Mason-Dixon Line and Rocksylvania

We're officially in the North. We crossed the Mason-Dixon Line this week and are over half way through Pennsylvania or what's commonly referred to as Rocksylvania. As you'll see and read in  the posts below, PA is extremely rocky and one the most disliked sections of the entire trail. The terrain in this state is mostly covered in rocks from the size of a golf ball to a suitcase, with a few boulder fields as well. If it were just boulder fields it wouldn't so bad but unfortunately it's more of the latter. There are so many of these smaller rocks that's it's nearly impossible not to step on them, they're also very pointy. One hiker described it as the trail being covered in small tips of icebergs sticking trough the ground, everywhere. It has definitely made for some very sore feet and cursing rocks and the state of PA.

6/22/14
Day: 77
Starting: Harper's Ferry, WV 1019.6
Ending: Dalghren Backpack Campground 1037.8
Total: 18.2

After dropping off the rental car and putting the finishing touches on the blog, we headed out of Harper's Ferry a little after 10:00. The trail went through the historic part of town.

I would definitely like to come back and spend more time here. Half of the city is a National Park with restored buildings from the 18th and early 19th century with reencters from those periods.

We hiked about two miles out of town along the old C&O Canal Towpath on a nice, flat crushed stone biking/hiking trail. I was very happy with this flat terrain as I was wearing a new pair shoes that haven't been broken in yet.

The AT breaks off from the towpath trail and crosses a parking lot then heads into the forest. As we were walking across the parking lot a hiker in the back of a pick up asked if we wanted to slack pack. My initial reaction was yes but I have no idea who you are and I don't know if I'm 100% comfortable leaving 98% of my gear with a complete stranger in a parking lot. Jessica on the other hand apparently didn't have the same trepidation as I did as she immediately said yes and was already pulling her pack off of her back before I could say anything. We had just resupplied in Harper's Ferry with 5 days of food so our packs were very heavy. 

After chatting with the guy for a few minutes I felt a little better about the situation so we emptied our packs, kept our lunch and water and headed on our way. He was taking our packs 3 miles further than we had planned on going so it was nice not only having much lighter packs but also getting in some extra mileage.

The hike went by rather quickly with fairly good terrain and no real hills to climb. We ended up seeing our slackpack trail angel about two miles sooner than expected. It made me feel good to see that he didn't take off with our stuff.

On top of the slackpack, he took us to the South Mountain Creamery a few miles from the trail. It's a working dairy farm that has a storefront that sells fresh dairy products. We each enjoyed a pint of delicious ice cream.

Overall, it was a great day!

Day: 78

Starting: Dalghren Backpack Campground 1037.8
Ending: Raven Rock Shelter 1055.6
Total: 17.8

Another day of slack packing!! Sheperd stayed at the same campground as we did and offered to take our gear 16 miles ahead. We would liked to have gone a few more miles but our packs felt twice as heavy when we put them on for the last 1.8 miles. 

We passed by the original Wahington monument which is a smaller version than the one found in DC.

Day: 79

Starting: Raven Rock Shelter 1055.6
Ending: Caledonia State Park 1078.8
Total: 23.2

 

We reached a big milestone today by crossing the Mason-Dixon. We've heard once you get into the north prices go up and hospitality goes down. We've even heard some restaurants in certain New England states don't allow hikers. On one hand, I understand because there are days where we're pretty ripe, especially after a four or five day stretch of 80 degree weather without a shower.  So I can understand why the owner of a restaurant would not want patrons, other than hikers, to have to endure the stench of hikers. But on the other hand, if you have hikers coming to your restaurant there's probably a good chance you're within walking distance of the trail so you should try to accommodate hikers not discriminate against them. Also, from a business perspective hikers eat a lot and I mean a lot! I can easily eat enough food for two to three people in one sitting and usually do and most hikers, if not all, have just as big appetites and are willing and able to spend the money to eat well.

We ended the day at a state park with a really nice pool that we couldn't pass up. We swam for an hour with Smurf and Grey Beard, two guys from Ohio that we've been leap frogging with for the few days and Yote from Hendersonville, TN.

Jessica enjoying ice cream after a refreshing swim

Day: 80

Starting: Caledonia State Park 1078.8
Ending: Pine Grove Furnace State Park 1097.9
Total: 19.1

Another big milestone today! We crossed over the geographic midpoint for 2014 at 1092.2. It makes me happy that we'll now have less miles ahead of us than behind even though there are still a lot of miles ahead.

The midway point marker is pretty funny and a somewhat sad. Several years ago they built a nice permanent midpoint sign, the problem is the trail changes every year. It's actually longer now than when we started. So for the 2014 midpoint they've taken a picture of the permanent sign. Here are a couple pictures of the picture of the sign and the actual sign itself.

Jessica showing some love to the old marker.

There's a tradition that once you reach the half way point you must complete the half-gallon challenge. It's eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. This is completed at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park General Store.

We both chose mint chocolate chip as our flavor for the challenge. I completed mine in twenty minutes with relative ease, I actually ate a cheeseburger right after I completed it because I was still hungry. Jessica on the other hand found it a little more challenging. She ended up completing it in 35 minutes.

Trying to put on a happy face for the camera although she wasn't feeling very happy. (Runny Nose and Joe from Germany are in the background, we've been flip flopping with them since TN)

Challenge?? More like an "appetreat" I was ready for another one

Thankfully, the hostel we stayed at that night was right next door so we didn't have far to walk. The hostel is a beautifully renovated 1829 mansion that was once home to a local ironmaster.

In 19th century the hostel also served as a safe house as part of the Underground Railroad. It had a secret room that housed runaway slaves during the day. The room was essentially the crawl space of the house. 

Entrance to the secret room under the staircase.

Day: 81

Starting: Pine Grove Furnace State Park 1097.9
Ending: Boiling Springs, PA 1117.5
Total: 20

Today started with a beautiful walk out if the park on a flat, crushed stone trail with beams of sunshine coming through the trees.

I wish all of the trail was like this!!

Unfortunately, the nicely groomed trail only lasted a couple miles. Shortly after that we had the first of two rock mazes...

Me maneuvering through the rock maze.

We finished the day at Boiling Springs PA and stayed at the Allenberry Inn & Playhouse. The Allenberry is a large resort style hotel with a theater on the grounds. They have an older hotel type building where the actors and actresses live, if there's availability, they offer rooms to hikers for a great price. Thankfully, they had a room for us that night. In the basement of the same building was the PA Fly Fishing Museum. 

An exhibit at the fly fishing museum.

Day: 82

Starting: Boiling Springs, PA 1117.5
Ending: Cove Mountain Shelter 1139.1
Total: 21.6

Today, the dreaded Pennsylvania rocks we've heard so much about began.

What trail?? All I see is a pile of rocks.

In addition to the rocky terrain it was a hot day with temps reaching the low 90's. The hiking has never been easy but with the heat and the rocks it's starting to get real. With each day that passes, I have a better understanding of why only 30% who set out to thru-hike the entire trail actually finish.

Day: 83

Starting: Cove Mountain Shelter 1139.1

Ending: Clark's Ferry Shelter 1147.4
Total: 8.3

The over abundance of rocks on the trail continued today. Thankfully, it was a short day as we stopped in Duncannon midday to resupply and have lunch at The Doyle.

The Doyle is a 100 year old hotel that now serves as a hiker hostel and restaurant. The place can be best described as a dive but it's very hiker friendly and the food is really good. We enjoyed burgers and a beer and hung out there for a few hours getting to know fellow thru-hikers we haven't met yet. One of them was Neon, a young guy from New Hampshire. We hit it off with Neon because he started on the same day as us but he did the 8 mile approach trail that we didn't do. It's still pretty incredible it's been almost three months and this is the first time meeting each other.

The Doyle

After resupplying and hanging out, we finished the day with a short four mile hike to the shelter.

Day: 84

Starting: Clark's Ferry Shelter 1147.4

Ending: Rausch Gap Shelter 1172.1
Total: 24.7

Neon ended up staying at the same shelter as us. He headed out before us but we caught up to him at lunch so we ended up hiking the second half of the day with him. We normally just hike with the two of us so the company was nice. We got to know each other and had some great discussions comparing New England and Southern cultures.

It was a long day but felt much quicker talking with Neon.

Day: 85

Starting: Rausch Gap Shelter 1172.1

Ending: 501 Shelter 1189.6
Total: 17.5

The rocks continue!! We hiked most of the day with Neon. All I can say about today is, hiking in PA is miserable. The rocks are like meat tenderizers on the feet. I haven't been this sore at the end of day since we started.

On a more positive note, we had our first bear encounter outside of Shenandoah. We heard rustling off in the distance and immediately knew it was more than a small chipmunk or squirrel. After a few seconds of surveying the area where the noise was coming from, we saw a large bear climbing down a tree about fifty feet from us. Soon after, two cubs followed the first bear down the tree. Over the past couple of days we've heard from two hikers who were charged by a mother bear with two cubs so we didn't want to hang around to experience that. It was very obvious the mom was on guard as the two cubs climbed down, thankfully for us they were close to the top of the ridge. As soon as the second one made its way down they crossed to the other side of the ridge.

Day: 86

Starting: 501 Shelter 1189.6

Ending: Port Clinton, PA 1213.7
Total: 24.1

We got our earliest start today, 6:40 AM.  We wanted to get to town and our hotel room as early as possible.

Today was the most difficult day of hiking thus far for me. Of the 24 miles we hiked today, I would guess 22 miles of was on rocks. We also accidentally got off trail twice today, the second time we ended up on a large boulder field.

Not happy about wasting time and energy on a boulder field.

Neon maneuvering through the boulder field.

We ran into Runny Nose who passed as we were getting ready to start hiking again from a short break, so we hiked with him for a short while and caught up a bit. During our conversation he asked if we had seen any snakes lately, in particular any rattlesnakes. He was saying how he hasn't seen any throughout the entire trip. We told him we thankfully haven't seen any lately. His pace was a bit faster than ours and our feet were in too much pain to keep up so we let him get ahead of us.  It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes after we lost sight of him that I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake. I was walking along in front of Jessica and out of nowhere I hear this loud rattle at my feet, I immediately leaped three feet forward and nearly had a heart attack. I turned around and saw the tail of a timber rattlesnake slithering away from the trail. It must have crossed the trail between us and Runny Nose because when we caught up with him later he hadn't seen the snake.

Thankfully, the day ended with a shower, bed and pizza.

Day: 87

Starting/Ending: Port Clinton, PA 1213.7

Total: 0

We took a zero day in Hamburg, PA today to rest up and resupply. Jessica also bought new shoes. 

Overall, it was another good section of hiking. We're still making good progress and other than being very sore we're in good health. Which we're very thankful for as we learned that Trippy contracted lyme disease. Trippy and Cowboy are a couple we met a few weeks ago and hiked with for a couple of days. They're in between our ages and we shared an uncanny amount of similarities between us. We were hoping to see them soon but she's taking some time off the trail to recover.

We're anxious to get out of PA because we've heard the rocks continue and in some places get even worse. We're not only excited to get out of PA next week but we're also looking forward to going to Lake Cumberland next weekend. It will be nice to have a four day break from the trail to hopefully let our body's rest and recuperate a bit.

Hope all is well back in the civilized world!  Thank you for your interest and your support, we appreciate it!!

Happy trails,

Z & Gia

A Long Overdue Update

Its been a while since we have had access to a computer.  We have had a few rest days since the last time we updated our post but, they were in some pretty remote locations and the internet was pretty spotty.  We have made a lot of progress since our last entry and have hit some big milestones.  We will be getting back on the trail this morning and crossing into Maryland soon after!

6/10/14
Day: 65
Starting: Waynesboro, VA 857.8
Ending: Blackrock Hut 878.5
Total: 20.7

After completing our normal in town chores which usually includes laundry, grocery shopping, showering, and overeating, we were back on the trail.  We were excited about this portion of the trip because we would soon be entering Shenandoah National Park.  We have heard that this section of the trail is relatively easier than the rest of Virginia.  The park also has waysides throughout.  Waysides are restaurants and small grocery stores located within .5 miles of the trail.  We were looking forward to getting some of our meals from the waysides this week which meant we didn't have to carry as much food ourselves. 

We were picked up by our shuttle driver who was another Waynesboro trail angel and charged us nothing to get back to the trail.  Waynesboro has been by far the friendliest hiker town we have experienced when it comes to getting a shuttle.  We really appreciated the hospitality because shuttle costs can add up quickly.

Within a few miles of being on the trail that morning we entered Shenandoah National Park.  This section of the trail was very similar to the area between Daleville and Waynesboro in that it also crosses over the same road multiple times a day.  I think on the first day we crossed Skyline Drive 10 times!  Its definitely a different experience hiking all day and constantly hearing cars and motorcycles driving by.

We had some afternoon rain showers about one hour before we got to camp.  Luckily, it passed quickly and we didn't get soaked.  We got to the hut around 6:15 and were surprised by the large number of thru hikers that were already there.  Our hiking the week before was relatively quiet and we even had nights where we were the only ones at the shelter.  Thankfully, there were still a few open campsites available and we were able to set up camp and call it a night.

Cloudy day in Shenandoah

Day: 66
Starting: Blackrock Hut 878.5
Ending: Hightop Hut: 899.9
Total: 21.4

We got up and on the trail by 8:30 this morning.  As the weather starts to get warmer, we are going to have to start to get an earlier start in the morning.  We were planning on experiencing our first wayside for lunch that day so we were motivated to make good time.  We crossed Skyline again around 10am and decided to take a quick stretch break by the road.  While we were sitting there a woman stopped and asked if we were hungry.  Our answer to that question is always YES!  She was planning on doing trail magic at a gap about 10 miles ahead on the trail but she opened her trunk and pulled out two sandwiches for us.  She had thru hiked a few years prior and loved coming back out to this area to do trail magic.  It was a great break and truly appreciated!

We got to the wayside around noon and had a great lunch.  We both had burgers and fries and we each had to try the blackberry ice cream we had heard so much about.  

Shortly after we got back on the trail it started to rain.  We knew we had storms in the forecast all week so we expected to get wet on the trail.  It was a constant rain but we could hear thunder in the distance so we were motivated to get to camp.  We hiked a lot quicker than normal to make it to camp before the storm started.  The hut was pretty crowded when we got there and the only available campsite was on uneven ground.  This isn't ideal when you know you are going to get rained on.  We were able to stay mostly dry in the tent but our ground cover and the bottom of the tent got soaked.  Luckily, my parents were picking us up in two days so we would be able to dry everything out when they got here.

Day: 67
Starting: Hightop Hut: 899.9
Ending: Big Meadow Campground: 920.3
Total: 20.4

Our shoes and clothes were wet from the storms the night before so we were happy to start hiking to get a chance to dry out!  The morning was pretty uneventful.  We did see quite a few deer during this section of the trail.  The deer are very tame and don't seem easily phased by people.  It was pretty surprising how close they actually let you get before they run away. 

Shenandoah Deer, just a few feet away

Right before lunch it started to rain again!  We were able to find a small cabin with a big covered porch for lunch.  We had a longer than expected lunch trying to wait out the storm.  It passed around 2 and we were back on the trail. 

We were planning on eating at a wayside again for dinner tonight.  Due to the longer than expected lunch, we knew we might not make it to the wayside in time before they close the restaurant.  We decided to hike an extra mile to go to the nearby lodge.  We were covered in mud and spent about 20 minutes outside the lodge trying to do the best we could to clean up.  The food was great and we were excited to be eating real food!

We reserved a spot at the campground that night which was pretty close to the lodge restaurant.  Mike didn't really like the idea of "fake camping" but I was happy to have a real bathroom with running water close by. 

Day: 68
Starting: Big Meadows Campground: 920.3
Ending: Fishers Gap: 921.9
Total: 1.8

The rain finally cleared up and we woke up to clear skies!  We hiked back up to the lodge for breakfast.  We were both excited to finally have some great weather and to be able to eat in a restaurant again.  My parents were on their way to spend the weekend with us and we only had 2 miles to hike to our pick up spot.  We were very excited to have a few days to rest.  We finished breakfast and enjoyed the views from the back porch of the lodge for a bit before we went back to the campsite to pack everything up.  

On our way back to camp we decided to take the AT back instead of cutting through the lodge like we did the night before. We like to make sure we don't cut any portions of the trail and we knew we wouldn't be coming back this way. It was a pretty funny feeling to be hiking on the trail with our camp shoes on and coffee in our hands. We actually ran into another thru hiker that we had met a few days earlier. He was a little confused when he passed us but thought it was pretty funny when we explained what we were doing.

Thru Hiker???

My parents picked us up at 11 and we drove to the house they had rented for the weekend in Luray, VA. It was a really cute house with a big back deck overlooking the woods and a stream.  It was very secluded from the road and a great setting for a relaxing weekend.  

We showered and headed into town to do laundry and eat. Luray was having a blues band playing in the town pavilion that night so we decided to come back for that later in the day.

The band was a lot of fun and there were a lot of people there enjoying the show. We got pizza from a local restaurant after the concert and called it an early night. We were pretty tired and looking forward to sleeping in a real bed again!

Blues band

Day: 69

Zero day in Luray, Va

We didn't really have specific plans for the day and when we found out we were only 90 miles outside of Washington DC we decides to make a day trip out of it. Your perspective on mileage certainly changes when there is a car involved. 

The weather was perfect and we decided to take a tour on a double decker bus through the city. It was great to get to see the sites of DC without having to actually walk. It was our zero day after all. 

Dad was not cooperating for pictures

We had lunch at a seafood restaurant in Georgetown and got back to the house by 7. We packed a lot of activities into one day so I was happy for a chance to relax back at the house!  We really enjoyed our trip into the city.

Day: 70

Starting: Fishers Gap,  921.9

Ending: Skyland Resort: 928.2

Total Miles: 6.3

My parents dropped us off back at the trail around 11. We even took a few pictures with them on the trail! It was great to get to see them. I was very thankful they decided to visit us.

Mom and dad on the trail!

Trail selfie

We were pretty tired starting our hike again. It's usually hard getting back on after a zero.  I think all our sightseeing from the day before was catching up with us. We got to Skyland Resort around 3 and decided to call it a day. We got a cabin for the night and called it a day!

Day: 71

Starting: Skyland Resort: 928.2

Ending: Range View Cabin: 947.2

Total Miles: 19

We got a pretty early start from Skyland and were on the trail by 8:30.  We had a good day of hiking. The skies were finally starting to clear and we could start to see some of the great overlooks of the Shenandoah Valley.  

One thing we have noticed since being in the park is the increase in the number of ticks! We knew we would have to deal with them during the hike but I didn't think they would be this bad. Mike is a tick magnet and I am constantly on the lookout to make sure he hasn't picked any up.  During one break, he picked 5 ticks off in about 2 minutes!  

We have also been able to see a lot of bears during this section of the trail. They are a lot like the deer in that they seem pretty used to humans. We passed within about 10 feet of one bear who was on the side of the trail. The bear didn't budge as we walked by. 

Shenandoah bear

We stopped at the last wayside of the trip for dinner that night. We had dinner with Desert Fox. A former thru hiker that had done the AT in 09 and the PCT in 12. He was a really nice guy and it was very interesting to hear about the differences betweent the two trails. He said in his opinion the AT is the more difficult of the two.

As we were finishing up dinner the sky started to get dark and you could hear thunder in the distance. We had about a mile hike to go to make it to our campsite. Luckily, we made it before the storm started. I was staring to set up camp while Mike went to get water. He came back and said there was a section hiker who had rented a nearby park cabin and has invited us to stay there for the night of we wanted to. It didn't take us long to say yes, especially since we knew we were getting more storms that night. 

The cabin was a bit nicer than the standard trail shelters. It still didn't have electricity or running water but we were greatful for a chance to be out of the rain.  Desert Fox and another section hiker stayed in the cabin as well. We sat on the porch for a while and talked about our hiking experiences. The conversation mostly centered around gear and bug bites. Once the storm started we headed inside to our dry bunks!

Day: 72

Starting: Range View Cabin: 947.2

Ending: Jim & Molly Denton Shelter: 970.8

Total Miles: 23.6

Today was a big day because we were finally leaving the park!  We were excited to cross another big milestone off our list. 

It was a pretty uneventful day of hiking. We were able to put a good amount of miles in and make it to one of the best shelters on the trail for the night.  This shelter had a huge porch with a swing and a solar shower! 

We were exhausted by the time we got to camp. The weather is starting to really heat up and hiking in 90+ degree temperatures really zaps your energy. We got to bed early with plans to get on the trail as early as possible the next day.

I think the heat was getting to us!

Day: 73

Starting: Jim & Molly Denton Shelter: 970.8

Ending: Rod Hollow Shelter: 989.2

Total: 18.4

We got up and were on the trail by 7:15! We rain into a trail maintenance volunteer about 10 minutes into our hike and he told us it was going to be another hot day with temperatures in the high 90s.  I keep telling myself this is helping to prepare us for when it really starts to heat up in July and August!  

We had some pretty easy terrain and were actually able to make it to lunch around noon. Usually when we are trying to get closed to 20 miles in we have lunch around 2. It's amazing how getting an early start to the day will help. 

We finished pretty early today and got into camp about 5:30. Again, this is about 2 hours earlier than we usually get in. We were happy to be out of the heat and done for the day.

Day: 74

Starting: Rod Hollow Shelter: 989.2

Ending: Blackburn Trail Center: 1007.1

Total: 17.9

Today was a great day full of unexpected trail magic!! It had stormed the night before and finally cooled off. We were greatful for the cooler temperatures to start our day. We were starting off our hike with the "roller coaster" a 13 mile stretch of the trail filled with tightly packed with ten ascents and descents.  To me, the roller coaster should have just been called Georgia. It was filled with hills and rocks, very similar to the terrain we have already experienced.

Roller coaster profile

About 5 miles into the roller coaster we hit a group of people setting up for trail magic. We were happy to stop and help finish setting up. They had thru hiked in '12 and had been doing trail magic in that spot for the last 3 days. It was amazing! They were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and has tons of other snacks as well. 

Trail magic set up

While we were sitting there, another thru hiker couple showed up. We get pretty excited when we meet other couples around our age who are also thru hiking. We are definitely in the minority on the trail. There names were Trippy and Cowboy and they had stated at Springer about a week after us. They were from PA and were excited to be getting close to home.

The group running the trail magic offered to drive our packs 6 miles up the road to a nearby hostel to allow us to slackpack. We happily accepted. It was nice to get a big chunk of the roller coaster done without weight on our backs!

We got to the hostel around 1 and had lunch in their yard. The hostel is actually owned and run by the ATC. It was a beautiful old home and the grounds were so pretty. It was definitely not like your average hostel. 

Bear's Den hostel

Bears den grounds

Shortly after lunch we hit a HUGE milestone. We crossed the 1,000 mile mark. Luckily, we were hiking with Race Walker (another thru hiker we met the night before) at the time and he was able to take our picture for us. About two miles after that we also hit the VA/WV state line. We knew we wouldn't be totally done with VA until the next day, but it still felt really good hitting that state line!

1,000 miles!!!

State line!

We made it to the Blackburn center for the night. This is another shelter run by the ATC. It also has campgrounds and a caretakers house on the property. The place was amazing and there was a local farm hosting a hiker feed there for the night. We were able to eat and hang out on the porch of the caretakers house. The food was so good, it was great to be able to eat fresh vegetables straight from the farm. The family that runs the farm were so nice and they been played music while we ate. 

Blackburn Center

Hiker feed!

The food was amazing!

We went to be that night feeling pretty greatful for all the generosity we had experienced that day.

Day: 75

Starting: Blackburn Trail Center: 1007.1

Ending: Harper's Ferry, WV: 1018.9

Total: 11.8

We were excited to get on the trail today! We knew we only had 12 miles to get the Harper's Ferry. This is where the ATC is headquartered and is considered the psychological half way point on the trail. You also get to register with the ATC and find out what number you are at that point.  We hiked some of the morning with Cowboy and Tripy which made the time go by a lot faster. 

Shenandoah River in the background.

We made it to the ATC by 1 after finally crossing out of Virginia for the last time! We found out we were number 687 and 688 for this season. We didn't register at the beginning of our hike so we aren't exactly sure where we were to begin with. We were able to look at the pictures of the other hikers who had come through before us. It was great to see the faces of people we hadn't seen in a while!

A poster up at the ATC

After we left the ATC we had lunch with Trippy and Cowboy at a local pizza place. It was great to get to know them better. I hope we will be seeing them again on the trial. We got to the hotel around 3 and stayed in and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Day:76

Zero in Harper's Ferry

Today was a very relaxing zero! We had a few errands to run in the morning which includes resupplying and getting Mike new shoes but we mostly spent the day in bed relaxing and watching movies. It was the perfect zero in my opinion. 

We are back on the trail Sunday!! 

We will try to do a better job of updating more frequently. I know this was a loooong update! Thanks for following along with us on our journey!

Happy Trails!

Z & Gia

The 7 P's

I learned many valuable lessons from my time in the Marines but the one I remember the most is the 7 P's, prior-proper-planning-prevents-piss-poor-performance. This section we did not properly plan for.

Day 60 (6/6/14)

Starting: VA 130, James River: 780.8  

Ending: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, 800.8

Total Miles: 20

After saying goodbye to our new friends and host family for the night, James drove us back to Glasgow from Daleville to drop us off at the trail head.

It's back to the grind now that we don't have anyone hiking with us. The last four days hiking with others made us realize how much we're probably missing on the trail by keeping our heads down and just trying to tick off the mileage. But, unfortunately or not (depends on your perspective) we really want to hit our goal of finishing in five months. Because this goal is a little on the aggressive side, it doesn't allow us to make many trips down side trails to see an overlook or waterfall. 

To make ourselves feel a little better about missing some potentially nice sights, we've started a list of things we would really like to see one day. Who knows, maybe when we retire we can have a highlight tour of all the great side trail sights.

Nevertheless, the trail still offers some spectacular views without going off trail.

View of the James River from Bluff Mountain.

We ended the day at a very nice shelter with only Jessica and myself there the entire night. This quiet respite was a nice change from the bubble of hikers we've been hiking and camping with.

Day 61

Starting: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, 800.8

Ending: Tye River: 828.1

Total Miles: 27.3

Our original plan for today was to go twenty-two miles as it was going to be a very hilly day and after the twenty-two mile mark, there was a very large decent which we thought would be better to complete on fresh legs. My knees are not fond of big descents, especially at the end of the day. 

But our plans quickly changed when we came upon the following sign.

To those back home this crude sign may not mean much, but to us this is like hitting triple sevens on the slot machine.

Milo is a former thru hiker from Richmond who completed the trail in 2011 and now hosts a Hiker Feed every year.

We knew we were in for a long day given the overall mileage and hilliness of the day with a 2,700 ft, 5 mile climb from the shelter, and a 3,100 ft, 5 mile decent at the end of the day. And we were still pretty exhausted from yesterday's hike. But, when there's food involved, we'll dig a little deeper to go further. 

Halfway through the day we came upon two coolers. One was filled with Gatorade and sodas, in fresh ice, and the other had the best assortment of goodies  we've come across yet. Today was shaping up to be a great day!

Love the trail magic!!!

We eventually made it to the hiker feed at 8:30. Thankfully, they still had food out and we were served BBQ sandwiches, black bean salad, kale salad, cake and beer. It was definitely worth the extra effort, although our bodies were pretty beat up after the last two days. Not only were they hilly but they were awfuly rocky too.

Jessica perplexed by a tree growing on top of a rock.

Day 62

Starting: Tye River: 828.1

Ending: Three Ridges Overlook: 839.2

Total Miles: 11.1

We woke up, limped out of the tent with stiff and aching muscles and were treated to two types of breakfast casseroles which were both delicious. 

We planned on putting in another twenty plus mile day to get us within six miles of Waynesboro so the last day of this section would be close to a nearo.

When we originally planned this section I don't think we looked closely at the profile, if at all. Today's hike had another large climb at the beginning with a 3,000 ft, 6 mile long climb.

This pattern of big climbs up, with several miles of ridge walking, then a big decent down to a road sums up the hiking in Central Virginia. The good news is, this last climb is the last 4,000 foot peak we'll see until Vermont. I read last week that the amount of elevation gain and loss on the AT is equivalent of hiking up and down Mt. Everest sixteen times. I believe it!!

We made it over Three Ridges Mountain, much slower than our normal speed and eventually made it to a spot for lunch mid day.

After hiking only a couple miles after lunch we both felt like walking zombies, neither of us have been this exhausted hiking since we started. We were both completely wiped with nothing left in the tank. We decided to take a break alongside the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we were sitting there Jessica suggested we end the day, get a shuttle into town and slack pack the remaining eighteen miles tomorrow. I agreed, called her a genius and started making shuttle arrangements. 

Thankfully we had service and we were able to get into town and get a room for the night.

Day 63

Starting: Three Ridges Overlook: 839.2

Ending: Waynesboro, VA: 857

Total Miles: 18

We got shuttled back to the trailhead at Three Rivers around 8:30AM. I have to applaud Waynesboro for their hiker friendliness. The shuttle cost us $5 and it was at least twenty miles, a shuttle in any other town would have cost around $40. Typically, shuttles charge a $/mile each way. Waynesboro also offers a list of a dozen or so individuals who will provide a free shuttle from the trailhead into town which is about four miles. It's very generous of them to do that.

Knowing we had a hotel room and a real meal waiting for us at the end of the day, helped us fly through the 18 miles. It took us less than seven hours to finish. 

Overall, it was a difficult few days, partly from our own making and the terrain. But we're a little further ahead otherwise and we'll be in Shanendoha National Park tomorrow. We've heard hiking in the park gets a little easier, mostly because of the good terrain and the hills aren't quite as steep or long. Plus, there are a few waysides where you can get a hot meal almost everyday.

Thanks for reading the blog! We appreciate your interest and miss everyone back home!! Almost half way done!!

Happy Trails!

Z and Gia