May 27 Seeley-Woodworth Shelter 820 miles
Left Brown Mountain Creek Shelter around 7:30 with Knightro and began a long three mile ascent of 2500 feet. It left me exhausted and Knightro was cruising up it with no problem and soon he left me far behind.
I was really struggling. I couldn't walk far before my legs were just exhausted, as if I had been walking all day and not having just began that morning, an hour ago. I stopped at the top of the hill and rested for half an hour looking at the view atop some boulders.
Then, I took off and about 6 miles into it I came across some beautiful rounded and open meadows with many day hikers and church group walkers and eventually came down to a gravel road, Hog Camp Gap, and did a pretty stupid thing.
I was very thirsty (maybe why my legs weren't working that morning) and had no water because I usually carry none to save weight. I usually camel up at each stream I come across. I had been doing this for months-- but things were about to change.
So at the gravel road I asked two women leaving the area if they knew where there was a store bearby so I could get a drink. One of the women, the younger driver, said there was a store a mile away. That seemed doable. I could catch a ride back or walk back if need be. I was really thirsty.
So I got in the back of the car and I soon learned that this was a mother and daughter hiking together and that the daughter had attended Liberty University and was now working for the University. This is the University where the Reverend Jerry Falwell is President.
Ok I thought, I am meeting a number of Creationist types on this trail. The last group gave me some great Trail Magic and here I am again getting a helping hand.
I told the two women about my AT Hike, where I came from and where I was going.
After a while I realized we had passed a mile.
How far is this store, I said, it's been more than a mile.
Just down the road, near here she said.
So we went for five minutes more and I said, l think we are pretty far from the trail. I'm walking you know.
It's near here, the daughter said, and gunned the engine. People are friendly around here you will get a ride back.
After a few more miles, I was pretty frustrated and began to wonder when the hell we were going to stop. It seemed liker forever.
Finally I saw a little gas station and store and she pulled over.
By this time I was pretty pissed off. I am WALKING. I am WALKING the trail you know? A mile huh? Thanks a lot, I said, grabbing my pack and my poles and slamming the car door.
Stupid twits, I thought, as they drove off. Idiots.
I stood in front of the country store and realized that I had no idea what gravel road I had been taken off of or how to get back to it.
I went in the store and got some water and two Cokes and nobody inside knew where the AT was but I figured I was about ten to fifteen miles away from it.
The guy behind the cash register suggested I ask people who came into the station for a ride. I did that for about an hour and nobody was going that far or in that direction.
Finally, I asked a burly guy in an old beatup black pickup and he said that he wouldn't walk the Trail because of the Appalachian killer. Then, he walked into the store.
Then I heard some voices through the door.
Go on Jack, go on and take the hiker up the road. You can do it. You got nothing else to do. Take the hiker Jack.
So burly Jack and the thin older lady, whose truck he was driving, took me down the road in the bed of the pickup. Can't stand the people around here Jack grumbled. They are idiots. I'm from Florida. I'm not from around here. I hate it here.
The old lady in the passenger seat just smiled and held on to his arm.
We couldn't find the road to the AT and so I said I'd pay him extra to take me into Buena Vista, Va where I would call a shuttler who knows the trail to take me to the trail. The lady insisted that Jack do it.
It's your truck he said; I don't even know if this old truck can make it there, he said. His lady friend smiled and put her arm around his neck.
Jack dropped me off at a store in Buena Vista, telling me to watch out for the Appalachian Trail killer. (Some local man killed a woman at one of the shelters a few years back. I assumed that is what he was talking about.)
He also let me know that AT used to go all around the world in the old days. (If it did I thought it must have been over a billion years ago when the continental plates were mashed into one landmass.)
Jack was a little misinformed. According to the ATC, the Trail was begun in the Twenties and always went from Georgia to Maine. It was conceived by Benton MacKay, as a series of recreational hiking communities from Georgia to Maine in 1921. Not for thru-hiking at all.
MacKay had the vision and helped found the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) in 1925.
Then the Regional Planning Association of America got Myron Avery onboard. Myron Avery became the hard driven builder of the trail from 1931 into the 1950s, his mission in life, and also the chairman of the ATC, The Appalachian Trail Commission.
The original founder, MacKay, and the energetic lawyer, Avery, clashed on the intent of the Trail. MacKay wanted a complete wilderness trail, no roads or cars nearby. But lawyer Avery wished to compromise with the Federal Government and local governments and allow roads near the trail.
MacKay got his way and Avery's original trail is now paved over in places like Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway; and in spots along the trail the old AT is a gravel road than is run by the State.
But I didn't go into it with Jack. Who am I to contradict a guy giving me a ride?
I paid him for the ride at a store in Buena Vista and called a shuttle driver who took me to the trail. I then paid her and got off at Salt Log Gap.
I practically ran the next six miles uphill to the shelter, powered by Cokes and honeybuns and anger. I was pissed off with myself for wasting good money on absolutely nothing.
And I was angry at the two women and began thinking -- no wonder they think the Earth is 10,000 years old and not 4 billion, they don't even know the difference between one mile and ten miles. Liberty University. Ha! I scoffed indignantly.
Then I began thinking that if I had water then I wouldn't have wanted to bum a ride in the first place. I was unprepared.
From now on I said to myself, over and over, ruminating as I do at times, I will be tighter with my money and will carry water at all times. That is the last time I will walk around without any water I thought as I powered up and down over the roots and rocks and streams.
When I got to the shelter I felt quite whole, alive and happy to be there, and had some good laughs with Diesel, Firefly, and Knightro, while sharing some of the hot dogs I had packed out from the Buena Vista country store.
I didn't say a word about my foolish rendezvous that afternoon. I lied and said I had packed out the hot dogs a few days ago. I really did not want to get into it.
I was really struggling. I couldn't walk far before my legs were just exhausted, as if I had been walking all day and not having just began that morning, an hour ago. I stopped at the top of the hill and rested for half an hour looking at the view atop some boulders.
Then, I took off and about 6 miles into it I came across some beautiful rounded and open meadows with many day hikers and church group walkers and eventually came down to a gravel road, Hog Camp Gap, and did a pretty stupid thing.
I was very thirsty (maybe why my legs weren't working that morning) and had no water because I usually carry none to save weight. I usually camel up at each stream I come across. I had been doing this for months-- but things were about to change.
So at the gravel road I asked two women leaving the area if they knew where there was a store bearby so I could get a drink. One of the women, the younger driver, said there was a store a mile away. That seemed doable. I could catch a ride back or walk back if need be. I was really thirsty.
So I got in the back of the car and I soon learned that this was a mother and daughter hiking together and that the daughter had attended Liberty University and was now working for the University. This is the University where the Reverend Jerry Falwell is President.
Ok I thought, I am meeting a number of Creationist types on this trail. The last group gave me some great Trail Magic and here I am again getting a helping hand.
I told the two women about my AT Hike, where I came from and where I was going.
After a while I realized we had passed a mile.
How far is this store, I said, it's been more than a mile.
Just down the road, near here she said.
So we went for five minutes more and I said, l think we are pretty far from the trail. I'm walking you know.
It's near here, the daughter said, and gunned the engine. People are friendly around here you will get a ride back.
After a few more miles, I was pretty frustrated and began to wonder when the hell we were going to stop. It seemed liker forever.
Finally I saw a little gas station and store and she pulled over.
By this time I was pretty pissed off. I am WALKING. I am WALKING the trail you know? A mile huh? Thanks a lot, I said, grabbing my pack and my poles and slamming the car door.
Stupid twits, I thought, as they drove off. Idiots.
I stood in front of the country store and realized that I had no idea what gravel road I had been taken off of or how to get back to it.
I went in the store and got some water and two Cokes and nobody inside knew where the AT was but I figured I was about ten to fifteen miles away from it.
The guy behind the cash register suggested I ask people who came into the station for a ride. I did that for about an hour and nobody was going that far or in that direction.
Finally, I asked a burly guy in an old beatup black pickup and he said that he wouldn't walk the Trail because of the Appalachian killer. Then, he walked into the store.
Then I heard some voices through the door.
Go on Jack, go on and take the hiker up the road. You can do it. You got nothing else to do. Take the hiker Jack.
So burly Jack and the thin older lady, whose truck he was driving, took me down the road in the bed of the pickup. Can't stand the people around here Jack grumbled. They are idiots. I'm from Florida. I'm not from around here. I hate it here.
The old lady in the passenger seat just smiled and held on to his arm.
We couldn't find the road to the AT and so I said I'd pay him extra to take me into Buena Vista, Va where I would call a shuttler who knows the trail to take me to the trail. The lady insisted that Jack do it.
It's your truck he said; I don't even know if this old truck can make it there, he said. His lady friend smiled and put her arm around his neck.
Jack dropped me off at a store in Buena Vista, telling me to watch out for the Appalachian Trail killer. (Some local man killed a woman at one of the shelters a few years back. I assumed that is what he was talking about.)
He also let me know that AT used to go all around the world in the old days. (If it did I thought it must have been over a billion years ago when the continental plates were mashed into one landmass.)
Jack was a little misinformed. According to the ATC, the Trail was begun in the Twenties and always went from Georgia to Maine. It was conceived by Benton MacKay, as a series of recreational hiking communities from Georgia to Maine in 1921. Not for thru-hiking at all.
MacKay had the vision and helped found the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) in 1925.
Then the Regional Planning Association of America got Myron Avery onboard. Myron Avery became the hard driven builder of the trail from 1931 into the 1950s, his mission in life, and also the chairman of the ATC, The Appalachian Trail Commission.
The original founder, MacKay, and the energetic lawyer, Avery, clashed on the intent of the Trail. MacKay wanted a complete wilderness trail, no roads or cars nearby. But lawyer Avery wished to compromise with the Federal Government and local governments and allow roads near the trail.
MacKay got his way and Avery's original trail is now paved over in places like Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway; and in spots along the trail the old AT is a gravel road than is run by the State.
But I didn't go into it with Jack. Who am I to contradict a guy giving me a ride?
I paid him for the ride at a store in Buena Vista and called a shuttle driver who took me to the trail. I then paid her and got off at Salt Log Gap.
I practically ran the next six miles uphill to the shelter, powered by Cokes and honeybuns and anger. I was pissed off with myself for wasting good money on absolutely nothing.
And I was angry at the two women and began thinking -- no wonder they think the Earth is 10,000 years old and not 4 billion, they don't even know the difference between one mile and ten miles. Liberty University. Ha! I scoffed indignantly.
Then I began thinking that if I had water then I wouldn't have wanted to bum a ride in the first place. I was unprepared.
From now on I said to myself, over and over, ruminating as I do at times, I will be tighter with my money and will carry water at all times. That is the last time I will walk around without any water I thought as I powered up and down over the roots and rocks and streams.
When I got to the shelter I felt quite whole, alive and happy to be there, and had some good laughs with Diesel, Firefly, and Knightro, while sharing some of the hot dogs I had packed out from the Buena Vista country store.
I didn't say a word about my foolish rendezvous that afternoon. I lied and said I had packed out the hot dogs a few days ago. I really did not want to get into it.
May 28 Harpers Creek Shelter 834 Miles
It was a drizzily morning and Knightro had a big sore on his heel. He said he was only going to do six miles at the most. So I set out alone at about eight AM.
It was going to be a day of ups and downs and then an up to Priest Shelter according to my awol guidebook. At the ascent, about five miles in, it started to pour. I passed some day hikers going uphill and looking miserable. Just one step at a time I said and don't look up too much and you'll be at the top in no time. That's how I get through these long climbs, looking down.
The Priest Shelter was at the top of the hill and there were about six hikers there eating lunch and drying out. A few young guys were hanging from the shelter doing pull ups. Goddess, a part of the group, was reading the shelter log and laughing.
Most shelters have a log and a pen to write a comment and let people know you were there. Most of the comments are about their hike or the shelter and the water near the shelter. This log is different because it is called the Priest Shelter on The Priest mountain. So people feel the need to confess their sins.
Father, I must confess my sins, writes one, I stole somebodies honeybuns. Father, I confess I have never used a bear bag to hang my food up from bears.
But the most that I saw were about shit. Really about how people shit in wrong places, didn't use hand sanitizer, peed on the trail or in their pants or in their tent.
The Trail seems to bring people back to their infancy, raw and childlike, back to the basic animal needs of food, shelter, and body functions. No politics, religion, or TV is important.
I didn't write anything. Just didn't feel like it. Aired out my shoes.
When the sun came out I started the four mile descent to VA 56 where there was a couple, Old Goat and Mrs. Goat, dispensing Trail Magic, Cokes and sandwiches. Nice.
It was a drizzily morning and Knightro had a big sore on his heel. He said he was only going to do six miles at the most. So I set out alone at about eight AM.
It was going to be a day of ups and downs and then an up to Priest Shelter according to my awol guidebook. At the ascent, about five miles in, it started to pour. I passed some day hikers going uphill and looking miserable. Just one step at a time I said and don't look up too much and you'll be at the top in no time. That's how I get through these long climbs, looking down.
The Priest Shelter was at the top of the hill and there were about six hikers there eating lunch and drying out. A few young guys were hanging from the shelter doing pull ups. Goddess, a part of the group, was reading the shelter log and laughing.
Most shelters have a log and a pen to write a comment and let people know you were there. Most of the comments are about their hike or the shelter and the water near the shelter. This log is different because it is called the Priest Shelter on The Priest mountain. So people feel the need to confess their sins.
Father, I must confess my sins, writes one, I stole somebodies honeybuns. Father, I confess I have never used a bear bag to hang my food up from bears.
But the most that I saw were about shit. Really about how people shit in wrong places, didn't use hand sanitizer, peed on the trail or in their pants or in their tent.
The Trail seems to bring people back to their infancy, raw and childlike, back to the basic animal needs of food, shelter, and body functions. No politics, religion, or TV is important.
I didn't write anything. Just didn't feel like it. Aired out my shoes.
When the sun came out I started the four mile descent to VA 56 where there was a couple, Old Goat and Mrs. Goat, dispensing Trail Magic, Cokes and sandwiches. Nice.
May 29 Paul C Wolfe Shelter 856 Miles
Today I was going to be clever and take a trail a half a mile back and go around the tough three mile mountain ahead and end up in the same place. I'm not an AT purist as some are. For me, a walk is a walk and it is my hike and I'll do it my way.
So I took the Mau-Har Trail .5 miles south of the shelter and went around the mountain. It was a bitch though, climbing up and over cliffs and huge rocks. I had to take my pack off at one point and trhow my poles up and over to climb it. I was kicking myself for doing this.
I did save an hour two however and met old Purist Firefly on the other side of the mountain. You don't follow the rules much do ya, he said.
Guess not I said. I didn't know there were rules.
Well you are supposed to be walking the AT.
So if the AT went off a cliff you would walk off it?
You are an adventurer aren't you he said.
I just enjoy doing new things, I thought. Try something new.
So I walked a number of miles and even walked on the Blue Ridge Parkway a bit to see some views that can't be seen from the trail. And after a small lunch I came across some more Trail Magic: hamburgers and hotdogs and food to go. Very nice.
I met up with cute Lumberjack and we hiked for a few miles until she had to pee and I walked through some rock areas going up a bit and came down on some easy trail for a few miles arriving at about six-thirty at the shelter.
I set up a tent with Firefly and Lumberjack near a rushing river, ate some tuna with Firefly around a fire, and went to sleep.
Walked twenty-two miles today.
So I took the Mau-Har Trail .5 miles south of the shelter and went around the mountain. It was a bitch though, climbing up and over cliffs and huge rocks. I had to take my pack off at one point and trhow my poles up and over to climb it. I was kicking myself for doing this.
I did save an hour two however and met old Purist Firefly on the other side of the mountain. You don't follow the rules much do ya, he said.
Guess not I said. I didn't know there were rules.
Well you are supposed to be walking the AT.
So if the AT went off a cliff you would walk off it?
You are an adventurer aren't you he said.
I just enjoy doing new things, I thought. Try something new.
So I walked a number of miles and even walked on the Blue Ridge Parkway a bit to see some views that can't be seen from the trail. And after a small lunch I came across some more Trail Magic: hamburgers and hotdogs and food to go. Very nice.
I met up with cute Lumberjack and we hiked for a few miles until she had to pee and I walked through some rock areas going up a bit and came down on some easy trail for a few miles arriving at about six-thirty at the shelter.
I set up a tent with Firefly and Lumberjack near a rushing river, ate some tuna with Firefly around a fire, and went to sleep.
Walked twenty-two miles today.
May 30 Waynesboro/Lutheran Church 861 miles
Walked five miles into Waynesboro. One of the towns I used as a goal for this hike. Mainly because I wanted to Aquablaze a bit, take a canoe down the Shenandoah.
I had the hikers hobble from hiking so many miles in one day, the day before and shuttled into the town with a big fat guy in a big fat truck. He pointed out the "hiker trash" tenting near the YMCA.
You have no right to call us hiker trash I thought indignantly, only we can call ourselves that.
Walked five miles into Waynesboro. One of the towns I used as a goal for this hike. Mainly because I wanted to Aquablaze a bit, take a canoe down the Shenandoah.
I had the hikers hobble from hiking so many miles in one day, the day before and shuttled into the town with a big fat guy in a big fat truck. He pointed out the "hiker trash" tenting near the YMCA.
You have no right to call us hiker trash I thought indignantly, only we can call ourselves that.
I got a free shower at the YMCA and went to the library and slept and waited until five oclock when the Lutheran Church opened its doors.
At five I went in and put up a folding bunk in the big room with the long folding tables in the middle. That night I stayed in and ate leftover food in the hiker's "kitchen" and watched some TV movie for a bit and fell asleep about nine. The lady at the church was very nice and accommodating.
May 31 Waynesboro
My shoes were shot so, after calling a number of stores, I got a ride with Haiku and we went into Stanton Pa and got some Altra Lone Peak 3's for me. Stanton was a wonderfully charming town with turn-of -the -century buildings and artsy business in the buildings. One of those places that went downhill and was just starting to be revived again.
June 1 Waynesboro
I could only stay at the church for two days so went wandering about the town looking for a new place. I got misled by the fat shuttle driver about a open hostel and after walking to the laundrymat, feeding and talking with a homeless woman, going to an expensive hotel that wanted $60.00, and walking about town with my pack on, I went to the field near the YMCA to set up a tent.
There I met the nice Lutheran lady trying to round up hikers to attend a lasagna dinner at the church. She said she liked me and that I could stay at the church another night and invited me to dinner.
So I went to the church and the tables were filled with hikers and food.
I ate and helped clean up and went to sleep.
There I met the nice Lutheran lady trying to round up hikers to attend a lasagna dinner at the church. She said she liked me and that I could stay at the church another night and invited me to dinner.
So I went to the church and the tables were filled with hikers and food.
I ate and helped clean up and went to sleep.
June 2 Tent Site Port Republic on the Shenandoah
The outfitter in Waynesboro told me that it was dangerous to canoe around Waynesboro because the water was low. So I had given up on the idea until Shuffles and Backtrack said they had a friend with a canoe and a kayak and I asked if I could join them, starting just north of Waynesboro.
They said yes. So I went to the Library and blogged until they came in about 1Pm and said they had a shuttle to the pick up place.
We went to a shopping center and waited for the guy with the boats for a few hours, playing cards. When he came, we loaded a cooler with drinks and went to the river. But it was getting dark so we camped across the river, about fifty or so yards.
The outfitter in Waynesboro told me that it was dangerous to canoe around Waynesboro because the water was low. So I had given up on the idea until Shuffles and Backtrack said they had a friend with a canoe and a kayak and I asked if I could join them, starting just north of Waynesboro.
They said yes. So I went to the Library and blogged until they came in about 1Pm and said they had a shuttle to the pick up place.
We went to a shopping center and waited for the guy with the boats for a few hours, playing cards. When he came, we loaded a cooler with drinks and went to the river. But it was getting dark so we camped across the river, about fifty or so yards.
June 3 Shenandoah dam
It was nice and relaxing on the river and I got a workout in the kayak while Shuffles and Backtrack had the canoe. It was a warm day and the river was a class 2 which meant that you could tip over if you went through some rapids. And the couple did hit a rock a few miles in but they jumped out and were able to stop the canoe from capsizing.
After a few hours my kayak was flooded and my pack was sitting in a puddle of water.
When we got to the Dam we had to go around it and we pulled out and saw that all my stuff was soaked. I had to sleep in a soggy bag and dry everything out as much as I could in the field by the river.
While there I met Paul and David who were brothers camping out for a few weeks while between jobs or having a few days off.
I pulled out a bottle of wine and proceeded to get tipsy by a nice fire that they had built, passing the bottle around and drinking beers.
Then I went back to my soggy bag.
June 4 Pass Mountain Hut 942 Miles
When I woke up in the morning I decided I had enough of the river, and after saying goodbye to Shuffles and Backtrack, I drove off with Paul and David to the nearest town, Luray Va., and had breakfast and got back on the trail.
These brothers were very nice and accommodating to me and I sure appreciate them and what they did for me. I gave David a pair of sunglasses before I hit the trail in the Shenandoah forest and he gave me a water bottle.
The Shenandoah forest was wonderful, nice and even for a thru-hiker and cool. I didn't see any bears however. Most hikers say the only bears they have seem were in the Shenandoah and so I had a twinge of regret for having aquablazed and not experienced more of this well-maintained forest. Perhaps I'll return another time.
When I arrived at the shelter, I met Steam whom I hadn't seen since Georgia. Then, he was a fat guy with a 60 pound pack full of food. I remember he said he loved to eat and I thought that this guy will never make it over some of these climbs.
But he did. And his calves were huge and he had become strong and blocky looking. He had also packed out a twelve pack of beer, the crazy guy, and so we sat and had a couple and I shared some of my hotdogs with him.
After a few hours my kayak was flooded and my pack was sitting in a puddle of water.
When we got to the Dam we had to go around it and we pulled out and saw that all my stuff was soaked. I had to sleep in a soggy bag and dry everything out as much as I could in the field by the river.
While there I met Paul and David who were brothers camping out for a few weeks while between jobs or having a few days off.
I pulled out a bottle of wine and proceeded to get tipsy by a nice fire that they had built, passing the bottle around and drinking beers.
Then I went back to my soggy bag.
June 4 Pass Mountain Hut 942 Miles
When I woke up in the morning I decided I had enough of the river, and after saying goodbye to Shuffles and Backtrack, I drove off with Paul and David to the nearest town, Luray Va., and had breakfast and got back on the trail.
These brothers were very nice and accommodating to me and I sure appreciate them and what they did for me. I gave David a pair of sunglasses before I hit the trail in the Shenandoah forest and he gave me a water bottle.
The Shenandoah forest was wonderful, nice and even for a thru-hiker and cool. I didn't see any bears however. Most hikers say the only bears they have seem were in the Shenandoah and so I had a twinge of regret for having aquablazed and not experienced more of this well-maintained forest. Perhaps I'll return another time.
When I arrived at the shelter, I met Steam whom I hadn't seen since Georgia. Then, he was a fat guy with a 60 pound pack full of food. I remember he said he loved to eat and I thought that this guy will never make it over some of these climbs.
But he did. And his calves were huge and he had become strong and blocky looking. He had also packed out a twelve pack of beer, the crazy guy, and so we sat and had a couple and I shared some of my hotdogs with him.
June 5 Terrapin Station Hostel Va. 965 miles
Today was a 23 mile day and I left walked the trail over some moderate terrain, following a bunch of fast hikers trying to figure out hey walk so fast on and around these killer rocks. I just tried to be more confident of my foot placement and much quicker and concentrated where my foot fell. It seemed to help not overthinking it.
Today was a 23 mile day and I left walked the trail over some moderate terrain, following a bunch of fast hikers trying to figure out hey walk so fast on and around these killer rocks. I just tried to be more confident of my foot placement and much quicker and concentrated where my foot fell. It seemed to help not overthinking it.
I came to a nice store along skyland drive and ate a footlong sandwich and some chocolate milk. I noticed in my book that all the views were on Skyline Drive and so I walked up the mountain on the road and saw some beautiful views and got several peace signs from passing cars. Cool.
I met Momentum that afternoon and learned that she was going to a hostel and I decided to join her.
We followed the directions in the guidebook and came to a small house where the owner, Mike, had turned his garage into a bunkhouse. It had a fridge and freezer full of pizza, a small microwave and a room with bunks There was a dryer and washer and a TV room. There was alot of Sixties Rock and Roll memorabilia and books on rock music.
Mike was definitely a Sixties guy and we listened to the Byrds (the greatest group ever) as we went to a supermarket and resupplied and to a bar with Momentum and Captain for a meatloaf dinner.
When we got back Fish Sticks and Two Speed were there.
I met Momentum that afternoon and learned that she was going to a hostel and I decided to join her.
We followed the directions in the guidebook and came to a small house where the owner, Mike, had turned his garage into a bunkhouse. It had a fridge and freezer full of pizza, a small microwave and a room with bunks There was a dryer and washer and a TV room. There was alot of Sixties Rock and Roll memorabilia and books on rock music.
Mike was definitely a Sixties guy and we listened to the Byrds (the greatest group ever) as we went to a supermarket and resupplied and to a bar with Momentum and Captain for a meatloaf dinner.
When we got back Fish Sticks and Two Speed were there.
June 6 Terrapin station hostel 965 Miles
Momentum and I decided to slack pack today from the hostel.
Momentum and I decided to slack pack today from the hostel.
Mike took up twenty five miles north around 8:00 AM and we walked south. It was nice the first fifteen miles and then it got rocky and Momentum booked ahead.
By twenty miles my feet were throbbing and I was walking like an old man. Then I hit a long heavily rocked hill that I had to climb over.
Along the way I met Swim, Two Dogs, Candles, Lumberjack going North.
I got in around 7:30 PM. Momentum had been there for an hour and a half. Don't know how she does it.
By twenty miles my feet were throbbing and I was walking like an old man. Then I hit a long heavily rocked hill that I had to climb over.
Along the way I met Swim, Two Dogs, Candles, Lumberjack going North.
I got in around 7:30 PM. Momentum had been there for an hour and a half. Don't know how she does it.
June 7 Sam Moore Shelter 999.6 miles
Mike dropped us off at Ashby Gap. He got into politics on that morning drive, going on about Trump and the Democrats and Clinton. He insisted on knowing who I voted for. I told him I didn't like Clinton and he went off on that and then he said you are a Trump supporter huh?
No, said I, I voted for Clinton.
He couldn't get his head around that and I could have cared less. I knew he was sitting around the computer fuming about the political scene and it all seemed so pointless to me. Been there done that.
What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do? Nothing except fume. You fume and pontificate and so what does that accomplish? Nothing. Empty anger.
And that's just what the media and the politicians love so they can get their ratings up and pull your chain and make you feel so righteous and indignant about shit you have no control over.
I was glad I was walking.
We left the old peacenik and walked about seven miles until my feet began to ache. We had hit the famous Roller Coaster, sixteen miles of rocky ups and downs, that looked in the guidebook like a heart monitor chart. But it felt like a series of long ups and downs rather than a series of short ones. Man those rocks were jagged.
Momentum left me and when I caught up with her I began to eat lunch with 54 year old avalanche and hurricane and momentum on a few rocks in a clearing.
I didn't have time to eat however because it began to pour.
I threw a rain cover over my pack and put on a rain jacket and began hiking up a long hill. I powered through the rain very fast. Rain makes me move and I made it to the shelter through the rain in about an hour and a half. Interestingly the rocks were not so much of a bother when you have to dance among them and are in a hurry. Momentum said she had never seen me move so fast.
I was tired when I got to the shelter. I was afraid I missed the sign for it in the downpour. I took off my wet clothes and I hit the bag around 6:30.
No, said I, I voted for Clinton.
He couldn't get his head around that and I could have cared less. I knew he was sitting around the computer fuming about the political scene and it all seemed so pointless to me. Been there done that.
What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do? Nothing except fume. You fume and pontificate and so what does that accomplish? Nothing. Empty anger.
And that's just what the media and the politicians love so they can get their ratings up and pull your chain and make you feel so righteous and indignant about shit you have no control over.
I was glad I was walking.
We left the old peacenik and walked about seven miles until my feet began to ache. We had hit the famous Roller Coaster, sixteen miles of rocky ups and downs, that looked in the guidebook like a heart monitor chart. But it felt like a series of long ups and downs rather than a series of short ones. Man those rocks were jagged.
Momentum left me and when I caught up with her I began to eat lunch with 54 year old avalanche and hurricane and momentum on a few rocks in a clearing.
I didn't have time to eat however because it began to pour.
I threw a rain cover over my pack and put on a rain jacket and began hiking up a long hill. I powered through the rain very fast. Rain makes me move and I made it to the shelter through the rain in about an hour and a half. Interestingly the rocks were not so much of a bother when you have to dance among them and are in a hurry. Momentum said she had never seen me move so fast.
I was tired when I got to the shelter. I was afraid I missed the sign for it in the downpour. I took off my wet clothes and I hit the bag around 6:30.
June 8 David Lesser Memorial Shelter VA 1013.8
Roller coaster part 2
Momentum sure is tough. She booked ahead early in the morning and was long gone after a few miles. I took my time and just walked the rest of the Coaster slowly and deliberately deftly attempting to walk between the rocks.
Finally I was out of the Coaster and walked up to a ridge where two teenage girls were hanging their feet off the edge of a cliff a hundred yards up and jumping up and down near the edge trying to take a camera shot of a girl in midair.
Yikes! I have a problem with heights and I was holding my breath the whole time. You girls really like risk don't ya I said.
They just giggled and I went back to my lunch and airing out my shoes.
When I got to the shelter, Momentum was there tenting and I hit the shelter floor. It was a nice place, clean and even had a porch swing. I ate a few peanut butter sandwiches and went to bed around seven.
A new hiker to the trail said he felt guilty going to bed so early. If you do I said, laying my head on my blow-up pillow and turning toward the shelter wall, then you ain't hiking enough miles.
Momentum sure is tough. She booked ahead early in the morning and was long gone after a few miles. I took my time and just walked the rest of the Coaster slowly and deliberately deftly attempting to walk between the rocks.
Finally I was out of the Coaster and walked up to a ridge where two teenage girls were hanging their feet off the edge of a cliff a hundred yards up and jumping up and down near the edge trying to take a camera shot of a girl in midair.
Yikes! I have a problem with heights and I was holding my breath the whole time. You girls really like risk don't ya I said.
They just giggled and I went back to my lunch and airing out my shoes.
When I got to the shelter, Momentum was there tenting and I hit the shelter floor. It was a nice place, clean and even had a porch swing. I ate a few peanut butter sandwiches and went to bed around seven.
A new hiker to the trail said he felt guilty going to bed so early. If you do I said, laying my head on my blow-up pillow and turning toward the shelter wall, then you ain't hiking enough miles.
June 9 Harper Ferry/ town inn 1023.1
I left early around 7am with Candles who had come in that night while I was sleeping.
Finally going into Harper's Ferry! The big town near the halfway point of this thru-hike.
Twenty-eight year old Candles to me is really Superman and looks like Clark Kent, especially when he is wearing his glasses. He is always asking questions and enjoys a good intellectual type conversation which you get little out here when the main topic is hiking and food.
He is also the guy who named me Crocs. Why do you always wear Crocs, Crocs? How long have you worn them Crocs? 110 miles? Really? Do you like Crocs? What do you like about them?
.
Along the way we talked about genetics and biotechnology. He thinks there is a feeling gene. If you can find the feeling gene than you can modify people's bad behavior.
I disagreed with that idea and said even if there was a feeling gene what would you lose manipulating it? Isn't anger a normal thing? Even a good thing at times.
He liked the idea of Androids running things and such. I'm more Mr. Natural.
But he was more natural on rocks and left me in the dust after a few miles. I noticed he had no poles. As I did miles and miles ago.
I tried to get my mind and eyes to work faster, scan the ground for upcoming problems and walk fast too without using my poles. I think I did improve my time and I worked better without the poles, not having to think where they could go, making my own balance stepping from rock to ground, ground to rock, focusing on several yards ahead instead of just a few feet ahead.
Around noon, I came out of the forest onto a busy highway and a big river: I realized I was at the Potomac and Harpers Ferry. I looked at the guidebook and crossed the Potomac on the expressway and went into the historic district where there were buildings dating from the 1840's. Tourists were everywhere.
Around noon, I found the 1843 stone building/hostel and met the proprieter whose name was Karen. She ran the Inn and her son ran the restaurant next door.
I went down some very narrow steps to a bunk room down in what must have been the house's former wine cellar, it was all stone and had candle lights on the wall. Very Jacksonian era.
I gave my clothes to the maid to put in the wash and then I realized that I only had my boxers and raincoat to wear and I was hungry.
I met Bottles in the bunkroom and she was starved and so we went next door to what turned out to be a fine dining restaurant.
Well to celebrate our making it to Harper's Ferry (after all we almost halfway done on the trail, and this was the big psychological halfway point town) we ate mac and cheese and had a glass of wine. Never have done fine dining in boxer shorts before. But the server didn't seem to mind.
Finally going into Harper's Ferry! The big town near the halfway point of this thru-hike.
Twenty-eight year old Candles to me is really Superman and looks like Clark Kent, especially when he is wearing his glasses. He is always asking questions and enjoys a good intellectual type conversation which you get little out here when the main topic is hiking and food.
He is also the guy who named me Crocs. Why do you always wear Crocs, Crocs? How long have you worn them Crocs? 110 miles? Really? Do you like Crocs? What do you like about them?
.
Along the way we talked about genetics and biotechnology. He thinks there is a feeling gene. If you can find the feeling gene than you can modify people's bad behavior.
I disagreed with that idea and said even if there was a feeling gene what would you lose manipulating it? Isn't anger a normal thing? Even a good thing at times.
He liked the idea of Androids running things and such. I'm more Mr. Natural.
But he was more natural on rocks and left me in the dust after a few miles. I noticed he had no poles. As I did miles and miles ago.
I tried to get my mind and eyes to work faster, scan the ground for upcoming problems and walk fast too without using my poles. I think I did improve my time and I worked better without the poles, not having to think where they could go, making my own balance stepping from rock to ground, ground to rock, focusing on several yards ahead instead of just a few feet ahead.
Around noon, I came out of the forest onto a busy highway and a big river: I realized I was at the Potomac and Harpers Ferry. I looked at the guidebook and crossed the Potomac on the expressway and went into the historic district where there were buildings dating from the 1840's. Tourists were everywhere.
Around noon, I found the 1843 stone building/hostel and met the proprieter whose name was Karen. She ran the Inn and her son ran the restaurant next door.
I went down some very narrow steps to a bunk room down in what must have been the house's former wine cellar, it was all stone and had candle lights on the wall. Very Jacksonian era.
I gave my clothes to the maid to put in the wash and then I realized that I only had my boxers and raincoat to wear and I was hungry.
I met Bottles in the bunkroom and she was starved and so we went next door to what turned out to be a fine dining restaurant.
Well to celebrate our making it to Harper's Ferry (after all we almost halfway done on the trail, and this was the big psychological halfway point town) we ate mac and cheese and had a glass of wine. Never have done fine dining in boxer shorts before. But the server didn't seem to mind.
June10 Harper's Ferry/ Teahorse Hostel WV 1023 Miles
Today I went to Walmart, about twenty miles away, with Karen to resupply. After buying a cartload of honeybuns and cheese and other high calorie trash food, I realized I had left my debit card at an ice cream shop yesterday.
Later, Karen lent me her van and I drove some hotel clients to a winery and went back to Walmart for my goods.
Later, Karen lent me her van and I drove some hotel clients to a winery and went back to Walmart for my goods.
Then I took my food and my pack and dropped off my stuff at the Teahorse Hostel. Karen's place was booked for tonight.
This place was an ordinary two story house and the top floor had been converted to bunk rooms and a kitchen and tables. Very clean, tidy and middle class; not your usual hostel.
Wanted to use the PO and it was closed on weekends.
June 11 Teahorse Hostel WV
Today I bought summer 50 degree sleeping bag at a local store. Played guitar at the hostel and packed up a rotessarie chicken into freezer bags. Tuna is getting mighty old.
June 12 Leesburg Days Inn VA.
Went by the Post Office at nine and mailed off my 20 degree sleeping bag and then went to the Appalachian Trail Conservacy headquarters down the road and had my picture taken for the ATC yearbook of 2017 thru-hikers and registered with them.
Then I started walking the few miles out of town to the mountain.
Before getting out of service I checked my phone and noted that I had gotten a call from my wife and that I needed to hit the Suntrust Bank and conduct some business. Oh, well life goes on even off trail.
The closest bank was well over thirty miles away.
So I called Uber and went to Leesburg, Va. with a talkative ex-Bahamian who couldn't wait to tell his friends that he had carried a man who is walking over 2000 miles. He was very excited and he wanted to pick me up in the morning.
At the Days Inn, the cheapest place I could find, I ate delivered pizza in bed and fell asleep around 9PM.
June 13 Tenting near Annapolis Rocks MD 1047 Miles
Then I started walking the few miles out of town to the mountain.
Before getting out of service I checked my phone and noted that I had gotten a call from my wife and that I needed to hit the Suntrust Bank and conduct some business. Oh, well life goes on even off trail.
The closest bank was well over thirty miles away.
So I called Uber and went to Leesburg, Va. with a talkative ex-Bahamian who couldn't wait to tell his friends that he had carried a man who is walking over 2000 miles. He was very excited and he wanted to pick me up in the morning.
At the Days Inn, the cheapest place I could find, I ate delivered pizza in bed and fell asleep around 9PM.
June 13 Tenting near Annapolis Rocks MD 1047 Miles
I woke up surprising refreshed and walked to the 7-11 for breakfast. I caught an Uber to the bank and signed the papers and then called my Bahamian driver who dropped me off at the trail, after I took a few pictures of him wearing my pack in front of an AT sign.
So I was finally back on the trail outside Harpers Ferry around 12 PM. My plan was to go Rocky Run Shelter 15 miles away, but I was feeling so good and the day was so nice that I decided to walk twenty-three miles to Pine Knob Shelter since I had gotten behind in town.
Maryland was noisy. Cars from the highway could be heard for miles and airplanes overheard were flying into Washington, DC I presumed.
Well by 8PM I was still walking and I knew that I wouldn't get to the shelter by dark. So I picked up the speed and at nine o'clock I was walking with a headlight on my head.
But the light was too dim strapped from my head so I walked with the headlight down by my side so I wouldn't trip over the rocks and roots. I passed over a busy highway on a bridge, seeing the hundred carlights zooming under me and then climbed a long hill.
When I checked my phone around 10PM I realized that I had passed the shelter and was tired. Then my lamplight died and I resorted to my Iphone light and set up the tent a few feet off the trail. I was tired but night hiking had been quite fun.
In my tent, I thought about bears but it was a few ants that kept me up. And the full moon. It had been a long day and I got little sleep. Perhaps all those bed sleeps had spoiled me.
So I was finally back on the trail outside Harpers Ferry around 12 PM. My plan was to go Rocky Run Shelter 15 miles away, but I was feeling so good and the day was so nice that I decided to walk twenty-three miles to Pine Knob Shelter since I had gotten behind in town.
Maryland was noisy. Cars from the highway could be heard for miles and airplanes overheard were flying into Washington, DC I presumed.
Well by 8PM I was still walking and I knew that I wouldn't get to the shelter by dark. So I picked up the speed and at nine o'clock I was walking with a headlight on my head.
But the light was too dim strapped from my head so I walked with the headlight down by my side so I wouldn't trip over the rocks and roots. I passed over a busy highway on a bridge, seeing the hundred carlights zooming under me and then climbed a long hill.
When I checked my phone around 10PM I realized that I had passed the shelter and was tired. Then my lamplight died and I resorted to my Iphone light and set up the tent a few feet off the trail. I was tired but night hiking had been quite fun.
In my tent, I thought about bears but it was a few ants that kept me up. And the full moon. It had been a long day and I got little sleep. Perhaps all those bed sleeps had spoiled me.
June 14 Raven Rock Shelter MD 1059 Miles
The trail was both smooth and rocky. The usual. I walked 12 miles today and was exhausted from the night before. I was in my bag and asleep at 5:00 PM.
June 15 Tumbling Run Shelters, MD 1072 Miles
I needed to resupply and walked four miles to Pen Mar County Park which was a nice local park with benches and plenty of picnic tables and grassy spots.
Then I started on the 2.1 mile walk to Walmart in Waynesboro, Pa.
crossing out of Maryland.
Along the way I saw a lady in a car droping off a hiker and asked her if she could take me to Walmart.
After picking up another hiker, she took me there. This other hiker was wearing my old shoes, the Oboz, the one I slipped and fell with, and said he had to leave the trail because of major blisters after only two weeks hiking. I suggested the Altra Lone Peaks trail shoes. Oboz are narrow and slippery.
I realized that I was low on money. So I ate at a Chinese buffet and packed out a bunch of it in freezer bags while charging my phone and charger.
I looked at my Guthook App in the restaurant and realized I could walk the AT where I left off or take a road, Old Forge Road, the same number of miles to the same place. Old Forge had a park and some sights that looked interesting.
Then stepping out into the sunlight a guy came up in a pickup and asked me if I wanted a lift to the trail. Wow, great timing. He took me up to Old Forge and they were doing construction on the road and there was no passing it; so I would have to walk more. Oh well, it was a nice day.
The driver would take no gas money (which was good because I didn't have any) and went back to pick up more hikers. Nice folks with time on their hands I suppose. I'm sure it is not my smell that is the attraction point.
Walking along the road I saw a huge chorus of white butterflies jump out from under a bridge I was crossing, blanketing me in wings. It was very Zen, gentle and dreamlike.
I needed to resupply and walked four miles to Pen Mar County Park which was a nice local park with benches and plenty of picnic tables and grassy spots.
Then I started on the 2.1 mile walk to Walmart in Waynesboro, Pa.
crossing out of Maryland.
Along the way I saw a lady in a car droping off a hiker and asked her if she could take me to Walmart.
After picking up another hiker, she took me there. This other hiker was wearing my old shoes, the Oboz, the one I slipped and fell with, and said he had to leave the trail because of major blisters after only two weeks hiking. I suggested the Altra Lone Peaks trail shoes. Oboz are narrow and slippery.
I realized that I was low on money. So I ate at a Chinese buffet and packed out a bunch of it in freezer bags while charging my phone and charger.
I looked at my Guthook App in the restaurant and realized I could walk the AT where I left off or take a road, Old Forge Road, the same number of miles to the same place. Old Forge had a park and some sights that looked interesting.
Then stepping out into the sunlight a guy came up in a pickup and asked me if I wanted a lift to the trail. Wow, great timing. He took me up to Old Forge and they were doing construction on the road and there was no passing it; so I would have to walk more. Oh well, it was a nice day.
The driver would take no gas money (which was good because I didn't have any) and went back to pick up more hikers. Nice folks with time on their hands I suppose. I'm sure it is not my smell that is the attraction point.
Walking along the road I saw a huge chorus of white butterflies jump out from under a bridge I was crossing, blanketing me in wings. It was very Zen, gentle and dreamlike.
At Forge Park, I met two hikers, a guy and a girl, sitting at a picnic table. Shatterproof was the guy's name and he was traveling South and filled me in on all the rough rocks that Pennsylvania was famous for and some great places to stay along the way. He told me there were plenty of bears in Jersey. I hadn't seen any.
He said New Jersey trapped the bears in a circle of freeways so they could not escape. Each year the game wardens came in and killed a number of them to reduce the population.
So the bears were domesticated and could be an annoyance to campers, but not by any choice of their own. That was a sad story really.
The kind thing would be to airlift them out of the state I thought. But tourists would be upset I assume. Easier to kill them.
I told Shatterproof that I was getting rundown and cynical.
Don't give up he said. The best is yet to come! You'll love the Whites and Maine! I did the AT last year he said, and if you feel bummed out by the grind then take a few days off, then decide. People who leave the trail regret it after a week or so.
This young guy gave some good advice and I felt perked up talking to an optimistic guy; I am actually a pessimist by thinking so I need a boost every so often to see that my situation is not permanently bad.
I walked the mile to Tumbling Run Shelters and it was different.
There were two small shelters and one of them had a sign that said "Snoring" and one had one that said "Non-Snoring." I put myself in the snoring because I felt too lazy to tent.
I met a Ridge Runner, Julie, at dinner who worked for the Potomac Hiking Club and had a forty mile, 5 day stretch where she visited all the shelters to check to see that they were fine and the hikers were ok and being neat.
Julie told me over dinner that I had some heavy duty rocks coming up in Pennsylvania and that the Timbers was a great restaurant. Tell them Julie sent ya.
He said New Jersey trapped the bears in a circle of freeways so they could not escape. Each year the game wardens came in and killed a number of them to reduce the population.
So the bears were domesticated and could be an annoyance to campers, but not by any choice of their own. That was a sad story really.
The kind thing would be to airlift them out of the state I thought. But tourists would be upset I assume. Easier to kill them.
I told Shatterproof that I was getting rundown and cynical.
Don't give up he said. The best is yet to come! You'll love the Whites and Maine! I did the AT last year he said, and if you feel bummed out by the grind then take a few days off, then decide. People who leave the trail regret it after a week or so.
This young guy gave some good advice and I felt perked up talking to an optimistic guy; I am actually a pessimist by thinking so I need a boost every so often to see that my situation is not permanently bad.
I walked the mile to Tumbling Run Shelters and it was different.
There were two small shelters and one of them had a sign that said "Snoring" and one had one that said "Non-Snoring." I put myself in the snoring because I felt too lazy to tent.
I met a Ridge Runner, Julie, at dinner who worked for the Potomac Hiking Club and had a forty mile, 5 day stretch where she visited all the shelters to check to see that they were fine and the hikers were ok and being neat.
Julie told me over dinner that I had some heavy duty rocks coming up in Pennsylvania and that the Timbers was a great restaurant. Tell them Julie sent ya.
June 16 Trail Of Hope Hostel Fayetteville, PA. 1081 Miles
I only did a 9 mile day but by the time I got to Timbers Restaurant, .2 miles off the trail in Fayetteville, Pa., and the one recommended by the Ridge Runner, I was pooped. I was still tired from that 24 miler I guess. I don't know what was wrong.
I ate the Hiker's Special: burger, two eggs, bacon, sausage, and french fries all covered with gravy and I drank two milk shakes and a salad while I contemplated my next move.
The ministry hostel down the road was free (with donations) but it was on the side of a busy highway. Very noisy said the nice Timbers folks. But I was tired and walked the mile to the clapboard house with the ministries building next to it and the tent behind the house.
I met a drunk guy sitting outside doing a crossword puzzle and I gave him a five bucks to take me to Dollar General for food and band-aides.
I gave him some extra cash for cigarettes and booze and went up to the back of the house, furthermost from the highway and closed all the windows around my bunk. With earplugs it blocked most of the noise.
I lay down on my bunk for a nap and then heard some clapping and an out of tune guitar and some drums out of my window. It was raining and fifteen or so people were standing under the tent praising the Lord. This went on for a couple of hours and during it I took a shower, did laundry and played a piano for a while. Music is so relaxing and easy to get lost in.
The revival lady from an RV that had come in told me that I played the piano very nicely.
Yes I said, I play in C major and just hit the white keys as if I'm actually playing something. The black keys are evil you know.
You play nicely, she said. It's good to have a musician in the house.
I ate the Hiker's Special: burger, two eggs, bacon, sausage, and french fries all covered with gravy and I drank two milk shakes and a salad while I contemplated my next move.
The ministry hostel down the road was free (with donations) but it was on the side of a busy highway. Very noisy said the nice Timbers folks. But I was tired and walked the mile to the clapboard house with the ministries building next to it and the tent behind the house.
I met a drunk guy sitting outside doing a crossword puzzle and I gave him a five bucks to take me to Dollar General for food and band-aides.
I gave him some extra cash for cigarettes and booze and went up to the back of the house, furthermost from the highway and closed all the windows around my bunk. With earplugs it blocked most of the noise.
I lay down on my bunk for a nap and then heard some clapping and an out of tune guitar and some drums out of my window. It was raining and fifteen or so people were standing under the tent praising the Lord. This went on for a couple of hours and during it I took a shower, did laundry and played a piano for a while. Music is so relaxing and easy to get lost in.
The revival lady from an RV that had come in told me that I played the piano very nicely.
Yes I said, I play in C major and just hit the white keys as if I'm actually playing something. The black keys are evil you know.
You play nicely, she said. It's good to have a musician in the house.
June 17 Toms Run Shelter 1098 Miles
Nice folks at the hostel/church and the Lady leading the Revival invited me to a BBQ but I was ready for the trail and some quiet. I started walking down the highway around 7AM, stopping at the Timbers for some pancakes and a goodbye.
Then once on the trail, I ran into a couple dispensing Trail Magic of apples and oranges and power bars and buckets of drinks. But I was full and I had a full pack from Dollar General. But I ate out of courtesy and packed some oranges out. Nice folks. A former hiker giving back, who knows how much we hikers appreciate food.
Along the way I met Jeff and his son Breton who are section hikers, doing a few miles of the trail every year for the next ten years. We had a nice walk and I appreciated walking and talking at a slow pace. I need to do this much more often I thought. I realized that I missed conversation as well.
Along the way we had another case of Trail Magic at the Milesburn Cabin where campers had rented the cabin out. They regaled us with hot dogs and chips and cookies and Mtn. Dew.
Wow, what a day for Magic! I practically had a full stomach all day.
We passed Quarry Gap Shelters which were two shelters that were very clean with hanging plants and polished floors. Wow. No mice here for sure. This was definitely a Potomac Hiking Club shelter with a very good caretaker.
After about 11 miles, Jeff and Breton reached their car at Shippenburg Rd. and I went on another six miles to Toms Run Shelter. I was feeling my Mojo and it was dark went I got to the shelter.
The Ridge Runner, Julie, was there and two girlfriends and Mindful was setting up in the shelter where a sparrow had built a nest inside. We shared a little whiskey that Mindful had packed out and I tented on one of the platforms outside.
On the way to my tent, I met a tired looking guy who was wondering if there were tents a few miles ahead at Pine Grove. Stay here I said. Why take the chance there won't be? It's five oclock. But he went on.
Before I fell asleep I noted that I had passed the 2016 AT Midpoint of 1094.5 miles. (I have last years AWOL book.) Great. Only 1094.5 miles to go!
Then once on the trail, I ran into a couple dispensing Trail Magic of apples and oranges and power bars and buckets of drinks. But I was full and I had a full pack from Dollar General. But I ate out of courtesy and packed some oranges out. Nice folks. A former hiker giving back, who knows how much we hikers appreciate food.
Along the way I met Jeff and his son Breton who are section hikers, doing a few miles of the trail every year for the next ten years. We had a nice walk and I appreciated walking and talking at a slow pace. I need to do this much more often I thought. I realized that I missed conversation as well.
Along the way we had another case of Trail Magic at the Milesburn Cabin where campers had rented the cabin out. They regaled us with hot dogs and chips and cookies and Mtn. Dew.
Wow, what a day for Magic! I practically had a full stomach all day.
We passed Quarry Gap Shelters which were two shelters that were very clean with hanging plants and polished floors. Wow. No mice here for sure. This was definitely a Potomac Hiking Club shelter with a very good caretaker.
After about 11 miles, Jeff and Breton reached their car at Shippenburg Rd. and I went on another six miles to Toms Run Shelter. I was feeling my Mojo and it was dark went I got to the shelter.
The Ridge Runner, Julie, was there and two girlfriends and Mindful was setting up in the shelter where a sparrow had built a nest inside. We shared a little whiskey that Mindful had packed out and I tented on one of the platforms outside.
On the way to my tent, I met a tired looking guy who was wondering if there were tents a few miles ahead at Pine Grove. Stay here I said. Why take the chance there won't be? It's five oclock. But he went on.
Before I fell asleep I noted that I had passed the 2016 AT Midpoint of 1094.5 miles. (I have last years AWOL book.) Great. Only 1094.5 miles to go!
June 18 Boiling Springs 1121 miles
It was only three miles to Pine Grove Furnace SP and the AT Museum. Pine Grove Furnace is famous amongst hikers for the ice cream challenge, where hikers are challenged to eat a half gallon of ice cream.
I got to the tiny Grocery at 9:30 AM and settled for a breakfast burrito and a couple of dips of peach ice cream to show I was a trooper. Then three young guys came in and settled in on three half gallons of Neapolitan, Chocolate and Carmel Crunch as if they did this everyday. I took pictures and went back to see the tired guy from the shelter last night. He looked woeful.
The Tired Guy came into the park last night but it was full and was told to walk to the site outside the Park. He went too far, six miles, and walked back six miles and around 10PM the ranger let him stay, feeling sorry for him.
He had bad red-scraped abrasions from his pack around the sides of his stomach. Are you a Thru-hiker I asked.
No he said, I'm only hiking five days. I've hiked three so far.
I suggested quitting and healing his sides.
I don't know how people can walk through injuries like that when they don't have to. He was only a few miles from his car. Pride? Come back later with a pack that fits.
He didn't take advice well it seemed. What could you do with people like that? It's as if they feel they deserve or want to suffer.
Actually, I'm guilty of the same mindset sometimes. He's a good reminder to me to think more thankfully of myself.
I went to the AT Museum near the Grocery expecting to be bored but actually enjoyed learning more on the history of the AT and all the colorful people that have walked it over the years.
Then on the way out of Pine Grove SP I saw that there was a lake, Fuller Lake, actually a pond called a "beach" because they imported sand along it and put up a life guard on a chair. A hundred people were sunning and swimming along the "beach."
I took off my pack and jumped in in my hiking shorts and swam around in the nice cool water for about half and hour. Felt great.
Then I left the area and had a nice walk for a few miles on pine needles and then ten or so miles on some rocky trail that led me to a 1000 foot climb from Old Town Rd. At the top I met Dishes slackpacking South. I'd seen this curly headed girl hiking South for almost two weeks. She says she is hiking North though. And think she has someone in a car shuttling her around.
At the top of the hill I went through the Rock Maze which was a series of boulders that you had to squeeze through, climb up and over and around. It was fun and would have more fun if I hadn't already walked 16 miles that day.
I came down the mountain to Whiskey Spring Rd. and decided to walk a couple of hours on the roads to Boiling Springs where I would set up a tent next to a railroad track, notorious for having trains go by all night keeping one nicely awake.
After an hour and a half, I saw a house with a couple of tents in the front yard. A hostel possibly? I went over and knocked on the door and sure enough it was a hostel for twenty bucks. The bunkhouse was full but I could tent in the yard and shower and beer was two bucks and grilled cheese sandwiches could be made in the shed/bunkhouse.
I ate grilled cheese with a group of eight hikers whio were a part of a group of twelve hikers usually. Too much society for my enjoyment and independence, (I like doing what I like to do whenever I want to, without the group planning for me), but must be nice and comfortable not being lonely.
I saw that the two tents were 13 year old Little Bad Ass and his Mom Bam Bam, Bad Ass's Mother. They were a very tight couple and stuck to themselves almost exclusively. The kid loved the trail and was alway a mile ahead of mom, but the forty-two year old mom was no slouch either.
Momentum had mentioned that Bam was tired of the trail but Bam let me know that she was missing her husband mostly.
I related to that. I missed the domesticity of life off the trail and my friend and wife of ten years, and was looking forward to being with her around July 4 for a few days.
It was only three miles to Pine Grove Furnace SP and the AT Museum. Pine Grove Furnace is famous amongst hikers for the ice cream challenge, where hikers are challenged to eat a half gallon of ice cream.
I got to the tiny Grocery at 9:30 AM and settled for a breakfast burrito and a couple of dips of peach ice cream to show I was a trooper. Then three young guys came in and settled in on three half gallons of Neapolitan, Chocolate and Carmel Crunch as if they did this everyday. I took pictures and went back to see the tired guy from the shelter last night. He looked woeful.
The Tired Guy came into the park last night but it was full and was told to walk to the site outside the Park. He went too far, six miles, and walked back six miles and around 10PM the ranger let him stay, feeling sorry for him.
He had bad red-scraped abrasions from his pack around the sides of his stomach. Are you a Thru-hiker I asked.
No he said, I'm only hiking five days. I've hiked three so far.
I suggested quitting and healing his sides.
I don't know how people can walk through injuries like that when they don't have to. He was only a few miles from his car. Pride? Come back later with a pack that fits.
He didn't take advice well it seemed. What could you do with people like that? It's as if they feel they deserve or want to suffer.
Actually, I'm guilty of the same mindset sometimes. He's a good reminder to me to think more thankfully of myself.
I went to the AT Museum near the Grocery expecting to be bored but actually enjoyed learning more on the history of the AT and all the colorful people that have walked it over the years.
Then on the way out of Pine Grove SP I saw that there was a lake, Fuller Lake, actually a pond called a "beach" because they imported sand along it and put up a life guard on a chair. A hundred people were sunning and swimming along the "beach."
I took off my pack and jumped in in my hiking shorts and swam around in the nice cool water for about half and hour. Felt great.
Then I left the area and had a nice walk for a few miles on pine needles and then ten or so miles on some rocky trail that led me to a 1000 foot climb from Old Town Rd. At the top I met Dishes slackpacking South. I'd seen this curly headed girl hiking South for almost two weeks. She says she is hiking North though. And think she has someone in a car shuttling her around.
At the top of the hill I went through the Rock Maze which was a series of boulders that you had to squeeze through, climb up and over and around. It was fun and would have more fun if I hadn't already walked 16 miles that day.
I came down the mountain to Whiskey Spring Rd. and decided to walk a couple of hours on the roads to Boiling Springs where I would set up a tent next to a railroad track, notorious for having trains go by all night keeping one nicely awake.
After an hour and a half, I saw a house with a couple of tents in the front yard. A hostel possibly? I went over and knocked on the door and sure enough it was a hostel for twenty bucks. The bunkhouse was full but I could tent in the yard and shower and beer was two bucks and grilled cheese sandwiches could be made in the shed/bunkhouse.
I ate grilled cheese with a group of eight hikers whio were a part of a group of twelve hikers usually. Too much society for my enjoyment and independence, (I like doing what I like to do whenever I want to, without the group planning for me), but must be nice and comfortable not being lonely.
I saw that the two tents were 13 year old Little Bad Ass and his Mom Bam Bam, Bad Ass's Mother. They were a very tight couple and stuck to themselves almost exclusively. The kid loved the trail and was alway a mile ahead of mom, but the forty-two year old mom was no slouch either.
Momentum had mentioned that Bam was tired of the trail but Bam let me know that she was missing her husband mostly.
I related to that. I missed the domesticity of life off the trail and my friend and wife of ten years, and was looking forward to being with her around July 4 for a few days.
June 19 Darlington Shelter 1135 Miles
Some guy hiker was using the shower in the house this morning. A few hikers were waiting to use the toilet.
Some guy hiker was using the shower in the house this morning. A few hikers were waiting to use the toilet.
There is a sign on the bathroom door that says no morning showers and I wanted to brush my teeth. This was wrong I thought and I opened the door and said I needed to brush my teeth and clean up before taking the shuttle out of here.
The hiker said "get out! get out!" this is my shower!
He was really red faced and screaming. F...you I said leaving. He acted like he owned the place.
Then taking my pack to the hostel owner's car, the lady said her son was really furious because a hiker had busted into his bathroom while he was taking a shower.
Oops! I had to apologize a few times and explain that I thought it was a fellow hiker. She said she would put up another sign in the bathroom.
They need to plumb for a sink and/or a toilet for hikers outside in the shed "bunkhouse" I thought. I have seen a few of these home/hostels and a few of them seem to feel that hikers don't need water for food, dishes, clothes, or themselves.
We were dropped off in town where a group of us had coffee and a bite to eat. Then I headed out of town, Boiling Springs is a Trailtown.
It was a hot day, in the low nineties, on nice easy level trail through the woods and the trail went by some big golden Pennsylvania farm pastures of cows and corn and grass.
The blackberries were out and so were some bitter red berries that tasted sweet enough not to be poisonous I figured. The pastures were filled with white butterflies and the siloes and farmhouses were very charming.
After a few miles the AT came out on a Expressway filled with cars. Cars honked at the hiker on the bridge as I passed over it and I waved back.
After a mile or two through more pastures I went back into the woods and then came out at a small road where there was Scott's Farm Trail ATC Crew HQ. It was a a couple of barn-like structures and a farmhouse. The parking lot was empty. I sat at a picnic table under the eaves of the "barn" and then it started to thunder and pour rain.
It was nice eating lunch and being dry. Then several drenched hikers came in and sat with me and shared some hot coffee. Very nice.
When it let up I headed up the mountain and the air was redolent with the smell of honeysuckle and the sight of red chokeberries lining the path. The rain had cooled the hot day off.
When I arrived at the shelter, Momentum was there and I got a look into the Taj Mahal privy, famous for it's wide luxurious (and unnecessary) space.
Hikers, especially women, are connoisseurs of privys. Many are moldering privys which means that they contain a bucket of cedar shaving to compost the waste. It is volunteers up and down the hundreds of miles of trail that do the onerous and odorous task of cleaning out these smell bombs. God bless them.
The hiker said "get out! get out!" this is my shower!
He was really red faced and screaming. F...you I said leaving. He acted like he owned the place.
Then taking my pack to the hostel owner's car, the lady said her son was really furious because a hiker had busted into his bathroom while he was taking a shower.
Oops! I had to apologize a few times and explain that I thought it was a fellow hiker. She said she would put up another sign in the bathroom.
They need to plumb for a sink and/or a toilet for hikers outside in the shed "bunkhouse" I thought. I have seen a few of these home/hostels and a few of them seem to feel that hikers don't need water for food, dishes, clothes, or themselves.
We were dropped off in town where a group of us had coffee and a bite to eat. Then I headed out of town, Boiling Springs is a Trailtown.
It was a hot day, in the low nineties, on nice easy level trail through the woods and the trail went by some big golden Pennsylvania farm pastures of cows and corn and grass.
The blackberries were out and so were some bitter red berries that tasted sweet enough not to be poisonous I figured. The pastures were filled with white butterflies and the siloes and farmhouses were very charming.
After a few miles the AT came out on a Expressway filled with cars. Cars honked at the hiker on the bridge as I passed over it and I waved back.
After a mile or two through more pastures I went back into the woods and then came out at a small road where there was Scott's Farm Trail ATC Crew HQ. It was a a couple of barn-like structures and a farmhouse. The parking lot was empty. I sat at a picnic table under the eaves of the "barn" and then it started to thunder and pour rain.
It was nice eating lunch and being dry. Then several drenched hikers came in and sat with me and shared some hot coffee. Very nice.
When it let up I headed up the mountain and the air was redolent with the smell of honeysuckle and the sight of red chokeberries lining the path. The rain had cooled the hot day off.
When I arrived at the shelter, Momentum was there and I got a look into the Taj Mahal privy, famous for it's wide luxurious (and unnecessary) space.
Hikers, especially women, are connoisseurs of privys. Many are moldering privys which means that they contain a bucket of cedar shaving to compost the waste. It is volunteers up and down the hundreds of miles of trail that do the onerous and odorous task of cleaning out these smell bombs. God bless them.
June 20 Clarks Ferry Shelter 1150 Miles
It was Pennsylvania rocky going into Duncannon, 11 miles away. But Momentum and I were hoping to get a nice meal there and I was hoping to use the library and type a little.
When we came down the steep rocky hill into Duncannon and the Susquehanna River, we both noticed that the town had fallen on hard times. Store fronts next to the street were closed and the buildings and the homes behind the stores were tired looking. The town look like the set for some Western B movie town.
We went to the Doyle Hotel for lunch. We had been warned not to stay at the Doyle because it was really bad lodgings. But the food was all right.
The place had a 1950's style bar and the old couple running it gave you a good "Whatcha' want? I haven't got all day" look as you ordered food.
Reminded me of those days growing up, before customer service made butt kissers of all the commercial outfits. The young people thought they were rude. But I enjoyed them and we tossed some tough talk back and forth while I waited for my Philly Steak and Greek salad. Yeah, the food was good.
But the library was in the Presbytarian Church and it was closed for lack of volunteers. So I got some tuna packets and honeybuns out of a convenience store and Momentum and I walked out of Duncannon, (another AT trailtown), and across a bridge and a number of RR tracks and began a long climb out of town.
It had been a sixteen mile day and a wet one and I was glad to get a place in the shelter. My summer sleeping bag is working out well.
Shuffles and Backtrack, whom I had canoed with on the Shenandoah were there in a tent.
It was as if we had never known each other.
When we came down the steep rocky hill into Duncannon and the Susquehanna River, we both noticed that the town had fallen on hard times. Store fronts next to the street were closed and the buildings and the homes behind the stores were tired looking. The town look like the set for some Western B movie town.
We went to the Doyle Hotel for lunch. We had been warned not to stay at the Doyle because it was really bad lodgings. But the food was all right.
The place had a 1950's style bar and the old couple running it gave you a good "Whatcha' want? I haven't got all day" look as you ordered food.
Reminded me of those days growing up, before customer service made butt kissers of all the commercial outfits. The young people thought they were rude. But I enjoyed them and we tossed some tough talk back and forth while I waited for my Philly Steak and Greek salad. Yeah, the food was good.
But the library was in the Presbytarian Church and it was closed for lack of volunteers. So I got some tuna packets and honeybuns out of a convenience store and Momentum and I walked out of Duncannon, (another AT trailtown), and across a bridge and a number of RR tracks and began a long climb out of town.
It had been a sixteen mile day and a wet one and I was glad to get a place in the shelter. My summer sleeping bag is working out well.
Shuffles and Backtrack, whom I had canoed with on the Shenandoah were there in a tent.
It was as if we had never known each other.
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