visit the dusty camel!

www.thedustycamel.org

Any adivce and info

To all those who have come across this blog in seek of advice on gear, logistics, or just want some questions answered about the Appalachian Trail (or any long distance pursuit) refer to our new website and contact us through that. We are more than happy to help any potential thru-hiker and its a good excuse to talk gear!

www.thedustycamel.org

happy hiking

For New Commers

For anyone coming to this for their first times, our thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail ended on June 6th, 2009 after 4 months and 6 days of being out on the trail. We made it as the first ones to finish the trail north bound for 2009, and we had a wonderful experience. Starting from the most recent entries to the beginning of our trip is our journal entries. There are also all of our pictures on the side. For anyone who may have questions about planning a thru-hike feel free to e-mail me at anytime (my information is a few posts down)

Enjoy!

The Dusty Camels Reach Katahdin

Thanks everybody, it's been a great adventure.

Made it to Katahdin

I have hikED the Appalachian trail

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To All South Bounders!

We are finishing up this morning, but for any south bounders that we have met along the way who has come across this site, here are some helpful numbers and names to have along the way. Any of them (including myself) will be more than happy to help you in anyway possible, so feel free to write these down and utilize them. They will slack-pack you, clean you, and give you a soft place to sleep for little to nothing.

Enjoy your thru-hike and make sure to call someone who understands before getting off if you think thats what you want to do!


Manchester, VT
Odie Green
(201) 290-9153

Dalton, MA
Rob Bird
(413) 446-4208

NYC
Ian Mangiardi (Me)
(917) 885-0205

Unionville, NY
Dick 'the Mayor' Ludwick
(845) 726-3956

PA/D.C.
Andy Laub ("Camel" of "The Dusty Camel")
andrewdlaub@yahoo.com

Atlanta, GA
Dave Dagresta (thru-hiker '09)
DavDag8@live.com

Final Post

Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this will be my final real post. Obviously tomorrow the picture of us atop Katahdin will go up, but this is what it all boils down to.

Andy and I started this trip as strangers, and are now brothers. We have gone through so much over the past 4 months and have realized a lot of things about each other, ourselves, and our lives. At the beginning of this trip, we were on it to hike the trail and have an adventure, and we quickly realized that is only a small fraction of why we were there. Several things brought us to the trail, but we have had time to reflect and understand what we have gotten out of this trip and why we both needed it. This year has been a big one for both of us, and we needed to take ourselves out of our comfort zone and really reflect on who we are, and who we want to be. Andy told me a fable about a rattlesnake the other day:

"A rattlesnake was frozen in the middle of a path one frosty morning as a little girl walked up to it. 'Please warm me up little girl so that I may go about my day, for I am frozen and cannot move' said the snake, 'I promise I won't bite you.' So the little girl warmed him up, and as soon as the snake was warm enough to move, it bit her. 'Why did you bite me?' asked the little girl, and the snake responded 'I am always a rattlesnake.'"

Basically, one of those silly fables that shows a person can't change who they are. We came to the conclusion that the rattlesnake never hiked the Appalachian Trail! We took ourselves out of our comfort zone to reflect on life, and have changed from it. The trail isn't about walking from Georgia to Maine, its about the bond we have created with one another and how we have changed from it. The adventure we had has changed us, and has created an unbreakable friendship. We have witnessed the metamorphosis that each of us has gone through, and will forever be better for it.

In the morning we will finish this adventure, and end a chapter of our book. To all the people who have helped us along the way, we thank you for your support. We will be putting a book together of our pictures and stories, and would greatly appreciate any letters or words that people who have followed this journal would like to cement in our memories.

If you would like to contribute, send any e-mails to irm215[at]nyu.edu, or if you would prefer to send a hard copy, e-mail me anyway and I will give you the address to send it to.

Thanks again to all, and good journeys,


The Dusty Camels