To access a topological map showing the AT route and shelters click on the Appalachian Trail Map link in "Useful Links".
Day 1/1. 05.14.07, Monday, Crampton Gap Shelter, WV
Miles From Katahdin: 1154.4, Miles Hiked To Date: 10.5, Miles Hiked Today: 10.5
Brad graduated yesterday from Unity College and Kris, Liz, Brian, and his grandfather, along with Pat and I went to Maine to see it happen. The graduation ceremony was great and we were so proud of Brad's accomplishment. However, as commencement addresses point out with monotonous consistency, the real education begins after graduation.
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| Thoreau Quotation Atop Mt. Greylock |
Following the reception, we drove to Freeport, ME to have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Muddy Rudder, and stay at the Freeport Inn. I was extremely happy that his grandfather and his brother, sister-in-law and sister made the effort to attend. It was really special. To our surprise and delight, Kristen not only traveled all the way from Seattle to join us for the graduation but will hike with us for about 5 days! After saying goodbye to Brian and Liz in Boston, we headed for Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Pat will be providing ground support for our journey. As if that weren't enough, we decided that it was more cost effective to buy a condo in Dayton, OH, near our families, than store stuff in Rhode Island. In addition to giving us a place to keep our furniture, we have a nice place to stay near our siblings and my father while not cruising. But, Pat now has to manage all the details of relocating. Although all the household effects had been moved,there's all the ancillary steps of address changing, banking, registration, etc.
2174 miles: Springer Mountain, GA to Mt. Katahdin, MEBrad's graduation in mid-May precludes the traditional "south to north" hike that starts on Springer Mountain in Georgia and terminates on Baxter Peak on Katahdin in Maine. Most Northbound Thru Hikers (NOBOs) start in March to make it to Maine before the snow falls. Baxter State Park rules keep hikers from climbing Katahdin until no sooner than the 1st of June, an unacceptable delay given my need to sail south before winter. So, we decided to start in the middle, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, hike north to Katahdin, return to Harpers and head south to Springer. An unconventional "flip flop".
The last few weeks have been extremely busy. Getting the boat ready and prepping it for Pat to varnish has taken almost all available time. I worked on the boat up to the time we had to leave East Greenwich for Maine and just had time to shower. We threw everything in the car and headed to Boston to pick up Kristen, Brian and Liz. I felt like I hadn't had time to ensure that we had everything. Sure enough, I left two pair of socks and my long underwear on the boat. Fortunately, I was able to purchase replacements at the outfitter store in Harper's Ferry.
This morning Kris, Brad and I finished our grocery shopping and organized our backpacks. Everything is put into resealable freezer bags. I think we are ready. The trail leaves from the historic district of Harper's Ferry. We toured the town in the morning (Kris, Brad and Dad had never been there before). Then we stopped at the ATC Headquarters. We had our picture taken by the manager who then placed it in an album with the other hikers. He was really great and acted excited about our endeavor. After seeing the town, we had an early lunch at the Swiss Miss: hamburgers/hot dogs/fries and milkshakes. The Miss is decorated with Coke memorabilia ranging from Coke jigsaw puzzles to old advertisements.
After much repacking and checking gear we finally headed out across the Potomac footbridge around noon. Slinging her pack onto her back, Kris fell backwards a few steps from the weight. Pat and Dad gave us hugs and kisses (well, kisses from Pat anyway), took pictures and generally gave us a rousing send off. The plan called for Pat to return with my father to Dayton, then meet up with us on her way back to Rhode Island. This would give us time to check out our gear and make any adjustments. She would then take Kris to Boston to catch her plane back to Seattle.
As I was approaching the trail head, a 30 something woman, touring the town asked how far we were going. I said, “To Maine!” Her eyes widened and said, “How long will it take?” I said, “About 2 months. Want to come along?” She responded somberly, “Might as well, I got nothing else to do.” It was one those responses that gives you pause to wonder what prompted it. She didn't smile when she said it.
The day was beautiful. The Trail follows an old C&O canal that edges the Potomac. The temperature was in the mid to high 70's-not a cloud in the sky. The river was shallow here even after joining the Shenandoah. It is swift with white water, however, with interesting rock formations. We were able to walk abreast and talk while we hiked on a perfectly flat, wide trail. We saw a few other hikers; one, a mother with a 3 year old boy who wore matching camouflage pants and rubber boots. The boots, he volunteered were “fast!” We also saw about a dozen turtles-some as big as frying pans, a pair of geese with 4 goslings and a duck with about 7 ducklings.
A lot of birdsong! Fantastic! The hike was fairly easy, although we soon departed the canal and started up into the hills. Elevations here are relatively low and gradual. We stopped a couple of times to adjust packs but only once to catch our breath. After about 3 hours, we arrived at the first shelter (6 miles from HF). After a brief rest, we decided to press on; although it was a beautiful spot with a nice shelter that included a loft. We walked another 4 miles along South Mountain, past the Gathland State Park to the Crampton Gap Shelter.
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| Basking Turtles |
Soon we were joined by a middle aged couple and their dog, Buddy. Buddy is a rot mix only about the size of a beagle. We cooked dinner of Mac&Cheese. We over-estimated how much to cook and ended up with a mess of stickiness. It tasted okay but we couldn't eat it all. Even the dog wouldn't finish it. The couple was very nice. They were southbound and, like us, had just started today. They set their tent up nearby.
Late afternoon, a young man that the couple had met on the trail earlier arrived. He had severe blisters on his feet that had become infected. He planned to get off the trail at HF.
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| First Dinner on Trail |
All and all is was a terrific day. I really love being with Kris and Brad and we seem to be getting along fine. We made about 10 miles in 5 hours. Not bad at all for the first day. We arrived here about 5:30, having left HF around noon. We will try to avoid setting specific mileage goals at this stage; getting trail fit over the next week or so. We hope for an early departure tomorrow.
Day 2/2. Tuesday May.15.07. Pine Knob Shelter
Miles From Katahdin: 1141.9; Miles Hiked To Date: 23.0; Miles Hiked Today: 12.1
After dark yesterday, I was going to the latrine when my headlamp spotted 2 glowing eyes. Apparently a small animal was prowling the shelter. It stayed for some time, long enough for me to alert Brad and Kris. I have no idea what it was. It moved too fast for a opossum. It could have been a raccoon or even a cat.
We got up around 5:30 and were out of camp by 6:30 and on the trail 10 minutes later. Another gorgeous day. Temperature in the morning was around 62 degrees and it got to 80*. As I write this, the temperature is 75.9* at 8:15 pm. Today we hiked until about 3:00 and covered 13 miles: Crampton Gap Shelter to Pine Knob Shelter. The walk was relatively easy but Kris developed some blisters and her right knee began to ache, especially up or down hills (meaning nearly all the time). We stopped so she could heal a bit, but we were all pretty tired. During the day we passed the Washington Monument State Park. Climbing to the top of the monument's 'milk bottle' shaped tower offers a wonderful view of WV, MD and PA. You can see the Antietam Battlefield (scene of the bloodiest single day of combat in US history).
We passed Backpacker Campground boasting the only free hot shower on the AT. Since we were there early in the day and wanted to keep going we did not take advantage of the opportunity. We did take advantage of the generosity of our first Trail Angel. Someone left a cooler near the I-70 crossover. We helped ourselves to Oreo cookies and chips! What a wonderful thing! Tonight we made fettuccine with summer sausage and a vegetarian fettuccine for Kris. We used our homemade wood stove. It worked great and saves alcohol. Tomorrow we'll determine what to do based on how Kris is doing. I am worried that she won't be able to continue. If so, we can hike to a town where she can get a room and wait for her mom. We'll be disappointed if she can't make it but with so much pain, she's not enjoying it and “walking through the pain” will only make it worse.
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Day 3/3. Wed May 16, Ensign Cowall Shelter
Miles From Katahdin: 1133.7; Miles Hiked To Date: 31.2; Miles Hiked Today: 9.2
Got everyone up at 5:30 am and we were packed and on the trail by 6:30, eating granola bars for breakfast. Kris still was not feeling very good: blisters and a sore knee. Loaded with vitamin I (ibuprofen), she gamely went forth with the idea that we could hike to Smithsburg and find a motel – call Pat and get picked up. So, we headed north, hiking Annapolis Rocks, a little over a mile and a half from Pine Knob. Kris was experiencing a great deal of pain and didn't think she could finish the week hiking. She was making a brave effort but while the blisters could probably be addressed, walking just aggravated the knee and could be doing serious damage. So we called Pat to arrange a pick up.
Pat was en route to Dayton to take Dad home and was going to meet us at the end of the first week to allow us the chance to dump gear and replace stuff as needed. We had Pat boot up the computer to search for a motel but our slow computer was taking too long; so we agreed that we would continue walking while she searched. We reached Black Rock Cliff when Pat called to inform us that Smithsburg, the closest town north, had no motel. She suggested that we return to Greenbriar State Park and let Kris camp. So that's what we did. It was 4 miles back across I-70 and the State Park.
We reached the Park around 11:00 am. While checking in the young woman Ranger at the entrance gate asked if we needed a ride to the camp site (it was a 2 mile walk and we had left Kris at the entrance to the campground). We readily accepted her offer and another ranger soon arrived. He asked if we needed anything before heading to the campsite and since we needed groceries, he picked up Kris then took us to the camp store. There we bought lunch and purchased the supplies that Kris would need. The Ranger waited while we shopped and ate. This was greatly appreciated. He then took us to the designated campsite, which was great because it turned out to be the furthest one from the entrance. We finished lunch (second lunch) and refilled our Camelbaks bottles, repacked our gear (lightened considerably by offloading the extra tent and food we were carrying and some other things we didn't think we'd need). As we were finishing, it started to drizzle. It felt good in the hot, muggy afternoon.
We headed up SR 40 to rejoin the AT. The rain continued. Now that we were wet and cold, Brad and I decided to put on our rain jackets. They kept us warm, but we were already soaked through. We passed Pogo Campsite around 3:30 pm. It was raining steadily and the campsite had no shelter. Brad and I felt it was too early to quit so we continued toward Ensign Cowall Shelter (near Smithsburg). The terrain was rocky but fairly level; still it proved a long day.
We reached Cowall around 5:30 pm. At first we thought the shelter was completely filled because two parties had set up their tents inside the shelter (usually considered a violation of the AT code). Nevertheless, the natives were friendly and pointed out that there was an unoccupied loft.
Brad and I settled in, noting that we had hiked 18 miles! This was only a net gain of 8 miles due to the backtracking. Still we felt good with our ability to walk so far so early in our effort. After squaring everything away and changing into our only dry clothing, we made a great dinner of broccoli cheese mashed potatoes with summer sausage.
The other residents of the shelter were experienced AT'ers (a married couple and a mother with her daughter – a pretty redhead about Brad's age). The married couple (Gizmo and Pizza Man – our first encounter with trail names) are on their 2nd Thru-Hike, also headed north to Katahdin.
Tomorrow, we should be in Pennsylvania.
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