Today was a day for the books! My hike was beyond enjoyable. We started off early, although not as early as I would have hoped (again). I wanted to be walking with the sunrise. Maybe tomorrow!
After we packed we trickled out of camp and down the beaten path. Shortly into our hike we came across the biggest oak tree on the Appalachian trail. It was magnificent, to say the least. It would take at least five hikers to hug all the way around the tree! I was so happy to be there with friends. We all took pictures together and spoke of its magic. It was a refresher for me because we have been walking through forests of American Hemlocks, which are all dying. I love evergreens so it was a sad feeling to walk through these forests of dead and dying trees. I think they are dying from Hemlock woolly adelgid.
Gigantic Tree!
The gang! Sprout, Bubbles, Mountain Man, Karma, and Whiskers
We left the Goliath of a tree and walked up stone steps into the most beautiful field. There were purple flowers everywhere and tall grass swaying in the breeze. I was captivated by its beauty and again felt beyond thankful to be here. I am right where I'm supposed to be. The fragrance of the purple flowers was so wonderful I would have laid in that field all day, but ticks are bad around here so I didn't linger. I wish you all could smell the heavenly scents of the flower fields. It's a memory and smell I won't forget.
Field
Sprout and the gang ahead of me on the trail
After the field it was back to forest. It was nice to be in the shade of the trees. I walked behind Sprout for a while and then he went ahead at his own pace. I met him again at the beaver pond where our trail family was soaking in the sun. The boys left and headed to Tony's Deli to get sandwiches. Yayyy. I am so thankful that Karma and I have such great hiking partners.
Karma on the trail
Blazes on a tree
I massaged my feet and put fresh socks on. Karma and I went to the garden center to wait for the boys. It was a nice break and the garden center was very hiker friendly. I am thankful for businesses and hiker friendly towns that help us hikers. It's amazing.
Appalachian Trail train stop!
This is LOUD. You might want to turn your speakers down!
After eating half a sub we hopped back on the AT. Today's hike was pretty much next to perfect. We walked through more fields and cow pastures. Up and over electrical fences. Again, the fields were littered with flowers but this time there were birds fluttering around. It was a sight to see.
Trail today
We got to the next shelter (Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter) and stopped to take a break before trekking to our destination. I laid with my butt against the wall and elevated my feet 90 degrees against shelter wall. Hopefully that helps with my achy feet and ankles. Whiskers came into camp and he developed two new blisters from his shoes. I hope he doesn't have too much pain or problems with those suckers. He is a really nice guy and we enjoy seeing him in camp. He takes great photos of the trail. I thought he might be a professional photographer but it's just a hobby.
AT Wiley Shelter
Nice selection of cooking pots for over a fire
Free Library on the trail!
Made it to Connecticut
I finally made it to camp and we set up at a beautiful campsite close to the Ten Mile River. We took a dip in the river and rinsed our clothes out. The sound of the river is peaceful and I am again caught thinking to myself "I am living in a dream world, how lucky am I?"
We got a late start but we left Harper's ferry today. It was easy, while walking through town, to start looking around and suddenly realize you had to look for the white blazes! We came across 125 turtles on the towpath. It was a tough walk out of Harpers Ferry.
Before we left we got to see kids on a field trip on a scavenger hunt. I think it’s neat that schools are able to take students to a place with so much history. The kids might not appreciate it yet, but they will when they are older.
While walking out of town we first came up on Jefferson Rock. This is really a pile of rocks on top of each other where Thomas Jefferson once sat, in 1783, and said that “This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic”. The rocks used to be sitting on top of each other without support, but after they began to weather and people started to play with them, supports were built.
Jefferson's Rock
One would think that the sign saying "no climbing" would not be necessary!
Another cool site we walked past was the ruins of the original St. John’s Episcopal church in Harpers Ferry. It was built in 1852 and used as a hospital and barracks during the Civil War. It was interesting to see the church foundation and walls. It made me wonder about the people who used to worship there.
St. John's Episcopal Ruins on the trail
Interesting to see how the church was build
We also walked past the John Brown Fort. What an amazing historical building! This is the only building left of the armory where the abolitionist John Brown led a raid so that he could arm slaves with weapons to fight for their freedom!!! You could also tell that they still have reenactments at the fort. It was open so we looked in. The bars on the windows were so old!
Suddenly, we were walking through town again! There were tiny little shops through the town. I can’t wait to come back and spend more time in town!
Harpers Ferry is charming. I can't wait to come back and visit.
While we were hiking today there was a train going through the mountains. It was cool because we could hear the train whistle echoing through the mountains.
Crossing the Potomac river
Cool railroad and foot bridge over the Potomac river
I cannot stress enough the 125, maybe 130, probably even 140, turtles we saw (Bubbles insists that we can only officially count 107 because that's the number that she counted. She didn't start counting until we walked past a bunch of turtles so I keep teasing her about the number we saw!)
At least 13 turtles in this picture!
It was nice to finally see a switchback. They are a pain because it would be much faster and shorter to just go straight up the mountain (I understand why they are neccessary though!) It's a lot longer walk but there were tons of purple flowers and pink trees. Everywhere we looked you could see something different!
Switchbacks!
We ended the day at the Edward B Garvey Shelter. It is nice at the end of the day to see your last destination sign!
Here is my routine when I get into camp: The first thing I do when I walk into camp is to figure out where I’m going to set up our tent. While I’m looking for a tent site I also look for a bear box or a bear pole. If I don't see a bear box or pole then I look for a tree for our food. Next, the tent goes up, I start to make or prepare food, I find water and filter it, and then start a fire.
Sign to Weverton Cliff
Tree down
I'm going to work on getting my thumb out of pictures and videos!
We hiked ten miles on the trail today. It was cool because we hiked along one of the boundaries between the Union and the Confederates during the Civil War. We also had to walk over train tracks. We heard the train so we stopped and I put three quarters on the track. We only found two of them after the train whirled past us.
Two of my flat quarters
Not going to work at the laundromat anymore!
Day 13 (Saturday, April 9)
We hiked 12.9 miles today. It snowed on and off for a few miles and it was cold! We stopped at Dicks Dome shelter for breakfast. The rest of the walk was downhill which was very nice because we will be hitting the roller coaster tomorrow!
Art work from Dick's Dome Shelter (Day 13)
Day 14 (Sunday, April 10)
We hiked 7 miles into the roller coaster today. The roller coaster is a part of the trail where you walk up and down from 1200 feet to 800 feet without stopping (there is no flat ground at all)! It is 13.5 miles long. We stopped halfway through for the night. I love camping and being outside everyday. You would think that walking up and down mountains would be the hard part of this but it’s the backpack on my back!!
Day 15 (Monday, April 11)
We are hiking along the West Virginia, Virginia border as we head towards Harper's Ferry W.V. We should be there tomorrow but we needed to hike 14 miles today first. This is the furthest we have walked of any day so far! I love it more everyday out here. I don't have to worry about a thing out here except for keeping my feet healthy.
Day 16 (Tuesday, April 12)
We hiked 8 miles into Harpers Ferry, West Virginia today. I took off pretty quick and got going so that I could just get here and relax. We had to get our mail drop, which was sent to the Appalachian Trail Conservatory (ATC) and we also checked into the ATC. I'm officially the 27th flip flop hiker to come through Harper's Ferry in 2016! We got into the hotel room and left to get pizza. I'm going to take it easy tonight and get ready for our hike tomorrow!
We got on the trail around 9:00 am after staying at the Cabbin, which is later in the day than we normally start. I like to break camp before the sun is up. It doesn't happen everyday, but we try.
The walk was HARD. Our packs felt like they had bricks in them. Well, one of us was carrying a brick of cheese! Side note: one of the great things about it being cold on the trail is that we can keep foods that require refrigeration! I love me some CHEESE!!
We stopped at the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter to make a pot of jet fuel (coffee). My favorite part of the shelter wasn't the amazing solar shower or the horseshoe pits, but a small piece of paper in the shelter that gave the history about Jim and Molly. I looked online for information about them before we left for the trail but couldn't find anything.
Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
History of the Jim and Molly Denton
After we left the shelter we had another 5.5 miles to bust out. While hiking we came across train tracks and heard the familiar sound of a train whistle. We waited for the train to pass and it made my day! I’ve never been that close to a train passing by (at least out of a car) and it was going much faster than it would have if it was in a town. Smudgy Cheeks put some quarters on the rails and we danced and jumped around like kids while the train passed. The conductors waved and tooted the horn for us. I felt important!! Haha, I don't know why, but it was so cool.
Smudgy Cheeks with the train!
Me with the train!
The Sprout and the train!
We made it to Manassas Gap Shelter. We kept joking all day and calling it Man ... Asses. We can be immature but it made us laugh a lot. We had the shelter to ourselves and it was nice to be in camp.
Today was a tough day, we did 10.6 miles. Our hike out of Front Royal was much harder than our hike into Front Royal because we have full food bags and we ate so much while we were in town. I've heard the day after town is a hard day and that is true!
It feels good to be back on the trail getting some miles in! It was a pleasant experience going into Front Royal. We were able to resupply and get full bellies, but at the same time, I wanted to get back to hiking!
Goodbye Cabbin!
The Three Amigos leaving for the trail.
Smudgy Cheeks is always ahead of us! The sign says Hiking Trail Only.
We hiked through meadows and fields today. It was nice change of scenery. At one point we were walking up a steep hill and I noticed a fence to the left of the trail. When I went to check it out I saw a mansion with a huge front yard. There were also a few other houses off in the distance. We are definitely hiking closer to civilization now.
Three turkeys ran off into the woods in front of us. I've been trying to look further ahead to see more animals. There was also a huge crayfish in the spring at the shelter.
We called Johnny Lip because he lives in Virginia. He's going to meet us sometime this week or next. It's hard to tell exactly when we will be able to meet up with people because we're still trying to get comfortable with our days. It's difficult to judge how far a person can hike in the beginning. We have an idea but that could all change. We follow a spreadsheet that Poppa Lip put together. So far we have stayed on track.
A bench on the trail can be a gift!
It was a beautiful day with blue skies!
Gigantic Tree!
Civil War History
We passed over train tracks today and we could hear the train off in the distance. It wasn't too far away so we waited. It was cool to see the train fly by. We took a couple of pictures and a video. It was perfect timing and we only had to wait a few minutes.
Train Tracks!!
Here she comes!!!!
We went past the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter today. We were only stopping for lunch but it was a really nice place. There was an outdoor solar shower, horse shoes, a nice pavilion, a picnic table to cook and eat, a huge deck, and a lot of room inside the shelter. It would have been a great spot to stay for the night but it was too early in the day to stay and we had more miles to hike.
Pretty soon we will need to Forge some creeks and rivers
