Date: 2011-05-20
From: (60) Man Week, Day 4: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: (61) Man Week,Day 5: David Lesser Memorial Shelter
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: broken clouds

~ MAN WEEK DAY 5: LEMUR HIKES SOUTHBOUND??? ~I woke up at 5:30am stiff, sore, cold, and having only slept for two hours. My sleeping bag was inside out, so all of the warm air had been escaping through the zipper. I groaned, put on my fleece, and started packing up. I was out of the Shenandoah cake walk, but I wanted to see if I could keep it up and hike another large day after the 50, and also line myself up to do the 4-state challenge. I was very close to my home in Maryland, and if I kept up my enormous days would be there in no time. I was like a bullet, shooting up the country at an incredible rate. (If you look at the strip map of the AT you¢ll see that the 50 miler alone had moved me an inch closer to Maine!)Upon leaving the shelter, I encountered a tree with a sign on it announcing something called The Roller Coaster. It read as follows:¢Hiker Notice: Warning! You are about to enter THE ROLLAR COASTER!! Built and maintained by the ¢Trailboss¢ and his merry crew of volunteers. Have a great ride and we¢ll see you at the trail center (if you survive).¢I stared at that stupid sign for quite some time, and then took out my book to see what was ahead. ¢The roller coaster, 13.5 miles of tightly packed ascents and descents.¢ I read aloud.Great. The morning after a 50 miler and I was entering a notoriously rugged section of trail put together by a guy calling himself the Trailboss. (It kind of felt like I had reached a boss fight in a video game). The Roller Coaster turned out to be a series of PUDS (pointless ups and downs). For the sake of being difficult, the trail aimed at anything and everything that wasn¢t necessary to go up, and there was never a rewarding view. For example, if I reached the top of a mountain, and there was a pile of rocks off to the side, then the trail swerved to go over them. It was hours before I ever got out, slowed even more by how tired I was. The day became a mental game, even worse than the night before. My body was sore all over, and I had to be careful not to fall asleep when I sat down. I wanted to stop more than anything, to lie in the woods somewhere and go to bed, but I had to continue. If I could make it to the Virginia/West Virginia border, then I could stop and rest until the next morning for the 4-state challenge. I hurt now, but surely after a good night¢s rest I would be recovered enough to make it (I had heard somewhere that the 4-state was only a 40 miler, HA!).I needed a resupply to get me through the next day, so I turned onto a road where my book had listed a market .6 miles away. I hiked for a full mile before realizing I had the wrong road and turning back. Then I continued down the trail until I hit a sign announcing entrance into West Virginia. I couldn¢t believe I was already there; I hadn¢t even done 20 miles yet! I took out my book to check, and sure enough it was the border. I looked to see how far I would have to go to do the 4-state challenge ending at the Pennsylvania border, and it was some 57 miles. I was furious. There was no way I could possibly stop where I was for half a day, and then wake up and hike 57 miles without any food! My challenge had been ruined, so I kept hiking. Shortly after, I passed the trail¢s one thousandth mile, which cheered me up. I have come a long way. Several hours later I reached a road crossing called Keys Gap, and upon stopping to rest saw a ¢Welcome to Virginia¢ sign. That¢s when I remembered reading on the internet months before about the 4-state, and how you actually start by the border sign at Keys Gap, not the West Virginia one I had passed earlier! The challenge was back on, and I was thrilled. I took out my book to see where the resupply was at Keys gap, and saw that either direction had food within .3 miles. I went left first, and found a convenience store with little in it, so then I hiked down the opposite side of the road, where I found an Exxon with a decent selection (third times a charm).After my resupply, I returned to the AT to find a place to camp. I opened my book and read that camping was not allowed in the gap, so I would have to move on. I also did the math and found out that from Keys Gap the 4-state was going to be a 47 mile day. I was upset by this. If I was going to hike that far, I might as well make it an even 50, right? Then I¢d have done two 50 milers in three days! I determined that this was a great idea, so I turned around and hiked southbound for three miles to the last shelter in Virginia, which lined me up perfectly. I reached the shelter at 8:15pm and was happy to see Will there. I told him that I had backtracked to line myself up for another 50, and he rolled his eyes. The shelter was full, so I spread out my sleeping bag in front of it and cooked supper: three packets of Ramon (to carbo load). I told the other hikers that I was about to attempt my third 50 and the 4-state, and they were all very impressed. The dog from the night before was there too, and he stuck his head in my sleeping bag and refused to move (I think he¢s starting to like me). And so, for the second night in a row I slept outside of the shelter with the dogs. ~The fifth day of MAN WEEK was 27 miles, the day after a 50 miler and running on two hours of sleep, topped off by the intelligent decision to hike backwards!~