When this weather breaks we will log our final miles, it has been quite the journey and very educational.
Here is some positive news; "these numbers show the progress we’ve made against polio over the years:
- Nearly 3 billion children have been vaccinated against polio.
- 19.4 million people who otherwise would have been paralyzed by polio can walk today.
- 1.5 million childhood deaths have been prevented by the GPEI’s delivery of vitamin A — a nutrient that is essential for healthy growth and development — to children during polio immunization campaigns.
- Cases of polio caused by wild poliovirus have been reduced by more than 99.9%.
- The number of countries that report cases of polio caused by the wild virus has been reduced from 125 to two.
- Rotary has invested more than US$2.2 billion in global polio eradication efforts.
- Rotary has also helped secure an additional $10 billion in donations for global polio eradication efforts from governments.
- 122 countries have received support from PolioPlus grants.
- If polio eradication efforts stopped now, within 10 years, 200,000 children could be paralyzed every year.
For the full story go to:
https://www.endpolio.org/eradicating-polio-amid-a-pandemic-and-political-upheaval

Update #4:
Where are you? I am back in Middle Tennessee and loving it.
What happened? My trail partner broke his foot and after four days alone, I realized that unlike the AT there are very few through hikers on the MST.
What is the plan? If you have not hiked the State Parks in Middle Tennessee, you should visit these jewels. I am averaging 65 – 70 miles a week in on our State Park Trails, Rails to Trails and any trail I can find that is at least 10 miles long to hike. My log has me at 350+ miles of 1175 that the MST would have covered.
In July, if my trail partner is up for it, we will kayak the 175 mile stretch together and I will finish logging the promised 1000 miles of trekking.
Is this what we envisioned at the onset, hardly. If you compare this to how Rotary thought we could eradicate Polio inside 20 years in the 1980s, you can understand that things don’t go as planned.
If we don’t raise another cent for Polio Eradication, we have done something. After 1 July, as promised I will donate the second half of my pledged $1100 to Polio. With only two cases reported this year to date, we must continue funding this effort if we are to totally eradicate the disease.
How can you help? Beyond the obvious response of donating to eradicate Polio. If you have a favorite hike in Middle or within two hours’ drive, I am looking for great trails to cover. If you want to go log some miles, the company would be much appreciated for some longer overnight trails.

Took this at the end of segment 1 of 18. We've been extremely remote these past four days and seen some amazing views. The trail is teaching many lessons and it's difficult not to see analogies to Rotary's Polio Eradicated efforts. Some days it seems the trail will never end, there are disappointing setbacks and obstacles are in our way. Don't lose faith that one day we will eradicate polio, the effort in overcoming setbacks are worth it and obstacles can be surmounted.
Please share this effort with your friends and do help us to End Polio Now!

Thank-you for your generosity and words of encouragement. My role is quite simple, put one foot in front of the other from Clingmans Dome to Kitty Hawk, NC. The similarities between this trek of 1175 miles and raising $500,000 to eradicate Polio are striking, every gift small is another "step" in achieving our goal.
A trail map graphic has been added to this update. If you want to see the interactive map it is quite detailed at https://mountainstoseatrail.org/the-trail/map/