The Sprout Day 23 (Tuesday, April 19th)

We got a late start on the trail today but went 10.2 that puts us at 217.6 total miles! It feels great to be over 200 hundred miles.

We are in Pennsylvania.  The views are great on top of the mountains.  Today we could see a lake off in the distance.  

We found a log book in the middle of nowhere.  It’s a mailbox with a log in it. We knew Mayhem was there!  We checked to see if a few of our other hikers were here too.

The lake we could see off in the distance from the top of a mountain

Blue blazing to Rocky Mountain Shelter.  Only .3 miles to go!

This is looking straight down!  I would hate to fall down there!\

Log book in the middle of nowhere!

Glad we weren't planning on getting groceries here!

Another amazing fire to end our day

Day:  23

Miles hiked:  10.2

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  217.6

Bears:   0

Butterfly:  8

Chipmunk:  2

Crawfish:  1

Deer:  20

Really Big Dog:  1

Mouse:  1

Nest of bugs:  1

Skunk:  1

Snail:  1

Snake:  1

Squirrels:  11

Trout:  2

Turkeys:  4

Turtles:  107

Vulture:  6

Woodpecker:  1

The Sprout Day 16 (Tuesday, April 12th)

Harpers Ferry was a cool little historical town.  I would like to go back and sightsee.

We crossed the Virginia/ West Virginia state line!  This was one of our major goals! I wanted to get into West Virginia and play John Denver’s Country Roads.  However, I was watching the rocks because I didn’t want to twist my ankle and missed the sign.  What a let down!

The VA/ WV State Line.  Poppa Lip was happy to see we made it into WV!!!

1.9 miles to Harpers Ferry

Entering the National Historical Park

When we walked into Harpers Ferry it was cool to see the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers conflux with the mountains in the background.  Words cannot express how beautiful it is.  It is also crazy how clear the water is.  Back home, the Cuyahoga looks like a mud puddle (and the lakes, ponds, and creeks) but you can see the bottom of everything here.  

While walking through Harpers Ferry National Historical Park we passed Storer College.  The college was established after the Civil War so that former slaves had a place to learn how to read, write, and learn marketable skills.  There were pictures of where they played football and we walked right beside their field!  It’s an incredible feeling to walk through an area that has such a rich history.

Walking over the Shenandoah river into Harpers Ferry

Look at how clear the water is

Shenandoah River

It felt great to get to the ATC.  We had our picture taken so that we could be in the record book.  We also got to see Ox’s picture!!  We took a picture of his picture and sent it to him.  We are flip flop hikers numbers 25, 26, and 27 for the year 2016!  We also got to see Mayhem.  He said he was working upstairs when Smudgy Cheeks walked in.  He said, “I know that smell” and came downstairs and saw Smudgy Cheeks!  I thought that was pretty funny.  It was cool to meet him in the real world.  He took our picture and bought us our first round of pops!  Even though he had things to do he waited at the ATC for Bubbles, walked to meet her on the trail, and then walked back to the ATC with her!  He is a great guy!

One of the cool things about the ATC is that they keep a record of the thru hikers.  When we were there at the ATC there was a lady looking for her grandma (who thru hiked in the 80s or 90s).  They searched for her picture and trail name and when they couldn’t find it they told her they would keep searching and get back to her.  It’s so cool that they do that for the hikers.

Post card to send home

Our official Harper's Ferry ATC photo card

We left the ATC and realized, after getting five minutes down the road, that we forgot our food drop!  I went back to get it and it was super heavy.  

We stayed at the The Econo Lodge, which was gross.  It smelled like a dirty foot and cigarettes.  Luckily, we are used to smelling ourselves and we got used to it in about five minutes.  

It was sweet to put all of our food out on the bed and see what we had to eat!

Food drop!! Time to organize

We pounded some pizza, which was good.  I tried to go to the library to print something up and I think they are still on dial up!  It was crazy!

I forgot, we walked past this crazy looking web of bugs.  Check it out!

What????

Day:  16

Miles hiked:  8.7

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  161.2

Bears:   0

Butterfly:  7

Chipmunk:  1

Crawfish:  1

Deer:  20

Really Big Dog:  1

Mouse:  1

Nest of Bugs: 1
Skunk:  1

Snail:  1

Squirrels:  11

Turkeys:  4

Woodpecker:  1

Bubbles Day 16 (Tuesday, April 12th)

The David Lesser Memorial Shelter was a beautiful place to stay.  We were the only people in the shelter at night (there was a hiker down the hill camping.)  It was only nine miles to Harpers Ferry.  We had originally planned to go into town, grab our mail drop from the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservatory) headquarters, and be on our way to the next shelter (which is about 8 miles out).   We realized that we had scheduled a zero day in Harpers Ferry so we decide to just get a hotel and stay for the night.

The Sprout on the way to Harpers Ferry (entering the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park)!

Only 0.4 more to go!! (taking a break on some steps)

Potomac River

The ATC was pretty cool.  We got to take our pictures and I’m officially the 25th flip flopper this year (I’m not sure why Sprout and Smudgy Cheeks are 26 and 27 since they were at the ATC before me!!)  It was also really cool because Mayhem was at the ATC.  When Smudgy Cheeks showed up, and then Sprout, he knew I wasn’t far behind.  He had to get going but wanted to say hi so he walked down the trail until he saw me.  This was just the encouragement I needed to finish my hike!! Thanks Mayhem!!!

Smudgy Cheeks, Bubbles, Mayhem, and The Sprout

Man do I want an AT Hammock!

It felt great to reach our goal of making it to the Harpers Ferry ATC!!

The Sprout in front of the ATC Visitor Center

Hiker hunger is the real deal!  For the first 10 days (except when we had Coney dogs) my appetite was not very big.  After we dropped our packs at the hotel, Jeff and I walked to the pizza shop to order dinner to-go.  We walked out with 2-16 inch pizzas, a foot-long Italian sub, a large order of mozzarella sticks, and an order of chicken wings!  Then, I was so hungry while we were waiting for our food to be cooked I ate a bag of chips and a Coke!  

The hotel had a washer and dryer so I did our laundry and we hung out there for the rest the night.  Although it is really nice to take a shower, it is weird taking a shower with short hair.  I went to put shampoo in my hair and had enough to clean 2 feet of hair!  I LOVE having short hair and I'm thinking of going a little bit shorter.

We are going through our food drop and getting ready to pack for our continued adventure tomorrow.

I'm so happy to see spring blooming!

How old do you think this house is?

The Sprout put his hand in here on purpose.  Grrrrr.

St. John's Lutheran Church today

The Sprout Day 8 (Monday, April 4th)

We ended our day yesterday at Byrds Nest #3.  This has been one of the coolest huts so far!  It had a fireplace inside which was perfect because it was still a little cold.  We shared the hut with a guy named Mayhem.  He works for the ATC and thru-hiked in ‘93.  He was really cool and funny.  Byrds Nest #3 had one of the best views of the sunset and when it got dark we could see the lights from all of the little towns below us.  I took some pretty cool pics of the view.

This was actually at a different hut.  I didn't get any pictures of the view last night.

I could see so many stars last night (one of my favorite things about being out here!) You can see all of the stars because there is no light pollution! It's such a great view. I might look into getting some binoculars or a spotting scope.

Last night we started to run out of firewood so Mayhem suggested we go get some.  All of us put on our headlamps and took off down the path a little way. It felt great to be out in the middle of nowhere, on a mountain, looking for firewood. We felt a little more comfortable with the situation because we were with a veteran.

We stayed up a little later than usual because we knew today was only a 4 mile day.  Today was our rest day, a Nero, or near zero day.  We listened to music and talked for a few hours last night.  We heard an owl right by us.  The sound was perfect.  When I look back and think of last night I really feel like it was perfect; the sunset was amazing, good people, great fire, a ton of stars, and we laughed all night.  It was one of the best nights on the trail.  Mayhem is awesome and he helped us by answering all of our questions and made us feel good about our journey so far.

It was a very windy night so I had to get up two times to adjust the rain fly.  The wind was blowing the food bags back and forth too.

Maggie and I went to Mary's rock today. It was only a .1 mile side trail and totally worth it.  We took a couple of pictures on top.  I love all the different views from the different parts of the trail.  

Mary's Rock

That's me wayyyyy up there!!!

Bubbles on Mary's Rock

Can you see the heart on the rock?

A view from Mary's Rock

It was nice to get to camp at 11:00 a.m today.  We had all day to relax and look over the maps. Jeff and I started a big fire and collected enough wood for the day.  We were alone most of the day but the hut eventually filled with four other people.  

Making a fire!

White Walkers stayed here last night.  He was leaving as I was walking into camp.  He said a previous hiker had too much food and left some there for anyone who might be hungry.  It really helped us because we didn't have as much food as we thought.  We would have made it to Front Royal but this definitely made it a little easier on us. I was happy to see graham crackers and chocolate icing packets!  There were three unopened packs and they went great with the hot chocolate!  

Thank you mystery hiker!!

We ended our day with 81.3 miles!  I'm so happy to have made it this far.  We still have a long way to go but we all feel good about being out here.  It's the best feeling to be here doing this. It's a different way of life and I like it!

Day:  8

Miles hiked:  4.4

Miles off trail to shelter:  0

Total Miles hiked on the trail:  81.3

Blisters:  0

Real Bears:   0

Deer:  11

Squirrels:  8

Chipmunk:  1

Snail:  1

Bubbles Day 8 Our first Nero (near a zero day) (Monday, April 4th)

We got a later start today than we would have liked. It was cold and I sat in my sleeping bag until Robby peeled it off of me and gave me a good push to get ready. Jeff headed out before us (like always).  We had a short hike today (about 4.5 miles for the day.)

How I felt when I woke up today!!!

We hiked to Mary's Rock (3,514 feet).  It was only a tenth of a mile off of the trail.  We said we HAD to hike to it because our hike day was so short. It was the best decision we have made.  Mayhem told us to go check it out too. It was really a sight to see.  I recommend, to anyone who visits SNP, to check out Mary's Rock. We climbed to the top for photos and then sat there for a minute. It was projected to rain around noon so Robby wanted to get moving. I, on the other hand, would have sat there until it started raining!! It was unlike anywhere I have ever been.

Robby on Mary's Rock

We finished our hike three miles later at Pass Mountain Hut.  We got there so early in the day we didn't know what to do with all of our time!  I got water from the spring and washed some of my stinkier clothes.  It took a long time because I had to walk back and forth from the spring (to get water) to where I was washing my clothes. You don't want to wash clothes, dishes, or anything in or near the drinking water. Robby tied a rope up and we dried all of our clothes.

View on Mary's Rock

We had the shelter to ourselves for about five hours. Ten minutes after Jeff said, "We are going to have this shelter all to ourselves tonight," we got company!  We were excited about it. Birdman and Cornchips strolled up after they finished a 15 mile day!  We felt bad because all of our stuff was EVERYWHERE. We quickly made room for them and really enjoyed their company.

Next, Little Phoenix arrived.  Talk about an amazing woman! She had been out for nine days and it was her first time backpacking.  She is going to make it as far as she can in the next month and a half before she has to go back to school.  She told us she had to buy new boots because her feet swelled 3 sizes!  She is a great artist and I have enjoyed reading her entries in the shelter books. She is a SoBo (SouthBounder).

After Little Phoenix got settled in, and made dinner, Woody arrived, another SoBo. We didn't talk much but he seemed very nice and knowledgeable. I sat by the fire after everyone went to bed relaxing and smiled to myself, a lot. Where else in the world would I meet all these amazing people? Nowhere but out here on the AT!  

Me on top of Mary's Rock

Bubbles Day 7 (Sunday, April 3rd)

We set out shortly after the Scouts.  I was excited today because we were hiking up Stony Man Mountain and I knew that I would get to experience the views without snow this time.  It's a cool experience to hike the same path as before but in a different season (Robby and I hiked the middle of the Shenandoah park in early March.)

We stopped at Skyland resort a few miles into our hike.  We had to smell so bad compared to all of the clean visitors!  We sat, charged our phones, drank coffee, and all had a sandwich.  My turkey sandwich was a Goliath. It took me about 40 minutes to eat the whole thing.  It was great to stop in and take a little rest before we finished off our day.  

Skyland is right before Stony Man which is the highest point of the AT through the Shenandoah park. It was an amazing sight to see because the weather was great.

I was really excited to get to camp because we were staying at Bryds Nest #3 hut. We walked past this beaut on our shakedown and said we have to stay here next time. It has a fireplace in the shelter and feels very homey.  

When we arrived at the shelter we met Mayhem.  Mayhem is a young 46 year old who is thru-hiking the AT for the second time! He reminded me of my neighbor/ previous boss Pat.  He had a way of making you feel important and smart and seemed to really listen to what we had to say.  He said he was impressed with how much we had accomplished. That meant a lot to me.  To hear a veteran give us kudos made me realized what an excellent job we are doing! He works for the ATC and they gave him the time off to go hike his hike! Pretty awesome!

Jeff at sunset

We all went and collected firewood and sat by the fire talking and laughing. It was one of my favorite nights so far. I love the people out here. This community is like no other.  It’s nurturing and loving. You don't have to have a nice car or big house or have the most expensive gear to be accepted. You just need to be yourself.  What a wonderful thing.

Fire in the hut

Mayhem told us that it's an average of 10 degrees warmer inside a tent compared to a hut.  That prompted us to set up our home because it was supposed to get cold, and it did!  It was a windy, chilly night. Our rain fly came lose and we had to fix it twice in the middle of the night. I learned a lot about setting up the tent. Hey, by the time we make it to PA we might have it down!

Mayhems map with a pen showing how far we've walked