Living close to both Virginia and West Virginia, we took our newfound
confidence and decided to do a three-day hike on the A.T. from Ashby Gap, VA to
Harpers Ferry, WV. Hey, it’s only 40 miles and we had all the right gear and a
“can-do” attitude. How hard could that be? We have an entire 3-day weekend!
Well, here is how hard it can be. First we got hung up in traffic on Thursday
night getting out of the DC area to the trailhead so by the time we actually got
on the trail it was getting dark. Not a problem, we’ll just walk faster; the
camping area was not that far away. When we arrived, there
was someone already using the shelter, so we decided to hike back out toward the
trail and use a tent pad. Well,
we had our first experience of setting up our tent in the dark and decided it
was not something we would repeat, if at all possible. Setting up a tent while
holding a flashlight in your mouth is a bit uncomfortable not to mention the
fact that you can’t really see the rocks under your tent that will ultimately
end up poking you in the back while you sleep. (Mental
note: look into getting a headlamp
that is brighter and frees up your hands) But tomorrow would be a new and
better day; or so we thought. When we woke up it was pouring down rain and not
having broken camp in the rain before I made the decision of waiting out the
rain for awhile to see if it would let up. Bad
decision! We waited two hours;
precious time when you are on a tight schedule on a trail you don’t know. This
miscue put us desperately behind schedule and with the slow going we kept coming
up short on all of the shelters we planned to get to. We ended up breaking camp
in the rain anyway only to have the rain stop thirty minutes down the trail. Oh
well, a new lesson learned; stay on schedule no matter what the weather. As it
turned out, we got caught in a 2-hour torrential downpour later in the day
anyway. So much for trying to stay dry.
In July, in the MD/VA/DC area, it is generally very humid all
summer; something that you never really get used to even if you have lived there
for years. But, start the day with a heavy rain and then have the temperature
jump up to 85-90°F by noon and you have a recipe for extreme fatigue and heat
prostration or heat stroke; a fact that I learned all too well the last day of
this hike. I also learned that it is well worth the investment, in fact a
necessity, to spend the money on those special clothes designed for backpacking.
Like the nylon, boxer underwear that wick moisture away from your body and keep
you from getting “crotch rot” when it gets damp out. Or the lightweight
shorts and shirts that stay dry no matter how much you sweat and that dry out in
minutes after they get wet in the rain. Being a “financially conservative”
person, I felt that spending $20-25 on a pair of underwear was pretty excessive.
Now, after that hike, and having personally increased the sales numbers for
Lamasil by 10% with my purchases of their product in order to relieve the
chronic itching brought on by my wet cotton underwear and shorts, I have become
an avid supporter of having the right clothes. Yes, they are expensive but when
you factor in the cost of a doctor’s visit and medication to rid yourself of
the result of walking in wet clothes for two days, it’s pretty much a wash
financially. Believe me, you will feel better hiking and they are a lot lighter.
We
trudged on through the rain, heat and humidity and finally reached the Sam Moore
shelter on Friday night. This was the first time we actually stayed in a shelter
and we were glad we did; No taking down the tent in the morning. We were very
wet and uncomfortable when we arrived and even though all the wood was as wet as
we were, we were able to get a fire started, though a rather smoky one at that,
had a nice dinner and called it a day at about 7:30 p.m. I tried to dry out my
cotton shorts and came to a another brilliant realization that probably should
have seemed obvious; cotton clothing takes forever to dry! After an hour, my
shorts were still wet but they did have a nice smoky aroma to them. I decided
that as part of my hiking experience I would do a “privy reviews” of all the
privies along the trail. Sort of like how Ebert and Roeper review movies. Well,
the privy at Sam Moore Shelter gets “Two Cheeks Up”. This was the nicest one
we had been in so far; immaculately clean and newly painted. It made heeding the
call of Mother Nature a rather nice experience. Although we had the campsite to
ourselves when we turned in, we arose to find that an entire community of
backpackers had moved in overnight.
Saturday
was again hot and humid and the constant up and down steep mountains started to
do us in rather quickly but we tried to keep up a good pace. The
scenery was beautiful but the footing was unbearable. The trail was nothing but rock so we spent a lot of
time looking at our feet instead of the scenery. They say that
Pennsylvania is the rockiest part of the trail and will literally wipe out a
pair of hiking boots. If that is the case, I can not imagine how bad it really
is there! This section of trail was so littered with rocks, that tested our
boots and our ankles that we wondered if we would make it the whole way if the
remainder of this section was all like this. We made yet another discovery; have
boots that give you good ankle support and, whatever you do, don’t step on top
of every rock in your path – try to go between them if possible. And also, wet
rocks are “bad”!
We had heard that this section of the trail was known as “The
Roller Coaster” because, for miles, it is a steady diet of 400’-500’
ascents and descents. I guess a better description would be “up the mountain
and down the mountain”. It was brutal! We no sooner got to the top of a
mountain (with Georgia leading, of course) then we would start right down the
other side with me in the lead. Once at the bottom, we were immediately faced
with the next, and equally high, mountain to climb. This went on all day. AT
hikers affectionately call sections of the trail, like these, “PUDS”
(“Pointless Ups and Downs”). What really gave us pause was the fellow hiker
we met on this section while we were taking a well-deserved break. He told us he
hiked this section of trail every weekend for two months in order to get ready
for the historically steep sections of the A.T. in New England. His conclusion;
this section of trail was physically less demanding than anything he experienced
in New England. In other words, New England was going to kick our butts if we
couldn’t conquer this section! Oh, joy! We still have half a day of this
section to go yet!
It is funny how preparation and perception work. We were to hike
this same section again in 2005 and, upon completing it, wondered to ourselves
just what all the fuss was about. It wasn’t so tough.
Despite how grueling this section was, we still had an opportunity
to eat our lunch on some awesome rock outcroppings with beautiful views of the
valley below and traveled on some magnificent sections of the trail on the
ridges. We also got our first real opportunity to use our water filter. Now
these filters come in various types and I would highly recommend talking with
the employees in the store where you buy your gear to get their input on what is
best. Don’t rely solely on what you read in the magazines. Because my wife is
allergic to iodine and also has a degree in biology, we looked at the
non-chemical filters and settled on a Katahdin filter that, though rather hard
to pump, eliminated virtually every contaminant known to man. We have since
replaced it with a First Need filter that is easier to pump and fits nicely into
the filler opening of our hydration bladders. Don’t short-change yourself on
your filter. The first time that you run low on water and have to refill from a
shallow, muddy, pool of water it is reassuring to know that the filter you are
using will provide water that will not make you sick.
In
the afternoon we got hit with a rainstorm that lasted about 2.5 hours and made
for a rather uncomfortable couple of miles. But when the sky finally cleared and
the humidity broke a bit we were able finish the day in some beautiful weather.
As we walked on we met trail maintainer, Chris Brunton. We had read a lot about
him (he is a regular fixture along the trail. In some respects, a legend.) He is
the trail boss for this section and was evaluating the trail so his work crew
could come out the next day and do trail maintenance. He was very outgoing and
has been maintaining the trail since 1984 0r so.
We trudged on, taking numerous breaks, and eventually, with the heat and
humidity still in the high 90s, and near dinnertime, reached Blackburn Shelter.
Here we were looking forward to a shower, a relaxing evening sitting on the huge
wrap-around porch and the chance to sleep in bunk beds in what used to be the
home’s servant’s quarters. Our feet and our knees had taken a beating and we
just wanted to sit down – for a really long time! We were rejuvenated at the
thought of being so close to “the promised land”; at least until we realized
that the trail to the shelter went virtually straight down for .3 mile. A
feeling of defeat set in and I was not sure that I could physically even make
it, but we had to. That is one thing that you MUST develop early on in your
backpacking experience; the “will” to keep going, no matter what the pain
either physically or emotionally. Once we arrived at the shelter, it was truly
an evening we would never forget and renewed our desire to keep at this hiking
thing.
We were greeted by Norway
(who maintained the house and hostel at Blackburn) and Chris Brunton who
offered us cold sodas. Boy, I never remember a Sunkist orange soda ever tasting
so good. There were also a number of guys there who had been out on the trail
doing maintenance all day. Now, thank God for these folks who give so
unselfishly of their time to make our hikes so safe and memorable. After having
kicked off our boots for the day, we dined on spaghetti, fresh bread and
tomatoes in vinegar, wine and desert. What a luxurious finish to a brutal day.
Then, the highlight of the day; a shower in the solar powered outdoor shower
house. Unfortunately, our delight was short-lived when we realized that the sun
had gone down quite some time ago and that the water was coooold! But it felt
great anyway. We had the whole shelter to ourselves and totally enjoyed not
having to set up our tent. Georgia
had developed a bad rash on her legs from chaffing wet clothes, several blisters
on her feet and her hips were rubbed raw from her hip belt. My left knee was
giving me a lot of trouble to the
The next morning we arose to beautiful weather, though still hot,
and of course had to face our first hill of the day; the .3 mile trek from the
shelter back up to the trail. Interestingly enough, a simple night’s rest made
this initial ascent a piece of cake but we knew quite well what lay ahead.
This was the last day and we were still quite a distance from
Harper’s Ferry but with an early start and steady going we were sure we would
make it. We weren’t very far up the trail when we met one of our dinner
companions returning from an early morning stroll to the David Lesser Shelter.
He informed us to be on the lookout for a copperhead snake he encountered
sunning itself on a rock in the middle of the trail a few yards ahead and that
he had also seen a bear in his travels. Needless to say, being in the lead and
hoping to see animals on every trip, I scoured every rock and scanned every
horizon for our two friends. Unfortunately, or for my wife fortunately, we saw
neither. Well maybe another day! I typically gauge the success of a hike by how
much wildlife we actually see. (Squirrels and chipmunks don’t count because
they are actually rodents and I can see them in my back yard). This initial part
of the trip was uneventful and we just marched on checking our watches to see
how much time we had left before our scheduled arrival at ATC headquarters in
Harpers Ferry.
The heat and humidity was still oppressive and it was during one
of my moments of “being in the zone” that it hit. Heat prostration! Though I
thought I was drinking enough water, my zeal to reach our destination left
little time for breaks; against Georgia’s recommendation. First it was a mild
upset stomach and then the chills. These feelings morphed into lightheadedness
and what seemed like a complete draining of blood from my head. I felt like I
was burning up and cold at the same time. I started shaking and my hands went
numb. Having never experienced this before, I panicked, which made matters
worse. It was at this point I thought, “I am not going to make it. Georgia
will have to go on without me and get help.” In shear delirium I suggested
that I was not going to make it and that she needed to get to the nearest road
and get help. Then reality really set in; the nearest road was miles away and
our cell phone, which we brought for emergencies such as this, was not in a
service area. We got out my sleeping pad and I laid down with my feet elevated
while Georgia put a wet bandana on my forehead to try to cool me down. After
what seemed like hours, I stabilized and we picked up where we left off. Though
totally embarrassed by my apparent lack of courage and common sense in this
situation, my wife reassured me that this would probably not happen again if we
took more rests and I drank more water; suggestions that I took seriously and
have followed ever since. This was one of those situations that I spoke of
earlier where you learn to work off of each others strengths while on the trail
in order to keep going. More than once on this hike, one of us would get worn
out or discouraged and the other would always offer solace and encouragement to
keep them going. This is something that every team of hikers needs to develop in
order to survive on the trail. I can’t even imagine how a solo hiker makes it
through those types of situations.
Eventually we reached the cliffs overlooking the Potomac River and
across it was our destination; Harpers Ferry. As we looked down on the river, we
saw kayakers, tubers and just people lying on the rocks in the river. After what
we had been through the last three days, we were both angered and envious of
those who were keeping cool in this unbearable heat. But, we were almost there.
Little did we know that there were still challenges ahead.
The first was traversing a narrow “goat trail” along the side
of the cliffs overlooking the river. It was the only way down and our fatigue
made it more perilous than it would normally have been. We made it down, our
eyes always looking at our goal on the other side of the river, until we reached
the Rte 340 bridge that crosses the Potomac. Now keep in mind, Harper’s Ferry
is a major tourist attraction so traffic on this bridge on a weekend is
typically bumper to bumper. It’s 98 degrees in the shade and we are walking
across this bridge right next to all these cars emitting additional heat. We
thought we had died and gone to hell the heat was so intense. But, we kept our
eyes on our goal. We ultimately made it across the bridge only to be confronted
with the following; a ½- mile trek straight uphill, yet again. At this point we
had to laugh. This seemed like such a cruel joke at this point. After all we had
been through, to have to finish the day going uphill instead of down, seemed
like a fitting end to a trip we will never forget. We reached our car in the
parking lot behind the ATC headquarters and both broke into smiles and tears
simultaneously. The only thing I could think of was that if this was the level
of euphoria we would experience after only a three-day hike, how would we feel
when we reached the summit of Mt. Katahdin? I was pumped just thinking about
that level of emotional rush. The only downside to completing this section of
the AT, was that we would have to do it all over again when we did our
thru-hike. For better or for worse, we would know what to expect.
Three years later we would be back and this time it would be
different!
As wonderful, tranquil, and beautiful as life on the trail is, it can
also be interspersed with some of the most interesting and sometimes bizarre
events and people you could ever imagine. Such was this particular trip.
We started off from the peculiar little town of Pen-Mar, which is
situated right on the Pennsylvania and Maryland border. Thus, the name; pretty
creative, huh? Since we were not able to park right at the trailhead, because of
all the other cars already there, we rightly expected to run into a host of
other hikers at some point during the weekend. We had done this section before,
but because it is such a nice section, we were doing it again now that we were
more seasoned hikers and would be able to concentrate on the beauty of our
surroundings and not on our aching feet and backs.
The morning was clear and somewhat cool for this time of the year
but as we made our way past the perimeter of Fort Ritchie, we became acutely
aware of an impending storm headed our way. Fort Ritchie is quite an interesting
place. As you drive into the town of Pen-Mar, you can not help but notice this
World War II vintage military installation with its abandoned barracks and other
buildings. Here is some history on the fort compliments of the Army’s own
website.
With
more than 2,000 military and civilian employees, Fort Ritchie is the largest
employer in Washington County, Md. These employees serve in several different
organizations at or affiliated with Fort Ritchie.
The
U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Ritchie supports the post's workforce and its families
through centralized programs and facilities. The 572nd Military Police Company,
part of the garrison, provides security at Fort Ritchie and Site R.
The
U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command-Continental United States
moved to Fort Ritchie in 1974. The command engineers, installs and tests
information systems equipment and facilities within the continental United
States, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Panama.
Fort
Ritchie is headquarters for an element of the Defense Information Systems
Agency-Western Hemisphere.
Also
at Fort Ritchie is the U.S. Army Information Systems Command-Continental United
States and the Army 1108th Signal Brigade. The brigade conducts interoperability
testing and evaluation of information systems; develops testing strategies and
methodologies for information systems for echelons above corps; and transitions
these systems into the Army's information systems. The brigade also provides
command and control for the 1110th and 1111th U.S. Army Signal Battalions, the
Northeast Telecommunications Switching Center, and the Defense Metropolitan Area
Telephone Systems in Boston and St. Louis.
The
history of Fort Ritchie dates back to the 1890s when the area was used as a
resort by the wealthy of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Beautiful
Upper and Lower Lake Royer are artificial lakes built during that time.
In
1926, the Fort Ritchie area was chosen as a training site for the Maryland
National Guard because of its "altitude, picturesque surrounding
topography, and accessibility by both road and railroad." The state
purchased 580 acres for $60,000.
The
site was named Camp Albert C. Ritchie in honor of the governor of Maryland. On
July 9, 1927, the National Guard's 5th Infantry brought the first troops for
training.
Fort
Ritchie's garrison headquarters building was built to resemble the castle on the
insignia of the Army Corps of Engineers. Most of the buildings surrounding the
parade field and lakes date from the mid-1920s to mid-1930s and can be
recognized by their stone construction.
During
World War II, the Army leased Camp Albert C. Ritchie from Maryland for one
dollar a year. It became the centralized Military Intelligence Training Center,
and the name was shortened to Camp Ritchie. By 1944, all Counter Intelligence
Corps personnel were trained there.
Approximately
$5 million was invested in the camp between 1942 and 1945 to build 165 assorted
structures and house 3,000 troops.
Following
the war, Camp Ritchie was returned to the state of Maryland. Between 1946 and
1950, the camp was used for the state's chronic disease hospital.
In
1948, the Army again decided it needed the post for support of the soon-to-be
constructed Alternate Joint Communications Center, also known as Site R. The
AJCC began operation in 1954, and supporting it was the prime mission of the
post for 10 years.
From
the early 1970s, Fort Ritchie was a premier installation in providing the
services of the information age throughout the Army located within the
continental United States.
On
Oct. 1, 1998, Fort Ritchie was closed as an active Army installation as part of
the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Act.
Makes you wonder why they still employ 2,000 people to work at a
facility that is closed. (ah, very suspicious). Closed or not, the facility now
stands in disrepair and, at first glance, appears uninhabited though the main
gate is open and the vehicles there would indicate that there is a skeleton crew
of folks who are guarding it and doing some type of work there. It is actually a
bit unnerving driving past it because you get the sense that there is something
secret still going on there that the government does not want you to know about.
Rumor has it that there are actually small cameras and microphones hidden in the
trees along the trail that skirts the fort’s property and that Big Brother is
watching and listening to everything that is going on as hikers pass by. Right
after 9-11, we read in a trail register at the Ensign Cowell Shelter not far
from the fort, that two backpackers had been stopped by armed military personnel
and had their backpacks searched. So, with this information etched in our minds,
we make sure never to talk too loud or do anything suspicious while we are in
this area.
As the skies continued to darken, we made our way to the Ensign Cowell
Shelter for lunch and arrived there just as the skies let loose. Man, what
timing! This is a relatively new shelter, very nice and clean but close enough
to an access trail at Wolfesville Road, that it is frequented by weekend hikers
who use it as a party place. The result being that there tends to be a lot on
unwanted trash left behind; evidence that these hikers have no knowledge of or
choose to disregard “Leave No Trace” practices. We stayed here for over an
hour, ate our lunch and rode out the storm hoping it would break before we
headed back out.
As fate, or coincidence would have it, a father and his son from
Baltimore arrived at the shelter shortly after we did. This was one of those
interesting moments we spoke off earlier. We had stayed at a motel in Thurmont,
MD on Friday evening in order to be close to the trail and get an early start.
During the course of our conversation with these two gentlemen, we found out
that they had stayed at the very same motel, left only minutes before we had and
parked at the same trailhead as we did. If we had not had that last cup of
coffee before leaving the motel, we assuredly would have met them in the motel
lobby during our departure. As we continued our conversation, along came two
other wet and weary travelers and we were about to be part of one of the most
bizarre moments we had ever experienced, since the day in “Devil’s Alley”.
These two hikers were dressed in some pretty ragged looking
clothing and their packs were covered with camouflaged rain covers. The first
was an older gentleman, sort of a scaled-down version of Grizzly Adams and
trailing behind was a young girl, possibly 13-14 years old. Upon reaching the
shelter, the gentleman immediately asked if we were trail rangers and voiced his
disgust at the fact that rangers were on the trail giving out tickets to hikers
who were “stealth camping’ along the trail. Being a rules-type guy, my
immediate response was “Good! They should be.” I knew from the disconcerting
look on Georgia’s face, that this possibly was not the correct thing to have
said. The conversation morphed into his diatribe about their trip from Springer,
GA. According to his story, he, “Mountain Man” and his daughter, “Mountain
Dew” had left Georgia on November 29th, 2004 and had been held up
twice by blizzards. He rambled on about how they had almost run out of food and
water and that, without their weather radio, they would have been in bigger
trouble. He claimed to be a Christian and when we asked how his daughter could
get out of school for such a long period to hike the AT, he insisted that he was
home-schooling her. This trip was a learning experience for her and that she was
performing math, science and history lessons in a “real-life” environment.
There was something very odd about these two. You just get a sense of this type
of thing when you meet people on the trail. “Mountain Dew” backed up all his
stories and proceeded to pull a doll out of her pack. It was bedraggled lion by
the name of Emmanuel. She also let us know that, as a science project, she had
been collecting salamanders along the trail and was keeping them in a jar in her
pack; a pack that from all appearances, weighed as much as she did. The longer
we talked the stranger and more menacing they became. We decided it was time to
go and as we walked, we conjured up explanations for these two’s weird
behavior and developed some unusual scenarios as to the real reason they were on
the trail. Admittedly, these ideas were pretty bizarre and somewhat frightening.
We later found out that our concerns were not that far off the mark. Seems that
they had been, at one point, detained by authorities because of their trail
journal entries and because of the concerns of other hikers. Seems that they
displayed all the indications that they may be white supremacists as indicated
by the swastikas and hateful graffiti in their journal entries along the trail.
What concerned us the most, aside from the obvious physical danger that we could
have been in, was that these two were doing what they did and basing their
cultural philosophy on Christianity. Their displays of hate were so far from the
Christian values we subscribe to that it was difficult to comprehend how they
could twist them so far out of shape. We had to wonder if they were hiding out
from society for some reason and, to this day, wonder if they are still on the
trail hiding from the very society they evidently abhor or maybe they have been
arrested.
We walked on past the familiar surroundings at Annapolis Rocks until we
reached our destination for the day, Pine Knob Shelter. We had completed 17.5
since breakfast; not a bad day’s hike. There was a young couple already
there who had pitched their tent and were obviously there as partiers, not as
serious hikers. This was evident from the equipment they had with them which
included a large cooler. As we sat and contemplated the rest of our evening, up
the trail and into the site, comes a hiker whose pace would lead you to believe
he had just left the trailhead at Rte 40. I mean, he was rolling! He greeted us
with a wave and a loud, “Smilin’ Joe – Northbound”. His name was Joe
McAllister and he was thru-hiker who had left Springer, GA on March 28th
and was averaging 26 miles per day. He was a great guy; a truck diver in his
real life, and the fact that he is a tri-athlete quickly explained his ability
to walk so quickly for so many miles.
Not far behind was now the “Lancaster Pods”; 4 young Mennonite
guys from Lancaster County. Now here’s the rub: these guys had never hiked
before starting their thru-hike and they too were averaging 26 miles per day.
Oh, one of them had read a book about hiking but other than that, they headed
out completely oblivious to what lay in store for them. Their success, thus far,
was a bit discouraging to us since we had been training for several years and
still wrestled with sore feet and backs and did not yet feel prepared to take on
the whole AT all at one time. And not only were these guys “newbies” to the
hiking experience, but their Mennonite background precluded them from buying any
of the hi-tech, lightweight gear that we all carried. That had these huge, army
surplus packs and each one of them was carrying an unbelievable amount of
weight. Here we were with our titanium cook set and these guys were using heavy
stainless steel, enameled pots; probably lifted from one of their kitchens at
home. They were exceedingly nice guys and despite the weight and lack of
training, they were in pretty darn good shape. We spent the evening in shelter
with two of them and the other two went in search of appropriate trees in which
to hang their hammocks for the night.
For the first time, we tried some of our new dehydrated food. The
vegetables didn’t rehydrate very well but they still tasted good.
There was a dog at the shelter that, from all appearances, had
made this site his home. He was quite friendly and did a reputable job at
keeping any unwanted animals out of the site during the night. What was odd was
that he had a collar and dog tags with a name and phone number. All of us tried
to figure out if he was lost or if someone hiking the trail had just left him
there. For several months after returning from the trail, I attempted to call
the number from his tags but no one ever answered the phone. We later heard that
he was no longer at the site and that a rabid raccoon had bitten a young girl at
this very same shelter.
Sunday was going to be another 17-mile day to the Ed Garvey
Shelter, so we got an early start. As we crossed the footbridge over Rte 70, we
were simply amazed at how beautiful a day it was and we were really looking
forward to this section. We were also looking forward to staying at the Garvey
Shelter that we had seen earlier in the year during our winter trek through this
area. Our excitement was dashed, however, when we arrived late in the afternoon
and found it already taken over by a group of twelve, or so, weekend
party-goers. We knew immediately that they were not legitimate hikers when we
noticed the expresso machine sitting on the nearby picnic table. They were nice
enough people and invited us to stay with them on the second floor of the
shelter but we opted not to, instead choosing to pitch our tent away from all
the commotion and noise. Little did we know, when we made this decision, that
all of the tent sites were taken up by a large contingent of Boy Scouts training
for an upcoming trip to Philmont. So much for the solitude of the trail! One of
the Scout leaders graciously offered us a piece of his site and we immediately
obliged.
The Ed Garvey Shelter is a magnificent display of the creativity
and hard work of the folks who maintain the AT. By AT standards, this is a
luxurious log structure, with two floors, that overlooks the valley below. To
reach the second floor, you climb a set of steps on the backside of the shelter
and enter through a door that helps block the wind. This second floor sleeps 4-6
people and the front, overlooking the valley, is covered with clear plexiglas so
you can take in the marvelous vistas below and still be protected from the
weather. The bottom floor is open to the elements on the front side but, because
the shelter is deep and there is a huge overhang, you are also protected from
the bulk of what nature throws at you. And the privy! Well it definitely rates a
“Two Cheeks Up”. It is spacious and clean and two of the walls have round,
frosted glass blocks installed in them so there is a constant flow of light
filling the interior. Bring something to read when you use this privy!
We never cease to be amused by the variety of people who use the
Appalachian Trail and its facilities. There is everything from the casual
dayhiker out walking his/her dog, the trail runners who, for some reason that
only they can explain, choose to trade in their hiking boots for Nike’s and
run the trail, to the rugged thru-hikers who are easily recognized by their
svelte physics and their “woodsy” aroma. And then you have the
“weekenders”. These are the folks who find a shelter with easy road access
and who never leave the shelter from the time they arrive until the time they
run out of white Zinfandel and shrimp cocktail. These are the folks that
obviously subscribe to the “trendy” recreational magazines like
“Outside”, because they wear all the latest outdoor designer clothing and
their daily menus resemble those of the more upscale restaurants in DC. The
atmosphere surrounding these groups is a combination of a fraternity/sorority
party blended with a country club mixer with a bit of the outdoor life thrown in
just to stay in keeping with their location. Some day, I truly believe we will
arrive at one of these accessible sites to find a Starbucks kiosk and a mobile
sushi bar.
Despite the large crowd of campers at this site, we did enjoy a
good night’s sleep and early on Monday morning, while most everyone was still
sleeping, we headed out to try to make our scheduled arrival time of 10:00 a.m.
in Brunswick, MD. It was only six miles so we were confident that we would make
it just as we had planned.
The hike down from Weaverton Cliffs, with it’s endless but
welcome set of switchbacks, was rather pleasant, despite our somewhat sore feet,
and before we knew it, we reached the C&O Canal Towpath and the last leg of
the trip. The weather was beautiful, the towpath rock hard as ever but we kept
on, undaunted, and reached our car at exactly 10:00 a.m.
Since we finished so early in the day, we decided to do some
exploring, one our favorite pastimes, and headed out to drive many of the
country roads that parallel the trail on our way to Pen-Mar to pick up my car.
We were also on a mission to try to recover a Patagonia shirt that I lost
somewhere on the trail near Lamb’s Knoll. One of the unwritten rules of the AT
is that if you find a lost article along the trail, you carry it to the next
road crossing and leave it in plain view so, should the owner happen to come
looking for it, it can be easily retrieved. Such was not the case in this
instance, so I would have to replace this shirt on my next visit to the
outfitters. Oh well. As we drove, we were repeatedly amazed when we looked at
the ridgeline, at how far we had hiked. What a sense of accomplishment!
We picked up my car and drove to Waynesboro where we had a
delicious lunch at the Subway store there. After several days on the trail,
living off of tuna, pita and trail mix, just about anything tastes great; but a
sub? Well, that is the ultimate delicacy. (Though we are actually big Quizno’s
fans and usually celebrate the completion of a successful hike with a trip to
the one near our home). I wonder if we could get Quizno’s to sponsor our
thru-hike? Baby Bob would be great to have along.
Lessons learned: Mentally stay prepared to alter your shelter
plans to meet whatever situation presents itself. Also, despite what other
hikers are able to accomplish on any given day, hike your own hike and don’t
get discouraged if you can’t do 25-30 miles a day.
"Getting what
you go after is success; but liking it while you are getting it is
happiness." (Bertha Damon)
It may seem, from reading our other journal entries, that we have
this obsession with Harper’s
Ferry since we always seem to end up there. In all honesty, we indeed do both
love Harper’s Ferry because of it’s historic buildings, rich heritage,
spectacular views and all the quaint shops and restaurants that line the narrow
streets. More importantly, we love it because it is a relatively short drive
from our home and that allows us to park cars at either end of a three-day hike.
Not everyone who wants to section hike the AT is quite so lucky to have things
so convenient, so we feel quite blessed to be as close to the trail as we are.
But, this is the fall of 2005 and gas prices have hit an all-time high of over
$3.00/gallon, so driving two cars the forty-some miles to this weekend’s
adventure was not cost effective. Oh, but what to do?
We had heard and read about the various shuttles that transport
hikers from point to point along the trail, so we thought we would give it a try
and possibly save a few bucks on gas in the process. At the very least, we would
save wear and tear on the cars and not have to drive home separately which would
give us time to reflect on our weekend.
Friday evening we headed out to the Bear’s Den Hostel by way of
the Capital Beltway and Rte. 7, and not 20 minutes into the trip we remembered
exactly why we enjoy being on the trail so much. Traffic was so bad that we
stopped in Leesburg, VA for dinner while the rush hour traffic cleared out a
bit. This allowed us to get our blood sugar up and helped us to keep our sanity.
An hour later we were on the road again, with much less traffic I might add, and
arrived at the historic Bear’s Den Hostel at around 9:00 p.m.
If you have never stopped in at this hostel, you are in for a
treat. It is a large stone structure reminiscent of the old stone hostels found
in Germany and Austria and inside we found virtually everything a thru-hiker or
weekend guest could ask for. We had decided not to stay in the hostel itself
but, instead, pitched our tent on the back lawn where we were treated to the
sounds of owls and a pitch black sky full of stars. It is sometimes difficult to
imagine how much urban ground lighting there is where we live until we get away
from the city and are able to see the millions of stars that are unobservable
where we live. The cold evening air added to our sense of adventure and after a
final welcome trip to the hostel to use the bathroom, which is always available
to thru-hikers, we slipped into our winter bags and called it a day.
Since this was the last day of the year, before we set our clocks
back one hour, we woke up at our usual time to find total darkness and a tent
that was soaked from a heavy rain the night before. Georgia had been awoken by
the rain during the night but I, being the sound sleeper that I am, hadn’t
heard a thing. This makes me wonder what might happen should we be visited by a
bear or other furry creature during our thru-hike next year. Quite possibly,
Georgia might be left with the responsibility of fending off these intruders and
simply tell me about it in the morning, much to my dismay. We packed up and then
visited the hostel in order to use the bathroom one final time and to use the
kitchen to prepare a hearty breakfast before setting out. At some point we will
need to get used to the fact that having a clean bathroom and a well-equipped
kitchen will be an ultimate luxury on the trail and that planning these
mini-hikes with creature
By the time we finished breakfast, the sun had begun to come up
and there was enough daylight that we did not need our headlamps. We headed out
with the goal of reaching either the Blackburn Shelter or David Lesser Shelter
by mid to late afternoon. Now some history to give you a perspective on why
hiking this section of the trail a second time in three years was so important.
On the weekend of July 26-28, 2002, back when we had more
enthusiasm about backpacking than we had gear and common sense, we hiked from
Ashby Gap to Harper’s Ferry in 100° F heat and comparable humidity. Since this section includes the
venerable “Roller Coaster”, a series of repeated 400’ ascents and
descents, this had been both a memorable and traumatic hike. We were constantly
wet, either from rain or humidity, were then wearing the less expensive but less
than appropriate cotton clothes and, despite our will-power, were not physically
ready to tackle this section without brutalizing our bodies. Now I tend to
inappropriately dwell on those events in my life that cause me mental or
physical discomfort rather than those events that bring joy and satisfaction.
Not a worthwhile mindset for someone who is competitive and driven to always
succeed. This, obviously is something I need to work on if our thru-hike is to
be a success. Our memories of this past trip were of severe physical pain and of
my bout with heat exhaustion, which introduced us to the perils of being far
from civilization and rescue and having to deal with a potentially
life-threatening situation. We eventually made it to our destination but the
fear that we both experienced has stayed with us and made us much more aware of
what our bodies are communicating to us.
For me, this trip over the same section, was a way for me to look
straight into the eyes of the demon that has haunted me since that ill-fated
hike in 2002 and, this time being a more experienced hiker, to beat it once and
for all. For Georgia, it was an opportunity to re-visit those points along the
trail that almost did us in and to reflect on how far we had come since that
time. As we completed this section on Sunday and sat eating our chicken
sandwiches from one of the restaurants in Harper’s Ferry, we knew we had
beaten the trail, giving much credit to our better physical conditioning, cooler
weather and better awareness, after years of hiking, of what life on the trail
is truly like.
Saturday was a beautiful day, a bit cool with a steady wind, but
with the trees beginning to turn, the views from the many overlooks were
spectacular. We stopped at Crescent Rock for a morning snack and a photo op but
first had to pick up all the trash left behind by a group of rock climbers who
were illegally camping across the trail from the outcroppings. Since they were
still in their tents, I was tempted to toss the zip lock bag with all their
left-over marshmallows, hotdogs and candy into their campsite but thought better
of it and kept the bag for future use. While resting we encountered a couple and
their dog who informed us that this location was a well-known spot for teenagers
to party so the mess we found was not to be unexpected. They told us about a
local high school student who had recently fallen from the cliffs and was
killed.
We rejoined the trail and, during the course of traveling up and
down the many hills there, we were awed by the beauty of the day, the colors of
the turning leaves and even had a large doe check us out from her perch on a
rocky ledge. Before we knew it we had arrived at the sign for the blue blaze
trail that would take us to the Blackburn Shelter
and it was only lunchtime! Definitely not time to call it a day
but definitely time for lunch. We had made incredible time mostly due to the
fact that I was leading and I tend to mentally get into a zone and loose track
of my pace. Georgia typically lets me know if I need to throttle the pace back a
few notches but today she willingly let me go and chose to keep up.
As we sat and ate our tuna and Pita bread, we realized that the
cool weather that we had been enjoying all morning, was chilling us down
considerably. The pace we had been keeping had us work up quite a sweat and we
obviously had not been adjusting our clothing layers to compensate for it. So
now, as we sat in what once was a comfortable breeze, we were hurrying to
complete our lunch because, quite frankly, we were getting cold. Georgia has
always had a problem with her biological thermostat (i.e., she sweats a lot) so
she was feeling the affects of the wind much more than I was.
We packed up and headed, out knowing that only a few miles away we
would reach the David Lesser shelter and looked forward to not having to pitch
our tent. However, when we arrived, much to our dismay, the shelter had been
taken over by a family of six who were using the shelter as a base camp for a
weekend of trail excursions. Now, aside from people having to take a driver
education course and test to be able to drive, I feel that there are two other
areas where people should not be allowed to participate until they have learned
the rules of the road, so to speak. New golfers should not be allowed on a
course until they have thoroughly learned correct gold etiquette (and own a
divet tool) and hikers should not
be allowed on the trail until they understand and appreciate the rules of
“leave no trace”, stealth camping and shelter sharing. This family, who were
very nice people as we found during our conversations with them, had not only
taken over the entire shelter but also the picnic table and pavilion and had
even pitched an additional tent in the path from the shelter to the privy for
their mother-in-law who, I suppose, chose the tent to keep out any “critters
of the night”. Now, this was not a big deal, really, since there were numerous
tent sites available but it was just the principle of the thing.
We found a nice tent site, complete with a 4x4 wood frame and pine
bark mulch as a base and nearby was a fire pit and a picnic table. We also had
neighbors, Frank and Rebecca, who had been there since Friday night and from the
amount of gear, beer and electronic conveniences they had with them, were not
planning to go anywhere any time soon. They were very pleasant and laughed a lot
but they were loud. As the day wore on other campers arrived; most notably
“Gung-Ho” and her two unleashed Corgies. She is a marathoner and was running
the trail as a training exercise.
As dinnertime arrived, it was time to get water from the nearby
spring. I use the term “nearby” very loosely. This spring is quite a hike
from the shelter area and it is almost straight down – this is not a
convenient spring and if you should decide to use it, I would highly recommend
taking a cup or Nalgene bottle with you. There was plenty of water but I had to
scoop it out from between rocks to get my water bucket filled. And the hike up,
with a full bucket of water was possibly the toughest thing I did all weekend.
Speaking of water buckets; we searched for a long time to try to
locate a bucket that was both sufficient in size for our needs but that was not
excessively heavy. We never did find one so we made our own and it fits both our
criteria. We purchased a lightweight nylon net bag, similar to what you use for,
say, dirty laundry or food
This trip was also an opportunity to try out our new alcohol
stove. We had heard a lot of glowing recommendations about these and had even
seen several in use so we thought, why not? They are extremely lightweight and
since alcohol is available almost everywhere on the AT, we would not have to be
concerned about running out of fuel on the thru-hike. As it turned out, we were
both glad that we tried this stove out on a trip that required minimal use. Our
conclusion is that this is not an appropriate stove for two people; you just use
way too much fuel heating the amount of water required for two people’s needs.
We also found it very temperamental to operate, the requirement of a level spot
to sit it on became difficult to meet and the fact that the air shield must
always be around the stove, just made it an unwielding piece of gear to use. We
decided not to continue any future use of this stove and are going back to our
Pocket-Rocket or Whisperlite International.
Yes, they are somewhat heavier but there are some things that we take
with us that we want to make our trip easier and more efficient, despite their
weight. An efficient and fast-working stove is one; the other is a comfortable
sleeping pad. If we are going to hike 15-20 miles, day in and day out for 6
months, we need a good night’s sleep and, even though they are slightly
heavier than the foam Z-Rest sleeping pads, our Pro-Lite pads give us the
comfort we need to feel refreshed each morning.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early – early enough to see
a spectacular sunrise over the mountains to our northeast and stopped at a
primitive campsite to have breakfast. The walk from this point was rather
uneventful unless you include a brief stop at the spot where I had layed down to
recover from heat exhaustion on our previous trip along this part of the trail.
We arrived in Harper’s Ferry at around noon after a brief stop at Jefferson
Rock and the historic Harper’s Ferry Church for photo shoots. Since we had
about three hours to kill before our shuttle arrived, we found a shady spot
under a large oak tree near the train tracks, dumped our packs and I headed into
down to purchase us some lunch. Now Harper’s Ferry can be a busy place almost
any time of the year but since we were experiencing a rather uncommon warm spell
and the tress were beginning to turn, the town was exceptionally busy and the
lines at the local eateries were long. Some 30 minutes later, I returned to our
picnic spot and we enjoyed a great chicken sandwich lunch followed by a brief
nap.
The shuttle ride, provided by River and Trail Outfitters, was
right on time and it was a very enjoyable ride back to our car, though we did
have to provide the driver with directions to the Bear’s Den Hostel. Though
the $1.00 per mile, times two, cost of the shuttle was a bit more than we would
have spent on our own gas, it was a pleasant change to not have to drive as soon
as we left the trail.
All in all, this was a wonderful weekend, both weather-wise and
physically and, as we get closer and closer to the date of our thru-hike, we are
becoming more and more confident that we will be ready for whatever the trail
has to offer.
“I
am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And
so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.” (author – unknown)
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