ME 17 to ME 4 - Ponds & More Ponds - Appalachian Trail 2024 

You are not a baby at all! You are out there getting it done everyday. 👏🏼👏🏼🥾🥾

And that's why you listen to music. It stimulates memories and your mood 👍 The mud will wash away and dry. The ponds were lovely. Thanks for taking us along. I prefer cooler weather, so Finland.

Finland!! you are hiking smart! ❤❤❤❤❤

“Going down your chosen road.” Love that. Finland! I’ve been there, but only on the coast.

There’s a silver lining, and every cloud, if we look hard enough for it. I’ll take Finland, love the Baltics!

Keep pushing onward. Your trail is like our lives we have our ups and downs. I am finishing my last chemotherapy tomorrow. I hate it but I keep pushing to the finish line. It will soon be over soon. You are an inspiration to me. Thanks

Thailand 😊

I take it back.(Day behind on your videos).Teddy is more up my alley. Finland. My niece loved Thailand though. I liked the sky reflection in little swift river pond. Reminded me of a bayou. Face down in the mud. Yikes. Right when you were enjoying the trail. Interesting about the words you had on your board in college. The trail provides lol. Glad your virtual family helps. You’re keeping it real.😊❤

Some beautiful ponds and lakes. Oh boy on the mud bath. Probably a good thing you started south and headed north. After some of the things you've been through lately, it may have been a short hike. Never been to either country, but I'll go with Thailand. I had a tenant that went there for a couple months every winter and he enjoyed it.

If your would like to go fishing in some of those ponds, Maine is famous for its trout fishing, ... you could plan a trip and maybe volunteer to build a bridge or two in Maine! The trails are maintained by volunteers and Maine does not get much help from the ATC. Hiking in Maine is definitely not a walk in a park! Your not alone taking a header into the mud on the AT. Good going, watch the roots!

Those ponds make me just want to grab my kayak & paddle around. We've camped in coastal Maine, but maybe it's time to explore the other side of the state. Looks beautiful!

Long Pond - pretty sure the Maine Cabin Masters have renovated at least one camp on that pond. But then there are ponds all over Maine It was nice to see a boring stretch of trail for a change - up until the yucky mud section and you fell. Good thing it just washes off! Keep on 🥾 Lose Yourself. What a great song. Finland for sure. I do not like the heat. Used to but not any more. And I LOVE winter (how can I not since I grew up not far from Chicago). Let’s GOOOOO!

Hike on baby you got this be well

You got this JR! Ooooof on the mud. "Maine Sucks" lol

Northern New England hiking definitely isn't for the faint of heart, and wet roots are as slippery as ice. I'd take Finland for sure.

There is so much I could say about my perceptions of you! So many positive adjectives.. I admire your tenacity, perseverance, determination, strategies, compliments and complaints. You seem so well rounded, thoughtful which causes me to have such admiration for you. I remain surprised how many times we match on “would you rather”.. Today, Finland, yes… I live in SC where the humidity and heat stifles outside activities unless you like living in a sauna and want to be sopping wet, clothes and all.. I have always said, I can put on enough clothes to be warm, but in this heat you can’t get naked enough and remain presentable. So give me cold weather over sauna… However, I do enjoy learning about different cultures. This military brat learned as a toddler that there is so much of the world to see and experience. Good luck to you!! You remain in my prayers and remain part of my morning coffee. I look forward to the videos and already mourn when they will end as you accomplish your goal. Two other hikers I follow have finished, Jaru and 5-Stack. I miss them. God Speed!!

I heard a thru hiker say last year “ I want to die with memories, not dreams”

I love that you mentioned Eminem's 8 Mile, I'm from Detroit and grew up pretty close to 8 Mile. 8 Mile is the road that separates the city of Detroit from a lot of the suburbs that border the city. Thailand.

Finland. Thailand has way too many snakes plus muggy not dry heat.

Not sure I have much of a preference on those two countries. Probably Thailand since it would be better for my life bird list, assuming I would be able to get out to wilder places there. I appreciate that you show the less positive sides of the trail experience. Wet rocks and mud DO suck and I'd rather you call it as it is. Mr. Mister had a few hits during their brief run of success, "Kyrie" being their second consecutive # 1 single. The first one was "Broken Wings", a song I really like and got me interested in their music. "Is It Love", also from that same album, was top 10. After that they had one more song that went top 40 but not too high and that was that for them. Can you tell I'm a music geek? Though Enimem, I can do without. Keep pushing!

Trail trolls are like that -- they let you trek blissfully along all that pond serenity and then BAM! they throw you in the mud. Now that you're almost to the end of this challenge, how does the reality of your experience compare to your expectations at the onset?? I'd rather Thailand -- love the tropics.

Finland

You’re no baby! You’re just a brave guy who is up for a challenge. If the AT was easy it would be loved to death. Have fun bagging the 4K’s before the trail gets kinder.