Month: June 2016

As in, I hate everything about it because my feet hurt so bad.


I’m now in Wind Gap, and tomorrow should be my last full day of Pennsylvania. As of Duncannon I’ve been hiking with Deadwood and Echo. Echo started in early April so has been doing significantly larger miles than both Deadwood and I, but this is good as I’d like to hike faster the second half. For instance, my new record day is now 30.4 miles. We’ve toyed at breaking 40, but that’d be insane (probably start hiking at 4 am). 

It’s quite late and I need my sleep, so I’m going to put some photos up with small captions, sorry for such a short post.

So I don’t have a lot of time or a computer to do this on, but I knew I had to give a quick update. Spending six days in DC completely remove me from the trail. When I got back on, I didn’t know anyone. This was all right, but different than in the beginning. Back then, no one knew anyone. We were all in the same boat. Now I’m the only one not in the loop.

This was only an issue immediately past Harpers Ferry. It didn’t take long before I started knowing some people. And just last night, I found Deadwood. We’ve been hiking on and off together for a while now. He was slowed down when his wife joined him in the Shenandoahs. 

My plan is to continue pushing larger miles so I can catch up to some other people. Portuguese for instance is only two days ahead. At the same time, I need to make sure I don’t hurt myself. The rocks here in Pennsylvania are starting to get bad, and I’m not even in the part that people say is really terrible.

Currently I’m in the Doyle. It’s an old, rundown hotel, and the only reason I’m staying is because it’s famous in thru hiker culture. The first floor has a bar and a small kitchen. There’s also a pool table. Above that you climb up three rickety stairways to get to your room. There’s no frills, and I was a bit unsure if the sheets were washed. I didn’t see signs of bed bugs, and that’s the really important thing. I also wore my crocs in the shower. The views from my window this morning were awesome though. Overall, it’s the best dive I’ve stayed in. 

The next few days are a bit of a mystery. The elevation changes aren’t bad, but the terrain could prevent me from doing the larger miles. I also won’t be staying in many towns as there aren’t many great places to stop. In warmer weather this isn’t much of an issue, as laundry can just air dry. I have no idea when or where the next post will be, so sit tight.

-Orion

So I’m back in Harpers Ferry right now. I couldn’t find any trains that stopped here and left before 3, so I just gave up on getting any miles done today. Instead I’m staying at the Harpers Ferry Hostel, about 2 miles down the trail from the train station. I expected complete chaos and not knowing anyone else here, I even made sure to reserve a bunk for tonight. Upon arrival I was surprised to see that I’d be sharing the entire hostel with just 4 others. It’s not that I don’t like meeting tons of new people, but peace and quiet is appreciated as well.

When I first got to my Aunt and Uncles house I was asked if I would care to join my Uncle and Cousin in a weekly meetup of Pathfinder (think D&D if you don’t know what that is). I very excitedly joined them and it was a little odd. Not because of the role-playing or being a geek, I love that stuff. But rather that I hadn’t thought about it since I left home. It made me actually miss being at home with my friends, playing magic, going to drafts, talking about table top games. Being on the trail has completely removed me from all of that. I guess it was the first time I really felt homesick. After staying up well past hiker midnight (9 pm), I was ready for some sleep.

The next day I wanted to take care of all the chores I had. Get my laundry done and ready for a treatment of permethrine. Permethrine is just an insecticide that when applied to clothes keeps bugs off you. It works really well, and it’s just about to be bug season. In fact I did find a tick on me here, luckily it hadn’t latched on yet so I wasn’t too concerned. Still, I mailed it to the free tick testing place, they like to get the data and I like to know if it had any tickborne diseases. I recommend checking them out: http://www.bayarealyme.org/lyme-disease-prevention/tick-testing/.

After this we all went to my other Aunt and Uncle’s house in Fairfax VA. There we had a delicious meal of salmon, roasted potatoes, and coleslaw. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and they also opened a really good bottle of stout, one of my favorite types of beer. Afterwards we watched two episodes of the original “Get Smart”. I like my family.

The next day Rick and I went to the National Gallery. There was so much to see, that I felt I should go back the next day. Gazing at such important works of art was definitely not what I expected while on the AT. Another thing I didn’t expect was going out to see the symphony. That night my Aunt and Uncle took me to see the National Philharmonic. They performed two pieces by Brahms as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Pathetique. It was an awesome performance and made me really miss playing trombone.

Like I said, I felt like one day at the gallery just wasn’t enough. I had to go back the next day to see more. I was by myself this time and took one of the self guided audio tours. Learning about some of the more historic pieces was a lot of fun. At times I saw pieces that reminded me of works done by my great grandfather, Theodore Johnson. That was a really cool experience. Afterwards I took the metro back to Greenbelt and was picked up to go to a rib dinner. A half rack later I was extremely content. I surprised myself how easily it all went down, the hiker hunger is real!

Like I mentioned earlier, today I just did the 2 miles or so from the station to the hostel. Tomorrow I’ll be doing a bigger day to make up for the loss, and before I know it I’ll be done with Maryland. It only makes up about 40 miles of the AT, but I’ve been told it’s an extremely historic section. Monuments and plaques that signify major battles of the civil war line the trail. Honestly, it’s an area of U.S. history I’m a little rusty on, so hopefully I’ll learn something new.

Well it’s time I get to bed. I didn’t think I’d be doing this post but having such a nice computer at the hostel just made it so easy. Until next time,

-Orion

So here I am, relaxing at my Aunt and Uncles house in Greenbelt MD. It’s really nice having all the comforts of home. A ride to the REI let me resupply and I got some smaller pants. Tomorrow we’ll be driving to another Aunt and Uncle who live in Virginia, sounds like we’re having ribs! Spending several zeros here will give me a break like no other I’ve had. Sure, I have zeroed in the past, but there’s still lots that needs to be done, and I haven’t had wifi like this since home.

It’s been a while since I last posted. Since then I’ve done the Shenandoah’s, stayed at my favorite hostel, and reached the psychological half way point (still numerically not quite there). I also said goodbye to a great friend Soccrosse. He was picked up in Harpers Ferry, the northern end to Virginia. It was his plan to only do the Virginia section, but we joked about him going all the way. I’m sure he is happy to get back on his sleep number bed.

After my zero in Waynesboro, Soccrosse and I left in a drizzle. The self-registration was no issue, and we made a quick plan of how long it would take us to get through the Shenandoah’s. Six days was our estimate, which ended up being what it took. Being in the Shenandoah’s was a bit like the Smokies. I expected this, as it is another national park. Day hikers and section hikers make up the majority of the trail through here. Another difference is the amount of wildlife. Deer are often seen near camp in the evenings, and I saw a total of three bears. It’s clear why this land was designated as a National Park.

It is true what people say about the Shenandoah’s. Overall, the trail is easier than other sections of the AT. This meant that larger days were less of a burden and it also gave us more time at waysides. Waysides are basically just small restaurants of varying quality. One had draft beer and another was more like a snack shack at a High School football game. As long as they had blackberry milkshakes I was happy. Except for the day I felt very sick after hiking again after lunch, that wasn’t too great.

After the beginning drizzle and some rain that night, the weather did clear up. It actually go hot, at least by my standards. I’m used to Santa Cruz, so anything above 80 and I complain. Add humidity and I’m useless. Unfortunately, that’s what I get to look forward to this summer. Hot and humid, the worst combination of weather.

Getting out of the Shenandoah’s I stayed at the Front Royal Terrapin Hostel. It’s not actually in Front Royal proper, rather down a .5 mile side trail to some guys basement. It wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t great. The price was right however, and he does include a shuttle to an awesome grocery store.

After Front Royal, Soccrosse suggested we stay at the Bear’s Den Hostel. It would make two 20 mile days and leave another 20 or two awkward short days before Harpers Ferry. For these reasons I didn’t think it would be a good stop, but as he pointed out, they do have Ben and Jerry’s. I was easily talked into it and I am so glad I went. Bear’s Den was built in the 1930’s as a retreat home for wealthy Washingtonians. It’s also a literal castle. Yes, 12″ thick stone walls and everything. It was also clean, had a good hiker special, and a piano! So I serenaded everyone as best I could, and it was graciously received. This is definitely my favorite hostel thus far, surpassing Top of Georgia which was all the way back in Hiawassee.

The next day, rather than leave the hostel Soccrosse and I decided to slackpack. Slackpacking is where you borrow a day pack and only take food and water and then get a shuttle back to where you started that morning. What we did was take a shuttle to Harpers Ferry in the morning and then just walk back to the Hostel. This was really fun and a good last day of Virginia. I was very surprised how easy the 20 miles were, having no pack makes an enormous difference.

After slackpacking we just needed a second shuttle to Harpers Ferry. That day we spent looking at all of the historic plaques, and I stopped by the ATC headquarters. There I got my photo placed in a binder which will be on record. So if you’re ever in Harpers Ferry, you can find me in the 2016 one.

From Harpers Ferry I took an Amtrak to D.C.. It was very hectic getting off in union station. There were so many people, everyone was rushing, it was chaos. Finally I got my bearings and figured out the Metro, then I met my Uncle Rick in Greenbelt. And that’s that. I’ll be here for the next few days and then it’s back to the trail for me. I’m curious to see if I become antsy taking this time off. Regardless, I’ve been looking forward to it.