My Trails

That was about it for our hike. We descended South Mountain and walked about three miles along the abandoned railway into Harpers Ferry. We were there so early hardly anything was open. A row of restaurants line the lower streets in the old part of town, catering mostly to tourists that visit the museums and relics on weekends. It was Monday morning and we couldn’t find anyplace to eat so we rode the shuttle bus to the Visitors Center and picked up Karen’s car. 

On our way out of town I ran an idea by Karen. I was still feeling good and not in any hurry to stop hiking. I had plenty of trail food left and plenty of time for another short hike. The transportation was not a problem, Karen could drop me off a ways north and I could hike back to my van. The more I thought about it the better I liked the idea. 

We found a pizza parlor and gorged ourselves on wings and pizza, googled a nearby cinema and went to see the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, and then checked into a motel for the night. While I did laundry – my hiking clothes were stinky – Karen found a highly recommended Mexican restaurant on Yelp and we ate some more. 

The next morning, Karen dropped me off 20 miles north of my van and I continued on another section of the AT. It was fun meeting the same hikers we met two days before and seeing their surprised looks, answering puzzling questions at how I got ahead of them.  I saw three black snakes, even stepping on one, but no rattlers, thank goodness.  

The weather was great for my extra hike and I made good time to Tumbling Run Shelter, my stopping place for the night.  Tumbling Run is a unique area:  Twin shelters – new, clean, well cared for-  showcase a campground with decks for picnic tables, fire pits, clothes lines, a nice privy with sanitizer, and numerous tent sites. I chose a tent site away from a group of day campers and set up camp. When I returned to the shelter area, the camp host was in the process of kicking out the day campers. The shelters are for hikers, and he told us how campers park at a near-by road and walk in to party.   

There were only three of us then. We practically had the area all to ourselves. I gathered wood for a fire and we talked until dark. One of the thru-hikers was going home in a few days to attend graduation. He was some kind of math major at a prestigious college and had graduated early, leaving him time to hike the AT before the ceremony. He didn’t think he would be back to finish the trail. He missed his family too much. 

When I awoke the next morning, both thru-hikers were gone. There was a heavy dew on everything so I hung around camp for a while, hoping my tent would dry a little before I packed it. I had plenty of time; there was only nine miles left to finish. If I would have known what was just up the trail, I would have probably left sooner, when it was cooler. 

For about three mile, I walked through some of the worst mosquito infestation I’ve ever seen. They were relentless, and Deet didn’t seem to phase them. I think I used half a bottle trying to keep them from devouring me. They even bit right through my clothes. With all the rain in the last few weeks, the standing water made perfect breeding grounds. 

It was almost 2:00 pm when I reached my vehicle. I still felt good after 60 miles and would have probably kept on hiking if I had a way to get back. I hope Karen and I can do another hike this fall and get some family to join us. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

On Monday, 5/23/11, Karen and I completed our backpacking adventure on the AT. We climbed through rolling mountains, traversed long scenic ridges with expansive views, scrambled over rocks and boulders, trudged up slopes that made sweat run down our backs, and descended knee jarring switchbacks into lush valleys. We met a lot of nice people and a few that were a bit odd. We mixed in with hikers that were decidedly grubby, a little bit smelly, and always hungry. We were transported into a place where nature decides your every comfort level and the world moves at a simple pace. 

Our path traversed the whole width of Maryland along the South Mountain range. For forty miles, high above the Cumberland Valley, from Harpers Ferry to the Mason Dixon Line, the AT visits historic sites of the Civil War. This area was alive with skirmishes and battles leading up to the major conflicts of Antietam and Gettysburg. We enjoyed mixing in a little history lesson, now and then, as we hiked through State Parks and Monuments. 

On our first day, we hiked about 9 miles to a dreary looking place called Ensign Cowall Shelter. When we got there we found it already occupied by two hikers. One young fellow sat outside making a pair of gaiters out of an abandoned garment someone had given him. We later learned that he was from Germany, and had the urge to travel to America and thru-hike the AT before he started his career. He turned out to be a delightful, friendly, intelligent guy and both Karen and I enjoyed his company. The other character was a piece of work. He lay in the shelter wrapped in his sleeping bag, sick from exhaustion and drugs. This was the first time he had ever been in the woods in his life, and he was so ill prepared for backpacking that he was a danger to himself. It was hard getting a story out of him that any of us could believe, but we gathered that he had come on the train to Harpers Ferry with a pack that weighed 150 pounds, and had walked for 10 days to get to this shelter that should normally be only two days hike. Besides being  way out of shape and grossly overweight, he had nothing even practical for backpacking. What little clothes he had were soaked from walking in the rain, and he was living on some kind of Army rations. We heard stories of fishing in the river for catfish and building lean-tos for shelter. It didn’t take much thought for Karen and I to move to the area behind the shelter and pitch our tent for the night. 

No sooner than we had settled in to our campsite, along came a troop of fifteen Boy Scouts. They pitched their tents in every available space in the area, surrounding us with their noise and chatter well onto the night. At one point, Karen even spoke to them, asking them to be quiet. They finally settled down and we got a few hours of restless sleep. 

In the morning, we packed up early and planned a 14 mile hike that would put us well beyond the range of the Scout Troop. 

To be continued…

Trail Days was fun but not all I thought it would be. A lot of the speakers finished off their time by trying to sell something they had made or a book they wrote  And the gear companies were really pushy for the sell. I tried to convey that I was just there to learn and figure out what I should buy, but most of them realized I knew as much as they did about hiking gear and stopped the hard sell rather quickly. All in all, I’m glad I stopped to see the spectacle and check out the latest backpacking gear. 

At the end of the second day in Damascus, the skies opened with pouring rain and wind, chasing everyone to their tents and vehicles. The next morning held the promise of an all day soaker, so I packed up and headed north to Shenandoah National Park. 

In the two days it took to reach Shenandoah (I take scenic back roads through the Blue Ridge Mountains), the weather was clearing and the view along Skyline Drive was beautiful. Drifting clouds and bright sunlight, exposed vast expanses of the valley below.  From numerous pullouts along the ridge line you could see for a hundred miles. 

I spent the night at Big Meadows Campground. Rain came again in the night. It seems like it rains almost every night and sometimes every day; At least it feels like it. What they wouldn’t give for some of this rain out west. 

Karen and I will be hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail from Harpers Ferry, WV, through Maryland, and ending in Pen Mar Park, near the Pennsylvania border. It’s a section filled with history: We will pass through historic Civil War Battlefields.  We will get to see the first Washington Monument. We follow the path of Louis and Clark, early railroads, remains of abandoned canals, and stand on the same rock that Thomas Jefferson spoke from. We are looking forward to spending a few days on the trail, now…if this rain would just go away for a few days.