1070.1 miles, 1,980,534 steps

Tired of reading “Virginia” in the tags for these trail updates? Me too. Well, we’ve finally walked away from the Commonwealth and across the boundaries of three more states, no less! Where exactly “The South” ends is up to debate, but when you’ve spotted Amish buggies and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, there’s no doubt you’re in the Northeast.

As much I love my state of residence, it’s refreshing to move on. In fact, I’ve looked forward to the Northeast the most of all the trail’s regions. While I’ve traveled to New England on several occasions, rarely has that been to the wilderness. Previous through-hikers have been hyping up the truly alpine nature of New Hampshire and Maine. My wonder and sense of discovery are renewed.

In addition to transitioning from the Mid Atlantic, this week’s tale features several historic sights!

Day 71: Sunday, April 28

Front Royal VA, US 522 to Jim & Molly Denton Shelter – 4.9 miles

My good friend, Brendan, came from the Northern Virginia area to visit during the morning. He drove me from the hostel to mass at the Christendom College chapel, where we shall return in a few weeks for his very own wedding! We hit the diner for brunch, chatted for a bit in the local park, and accomplished my resupply run. Parting ways early afternoon, I made my way to the outfitter, which featured a beautiful mural out front, to stock up on fuel. I lounged in the beautiful town square until evening, when I moseyed on over to the Thai restaurant to meet up with another friend. Father David, who was chaplain at Virginia Tech for most of my college days, had generously offered to join me for dinner and drive me back to the trail head.

On the few miles to the closest shelter, I contemplated how no time spent with friends is “enough”. Though I passed almost the entire day in excellent company, the parting with both of my visitors stung my heart. My isolation has given me a keener desire to use time well with others, to be an attentive listener and speak about what really matters. This is true whether on an hour-long phone call in-town or for a few minutes chatting with a fellow hiker. I am profoundly blessed to have the friends and family that I do, to know and meet so many wonderful people throughout my life.

Day 72: Monday, April 29

Jim & Molly Denton Shelter to Rod Hollow Shelter – 18.4 miles

Not much to say about this day in particular, so I’ll speak to some aspects of the section in general. The PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) seems to be one of the larger trail, maintenance clubs. I’ve encountered so far. They maintain a large section that’s at least 100 miles long, and they build impeccable shelters. For example, the Jim and Molly Denton shelter Featured luxuries such as a porch in front of the sleeping area, a covered picnic pavilion, and a solar powered shower (which was out of order). I was able to photograph a few of these.

Day 73: Tuesday, April 30

Rod Hollow Shelter to Sand Spring – 13.4 miles

Today I tackled the “Roller Coaster”, 13 miles of tightly-packed steep hills. This is one of the many instances where I wish I could show you the elevation profile in my guidebook (which I don’t reproduce for copyright reasons). To my fellow engineers out there I can give a description: picture a sine wave with an amplitude of 1,000 feet and wavelength of 8,500 feet. It wasn’t quite constant up-and-down, but a nonetheless rigorous affair that required lower mileage for the day. I managed to reach West Virginia before pitching my tent ahead of some overnight showers.

Day 74: Wednesday, May 1

Sand Spring to Potomac River – 18.7 miles

I strolled along the ridge defining the border between Virginia and West Virginia, until I hit Loudon Heights and turned west to descend to Harpers Ferry. The “Lower Town” which predates the Civil War did not disappoint. A crooked web of brick streets led down well-worn stone steps and stretched past tightly-packed cobblestone buildings. Arriving just after 5:00 PM, most of the historic sites were closed for the day, but I lacked the energy to properly mentally engage with them, anyway. After a scoop of my favorite ice cream flavor, chocolate chip cookie dough, I discreetly boiled water for my dinner in a small park next to the train station. This is the first trail town with a Catholic Church, whose website indicated that daily mass would be held at 7:00 PM. Alas, the old church was closed for restoration.

The sun was setting as I crossed over the Potomac into Maryland! For a few miles, the trail goes along the towpath of the retired C&O Canal. In fact, the C&O Canal Trail branches off all the way to Ohio, a pleasant reminder of my home state.

Earlier in the afternoon, I passed a QR code to a website that asks you a different question about the trail every day. Try it yourself here: https://www.hykeroo.com/atqotd/index.html

Day 75: Thursday, May 2

Potomac River to Pine Knob Shelter – 21.5 miles

Today’s path brought me past several locations with historical plaques: Gathland State Park, Fox Gap, and Washington Monument State Park. Sights included Civil War mausoleums & cemeteries, a monument to War Correspondents, a ruined artillery battery, and a stone monolith in honor of our first president. I did spend a little time reading about the battles for control of key mountain passes and providing my own “summary” of facts about George Washington (see videos).

Day 76: Friday, May 3

Pine Knob Shelter to Falls Creek – 18.6 miles

A fellow through hiker I’ve neglected to mention is “Ghost Runner”. To save weight and time, his wife drops him off and picks him up each day with their RV. But before you think his approach sounds much easier, almost like cheating, note that he does 20-mile days. In just 8 hours. Since the middle of last week, every afternoon, he’s blazed by me at a jog, a time I’ve come to call “Ghost Runner’o’clock”. With similar mileages, his appearance has been a daily occurrence, even though his pace is much faster than mine.

Since he normally catches up to me in the afternoon, the midday sun slowed him down to a quick walk. I could push myself to keep up for a while, and across the week we spent a few hours in pleasant conversation. He just retired, and hiking the AT is just the first part of his year-long celebration trip.

This particular day, we met up just a mile before the RV. When we reached MD 491, he ducked inside and kindly offered a Cliff bar and large lemonade as trail magic. He doesn’t take zeros or resupply runs, so we likely won’t meet up again as I was heading into town the next day. For me, Ghost Runner was a character easy to be jealous of with his 10-lb pack and RV setup, though he was actually a fun acquaintance to chat with and a generous soul.

On the Raven Rocks, I did in fact spy (and hear) two croaking ravens. Aptly named.

Day 77: Saturday, May 4

Falls Creek to PA 16, Waynesboro PA – 2.0 miles

As soon as I got to town, I made my way to the post office. As the temperature did not drop below 50 this week, I finally sent back the remainder of my winter clothes (save my beanie, which may be needed in the White Mountains, even in June). As I turned onto Main Street to make my way to the motel, I stumbled into a street festival. To celebrate the arrival of spring, tents from local food and art vendors lined the closed-off road. After a massive pretzel braid, I partook in a snack foreign to me, German toasted almonds. Ravenous hiker that I am, it required concentrated self control to not blow my budget on more pricy festival fare (don’t worry, I treated myself to several cartons of berries and a half gallon of chocolate milk from the grocery store later on). The Amish folks selling homemade syrup, upon learning I was a through-hiker, kindly gifted me a small box of maple candies. A surprise welcome to Waynesboro.

Too early to check in to the motel, I ducked into the gas station next door to escape the rain and charge my batteries. Hours passed as I planned for next week and revised this trail update. Standing up to go and collecting the wrappers from the maple candies, an older gentleman in a ragged coat asked me my name. When I explained I was a hiker passing through the area, he chuckled boisterously “I thought you came from the shelter down the road!”. It turns out that loitering in a convenience store and growing unkempt facial hair will get you mistaken as a homeless person.

On the Horizon

It’s time to cross the hallowed halfway point! Plus, not one, but two trail towns to check out later in the week.

Pebbles

New birds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Grackle, House Sparrow, and Great Blue Heron

Songs in my Head: “Crazy Arms” by Willie Nelson & Ray Price, “Come and Go with Me” by The Beach Boys, and “Soulful Strut” by Grover Washington Jr.

I here highly resolve that these toes shall not have been stubbed in vain,

Maxwell “Oatmeal” Stelmack