Tag: hiking

Start: Harper’s Ferry-ATC (AT mi 1025). Stop: Rocky Run Shelter (AT mi 1041.6)

Today was.. everything id hoped it would be. And then just a little bit more.
As I sit here writing this out, my water is gravity filtering into my smart water bottle, my feet are tired, my tent is up, and my God I am simply elated!

Day one was a success by any measure of the word! I woke up around 6:35am and took my sweet time getting ready, making sure everything I needed was there. Around 8, a friend of mine, Kevin, came and picked me up. I met Kevin a few years ago at a Ragnar Relay Race in Colorado. I joined a random team that was asking for runners in a Facebook group, and I’ve been friends with most of the folks on that team ever since, Kevin being one of them (who says social media doesn’t have its perks?). Kevin and his incredible ultra Marathon crushing wife, Jennie live in West Virginia, very close to my starting point.. and luckily for me, Kevin knows the area AND the AT pretty dang well. We ate an awesome breakfast, ran me by CVS to grab some smart waters (the bottles fit my water filter very well), and then the post office to mail home Lauren’s blanket I finished last night.

Then it was off to the Appalachian Trail Conservatory in downtown Harper’s Ferry to start the trail! Kevin got some pictures of me at an awesome overlook. We went down through town and across the bridge that crosses the Potomac River. Seeing the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers collide together is a seriously stunning view.

We meandered 3 miles on a flat path that definitely made me feel more confident than it should have.. because afterwards came my first climb of the day, which was roughly the same as going up Big Kennesaw Mountain 3 times 🤣🥴. That’s when the “oh hell” thoughts started rushing in.. and even in between the ragged breaths and short pauses, I knew this is exactly where I want to be. I have to get rid of all weight I gained carb loading for the last year somehow! Haha

At somewhere before the 7 mile mark and right about noon, we ate lunch (left over pizza from last night for me). After a good 10-15 minutes, while I was still resting my feet, Kevin and I said our goodbyes and he headed back the way we came. I sat there a little longer and then headed north on the trail.

By 2pm I came across the area I was supposed to set up camp. My feet were tired, but I knew if I stopped there for the night I’d end up being bored out of my ever loving mind.. so, I called and chatted up mom while propping my feet up.. then got right back at it. The last 5 miles were definitely slower than earlier in the day. I knew I was getting tired, but a new plan had already been made and I was committed.

As I started to round up the final descent into the area I was hoping and praying to see the shelter I was aiming for, I kept stubbing my shoes on the jagged rocks. I laughed at myself, knowing good and well that if I keep that up, soon the laughing will be cussing.. and it’s too early in the game for cussing.. LOL While I’m entertaining myself with my all over the place thoughts, I remembered Kevin telling me about Jennie trail RUNNING this area! My silly self can barely walk it and stay upright, and she’s out here running it! Damn impressive. Hopefully I’ll get to meet her when I return to WV to go southbound.

I made it to camp. I set up shop close to the stream, hoping the weather forecast is accurate, although it would have to seriously flood to have water reach my tent.. I just couldn’t talk myself in to pitching my tent UPhill when the water was downhill and surrounded by flat perfectly sites. I am a little disappointed that no one else is down this way-yet anyway- because most of the other hikers i saw are staying at/in the shelter, but oh well, at least I know I’ll have one night without hearing some stranger snoring.

The plan for now is to cook & eat dinner (maybe a Mac & Cheese Backpackers pantry meal), hang my food bag on the bear pole, do some stretching, and probably be fast asleep before the sun fully sets!
I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Hopefully more than just the rain..

Start: Annapolis Rocks Campground (1050.7). Stop: Raven Rock Shelter ( ATmi 1061.1) Today’s AT miles: 10.4 mi Total AT mileage: 36.1 mi

Y’all! I slept SO. GOOD. It started raining again around 5am, and I think I only woke up that one time.. I fell right back to sleep after I realized what the noise was. When I woke up at 7 and checked the radar, I went back to sleep until 8:30! Hahaha The radar showed 100% rain to 9 and then it went down to 50% at 10. At 8:30 I packed up the entirety of the inside of the tent after changing clothes and brushing my hair and teeth (I spit the toothpaste outside the tent and then covered it before leaving). At 9 I decided I’d goofed off enough, put on my rain gear and stepped out into the rain. Went to a privy nearby (still no #2, rude), got my food bag from the bear pole, made breakfast (biscuits and gravy), and then miraculously while I was eating the last few bites, the rain just up and quit. So, I quickly took down the tent, packed up my food bag, and put all the wetness into my pack, all the while praying I wrapped my dry clothes and sleep stuff well enough to not get drenched by accident.

Then, I was off. The clouds kept threatening rain all “morning” (the 2 whole hours of it I had left), and finally a little after 12 the sun popped out. It happened to be right when I was going up a steep incline, so I paused and took off my rain gear. Sunshine and plastic = sweaty! I kid you not, 4 minutes after I got my pack back on, I heard thunder in the distance. So, I picked up the pace. I can’t be stopping every 5 minutes for wardrobe changes. I passed a few people, none were headed in my direction, except for one-but he was already stopped for the day at the shelter I was passing.

I was going down a steep descent when I swear the temperature dropped by 10 degrees. Now I was almost shivering. I passed some trail maintenance volunteers (holy shit they’re incredible for what they do! I am so grateful to anyone who has ever done that job), and a lady goes, “aren’t you cold?” Obviously, I’m an idiot maam, is what I think.. what I say is, “oh yeah, I got hot earlier. I’ll put my jacket back on when I stop for lunch..” ha—which is exactly what I did about 10 minutes after I passed them LOL.
And thank goodness I did, bc it randomly starting hailing. Cool cool. It passed quickly though.

It sprinkled, threatened to downpour.. all in all it was still a gorgeous day. A lot of muddy ruts, steep inclines and declines, and even some rock scrambles (I may have slipped on my butt once.. whatever). Oh, also of note-I passed two privies today and then ended up digging a hole less than 2 miles from where I’m camping tonight. Where there’s ALSO a privy. At least the ground is soft for digging I guess (damn you petty bowel syndrome).

I made it to camp just after 5 (I was really slow going today for some reason), and laid out all my wet things while I went to get water. I set up my tent when I got back.. and filtered said water and ate dinner (beef stroganoff, delish). I met a few hikers at camp too. A man and his dog, Rain (of course I forget the man’s name), a lady and her dog (it was yippy so i don’t remember either of their names, 2 couples and another solo lady. One of the couples is Adam and Kay, they’re pretty awesome and we started the same day, we’ve just missed each other every day til now! The other couple showed me how to use the bear cables (SO MUCH better than that stupid pole, and Adam said the pole took him and another dude to get their bags up one last night, so I feel better).
Anyway, I’m exhausted and heading to sleep. I wonder what’s in store for tomorrow 🙂

Start: Trail of Hope Hostel (AT mi 1084.9). Stop: Birch Run Shelter (AT mi 1094.9). Today’s miles: 10 miles. Total AT mileage: 69.9 miles

I slept incredibly well in the little bunk room at the back of the church/hostel. I woke up around 8 fully expecting my new friends to be long gone (because they weren’t waiting on my package to arrive lol), but they were both still there! I sprung out of bed and darted up to the front of the building to check to see if my box came. When it wasn’t there, I checked the tracking and knew it would be sometime before 10am.

We all ate breakfast together (Lizard made us grits with cheese and some extra spices, super yummy), and while they started packing up, I worked on posting my blog from yesterday (it takes a while for the app to upload the pictures and whatnot). Before I even finished, I got an update on my phone that my special delivery was indeed dropped off.

I was like a kid on Christmas opening that thing! My warm sleeping bag, some Marino wool leggings to sleep in, some running mittens, batteries, TP, and some more mountain house meals and probars! Talk about a spoiled princess. I am definitely feeling the love from my family and couldn’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for them.

I repacked my pack, packed up the box to return. While I was doing all this, Showtime made her exit and headed for the trail. Once I was mostly done, the preacher came to the church and was checking on us, making sure my stuff came and whatnot. I asked if he’d be willing to take me to the post office (if he had said he couldn’t I already had a list of shuttle numbers to try). He said sure and that he’d drop me off at the trailhead too (almost a mile the opposite direction from the hostel). Since he was feeling so generous and I wasn’t expecting to get a lift all the way to the trailhead, I ran to find Lizard to see if she wanted to come with, so she wouldn’t have to trek that road mile for no reason. Naturally, she agreed!
We went by the post office, Lizard ran into family dollar next door, and then preacher took us back by the hostel to grab some ramen for Lizard bc family dollar didn’t sell individual packs. Then he took us up to the trail so we could actually start our day. He was such a nice guy.

It seems like I say this everyday.. but the climb at the start of the day was a beast. I guess that’s one way to warm up your body first thing. It probably felt more difficult bc of the added weight from the food resupply and my new sleeping bag weighing more than my quilt did. That thing felt like a behemoth today. Plus I packed it in a hurry and didn’t Tetris everything in as smoothly as I’d have liked, so it was packed high instead of low and wide. It made for some discomfort with my neck since I couldn’t lean my head back. Whatever, it’ll get better.

We were greeted at the top of the hill by a gorgeous green tunnel. And then not much farther I almost poked my hiking pole into a huge black snake. I saw it just before I put the pole down, and then screamed and jumped so high I startled both the snake and Lizard, too. He was maybe 6 ft long and pretty thick.. those are Lizard’s estimates because he might as well could have been an anaconda in my eyes. Gi-frikin-normous! I scared him with my screaming that by the time I could breathe again and thought about getting a picture, he was long gone. Maybe next time I see one I won’t act like a 4 year old-but I doubt it. Haha

We crossed lots of different terrain, some pretty trail with rocks, some beautiful pines with their cushy needles under our feet, and a strange area that looked like a controlled burn or some other kind of clearing.

We ate lunch at a little cabin.. and then finally made it into camp around 4:30 ish. We met Red here, another flip flopper, and a couple we had been leap frogging with all day was already here, too, along with Showtime. We all hung out and ate dinner together. Some NOBO thru hikers made it into camp maybe 10-15 minutes after we ate. Pizza Cutter, Heater, and Day Hiker. They started the traditional route at the end of February and they’ll be passing the official half way mark tomorrow morning. Seeing how they met along the way makes me a little sad I don’t have the traditional trail family start most do, BUT I wouldn’t change a thing.. and I’m happy I’ve met Lizard along this journey so early. Even if we don’t end up staying together long, I really enjoy her company and she’s made my first week out here that much more enjoyable.

I’m all wrapped up in my toasty sleeping bag and wool leggings. Even with my first night of no service, I’m one happy camper. Also, I really hope I sent the “I’m ok” message out correctly on the Garmin InReach! I guess we’ll find out when I get some service again.