Author: lugnut

Today was a glorious day. we spent some time in the morning taking our time packing up. We finally got out of Rocky Mountain shelter at about 915. We spent the morning mainly going down to Caledonia state park which was about 4.6 miles from the shelter.

In the park we came across some extreme trail magic. Hiker named Rambo was serving up salads, sandwiches, beer, fruit to any hikers coming down off the mountain, it being Saturday morning. He had through-hiked  the trail some years earlier, and just wanted to do something nice for all of the travelers that were going on. We spent about an hour in the park eating wonderful sandwiches with tomatoes and lettuce and mushrooms. Got rid of all of our trash and filled up our water and then we started to hike up to Quarry gap shelter.

Quarry, gap shelter is a fairytale. It looks like something straight out of Snow White. When you enter the shelter grounds, there is a picket fence with flowers planted on both sides. Just inside the compound is a stump with a gnome. The shelter itself is two, modest well kept rooms with a picnic table in the middle. Everything looks like it’s out of a fairytale. This is the finest shelter I’ve ever stayed in.

For dinner we had our regular food dehydrated, but we also had crème brûlée, which was a treat. I think John ate half the package. The kid ate so much food I think he’s going to pop.

Just a few minutes ago. A gentle rain shower started and we can hear the drops on the tin roof above us. We’re dry sleepy, and in the perfect place to spend the night in a summer shower. I think the kids had fun today. I know John did.

I’m so thankful that they are with me on the trail. I have two nights with them left, and then they pull off and go home. It’ll be a lonely, two weeks after that, but I’m sure there are further ventures waiting me.

Today’s mileage: 5.6

Total trail miles 62.1

Today was a long but good day. Started off from tumbling run shelter which again is a very nice shelter with excellent water. There is a 1000 foot ascent out of tumbling run shelters which was very challenging for me. My target was South Mountain Pennsylvania where I picked up Kathryn, Seth and John Robert.

John, so far is doing great. He likes to see everything in the woods and play with rocks. I think it’s good that he’s getting this kind of exposure to nature this early. He sleeps a lot while his mother carries him. We don’t have to worry much about food for him because his mother is his food, plus he eats whatever we happen to be eating as well.

The only challenging part about the day was the hike into South Mountain along Pennsylvania Highway 233. It’s about a mile and a half very hot with the heat from the road coming up. Hiking along road is not very nice. But I was able to make it to the post office, resupply with food, drop some other food that I didn’t need and gear off and mail it back home to Allyson. Then we had to hike back up from the post office to get to the trail which was about another 1.5. That added 3 miles for the day, which, for me, was already starting to turn into a long day.

We were able to get those chores done, and make it to the trail, which was an ascent, but not a very challenging one up to the ridge another 2 miles to the shelter. According to the notebook, the shelter has “the best smelling privy since Georgia.“ I don’t know if that’s true, but it is nice. I’ll talk about privies another day.

Overall an excellent day. I’m glad to be with my kids and to hear about everything that’s going on at home. Having them here is a joy and blessing.  

Today’s mileage: 8.6

Total trail miles 56.5

My good friend Wally gave me a little booklet detailing trip notes from Wally. In it, he quotes Arnold Bennett, “ The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying, ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose. “ Thanks, Wally. I needed that.

Today marks the end of the first section of my hike. I have finished the Maryland section and begin the Pennsylvania section today. So, it really is the end of one phase in the beginning of the next. Your prayers and thoughts that you wrote me before I left, all of you, have greatly moved me. I appreciate what you’ve done. You give me the strength to continue.

Today was a perfect hiking day. For starters, it was the first day that I haven’t felt like I’ve been dragging my backside. I decided to take a little bit longer step for ups and downs, this is made all the difference. I think also, my body is getting used the exercise and routine. The trail north of PenMar is beautiful. The trees have changed to pine trees mixed with hardwoods whereas in Maryland it’s all hardwood. Although there are some rocks, certainly not what I was expecting. I think mentally I was prepared for Rock Hell, but the reality of the situation was much gentler.

Relatively short day today. I stopped at tumbling run shelters, which are beautiful. There is a crystal, clear, spring, piped, running out of the rock. This is the kind of water that you want on the AT. Two nicely built shelters, one for snorers,but I set up my hammock anyway, because it’s more comfortable than sleeping on a pad. I met a father and daughter who were hiking in for the day. They were from upstate Pennsylvania, and were delightful, they’re hiking out tomorrow

Kathryn, Seth and John Robert will meet me tomorrow during the day and we will hike up to a shelter. It’s another short day so that Kathryn can get used to carrying the baby. I’m so looking forward to seeing them.

Today’s mileage: 9.5

Total trail miles 49.9

Got up fairly early at 6 o’clock because I knew that today would be a long day. I packed up my gear fairly quickly, skipped breakfast, and got on the trail at about 720. Today would be two ascents including an ascent to the highest peak on the Maryland trail with a significant down into PenMar.

The day was relatively uneventful. The largest up to the top of high rock was difficult. About a mile out from the turn off to the high rock overlook, I began seeing graffiti with spray paint over some of the rocks in the trail, that’s peculiar because I’ve never seen graffiti on rocks before. As I got to high rock, I understood why. High rock, which is a promontory of rocks that looks out over the east was literally covered every square inch in painted graffiti. It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. North the graffiti continued on the rocks for about a mile. What is someone thinking that does that?

The down into Penmar was hard there were several large rock fields to traverse that took about 20 to 30 minutes apiece, this is the kind of terrain that is extremely hard on your body and feet. By the time I got down to the regular elevation, there were some good trail into PenMar itself. I saw numerous deer along the way. I had made a reservation at a PenMar hikers hostel named Zero Day. It’s a new place and I highly recommend it. The owner is very conscientious and the place is spotlessly clean. You can do laundry, eat,  take a shower have a private room very nice accommodations. I feel rejuvenated and ready for the next day.

Today’s mileage: 10.0

Total trail miles 41.4

Got a really late start from Pogo campground and decided that I would take a short day and end up at my scheduled stop, which is Ensign Cowell shelter. I arrive there around 5 o’clock, and there were a few slack packers in the shelter, who are not very friendly. So I decided to set my hammock up away from the shelter, ostensibly, so my snoring would not bother them, but really because it would seem to be a better option to be by myself.

About 530, a crew of about 17 Outward Bound kiddos, probably about 14 to 15 years old, marched into the camp. I found out from their leader that this was their first hike, indeed many of them the first time they had been in the woods. They set up their tarp tents all over the place, including across the paths. this was bad enough, but as they got in the sack, a tent next to me, literally 15 feet away from my hammock, was a tent with seven adolescent boys, who proceeded to scream, like little girls at the spiders on the ground. Their leader came over several times, and told them to calm down, but this was to no avail, they didn’t actually quiet down until almost 1030.

The next morning, their leader gave them a fairly stern lecture about camp etiquette, and how to be respectful to others around them. We’ll see if it sinks in. My main thought over the whole thing was, “how can I do the most good with these kids without complaining about them?“ so I didn’t blow my top. I didn’t fuss at them or yell at them. I showed several of them had a tie knots and offered beef jerky which they refused. I can vaguely remember the first time I went backpacking. While I wasn’t as noisy, I probably knew less than they did.

Today’s mileage: 4.4

Total trail miles 31.8

Left the Dahlgren campground early at 7:23 AM. My destination was the Pogo campground. I had heard that there was good  water there and indeed, that was true. The day was relatively uneventful. The first part consisted of a number of moderate ascents. I ate lunch at Pine knob shelter, which is a terrible shelter without much water, but I was able to get a 45 minute night nap in.

The rest of the day was ridge running and so was relatively easy and pleasant. The ground was soft and relatively level straight north.

Met a lot of people on the trail today, but not as many as over the weekend now that the weekdays are here, the people are starting to sit out.  You basically have section and through hikers on the trail during the week and this makes the camps a little less crowded. As I lay in my hammock here in pogo camp site, I can only see one other couple in the entire camp and it’s large.

I’m about half a day ahead of my schedule, but now I have a quandary. Do I take a short day tomorrow? If so, I’ll be back on my schedule or do I take a long day tomorrow do a 10 miler and make it to the next shelter that would put me about 3/4 of a day ahead. I haven’t decided what I’m gonna do yet. I got some blisters that could use a rest. I guess I’ll decide in the morning

Today’s mileage: 7.8

Total trail miles 25.7

Since it’s a short day, I slept in kind of late. I stepped off from camp at 9:20 AM, three minutes earlier than yesterday. I guess that’s an improvement.

My destination was the Dahlgren campground, I lovely place maintained by the Maryland state department. There is running water, showers, bare poles, and tent pads. I’m here with about five of the families and a few trail hikers.

Overall, it was a good day. The weather was clear. I began to realize just how slow a hiker I am when a six year old girl – trail name, Viriole – past me, twice. Her mother and her stopped at the White Rock, Cliffs to view the scene, and I was able to get out a little sooner. But they passed me up about an hour later. Later in the day, a section hiker named One Lung passed me up. You know you’re slow when a hiker named One Lung passes you up.

Hiking so slow, I spent a lot of time contemplating rocks. The Appalachian Mountain range is the youngest range in the world. They were formed during the last I e Age about 200,000 years ago. Generously estimating my life expectancy at 80 years, these rocks are already 2500 times older than I’ll ever be. And when I die, I’ll return to dust and be precisely as mobile as these rocks. So they deserve a little respect.

Change of plan: I’m hiking to Pogo Campsite tomorrow instead of Pine Knob. It’ll make a shorter day after.

Today’s mileage: 7.1

Total trail miles: 17.9

The day didn’t start out well. I walked down to the post office, only to find out that it doesn’t open until 9 AM. So I walked back to the bolivar  bread, bakery to get a roll, only to find out, they didn’t open until 8 AM. So here I sit waiting for them to open the door. I’ll hang out here for an hour until the post office opens and then mail my back home box. I don’t regret it. Time spent in Harpers Ferry is never wasted.

Finally stepped off on the trail at 9:23 AM. The first part of the hike along the canal and river was pretty uneventful, the path is flat and well tended. The ascent to the Weverton Cliffs was uneventful, although it took me a while to get there. I had 7 miles to the first shelter, stopped and ate lunch. I decided I was going to try for the second shelter which is the Crampton gap shelter. I read the sign I incorrectly and ended up about a mile past the shelter. Since it was already after 7 PM, I decided to pull off on the side, pitch camp and spend the night.

The interesting thing about this campsite is that there is a town to the west of the ridge. Either Def Leppard or a Def Leppard copycat is playing a concert down in the town. I can hear all of the top tunes of Def Leppard down there. It’s almost 930 and they’re starting to wind down. I guess it’s Saturday night 

I’m posting this journal entry without any corrections. I’m dictating it with my voice. My reading glasses are in my backpack, and I don’t wanna get out of my Hamic to get them. Tomorrow night I will remember to put them in the hammock. So sorry about the mistakes total distance hike today 13.2 miles including side trails. Not a bad day one.

Lesson for the day: slow down

For those of you who have hiked the AT before, you know that the southern terminus of the trail officially starts at the top of Springer Mountain in Georgia. Springer Mountain is a tall mountain, and somewhat difficult to get to. Most hard-core AT hikers will start at Amicalola Falls, which is a hard days hike from Springer, all of it up. Some slack packers will hire a shuttle to take them up to the top of Springer, but I think this is cheating. I’ve always found it interesting that you have to hike a hard day to get to the beginning of the AT, but that’s fitting considering the breadth and depth of the trail.

Getting from the Brazos Valley to Harpers Ferry today was my approach trail, and a very interesting day. The two flights up to DC were uneventful. After 3 subway rides, I made it to Union Station, which is a massive building beautifully designed. I had several hours to kill so I bought a half a sub sandwich and sat down on the lower level to people watch.

I didn’t have to wait long, because a man ran up to the subway counter, stole some money and ran off. Several seconds later four cops passed by running to go catch him.

When I finally got on the train, the real fun began. If you’ve never read the book A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson, you really should pick it up. You’ll laugh so hard your sides will hurt. Anyway, there’s a character in the book named Mary Ellen. The guy I sat next to, let’s just call him James, was a male Mary Ellen. He was obviously a train spotter, and launched into a detailed description of the trains that he had when he was a kid, how he worked at a hobby store and bartered for trains rather than take money, and how he used to steal coils of wire from houses to wire up the trains that he collected. He peppered me with a little known facts, such as Roger Clemens went to his high school, but because he never went to class they were disqualified from winning any games. He was also a Scoutmaster, and so that was something we had in common. He told me detailed descriptions of at least five different trips that they took with the scouts. A real boor. After 30 minutes of this, I politely excused myself to go to the restroom. When I got back he was leaning over the seats in front of us and talking with those folks whom I’m sure he had never met before. He remained in that position for at least 20 minutes talking to them, about what I don’t know, his butt-crack just visible over the top of his waistband. That was the longest hour and 15 minutes I’ve ever had in my life.

Getting to Harpers Ferry, I was picked up by my Airbnb hostess Rei, who is a delightful woman with NOWLS experience. Her bed and bed breakfast is well worth visiting if you’re ever in Harpers Ferry. I’ve unpacked my pack, redistributed, everything to be more efficient, packed my go-home box for tomorrow, and I’m sitting here on the porch of the house looking at the overcast sky to Maryland Heights across the river. In the morning, I’ll start day one. Yes, today was an eventful approach trail.

I posted my first trail package this morning. Using the “hold for pickup” service, you can post a package to a U.S. post office which will keep it for you until you get there. In this way, you can stage boxes of consumables to be picked up during your hike. It’s a bit of a balancing act. You have to allow for variations in your hiking schedule, delivery time, and even the hours the post office is open. You don’t want to show up at 10 am to a post office that doesn’t open until noon. Arriving late could mean that you have to spend the night close by and essentially waste a day hanging around when you should be moving.

Mama Bear will post the next three boxes when the dates get a little closer. She will add tortillas just before mailing – they are a great luxury on the trail. Knowing that she is back home, holding down the “fort” and thinking of me is a great comfort, a connection to the real world. I can imagine getting the boxes she sends, perhaps with a little note in them. My father taught me the greatest thing you can give to another person is to wait for them. My boxes will be waiting for me somewhere up ahead. Mama Bear will waiting for my return somewhere behind.

As the time draws near for me to step-off, the reality of being gone for a month is beginning to sink in. Routine things like paying bills, adding chlorine to the septic tanks, bathing the dog, and checking the mail have to be addressed. Of course it helps to have a family that will take care of things while I’m gone. The minutiae of daily life reminds me of the story of Martha and Mary in the New Testament. You see, I’m more prone to be a Martha, distracted by the preparations of the day with my head turned down to the things of the world, rather than looking up to God, to the one thing that really matters. This is why I’m looking so much forward to this trip. I will have an extended period of time, really the longest in my life, to step out of the details of the world and concentrate on my mental, physical, and spiritual health without the worry of the day-to-day.

It also makes me consider time. The last 30 years of work haven’t seemed that long. I’ve gotten married, raised five kids, earned two advanced degrees, and held leadership positions with half a dozen organizations. I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do professionally . Yet, I don’t feel that old. For the first time since graduating from college, I won’t have a full-time “nine to five” job. My situation has changed. I’ll have more time to do other things. But my mind always seems to turn back to the trail.

When you’re out there, your mind, body, and soul reset. I always notice it after about a week when I start to get emotional. I’ve described it to my wife as “my heart learning to beat again.” Little things and memories feel much deeper. I think about people I love and those I’ve lost. I sense the world around me differently – the smell of the earth after a sudden shower, the warmth of a sunbeam on my arm stabbing through the dense canopy. It feels like my spirit is a bottle being uncorked.

Don’t get me wrong – hiking is hard. Hiking is “deprivation,” which is why new hikers almost always have one of two reactions to long-distance backpacking. Some “embrace the suck” and get what it’s all about. They’ll be back. Others, when you ask them about their experience reply, “It’s not what I expected.” Well, what did you expect? Here’s hiking in a nutshell: you wake up, walk, eat, walk some more, eat, sleep, wake up and walk some more – simplicity itself. But when you return to the real world, you see things differently, and long to get back to it.