Date: 2014-05-23
From: Crampton Gap Shelter

To: Pogo Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: broken clouds

Set the alarm for 5:30, but went back to sleep until a bit after 6. I was on the trail by 8:10, and managed a pretty good pace. Got to White Rock Cliff, 3.2 miles, in an hour and 15 minutes. Had a very enjoyable conversation with Kite, the PATC Ridge Runner for the 41 miles of the AT in Maryland. He told me that the beautiful flowering shrub I had been seeing is wild azalea. He has done a thru-hike and had some helpful hints, including switching back to boots at Port Clinton for the PA rocks. May bounce the current ones and see if they will not be too tough on my feet, given the size issue. He also told me where to find the better tent sites at the Pogo campsite.Stopped for PB&J at the Dahlgren Campground. Roadrunner, who left before I did this morning, was there. Said he is moving slowly and may not go all the way to Pogo. I moved on to the Washington Monument SP, where I got water and briefly visited the monument. I wanted to make good time, because I was concerned about it being Friday of a holiday weekend. And crossing the footbridge over Interstate 70 confirmed the exodus to the countryside. Lots of traffic headed west. A short way up the hill, a man coming the other way said, "creep alert!" He described a man who was acting strangely. We talked about our hikes. He said he was in the infantry for 34 years and did lots of walking with a heavy load. Now he wants to do a thru-hike and is testing out what he needs. I encouraged him to go for it -- and I never saw the creep.About a mile before I got to Annapolis Rocks, Slingshot, a 2013 thru-hiker caught up to me. He slowed his pace, and we chatted until he turned off at the rocks. He hoped to camp there, because there is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. I thanked him for the conversation, and he said he knew how it could be at the end of the day with no one to talk to. He also said I was doing about 2.5 an hour. Not bad, since I was feeling slow. He is getting back into shape after a leg injury. He did his thru with a titanium rod and a bunch of screws in his leg.Two young women turned out of the Annapolis Rocks trail, and I stopped to let them go by, saying they would be faster than I, since they were younger and didn't have big packs. They asked if I were a thru-hiker, and I told them my story. I got high fives from both. We talked as we walked, and I found them to be delightful. They both want to hike the AT. Reese (not sure of the spelling) is 16 and will need to wait until she finishes college. Mimi is older and is heading off for a job in NYC soon. They showed me Black Rock Cliffs, which Kite had said had views as good as Annapolis Rocks. The view is to the west over fairly flat countryside and quite lovely. I took their picture, and Mimi used the timer on her phone to do one of all of us. I left them there and hustled the last .6 mile to Pogo Campsite. Arrived at 5:45. There are indeed a lot of sites, though not much flat. One guy was set up by a fire ring that was surrounded by stone seats with backs. Quite clever. I found a spot with a fire ring and one stone chair, got set up and went in search of the spring. A couple nearby, who now live in Baltimore, is from NH. They have the two-person version of my tent and are very happy with it. Near the spring, I met four young thru-hikers, Rocket Girl, Muddy Fingers, and I can't remember the other two. They had gone to Trail Days and said it was wild. They were going on another 5 miles, even though it was already 6:30.Did the usual evening stuff and got in the tent to check email, etc. it is cooler than last night so should be good for sleeping. Last night was not.