+023.jpg)
So we're back in the ATC center in Harpers Ferry, WV about to get our photos taken for the class of 2009 thru- hikers' register. Last night we stayed at the Northgate Inn in Charlestown WV, and plan on staying there again tonight so that we can get some decent sleep for our hiker tommorow. It looks like the Maryland Challenge, or 4 state challenge (crossing through four states in a day) is going to be about 44-47 miles depending on whether we decide to push to the first shelter in PA, or just crash on the border. Either way I think we're going to be on trail at about 5am and getting in to camp maybe around 8pm (that's a total guess, I have no clue how long 44 miles takes to hike). Oh yeah, in the register we are the 694,695 and 695th thru-hikers to reach Harpers Ferry this year, although that includes section hikers and a few folks that we know yellow-blazed from Damascus where we last passed them (shame). Apparently we still have some hurdles to climb though since about 337 northbounders made it all the way yesterday. Still, I'm pretty psyched to have 50% odds against us at this point and not 80% against us when we started in Georgia. Surprisingly, the time has flown by, and the miles have gone even quicker.
The Shanandoahs were a very different experience for us since it included about 100 miles of trail with several wayside food kiosks, gas stations and day tourists. The trail also interesects with the road 23 times and follows alongside it for several miles. Actually aside from being satiated all time from the fresh wayside burgers, the Shanandoahs were not our favorite hiking. Most of the best views are actually roadside and not on the trail (which is normally 20 feet to one side of the road). However we did get to see 11 bear in the Shanandoahs and a crazy amount of very people friendly deer (or at least not people phobic). Actually one deer near camp our third night in was trying to pick a fight with stew, but realized it was probably a bad choice (we're often hungry). We also had our first 30 mile day in the range and we were actually able to celebrate with some nice cold beer hiked in from the Skyline drive parkway at the end of the day. Our last night in the Shanandoahs after the 30 mile day was possibly our oddest yet. When coming into camp for the evening we discovered we had a cute shelter cat (Mufasa) to drive away the mice. The cat looked well fed (probably from hikers) and clean, so we all thought it was great, until the cat died later that night next to stewy's head. We have not idea why, possibly a snake bite. Either way, it made for an odd breakfast the next day when I had to dispose of it, but we honored the cat by changing the shelter's name from Gravel Springs Hut to Mufasa Springs Hut. RIP mufasa.
Right after the Shanandoahs we met up with Stews parents Mr. and Mrs. Stewy at Front Royal where we were able to resupply mostly off of the extra food we brought with us to Stews relatives house in Georgia (Thanks for bringing it up to NC!)
Apparently, Virginia is not only for lovers, but also for TONS of black berries and raspberries. The last 150 miles of the state (especially the last 50) had enough berries to pick them on the fly while hiking. Snacks hav never been better.
Currently we are headed off to the outfitter for some new shoes for Stew since the ones he has right now are the bane of his existance and to try out my new superfeet insoles which hopefully I won't have to duct tape every day to keep from wearing through. Thanks for the package mom! Also, that spam is going to be the cats pajamas after a month of noodles.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Virginia...CHECK!
This is just a quick location update, but we went over the infamous viginia "rollercoaster" this morning (actually not really that bad at all, just viewless and annoying) and got into Harpers Ferry West Virginia a little before 2pm. Although we were not always hiking together today, all of us decided to run the last few miles after seeing the "Harpers Ferry National Park" sign. Now we're sitting cool in the ATC headquarters and probably off to some kind (any kind) of food! I will post up tommorow during our zero day about the rest of Virginia and what we've done in town.
PS: I wouldn't worry too much about low sodium (even though we sweat rediculously). Each one of those ramen packets has about a 1/3 daily value and 3 of those is usually a dinner. I'm pretty sure we get about 500% of the normal intake.
PS: I wouldn't worry too much about low sodium (even though we sweat rediculously). Each one of those ramen packets has about a 1/3 daily value and 3 of those is usually a dinner. I'm pretty sure we get about 500% of the normal intake.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Journey to Waynes World!
hey everyone!
Sorry I have not been able to post in a while. Most of the towns we have been through in the past couple weeks are lucky to even have a post office within hitching distance of the trail. We have had a lot of "gas station ressupplies" which is actually alright since we have discovered a tastey 50 cent hunny bun treat that packs a whopping 680 calories. Our lunches these days consist of mostly pastries, gold fish and GORP since they actually are more calorie rich than ther expensive clif bar brand counterpart.
Anyway, our walk through Virginia has been mostly sunny with some very warm days. We were told they were in the 90's, but it hard to tell when you just sweat all the time as a normal part of the day. We've been rained on three times this entire state, some of which we had to walk through some nasty thunderstorms, but that is still about 2.5 less weeks of rain that we experienced through GA, N.C, and T.N. I think Virgnia has easily been our most enjoyable hiking yet. Despite the rumors from old thru hikers though, Virginia is very much NOT flat. Especially over the last three days we have seen some climbs that could give the whie mountains a run for their money (two days ago we had hiked a range that was only slightly less vertical change than the N.H. presidential range in the same distance). Early on there was certainly a lot more field walking which was nice since we spent most of the time in N.C and Georgia walking through tunnels of endless rodadendrons. The Grayson highlands were absolutely beautiful and we spent most of the time goofing around with wild ferrel ponies and cows (caution ponies DO bite). After that we spent most of early central virginia in viewless ridgeline walks (but easy) and this past week the terrain has been much more difficult with some significant rock scrambles (our boots have certainly noticed that change).
Another change in our planning has come in the form of all you can eat diners, which are what we plan our town trips around now so that we can keep our calorie intake high (stew and I lost a bit more weight, Jeff is a couple pounds less than Hot Springs). Our mileage has significantly jumped up however, and most days this week we have been averaging 24-27 miles a day. At the foot of the Shanandoahs in Waynesboro, VA we hope to average about the same milage (maybe more since the terrain is easy) and hopefully be in Front Royal in 4 days and in Harpers Ferry in about 6 days total (the 1,000 mile mark). From there we go through 41 miles of Maryland and we're hoping to do the "Maryland Challenge" by pushing through the state all in one day, so that we cross through three states to P.A. The first town in P.A. is also called Waynesboro, so we will be dubbing this section the Journey to Waynes World: Northern Edition.
The virginia bears have been much more scarce but existant, and the deer here seem to not mind our presence at all. For some reason though, the squirells here are paranoid as hell and take off running even if your quite far away (still can't figure out why). We have run into a few more large snakes since Damascus, but not really any more Rattlers to speak of.
In health news, we are all doing a bit better than before. Stew's shins seem to be slowly returning to normal (he is hiking 25 miles a day) and Jeff and I are in good health. Really the only persistant problem seems to be the foot pain the comes from hiking all the time in very bloated feet. In short I'm very gald we have our flip flops for camp when the swelling is at its peak. However, this is something we came to expect and is very common with thru-hikers, especially ones that make it this far.
It's really great to hear from all of you and don't hesistate to give us updates on what is happening back at home. We all miss our friends and family very much. Our first planned zero day should be in Harpers Ferry, and then again some time after Pennsylvania (New York?). It's crazy to be finally seeing the end of this continent (of virginia) very soon. It still seems like we just arrived in Abingdon.
Last night I think we came our closest to hobo-dom when we camped out behind the YMCA in town in our poncho-tarp shanties (it felt pretty sweet). Since we got in we have managed to hit up a reluctant all you can eat chinese resturant (I'm not sure they knew what they were in for) and a small town AYCE pancake diner which was excellent. Also, I'm not sure how many pictures I'll be able to upload on this tiny library computer, but I'm going to try and post up as many as I can while we are in town.
By the way, what's with all the B-list celebrities dying off this month. It's so odd to be out on the trail for this whole time than hear a random boy scout leader tell us of Billy Mays' death and other people we forgot to keep tabs on. Despite Americas loss however, we must press on. See you guys in hopefully less than a week!
Sorry I have not been able to post in a while. Most of the towns we have been through in the past couple weeks are lucky to even have a post office within hitching distance of the trail. We have had a lot of "gas station ressupplies" which is actually alright since we have discovered a tastey 50 cent hunny bun treat that packs a whopping 680 calories. Our lunches these days consist of mostly pastries, gold fish and GORP since they actually are more calorie rich than ther expensive clif bar brand counterpart.
Anyway, our walk through Virginia has been mostly sunny with some very warm days. We were told they were in the 90's, but it hard to tell when you just sweat all the time as a normal part of the day. We've been rained on three times this entire state, some of which we had to walk through some nasty thunderstorms, but that is still about 2.5 less weeks of rain that we experienced through GA, N.C, and T.N. I think Virgnia has easily been our most enjoyable hiking yet. Despite the rumors from old thru hikers though, Virginia is very much NOT flat. Especially over the last three days we have seen some climbs that could give the whie mountains a run for their money (two days ago we had hiked a range that was only slightly less vertical change than the N.H. presidential range in the same distance). Early on there was certainly a lot more field walking which was nice since we spent most of the time in N.C and Georgia walking through tunnels of endless rodadendrons. The Grayson highlands were absolutely beautiful and we spent most of the time goofing around with wild ferrel ponies and cows (caution ponies DO bite). After that we spent most of early central virginia in viewless ridgeline walks (but easy) and this past week the terrain has been much more difficult with some significant rock scrambles (our boots have certainly noticed that change).
Another change in our planning has come in the form of all you can eat diners, which are what we plan our town trips around now so that we can keep our calorie intake high (stew and I lost a bit more weight, Jeff is a couple pounds less than Hot Springs). Our mileage has significantly jumped up however, and most days this week we have been averaging 24-27 miles a day. At the foot of the Shanandoahs in Waynesboro, VA we hope to average about the same milage (maybe more since the terrain is easy) and hopefully be in Front Royal in 4 days and in Harpers Ferry in about 6 days total (the 1,000 mile mark). From there we go through 41 miles of Maryland and we're hoping to do the "Maryland Challenge" by pushing through the state all in one day, so that we cross through three states to P.A. The first town in P.A. is also called Waynesboro, so we will be dubbing this section the Journey to Waynes World: Northern Edition.
The virginia bears have been much more scarce but existant, and the deer here seem to not mind our presence at all. For some reason though, the squirells here are paranoid as hell and take off running even if your quite far away (still can't figure out why). We have run into a few more large snakes since Damascus, but not really any more Rattlers to speak of.
In health news, we are all doing a bit better than before. Stew's shins seem to be slowly returning to normal (he is hiking 25 miles a day) and Jeff and I are in good health. Really the only persistant problem seems to be the foot pain the comes from hiking all the time in very bloated feet. In short I'm very gald we have our flip flops for camp when the swelling is at its peak. However, this is something we came to expect and is very common with thru-hikers, especially ones that make it this far.
It's really great to hear from all of you and don't hesistate to give us updates on what is happening back at home. We all miss our friends and family very much. Our first planned zero day should be in Harpers Ferry, and then again some time after Pennsylvania (New York?). It's crazy to be finally seeing the end of this continent (of virginia) very soon. It still seems like we just arrived in Abingdon.
Last night I think we came our closest to hobo-dom when we camped out behind the YMCA in town in our poncho-tarp shanties (it felt pretty sweet). Since we got in we have managed to hit up a reluctant all you can eat chinese resturant (I'm not sure they knew what they were in for) and a small town AYCE pancake diner which was excellent. Also, I'm not sure how many pictures I'll be able to upload on this tiny library computer, but I'm going to try and post up as many as I can while we are in town.
By the way, what's with all the B-list celebrities dying off this month. It's so odd to be out on the trail for this whole time than hear a random boy scout leader tell us of Billy Mays' death and other people we forgot to keep tabs on. Despite Americas loss however, we must press on. See you guys in hopefully less than a week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)