Date: 2014-04-16
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Dahlgren Backpack Camp
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

This was a really great day! Challenging, very rewarding and pretty funny at times. Incredibly, we did 18.8 miles!When I awoke at 5:30 this morning to take care of business, my camp shoes were frozen to the floor of the shelter. Laura had borrowed my shoes in the middle of the night to make a quick run to the latrine, and the snow that accumulated on the bottom of the shoes as she trudged to and from the provy froze to the wood of the shelter floor. I pulled them off the floor, took care of business as quickly as possible and jumped back in my Feathered Friend for a few more zzzzs.I got rolling this morning at about 7:15. My IPhone weather app said the air temperature was 26. Fortunately, the wind had died down, so I got out of my sleeping bag, and got some water boiling on our JetBoil. The water we had kept inside the tent was still liquid; water just outside the tent but inside the shelter had a layer of ice on it; water further from the tent or outside the shelter was frozen solid. I made breakfast in bed for Butterfly as the sun rose and warmed things up just a bit, but the winds increased in strength as the sun rose making things feel colder. Breakfast was instant oatmeal and hot tea. We broke camp as quickly as we could (still not very fast) so as to get warm by moving on the trail.Appalachian Trail Lesson # 2: For those of you who still use hiking boots - on freezing mornings, wait until you are about to hit the trail before putting on your hiking boots. They will be frozen as well, and you want to get moving in them ASAP so that your circulation prevents your toes from freezing and also, eventually, warms up the boots. Corollary to Lesson # 2: clean and dry the outsides of your camp shoes and either keep them on in you sleeping bag or keep them with you in the sleeping bag.The guys we shared Raven's Rock shelter with - Hot Dog (aka Frank Zarb), Barry from Philly and Derek from Case Western were excellent shelter mates.  Great conversations and nobody snored! Hats off to you guys. All the best to all of you!Here's another funny story from Ravens Rock: the privy there is one of the new organic ones that is a) elevated, b) has three sides, c) the sides start at knee level and end at chest level. The open side is such that when you sit on the throne, you have a really nice view of the valley below. I'd imagine it's a really nice place to sit and enjoy the sunset. It's not so nice when your taking care of major business, the air temp is 26 and there's a 20-some degree wind coming up the mountain, blowing in your face and, as Hot Dog aptly pointed out, on other body parts. Really makes you appreciate modern conveniences.We got out of Dodge at 9 this morning. The sun was shining. Not a cloud in the sky. As we dropped to lower elevations and hiked on the eastern and southern faces of mountains, we warmed and shed layers. We had an early lunch after 6 miles and thought through plans for the rest of the day as food was getting low and we needed to get to a town to re-provision. When I pointed out to Butterfly that the South Mountain Inn was about 12 miles down the trail, and that Dahlgren Campground was 2 tenths of a mile from it and had hot showers, she said, "let's do it!". I called the Inn and made reservations for 8-ish.Butterfly flew over the trail this afternoon. We took in a few vistas, including a 6 PM visit to the first Washington Monument built in 1827 by the people of Boonsboro, MD (see photos.)  Lots of history here - colonial and civil war era. We got to Dahlgren Campground at 7:15, set up camp, showered, and headed over to the Inn for one of the most memorable meals of our lives. We started with Troeg IPAs and stuffed mushrooms followed by a crock of French onion soup accompanied by Makers Mark Manhattans. We then split orders of Scallops and Filet Mignonette Lisa. Our waiter was excellent, and we closed the place down at 10:30. If you've ever marveled at how good plain old Kraft macaroni and cheese tastes on an overnight camp out, you can appreciate how awesome this meal tasted to Butterfly and me after what we'd been through during the last 2 days, and after 18.8 miles on the AT. Incredible!