Date: 2013-06-23
From: Front Royal, VA

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 53.0
Weather: light rain

Good morning dear readers,I've made it to the psychological halfway point of the trail and am so very happy to be here! Though I can't quite believe how many miles I've yet to go. Looking at the huge relief map of the entire trail at the ATC headquarters was astounding to me - I traced the mountains I already intimately know and pondered the ones still to come with a grin on my face. One of the ATC workers asked me what I thought was the prettiest spot on the trail so far, and it was so hard to answer! I finally said the Roan Highlands, as my memories of that sun-kissed day are particularly wonderful, but I now have better grasp on how difficult questions like that can be after over 3 months of daily delights. This has apparently been a section for pondering where we've been - looking back a bit more fondly at pictures of the snow and ice storms of the first month, and realizing it is now summer with 90 degree days and a plethora of bug bites. Starting out from Front Royal, Blackhawk and I walked through a rain forest that first morning - amazing how dense and lush the vegetation was in that old growth forest, so different from the Shenandoah's just a few miles back.   It was literally raining on us since the humidity was so high. Walking through a cloud kept me cool despite the warm temps. The rest of the day the weather was sublime, along with the terrain, and I was so content to be out of the Shennies - the sounds are so different, back to the noise of the wind, trees, and birds. I was happy to use my trail map twice today helping out first 2 day hikers and then a SOBO section hiker, I so love knowing where I am. An amazing lightening bug display rounded out the evening amid great conversation, I don't think I've ever seen so many all at once! I wrote in my journal "Does it get any better than this?!"Well, I'm so glad I had that great day, because the next was another lesson in flexibility on the AT. Ohhhh, my poor feet. The insoles that had worked so great the day before were now crunching my feet again. With blisters multiplying, I took out the insoles once again. It didn't help hat we had just started the "roller coaster" - 13.5 miles of sharp ascents (literally, the rocks were nasty in places) and descents because of the land rights in the area. Combined with a hot afternoon and my poor pups were barking. So, we stopped short for the day - thank heavens for Blackhawk, he was continually encouraging, and telling me jokes to help me through the pain. Vitamin I (ibuprofen), here I come. I've become a pill popper just to get through the days of hiking. Perspective, though, is a great thing. I know I still felt better that evening than a poor guy who came in with his 2 sons - he immediately simply laid down on the ground, practically collapsed. Happy first day of summer! Saturday brought abundant sunshine and not only the rest of the roller coaster, but reaching the 1,000 mile mark at lunchtime (incredibly awesome!) and the AT's Blackburn Center to stay at that night. Chris, one of he caretakers at Blackburn, was incredibly inviting and gave us a cold soda and a fresh rice crispie treat - yum! However, PATC, there is no way the side trail is only 0.2miles - it was much longer, but worth it. The solar shower alone was well worth the trek, especially after such a hot day. With the weekend brought out the day hikers in abundance, so nice to see families out there enjoying nature together. I spoke with several, and most couldn't believe I had hiked that far or long. I felt kind of like a rock star, actually! The weekend was rounded out by the hike into town, which seemed never ending, though trail magic perked me up twice. I'm reminded again of the kindness of strangers, always a good thing before I get caught up on the news of the world at large. While Harper's Ferry isn't the most hiker friendly in terms of layout, I'm very much enjoying my time here. Not least of which because I'm dumping my new shoes - in the battle of the Oboz versus my feet, there is a clear winner. Guess I have to eat crow for that one trail register entry at the beginning of the section where I boasted my feet were gaining ground. This is apparently my time to learn about the beginning part of the common saying "no pain, no rain, no Maine".