6.28 - Phone Call

From Jan:

"Kris called today from Hot Springs, N.C. He and Joel decided to stay the night at a hotel in this town right on the trail. They sound great; gear and feet are holding up well. Kris is below 150 pounds so a couple meals in town today were sounding pretty good. They have met some great people and had some scary bear encounters; one that moved them from their tent to the shelter for the night. Weather is still very hot and humid. They are very happy with their daily mileage; between 16 and 17 miles. So good to hear his voice and that all is still well!!

Oh, and they have gone 283 miles so far!!!"

6.17 - Phone Call

From Jan:

"Kris called today to report that he and Joel were doing exceptionally well. They and their equipment are holding up great. They have both lost 10 pounds, but had just finished a great BBQ meal in town. He was high on life!! Good to hear from him."
 

6.08 - The Adventure Begins

the marker at the trail head 

 the visitors center to check in

Much thanks goes out to Laura for providing these last pics of the guys before they hit the trail.  It looks like they were pretty amped about getting started.

Trail Map and Their Progress

You can always view Kris and Joel's progress by looking at the map above or clicking here to view it in Google Maps.  Unfortunately, in order to overlay the trail map, you'll need to follow these steps:

1. Open the link above to Kris and Joel's progress map.
2. Copy the following address within the brackets starting with the "http" and ending with the "kmz" <http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=10511&filename=1114687-AppalachianTrail.kmz>
3. Paste the copied address into the search text box to the right of "Google maps" and press the "Search Maps" button.
4. After the "Appalachian Trail.kmz" map comes up, look to the lower-left of the screen and find a 'plus' sign next to "The A.T. with Kris and Joel".
   
5. Click anywhere on that and then check the empty box next to "The A.T. with Kris and Joel".

I realize that's kind of a lot to do, but you'll end up with their progress right on top of the trail map which is pretty cool.  My hopes are to find a way of simplifying this process, but I can't make any promises.
 
Enjoy!
  

The Updated Tracker!

Kris and Joel started their Appalachian Trail trek on June 8th.  As they've logged miles, they've been able to keep us up to date with a Spot Satellite Messenger as well as phone calls.  So far, all is well: their spirits are high, the gear is holding up, they're seeing some amazing things.


Please feel free to check back here from time to time.  The map will be updated with check-in/progress points as well as posts with details from phone calls.  Also, any comments on posts and encouragement for Kris and Joel are welcome.  It will be great to have this as a mini journal for them when they get back.

Cheers and GO KRIS AND JOEL!!