Date: 2022-08-24
From: Bears Den Hostel, VA 1005.5

To: Rod Hollow Shelter, VA 995.7
Miles today: 9.8

Well.  The choice to start my thru-hike in Harpers Ferry was made deliberately for several reasons. One of the most important is that it is a bit of a ¢Goldilocks¢ section: not too steep, not too rocky, and a much gentler start to the trail than starting in either the mountains of Georgia or Maine/NH, and I hoped that it would give me a chance to build up my ¢trail legs¢ on some of the easier trail.There is one well-known exception - the ¢Roller Coaster¢ is a rocky stretch of trail that rapidly climbs and falls multiple times over 13.5 miles. And I got to ride it today.  I am happy to report that I didn¢t crash, although the last two hills required an upbeat playlist for extra energy, and I certainly didn¢t set any speed records, as the rocks in many places were tricky to pick through. I am reliably informed that the alternative to the route that the Roller Coaster follows would have been 8 miles of road walking (AT route design is often determined by what land is available, rather than the easiest route), so I am grateful for the path through the woods. But I couldn¢t shake the feeling that this was all some elaborate hazing ritual by the PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) and that somewhere, just out of sight, was the secret, smooth, gently rolling version. Perhaps one day I will learn the secret handshake. Many thruhikers start the AT with little to no physical preparation, and it is generally held that you can only learn to hike the AT by hiking the AT. Within 3-4 weeks you build the required stamina and strength, gaining those ¢trail legs¢. What goes unsaid is that those first 3-4 weeks are pretty tough, and a lot of the thruhiker fallout occurs early on. After a 10 day stint on the AT hiking Shenandoah Park several years ago (where I had increased my workout routine slightly, but obviously not enough), I determined to be more deliberate about getting into hiking shape. With the help of an incline treadmill (¢Climb to Everest Base Camp!¢ ¢Climb Mt Kilimanjaro!¢) I¢ve been able to lower my resting heartbeat from the mid-50¢s to the mid-40¢s over the past 4 months.  I also ran (to strengthen my joints) and hiked 8-10 miles 2X per week.  All of that helped today, and I am feeling strong. But the incline treadmill really helped me internalize elevation gain and % inclines So - I was going to write an ode to the treadmill. But an ode is at least 3 stanzas, which was hard to keep in my mind while I was hiking today. But I was able to do 17 syllables, so I am afraid you will get a haiku instead. Incline Treadmill HaikuSweat falls and thighs burnTreadmill belt to forest trailUp, up, up, up, up. That last part was pretty easy to remember while I was hiking, lol. This is why I became an engineer, not an English major. I promise that is the last creative writing effort this trip. ;)I stopped today at Rod Hollow shelter and put my tent up for the first time. Later in the afternoon, Goose and Gander came in. I had first seen them at the ATC HQ in Harpers Ferry, where they were taking a zero day after flipping down from Maine (having started NOBO from HF in early May). They will be following the same path as me but, with more than 1200 miles under their belts, are likely to speed out of view tomorrow. I am now cozily ensconced in my tent, which is very snug! I think I will sleep well tonight after today¢s efforts.