Date: 2012-04-24
From: US 522, Front Royal, VA

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 41.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 67WOW! What the heck 41.4 miles... really? Yep, 41.4 miles and it took me 18 hours of hiking to do it (including some breaks). Ok, so I didn't start off the day intending to hike that far. I did intend to hike to the Rod Hollow Shelter which was 24 miles away and then make a decision about hiking another few miles and tenting, but 41 miles was not in the plans when I started. Drew, I think maybe your note inspired me a little too much, thanks. So, todays hike started of on a beutiful section of trail. I think that the 20 or so miles north of the 522 crossing outside of Front Royal is probably my favorate seciton of the trail so far. The trail didn't pass by a lot of nice views but the trail itself was very pituresque. The tredway was smoth without a lot of rocks or roots to trip you up or stick into the bottom of your foot and make it hurt. The hills that the trail climbed and decended were just enough to get the blood pumping and keep me warm without being so much that I was sweating through my cloths. The trees and undergrowth all have their leaves now and there are still some wild flowers out to make things smell good (so I don't have to smell myself). Added to that was the fact that the weather was just about perfect all day and I was a very happy boy. As I was going I felt good enough that by lunch time I had decided that I would definatly keep going for a while when I got to the Rod Hollow Shelter, after I ate dinner. I also had a 5 hour energy drink in my pack and thought that I might even do some extended night hiking if I really felt good, so that I would have a shorter hike into Harpers Ferry tomorrow. So, when I got to the Rod Hollow Shelter and had dinner it was only 6pm so I decided that I would definately hike for another couple of hours and maybe even go to the next shelter which was some 6.5 miles away. Almost imediately after the leaving the shelter I entered the "Roller Coaster" a 13.5 mile seciton of trail with tightly packed ups and downs, or so it was advertised. I found that the ups and downs weren't all that spectacular or even all that tightly packed so the trail as far as the ups and downs go wasn't all that bad, the rocks were horrable though. They were so bad that I didn't feel that I was missing any scenery by hiking after dark because I could only look at my feet as I walked anyway. The only exception was when I stopped for a snack around midnight on a rock ledge which I am sure had a great view. Still though it was a clear night and the moon had set by that time so instead of another view of the mountains I ate my snack while looking at the stars... a nice change. Given the severity of the rock infestation I had decided that I would hike through the roller coaster at night hoping that the rocks would end with the end of the roller coaster. They did thin just a bit but they did not end and once through rather than finding a good tent site all I found were rocks. There was one spot where I could have tented but there was no water close by so I kept going. I finally got as far as the Blackburn AT center which was .2 miles off the trail but I knew that I would find either an empty bunk to sleep in or there would be good tent sites wehre I could set up. So, at 2am the day finnaly ended when I set up my tent and got in my ... wet? ... sleeping bag? Turns out that I have learned a valuable lesson here. You should never wash your down sleeping bag unless it is a sunny day. Even though I ran the sleeping bag through the dryer some 4 times at the laundry mat it was still damp when I got in it. The only way to get a down sleeping bag dry that I have found is to let it lay out in the sun for a few hours, otherwise the feathers clump together and won't dry. So, will I do anther 40 mile day any time in the feture? I don't think so, or I won't plan to do it anyway. If I do though I will make sure that I have a dry sleeping bag so I can get a good DAYs sleep the next day.