Date: 2004-06-18
From: Ensign Cowall Shelter

To: MD 77 (Suburban MD)
Miles today: 1.2

MD ZeroI'm counting today as a zero, even though I walked an official 1.2 miles on the Trail. In fact I walked a bit more than that because there has been a Trail relocation that has added about a mile to the Trail but didn't make it into the 2004 Handbook. A lot of the added mileage was on this morning's walk.My goal for today was not just to have a zero day, but also to be a surprise participant at my high school friend's birthday party in a MD suburb of DC. That meant hitching a ride from where the Trail crosses MD 77 to the small town of Thurmont, MD, thence to Frederick, MD, and on to DC.I got to MD 77 at 6:45 in order to catch the commuter traffic. It was a two-lane road, and there was a lot of traffic for being way out in the country, at least 100 cars per hour. I picked a spot where I was easy to see and where there was a place for cars to stop. I put on my best smile, held up my sign saying 'DC', stuck out my thumb, and waited. And waited. And waited. Many people waved, and a few slowed down nearly to a stop then sped up again (particularly frustrating to me). But time kept ticking away.My plan was to hitch for two hours and if I didn't get a ride to put Plan B into action. Problem was I didn't have a Plan B when I started. After an hour or so I began to formulate Plan B: go the opposite direction on 77 to the small town of Smithburg(?), MD; resupply food; look for a place to stay (none was listed in the Handbook); and just hang out there for the rest of the day.With about 10 minutes left of my two hours, I saw a sporty red car flash by. He didn't stop though. A couple minutes later I looked in that direction, and here was the red car coming back. I could scarcely believe my eyes when he made a U-turn right in front of me and waved me to get in.The car was a Mazda RX-8, a rotary engine car. I once owned an RX-3, Mazda's first rotary engine vehicle. The driver was interested in hiking and knew the AT crossed about there, but had never gotten out on the Trail. So we had plenty of topics of common interest to talk about, and before I knew it I was being dropped off next door to his office, in Frederick, no less. I couldn't believe how lucky I was, after waiting so long for a ride.Now I only had to hitch to DC, and I was standing next to the entrance ramp to a highway that went straight in to DC. And I had a Plan C - to rent a car if I didn't catch a hitch within two hours. Problem was, neither entrance ramp heading for DC at that interchange was very good for hitching. The one I was at had less traffic, but was at least shady, so I decided to try there for an hour, then move to the other side. After that hour was nearly up I was beginning to get discouraged, and started to listen the birds in the trees shading me overhead. Soon I noticed a bird call that sounded almost like a whistle. It persisted for a while so I looked around to see if it might in fact be a whistle. For the second time in the space of one hour I could scarcely believe my eyes. Standing behind me on the edge of the interchange was a young man beckoning me. It turned out to be Nye. Nye is a marine stationed in Thurmont. He had come in to Frederick to an outfitter for some fishing equipment. On the way back he spotted me and (somehow) recognized me as an AT hiker.Nye has a lot of hiking and back-country experience at the Boy Scouts' national Philmont camp in NM, both as a camper and as a member of staff. He can't go farther than 2 hrs from Thurmont, so wanted to talk about the higher parts of the Trail in the Whites and the Smokies. So he kindly drove me all the way to Beltsville, an hour in the opposite direction from where he was headed, so that we could talk Trail on the way.Through the kindness of strangers I was truly blessed today, and was able to spend most of the birthday with my friend.