HOBOS GOING SOBO THEN NOBO IN THEIR OBOZ: Our In-tents Journey on the AT

This post is more for us, because so often in our reflections we focus on what we didn't do instead of celebrating what we did.
We set out with a dream and, along the way, learned that dreams are not always measured by finish lines.

WE HIKED 1,815 MILES ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL!!

That is an incredible accomplishment, and something we should be immensely proud of. It's not about the 382 miles we didn't hike. It's about the 1,815 miles we did.

We faced challenges, made hard decisions, and discovered strengths we never knew we had. We created memories to last a lifetime, met amazing people along the way, and shared experiences that changed us forever.

It's easy to dwell on the miles left unhiked, but those miles do not define our journey. The 1,815 miles we walked, the mountains we climbed, the friendships we made, and the lessons we learned tell a far greater story.

We learned that the journey can be the destination.

We learned to accept grace from those who care for and love us, and to extend that same grace to ourselves.

We were reminded that even when we're shooting for the moon, though we may not land exactly where we intended, we can still fall among the stars. (Thanks Julie Jenkins for that reminder)

Looking back, we can see God's hand in every step. "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21). Even when the path changed, we were right where He wanted us to be. And as Romans 8:28 reminds us, "God works all things together for good for those who love Him."

Where He leads, we will follow, trusting that He continues to finish the work in us.

Others may never fully understand the difficulty of the journey. Unless you've walked in our hiking boots, you cannot know the sacrifices, fears, disappointments, victories, and hope that traveled each mile with us.

But we know.

And when we look back, we choose gratitude over regret. We choose to celebrate what was accomplished rather than mourn what was left undone.

After all, 1,815 miles is not a story of failure.
It's a story of courage, perseverance, faith, and a dream fulfilled in ways we never expected.

So when you see us, don't feel sorry for us—celebrate with us. Celebrate the 1,815 miles, the mountains, the friendships, the lessons, the memories, and the faith that carried us forward. Help remind us that this journey was never defined by the miles we didn't hike, but by the miles we did.

We want to thank everyone who commented, called, and sent us private messages after we announced our decision to end our Appalachian Trail journey. Your support has meant so much to us as we navigated what was a very humbling and difficult decision.

Although we know we made the right choice, we’ve needed these past few days to process everything and reflect on where we go from here. As we shared in our video, it’s time to dream new dreams—dreams that don’t require so much bending and flexibility from FROG, whose mobility is more limited because of his artificial hips, but dreams that we can still look forward to and enjoy together.

Please don’t feel sorry for us because we didn’t reach our intended goal. What we did achieve was a dream come true: hiking 1,815 miles of the Appalachian Trail!! The memories we made, the lessons we learned, and the friendships we formed along the way will last a lifetime. While this chapter didn’t end the way we originally imagined, our journey is far from over. We’re incredibly grateful for the experience, for everyone who followed along, and for all the encouragement you have shown us. We’re excited to see what adventures and opportunities lie ahead. We move forward with grateful hearts, hopeful spirits, and anticipation for whatever path GOD leads us on next.

❤️ Sometimes the greatest success isn’t reaching the destination—it’s having the courage to embrace the journey and know when it’s time for a new path. ❤️

Enjoy these photos captured as we explored the beauty of New Hampshire from a different perspective.

WEEK ONE – June 13-June 19, 2026

The first few days were slow going, but we finally settled back into the rhythm of trail life—finding our routines again and soaking in the beauty of God’s creation.

DAY ONE: Our starting point was in Hanover, NH in the middle of Ledyard Bridge overlooking the beautiful Connecticut River at the state line. The excitement we felt this morning as we stood at that sign once again (it was our ending spot last year) and then took our first steps towards Mt. Katahdin was complete euphoria. 🎶On the road (trail) again, couldn’t wait to be on the road (trail) again.🎶 Excitement, UNTIL we couldn’t find our way. Due to construction through the city, and not doing very good research on our route, we couldn’t spot the white blazes and actually took the wrong way, heading to the graduation ceremony at Dartmouth College. Knowing this couldn’t possibly be right, we consulted our “Far Out” app and realized the woods we needed to enter was in the opposite direction.

It was a warm day and being frustrated with our lack of direction, we started bickering with each other. This was NOT how I envisioned our first day to start! It was going miserably! But then … we finally found our entry point into the woods … we are home!

FROG fell a couple times today, once going downhill and slipped on wet leaves and fell back onto my hiking pole, to inherit a goose egg, the second was at a stream stepping up on a boulder only to fall knee down into mud! What a mess! What a day of bickering and trying to stay upright! And then to be told, we were probably walking the wrong way!

Okay, so in all fairness, we did get lost earlier while in town, but we knew for sure we were walking the right way this time! He was running the trail and admitted he kept losing sight of the white blazes. He stopped on the trail right where we were and confessed he was confused and didn’t know which way to go. We showed him the trail blaze and pointed him in what we thought was the right direction he wanted to go. He’d start running one way, turn around and run the other way past us a few times very much seemingly confused, he then (after being concerned with FROG’s latest fall, which was nice), turns to me and says that we are the ones, not him, that are confused and walking the wrong way! Well that’s interesting, we continued walking “the wrong way” and found Charity at the other end! She must be confused and lost too, then! Hmpf!

FYI: the video I took of our first day’s hike in to see the Velvet Rocks Shelter - it was posted on the sign that it was only 0.1 mile from the trail, and I mentioned as we were walking that I think they lied – they DID! We found out it was actually 0.2 miles. No wonder it was taking so long! Don’t always believe everything you read!

DAY TWO: Moose Mountain, 8.1 miles. Our first views! South Peak and Moose Mountain Shelter rewarded us with great views, but the North Peak – a PUD! No view at all!

Somewhere between the South and North peaks was where the 1968 plane crash happened that killed 32 of the 42 passengers on board. No sign of the wreckage or a memorial that I found. Which I really think they need something there in memory of those that died there.

While out hiking today, we met Stepper, he started his hike back in Harpers Ferry (about 750 miles back) and was worried that he wouldn’t be strong enough to handle the upcoming mountains. Of course, this worries me about what’s coming if someone who clearly has developed his trail legs by now is worried about it, maybe I can’t do it??!! Ugh! Fear has crept in once again! Mt. Moosilauke is our first 4K mountain and it’s coming up fast!

Is it a sign? On our flight to Vermont, the woman sitting in our row turned out to be a travel advisor who organizes Camino de Santiago pilgrimages through Spain, Portugal, and France. She gave us her business card and encouraged us to reach out if we had questions or needed help planning our pilgrimage. We have talked many times about walking the Camino someday, but we have never been quite sure if we really wanted to do it. Then, at Moose Mountain, we met Stepper and noticed the shell that marked him as a pilgrim from that very trail. When we asked him about it, he shared his experience and encouraged us to go, assuring us we would love it. Twice in one week … could this be a sign that this is our next adventure?

Guys don’t think?! I asked FROG what he thinks about while he’s hiking, and he said, “Nothing.” I cannot even wrap my mind around that. Mine is running nonstop, like a computer with too many tabs open. How does a person think about absolutely nothing? He couldn’t explain it, but if anyone can, please enlighten me. I would love to learn how to close all those tabs!

DAY THREE: Holts Ledges, 5.5 miles. After a couple of hard night’s rain, this section of the trail was completely under water for the majority of it, which caused a mosquito infestation! After a quick time out to spray ourselves and our gear and put on our bug head nets, we headed off to see the far-off views of Holts Ledges. It was worth every wet step we took to get there. So beautiful! Our feet were so soaked by day’s end; by the time we reached the end and had to cross a stream that seemed impossible to rock hop, we just walked our way right through the stream. At this point, why stress, just walk right on through!

I know Lyme disease got its name from Lyme, Connecticut, but there’s something mighty ironic about getting a tick bite in Lyme, New Hampshire. The ticks clearly have a sense of humor which I am not finding very funny – actually I’m quite “ticked” off about it! Having to make an unexpected Urgent Care visit to get medication was not in the plans!

Speaking of things not going as planned, a little bit of trail wisdom from Faith: Eating a jalapeño beef stick while hiking may not be the best idea … just saying.

DAY FOUR: Smarts Mountain, 8.3 miles. A simply perfect day for hiking, 65 degrees and sunny. This day’s hike up to Smarts Mountain was hard but we were definitely rewarded with views from Lambert Ridge. GOD’s masterpiece on full display! When we were at Eastman Ledges we could see the fire tower that was on Smarts Mt and we knew we were headed there but it looked so far away! A 3.0 mile hard trek uphill, encountering a very tricky section with rebar that was very slick to finally making it to the fire tower. We could have seen the distant views if we had had the nerve to climb the flights up the tower to look out. FROG made it up the first flight and had to turn around; I never made it to the first step!

Met a hiker there that hikes 30 miles a day, did you hear that, 30 miles a day, y’all! He plans to summit Katahdin on July 4th. We had to laugh, we will still be in the Whites in NH during that time! Maybe that gave FROG a boost because he was unstoppable on the way down, he was in the lead and I had a hard time catching up with him – this is definitely note worthy, he is not normally that fast. Hahaha. We met Charity off trail at the end, 0.5 miles to another trailhead so that we could come back to comfort.

What a joy it’s been to come back to a hot shower, indoor plumbing, and a nice comfy bed. Soon, and very soon, it will not be this way. 2/3 of our time will be spent on the trail, setting up the tent and truly roughing it. I will soak in (with a nice hot bath) these days of luxury!

DAY FIVE: Mt. Cube, 6.7 miles. Another glorious, goldilocks day – everything was just right!! And more views to boot! Actually, this was a day for beauty at every turn! We did more oohing and ahhing and definitely not coming up with enough words to express all that beauty! “WOW” is all that comes out and became the word for the day! You try and you try to capture it in pictures and video, but nothing compares to being there and witnessing it firsthand. See my video for day 5 to see more views.

At the end of our downhill descent, we came upon one of my biggest fears out here, crossing a stream or river by rock hopping. The stream was flowing fast and hard and I started panicking as to how I was going to successfully cross this raging stream without falling in. We both just decided that it was at the end of day and why stress it – in we went with our boots on, taking our time and gingerly making our way to the other side. That’s how it’s done, folks!

Bridge over troubled waters, indeed! I’m still trying to understand why they build little bridges over streams we could practically hop across, then point us toward the big rivers and say, “Good luck, y’all!”

DAY SIX: Beaver Pond, 5.0 miles. 🎶We’re singing in the rain!🎶 Our first rain day – we knew it was going to be a wet one, so we prepared ourselves with rain gear and a happy sunshiny attitude. The trail was muddy and totally under water; we had soggy socks and boots, and wet rain gear. A mental gratitude journal was being formed in my head. So much to be grateful for: my husband is with me, we have good health, we have rain gear, Charity is helping us, we get a hot shower soon and food to eat (no camp food, yay!) ,,, and of course, the list goes on. We have so much to be grateful and thankful for even if it doesn’t always go the way we hope or plan.

Did you know that birds are silent in the rain? I’m not sure that’s a known fact or there’s truth in that but our observation from last year and again this year, birds are not “singing in the rain” when it’s raining. What we find so amazing is – once the rain becomes a light rain, the singing begins, just like they are announcing an end is coming. And every time, it does! What an incredible God-given instinct! The things you discover while walking in the woods that you never knew just sitting home on your couch.

Speaking of our couch – I was remarking to FROG how hiking the Appalachian Trail was not for couch potatoes. His quick-witted response: I’d take a couch right now with a bag of potato chips!

We’re switching days up due to weather – tomorrow is the day I have been fretting about for a while now. Our first 4K mountain!

DAY SEVEN: Mt. Moosilauke, 7.8 miles. “Remember, today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday.” ~ Dale Carnegie

I was beyond nervous—if there is such a thing. I had heard so many stories about this mountain, including one very important piece of advice: hike it SOBO instead of NOBO. As it turned out, that was incredibly wise counsel, and it is advice I will definitely pass along to future hikers preparing for this climb. My fears were somewhat justified; the ascent was dangerous and slow-moving, and every step required caution. But beyond that, I had worried far more than I needed to. I need to tuck that lesson away in my memory bank and remember it the next time fear tries to get ahead of faith.

After 5.5 hours we finally reached the summit (I know that is really slow but we weren’t taking any chances – we had just run into a hiker that had fallen and thinks he broke his arm.) Many hikers passed us as they were returning from the summit and warned us of high wind conditions and no views, so we were prepared. It proved to be true. It was freezing and I wished for the HOT Texas heat, as I reached for my gloves and pulled my coat closer to me to stay warmer. We didn’t linger long, a quick picture of the sign and then we boogied down the hill as fast as we could. The descent at first was smooth and easy but quickly changed into a long downhill of rocks, roots and leaves – all those things that try to trip us up.

Falls really aren’t funny UNTIL you realize the person is actually fine and you are then able to take in the whole scene. Our hike down from Mt. Moosilauke was straight downhill with us maneuvering from rock to rock, trying to avoid wet leaves, wet rocks and wet tree roots that are always looking to trip us up. Well, it happened. FROG stepped on a wet tree root, got his hiking pole caught between rocks – he fell one way, his hiking pole flew the other way out of his hand and landed upside down in a bush. It’s one of those times you had to be there and witness the scene to find humor in it. FROG’s demise: a sore ear and a bruised ego, his hiking pole’s demise: a bent and broken leg. He is still able to use it but it is crippled and funny looking! We are just so thankful it was not his leg that is crippled, bent and broken!

Two to one—FROG is in the lead! I’m competitive, but I believe I’ll graciously let him win this particular contest. Tree roots, slick rocks, wet leaves, and landscape timbers have all been doing their best to take us out. Hopefully, no more for either of us – I’ll let him be the winner! UPDATE since first writing: we’re tied, 5-5, hiking pole, a broken leg.

Thank you so much, Ann Ferris and Kathy Sherwin, for your loving gifts. Your generosity and thoughtfulness mean more to us than words can express. We have already made plans for how we will use your gift when we finish at Mt. Katahdin. May God continue to shower you with His love and blessings!

And last, but certainly not least, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Charity (aka Denise Ahart) for selflessly giving up her summer to be part of this journey with us. She has driven us to and from trailheads, taken us to get food and ice cream (!), helped with an unexpected Urgent Care visit, taken us sightseeing on our day off, and been there for anything else we have needed along the way. I honestly do not know many people who would do all of that simply so we could fulfill a dream. We will be forever grateful for your kindness, generosity, and love. THANK YOU!

WEEK TWO starts tomorrow, Sunday, June 21 as we journey further into the Whites.

“Don’t tell GOD how big your mountain is. Tell the mountain how big your GOD is!”

WE ARE FROG AND FAITH, WITH GOD WE’VE GOT THIS!!!!