Date: 2005-04-20
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Snickers Gap
Miles today: 20.0

Ok, first an update on my current status. My knee is on the mend. I am still on crutches, and there is still some lingering pain, some of which is no doubt from the stress fracture, but every day I the swelling goes down, there is more mobility to the knee, and less pain. I go in for my one week checkup tomorrow, and after that I hope to wean myself off the crutches and begin the process of walking again. The plan is to walk longer stretches each day, and then, once I'm up to 6-8 miles a day, begin to add some weight in the form of a day pack. Once I'm up to about 35 pounds and eight miles, I'll begin my AT hikes in Pennsylvania.For the moment, I'm planning on three relatively short hikes of two nights, three days each. The first of about 18 miles, the second of 30 and the third of 35 miles. If all goes well, I'll head to Damascus with my family to join in the Trail Days Celebration there the weekend of May 13-15, and to meet up again with "M Company" friends. Shelly Hale, my journal transcriber, will be there as well, and has offered me a ride south to the Hike Inn at Fontana Dam on Sunday May 15. And thus, if all goes well, I'll be back full time hiking on the AT on Monday, May 16 - heading, once more, up into the Smokey Mountains. Meanwhile, I've begun going over my pack to see where I can save some more weight, and getting my hiking clothes reorganized - in part due to the rather warmer weather I'll be facing compared with what I faced in May. It's something like 85 degrees here in Washington today! I know I'll still face the prospect of some cold weather in the mountains through the end of May, but it won't be like March where you could count on cold almost every day, and rarely a hot day. More the reverse.Ok, enough of the update. At this point, I'm going to start recording some of my earlier section hikes of the AT, in part to record the journey, and in part just to keep my mind off of how very much I wish I could be out there right now hiking with my friends. I'm going to start with my first ever backpacking trip, a solo exercise that I undertook in mid-July, 2003. It was a relatively short hike, only about 20 miles over two days, but the idea was to get in a "shakedown" hike before taking on my first major hike - a planned eight day, 104 mile excursion from one end of the Shenandoah National Park to the other that was on the schedule for August.The day got off to a bit of a slow start, in part because of a problem of finding the trail head at Snickers Gap where I'd be leaving my car. I must not have been clear in my directions to my wife about where to meet me, as she took a different road (the old route 7), and we had to use our cell phones to make connections and get her to the right parking lot. At that same time, an 18 wheeler pulled up next to the parking lot with a rear tire smoking badly.   After he parked it, the wheel caught on fire, and that led to a significant amount of additional smoke from the burning tire, and of course to an alert to the nearby volunteer fire departments, all of whom showed up to tackle the blaze. Traffic was shut down, which complicated my making connections with my wife, but we eventually managed to get together and she then drove me north to the Historic town of Harpers Ferry West Virginia.My two younger sons posed for pictures with me down at the rivers edge -- Harpers Ferry is where the Shenandoah and the Potomac Rivers flow together, cutting a major gap through the mountains at that point. By then it was about 11 am, and the day was already hot -- climbing toward the high 80's. My spririts were high, and I generally felt like I was prepared, having spent the previous 18 months learning from my mentor, through-hiker Cathie Cummins, the ins and outs of backcountry backpacking. But there was some apprehension as well, simply because I had not hiked alone before, and had no idea what this particular section of the AT would offer. After hugs and farewells, I set up throught the town, following the AT as it climbed up from the river toward the first set of hills. Along the way I pased the famous Jeffersons Rock, and not long after a blue-blazed trail that led to the right to the AT Conference Center which is located in Harpers Ferry. The climb was steep, and my pack, complete with water and two days food, was nearly 50 pounds. (Obviously I still had a lot to learn!) But I was not discouraged, as I figured I was strong enought to handle it. Before long I reached the Route 340 bridge across the Shenandoah and could see ahead of me the next major challenge. On the other side of the bridge, the trail rose some 1,200 feet up to the Loudon Heights within the space of about one mile. It was a long climb, and a rocky one, but I took it slow and rested whenever I needed to. Perseverence was a must, and persevere I did, eventually making it to the summit. The views from Loudoun Heights were pretty cool. Not long after that I was delighted to find that the trail ran along a ridge, giving me some relief from the unrelenting up of the first couple of miles. I reached the first shelter (David Lessor Memorial Shelter) around 5:30 pm. At 10 miles from Harpers Ferry, it was the half way point to Snickers Gap, and I debated staying there for the night. It is one of the nicer shelters on the AT, with a deck off the sleeping area and a separate covered area for cooking and eating. Unfortunately, the spring was dry and I was low on water, so I'd have nothing to cook dinner with unless I moved on to the next water source - the Blackburn Trail Center. So that's what I decided to do.Along the way, and much of it, fortunately, was along the ridge line, I managed to chase up a wild turkey - and about had a heart attack when it suddenly lept up from it's ground cover fled gobbling down the hill.It was only another three miles to the Trail Center, but I ran out of water before I got there and was in a state of mild dehydration by the time I arrived. The Trail Center caretakers, Sarah, Bill and their daughter Kai, made me feel extremely welcome, starting with several glasses of water and a soda. I decided that I would take advantage of a bed in the hostel, as the hike had taken a lot out of me, on top of the dehydration I was feeling, so setting up my tent was not the preferred option. I cooked my dinner out on the lawn, looking eastward down in to a valley -- a really beautiful spot for a picnic. Sarah came out as I was finishing up with a cherry cobbler and ice cream, a most welcome treat. I crashed early and slept soundly, exhausted but satisfied with a good first day's hike. The next day I awoke to overcast skies and a lot of ground fog, making the climb back up to the trail almost etheral and ever so peaceful. I took my time hiking down to Snickers Gap, as I only had seven miles to cover and I was in no hurry to get there. I passed Cressent Rock, with great views, and a favorite site for rock climbers. There were two ropes in place already, and I'd already passed some climbers who were going the wrong direction (north) having gotten turned around and thinking they were hiking back to their car. They were all young, and carrying only day packs, however, so they soon outdistanced me. I got back to the car by noon, and overall was quite pleased with the hike. The trail had been easy to follow, with plenty of white blazes, and nothing that I couldn't handle. I was especially pleased that I had done it "solo" and the only major lesson learned (other than the need to get my pack weight down) was not to run out of water! I resolved that I would hike with both my 100 ounce camelback bladder AND my 32 ounce Nalgene bottle, and would make sure in future not to let them both run dry on me ever again. Subsequently, I hiked the same 20 miles north bount, from Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry, with my hiking buddy, Spook, and that time we did it as a 10 and 10, staying overnight at the David Lessor Shelter. I must say that it was distinctly easier going down hill from Loudoun Heights to Harpers Ferry than uphill from the town to the heights! Still, either way, it's a good hike and I enjoyed it both times. My next entry will deal with my 104 mile hike through the Shenandoah National Park. Stay tuned! Longhaul