Appalachian Trail northbound- With a Nikon D800

rschnaible

Looks like you are having quite an adventure.... I look forward to your journal as you progress north.

Pickerel

Heya folks. I have not been able to keep up to date with my writing, and it trails behind me with the latest post from April 8. I am working to catch up though. Also, a couple days ago in Damascus I ran into somebody else doing documentary with a D800 and 28-300mm lens. It is interesting, or rather will be when I can read more folks' accounts, to see how experiences vary so much when folks are only a few days apart.
http://thelongstarttothejourney.com

aodwoz

sounds great. I love hiking, but I wouldnt do it by myself without a ride for that distance. lol
Good luck to you and whatever you will have gone through for next seven month.

rschnaible

Enjoying your writing Garrett.

John

Nice images and an interesting read.
Thanks for keeping us updated.

Msmoto

Such a phenomenal journey...may you be safe.

Beso

Your journal is very well written and enjoyable to read, Garrett. The photos provide context. May you have temperate weather, a light breeze a your back, and safe travels on your way to Maine. Good to see you checking in from time to time.

Pickerel

Still at it out here - in Vermont now, taking a half day off to try getting more photos up. Instead of getting more photos up, I have switched to a new flickr account and I'm gradually getting photos onto that. This is being done so I have a "clean" account, without all the old stuff that while important to me doesn't reflect my current photography, and my push toward "breaking in" to the field as a possible future career.

The trailjournals writing has tapered off, and I will probably begin writing in a new format (probably a blog) when I finish the Appalachian Trail. Currently I am just writing notes for every day, as well as having my photo record for almost every day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shepherdadventures

Msmoto

Pickerel....you are amazing....at what point does this journey find completion?

Pickerel

As it stands, I am in New Hampshire with less than 400 miles to go up here. Tentatively I am done at the end of October though - I skipped part of New Jersey because one of my friends stopped there. He is working the summer at a camp, then hiking from Maine back to the Delaware Water Gap to complete his thru-hike. I skipped the section from High Point, NJ to the Water Gap so I may finish with him.

proudgeek

Hope you enjoyed VT. The last few hundred involve a significant amount of elevation change, especially through the White Mountains. This is a great accomplishment that few attempt and even fewer complete. Well done.

Pickerel

Photos will be coming soonish, but today - August 20th - I reached the summit of Katahdin with three other early March hikers. In Millinocket right now... I have photos processed and uploaded up to July 18th, but I plan to put up previews of some of the summit photos to satisfy impatient folks.

proudgeek

Congratulations! This is an amazing feat.

Yetibuddha

Great accomplishment Pick! Read your journal everyday to when you ran out of time. Great job documenting things. I may try the Georgia portion next spring as a result of your hike!

Pickerel

Let me know if you do that - I am not sure where life will have me by then, but I would certainly offer you backpacking advice. I think I will message Admin when I have more time and have my photo processing + uploading wrapped up, and see about writing a guest post on long-distance hiking with a camera system.

Msmoto

@Pickerel

Thanks so much for sharing your journey....truly an amazing accomplishment. IMO a main blog article might be interesting.

proudgeek

+1 I would love to hear more about the experiences of someone trekking with large amounts of gear.

Yetibuddha

Pick, a guest post would be excellent. I will be doing a short--7 day--hike in October in of all places, South Carolina. I plan on taking the D800, 20mm F2.8 and 50 MM F1.8.

Pickerel

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I should update you as to my exploits. I've been having a very difficult time finding employment, so I've been living light in my truck and alternating between hiking and job hunting through the winter. I will resume posting photos onto the PAD threads. This is not quite up-to-date as I am playing catch-up with my writing, but this gives you a general idea of what I have been up to. My D800 is broken (someone knocked it down on its tripod while I was shooting video at an event in November, aperture lever bent and only works with a few lenses now), my truck is freshly broken (shift solenoids just went out of commission, leaving me with 2nd and 3rd gear, and I am blurring the line between long-distance hiker and homeless person more and more (I don't actually want the latter, uncouth label).
http://trailjournals.com/shepherd2014

Yetibuddha

All the best on your new hike El Pick. Wish I was there with you.

Pickerel

Been a while... not sure how I feel about resurrecting such an old thread, but it makes more sense than starting a new one. I'm still without a real job and still continuing to hike sometimes. Currently in Asheville, NC and eyeing up doing some sections for hike #2 before I wander back out of this area.

They say the Trail provides, and it really does that. In a surprising turn of events that ATC recently inquired with me about using some of my photos in their magazine. To my even greater surprise, they wanted to pay me for them! I'm still rather impoverished, but this came at a great time when a couple months of promised temporary work wound up being much less than that.

Now I have some funds again to keep wandering around and keeping myself in good spirits as I continue the job hunt. Admittedly, it feels weird getting paid for my photography when I'm looking for more "practical" jobs... showing me I can actually make money doing exactly what I love is kind of dangerous.

Anyways, here is my photo which they used for the cover. Sunrise Mountain Pavilion in northwest New Jersey, 20-some miles into a 31-mile day of hiking last December. Shot with my D800 and AF 20mm f/2.8D, foreground light painted with my headlamp. Quick and dirty link from where I shared this on Facebook...

Ironheart

@Pickerel, great to see this update, as a result I went and started catching up on your blog. I think this is the universe telling you that you can do the things you love and find a way to make money at it as well. The hardest part is the first publication, after that you have a portfolio! Think of it, freelance trail photographer. Get paid to hit the triple crown :-)

Golf007sd

Congrats and +1 om what Ironheart has said. Follow you passion....

henrik1963

@Pickerel: Glad to hear that you are doing ok. Keep up the good work.

pigeyejacksn

@Pickerel, how did taking the 16-35mm f4 and 85mm f2.8 work out for you? I do some casual backpacking in SC. I have a bum back, so I can't do more than a few miles in up and down terrain with a pack and have to watch weight carefully. I would bring my 17-55 with me when I was using DX. I just sold and re-bought a bunch of my gear and moved from DX to FX and have the 16-35 f4 and 28-70 2.8mm, but the 28-70 f2.8 is just plain heavy. Bringing both is out of the question, so last trip I brought just my 28-70 and sometimes it just wasn't wide enough. Any thoughts from your experiences? Thanks for your input. Great job getting published. I just checked out some of your pics and looks like you've had a lot of cool adventures. Appalachian trail would be fantastic. I have a sister of a friend that just did it this last year and had a blast.