Date: 2007-07-23
From: North Adams, MA

To: MA-VT State Line
Miles today: 4.1

Four miles out of North Adams I leave Massachusetts and enter Vermont. My ¢celebration¢ is a simple sigh of relief ¢ another state is DONE! Only three more to go!These four miles consist of a steady up-grade from 650 to 2300 feet. The weather is not cooperating. Rather than put in more miles and get even more drenched, I find an unnamed campsite close by and we call it quits for the day. There¢s just no motivation to go any further.TRAINMAN¢S SIDEBAR COMMENT: PostcardOne of the many memorable hikers to make April¢s acquaintance is Postcard. They first met back in 2004 on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. Postcard is an amicable fellow who¢s had a short but fulfilling career in the advertising business. Apparently his work was so successful that he was able to retire at around age 40. Now he has the resources available to hike his choice of trail every year.Postcard¢s specialty is illustration, and this he does extremely well. Whereas most hikers document their travels by photography, Postcard makes sketches of trail happenings. After finishing his thru-hike in 2004 he compiled the best sketches, threw in some photos, mixed in a lively text, and published a book about his adventure entitled ¢The Wonderful Wilderness of Awes.¢ Should you be interested, the book is available from the Trail Journal ¢store¢ and comes as ¢highly recommended¢ by many readers, including myself.Postcard told April that she had made an impression on him and was thus going to be included in the book. April doubted her entry would be much more than a sentence or two, but in reality she was mentioned by name almost ten times. She and Luna spent 7 days and hiked 94 miles in Vermont with Postcard. Their daily activities can be read on pages 196 to 210. Trainman even gets a brief mention!After conquering the Appalachian Trail with consecutive hikes in 2004, 2005 and 2006, Postcard decided to try one of the other Big Three trails in the U.S., the Pacific Crest*. In the spring of this year he enlisted friend Allegheny to join him and together they set out on the 2650-mile trek through California, Oregon and Washington.His account is fully documented in Trail Journals and you can access his pages simply by inserting the name ¢Postcard¢ in the search box. You will be entertained by his narrative and you will be amazed by the illustrations and captions ¢ truly the work of an artist. I must warn you, however, that there is a sad, premature end to his journal. Postcard¢s last trail day was May 12, a which point he had completed only 220 miles in Southern California. It became necessary to return back East to care for his ill father. Postcard remains off the trail as I write this; it¢s unlikely he¢ll be going back this year unless it¢s just to complete another section.Please do spend a few minutes looking over Postcard¢s journal. It will be time well spent.* WIKIPEDIA SIDEBAR. Each year, about 300 people, commonly called thru-hikers, attempt to hike the entire trail from end-to-end. The trip usually takes between four and six months. Around 180 complete the hike each year. Most thru-hikers start from the Mexican border and reach the north end of the trail (Canadian border) before the first hard snow. Picking up supplies along the way, usually packages sent to them via mail, most hikers cover about 20 miles per day.