Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Such Great Heights
They will see us waving from such great heights
"come down now" they'll say
but everything looks perfect from far away
"come down now" but we'll stay
The Postal Service
Greetings everyone from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia! I know that my dad has already posted an entry on our arrival here, but I wanted to share my own perspective on completing what was in my mind the most challenging leg of our trip so far. We arrived in Harpers Ferry this past Friday after a taxing twenty mile day from Bears Den hostel. Just as I was about to curse Virginia for the millionth time, we rounded a bend and were greeted by the beautiful sight of the Shenandoah river sparkling in the mid-afternoon sun as it flowed downstream to meet with the Potomac. We had made it to the half way point. We stopped at the Appalachian Trail headquarters where ATC volunteers photographed and informed us that we were the 304th and 305th thru hikers to make it half way.
I, for one, am overjoyed to be finished with Virginia. Among thru hikers, Virginia has the worst reputation of all of the states. It even has its own mental illness, the aptly named the "Virginia Blues" that afflict practically everyone who walks the trail. Virginia is for thru hikers what the doldrums were for sailors in the 18th century. It is a place where you never seem to move and you slowly go mad for your seeming lack of progress. At first we did not think much about the Virginia Blues. We thought that we were moving quickly and would be out of Virginia before the depression set in. We had heard that it was flat and that people typically do thirty miles in a day. Boy were we ever wrong. There was no place in Virginia that I would call easy. We on several occasions we found ourselves climbing up 4,000 ft peaks such as the Priest and Three Ridges. We would slog through the climbs, and I would look back to find Dad cursing and swearing that he wanted to "find whoever said that Virginia was easy and give them a Leki pole colonoscopy." As you can imagine we are happy to be finished with Virgina and moving on to states north of the Mason -Dixon line.
Shenandoah National Park was one the few highlights of our trek through Virginia. It was a beautiful stretch of trail that parallels the Skyline drive. The best part was that every ten of fifteen miles or so we could get off the trail and get a hamburger at a wayside restaurant. The fact that we could get ice cream every day really lifted our spirits. A downside to hiking in a national park are the tourists that you inevitably encounter while there. Every time we would get off to get something to eat, we were invariably delayed by some a tourist from Florida. I think that everyone on a subconscious level likes to harass wild animals (if you have ever seen a little kid repeatedly pulling the tail of some poor dog or poking a frog with a stick then you know what I mean.) Since it is a crime to harass wild animals in a national park, tourists make do by harassing the next best thing: thru hikers. At one point along the trail we were stopped at a wayside for lunch, driven by a insatiable desire for a bacon double cheeseburger, when our path was suddenly blocked by a sunburned motorcyclist with a shirt that read "if you can read this, the bitch fell off the bike." He kept us from our hamburgers for a good 15 minutes as he bombarded us with questions about the trail. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy talking with people who are unfamiliar with the trail, because, quite frankly I feel like a badass. However, when you get between me and food I get a little bit irritable especially when I have to answer the question "what do you eat" for the seventh time in a row. I have to resist the urge to respond with a snarky "Oh, you know sticks, leaves, small rodents...you can eat rocks but you have to boil them for a really long time."
Although the tourist can be annoying, I get even more annoyed with careless and disrespectful hikers. As a Boy Scout, I grew up having the Leave No Trace outdoor ethics hammered into me whenever we went camping (i.e. packing out your trash and leaving campsites better than how you found them.) Nothing makes me angrier than a campsite where people leave their trash in the fire pit. That being said, two days ago we came across a couple of section hikers at a shelter. I watched in horror as they threw all of their trash from dinner in the fire pit. Usually I will hold my tongue when something like this happens but this time I felt compelled to act. Perhaps it was the Virginia Blues affecting my judgement, or maybe the fact that I had just read Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang but I had to do something. While they lay in their sleeping bags, I gathered up all of their trash, put it in a plastic bag, and stuffed it in their cooking pot with a note:
Dear Fellow Hikers,
The ATC has a strict policy of pack it in, pack it out for everything you bring on the trail. The fire pit is not a trash can! Your mother does not live here, nor is there a garbage fairy poised to clean up after you. Please do your part to keep the AT clean and beautiful.
Sincerely,
Captain Planet
I swear it will be a miracle if I can get through this trip without getting beaten up or thrown off a cliff.
Sean
AT by Numbers:
Miles Travelled: 1009
Average Mileage per Day: 19
Pace: 2.5 Miles per Hour
Zero Days: Sean-6 Mark-5
Highest point reached: Clingman's Dome, TN 6643 ft
Days of Rain: 7
Days of of Snow: 1
Pairs of Shoes: 5
Backpacks: 4
Broken Leki Poles: 1
Deer: Too many to count
Bear: 7
Snakes: 5
Packages of Jello: 55
Snickers Bars: 110
Pop Tarts: 110
"come down now" they'll say
but everything looks perfect from far away
"come down now" but we'll stay
The Postal Service
Greetings everyone from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia! I know that my dad has already posted an entry on our arrival here, but I wanted to share my own perspective on completing what was in my mind the most challenging leg of our trip so far. We arrived in Harpers Ferry this past Friday after a taxing twenty mile day from Bears Den hostel. Just as I was about to curse Virginia for the millionth time, we rounded a bend and were greeted by the beautiful sight of the Shenandoah river sparkling in the mid-afternoon sun as it flowed downstream to meet with the Potomac. We had made it to the half way point. We stopped at the Appalachian Trail headquarters where ATC volunteers photographed and informed us that we were the 304th and 305th thru hikers to make it half way.
I, for one, am overjoyed to be finished with Virginia. Among thru hikers, Virginia has the worst reputation of all of the states. It even has its own mental illness, the aptly named the "Virginia Blues" that afflict practically everyone who walks the trail. Virginia is for thru hikers what the doldrums were for sailors in the 18th century. It is a place where you never seem to move and you slowly go mad for your seeming lack of progress. At first we did not think much about the Virginia Blues. We thought that we were moving quickly and would be out of Virginia before the depression set in. We had heard that it was flat and that people typically do thirty miles in a day. Boy were we ever wrong. There was no place in Virginia that I would call easy. We on several occasions we found ourselves climbing up 4,000 ft peaks such as the Priest and Three Ridges. We would slog through the climbs, and I would look back to find Dad cursing and swearing that he wanted to "find whoever said that Virginia was easy and give them a Leki pole colonoscopy." As you can imagine we are happy to be finished with Virgina and moving on to states north of the Mason -Dixon line.
Shenandoah National Park was one the few highlights of our trek through Virginia. It was a beautiful stretch of trail that parallels the Skyline drive. The best part was that every ten of fifteen miles or so we could get off the trail and get a hamburger at a wayside restaurant. The fact that we could get ice cream every day really lifted our spirits. A downside to hiking in a national park are the tourists that you inevitably encounter while there. Every time we would get off to get something to eat, we were invariably delayed by some a tourist from Florida. I think that everyone on a subconscious level likes to harass wild animals (if you have ever seen a little kid repeatedly pulling the tail of some poor dog or poking a frog with a stick then you know what I mean.) Since it is a crime to harass wild animals in a national park, tourists make do by harassing the next best thing: thru hikers. At one point along the trail we were stopped at a wayside for lunch, driven by a insatiable desire for a bacon double cheeseburger, when our path was suddenly blocked by a sunburned motorcyclist with a shirt that read "if you can read this, the bitch fell off the bike." He kept us from our hamburgers for a good 15 minutes as he bombarded us with questions about the trail. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy talking with people who are unfamiliar with the trail, because, quite frankly I feel like a badass. However, when you get between me and food I get a little bit irritable especially when I have to answer the question "what do you eat" for the seventh time in a row. I have to resist the urge to respond with a snarky "Oh, you know sticks, leaves, small rodents...you can eat rocks but you have to boil them for a really long time."
Although the tourist can be annoying, I get even more annoyed with careless and disrespectful hikers. As a Boy Scout, I grew up having the Leave No Trace outdoor ethics hammered into me whenever we went camping (i.e. packing out your trash and leaving campsites better than how you found them.) Nothing makes me angrier than a campsite where people leave their trash in the fire pit. That being said, two days ago we came across a couple of section hikers at a shelter. I watched in horror as they threw all of their trash from dinner in the fire pit. Usually I will hold my tongue when something like this happens but this time I felt compelled to act. Perhaps it was the Virginia Blues affecting my judgement, or maybe the fact that I had just read Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang but I had to do something. While they lay in their sleeping bags, I gathered up all of their trash, put it in a plastic bag, and stuffed it in their cooking pot with a note:
Dear Fellow Hikers,
The ATC has a strict policy of pack it in, pack it out for everything you bring on the trail. The fire pit is not a trash can! Your mother does not live here, nor is there a garbage fairy poised to clean up after you. Please do your part to keep the AT clean and beautiful.
Sincerely,
Captain Planet
I swear it will be a miracle if I can get through this trip without getting beaten up or thrown off a cliff.
Sean
AT by Numbers:
Miles Travelled: 1009
Average Mileage per Day: 19
Pace: 2.5 Miles per Hour
Zero Days: Sean-6 Mark-5
Highest point reached: Clingman's Dome, TN 6643 ft
Days of Rain: 7
Days of of Snow: 1
Pairs of Shoes: 5
Backpacks: 4
Broken Leki Poles: 1
Deer: Too many to count
Bear: 7
Snakes: 5
Packages of Jello: 55
Snickers Bars: 110
Pop Tarts: 110
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Harper's Ferry, June 15, 2007
The Maineiacs Uno and Dewey reached Harper's Ferry yesterday at 2:30pm, crossing the Shenandoah River, marking the psychological half-way point in the journey. This marks 1009 miles since we started at Springer Mountain exactly 2 months ago. Although we know that the true half-way point for mileage is still 75 miles from here, it feels so good to have made it here and put Virginia behind us.
We had an uneventful 58 miles from Front Royal to Harper's Ferry. The terrain in general has become much easier and flatter. We were only rarely above 2000'. We stayed at the ATC center owned hostel, the Bear's Den in Bluedale, Va. This is a lovely turn of the century mansion originally built as a summer home for the wealthy high atop Snicker's Gap, on Bear's Den Rocks. This was a stone house with full showers, bunk rooms, internet access, free long distance telephone, and several other perks. We stayed there on a package which also provided us with laundry, 2 Tombstone pizzas and a pint of Ben and Jerry's. It's great to rough it!
Harper's Ferry is a beautiful town full of lovely old homes and rich with American history. It is known as a focal point for railroad and canal construction in the 1800's, while America was pushing it's frontier through the Ohio River Valley. It's also known for John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, who captured a building in town and held off the military as a demonstration, trying to raise support in the days before the Civil War. He was later captured and hung. The town was the site of several battles during the civil war, and traded hands several times between North and South, but at one point was captured for the South by Stonewall Jackson.
History lesson aside, I am chilling out today doing errands, while Dewey went to visit two Middlebury friends in D.C. We met up last evening with Steve Taft, my close friend from college and another Dartmouth Aire, who now lives in Potomac, MD. We were surprised to realize that the last time we had actually seen each other was right after Sean (Dewey) had finished the sixth grade. Time has a way of hyper-warping on fast speed. Steve gave Dewey a ride into the D.C. area, and he will return tonight on the evening Amtrak run, due to arrive at 5:08. Most people down here though, understand that one can't take the schedule too literally, as the train usually arrives plus or minus 2 hours. We will take another 'zero' day tomorrow then resume the hike Monday morning, just in time for the arrival of the three H's; hazy, hot, and humid with temps expected in the low 90's. The terrain through Maryland and Pennsylvania looks fairly gentle, with no elevation gain above 1500 feet. This is good and bad; good in that it won't be as difficult as the terrain we have experienced to date, but bad in that we won't get much elevational cooling. The upside is that the trail runs through several state parks with lakes and swimming, so we should be able to cool off occasionally. For most hikers, Pa. has the reputation of being the hottest state, and unfortunately it's the state where water is at times difficult to come by.
We had an uneventful 58 miles from Front Royal to Harper's Ferry. The terrain in general has become much easier and flatter. We were only rarely above 2000'. We stayed at the ATC center owned hostel, the Bear's Den in Bluedale, Va. This is a lovely turn of the century mansion originally built as a summer home for the wealthy high atop Snicker's Gap, on Bear's Den Rocks. This was a stone house with full showers, bunk rooms, internet access, free long distance telephone, and several other perks. We stayed there on a package which also provided us with laundry, 2 Tombstone pizzas and a pint of Ben and Jerry's. It's great to rough it!
Harper's Ferry is a beautiful town full of lovely old homes and rich with American history. It is known as a focal point for railroad and canal construction in the 1800's, while America was pushing it's frontier through the Ohio River Valley. It's also known for John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, who captured a building in town and held off the military as a demonstration, trying to raise support in the days before the Civil War. He was later captured and hung. The town was the site of several battles during the civil war, and traded hands several times between North and South, but at one point was captured for the South by Stonewall Jackson.
History lesson aside, I am chilling out today doing errands, while Dewey went to visit two Middlebury friends in D.C. We met up last evening with Steve Taft, my close friend from college and another Dartmouth Aire, who now lives in Potomac, MD. We were surprised to realize that the last time we had actually seen each other was right after Sean (Dewey) had finished the sixth grade. Time has a way of hyper-warping on fast speed. Steve gave Dewey a ride into the D.C. area, and he will return tonight on the evening Amtrak run, due to arrive at 5:08. Most people down here though, understand that one can't take the schedule too literally, as the train usually arrives plus or minus 2 hours. We will take another 'zero' day tomorrow then resume the hike Monday morning, just in time for the arrival of the three H's; hazy, hot, and humid with temps expected in the low 90's. The terrain through Maryland and Pennsylvania looks fairly gentle, with no elevation gain above 1500 feet. This is good and bad; good in that it won't be as difficult as the terrain we have experienced to date, but bad in that we won't get much elevational cooling. The upside is that the trail runs through several state parks with lakes and swimming, so we should be able to cool off occasionally. For most hikers, Pa. has the reputation of being the hottest state, and unfortunately it's the state where water is at times difficult to come by.
The Virginia Experience
With Virginia behind us I thought I would take a few moments to reflect on our experience in this state over the last four weeks. This is the state with the longest section of trail, almost 550 miles, over a quarter of the entire length of the trail . For us neophytes who had never done any hiking in Virginia, we struggled through the states of Tennessee and North Carolina, up and down tremendous elevation gains and losses, with the promise through rumors that the hiking in Virginia would be much easier. Others would tell us, "just wait till you get to Virginia, there are long flat ridges and doing 25 to 30 miles a day will be easy." I am here to tell you that nothing could be farther from the truth or realty of the AT in this state. We did run into a few, relatively flat ridges, easier to hike but nothing more than 14 miles long. The ups and downs were just as steep and challenging as the previous two states, and we found ourselves just as exhausted after a twenty mile day. There was nothing particularly easy about the hiking here. I wish that the people who had filled our heads with this nonsense and false expectations had been with us as we traversed Virginia. Had they been there and given my area of expertise, I would have gladly offered them a complimentary Leki Pole enema!
People talk about the 'Virginia Blues' as being a common experience for most thru-hikers. I don't think either Dewey or myself experienced this per se. The trail has to go somewhere; why not 550 miles through Virginia? You just take it day by day, and set your sights on the short term goals of each day's hike.
In general we found the trail to be much better maintained than in Tenn. and N.C. The shelters were much nicer; At least they all had privies (only 50% in Tenn.) We had our share of long climbs to 4000' and 5000'. The highlight had to be Mt. Rogers and the Graceland Highlands in the southern part of the state. Shenandoah was also outstanding and beautiful. There is however a lot of the trail in between that are just miles. It is mile after mile of woods, and what has become known as the green corridor. At times this did become tedious, as many days you just found yourself hoping that the day's miles would come to an end. You have to keep telling yourself that each step takes you closer to Maine, a strong motivational factor for us.
There were many miles with MUDS and PUDS; mindless ups and downs and pointless ups and downs. You began to wonder what motivated the trail boss as only a sadistic moron would choose some of these locations. We traversed Humpback Mountain in the Shenandoah, where we walked a trail 'relocation' (always read, let's make it longer) not yet on the map. This consisted of multiple quarter mile switchbacks over a very gentle slope which added at least 3 miles to our day. The epitome of MUDS and PUDS is the so-called Virginia roller coaster which leads you into Harper's Ferry. The trail takes you up and down 11 elevation gains of 400' to 600' over 10 miles. A sign at the start announces the beginning of this stretch and with tongue in cheek, admits the ludicrous nature of the course, wishing us luck in our survival. By the way, you must also be at least 3' tall to walk this ride!
The shelter critters have been particularly entertaining at times in Virginia . The shelter at Thunder Hill in the Blue Ridge is known for its shelter mice. These critters always appear at dusk, and carry on through the night. At this particular shelter, I twice heard the mouse on the ceiling drop acorn shells, which I believe were directed at Dewey's head! We avoided another shelter in the Shenandoah, as the trail network indicated it was overrun with several snakes, and you know how much I love snakes. At least that shelter did not have a mouse problem. At Catawba shelter a painted turtle tried to run us off from the picnic table area. Every time we would move him to the woods, he wound up back under the table. One thru-hiker who was doing the trail for a second time told us his story; last year he and a buddy were staying at a shelter where it was rumored there might be a snake. That evening while he was in his sleeping bag, his friend thought he saw something unusual in the rafters and decided to investigate with his pole, only to accidentally dislodge a copperhead, which landed on the sleeping camper and proceeded to dine on his arm. While obviously not a lethal bite, he spent most of the next several weeks nursing a gaping wound to heal.
Yes in all, we would label the hiking in Virginia as challenging and rewarding. If you are contemplating a thru-hike and someone tries to tell you that Virginia's hiking is easy, please refer them to me. It just may be their Leki day! It is quite an accomplishment to finish the state and to be moving on with the knowledge we may be back in New England within the next three to four weeks, hopefully just in time to avoid the really oppressive heat and humidity common in this area during the summer months. We expect that our next opportunity to update the blog will be Duncannon, Pa, about 140 miles up the trail.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Update, Front Royal Virginia June 13, 2007
Greetings all. It has been a while since either Dewey or myself have updated this blog, but I got up especially 6:30 AM today to put on at least a brief update. We had a day in Waynesboro but the writing muse refused to inspire either Dewey or myself. We will have a couple of days off in Harper's Ferry, and will spend more time there to further writing.
As you can guess from looking at a map, we are on the verge of completing our trek through Virginia. This is a huge milestone for us, as Virginia represents over one quarter of the entire trail's length. Having hiked the Shenandoah Mountains over the last five days, we have only 58 miles remaining to reach Harper's Ferry, W.V. , likely by Friday. There we plan to take one or two 'Zero" days to rest and reset for the second half of the journey. (We have actually only taken off three full days to this point). Harper's Ferry is the psychological half way point at 1009 miles from Springer Mountain. (The actual half way point is 35 miles into Pennsylvania but it's hard to get excited in Pennsylvania) . It's hard to believe that we have been on the trail two months already to get to this point. Dewey plans to visit a friend in D. C., and I will probably just chill out.
As mentioned in previous entries, Virginia has held many challenges for us. There is a lot of difficult terrain to climb. Since leaving the Graceland Highlands, We have tackled the Blue Ridge Mountains, occasionally crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had several 4000' mountains in this area to climb. Unlike New England though, all these peaks are covered with hardwood forests of white oak, and would only get a brief views here and there. During this section the weather was quite humid, though not terribly hot. Days like these, we often go through 4 liters or more of water. Our last 4000' was reached in the Blue Ridge as we summit ed the North Ridge Peak of the the Three Ridges . This was our last time at 4000' until we reach Killington in Vermont.
During this section, we spent one night at the Dutch Haus, a hostel in Montibello. This is run by a lovely couple, Earl and Lois, who greet you at the door with a glass of lemonade, take and wash your dirty clothes and provide you with a bathrobe. They feed you a wonderful diner and breakfast (yes they are well familiar with how much thru-hikers consume) for $37 per person per night. If you are there at lunch time, they provide a free lunch for all thru-hikers, whether they are a guest or not. We had a room with a Queen bed, our own T.V., and a private bath. Not your usual hostel offering! We stayed through lunch the next day. The only catch is one needs to hike down from the trail a mile covering 1000' of elevation over a jeep road, but it is well worth the investment of effort. After staying till noon, we went on to cover 14 miles that afternoon, climbing Spy Rocks, so called as it was a Confederate station for watching and monitoring Union troop movements during the Civil War. In that same ridge, we also scaled the 4000' mountain, the Preist (derivation of the name unknown to us!)
After completing this section we spent a 'nero' day in Waynesboro, hiking only five miles to get there and taking the rest of the day off to eat, run errands, shop for food, tend to grooming needs, eat, etc. eat. We spent the night at a church hostel, and timed our visit just right as they provided a free home-cooked diner for the hikers that evening.
I also spent much of that afternoon shopping for a new pack. After 700 miles, The Go-lite I originally purchased, began loosening stitching, etc. I traded packs with Tres our last day together, using his Mountainsmith. That first day seemed fine, and Tres made the comment that he couldn't believe I had used the Go-lite pack for over 700 miles. However with the second day and a full complement of food, I found that the metal stays that anchored into the hip belt were attempting to anchor themselves into my Gluteus Maximus; an extremely painful procedure if done without Novocaine. I think this time I found the perfect pack in a Granite Gear Nimbus. It rides perfectly. I have learned that no matter how much time you put into researching and purchasing gear before an undertaking such as hiking the AT, its impossible to predict how well or how long the gear will perform up to expectations, and one needs to constantly 'tweek' the gear. Fortunately along the way there are many excellent outfitters in trail towns who are knowledgeable and used to dealing with the needs of thru-hikers.
The Shenandoah Mountains and National Park were beautiful and inspiring. The trail intersects with the Skyline Drive in over 32 places. We spent a total of five days covering the 110 mile distance. The weather was excellent, with cool 70's temperature and low humidity. Much of the time we were cruising at 3000' to 3500'. There were beautiful forests with lush undergrowth. The trail had its share of challenging ups and downs, but was amazingly well engineered, nicely graded and wide. Trail crews from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club were out at many points with weed whackers, creating a trail which at some points resembled a garden path. In some areas, the trail had been raised and graded by building of stone foundations up to 6 to 8 feet high, originally constructed in the 1930's by the CCC. We subsequently learned from a thru-hiker whose father is active in the PATC, that sections of the trail are assigned to members based on seniority and tenure. It is a reward and an honor to be assigned a section of the AT through the park. The club must have had its hands full clearing brush earlier this spring, as the mountains had sustained a very damaging ice storm last November. Here and there were wide swaths of forest were devastated by ice, downing limbs and tree tops. The residual trunks could only muster a handful of green leaves at the top. This was all too familiar, after seeing the damage in the Maine Woods after the ice storm of '98. To add insult to injury, many areas of the park were also being defoliated by an infestation of Gypsy Moth caterpillars.
As you can also image, we didn't have to 'rough it' all that much while in the national park. We took advantage of the Big Meadow campground, designed like Blackwoods as a drive-in camping area. There we were able to take a shower, and do a load of laundry. And did I mention the the Lodge nearby had a tap room? There were several stores throughout the park where we could resupply, and several waysides where one could supplement our simple backpacking fare with cheeseburgers, shakes, etc. Breakfast yesterday consisted of an egg sandwich, home fries and a blackberry milk shake (which was out of this world). It's entirely possible that at times our dietary choices might not under usual circumstances meet with spousal approval!
We saw our share of amazing wildlife. Deer were plentiful and completely unperterbed by our presence, often coming within 10 feet, showing only mild curiosity. After 900 miles, we finally caught sight of our first bears, seeing 7 bears in the last two days while in the northern end of the park. We have not seen any more snakes, since Tres and I saw two rattlesnakes earlier in the month. We did come across a troop of Boy Scouts at the Tye river who had seen several copperheads sunning themselves on the shores earlier in the day. THE FEWER SNAKES I SEE THE BETTER.
It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway home. We are told that things tend to fly by from this point onward, as that length of trail is much shorter through each of the remaining states. I think we can possibly be in New England within the next three and a half to four weeks. More updates to come!
As you can guess from looking at a map, we are on the verge of completing our trek through Virginia. This is a huge milestone for us, as Virginia represents over one quarter of the entire trail's length. Having hiked the Shenandoah Mountains over the last five days, we have only 58 miles remaining to reach Harper's Ferry, W.V. , likely by Friday. There we plan to take one or two 'Zero" days to rest and reset for the second half of the journey. (We have actually only taken off three full days to this point). Harper's Ferry is the psychological half way point at 1009 miles from Springer Mountain. (The actual half way point is 35 miles into Pennsylvania but it's hard to get excited in Pennsylvania) . It's hard to believe that we have been on the trail two months already to get to this point. Dewey plans to visit a friend in D. C., and I will probably just chill out.
As mentioned in previous entries, Virginia has held many challenges for us. There is a lot of difficult terrain to climb. Since leaving the Graceland Highlands, We have tackled the Blue Ridge Mountains, occasionally crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had several 4000' mountains in this area to climb. Unlike New England though, all these peaks are covered with hardwood forests of white oak, and would only get a brief views here and there. During this section the weather was quite humid, though not terribly hot. Days like these, we often go through 4 liters or more of water. Our last 4000' was reached in the Blue Ridge as we summit ed the North Ridge Peak of the the Three Ridges . This was our last time at 4000' until we reach Killington in Vermont.
During this section, we spent one night at the Dutch Haus, a hostel in Montibello. This is run by a lovely couple, Earl and Lois, who greet you at the door with a glass of lemonade, take and wash your dirty clothes and provide you with a bathrobe. They feed you a wonderful diner and breakfast (yes they are well familiar with how much thru-hikers consume) for $37 per person per night. If you are there at lunch time, they provide a free lunch for all thru-hikers, whether they are a guest or not. We had a room with a Queen bed, our own T.V., and a private bath. Not your usual hostel offering! We stayed through lunch the next day. The only catch is one needs to hike down from the trail a mile covering 1000' of elevation over a jeep road, but it is well worth the investment of effort. After staying till noon, we went on to cover 14 miles that afternoon, climbing Spy Rocks, so called as it was a Confederate station for watching and monitoring Union troop movements during the Civil War. In that same ridge, we also scaled the 4000' mountain, the Preist (derivation of the name unknown to us!)
After completing this section we spent a 'nero' day in Waynesboro, hiking only five miles to get there and taking the rest of the day off to eat, run errands, shop for food, tend to grooming needs, eat, etc. eat. We spent the night at a church hostel, and timed our visit just right as they provided a free home-cooked diner for the hikers that evening.
I also spent much of that afternoon shopping for a new pack. After 700 miles, The Go-lite I originally purchased, began loosening stitching, etc. I traded packs with Tres our last day together, using his Mountainsmith. That first day seemed fine, and Tres made the comment that he couldn't believe I had used the Go-lite pack for over 700 miles. However with the second day and a full complement of food, I found that the metal stays that anchored into the hip belt were attempting to anchor themselves into my Gluteus Maximus; an extremely painful procedure if done without Novocaine. I think this time I found the perfect pack in a Granite Gear Nimbus. It rides perfectly. I have learned that no matter how much time you put into researching and purchasing gear before an undertaking such as hiking the AT, its impossible to predict how well or how long the gear will perform up to expectations, and one needs to constantly 'tweek' the gear. Fortunately along the way there are many excellent outfitters in trail towns who are knowledgeable and used to dealing with the needs of thru-hikers.
The Shenandoah Mountains and National Park were beautiful and inspiring. The trail intersects with the Skyline Drive in over 32 places. We spent a total of five days covering the 110 mile distance. The weather was excellent, with cool 70's temperature and low humidity. Much of the time we were cruising at 3000' to 3500'. There were beautiful forests with lush undergrowth. The trail had its share of challenging ups and downs, but was amazingly well engineered, nicely graded and wide. Trail crews from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club were out at many points with weed whackers, creating a trail which at some points resembled a garden path. In some areas, the trail had been raised and graded by building of stone foundations up to 6 to 8 feet high, originally constructed in the 1930's by the CCC. We subsequently learned from a thru-hiker whose father is active in the PATC, that sections of the trail are assigned to members based on seniority and tenure. It is a reward and an honor to be assigned a section of the AT through the park. The club must have had its hands full clearing brush earlier this spring, as the mountains had sustained a very damaging ice storm last November. Here and there were wide swaths of forest were devastated by ice, downing limbs and tree tops. The residual trunks could only muster a handful of green leaves at the top. This was all too familiar, after seeing the damage in the Maine Woods after the ice storm of '98. To add insult to injury, many areas of the park were also being defoliated by an infestation of Gypsy Moth caterpillars.
As you can also image, we didn't have to 'rough it' all that much while in the national park. We took advantage of the Big Meadow campground, designed like Blackwoods as a drive-in camping area. There we were able to take a shower, and do a load of laundry. And did I mention the the Lodge nearby had a tap room? There were several stores throughout the park where we could resupply, and several waysides where one could supplement our simple backpacking fare with cheeseburgers, shakes, etc. Breakfast yesterday consisted of an egg sandwich, home fries and a blackberry milk shake (which was out of this world). It's entirely possible that at times our dietary choices might not under usual circumstances meet with spousal approval!
We saw our share of amazing wildlife. Deer were plentiful and completely unperterbed by our presence, often coming within 10 feet, showing only mild curiosity. After 900 miles, we finally caught sight of our first bears, seeing 7 bears in the last two days while in the northern end of the park. We have not seen any more snakes, since Tres and I saw two rattlesnakes earlier in the month. We did come across a troop of Boy Scouts at the Tye river who had seen several copperheads sunning themselves on the shores earlier in the day. THE FEWER SNAKES I SEE THE BETTER.
It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway home. We are told that things tend to fly by from this point onward, as that length of trail is much shorter through each of the remaining states. I think we can possibly be in New England within the next three and a half to four weeks. More updates to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
