Bears Den to Harpers Ferry!!!! Woo hoo!

Bears den was packed last night on a cool, rainy night. Lots of the hikers we've been around for weeks. Uncle Tom, 19, Bubba, Looper, Gray Ghost, Oops, Gazelle, Pyro and Zachsquatch. There was a tv with a great selection of movies and what did we watch.... 3 documentaries about hiking the AT dating back to the mid 70's. Can you say obsessive? Actually, it was pretty interesting comparing the heavy gear that they used then to the light weight, quick drying gear of today. They actually wore cotton!! 

20 mile day in to Harpers Ferry. The trail was SO much nicer today. Not as much elevation and not all rocks Left Virginia and into West Virginia. 

Harpers Ferry is home of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It's past the 1000 mile mark and the 'psychological half way point'. (A few more days to the actual half) It's here that you sign a log book and get your photo taken. I'm number 318 to pass through so far this year!!

It's a big milestone for us and honestly, I was surprised at how much more emotional I felt arriving here then I thought I would be. Pretty cool.

We had a discussion about those that are still out here hiking. The trail is kind of the great equalizer. There is no real advantage based on age or gender. To finish it's a combination of mental and physical strength and luck (staying well and injury free) A hiker that had to get off the trail for over a month, made an observation. In Hot Springs, it was sort of the 'honeymoon period' . The numbers had already thinned, but for those still hiking, it was still fresh and new. Now, a month or so later, the numbers have thinned even more and although it's still a lot of fun, he noted that there is a different look to those still here. You can't fake it to get this far. It's a lot of work each day and bodies get tired. But when you get up in the morning and start moving again, it all works out.  There is a huge amount of respect for each other, no matter what age. It's a very unique experience.

Taking a zero tomorrow to let my body rest and take in the sights here in this tiny town. Out to celebrate this milestone tonight with

 

Bubba, Uncle Tom, Trip, Looper, and 19. 

Signal Knob to Bears Den Hostel

Loooong day! Packed up and on the trail by 6:45. It gets light at 5:30, so we tend to get moving earlier these days. It rained all night long, so my tent was soaked so I think it weighed about 30 pounds today. Killer. Hit a section called the roller coaster.

Up and down and up and down. And then throw in 10 miles of rocks. It was brutal. Got into the hostel at about 2:30 which was awesome. My feet are super sore. This hostel is one of the must do's and it's great. In an old stone bldg. $30 for a bunk, shower, laundry, pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry's and AYCE pancakes in the morning. What a deal.

Tomorrow one last long day in to harpers ferry and then a day off!

Mile 999.1 today, so tomorrow will hit the 1000 mile mark!!! Woohoo!!

Front Royal Hostel to Signal Knob Tentsite

2nd of 4 20-mile days to get in to Harpers Ferry by Friday. I'm planning on taking a zero to check out some of the history there. Tired feet today! Got rained on a little and some marble size hail briefly. I planned on stopping at Dicks Dome Shelter,  but got there before 5 and just didn't feel like stopping yet. It was a cloudy day anyway and it  as really deep in the woods so was really dark and the stream through there was incredibly loud... So I decided to hike a few miles further. THANK GOODNESS!

I hiked about another mile and a half and came to a sign for some tent sites and a little trail magic!! Much needed Gatorade and bananas at the end of a long day!

Hiked down the trail and found a great Tentsite. As I was setting up, I noticed a note in a plastic bag. Wow!!! Incredible luck!

I walked around to find cell service and texted and the next thing you know I had trail magic extraordinaire !!!  A piping hot pizza, 2 beers and some carrots delivered right to my tent!

Thanks so much to these amazing trail angels- Shelly and Joe!!!The kindness continues :)

Pass Mountain Shelter to Front Royal Hostel

So sad! Hiked 7 quick miles and then hit the last wayside for breakfast. Back on the trail fairly quickly because I had a long hiking day ahead. The trail was good. A lot less crowded now that Memorial Day is over.

Bear count today- 4!! Came across 'napping bear' early afternoon. He was laying in the greenery not far off the trail. I stopped to take a few pics. He looked at me, sort of annoyed, and just got up and lumbered away.

Hiked for about another 30 minutes and heard something run through the brush right beside me. Bear cub running off the trail, then I saw another cub scramble up a tree. Mama was sitting at the bottom of the tree. I would post a few pics but they just sort of look like black blobs. Mama was not too threatened by me, because as I was taking pics, she looked at me and then laid down.

Got in to the hostel around 6. Went in to Front Royal to grab some dinner and resupply now that I have to carry my own food again. Met a hiker here tonight who is a retired attorney from KC AND an MU grad. We tossed a little sh*t back and forth and laughed about how we didn't want to be the first one to fall asleep. Probably ought to sleep with one eye open :)

Rock Spring Hut to Pass Mountain Shelter

Nice day. We are getting spoiled here with a restaurant along the trail every day! It's nice not to have to carry so much food.

Above is my view early this morning. It's light by 5:30 so we usually get on the trail pretty early.

The trail here is great, but often times you feel like you are out in the middle of the woods and you hear a car go by about 50 yards from you. Skyline drive is never far away. Today was pretty uneventful. Hiked about 15 miles. Got in to the shelter around 6. Started a new book and for anyone looking for a good read..it's 'Grandma Gatewoods Walk'. The true story of the first woman to hike the AT back in 1955. Amazing story. And she did it in keds!!

Photo from Mary's Rock overlook with Rosie, Lions and Dr. Zoom.

Bearfence Mountain Hut to Rock Spring Hut

Good day. The excellent weather continues. Hiked for a few hours and saw several deer. If you look up the trail on this photo, you'll see the deer looking back at me.

Then I went a little further and saw this little bear in the woods. Not sure if it was a baby or just a small bear, so I snapped my pic and moved on.

THEN... I hiked about another 15 minutes and came to a clearing and lo and behold, came across two hikers *slack packing south and it was Mike! And his friend, Steve. So fun to run in to him and catch up. And THEN, while we were talking...out of the woods came 19. 

We all chatted for awhile and then went our separate directions. 

Hiked along chatting with 19 and we missed the turn off for the Big Meadows Wayside. There are not many things that we will backtrack for. An amazing overlook...maybe, but probably not. A beautiful waterfall... perhaps. A restaurant with real food... you betcha. We went off trail and hiked up through the woods until we came to the road and then hiked down a mile to the wayside. It was worth it. Good lunch, caught up with 19 and his adventures for the last month and topped it off with one of their famous blackberry milkshakes. 

Back on the trail to the shelter fairly early. 

*Definition of slack packing- occasionally hikers will make arrangements to hike a section without carrying their pack. They may be shuttled ahead and hike back to where their pack is or someone will drop them at the trail and shuttle their pack forward for them. I have not done it yet and am not sure if I will. Never say never but at this point, I don't plan too. I feel fairly strongly that I will never slack pack south, only because I just want to be only heading north. But then again, never say never. The big saying out here is, "Hike your own hike." So no one judges anyone else for how they choose to hike the trail. 

Hightop Hut to Bearfence Mountain Hut

Decided to do shorter miles today than I had originally planned because of Memorial Day weekend and the campsite I was shooting for, is full of weekend campers. It was sort of nice not to be in a hurry.

Photo is of a few of the younger guys (Sasquatch, Pyro, Gazelle and Fritz)

 Its not often that you see them hiking in a clump like this, but they were getting close to Lewis Mountain campstore(another perk of the Shenandoahs) and laundry, shower, snacks, soda and beer. Not necessarily in that order. 

There were several trails leading back out to the AT from the campstore to the hut. Some of them would shorten the mileage to the hut by a few tenths of a mile, but technically that would be cheating. The 'purists' insist on doing every little tiny bit of the trail. So, we all walked back to the point where we had entered the campsite, and headed to the hut. Right as I got back to the trail, I ran into 19, one of the guys I saw all the time early on, but had not seen in about a month. His buddy, Bubba was not far behind. Also ran in to Toast and Big Spoon(banjo and fiddle guys that I started with) hadn't seen them in over 400 miles we figured out. So good to run in to familiar faces.

The trail here continues to be great. Making good progress. 

Black Rock>Awesomeness>Food>Hightop Hut

So, got on the trsil this morning at about 8 and there were giant piles of bear scat everywhere. But that was not the awesomeness. Came around the corner and we saw this....

A bear up in the tree munching on leaves. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. I took a  video which I will try to post sometime when I have wifi.

He was perched precariously on a branch that did not seem strong enough to hold him. We stood below him for about 15 minutes watching and he was unfazed. Then he stopped eating and started  watching us. Obviously ready to come down, and deciding what to do. Then he came down... quickly ... and we left.... just as quickly. It was so dang cool!

In Virginia, much of the time, the trail follows along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. In Shenandoah Natl Park, along Skyline drive, there are Waysides. Basically, roadside restaurants. If you time it right hiking, you can hit a wayside nearly everyday for 4 or 5 days in a row. That means you don't have to carry as much food, plus you get to eat REAL food almost everyday. Today we hit our first wayside at Loft Mountain. 

Sat outside, ate some big food and everyone just relaxed for awhile and then hiked out for another 12 miles.

It's Memorial Day weekend so the campsites/shelters are packed.

Couldn't resist posting another beautiful pick of a spot on the trail today.

Rockfish Gap to Blackrock Hut

Got back on the trail at about 7:45 and entered Shenandoah Nat'l Park

and FINALLY.... I saw a bear! I think I'm the last person out here to have a bear sighting! I had my music on and saw him about 30 yards up, just off the trail. By the time I got my phone out, stopped the music and got ready to take a photo, he was running away. Must not be a fan of Roger Milller, 'King of the Road'. The bears here are black bears and they want  nothing to do with people. But, that's why we hang our food at night because they are scavengers and will come into camp at night for treats. 

I met a hiker from Kentucky today and we were discussing snake sightings. I said I didn't want to see a rattlesnake and he said he did want to see one so he could eat it. Seeing the confused, surprised expression on my face, he said,  "You see, I'm from right over the mountains there in Kentucky." As though that explained it all. "Why of course! You're from Kentucky where everyone eats rattlesnakes!" Say what? Emily Renfro... Is this what your people do there? :)

Started my bigger mileage days today and if the trail is like it was today, it's totally doable. Before starting we heard you could do big mileage days in Virginia because of the easy trail. Well... the first 350 miles had a heck of a lot more rocks than I'd imagined! I figured we might come to the end of Virginia and there would be a sign saying, "Suckers!! There are no easy trails!" But I think these last few days here will be good. 

I'd also heard about the 'Virginia Blues'. People getting burnt out because Virginia goes on for so long. I think it's gone very quickly! Maybe because I don't break the trail up state by state. It's more like town to town. Or diet coke to diet coke. 

Life out here is pretty simple. Sometimes you get up in the morning to plot out your day, and you get excited because in ten miles there is a trash can and you can offload all your trash. Woohoo!! Livin' the life!

Anyway, the trail is SO green, fluorescent and vibrant right now. It almost looks like someone photoshopped the colors.

The trail is filling up again. Can't even count how many are at the shelter tonight and lots of familiar faces that I haven't seen for awhile. All good :)

Tomorrow... my first wayside and hopefully a blackberry milkshake!

Paul Wolf shelter to Rockfish Gap

Stayed by the shelter last night. It's always interesting to see who shows up at night. A big group of younger folks. Trail names are pretty funny. One guys name was Silver Toe, because when he got blisters on his toe he wrapped them in duct tape. Another older guy(yep, even older than me!) named Bucketlist. He is a type 1 diabetic and has a pump and is managing it on the trail. Talk about determination and toughness. Inspirational. 

Got up early and had an easy coast in to Waynesboro. Really lush forest. Passed this cool old stone chimney out in the middle of the woods. Again, makes you wonder about the history of the people there before.

Got in to Waynesboro by 9:30. Staying at Stanimals hostel. (Former thru hiker) It's unusual in that it's in a nice residential neighborhood. I have the sun porch all to myself. No snorers. Ah! Did laundry, showered and went to eat. Caught up at home and then... Went to eat again. Burgers and beer. A common theme :) perhaps? Went to Heritage on Main with Trip and Turtur (Latin for turtle)

Live music with a very talented guy playing several guitars and banjos, but the real entertainment was these two cuties dancing around in their tutus.

Up early tomorrow and into the Shenandoahs. Land of blackberry milkshakes and bears I'm told. I am planning for a big week and a half of hiking. Hoping to be to Harpers Ferry by next Thursday or Friday. Wish me luck! We'll see how that goes.

Maupin Field Shelter to Paul Wolf Shelter

No big news today. Staying at a cool shelter with a big front porch. Sometimes the trail is a trail and sometimes the trail is a pile of rocks and sometimes the trail looks like this

Streams and creeks are running high because of the rain so you have to pick your footing carefully or you may end up with a bunch of wet gear. Would not make for great sleeping.

So....random thought for the day... I warn you, this is a little corny :) I was thinking about all the new people I've met out here and all my great friends at home (miss you guys!) and it made me think about a song from my Girl Scout camp days-

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." 

Corny, I know, but ya gotta admit... It's true!! So, in that spirit, sharing photos that I've gotten from friends at home to let me know I am not forgotten :)

Have I mentioned how lucky I am?

Buena Vista to Porters Field

Had a pretty big climb right off the bat this morning, but somehow a climb in the morning isn't as bad. Picked a great, sunny patch for lunch. 

And then hiked on a few miles past where I had planned. A cool front came through this week, so the bugs are not as bad, which is awesome. I'm sure they'll be back soon enough.

Came across this crazy tree growing out of a rock. Nature is amazing.

After a few days off and a few low mileage days, I'm going to kick it up a notch. Definitely still going to take the time to smell the roses, just less town and more trail.  

Porters Field to Maupin Field Shelter

Bigger miles starts today :). Some days are harder than others for one reason or another, and today was tough. But whenever that happens, if you just wait a bit, something good happens. Stopped for lunch on a rock outcrop with an incredible view..

Three college kids from Duke (that's right KU fans, I said Duke and they were great kids- go figure ! :) stopped to have lunch with me. Of course, we talked basketball first! So many good people here. Gotta soak in the good vibe from the trail. And hopeful contribute to it too.

AND, I got to talk to my friend-since-zero, Ginna Ginna!

Loooong descent from 'the Priest' and an even longer ascent up Three Ridges Mountain. Lots of rocks today!!!

Yes, that photo is of 'the trail'. Sometimes it's just a pile of rocks you have to pick your way across.

It's pretty quiet out here the last few days. A lot of hikers went back to Damascus for Trail Days. A big event for AT hikers, with partying, giveaways from outfitters and all around merriment. They should be arriving back on the trail soon.

As for me, I'm just going to keep heading north. 

The real heroes of the trail are the trail maintainers. All volunteers. They do an incredible job. There are a lot of trees in these woods (duh) and they fall over the trail frequently. The maintainers come out and clear the trail on a regular basis. They're awesome. (Although if they felt like clearing some of the rocks off the trail, I wouldn't be mad...:) Just kidding...sort of... 

Tomorrow, a rosy day! A shelter with a waterfall and swimming hole!

Punchbowl Shelter to Buena Vista

Did not rush out of camp this morning, which was kind of nice. It was an absolutely perfect day for hiking. Started out in the mid 40's and got in to the mid 60's. Had a good climb but just took it slow.

There are a lot of cool bridges along the AT, but crossed this really cool suspension bridge today.

Hiked through a section around Brown Mountain Creek. Lots of history around here, but in this section were some remnants of a small community formed by freed slaves. It was in a densely wooded area along a really pretty creek.

Across the creek, through the trees, you could see a part of a stone chimney that is still standing. Below is a stone wall built along the creek.

I stood there for awhile and thought about the people that had lived there. How that must have felt to be living along this creek as free people after a lifetime of slavery. It was a really pretty spot and after the rain we had a few days ago, the creek was running pretty fast. What a great sound that is.

And .... passed the 800 mile mark!

Lexington to Punchbowl Shelter

Ate a big breakfast, packed up and the sibs dropped me off back by the James River Bridge about noon to head back out. Such a good time and we packed a lot of fun and food into a few days. I had a pack full of food, which is good, because I have options and food to eat, but bad because my pack is about 6 pounds heavier. I always think that extra weight is going to be killer to haul, but honestly, once I am out on the trail and start moving, it's all good. 

And then you hike awhile, and you come to overlooks like

And

And woods like

And you remember... Ah, yes. This is why I'm out here. I don't want to take any of this for granted. Feeling very lucky :)

Lexington

Relaxing zero day with Julie and Tom. Ate nonstop from dusk until dawn. This is just the stash in the room for between meals...

It was a really rainy day, so a great day to be off the trail! Drove out and had lunch with Al and Mike so Julie and Tom could meet them. Picked them up from under a bridge in the pouring rain :). Julie left some more trail magic at the road crossing.

Back to Lexington for laundry, resupply, nap and more eating and drinking. We walked around the Washington and Lee campus, which was beautiful and visited the cemetery where Stonewall Jackson is buried.

Ended the day with a few Manhattans.

Note to self: stick with beer!!!! 

Glasgow to Civilization

Julie and Tom picked me up in Glasgow this morning. I did a little laundry and was relatively clean for the reunion.

We driove out to the trail and set up some great trail magic. Tom made a fun banner to embarrass me with :). Just kidding. It was pretty cool.

We hiked in a few miles on the trail so they could see what a shelter looks like and they got to meet several of the gang that I have been hiking around. Uncle Tom, Rob, Gray Ghost, Tittycakes, Boot Burner, Thirsty and Munchy.

This is the longest footbridge on the AT.

We are staying in Lexington, VA and they are spoiling me! All the Fritos I could possibly eat!

Fun day with the sibs. Lots of great food (Creme brûlée for dessert!!! My fav) and a few beers to top it off. Tonight.... real sheets and  FOUR, count 'em, FOUR pillows. Fancy schmancy :) Goodnight all!