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