Date: 2016-07-06
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Boiling Springs
Miles today: 98.0
Weather: clear sky

Friday July 1 Harpers Ferry through Thursday July 7 Boiling Springs PA ¢ 98 milesThis was a huge and my most successful week. It started off on a down note per my prior posting, but ended up my most successful week with several major life milestones achieved.1.        Longest single day mileage ¢ 30 miles hiked From Tumbling Run to Pine Furnace State Park2.        Longest weekly (ten days) total from SNP to Boiling Springs MD 153 miles3.        Longest daily average of 15+ miles per day (Over ten days)4.        Crossed half way point at 1095 miles5.        Crossed 1100 mile point6.        Completed to date: Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania (Partial)After spending Thursday night at the ATC Campground in Harper¢s Ferry, I departure Friday morning . I stopped by the ATC Headquarters and talked to the staff. They wanted to know my thoughts of the campground as the town city council had concerns about what king of people the campground would attract and they were going to vote in August if it should remain open. After they heard my thoughts they asked if I would send a letter to the Council to recommend it remain opened. I did that and hopefully it will sway the council to keep the campground open. I was still burping from my snack of last night of Fritos and Cheese Dip. I ran out of chips before dip so I simply drank the remainder of the jar and now was paying for that decision.Hiked along the CNO Canal that follows the Potomac River into Washington D.C. This would be the first actual day under my new plan of not having any daily mileage plan. Instead I would hike from one shelter to the next then evaluate how my progress is going and how I feel. Based on time of day, weather and my physical condition I would go on only if all looked good. As the week progressed I was pleased on progress and happy that I was not stressing on miles as I hiked. This plan was working. Stopped for the night at Ed Garvey Shelter. The water was a steep half mile hike down a trail from the shelter. The shelter itself was pretty nice including a separate second floor with a separate set of stairs. This felt more like a cabin then a shelter. It was a very hot day so when I got to the water source I stripped down to my Birthday suit and took a cold shower. I quickly got into some clean clothes then got out a large gallon size zip lock bag that I used as a homemade washing machine. Everything that I was wearing I put into the bag with soap and water and literally shook the bag to agitate the clothes. I rinsed and repeated a couple of times until the water was clear of dirt. It actually corked quite well as the stink was gone and smelled nice. The evening was fun as three other southbound hikers stopped there as well. We played Spades until it was too dark to see the cards and called it a day.The next day I headed towards the Dahlgren Backpackers Campground. Along the way I crossed the Garthland State Park dedicated to the civil war. There were many displays and markers as this location was the site of a major battle of the civil war. We were not far from both Gettysburg and Antietam where more Americans were lost in a single day than ever before or after. Antietam alone was 30,000 deaths. Got to Dahlgren¢s early afternoon and set up my tent. This place hot hot showers and indoor toilets. The campground was nice with an opening to the sky to watch the night stars. There were several black familes already set up with children playing in the fields and woods. Ended up talking with one of the dads. He said they have been doing this for 38 years going all the way back to when he and another dad were in scouts. The continued the tradition of coming to this campsite every 4th of July weekend with their families. I thought this was a pretty great thing and I knew the kids would remember this all of their lives as well. It turns out that a pizza place in the town about three miles from the campground would deliver so I coordinated with a couple of the other hikers and we ordered four pizzas, salads, fried green beans and more. Built a campfire for the evening and just sat around and yakked. From Dalgrens the plan was to head to Raven Rock via going through the George Washington Monument State Park. Stopped by to read and see all of the history of our first president. Within a few miles of the park I came to Interstate 40, a major N/S freeway serving the entire east coast. The trail followed a small foot bridge over the road. I could see that we were going to start hiking a narrow corridor of the AT Land that was surrounded by homes and businesses on both sides. While hiking you felt like you were in the wilderness but in the distance you could hear cars and people. Went past Annapolis Rock were a Park Service Trail Runner was posted at all times to ensure people understood the danger of the area with lots of cliffs around it. I crossed a road and decided to go into the town just two miles away for some lunch at Subway¢s and ran back into Feather in town as well. He already coordinated a ride back to the trail from a local so I joined him in the ride back.Crossed the Mason Dixon line by the Penn Mar State Park Picnic area. A group of trail angels had just set up providing a homemade cake decorated as a U.S. Flag, lots of fruit and other snacks and fresh squeezed Apple Juice. The hike from Raven Rock was a terrible section of an old ancient riverbed full of boulders, some as big as an oven. I had to slow down to keep my balance and was pretty exhausted by the time I got to Penn Mar and the Trail Magic was just the way to end that section on a great note. We heard from locals that rain was forecast for late afternoon and all night but clearing up in the morning then a full week of sun and temps in the mid to upper 90s. Of course the real problem was the high humidity. The rain began around 5 pm until around midnight before it let up.I awoke and began what would be my best day ever. Today I would complete 1100 miles and pass the halfway point. The day was very hot but cloudy which helped with the sun but I was dripping wet with sweat all day long from the humidity. I only planned to go to the shelter right after the half way point but when I got there it was only 4pm and other than hot and thirsty feeling really good. So I decided to cook dinner then instead, take an hour break and let the temperature drop a little. I passed another shelter and still felt good and it was only 6 pm so I decided to head for a hostel at the Pine Furnace State Park. I reached the hostel at 8:30 after 13 and half hours of hiking that began at 7 am that morning. As I came up to the hostel at Ironmasters Mansion, now a hiker hostel in the state park I panicked when I realized the hostel is closed that day. I was exhausted, out of water and the sky darkening as night approached. I turned around to see a camping sign behind me for the park so I hiked to the campground and set up- for the night right next to the men¢s bathroom that had hot showers, running water in the sinks and a real toilet.I awoke pretty refreshed considering the monster day I had yesterday and today was off to a great start. As I packed up a man approached and asked if I was an AT Hike which I said yes. Then he invited me to join him with his family for breakfast which I accepted. Spent a couple of hours eating and talking with them including his wife and three children. The girls were all cleaned up and a nice sun dress and hair braided and the son ready for a day in the woods. We covered a variety of topics. The children were homeschooled and this trip was part of their summer adventure plans. They would also be going to northern Minnesota to visit his mother close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and area I was very familiar with. Marilee¢s family has a cabin close to the same area by Grand Marias MN, and we took Rachel and Gabe to a cabin resort in that area back around 2011. Breakfast was great and smelled awesome being cooked over a wood fire. I said goodbye and departed for the Hostel and a small grocery store next door. Ran into other hikers I knew and came to realize that I still was not urinating much this morning and needed to stop and drink until I was sure I was rehydrated. Today was forecast to 96 with a dew point of 72. In simple terms, that is nearing heat indexes well above 110 degrees. I knew that staying cool and hydrated was paramount. By 1 pm I was peeing clear and ready to go.The Dude and Feather showed up and I could tell they were completely drained from the heat as were other hikers passing through. As the temp was now about 95 degrees I took off for the next shelter. I went two miles and decided that after drinking most of my water in such sort time and that my sweat band was soaked this was not a good idea so I turned around and headed back to the store. Feather and Dude decided not to hike any further and were waiting for the hostel to open at 5pm. They laughed when they saw me return but agreed with my decision to come back here for the night and get an early start before it heated up. Dude got real quiet and laid down. He had eaten food and was queasy. We all agreed including him that he most likely is suffering from heat exhaustion and on the edge of heat stroke. That all confirmed my decision to return instead of hiking in such heat was the right decision. I went over to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Museum in the park. It had original gear and pictures from Benton and McKay, the original planners and builders of the trail as others like Ed Schaeffer, the first person to hike the entire trail nonstop. Not only was the museum full of history it provided a lot of information and notes about their past, upbringing and working together to get the trail built. This week and everything that happened would become that basis of what would happen tomorrow as I continued north.