Weekend in Black and White ~ 8-21-11 ~ Stairway to the Clouds

 The Fire Tower atop Belvedere Mountain ~ Vermont

Pretty High! What a View! 
Bud’s almost to the Canadian Border...maybe, today:-)


"The sky is that beautiful old parchment in which the sun and the moon keep their diary.|
~Alfred Kreymborg


This post is linked with the Weekend in Black and White.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ 8-21-11 ~ Self Portrait

Self Portrait from the Long Trail

When Buddy sent me this shot tonight, I about flipped. First he sent me the swinging bridge and now this shadow shot. It has to be one of my favorites of the three weeks. For those of you following his trek, you can really tell it is Buddy with his funky blue bandana on his bald head. FYI...it is treated with stuff to keep the bugs away from the hikers heads and faces and it really does work.


"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”
 ~Henry David Thoreau


This post is linked with Shadow Shot Sunday over at Hey, Harriet..

Sunday Bridges ~ 8-21-11 ~ Bud’s Long Trail Contribution

Bud’s Swinging Bridge ~ Close to the Canadian Border

Boy, do I have him well trained. I have had him haul me so many places looking for my beloved swinging bridges, that yesterday he sent me back this shot with his iPhone. He is getting closer and closer to the end of the Long Trail. He will be at the border either late tomorrow evening or on Monday. I cannot wait to see the smile on his face. It has been a long and lonely 3 weeks for me, but he has had a fabulous hike through the Green Mts. of Vermont.


“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” 
~John Muir


This post is linked with Louis La Vache’s Sunday Bridges.

Weekend Reflections from the Long Trail, VT ~ 8-20-11

For those of you who have been following Bud’s hike of the Long Trail through Vermont’s Green Mountains to the Canadian border, well, it is drawing to an end. I’ll keep you updated as his photos come in. Thanks for following him and thank goodness for the quality of the iPhone pictures. They have made me feel like I am hiking right along with him.

Belvedere Lake near the Long Trail

Belvedere Lake at Eden Crossing

I just had to include this one....it is so typical Buddy.

In Bud’s own words... "Moss is a 2010 Appalachian Trail thru hiker and Gremlins like to take her car keys! I helped her search for an hour to no avail.  FINALLY,  the Gremlins returned the keys, and she is happily on her way back to work as a White Mountain N H. Campsite Caretaker."

"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed." ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

This post from Buddy’s hike of the Long Trail is linked with Weekend Reflections.

Skywatch Friday ~ 8-19-11

View from atop North Mountain

Rockbridge County, Virginia
I am ready for Bud to finish the Long Trail and start hiking back here with me in VA :-)


"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, 
we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Sadly, I just read that our friend, Klaus, has passed away. My thoughts go out to his personal family and all of his wonderful friends in the blogging world. I am so glad I chose to post this particular photo this week, because it is one of those heavenly views which I hope he is enjoying at this moment.


This post is linked with Skywatch Friday.

Watery Wednesday From the Long Trail in Vermont ~ 8-16-11

Bud just sent me these shots....he is 38 miles from the end of the Long trail. Unbelievable! The photos are just so pretty. He sounds wonderful, and is sleeping at the Corliss Camp Shelter with no other takers so far. He plans to finish up Sunday or Monday.


***JUST SENT IN AT 8:30 THIS MORNING...

Bud’s own words... "These boots were made for walkin/carry me on to 

Spruce Ledge Camp tonight / 31 miles from Canada."

This post is linked with Watery Wednesday.

Daily Photo ~ 8-16-11 ~ Watery Wednesday

 Back before Buddy left for the big hike, I was standing alongside him as he was watering our little garden. Suddenly I noticed the "mini-rainbow.” I was like a little girl running into the house to grab my camera. Taking pictures is such fun!

"Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.” 

~Nelson Mandela

This post is linked to Watery Wednesday.

Daily Photo ~ 8-16-11 ~ "Signs, Signs” from Bud’s Big Hike

What more could Buddy want than to hike into a town with his name....yep...Buddy Johnson...that’s his name. So glad he sent us back this shot for Signs, Signs.
All of these photos are taken from his iPhone and sent to me SOOC for posting.
“From out ancestors come our names, but from our virtues our honors.”
~Proverb


This post is linked with Lesley’s Signs, Signs.

Mosaic Monday ~ 8-14-11~ Update on Buddy’s Hike

Upper left to right and down:

1. Lamoille River Valley

2. Looking back at Mansfield, VT

3. Country Ski Mobile Hut

4. So tough living in the woods

5. Firm bed slabs

6. Dehydrated potatoes and cheese

7. “Radio” fixing his supper

8. Only 54 miles left...time to strait brushing up on my French

Bud was in rare spirits when I talked to him today....back to his old self: singing silly made-up songs, trying to pull my leg by making me think he had been going the wrong way and was going to have to start all over again. He did tell me it was thundering and lightening so he was going to stop early and stay in the shelter....thought that was a fine idea. Bud met up with some people he knew from other hikes so that has been a real plus. He is now out of range and going to have to sleep in shelters for most of the week. From all I can tell from the books, he is over the worst or the worst now.This may well be the only post for a while. My school starts in the boring...my holiday over. 

These photos are SOOC taken by Buddy with his iPhone. He really loves his play toy. Double click on the mosaic to enlarge it.
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

  ~John Muir

This post is linked with Mosaic Monday.

Daily Photos ~ 8-13-11 ~ Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Update on Bud’s Hike

(I am assuming this sign meant to stop in for a drink and food before starting on our hike.)

Not having ever been to this area, and not knowing a thing about reading a hikers’s guide book and maps, the best I can do is post these unbelievable photos with little bits of info Buddy gives me over the home. I jot down what he is saying on post-its, and then I do back and try my best to put it all together so it makes some semblance of sense to me and all of you who have so faithfully followed his hike. I cannot begin to tell each one of you what your kind thoughts and words have meant to both of us...a wonderful extended family is what y’all have been. I can tell you without any hesitation he is loving every second of his hike no matter how difficult it has been, and his iPhone and the wonderful Vermont people who have hauled his pack about for him have been his saviors. He tells me these wonderful  folk are truly the salt of the earth. Most will take no money...they only ask that he make a contribution the the Green Mountain Fund for the care of the Long Trail. This is that good part of America we so seldom get to hear about.

Taft Lodge at Mount Mansfield ~ approximately 4,300 feet...the Lodge is a bit lower in elevation

Clouds atop Mount Mansfield

Taft Lodge about 1/2 mile from summit of Mount Mansfield

Bring on the winter gear.....

Priority Mail my fleece and wool cap ASAP. I am really getting cold.

Update for Saturday, August 13, 2001

Thank heavens for the ladders....a lot of rebar was used in many of them. Buddy was SO thankful all he had on him was his daypack + his 2 hiking sticks. He said there were lots more of these ladders than he would ever have imagined. Thanks goodness these ups and downs  are behind him...Oh, Hallelulujah!

All I want for Sunday is to get it better than today...sept by step, one by one...

...and there were plants and rocks, and birds, and things....

The Blair Witch, maybe????????

Looking back at Mount Mansfield 

Just another beautiful Saturday view...

...and another beautiful Saturday view...

...and one final beautiful Saturday view...

I think that after tonight he will be back out of range and staying in the lean-to shelters on the trail, but I will keep you posted on his progress when he is able to send photos. He did tell me he was about 80 miles from the Canadian border, but in terms of walking he has another week. He hopes to finish next Monday and then have the rest of that week to take day hikes from Killington, VT, and possibly go into Canada for a day and night. Thank goodness the old passport is in the backpack! I really do want him to come back home.Many. many thanks to all of you who have been following him and sending such wonderful words of encouragement. 


This post is linked with Shadow Shot Sunday, and once again, the photos were all taken with Buddy’s iPhone, SOOC, while hiking the Long Trail from Vermont to the Canadian Border.

Daily Photo ~ 8-12-11 ~Skywatch Friday and Update on Bud’s Hike thru the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Canadian Border

Buddy’s Long Trail Update from Wednesday the 10th of August, 2011~ SOOC...his iPhone

These first pictures are all from Buddy taken with his iPhone Wednesday while hiking the Long Trail. He is doing great now that he has had 3 nights in a hostel/b and b/inn/lodge. These places all go under all sorts of different names. He has now passed the half way point....oh, happy day!

This is an old silo on the property at the “Hyde Away” Inn/Hostel where Buddy stayed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.There is a beautiful stained glass window in the top depicting the mountains in the distance. He has been hiking the trail from here with the help of shuttles hauling him and his gear to where he need to start and then pick him up and return him to the lodge for the night. This way he is carrying very little so does not have all of that weight on his back. He made it down the ,1500 foot rocky drop without incident and said it was not bad as he was expecting. Being that he was hiking minus the 30 pounds must have been a real plus.

Ski lift near Appalachian Gap as Bud was striking out this morning...

Incoming storm north of Appalachian Gap (elevation approx 1,500 ft) and south of Camel’s Hump

Incoming storm south of Camel’s Hump


Here are his shots from today...Thursday, August 11, 2011

.

Buddy atop the Camel’s Hump (back up to 4,000 ft. above sea level)...lookin’ pretty good after a week on the trail...I am happy to see he has not lost his glasses, yet :-) Notice the pack. It is NOT the big one...instead a small and light daypack.

Lake Champlain from the Camel’s Hump

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Buddy atop the Camel’s Hump...lookin’ pretty good after a week on the trail...I am happy to see he has not lost his glasses, yet :-)

Summit area of the Camel’s Hump (4,000ft. above sea level)

Final Shot from the Hump


** *If any of you who are following Buddy's hike missed my earlier post today, I uploaded his “signs” contribution to Lesley’s "Signs, Signs" at this address:
http://climbingthedigitalmountain.blogspot.com/2011/08/signs-signs-2-photos-from-bud-on-his.html


"By confronting us with irreducible mysteries that stretch our daily vision to include infinity, nature opens an inviting and guiding path toward a spiritual life.” 
~ Thomas More 


This post is linked to Skywatch Friday.

Signs, Signs #2 ~ Photos from Bud on his Long Trail Hike

I guess I have Buddy pretty well trained in looking for signs. He is so used to me having me stop the car so I can shoot a neat one to post on Lesley’s meme, he is now doing it own his own while hiking the Long Trail. These 2 photos were taken today. This is the little town he was heading for to pick up his food package from home. I sure hope it got there in time. I talked to him early last night, but that is all I have heard. I do know he got down the rocks safely, and it turned out not to be as difficult as he had thought....guess handing off his backpack really did help. These photos are SOOC...his iPhone camera.

Hope his mail drop was here waiting for him.

Certainly hope he is not needing the advise or representation of one David. M. Sunshine. That would not be good :-)

"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, 

if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright."  

~Henry David Thoreau

This post is linked with Lesley’s Signs, Signs.

Daily Photo ~ 8-11-11 ~ Signs, Signs

This is the precious little post office I pass each day on my way to school. It was on the list to be closed, but because of the town’s listing in the National Register of Historic Places, we were able to keep it open. Now the worries are up again with so many post offices on the chopping block in VA. So far it has not appeared on the list. Keep your fingers crossed. 

“Mail your packages early so the post office can lost them in time for Christmas.”

~ Johnny Carson

FYI:

Brownsburg, VA, is an unincorporated community in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States. The village of Brownsburg was established on November 23, 1793. By 1835, Brownsburg was a thriving commercial hub and was centrally located on the stagecoach line between Staunton and Lexington. Brownsburg Academy, a private Presbyterian high school for young men, was built with funds raised by local residents. The Academy operated as a private institution from 1850 to 1877 and its building was used for classes, religious services and public meetings. A portion of Brownsburg was listed as a historic district on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

This post is linked with Lesley’s Signs, Signs.