Look What Arrived in the Mail Today

Such an amazing feeling getting my oversized envelope from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy today -- It's in the official ATC records, folks! The past 2 and half months in Michigan have been wonderful I am really enjoying my time as an Outdoor Education Instructor at YMCA Camp Pendalouan. It's a very similar job to my summer camp gigs in the past. However, it has a stronger education component to it than summer camp. My favorite classes to teach are Michigan Fur Trade and Lumber. Not a coincidence that those involve a lot of local history. 

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It was recently brought to my attention that this photo never made it to the blog, just my facebook. Didn't want to leave anyone out! Another huge "Thank You!" to all those that donated this would not have been successful without your donations. 

Chicago Fire Soccer Club President, Julian Posada & Chicago Fire Foundation Executive Director, Jessica Yavitz
Accepting the donations. **The Final amount exceeded $2,500** 

Media Blitz!

Could not help but make a Mckayla is not impressed meme. See more at  http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/

Yesterday my mug and pair of beaten up shoes were on the front page of the Journal Standard! On  Wednesday, Chicago Fire staff writer Jeff Crandall published an story about my hike. Jeff's story has 15+ never before seen photos from my hike, so you have to check those out. I enjoyed both interviews and hope that they will bring in more donations to the Chicago Fire Foundation!

No challenge too big by Jane Lethlean

Matt Mason Finishes Appalachian Trail by Jeff Crandall

Tomorrow I will present the Chicago Fire Foundation with a oversized check of all my donations I have collected. If you have not donated, there is still time, donate today!

I finally have all of my photos in my possession after visiting with the wonderful Shelby Rogers this week. Stay tuned as they will be featured on the blog, soon. Just after wade thru 5,000 photos first!!

Happy 75th Birthday Appalachian Trail!

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Appalachian Trail! The trail was constructed by the hard work of volunteers and Civilian Conservation Corps. members of the Maine Civilian Conservation Corps finished building a 2-mile section of trail in the woods of western Maine, thus marking, for the first time ever, a continuous footpath from Maine to Georgia. On Saturday July 21, 2012 we passed by the final stretch of trail and paid our respects. To celebrate the anniversary I will be filling out my 2,000er Miler Application!

Just finished an interview with the Journal Standard. Thanks again to Jane Lethlean, for her stories and on going coverage of my hike in the Journal Standard. Hope to finish up my "media tour" (ha!) today with an interview with Jeff Crandall of the Chicago Fire. Speaking of the Fire, the club will be honoring me at half time this Saturday. I am very excited and anxious about that!

In other news, I will be moving to Montague, MI on August 31st to start my job as an Outdoor Education Instructor at YMCA Camp Pendalouan.

1,984.1 miles into the hike! July 21, 2012

Another photo from Katadin, flashing the NoBo "gang sign" !

JC, Roll Tide and I happy as clams on our summit day. 

Blood, Sweat, Tears & Katahdin!

August 1, 2012. Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine.

5,000,000 steps, 2184.2 Miles, 154 days, 28 pounds on my back, 14 states, 8 National Forests, 4 pairs of shoes, 2 National Parks, 1 amazing adventure!.

August 1, 2012 around 10:30AM my thru-hike came to a very bittersweet end! It was such a wonderful feeling seeing the very iconic Katahdin sign from a quarter mile away. When JC, Roll Tide and I approached the sign there was a group of boys from a summer camp that moved away from the sign without us having to ask. It was like they knew how special Baxter Peak was to us.

I would not have been able to make this hike possible with out the love and support of my grandma, Weezie, Mom and Shelby! These three women helped a great deal, sending packages, dealing with my "estate" in my absence, and being 100% supportive of my dream to hike the AT!

The Independent Supporters Association for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club board also needs a mention! They did lots of promotion for the hike, set up the donation page and handled the money. Their support has been unwavering!

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I apologize for the delay of this photo being published here. My sister Molly came for a visit and my blog was put on the back burner. In the coming days and weeks I will be posting tons of photos/video here.

If you would like to donate please wait, there seems to be some problems with the donation page. They are currently being investigated.

How many miles left?!

114.

It's well past "hiker midnight" (8:30pm)... the anticipation of entering the 100 Mile Wilderness is keeping me awake.

For the past nine summers I have worked/played/had tons of fun at residential summer camps, this has been my first summer without camp in my life. Just wanted to give a shout out to all my camp family at YMCA Camp Benson, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp, & YMCA Camp Pendalouan! Hope you are all enjoying your time at camp this summer. It has been strange not living the camp lifestyle this summer. I'm excited to return to it this fall in Michigan. Time to get some sleep, did I mention I'm trying to break the $1,000 fundraising mark? Please donate, here.

Enter Sobos...

A rare moment in time when Sobos outnumber Nobos! Lakes of the Clouds Hut, White Mountains National Forest, New Hampshire. 

Yesterday was a short hike to the Northern Outdoors. We crossed the Kennebec River using the official AT route -- canoe! The crossing is the biggest crossing of it's kind on the Trail. It is over 100 yards across a wide river with swift and unpredictable currents. Thus, the ATC provides a free ferry across for all thru-hikers. The canoe is even properly marked with a white blaze on the hull.

As Shelby said in the previous post, I was interviewed for a documentary about thru-hiking. It is an independent film being shot under the working title "Thru-Hikers" by a group of Southbounders (SoBos). The filmmakers interviewed three Northbounders (NoBos) Jack Rabit (back row, yellow shirt) as well as J.C. (back row, HUGE BEARD) and I. Their questions were pretty standard, nothing too outrageous. If all goes according to plan J.C. and I might give the group of SoBos hiking under the group name of Dirty SouthBounders, some trail magic on Springer Mountain in December when they finish. Hopefully my interview does not end up on the editing room floor, I'll keep you posted on the release date.

Over the last few weeks we have been running into tons of SoBos. The more north we hike, the less experienced Southbounders we run into, simply because they have been hiking less miles. It is great to have someone to exchange information with about the trail ahead, hostels, upcoming side trails, or swimming holes. It's also fun to mess with SoBos. We enjoy beating them in Uno games at campsites and telling them completely false statements like "Oh yeah! Virginia is totally flat!" -- It's just good clean fun : )

I can't believe this journey will be coming to an end in less than 155 miles. My Katahdin ETA is July 31st or August 1st, (it's hard put things in stone when using foot travel) which is weird to think about... being able to put a date on the end of this hike. It seems like just a few weeks ago I was standing on a foggy mountain in Georgia called, Springer. The trail is calling my name, time to get off this internet machine and get to walking. Hope all is well!

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Can you help me top the $1,000 fundraising mark for the Chicago Fire Foundation?

Please donate, here.

2,000+!

Hello friends and followers of Matt's hike!

Today Matt, or Pretzel, hiked his 2,000th mile on the Appalachian Trail! Now he has only around 180 miles left. 

The stretch of trail that he has been hiking for the past few weeks, in and around the White Mountains, is known as the most difficult section of the either trip. However, he is still trekking along and is on his fourth, and hopefully last, pair of shoes.

Recently Matt was interviewed for an upcoming documentary about the Appalachian Trail. I believe that the name of the documentary is simply going to be called "Thru Hikers." Hopefully he will make it to a computer soon so that he can fill in the rest of the details. 

Happy Trails! 

-Intern Shelby