Date: 2013-06-29
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Chris & Jon's house, Wolfsville Rd
Miles today: 13.7

Good morning, o'glorious hangover. I awoke at 3:00 a.m., my head was already pounding. There would be hell to pay today. I went back to sleep and woke up a few hours late. I knew I had a rough day ahead of me. I took my time packing up. I had planned to plant myself at one of the picnic tables and catch up on my journal. I was already 3+ days behind on my hand-written journal. But last night's fun had been worth it. My fellow thru-hikers didn't seem in much of a hurry to get out of the campsite either. I sat down at a picnic table to make breakfast, journal poised ready to update. But the conversation just flowed with everyone around. I took out my food to assess my situation. I pulled out a bag of beef jerky made from sirloin that my dad had made and sent in my last maildrop. I opened up the bag and offered others to try it. It was delicious. I suddenly became the girl with the best beef jerky on the trail. Thank you, Dad! My "cool" factor skyrocketed.Realizing that I wasn't going to get any journal writing done here, I finished packing up and headed to the Washington monument, the first Washington Monument. It was a neat inverted-vase-shaped structure made entirely of stone. There was a fantastic vista out over the plains below. I sat in the shade of the monument and wrote and chatted with Kite, the local ridge runner. He gave me some tips about the upcoming trail. I also chatted with HOBO and his son, Hat trick. Both are really neat guys. I enjoyed their company. As we continued our hike northward the number and intensity of other hikers/trail runners increased. You could tell that we were much closer to the Washington, D.C. area. Suddenly the trails were full of Type-A personalities out for an intensive workout rather than the leisurely hiker I had encountered before. They were courteous enough, but they were certainly not looking to stop to chat or intermingle. The trail took us across a very busy I-70, and turned left following along the interstate for a bit. The roar of traffic radiated through the woods. Suddenly, it felt more like we were hiking through the greenbelt of an urban area rather than the secluded woods of mountain range. How quickly the personality of the trail changes!I stopped at Pine Knob Shelter for lunch. My head was pounding, and I was still burning the booze from my system (strange because I had only 1 beer and 2 drinks at the restaurant, all of this over a 4 hr period). Clearly my system was way too dehydrated to have to process the alcohol. I sent a text to my friend, Jon, telling him of my ETA. He and his wife, Chris, had so graciously invited me to stay with them, and their home is right along the AT. That's a hard invitation to pass up.The trail was mostly flat with some rocks. But then, as if to prepare us for the rocky parts of Pennsylvania, the trail turned up right onto a very, very rocky ridge. For almost a mile we had to pick our way through a boulder field of shifty, uneven rocks. This late in the day, it felt like torture. I found it hard to concentrate, especially with the gnats swarming my face. I stumbled and tripped and caught my toe on several rocks. My ankles, feet and knees were aching. Finally, the trail curved back off the ridge, back to soft dirt, but then climbed back up and over the ridge and descended down the Wolfsville Rd. The forest was lush. The type-As were gone, and the AT that I so loved was back. I headed up to the parking lot and plopped down in a plot of grass. I stretched and popped my back and then kicked my feet up on my pack. I laid back in the grass, with my hands tucked behind my head. I watched the animals in the clouds shift and float as they eased behind the trees. I felt so tired that I thought I could fall asleep right there. But then I heard the engine of a truck slow down and pull into the drive. Jon had arrived. We loaded up and headed to his and Chris's house. I realized that it was the first time I'm been in someone's private house (not a B&B or hostel) since I was Aunt Betsy & Uncle John's way back at Easter time. It's hard to explain, but suddenly I felt so, so relaxed. I took a shower, and Jon cooked us up some deer burgers. He asked how many I wanted, and without hesitation I said, "Two." He said that they were pretty big, so I said, "Okay, maybe one." When the time came he was right, they were big. But I still ate two. And a whole ear of corn on the cob, salad, banana, and nectarine. I was comfortably full. Oh, hiker hunger, you are an amazing beast. Thank you so much, Chris & Jon, for putting me up, feeding me and allowing me to clean up. Your home has been a welcome, much needed, refuge.