ;-(	After many miles, two hundred or more We hiked and hiked, but Harold's back was too sore. Rather than end our adventure much too soon We retrieved our car, some clean clothes, and good tunes. We are off to the Catskills, to a meditation retreat We will rest our bodies, from our minds to our feet. When all is zen, we will pack up our gear Down to Austin for music, school, and Tex Mex - no fear. So we're back to the real world with lots of dried food The AT is still in our minds, tho' we'll try not to brood. Instead, we'll continue to work out and rebuild One day we'll return to what we left unfulfilled. Thanks for following our adventure!

Track Their Progress Along These Maps (Click on Thumbnail to See File):

 

Small Map Entire Trail (53K)	Close Up GA - NC (324K)	Close Up VA - Sh. Valley (329K)	Close Up Sh. Valley - PA ( 363K)	Close Up NJ - VT (332K)	Close Up NH - ME (327K)
Note that the file sizes are fairly large and may take some time to load depending on the speed of your connection.

Here are a couple of sites for information about the Trail:

The Appalachian Trail HomePage
The Appalachian Trail Conference HomePage
National Park Service Appalachian Trail Section
The Appalachian Trail Trailplace for Thru-Hikers (one of the best sites)
A.T. State by State Information Guides
Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (GORP) section on the AT
Here's a new link I found from a guy called Dragon's Breath who apparently just Wanders the World

Contact Information:

The best way to contact us is via our parents (we'll be calling mommy every week or two):

Bert and Arlene Spilker - (301) 657-1402 or Stu and Nancy Messinger - (610) 446-1641

We will also be checking our e-mail sporadically at kesm2@yahoo.com.