Zero Day At The Doyle

May 31.  I woke up early because I wanted to put in another big day of hiking and make it to Duncannon by night.  I was on the trail a little after 6 AM and by 8 AM I had dropped into the Cumberland Valley, a 16 mile stretch of the trail that passed through a flat valley, walking along corn fields, farms, and country roads.  I rolled through Boiling Springs before 9 AM, a nice little town.  By early afternoon I hit the other end of the valley and started climbing back into the mountains.  I crossed one mountain and back down into another valley.  The trail climbed another ridge and ran along the top for several miles towards Duncannon.  I came to the last shelter before town and it was down a long steep trail off the side of the mountain.  Every step down was another step I'd have to go back up, but I was out of water and needed it for sure.  When I got to the shelter there was one day hiker there, and he was talkative.  He seemed nice, but also a little odd.  I filled my water bottles at the spring and headed back to the shelter.  By this time a cat had approached the shelter and the guy was trying to feed it some of his food.  When the cat stepped forward the guy flipped out and started talking about feral cats and how some cats are rabid and dangerous.  The guy put on his sunglasses for protection and pulled the pin on his bear spray.  He also had a flare gun ready, and picked up a stick and a rock.  There was going to be a showdown between this guy and a kitty and I didn't want to stick around to see who would win, I decided this was my time to exit.  I said goodbye and walked past the cat as it meowed and I headed back to the trail and left the guy fending for himself against the feline intruder.  When I made it to Duncannon I talked to another hiker who had been at the shelter in the afternoon with the same day hiker and he also agreed that he was an interesting person and the hiker decided he didn't want to be alone in the woods with that guy and pushed on to make it to town before dark.  Funny thing is that both of us kept looking behind us as we walked down the trail to make sure the day hiker hadn't decided to follow us...that is the trail...sometimes it is weird!

On the way down I was dead tired.  It had been another long day and my feet had taken a beating.  The rocks on the trail were really getting to me and my right ankle was incredibly tender.  Every step hurt and I was having a tough time getting down the mountain.  I would be looking forward to getting to the hotel for the night!

I made it to Duncannon and went straight to the Doyle Hotel, which is one of the original Anheuser-Busch hotels, over 100 years old.  I thought it was interesting that there was a Coors Light banner hanging outside on the wall, but to me, beer is beer!  I walked into the lobby to check in, which also happened to be the bar, and pulled up a stool and ordered a burger, a beer, and a room.  I sat next to a thru-hiker who I hadn't seen since Georgia!  He and his dad had spent the night in the first shelter with us on Springer Mountain, so in the past few days I had run into two people that we hiked with our first day on the trail, more than 1,000 miles ago!  The Doyle Hotel was interesting, not a place that many of you would want to stay, but for a hiker it was perfect!  A small room with minimal furniture, one outlet (which happened to be spliced from the light in the ceiling with an extension cord hanging down in the middle of the room), no TV, no bathroom, nothing!  Each floor had a bathroom that everyone shared.  It is a very old building with a lot of character.  After eating I took a shower and headed over to do laundry.  I tried to get a root beer from the soda machine but it was sold out, so was coke, vanilla coke, cherry coke, sprite...so I ended up with a ginger ale.  I was happy to have a shower and clean clothes...I hadn't had either since the hostel at the end of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, 180 miles ago!  I didn't do the 4 state challenge, hiking from VA, through West Virginia and Maryland and ending in PA in one day, but someone joked I was doing my own 4 state challenge, hitting 4 states of hiking between showers!  I made it back to the hotel and planned to catch up on my blog but I laid down and fell right asleep.  It was another 32 mile hike today...back to back 32's and I was tired!

June 1.  I woke up in the hotel and took my time getting ready. I looked at my books and realized in the month of May I had hiked 500 miles!  That was pretty good!  I left the hotel and crossed the street for breakfast.  The good thing about hiking through small towns in America is I get to hear a lot of good country music!  Ain't nothin' like eating a good breakfast rocking out to Brantley Gilbert's "Kick It In The Sticks" in a restaurant with camo painted walls and pictures of deer.  The food was fantastic and the owner told me that they were calling for bad storms in the afternoon...thunderstorms and possible tornados!  That didn't sound good to me...maybe I would just hike out to the first shelter.  I walked a half a mile down the road and picked up 4 days of food at the grocery store.  There the locals warned me about the weather again, it didn't sound good.  I walked back to the Doyle, looked at the weather on my phone, pulled up to the bar with some other hikers and ordered a beer and a room.  A zero day in Duncannon may not be that bad, besides, my right ankle was really sore and could probably use a day off.  In the afternoon it got windy, and rained a bit.  The river shower whitecaps, bit by dinner there was really no storm.  In the evening the wind and rain moved in and I was glad to be dry and in a hotel.

Another interesting note about the Doyle Hotel...when someone on the 4th floor is taking a shower it leaks through the floor and directly into the 3rd floor shower.  Just interesting...

I watched one of my favorite YouTube videos today of a guy hiking the AT and his experiences and it reminded me that I still have half the trail to enjoy!  It is amazing to think that in the last 3 months and 1,100 miles I have only seen half of the AT!

I had dinner and drinks downstairs in the bar at the Doyle.  Good food and a nice break, but as everyone was hanging out enjoying the evening and watching shows on TV I realized I really missed the trail...I was missing the action and progress.  I was ready to hike all day and fall asleep dead tired at dusk.  It was just one day off but I knew I would be ready to get back on the trail in the morning!

HALF WAY DONE!

May 29.  Woke up to a nice morning, a little cooler than the last few.  I packed up and walked about a tenth of a mile to Pen Mar Park.  There was a great lookout spot there and I ate breakfast with a view of the valley.  The bathrooms were not unlocked yet, I was too early, but I filled up with water and moved on.  Side note, this was another place where the treated city water tasted horrible!  In another tenth of a mile I came to the PA state line and the Mason-Dixon like.  Another milestone, 6 states completed, 8 more to go!  I hiked on and ran into a bunch of hikers I had not seen since the beginning of VA.  The day turned out to be incredibly hot.  I drank a ton of water and still felt dehydrated.  I couldn't keep enough fluids in me with all of the sweat pouring out of me.  With the heat and cranking out miles I also wasn't very hungry.  I mean, I was, I just couldn't bring myself to eat.  It was easily above 90 degrees in the stale hot air of the mountains.  I wasn't too worried though because I had to stop in Fayetteville, PA for a resupply and I figured I would refuel there.  I made it down the hill to the highway by 2 PM, an 18 mile hike in 7 hours in the oppressive heat!  I walked 0.3 miles west to a restaurant and had a BLT sandwich.  Before I went inside I changed from my hiking shirt to my sleeping shirt, I thought that might make me more presentable.  Of course, I ate lunch there by myself, I probably could have left my smelly shirt on.  After lunch I walked another half mile to the grocery store and picked up a few days of food, and a pint of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.  As I was packing my backpack the store clerk came outside and said his girlfriend had just sent him a text, severe thunderstorm warning with rain and hail, and he said I could stay there at the store as long as I wanted to wait it out.  I looked up the weather on my phone and it showed the worst of the storms rolling through from 9 PM to 11 PM and it was only 3 PM.  I stayed for a little while but decided the next shelter was only 2 miles in on the trail and I would try to hit that before the rain started, which the forecast said it would around 5 PM.  I left town and passed the county park.  This place had tons of picnic shelters and places to hide out from a storm but often it is "illegal" to camp in them.  I wish that the parks along the way would make exceptions for thru-hikers in bad storms.  It's not like anyone else was down using the picnic tables during a stormy afternoon anyways.  I quickly walked past plenty of sturdy looking shelters, taking note as I did.  I started up a hill which would lead me up the mountains and towards the shelter.  The only problem was I was walking directly into the storm.  It started with a few sprinkles, then a few more.  It was 4 PM and I had hiked close to 19 miles and I decided that was it.  I would rather set up my tent dry than in the rain.  I plopped down my pack and surveyed a flattish area for my tent.  In my rush I didn't even realize I almost set my pack on top of a huge turtle!  I moved him across the trail and I took the flat spot he had been occupying.  I pitched my tent, threw my stuff in it, and hung the bear bag right before it really started dumping.  As I tied off the bear bag I looked 30 feet to my left and saw an established, beautiful, flat camp spot...too late.  I dove in my tent as the thunder and lightening crashed overhead.  It was just before 5 PM...which meant that I would be stuck in my one person tent for at least the next 12 hours.  Good thing I ate a lot of food in town!  I sat out the rain, after 6 it actually slowed down and just rained the rest of the night.  No hail, and I survived the night dry.  Before falling asleep I caught up on some emails and my journal, so it was productive time!

May 30.  Woke up safe in tent around 5 AM.  I wanted to sleep in so I looked around to make sure I was dry and rolled back over.  I did notice that my tent was covered with probably a hundred little millipedes, crawling all over the place.  I drifted off back to sleep and had a dream about millions of millipedes covering my entire tent, blocking out the sunshine, and suffocating me.  I woke up, looked at my tent and only saw a hundred or so, but spent the next few minutes trying to distinguish the dream from reality and get myself moving for the day.  I knocked all the bugs off my tent before getting out only to see that they covered my shoes too!  I knocked my shoes against a tree several times,  making sure that the little balled up millipedes were all out before my foot went in.  When I untied my bear bag it knocked a few branches of a tree on the way down and it sounded like rain drops hitting the ground...it wasn't though, it was millipedes!  I must have camped on a whole millipede city!

As I came to the next shelter I passed a sign that read "Due to the decline in population of Timber Rattlesnakes it is unlawful to hunt, take, catch, or kill rattlesnakes in this area".  Hmm, a decline in population, good for me, bad for the snakes?  Or....no one can hunt or kill them anymore...good for the snakes, bad for me?  Another question, who hunts for rattlesnakes!?  I try to avoid them at all costs!  Either way, within the next few steps we spotted a rattlesnake just off the trail and right next to the shelter I had intended to sleep in!  So much for the decline in population!

Around midday I passed the official mileage half way point!  From here I count the miles down rather than up!  Just past the half way point was a campground and camp store where lots of hikers attempt the "Half Gallon Challenge", eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting.  I arrived on my own and decided that I didn't need to put myself through that, it is a lot of dairy!  Instead I ordered a burger and a root beer.  I sat on the patio, shoes off, relaxing.  I was tired, extremely worn out.  Then I realized why, it was 2 in the afternoon and I had already hiked 20 miles!

I packed up, visited the Appalachian Trail Museum and headed out for the trail.  I passed a group of hikers who had arrived earlier in the day, ate the half gallons of ice cream, and had spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun down at the lake.  If I had showed up at the Half Gallon Challenge with those guys I'm sure that peer pressure and testosterone would have given me the boost I needed to attempt the half gallon challenge...but knowing how I would feel after a half gallon of ice cream, I think it is ok that I skipped it.  They all had jumped in the water and I considered it as well.  It had been awhile since I showered and thought a dip in the lake would help.  Then I looked around and saw all of the little kids swimming in the lake and thinking about what most kids do when they get in water I thought hiking with a layer of my own sweat might be better than a layer of pond water and kid pee.  Ha, and the clouds had rolled in so it wasn't as warm as it was earlier in the day.  Around 4 PM I hit the trail and high tailed it north.  I ended up hiking another 12 miles that day, I tried to make it to the shelter for the night but as the sun set I had to instead find a place beside the trail to camp.  It was a good day, passed the half way point, and hiked a total of 32 miles!  I slept well!

To The Mason-Dixon Line

May 27.  After spending a few hours at the AT Conservancy I packed my gear and headed for the historic downtown of Harpers Ferry.  One new item I picked up in the mail is a SteriPEN, sent from Kilimanjaro (Brian Sarvis) as a half way, you made it gift!  The SteriPEN uses UV light to steralize water for drinking and it only takes about a minute to do one Gatorade bottle, pretty handy tool!  Thanks Kilimanjaro!  (P.S. Sarvis, I talked to Frenchy and he said you always be Flosser-AT to him).  As I entered downtown it was packed with people.  It was a very hot afternoon and there were tourists everywhere.  I walked around a bit looking for the outfitters, found it, then promptly found a place to get a burger and a beer.  I made sure to sit outside and away from the other customers, I had showered and cleaned my clothes only 2 days ago but in those two days I really worked up a sweat.  After a great lunch I talked with a few tourists about the trail, took one last look around, and headed out over the bridge and into Maryland.  I was in Harpers Ferry from about 9:30 to 3:00 and was ready to hit the trail.  The hot day and loads of tourists made me want to get back on the trail as fast as possible.  I didn't even look in my food bag, I just figured I had enough food to get me two-ish days north and I would figure out a resupply after that.  The first few miles of the trail there were nice, flat and smooth, all along the river.  There were loads of people out in tubes on the hot afternoon, floating down the river, having a great time.  The trail took a left up into the mountains and I started hiking the ridge line of Maryland.  I passed by the first shelter around 5 PM and made it to the second shelter closer to 7.  I set up camp, ate my dinner, and relaxed.  The weather was nice, warm, not much of a breeze, but a calm, lazy summer night.  The other tenters were all sitting on nice benches around the tent pads.  My only complaint was that it was a little too warm...maybe I would have to leave the vestibule open on my tent to increase the airflow.  I finished dinner and went up the hill to hang my bear bag.  My first throw of the rock and rope missed and the rock flew off.  I'd have to re-tie it and try it again.  As I went looking for the rock it suddenly grew erriely dark.  The light faded almost instantly and I looked up to the trees as a freight train of wind blew through them.  Uh oh...  I grabbed the rock, fumbled to re-tie it and threw it again.  Missed...and the rock fell out.  I was getting frantic, a storm was moving in quick, very quick.  I tied it one more time and got the rope over the branch and in place.  When I went to tie my food bag to the line it was almost too dark to even see it.  I tied off the line and hurried back to my tent.  I had a few minutes as the lightening approached but soon the rain started and the storm moved directly over us.  It poured for a long while and I fell asleep to the sound of a raging rainstorm.

May 28.  I woke up to no rain and a warm morning.  The rain must have stopped early and my tent was almost dry.  The tent was muddy though from sitting in a tent pad with no leaf litter or grass to buffer the rain drops from splashing mud onto the tent sides.  I packed up and hit the trail by a little after 7.  I hiked hard, I wanted to reach PA today.  I was the first one on the trail and was on spider web patrol.  I must have been caked with webs in the first few miles.  At the first road crossing I hastily crossed and continued on the trail.  It didn't feel right but I kept going, thinking I would find another white blaze soon.  I made it a little further and crossed a side trail, no blue or white blazes anywhere, something was wrong.  I dropped my pack and ran back to the road, there I saw the white blaze trail I should have been on.  I ran back and picked up my pack and walked it back to the road.  By now I was frustrated, I must have added a good 2 miles to my day by taking the wrong trail.  I passed a backpackers campground operated by the state of Maryland that offered free showers, but with no soap and my smelly clothes (no laundry) I figured a shower would be pointless.  The trail crossed a few more roads and entered the Washington Monument State Park.  I took some time in the visitors center, filled up on water, answered some questions from people who couldn't understand that yes, I walked here from Georgia and yes, all I have to live on is in my backpack.  Lots of day hikers and families were on this section of trails and luckily the trail was wide and flat.  We (thru-hikers) can tell when we are near day hikers.  There is a distinct smell that day hikers have...it is called clean.  When they pass we can smell detergent...soap...shampoo!  It just isn't natural for us.  I wonder what the day hikers smell when they pass me?  When we reached the Washington Monument I was very aware of my oder and I waited for an older couple to come back down from the lookout tower before I made my way up.  While I was at the top taking in the views a young couple came up and I carefully worked my way around the platorm and when I had the chance I made a break for the stairs.  I am used to my smell, but I don't think other people want to be.  I ran into another thru-hiker around 2 in the afternoon and I pressed on while he relaxed to wait out the mid-afternoon heat.  I hit the last shelter in Maryland around 6 PM and no one was there!  The shelter was huge and had lots of tent sites but I was the only person around.  I think it really showed that it was the last night of a holiday weekend, everyone was off the trails and heading back to real life except the thru-hikers.  I think the other hiker I passed in the afternoon was going to stay there but I decided to push on and try to reach PA.  I hiked up to the High Rock lookout and found a road with tons of cars and people everywhere drinking beer, smoking, writing stuff on the rocks.  It was an interesting mix of people, not the best looking crowd, you might say a little redneck and having a good time.  I kept my distance because I smell so bad and was happy to hit the trail again.  The trail down crossed a big boulder field and made the hiking really tough.  I guess these rocks may give NoBo's some insight into the trail in Pennsylvania, aka Rocksylvania.  I passed a section hiker, a lady from TN and she said she planned to camp on the other side of the state line as well.  This was her 3rd day on the trail this year and it was a tough day!  Before entering Pen Mar County Park in Maryland, a mere 0.2 miles from the state line, I found a flat spot for a few tents and decided that was it.  I covered 30 miles on the AT, 32 miles of total hiking, and I could cross the Mason-Dixon line tomorrow.  The section hiker came in right behind me and agreed.  We took up residence of the flat spots, talked about the trail, hung the bear bags, and got in our tents just before dark.  Up near the last shelter I had seen mountain bike tire tracks on the trail and around the shelter.  We typically don't see that since bikes are not permitted on the AT.  The section hiker said she had been up at the shelter by herself when two guys rode in on mountain bikes and circled the area.  She said they didn't talk to her very much and made her very uneasy about spending the night there alone.  She must have left right before I arrived.  It worked out well that we caught each other coming down the hill, I think we both felt better about stealth camping together near so many road crossings and the county park.  Not that it is all that dangerous, but at least we feel like there is safety in numbers.  Plus then at least you have someone to talk with!  I didn't make it to PA today, but I will tomorrow!

From 3 Amigos, to 2, to 1

When Meat left Waynesboro for his sister's graduation I hiked on ahead for a few days.  The plan was to get back together when he returned to the trail and when he did we exchanged a few messages and both decided that it was a good time to split up and hike our own hikes.  Not that we didn't enjoy hiking together, but hiking by yourself offers freedoms to do what you want, when you want as well as a feeling of ownership of your own thru-hike.  Personally, I am ready to hike fast and hard, and for long hours.  I am currently enjoying the trail and pushing myself a little further and testing my body's limits each day.  The trail is different for everyone.  If you ask everyone "What makes you get up everyday and get back on the trail?" you will get lots of different answers, none of them right or wrong, but all personal.  For me the answer to that question is to push myself to see what I can do that day, how far I much I can physically and mentally handle.  It is like when I run marathons or other distance races, I am not always comfortable, but I really enjoy pushing my body and seeing what I can physically and mentally do. 

A quote I have been thinking about recently on my big mileage days or when the trail is really getting to me is from Steve Prefontaine:  "A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest.  I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more."  I am not treating the AT like a race, but I do like the idea of pushing myself harder than I thought I could and expanding my limits.  I am enjoying the towns, local restaurants, the people, and the hostels, and I would not pass those up just to go fast.  But the long miles between those fun times is when I like to push hard to get to the next town, pub, viewpoint, or hostel.  I am also looking forward to putting down some good miles and making it home sooner rather than later to get back to my wife, my dog, and my life.  I really do enjoy being on the trail but being out here for almost 3 months has served well to remind me that I have a great life back home, and a fantastic wife, and I really miss her!  But the only way for me to get home is through Maine, so I'm pretty deadset on getting there sooner rather than later!

Meat and I had a ton of fun times on the trail and I look forward to hanging out with him either later on down the trail or once we get back home to California.  For now we are taking the advice of many thru-hikers and people associated with the trail, "Hike your own hike".

Harpers Ferry

May 26.  Woke up in my tent on the tent pad at the shelter.  It was going to be an interesting ride for the day.  We took off early and hit the first hill of the "Roller Coaster" and it was going to be tough...  At one point I was coming down the trail and must have spooked a squirrel and he jumped from a tree to a dead branch and it snapped.  There was a lot of noise and then he hit the ground. I felt bad but he sat up, looked at me, and then ran off...at least he was ok!  We took a break for lunch by a stream and I took my shoes off, the roller coaster was killing my feet!  We continued on and crossed out of the coaster, 13 miles of hiking, at 2 in the afternoon.  The hills really slowed us down!  We must have passed 80 or more people today between full troops of boy scouts, groups of weekend hikers (it was a holiday weekend), and day hikers.  It is always a nice change to have a busy trail and people to talk with rather than being alone on the trail.  In the afternoon we crossed the Virginia/West Virginia border, another state down!  More importantly, we crossed mile 1,000 on the trail!  1,000 miles done, one pair of shoes, under 3 months!  It was a fun afternoon!  We hiked on and took a break at the last shelter before Harper's Ferry.  It was a very nice shelter but the water was .25 miles down a side trail and we wanted to get closer to town for the next day.  The good news was there was a restaurant and convenience store only .3 miles off the trail at a road 3 miles north.  I skipped the water trail and high tailed it to the road, called to make sure the stores were open, then Biscuits and I headed down to split a large pizza to celebrate 1,000 miles.  After pizza we picked up a 6 pack of beer and headed back to the trail and hiked in about a mile and found a flat place to camp.  We set up the tents and split up the beer.  It was a hot muggy night and the bugs were biting so we climbed into Biscuits' one man tent...2 hot and sweaty guys crammed into a stuffy mesh tent, drinking beer.  I was pouring sweat.  We finished our celebratory beers, hung the food bags, and climbed into our own tents just before the rain started to sprinkle.  I had to zip my rain fly closed and fell asleep in a really hot and stuffy tent...but it was a good day, good miles, and good times!

May 27.  We woke up and broke camp and headed into Harpers Ferry.  Only a few miles and mostly downhill to the AT Conservancy headquarters.  We crossed a bridge over the Potomac River to get to town.  It was an amazing morning, beautiful weather, and I really enjoyed being out and heading to town!  Walking across the bridge was one of the best moments on the trail for me...one of those times when I really feel alive and happy to be on the trail!  I hiked up the hill and made it to the ATC and had my picture taken and added to the AT Class of 2012 photo book.  My hiker number at the ATC is 240...that means there are 239 thru-hikers ahead of me on the trail this year.  When we left Georgia we signed in and I was number 210 to sign in at the start of the trail.  I pulled out the Class of 2009 and found my buddy SpAcE from Carpinteria!  I relaxed in the hiker lounge, had coffee, and talked with interested tourists and told them what it is like to live full time on the trail.  It was nice to take a break, but Amy is coming to visit me in just under 2 weeks and I'm hoping to cover as many miles as possible before she arrives...time to get back on the trail!

Leaving Shenandoah

May 22.  My first day back on the trail on my own at my own pace.  After 4 nights staying in town and 3 relaxing hiking days I was worried that my trail legs had suffered.  I spent the night in my tent despite the forecast of rain, but in the morning I was mostly dry.  I was up shortly after 6 and on the trail before 7 AM.  I hiked 8 miles to the next shelter by 9:30 and spent some time talking with a nice couple doing a day hike.  I pushed on and had lunch in a picnic area and changed out of my wet socks.  I made it to the Lewis Campground Store by early afternoon and bought food to resupply for a few days.  While I shopped I laid my tent out in the grass to dry.  I also picked up a great IPA and enjoyed it with my second lunch, a honey bun.  The next shelter was within a mile, and the following shelter was 11.5 miles further.  I wasn't worried about the distance, but the weather report called for nasty storms in the afternoon and all night...could I make it there in time?  I decided to try and started pushing hard.  I heard the thunder rolling in as I passed Big Meadows Lodge and considered getting a room for the night but I pressed on.  The last 3 miles I walked/ran to get to the shelter before the rain and I made it by 7:30 PM, a total of 32+ miles for the day!  With the threat of a storm I slept in the shelter and as the sun went down I could see a fire red sunset from the upper bunk of the hut along with the flashing lightening above.  I was happy to be dry!

May 23.  Woke up dry in the shelter, and the mice didn't even bother me.  As I packed my bag one mouse did run behind it.  I planned to hike 29 miles today but a few miles in I joined a group of hikers at the Skyland Resort for a big pancake breakfast.  The thunderstorms were rolling in and I readjusted my schedule so I stayed for awhile and filled out post cards and made phone calls before I got back on the trail.  Just as the rain started pouring down another hiker came running in for shelter and lunch so I stayed for lunch as well.  When it was all said and done and I was ready to hit the trail it was 2 PM.  A nice long break!  Now the plan was to hike another 10 miles before the rain started back up.  I took off and started pounding out the miles.  At one point I caught up with a few other hikers standing very quietly beside the trail.  There was a tiny fawn just a foot or so off the trail, frozen in place.  They said they had rounded to corner to see the mother and baby deer and the doe tried to get her new Bambi to follow her but it stayed still, frozen in the "you can't see me" pose.  I was the 3rd hiker to arrive and it still didn't move.  We all walked on after taking pictures to let the mother come back to it. 

From there we had a tough rocky downhill to conquer before hiking back up out of the gap to make it to the shelter before it started raining.  I pushed hard and even did some trail running to make a faster pace.  It was a tough stretch and as I ran uphill to the shelter the rain sprinkles started falling.  For the second day in a row I was lucky and made into the shelter before the rain really started falling! 

On a side note; I smell bad.  I mean really bad.  Several days of tough hiking, humid air, rain, and sweat...it is really bad.  I think my backpack is the worst...the straps and back pad are on me all day, everyday and never get washed.  I take that back, my socks are worse...but they at least get washed.  I am looking forward to a shower and laundry!

Another side note:  I will find more toilet paper soon...I have been going to the bathroom a lot lately.  I'm not sure if it is because I stopped treating my water or because I am pushing harder and hiking bigger miles, but the last thing I want to do is run out of toilet paper!

May 24.  Woke up dry in the shelter, success!  I did see one mouse scurry around the roof line of the shelter as I packed my gear.  I was on the trail shortly after 7 AM and hiked hard to the next wayside.  I arrived at 9 AM, just as they opened.  I got a great egg sandwich and coffee and planned my food resupply.  I did my grocery shopping and packed my bag.  It was almost 2 hours at the wayside and before leaving I made sure to "borrow" a little more toilet paper from the wayside bathroom.  I hiked on with another hiker, Biscuits, we needed to do 15 miles to make it to the Front Royal Terrapin Hostel.  We made it there around 4 PM, and for the 3rd day in a row my luck got me inside just before it started raining!  I got a shower, threw my clothes in the washer, and opened my mail drops.  I got my 3 ounce wind pants, a silk long sleeve shirt and long pants for sleeping, and a package of food from my mom.  We headed into Front Royal for dinner at a pub and our team won the weekly trivia competition!  A couple of section hikers even picked up my meal tab for me!  I enjoyed hanging out with everyone and had a fun evening.

May 25.  We all woke up at the hostel around 6 AM.  Once people start moving around there it is hard to sleep any longer!  I packed my bag and hit the trail with Biscuits, we had plans to hike 28 miles today, 25 tomorrow, and then 4 miles into Harpers Ferry on Sunday.  As we hit the trail I realized how much food my mom had shipped me.  I had already purchased a full supply of food the day before to get me 3 days into town.  I took what my mom sent and added it to the food bag, and my pack felt pretty heavy!  Before leaving the hostel we checked our weights...my backpack with 3 or so days of food and some water weighed 30 pounds!  Yes!  Sort of...  This was a great weight compared to my 48 pound pack back in Georgia, but in the Shenandoah Park I had been keeping my food weight so low that 30 pounds felt like a ton!  We started out and as the clouds cleared the day turned into a hot muggy mess.  It rained so hard the night before that the trail was a mud puddle making forward progress very difficult.  The heat was close to unbearable when added to the hill climbs.  I was having a tough day!  Early on I came across some trail magic, sweet tea and cookies!  Later I hiked with a guy who was out on a day hike testing gear for a thru-hike next year.  I also started seeing a lot of weekend hikers...holiday weekend coming up!   Around lunch I caught back up with Biscuits and realized I was making great time!  I tried Ramen Noodles in my water bottle for the first time and that didn't work so well.  Yesterday I did the Cup Of Noodles and it was perfect so my next resupply will be back to those,  and couscous of course!  In a state park we hit some grassy areas on the top of the mountain.  They looked like they had been mowed and I was thinking "I wonder who gets the mowing job at the top of the mountain" when I rounded a corner to see a bright orange tractor mowing the grass.  The commotion must have shook up the wildlife and right in front of me on the trail I watched a 5 foot long black snake make its way to the tall grass.  Later I approached a 4 lane highway and before I crossed the road, Frogger style so I didn't get hit, I crossed an old stone wall that looked like it had been there for ages.  It was an interesting mix of the new and the old American eras.  The forest today was the most dense and think I have seen it.  I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to forge through it with no trails.  Around 6 PM I finally rolled into camp, set up my tent for the first time in several days, had dinner, and hit the sack.  It was a tough day...the heat, the hills, my pack weight and body, I was happy to be done and looking for a better day tomorrow!  Only thing is...we kick off the day tomorrow with the "Roller Coaster".  14 miles of all ups and downs...

Hiking With Seatbelt & Aunt Karen

May 19.  As I sat having coffee and researching lightweight sleeping bags in the lobby of the hotel the news show on TV did a spotlight on a new way of getting around inside buildings.  The Uni-Cub is supposed to be like the Segway, but for indoors...so you can go to a building and sit and ride around instead of walking...Hmmm...The "news" "reporter" said that as Americans are getting older, and some are getting "heavier", this moving chair may make it easier for all of us to get around.  You sit on the chair and when you lean on your rump one way or the other the chair will move and take you in that direction.  Gezz...Really?  We are too overweight to walk ourselves around the shopping mall?  I think I'll have my breakfast and get back on the Appalachian Trail and start WALKING from here to Maine.  One thing I won't miss on the trail is the TV.

We finished our breakfast at the hotel and packed up and headed to the trail.  We stopped at the grocery store and Karen and Jim picked up a deli sandwich for lunch on the trail.  I picked up 2 doughnuts and a Mountain Dew for second breakfast before the trail.  We also picked up a hiker on the way and drove him back to the trail.  It is fun being part of a Trail Angel team and helping other hikers!

We had a great day for hiking.  Perfect temperatures and good trails.  We hiked 9.25 miles and stopped for the day on a smaller mountain.  We had dinner and Uncle Jim and I hiked up to the top to see the views.  As I went to bed I worried that the sticks poking up under my tent footprint or the extreme downsloping angle I was laying on would keep me awake all night.  Little did I know that a large four legged animal would be the cause of my sleepless night.

Uncle Jim took a few minutes before bed to use the restroom in the woods.  He came back to camp and said as he sat doing his business a doe approached him and walked around him, interested and not very scared.  Around the time it was getting dark I was almost asleep when I heard steps in the leaves outside my tent.  They were getting closer.  I pulled out my headlamp and quickly jumped out of my tent and spotted the doe as she ran away down the hill.  Success!  I frightened the intruder!  A few minutes later the crunching of the leaves got louder.  The deer was back and slowly making its way towards the side of my tent.  When she got too close for my comfort I rattled the leaves beside my tent and I heard he run away.  Of course, she came back again in a few minutes.  This game continued on for a good hour or more.  Karen said she had read that people in the Shenandoah Park can actually get close enough to the deer to feed them by hand.  Well, for me the novalty of deer being unafraid of humans was quickly wearing off.  Finally around 10 PM she walked away for the last time and I drifted off to sleep.  She came back though at midnight along with another deer.  For another hour or so we played the approach and wait game...they would get close to me, I would make noise, they would run off just to come back again.  They weren't really causing a problem and I wasn't in danger, they were just being loud and rustling through the leaves near my tent and I really wanted to sleep!  I guess though, I was probably the real intruder and I was in the spot where they typically bed down!  They both finally left and I wrestled with the downward slope and sticks poking me for the rest of a sleepless night.

May 20.  First thing in the morning Karen and Jim were up making breakfast and they treated me to a nice hot coffee which I don't have very often on the trail!  We packed up camp and headed out down the trail.  We had perfect weather for most of the day and had several nice breaks for snacks and lunch in the shade with a cool breeze.  We hiked on to the Blackrock Hut and arrived in the afternoon.  We had not crossed any water sources since the afternoon yesterday and I was very happy to see a spring gushing out of a pipe.  Shortly after Daleville I decided to phase out treating my water and I have been drinking straight from many of the mountain springs with no problems.  I filled my bottle with cold mountain water, drank the whole thing, and filled it up again.  We talked with a few thru-hikers and some section hikers and found a few tent spots and set up camp.  We had a relaxing evening around camp, ate dinner and drank tea, and hung the bear bags.  Karen relaxed in the tent while Jim and I caught up on notes and journals and then we called it a night.

May 21.  We woke up this morning after a night of rain but at least it had stopped before morning.  We packed up and had a relaxing breakfast and headed on towards Loft Mountain.  We made great time hiking in the fog and mist and found a sign near the Loft Mountain Campground that said "Legendary Trail Magic", so we had to check it out.  We arrived to find a trail angel in his 45 foot 5th wheel trailer and he invited us in for hot dogs cooked in bacon grease and sodas.  He and his wife had camped there all weekend and cooked for all of the hikers that came through.  Seatbelt (Jim's trail name), Chris' Aunt Karen (Karen's trail name), and I were the last group he served.  Jim worked on a project in the 80's and invented the seatbelt that is used in most airlines today.  Karen is my aunt, so that's how she got her name.  The trail angel mentioned that when we were done he would be leaving and heading south to go home.  Funny thing, Seatbelt and Aunt Karen were going to be attempting to hitch a ride south within the next few miles to get back to their car.  It was perfect timing and the trail angel offered to give them a ride.  We snapped some photos, they gave me the rest of their trail food (the stuff that doesn't need a cook stove), and they climbed in the truck and were on their way.  We had a great 3 days of hiking, covering close to 30 miles of the AT, and were able to see some wildlife, camp at a shelter, and hike in the rain, an all around great experience of the AT!  Oh, and I'm sure Seatbelt and Chris' Aunt Karen won't forget about the several thousand feet of ups and downs that we traversed!  It was fun to have Karen and Jim hike with me because if it hadn't been for them and the trips they took me on in the Grand Canyon and Yosemite I wouldn't have been as interested in hiking and backpacking and may not have attempted the AT.  So I guess if there is anyone to blame we should start with them!  They took me on several of their trips and I enjoyed having them join me on mine!

After they left I made a stop by another hiker's support base.  Our friend Frenchy has his dad along for the trek...Frenchy hikes and Frenchy's dad drives his RV from place to place and is Frenchy's support team.  I had heard that his dad was in the campgound and I hadn't seen either of them since Damascus so I stopped by and sat and talked with Frenchy's dad for a long time.  He didn't expect Frency to arrive before dinner so I was getting ready to hit the trail when Frenchy arrived early.  I stayed around and we caught up and I left the RV as Frenchy was loading up on home made chili.  As I stepped out of the RV it started raining...Frenchy said I could wait it out there, but no pain, no rain, no Maine.  It sounded good to stay but I wanted to hit the first shelter out and needed to make some miles.  It rained on me for about a half an hour then let up and I had a good few hours of hiking.  I arrived at the shelter, had dinner, and hopped in the tent.  I wanted to get some rest, I hoped to hike a big day the next day!