After leaving Waynesboro, VA; we entered the Shenandoah's. We encountered many a bear during our time there! I saw a total of 10 bears during the few days there! How do you handle bear encounters? You either make noise and they move/run away; or you make noise, they clearly don't care, think your obnoxious for ruining their peace, and then you just walk around them. The only time I was more cautious was when we came across a momma bear and her three cubs. She definitely eyed us up and we definitely made it as clear as possible that we weren't a danger to her tribe!
The other memories I have of the Shenandoah's are the frequent Waysides, where you could stop in for a cold drink, ice cream, food, etc (AMAZING). Aaaand....the rain (....yes....apparently we hadn't been dumped on enough) that flooded everyone's tents. It also meant wet shoes. This, I have determined, qualifies as being "just the worst." Because once your shoes are wet...they ain't drying out for days (most likely) and you get to hike..miles...in wet socks and shoes. Your feet look and smell like decaying flesh. This is NOT a joke.
Nameless finished up her thru-hike in Front Royal. She was a SOBO (South-bounder) from last year and had to get off in Front Royal, so she went NOBO this year to finish up. I hiked with her for 700 miles! So as exciting as it was for her to complete the hike, it was also really sad and hard to say goodbye to her!
Nameless, me, Tokie, & Rockslide
Enjoying some Chick-Fil-A on trail. Thanks Shep!! :)
Nameless officially completing her hike!!!
Short Legs, Who, Nameless, me, E-Street
We went to a wine tasting and in the back room we found hats. So....
On July 1st, I finally crossed from Virginia into West Virginia!! It was most definitely an incredible feeling to have completed the longest state! Not only that, but towards the end of Virginia, I crossed the 1000 mile mark! West Virginia has only four miles of trail, but Harpers Ferry is the psychological halfway point! There is an AT Conservancy there where I got to sign in and get my picture taken! It was crazy because starting out in GA, I was hiker number 2248 and in Harpers, I signed in at 1114! The stats show that only 20-25% of people who set out on the thru-hike actually finish and 50% have quit by Harpers Ferry!
I pulled my biggest mileage leaving Harpers. Who and I decided that we wanted to do a 40 mile day. Because why not? It sounds fun right?! It actually wasn't bad at all. :) We set out at 4AM, hiked the entire state of Maryland and crossed the Mason Dixon line into PA by 8PM. I figure 40 miles in 16 hours, with an hour lunch break ain't too shabby...! It also rained...wait...new revelation, I should just inform you when it doesn't rain out here....😲 Actually, though the nicest part was that it rained the hardest while we were eating lunch and then lightened up!
After our big day, we zero-ed in Waynesboro, PA. Sarena actually drove all the way out to meet me!! She picked me and Who up from the trail and we stayed at an "eccentric" Airbnb. We made sure to eat a TON of food, showered, did laundry, and relaxed! We also picked up Strawberry and E-street when they rolled into (well...hiked into) town. We picked up some food, did some cooking, and created a nice big meal that night!
One of my favorite days on trail, was the day I crossed the official halfway mark! It turned out to be an all day party! I started out hiking 3 miles to a park where I was trying to find a spigot to fill up on water. I was walking towards the bathroom when Betty called out to me and asked if I wanted breakfast! And a thru-hiker doesn't turn down food! I went over and met the Landis family. They were having a family reunion that day. They made me an omelet with peppers, onions, ham, & broccoli. Then they gave me hashbrowns, sourdough toast, bacon, AND fresh fruit! It was amazing!! Not only that, but their company was great! I sat and talked to them for quite awhile, before realizing I needed to keep hiking....😀 So off I went. Then a few more miles down the trail, there was a group of guys doing Trail Magic at a cabin. They had tons of snacks, drinks, shirts, and hot dogs. So I sat and talked with them for a bit. Hiked on.... and again, a few miles later ran across some more trail magic! This time it was a couple past thru-hikers doing it! I got a couple of Gatorades from them before setting up once again! Shortly after that I crossed the half way point, and then the 1100 mile marker not to long after! Then to top of the day, we completed the Half Gallon Challenge. This is where you have to eat a half gallon of ice cream in under an hour! Some of you might think this is an easy task. However, I would challenge you on that. I was able to conquer the challenge however in 56 minutes. No, thankfully I didn't suffer too many after effects. I was just uncomfortably full for a couple hours and didn't want to think, see, or eat anything sweet for a long time. No worries though, by the end of the night I was eating Pringles in my hammock and eating sweets the next day. :)
HALFWAY!!!!!
Strawberry, Robin Hood, me, and Who
Half Gallon Challenge....
PA turned out to be a lot of farmland in the beginning, several HOT days (we had 3 days in a row where the heat index was around 110!), few water sources, and lots of rocks in the end. On the hot days I basically would hike in the morning, try to take a long break over the hottest part of the day, and then hike more in later afternoon/evening. One of the days we just went swimming in the river and then left at 4:30 to do 10 miles!
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I feel like the entire trail is a tripping hazard
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But maybe that's just me
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PA also held my worst day on trail so far. Looking back on it, it doesn't seem like it should have been that big of a deal, but the trail is so much more psychological than one might think! Most of the day actually went really well too! I had done several miles into a town, picked up new shoes at the PO, ate food, then wanted to do another 9 or so miles. Who stayed back at the shelter, because he was waiting on a package, so I hiked on by myself. I had been wearing my old shoes (wanting to slowly break in my new shoes) and when I got to where I was only going to hike a couple more miles, I put on my new shoes. Man, they felt good! I was feeling pretty great! I set out, looking for the campsite that I had planned to stay at, but couldn't find it. The 2 miles were starting to feel like alot more than that, and I was thinking I must have missed it. But I hadn't passed a 1200 mile marker yet and I new the campsite was before that. However, the trail kept going....I thought: "Oh well, I am feeling pretty good and there is still plenty of daylight. Not a big deal to hike a little more." Then I passed two younger people painting white blazes. White blazes are what marks the trail. Really all they were doing was maintaining the trail and making sure we had a well marked trail. (Very thoughtful of them...) However, in my mind they were just painting blazes on random trees making you think you were on trail, when really you were on some random, unknown path. This crossed my mind briefly when I passed them. We said hi to each other and as I walked on, the guy said "have fun!" Shortly after that I hit a flooded part of the trail. And I mean FLOODED! I started trying to tip toe around stepping on logs and rocks to keep my feet try. Which worked great, until I stepped on a log, slipped, and soaked my feet....and my new shoes... So then I just started sloshing through the middle (no way around it). I figured it would end soon anyway. Nope. I was wrong. It went on for 2 miles! So now I am alone, in the evening, with wet shoes/feet, thinking I'm lost in the middle of nowhere, oh....and then it has the audacity to start raining AGAIN! It was in this physical and mental state of mind that I started crying, yelled at the rain, and refused to embrace such misery! When I reached a road crossing, I called up a hostel and stayed there for the night. I got a nice big supper, a bed, laundry, a shower, and a big breakfast. It was extremely reviving for the soul and body!
When I was so excited about my new shoes!!!
.....and then this happened.....
....then this made it all better....
I finished up PA and crossed into New Jersey via the Delaware River on the 10th of July. That evening I met Sherpa and Big Bunny and set up camp next to them. We camped right next to a really good view! We got up early to watch the sunrise from the rock edge. Then as we were packing up, a bear popped his head over the rock ledge!! It looked so cute! But it was also not super excited about having to leave...we tried making yelling and Big Bunny blew a whistle at it...yet it just kept meandering around the area.
Yep....I walked here...
I ended up hiking with these two for a couple of days. They convinced me to do a 30 mile day with them. Okay, they really didn't have to try hard...cause why not? They were a lot of fun to hike with!! Unfortunately, they are actually 60 miles ahead of me....they had just come back to finish up a few miles that they had skipped. Hopefully I will be able to catch back up with them at some point though!
There have been so many wild berries along the trail!!
After they left, I experienced my first two nights by myself! I hike by myself a lot of the time, but I had never had to camp by myself. There was always others around! I was a little nervous...I said a lot of prayers and tried to fall asleep quickly so that my mind didn't run wild....and so I didn't have to hear all the breaking sticks around me. Good news...I wasn't eaten by a fox, or a bear, or some crazy person.
Hello New York!!
Trail Magic at the end of our 29 mile day!!!
Jersey boardwalk
The water situation in New Jersey and New York has been pretty bad! Its crazy that we went from going through states with record rainfalls, to suddenly being in a drought. So most of the water sources are dried up. The past two weeks I have gotten water from stores/resorts/taverns near the trail or water caches that Trail Angels leave! This just means I usually camel up before leaving a water source, have to carry more water (more weight), and have to ration it carefully.
Anyway, that pretty much brings me to today! My mom & Jerry drove all the way out from Minnesota to spend some time with me!!!! They picked me up at the trail this morning and I get to spend two days with them!!! I was beyond excited!! Especially after the past couple weeks...I have been consistently pushing bigger mile days, been by myself a lot more, and my feet are pretty tender. I also hadn't done laundry in 2 weeks and hadn't showered in....well....a very long time.
I told mom that I just wanted to be surrounded by liquids....and when they picked me up...my dreams came true!
As it stands now, I am at mile 1447 and have only 743 miles left until I reach Katahdin!!
Guilty Truths of a Thru-Hiker:
*We were eating at a pizza place in Harpers Ferry. The table behind us had three Police Instructors. When they left, there was still a slice of pizza left on their tray. Yes....I ate it.
*When I was pulling the 40 mile day. I was at mile 38. I walked out of the woods into a park. Sitting on a rock was a 2 liter of Root Beer. It was probably 3/4 full. I opened it and it fizzed...I smelt it and it seemed fine...it also was decently cold. So yes....I took several swigs of it.
*I have yet to buy toliet paper.....I unwind some extra from restaurants, stores, and hotels
*Catholes are suppose to be 6-8 inches deep and 4" wide.....mine often fail to meet these standards.
*They say you aren't a true thru-hiker until you have crapped yourself.....I am a true thru hiker
*One cannot waste calories. So when my bag of chips spills on the ground, yes, I eat them straight off the ground. A little trail spice doesn't hurt.:)
*One might say that thru-hikers lose some social skills/knowledge of social boundaries. Being a thru-hiker, I would say that is most definitely true. I have been involved in many a in-depth discussions on how you wipe after going to the restroom. Do you fold or crumple? Believe it or not...yes, there are people that crumple! How they have come so far in life, I do not know.
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