As of today...

Shawn is in Pennsylvania! I spoke with him around 4, and he said he was about 10 miles from the PA border. That being said, he's running about 5 days ahead of his original planned schedule. Since I'm having a little trouble updating the excel spreadsheet with his dates on it, I'll post the update here for your mail-drop fun ... this is subject to change as he hikes along, but for now, here's the updated schedule from here on out. I don't think he'll be at the top of Katahdin on September 27th, as I know that he will be slowing down as he gets closer to Maine, but this should give you an idea of where he will be for the coming months (Any of the stops with ** have a planned mail drop - addresses are the same as the original list.).

7/5	1,135.3	Duncannon, PA **
7/10	1,205.3	Port Clinton, PA
7/15	1,281.6	Delaware Water Gap, PA **
7/19	1,344.9	Vernon, NJ
7/22	1,390.5	Ft. Montgomery, NY
7/27	1,453.7	Kent, CT
7/29	1,486.4	Salisbury, CT
8/3	1,556.6	Dalton, MA **
8/5	1,579.9	North Adams, MA
8/9	1,638.4	Manchester Center, VT
8/16	1,734.3	Hanover, NH
8/20	1,777.7	Glencliff, NH **
8/23	1,803.5	Franconia Notch / Lincoln, NH
8/30	1,878.3	Gorham, NH **
9/3	1,919.7	Andover, ME
9/10	1,988.4	Stratton, ME
9/13	2,025.0	Caratunk, ME
9/16	2,061.7	Monson, ME **
9/25	2,161.1	Abol Bridge, ME
9/27	2,176.5	Katahdin, Baxter Peak

ITINERARY AND MAIL DROPS

Finally have completed my itinerary, the making of which has felt like hiking the trail itself. Elizabeth can testify to the nights and weekend days spent with maps and guidebooks, pencils and paper spread over the room, often with Camille laying on whatever item I needed next. All told, 187 days of hiking, 16 mail drops, and 25 known overnights in hostels and such are whittled down to a single 11in x 17in piece of paper, looking so clean and easy. Of course, hidden within the spreadsheet lines are the blood, sweat, and tears to come.

The itinerary can be found through the link at the top of the links along the right side of this blog. It opens as a PDF document, which can be printed or saved to your computer.

I will be relying on mail drops to supplement food purchases I make in towns close to the trail. (No, I will not be carrying 6 months worth of food from the start). This will help save money, and is the traditional way of resupplying, from an age when not every town had grocery stores and 24-hour big box stores. Plus, its a nice way to keep in contact with everyone back home - Elizabeth especially is expecting many letters from me. Plus, waiting for mail is a good excuse for a day off, or what the hikers call a "zero-day".

For those of you planning on sending any mail drops along the trail, I've included addresses of the places I know I will be stopping at along the way. I think the instructions are clear on the intinerary, but it bears repeating - remember to address any packages in the following manner:

Shawn Rairigh

c/o name of business and address

OR

c/o General Delivery (only for a Post Office)

Town, State Zipcode

"Please hold for AT thru-hiker, ETA date"

Be sure to include the last part - the business owners and postmasters of the small towns and villages the Trail goes through are understandingly overwhelmed sometimes and will only hold packages for a few weeks within that date.