Date: 2016-09-30
From: Turner's Gap, US Alt 40

To: Pen Mar County Park
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: broken clouds

This was the first prep hike I¢ve done with the 2017 AT Expedition. We met at 5 AM in the trailhead parking lot at Turners Gap, Maryland. As the group is large, it¢s subdivided into two groups. One group hikes northbound, leaving their cars at the starting point; the other group shuttles the northbounders¢ cars to the end point and then hikes southbound to their own cars. Because the morning shuttle takes 30 minutes to an hour, the southbounders have less daylight hours to hike. Thus, the southbound group is primarily experienced hikers. Warren briefed us at the morning meeting at 5, describing the trail in general and telling us where our cars would be parked in Pen Mar park. The trail for the day was relatively flat, and we were meeting the van 23.5 miles away. This would be the longest distance I¢ve ever hiked. We got on the trail around 5:30. It was dark, so we stayed together, hiking in a line until it got light. Not far into the hike we came to Washington Monument State Park, which had restrooms that were open. So we all stopped. The next landmark was Washington Monument. It was built by Boonesboro, Maryland residents in 1827 and later restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It was still dark though, so we didn¢t really get a good look at it. But we got a wonderful view of the town lights in the valley below. From there we passed into a wooded area where the trail was a dirt surface bordered by lichen-covered rocks on each side. Very nice easy hiking. There was a rustling wind like the sound just before rain. We were still walking together when suddenly we heard a loud crack. We stopped and looked up. Just then we heard a second crack very close by. I turned and ran full speed back down the trail. A large tree limb crashed on the trail right where I¢d been standing! I had a delayed adrenalin rush of fear. I know each year a few people get killed by falling trees, but the number is so minuscule I¢d never even thought to fear this. What¢s the likelihood!?! As I hiked I calmed myself thinking, now that I¢ve had my really unlikely close call, odds are that I¢m unlikely to have another.About 7 miles into the hike we came to a sign for Annapolis Rocks. Bill and I took the .2 mile side trail to check them out. There was a nice view overlooking the valley even though there were heavy clouds in some places. A large area on the south side of the trail was fenced off because of heavy environmental damage from overuse. On the side trail I came across my first composting toilet outhouse. Amazing! It didn¢t smell. This part of the AT is near densely populated areas, so we crossed several roads, hiked through a residential neighborhood, and crossed I-70 on a pedestrian bridge. The AT crossed continuous fields of lichen-covered rocks farther into the hike. At the top of one hill we came to an unusual wall. It was about 4 feet thick, 4 feet deep, and 30 feet long. A notch was cut through it for the trail. When we got to the bottom of the hill we forded Little Antietam Creek. The wall¢s proximity to it made me suspect that perhaps the odd wall was a battlement left from the Civil War. We got to Pen Mar around 7 PM. I found my car parked in the lot near the park entrance, where Warren had told us it would be. I ran into Scott and Arlene, and we headed to town for pizza. On the way back I stopped to get gas, so I lost track of where they went. When I got back to the parking lot it was empty. I knew this couldn't be right, so I drove up and down the road outside the park looking for the group. I didn¢t find it. I had Arlene¢s email address, so I emailed her. She didn¢t respond. The only person whose phone number I had was Warren, so I called and texted him several times. He didn¢t respond. So I settled down in my car and went to sleep.