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Blog July 28, 2008 Hanover, NH (Dartmouth College)     Hanover, New Hampshire:  two days ago I walked over the Connecticut River as I crossed my 13th state line into Hanover. Hanover is quite the high class Ivy League town. I mean what College town doesn’t have a McDonalds? Ok… I relent… The first night I got in late and headed down to the edge of town to try to find a place to crash. I knew it was supposed to pour buckets that night so I was looking for some type of shelter. I was in luck for a came across Dartmouth’s Soccer field which had enclosed bleachers! I and another thru-hiker made a place to sleep in between the field hockey goals and some trash cans. It poured rain that night and the bleachers leaked a little but I consider it a blessing that I found it. In fact I liked it so much that I think I am going to head back down there tonight for my last night in Hanover.  Is it bad that sleeping under the bleachers seems normal to me now? I was lucky last night for a local chapter of Phi Tau lets thru-hikers stay for free in their frat. They were good to the few of us who stayed and treated us to all of the cookies and ice cream we could eat. Hanover is ok… I just know I need to get out of here for it is hard to stretch the dollar and the people … well…. Let’s just say that I am out of my “Ivy League”. 12 Tribes: I have always thought that I was pretty cultured…. I have travelled a lot and thought I had a pretty good idea of culture…. But the more I walk I realize how little I really know. A stop in Rutland, VT has reminded me of this.  There is a hostel on the A.T. called the “12 Tribes” They are great people and they treated me like gold. They provided great meals and shelter and for that I am very gracious. But over the three days that I stayed there the weirder it got. I am not going to share all of the stories for I am going to save them.  But I am pretty sure I am going to put them into my file folder labeled “cult” but you can be your own judge.  For beliefs and practices you can follow this link:  “The 12 tribes” Minor Injury:  My knee is pretty beat up for I had run into a log that had been covered by a fern. I had been walking on the side of the trail due to the mud that would suck the shoe right off my foot. I can still walk on it but I decided to take a “0” mile day to recover in Hanover, New Hampshire here Dartmouth campus. Vermont:  Referred to as “Ver-mud” by my thru-hiker friends lately due to the ridiculous amount of rain that we have been getting over the past 8 days. I figured instead of trying to describe to you what the trail looks like I would show you. Check this out: Vermont Trail #1                 Vermont Trail #2 Total Miles Travelled:  1,760.3  Miles to Katahdin:   441.9 To come: I am pretty excited about what is to come for we will be walking into the White Mountains. Most of the area is public land, including the White Mountain National Forest as well as a number of state parks. Its most famous peak is Mount Washington, which at 6,288 feet (1916 m) is the highest mountain in the Northeastern U.S. and home to the fastest winds (231 mph or 372 km/h, over 100 m/s, in 1934) measured on the surface of the earth. Mount Washington is one of a line of summits called the Presidential Range, many of which are named after U.S. presidents and other prominent Americans (Wikipedia) I heard by many Southbounders that the next 30 days are absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to capture the vistas for you. Trouble in Vermont: Is this picture professional?  No… but funny… yes! Gear List: I have had some request for what I actually carry with me. I carry a base weight of about 25 lbs. Kelty Corrie 1 Tent;  Kelty light-year 20 degree bag; Kelty Soar 5200 backpack;  Food bag; Clothes bag; Thermarest prolite air mattress; Snow Peak solo cooking kit and titanium fork; Journal; book; pen; Aloksak waterproof bags; Bible; Cell Phone; Skyshield GPS Tracker; Merrell “Chameleon” boots; Underwater Kinetics headlamp;  3 pair of Features socks; 2 pair soccer shorts; 3 pair Ex-officio underwear; Merrell rain jacket; Atwater Carey Medical Kit; Potable Aqua; Vargo Titanium stove; denatures alcohol; camera; High Gear altimeter watch; Optic Nerve “indigo” eyewear; Wenger “Ranger” knife; Platypus water resevoir; Bandanda; Leki ultralight “makalu” poles; Chaco “flips”; thru-hikers companion. I am sure that I am forgetting some of the gear but off of the top of my head there you go! Latest Media Exposure:  Relevant Blog:  Interview Article Failure is the path of least persistence,  "Life to the Fullest" Daren Wendell         Add new comment All fields are required. Name:* Email Address:* Comments* Please enter the phrase as it is shown in the box above.    No Comments July 21, 2008 Manchester Center, VT 1,637 miles Today we entered Manchester Center Vermont. We are at mile 1638.4 and are within 537.8 miles of our final destination of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. When we first started 500 miles seemed like a long way but now it doesn't seem far at all. Most of our thru hiking friends are talking about what is to come with New Hampshire and the White Mountains about a week away. We have been in the Green Mountains for a few days now and have finally entered into a few nice climbs. We will be receiving our cold water gear soon when we hit Hanover New Hampshire. The forest has changed in the last 100 miles. We are going through a lot of boggy areas and now we are seeing some fabulous spruce and pine forests. Moose has been a subject of our conversation since we are seeing a lot of moose scat. This also means we have to be very careful about our water. We see a fair share of the streams draining from beaver ponds and we try our best to avoid these sources. Other sources come from the mountain and are good water for us. We are constantly finding very muddy areas that we have to do our best to avoid. We have have also started seeing our south-bound A.T. brothers. The trail is getting crowded as the north-bound and south-bound hikers collide. . We did have an interesting evening a few nights ago. We decided to pop into the small town of Bennington, VT. instead of going up to the next shelter past the road to Bennington. We figured we would take our chances on meeting up with someone who would take us in or provide a place in which we could set up our tents and hammocks for the night. We hitched into Bennington and found a nice little place to eat a hamburger and have a local microbrew. The table next to us had some people that were finished with their dinner and they left a whole plate of calamari untouched. I guess it looked gross to them so they just didn't eat it.   After doing close to 20 miles the calamari was looking pretty good to us. So I grabbed it and it was gone within 60 seconds. Then the time came when we finally found a little park area in which we figured we could set up camp. It was where the homeless slept. They were very accomodating telling us where we could camp where the police wouldn't bother us, offering us water, and even offering to take us to the soup kitchen the next day. We ended up sleeping amoungst the homeless. This trip is bringing me new experiences every day. Tonight we have free stay in a very nice house in Manchester Center. The name of the place I will not divulge but with a little work it can be found out by asking around. We have been told that there will be a lot more trail magic in the northern states and we are now seeing it. There has been hardly a hostel from PA through MA and the prices of the hotels are outrageous in price. It is great to see the trail community is alive and well in New England. "Life to the Fullest" Daren  "Vagabond" "Vagabond" Add new comment All fields are required. Name:* Email Address:* Comments* Please enter the phrase as it is shown in the box above.    No Comments July 16, 2008 Dalton, Mass. Here I sit in Dalton, Massachusetts at a Panera Bread typing on my computer that took a beating the last stint through the mail… right now I am looking at the dent in the bottom right hand corner of the wrist pad. I should have known since the box I sent it in looked like the postal workers used it for a quick game of floor hockey. Ok… I relent…  Ok.. not really… I am not a fan of the USPS at the moment…. Right now I know of 3 packages that are lost in the mail system and one of the boxes has my first pair of shoes I hiked in. So I am not a happy camper (no pun intended) ok… maybe a little.  Moving on! New York: New York was great! The Reischel’s were really good to “Pigeon” and I. I think I gained 5 lbs when I was there for Karen was a cooking machine… (I am pretty sure I had a dream about her cooking last night) we felt like royalty for a few days! The day before we left we picked up “Blackberry” and headed to the Beach where the three of us proceeded to boogie board. I am pretty sure I was starting to get hypothermia as well drinking the recommended 8 glasses of salt water for the day. Let’s just say that the ocean humbled me that day. “Pigeon” finished up her 3 week stint on the trail... she headed back to North Dakota to finish up her thesis as well as to let her feet recover! “0” Day: I am taking a “0” day today for I just got done doing 95 miles in 3 days to catch up with “Peacock” and “Daddy-o” who I will probably summit Katahdin with.  I have about 620 miles left until I reach the summit and have decided due to finances, time, and weather to head directly to the coast of Maine from Katahdin finishing leg 1 of The Earth Expedition.  The Route has always been tentative and will continue to change throughout the expedition so hold on….. who knows where I will be walking next! So far I am Lyme disease free as well as Giardia free…. So I am pretty happy about that. I have heard of many hikers who have had to get off trail because of those two problems. The thing is that usually when I say something like that it is the next day that it happens to me so if you are someone who prays… please keep doing it!  I am getting ready to head over to Eastern Mountain Sports to get a hose for my “platypus” the last hose grew mold and fur….so that was pretty gross and I decided to pitch it! State Lines: I just crossed my 11th state line and will be crossing the 12th in a few days and then I head into the Big Boys of the White Mountains. I heard that this is some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole Appalachian Trail. I look forward to taking you there with me with pictures. Due to the remote location of the A.T. in relation to towns there may be a longer period within blogs. Sorry about that… I will try my best to keep you informed about the progression of the expedition. Exposure: I am really happy about the exposure that The Expedition and Blood:Water Mission have been getting over the past week.  Here is a link to a Vanity Fair Article. Thank you all who have sent care packages and have made financial contributions to The Earth Expedition this month.  You are a true blessing to me.   “Life to the Fullest” Daren     Add new comment All fields are required. Name:* Email Address:* Comments* Please enter the phrase as it is shown in the box above.    No Comments July 10, 2008 New York City The Earth Expedition Progress: Right now I am sitting on a friend's porch on Long Island, NY.  Yesterday... July 8th (My birthday) I travelled from Pawling, NY to New York City via train to meet with a journalist from "Vanity Fair". From Grand Central Station "Pigeon" and I walked to Bryant Park to wait for the journalist (Austin).  After swapping stories, fielding questions, and enjoying pretty good coffee at a park table we walked a few blocks to Times Square where we snapped some pictures, shook hands with Austin, and got some last minute directions. We really had no desire to walk around the city too much for Pigeon has 11 blisters on her feet and we had friends (The Reischels) waiting in Long Island for our arrival. We decided to head to Penn Station and grab the train for Ronkonkoma which is where I will sit for a couple days of updating the site, replying to E-mails and of course some rest. The past month has proved to be quite interesting. In one town I stayed at the Mayor's house. Another town a illegal hitch turned out to be two meals, a pool, a hot tub, and new friends. Two days ago a small talk conversation at the laundry mat turned out to be a night of movies, air conditioning, Jamaican food, a unique drink called "Tamarindo", and talks of a biker gang that he leads.  Lol... I never know what is going to happen next. At this point I am exactly 1,459 miles into the expedition and have a tentative Appalachian Trail completion date of late August ( I have 743.2 miles to go). This also means that I plan on completing Canada early November. From there I will take a few weeks off to ascertain the necessary visa requirements. During this time I will also be traveling the Midwest speaking and presenting the Expedition and the cause it supports. I feel good, my feet are doing extremely well as they are well calloused. I dropped about 7 lbs since the Expedition began. Tomorrow I am travelling to Manhasset, NY to meet with a professional nutritionist that will help me with a diet that will suit the specific needs that the expedition demands. Pledge Per Mile Campaign: For some time The Earth Expedition Team and I have wanted to make this part of the Expedition become a reality. Please read on and consider ways that you can make a difference... To make it simple:  When you  "Pledge Per Mile" your donation will go directly to Blood:Water Mission. Your tax-deductable donation will be used towards the "1,000 Wells Campaign", in which Blood:Water Mission aims to build exactly one thousand fresh-water wells in one thousand communities across Africa. Giving Africans the gift of clean water is the single greatest defense we can give children and people with HIV to protect them from life-threatening illnesses.  Thanks to your financial contribution, they will live stronger, longer lives and their communities will flourish and be changed. It is true that nearly 80% of all natural deaths in Africa are attributed to unsafe drinking water and every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.  But it is also amazingly true that $1 = One Year of Clean Water for an African. This means... together, you and I can make an enormous impact on the lives of countless people! The Pledge Per Mile Campaign works like this: Choose which amount of "small change" you desire to monthly pledge per mile from the menu below (or customize your amount to best suit your needs). Penny Per Mile = $4.00 donation per month Nickel Per mile = $20.00 donation per month Dime Per mile = $40.00 donation per month Quarter Per Mile = $100.00 donation per month The pledges are calculated based on Daren walking a dependable 400 miles each month through the course of his expedition.  With even a penny per mile pledge, you will be bringing clean water for an entire year to 4 individuals every month, an astounding 48 Africans per year! Click on this link to Blood:Water Mission's secure online giving page to make your donation, https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/BloodWaterMission/OnlineDonation.html Or mail your check to: Blood:Water Mission P.O.Box 60381 Nashville, TN 37206 **Please be sure to type in "The Earth Expedition" in the memo section/ "How You Heard of Blood:Water Mission" portion of the online giving page or write it in the memo portion of your check. Thank you so much for your generosity and for your desire to bring "life to the fullest" to everyone!  I would love for you to drop me a comment if you decide to come "on board" with this campaign. Sincerely, Daren Wendell Ride for Clean Blood and Water: I want to personally give a shout-out to some wonderful supporters and friends of The Earth Expedition who recently embarked on an adventure of their own in an effort to raise support for our mission.  My good friend and member of the Earth Expedition team, physical trainer, Shaun Craft, assembled a team of eight volunteers to ride touring bikes from Caledonia to Lake Geneva State Park.  The 105- mile-mission was well-planned out, including built-in donation fees, a camp out, and van accompaniment.  Much like my adventures, the crew quickly realized that nature doesn't always accommodate good intentions.  On Day 2 of the ride, the gang was plagued my heavy downpours and 50+ mph straight winds.  After a few mechanical failures with bike gears, loose chains, and some failed tires,  four of the original members (Shaun, Bethany, Ryan, and Faith) crossed their finishing line despite the many stumbling blocks along the way.  And when I say stumbling blocks, I mean literally!  Shaun and Ryan both suffered from some good scrapes and bruises...and well... let's just say....Shaun may be in need of a new helmet before he hits the road again! After all was said and done, the gang was able to bring in a generous donation to The Earth Expedition to help fuel this mission further up the trail.  My sincere thanks go out to the entire group; Bethany, Faith, Jonny, Jonrael, Kathy, Lynn, Mark, Ryan, and Shaun!  Thank you for not only believing in me and supporting this mission, but also for being willing to personally take the message to the streets in a tangible way!  God bless!  In the News: Here are a couple of Media Outlets that have covered The Expedition this past month: The Sentinel: Berks Mont News: Larabar: Web Banners: Feel free to copy these and use them as banners on your personal sites! Thank all of you who support The Earth Expedition financially and prayerfully. You all rock and help make this dream a success,   Daren Wendell Add new comment All fields are required. 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