"Newt" finds his trail legs...

My friend John, or "Long John" as a few of my friends refer to him, has set out and begun his trek to completion of the Appalachian Trail. He's making the trip in memory of his late grandmother whose life was taken prematurely due to Scleroderma- a disease that causes skin to harden by excessive collagen deposits.

Here's Johns first letter about his plans for the trek:

March 7th, 2008

Dear Friends,
I need your help. As you might know I am hiking the Appalachian Trail this summer, all 2,175 miles from Georgia to Maine. As you may not know my grandmother died during this Christmas from Scleroderma- a disease that causes skin to harden by excessive collagen deposits. She was the author of many books, a columnist for the L.A. Times, an English professor at Loyola University, and a true nature enthusiast. I have decided to dedicate my hike to her memory by raising money for the Scleroderma Foundation through pledged donations. The Foundation funds research for a cure, supports families suffering from the disease, and raises awareness through community outreach. This is more than a walk in the woods (thanks Bill Bryson) this is a chance to make a difference. Please help me raise money for the Foundation. $5-$10 would mean a great deal to me and patients suffering from Scleroderma.

To find out more about the trail, the disease, and how to donate please visit my blog at:

http://johnmccutcheon.wordpress.com

This will also contain updates from the trail if you would like to follow my progress, or perhaps join me at any point on the way!

Thank you for aiding me on this path!

Happy Trails

As John updates his blog on his trek I will include portions on my blog with the link. PLEASE feel free to read up on your own, and if you have a few bucks to spare, throw them his way - as this adventure is not free.

Today John posted his first blog since embarking on his intense adventure. Here is his first entry in its entirety.

Broken (In)

April 8, 2008

Today is my birthday and I am writing from Helen GA, a small German village in rural GA (I know, right?) 50.1 miles into the Appalachian Trail. I am here to restock food, rquiptment and to send off my friend Susan who was hiking with us down to the trail which we had much difficulty finding. Between four people with cell phones, a computer, maps, a guide book and a GPS we still managed to get lost and had to ask a group of hikers (with out any technology) where we were. The first day was glorious. A seasoned hiker on the first trail crossing gave us fruit punch juice boxes and told me I was the 30th thru-hiker he has met that day but that i needed a trail name because there were too many Johns as it were. We hiked 5 miles up to Springer Mountain which made the rocky slope and our brief encounter with a snake worth the trouble. The view was beautiful. We signed into the hikers log and continued to the first shelter. The shelter was packed and we arrived only an hour before dark, trying to learn how to errect our tent, cook a meal and use the bear bag cables before night fall. There are many many people on the trail, most of whom have Maine as a goal although roughly 25% give up in the first 30 miles which turned out to be the case with many people I have encountered.

Day 2 gave birth to Susan’s trail name “Pokey Pokey”, the reason for which I am sure you can deduce. We also befriended a group of women hikers, the “Hen Hike”, which is a group of middle aged women who met online with the shared goal of hiking the AT, a guy from Susan’s hometown called Spring Loaded Joe and everything inbetween. It also turns out the first section of the trail through Georgia houses an army base so as we were hiking we were surrownded by the sounds of automatic weapon fire, explosions and the occasional low flying helicoptor. Our second night on the trail 130 soldiers with 80lb packs marched through our campsight without any light except the glow of GPS units (which i am sure doubled as Gameboys). Their seargent informed us the AT was part of their night maneuvers training and that for the next two weeks there would be 800 soldiers in the area.

The next 3 days saw nothing but rain. We packed a wet tent with standing water into wet bags with wet sleeping bags and hiked about 30 miles into the trail. It was miserable and our tent leaked so as we are trying to dry the puddles and rivers of water running down the inside of our tent more poured in through leaky seams.

In spite of the rain we managed to meet Alex, a GA native who is hiking the AT for a couple of weeks and has more crazy adventure stories than anyone i have ever met whether it be 12lbs of chocolate pudding and a sailing trip through the panama canal or a failed canoe trip in the everglades that wound up in the ocean this guy is alright.

So the “serious” hikers have passed us by as I begin to get my trail legs and fall into a routine but as the AT says everyone needs to hike their own trail, which is what I intend to do. I still have 2 mountains to climb today including the second tallest in GA, Tray Mountain. Best wishes to all

-NEWT (my trail name)