Pictures

Some overview shots-pictures just don't do justice to what we've seen! Beautiful!

Signs of Spring in the wilderness.

Samples of privy (toilet facilities).

1-have to pee-find a place and go otherwise find a place and dig a hole

2-an enclosed facility

3-an open throne!

others we encountered were like #3 but had maybe 2 or 3 walls several feet around them

Some pictures of the different terrain we've encountered.

1-fallen tree obstacles that we have to go over, under or around

2-rock walls and boulders that we have to climb

3-sideways boulders to walk across

4-leaf covered paths

5-A frame ladders that we have to climb up and over

6-under the rhododendern bushes

Dutch Haus B&B

We are at an unplanned B&B in Montebello, VA. Dan wanted to celebrate our anniversary & my birthday with some FOOD and a warm night in a bed! Many people we've met have talked about this B&B just off the trail. They cater to hikers! Wonderful couple giving hikers a retreat and FOOD! For anyone hiking they provide a ride to and from the trail (nearby anyway) and free lunch! (After 2 nights of tenting in the constant rain, Dan decided that we could use a day of warmth and get dry! And of course he wanted to celebrate our special days...not hard to convince me!) When we arrived at the B&B they gave us robes and gave us a laundry basket. We put all our dirty, stinky clothes in the basket and they did our laundry! We had a huge wonderful dinner and the owners are now talking about making a birthday cake for me for breakfast or lunch before we they take us back to the trail! They do such a super job taking care of us hikers!

Okay, we've been on the trail now for just over 3 weeks and have hiked 285 miles. Yes, it's still work and we're still huffing and puffing up the mountains. We've met many friendly hikers. Several young men in their 20s college guys either taking a break or just finished. They are the ones doing the miles! We're still doing our 10-15 miles usually but have done a couple 17 and 18 miles days. We decided that we'll stay within our 10-15. By the late afternoon I'm really feeling tired and ready to be done...the last mile always seems the farthest and the longest!

We've been kind of leapfrogging with 2 others couples and a young man. One of the couples is young, just out of college and married only 6 months. One night they were camping and it was pouring rain. They woke up around midnight to an inch of rain in their tent and her down sleeping bag soaking wet. They both got into his sleeping bag and busted his thermorest. They did not get any sleep that night and had to spend 2 nights in town getting dried out and fixing their equipment. The other couple is just a couple years younger than we are. They are funny! They get into town and buy all this food and eat it all. One time they bought a full size carrot cake, a gallon of chocolate milk, a 2 liter of soda among other food. They ate/drank all that before leaving town! They have been on the trail since Feb 19th. They had to be rescued from the trail at one point because they had both gotten the flu and needed to get warm and get better, but they're still going strong. Interesting stories!

We're seeing more signs of Spring! Trees with buds and flowering, lots of flowers, lots of butterflies, new life-green plants coming up and more bugs and insects. The weather has still been mostly cold, cool, rainy and windy. We have had about 2 days of sun. I prefer the cool misty days to the sun beating down on us! But the constant rain and cold wind gusts have been annoying. No fun putting up a tent in the rain and no fun packing a tent in the rain. Last night we decided to stay in a shelter. By 7:30 pm no one had arrived so we decided to pitch our tent up in the shelter and sleep in it in hopes that it would dry out...and it did! I think we've only had 2 or 3 nights when it didn't rain alll night! And around 8:30 though 2 young college guys arrived. Glad we were in our tent as they smoked and offered us some whiskey...

We've experienced some trail magic and trail angels! Near one town we recieved some gatorade, apple juice and a trash bin to get rid of our trash! Its' always good to get rid of any excess weight while hiking so the trash bin was great, too! Another time we recieved some gatorade and pretzels; another time sodas. We've heard of others recieving beer! Then a couple of days ago we met some trail angels who brought us some fried chicken and doughnuts! They had thru-hiked the AT in 1987 and decided to become trail angels. She said that in May she brings cake for hikers in honor of her May birthday.

We are taking longer than I thought to get to Waynesboro for our next mail pickup. When Dan said that it would be a long trek to get there I figured 10-12 days because our boxes are for 6 days. Anyway, we'll get there by Saturday to pick up our box and mail. If you're interested in dropping us a note our next stops will be:

our estimated date of arrival May 1:
Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Linden, Va 22642
Please hold for thru-hiker.

our estimated date of arrival May 5:
Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
Please hold for thru-hiker.

I was unable to get any pictures on this time. Guess this computer I can't get it to pull up the pictures without saving to the hard drive and I don't want to do that so I'll add pictures the next chance I get!

Pearisburg, VA

My brother fixing my hair for easy maintenance on the trail!

The finished product! Cool and easy to take of on the trail! Thanks, Val!

Getting on the AT at Marion, VA.

Dan getting the food bag ready to "hide" from possible bears and animals that might get to it.

In our tent for the night!

The first shelter in which we spent the night!

Thanks to my brother, Joey & his wife, Cathy, we were able to stay on our schedule to get to the trail on March 31st. They drove us 2 hours to Charlottesville, VA to catch a greyhound bus that we were suppose to catch in Springfield, VA! Thanks Joey & Cathy! I'm sure that's not the way you wanted to spend your Sunday-driving us 2 hours out of your way so that we could catch a bus!

We are currently in Pearisburg, VA for the night. It's been mostly misty, rainy, and cold on the trail. We've hiked almost 100 miles! Yea! During the first 3 days of hiking with the aches and pains in our feet, legs, and shoulders climbing up and down mountains we were thinking, "What did we get ourselves into?" But we know the aches and pains (ever moving to different parts of our bodies) are for a good cause! Thanks to all of you who have donated and pledged to the Children's Hunger Fund we know that with God's graces upon us that we can get through this as the children/families are being helped through all of us! The needy go through the pains everyday! We're glad that we can help in some small ways!

We've seen and mostly heard many birds, a deer, a snake, and a rabbit. Yesterday was the first day that we could see the valley below us because of all the mist. It was beautiful. We've met many friendly people on the trail and hear there will be a ton more as we get closer to summer (and the weekend campers).

We celebrate our 28th anniversary this week, April 12 and my birthday (Debbie) April 23. One of the hikers we've met said that you bake a cake on the trail...just need cake mix, dehydrated eggs, powdered milk, and freezer bag and boil it in water in our pot. Maybe we'll get to do that for one of our celebrations...celebrations? That would be hiking! Happy Trails!

Oh, our trail names...Dan is known as Snickers (his favorite treat & I say for his sense of humor) and my name is Energizer Turtle. I picked Spunky Turtle (slow and steady with my usual spunk and I do like turtles candies, too) but Dan says it should be energizer because I keep going and going and going. Though going up the mountains I don't always feel too energized! Anyway as a couple we are "The SET Couple" (that's Snickers & Energizer Turtle-initals!)

Our next town stop will be Waynesboro, VA. Think we'll be there in about 10 days, depending on how many miles we decide to put in each day. If you'd like to send us a note you can send it to us at

Dan & Debbie McMonigle
c/o General Delivery
Waynesboro, VA 22980
Please hold for AT thru-hiker!
You would need to send it before our arrival or we may miss it.

We've been hiking between 10 and 15 miles each day. We want to enjoy it and have time to recover our aging bodies. We've heard there is a group of 5 guys doing 25-35 miles a day! That's insane! We want to still be able to walk and enjoy the rest of lives when we finish this hike! We'll probably have many pass us-the ones that have started in GA and have worked to condition their bodies for the last month or two. After only 9 days for us, we have gotten stronger and are able to get up and down the mountains going longer than when we started last week! Don't get me wrong, it's still been work we're still huffing and puffing but at least our muscles are feeling stronger and we're able to go a little longer without stopping as much!

Keep us posted on your "doings" through email or comment on our blogsite.

Getting Ready!

We have been planning this hike for a long time. We've been dehydrating some foods and getting all our equipment for this trip. Can't believe that we're just about ready to get going!



If you're on this blog, you are aware of our endeavor for Children's Hunger Fund. We thank you for your support in helping to feed needy children/families! Check out Children's Hunger Fund website to see all the ways they are touching people's lives! And how your donation is helping them to do what they do!



We will be leaving home on March 18th and driving out east. We'll make a couple stops along the way to relax and enjoy our last days of luxury (sleeping in beds and eating at a table!). We'll be stopping to visit with Dan's youngest sister and her family for Easter in Arkansas. We'll arrive in Virginia and stay with one of my brothers and his wife to get ourselves ready to begin our hike. We plan on beginning our hike March 30th or 31st!



Thank you all for your support and prayers! Please continue to keep them coming!