Date: 2003-06-28
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Miles today: 0.0

Day 96 6/28 7.4mi mm 870Ate breakfast at Lynn's, great food and lots of it!:) Janet Main, a trail angel picked us up and drove us to mile 89 on the Skyline Dr. We enjoyed her company. We arrived at Loft Mt. Camp Ground at 2 p.m. and rented a site. We bought a pound of hot dogs and rolls at the camp store, even got a couple beers. "Papie" and his grandson, Noah are camped near us. We later found out that "Papie" owned Le Conte Lodge at one time. Deer are everywhere. Seneca earned a BA with her arm in a sling.Day 97 6/29 14mi mm 884Got on the trail early and after a half hour came to a blue blaze that led 70 yards to the camp store, where we got off and we each drank 2 pints of chocolate milk. About 1 p.m. we stopped at Pinefield Hut. The morning went well, but the afternoon required some long climbs. It is very warm and humid. As we got near the High Top Hut, bugs got thick again. We set up camp and fought off bugs while we ate dinner:( Michelle, from our first week on the trail is with us again and "Chafe Master J" caught up after a foot injury slowed him down. Day 98 6/30 11.4 mi 895.4mmBroke camp and climbed to a rocky outcropping on High Top Mt. When we got to the 1st road crossing on the Skyline Dr., we found a note from our kids strapped to an AT marker post. We crossed the road and hiked to the next crossing at Rt. 30. Just as we were about to re-enter the woods, they pulled up in Mandy's car. After a short, but happy reunion, we slack packed another 4 miles to Lewis Mt. Campground. Susie drove the car back while Mandy, Todd, Jonathon and Melinda all hiked with us. About a half-mile south of the campground we had a close encounter with a large bear! At about 30 ft. he showed no fear, but did not threaten us. Another highlight of the day was crossing the 900-mile point. Mandy tried out her new hammock in a thunderstorm, it worked great. Todd and Jonathon slept in their new tent, it leaked:( Seneca Lou and I were very dry in our R.V, which our kids brought from home:) Just not big enough for us all to fit in comfortably.Day 99 7/1 11mi. 906.4mmToday we slack packed from Franklin Cliffs back to the RV at Lewis Mt. Susie and Melinda stayed in camp and did laundry and cleaned up. We saw lots of deer today. It was a nice day for hiking and we were able to make 2 miles per hour. After dinner we roasted marshmallows on a campfire. Life is good:) Great fun with the family:)Day 100 7/2 16mi 922.4mmRaining again this a.m. We started around 10:30 a.m. from Franklin Cliffs. Todd and Mandy are hiking with us; Jonathon decided to sit this one out, wise choice. Mandy spotted a bear watching us go by. We hiked in drizzling rain all day and all the views were fogged in. We stopped and had an expensive lunch at Skyland and were late coming into Thornton Gap where we found Susie and the kids worried about us. It took about an hour to get back to Lewis Mt. and we were cold and wet!Day 101 0 miles 7/3More rain and thick fog, our gear is wet from yesterday. We took a 0 and drove the RV to Front Royal to get groceries and do laundry. We ran into "Brown Bess", "Two Speeds" and "Thisel" at the outfitters The weather is clearing but still cool. Susie baked chocolate cake for desert tonight:) Another nice evening. I am sleeping in Mandy's hammock and Todd and Jonathon are next to me in their tent trying to gas each other to death. Thankful for lots of fresh air.Day 102 7/4 14.6 mi Happy 4th of July. pancakes, sausage, coffee and juice, what a way to start the day. Susie drove Mandy, Seneca and I to Gravel Springs Gap and we started hiking back toward Thornton Gap. It's a nice day, warm but clear. We stopped at Elkwallow Wayside for a break and each had a Yahoo and a Moon Pie :) Great Lunch. We met a few thru-hikers there, Mover, Buckey and Double A. We saw a mother bear with a yearling cub at about 75 yards. They moved away from us. A little later Mandy saw a small cub as it disappeared into a thicket. I gave Mandy the trail name "BS" for bear spotter. She has been the 1st to spot all the bears that we've seen along with most of the deer. Susie picked us up at about 4:50p,m, We got back to camp and had a hot dog roast:)Day 103 7/5 13 mi 949.7 mmAfter breakfast we drove to Front Royal and picked up some groceries and then went to the trailhead on Rt. 522 where we started hiking south to Gravel Gap. We saw a bear with 2 cubs from the car. Later we saw a bear on the trail. Susie picked us up at Gravel Gap. Todd has moved the RV to Matthew's Arm CG for 1 night; it is a lot further north. In the morning we will start the hike between Front Royal and Harpers Ferry. Mandy is going to hike with us and we expect to take 3 nights out.Day 104 7/6 10.7mi 960.4 mmWe got to the trailhead on RT.522 at 10:40a.m., a late start and it's hot and humid. We stopped for lunch at Denton Shelter, a really nice place with a deck and a pavilion; it also has a hiker shower by the spring. After lunch we found the heat and humidity oppressive. I think we may need to go further north to get some cooler air. I'm seriously considering a flip-flop. We are at Manassas Gap shelter for the night. Too warm to go on. We are in our tent sweating and Mandy's in her hammock. It just started to rain. This shelter has been trashed but the spring is great. We saw one bear inside the National Zoo logical Park. Bringing my total sightings to 10.Day 105 7/7 13.4mi 973.8 mmThe rain helped cool the air for awhile, but it turned out to be another hot one:( We stopped at Dicks Come Shelter for a break and then hiked thru the green tunnel the rest of the afternoon. Miserable hiking conditions, it makes you wonder why you're out here. We stopped for the night at Doks Hollow Shelter, which has a pavilion a nice spring and what is called a trail shower. We have a fairly level tent site and Mandy is in her hammock. We met some new hikers here "Geo" from the D.C. area and Wolverine from Mich. Mover is here and a strange guy who said he just got out of jail. Lots of fireflies tonight.Day 106 7/8 13.7 mi 987 mmAbout 1/2 hr. after we broke camp it started to rain, it lasted until about 11:30 a.m. Then it got hot again. Virginia proved to be a tough hike right to the end. Today we hit what is called the roller coaster, a series of 17 peaks on rough ground. Late in the afternoon we stopped at the Bears Den hostel, a beautiful castle like place but it was closed so we hiked on to Snickers Gap on RT 7 and went to a pub about .3 mile off the trail. We ate dinner and I had a couple of beers. Later we hiked about 3 1/2 miles to an overlook, where we set up camp on the edge. We had a beautiful view and the air was cool. We were going to sleep in the open but black ants were all over us and it looked like rain, so we had to set the tent and hammock up.Day 107 7/9 17mi 1003.4 mmBroke camp at 7:00 a.m. and found the trail much easier for a while. We took a lunch break at David Lesser Shelter, which is one of the nicest I've seen. About a mile later we crossed an imaginary line where we assumed the 1,000 miles mark to be. It rained most of the afternoon and we walked into Harpers Ferry at 5:00 p.m. in a downpour! We were greeted by Susie, Todd, Melinda, Jonathon, Paul, Di, Christie and Mom and Dad, who surprised us by driving down form N.Y. We looked pretty rough but the people at the AT center took our picture for the 2003 thru hikers album, we looked like drowned rats! We drove back to Front Royal and are camping at the KOA and had a nice reunion. Mom made apple pie:)Lots of wine, beer and burgers, oh so good:) Great to be with family again.Day 108 7/10 0 milesChecked in at the AT conference today and walked around Harpers Ferry. Nice day.Day 109 7/11 16.1 mi 1019.5 mmWe had an early breakfast with the kids and said goodbye:( Mandy drove us back to the trail at Harpers Ferry, we stopped for a second breakfast a McD,s and were hiking at 8:30 a.m. The trail crosses the Potomac on a railroad bridge and then follows the C&O canal tow path for a couple of miles, now finally in Maryland, a very enjoyable section. We stopped for lunch at Ed Garvey Shelter, nice but water was .4mi away. We walked through Gathland S.P. and got sodas from a machine. The park was a civil war battlefield, but has more modern history, including a war correspondence monument. After a break we hiked to Rocky Run Shelter and set up our tent. A shelter journal informed us that "Sassy" got off the trail and that "Kodik" is going on alone:(Day 110 7/12 10.8 mi 1019.5 mmA nice day, but we are not too ambitious. We stopped at Dahlgreen Backpacker Camping Area for a break. I wish there were more of these on the trail-showers, picnic tables and restrooms and grassy sites. We came to Turners Gap where there is a beautiful chapel. There was a small wedding going on, the bride waved to us as she walked down the aisle to the door. A couple miles further we came to the original Washington Monument, a stone tower that we climbed. Later we crossed I-70 on a long footbridge. We took a break at Pine Knob Shelter and we were looking for a campsite when we got caught in a thunderstorm. It rained well into the evening. We finally set up camp at Pogo memorial campsite. A local weekend warrior, named Carl, showed up and offered me a beer and said he had an extra steak because his friends wouldn't join him in the rain. Seneca was settled in the tent and didn't want to join us. We ended up starting a great fire, cooked steak in a frying pan an his whisper lite and drinking vodka tonics until 1:30 a.m. This was probably the latest I've stayed up since we started.Day 111 7/13 14mi 1044.3mmGot an early start. Carl wasn't up to say goodbye to. It's a beautiful day. The trail has some rocky areas along with some level ones. We stopped at Ensign Cowall Shelter for lunch where "Zooter" and "Papy" caught up with us. It was not a pleasant trail this afternoon. We stopped at High Rocks view late in the afternoon and watched as a couple of hang gliders prepared to soar, there was a large crowd. After a very rocky hike down we finally arrived at PenMar County Park at about 7:00p.m. We called Cindy and Susie on a pay phone. The kids made it home safe, but had to drive through some bad weather. Cindy and Clark are camped in Loft Mt. CG in Shenandoah N.P. We made arrangements to meet them at Caledonia S.P. in Penn. on Tues. morning. ( we will be entering Pa. tomorrow morning) Pen Mar is beautiful, but does not allow camping We were anxious as to where we would go when, soon to become trail angels, Walter and Karen Bercaw came up and started a conversation which ended up with an offer to camp in their back yard, which we gladly accepted. We actually ended up spending the night in their daughter Molly's playhouse. On a sad note Seneca is having trouble with arm getting over some of the rough trails with her arm in a sling and is considering getting off the trail. She also is having a lot of swelling in her arm and fingers.Day 112 7/14 11mi 1053.7