Date: 2019-04-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I can see how folks end up injured when they push themselves to go harder than they should.  The third day out on the trail I was trying to get in enough miles which would make it possible for me to get into town the following day.  Ensign Cowell shelter was about five or so miles ahead of where I should have really camped.  However, my supplies were running low and I knew I needed to get into town to resupply.It¢s interesting to experience the more popular areas of the trail - areas where hiker numbers start swelling up.  Annapolis Rocks was one of these spots.  It looked like even some overnight backpackers, maybe on spring break, we¢re headed up there.That¢s a sort of hard decision to make at all of these junctures.  After following white blazes for so long, you come to a fork in the trail and blue blazes lead you off to the side - to some point of interest or other.  I have been a bit hesitant, but have simply taken off my pack at these junctures and set it on the ground while a more nimble me goes to scout out the location.  In the case of Annapolis Rocks it was a downhill trail, maybe 0.3 miles or so down to see an ok view.  Then a trudge back uphill.  Doh!All of these side trips add up, so I know my actual amount of walking will definitely be than the ¢official¢ AT mileage.  So best to minimize these sorts of trips.  But I don¢t want to miss anything!I made it to Ensign Cowell shelter in the evening and assumed the shelter was already occupied, so I was busy looking for a safe sleeping pad to tent up at.  However, with the strong winds and the amount of suspicious dead limbs hanging above all tent pad sites, I decided to finally bite the bullet and go for the shelter.  No one was there at the moment, and I tried to convince myself to deal with the fact that folks might likely arrive later.  But they didn¢t.I setup my air mattress directly on the floor of the shelter, then put my quilt on top of that.  Nice not having to setup and tear down a tent!The ¢missing¢ third wall of the shelter gave me this great perspective over the landscape in front of me, with my bear bag hanging prominently on the bear pole in the foreground.I pretty much tried to use the quilt as a sleeping bag, so I buckled up all the pieces I needed to.  But it was drafty unfortunately.  I am still not entirely sure what I did wrong, but I made sure in any cade to note that sleeping in a shelter would be colder than in my tent.Amazingly I still have no blisters - the Hiker Goo I have been applying every day seems to work wonders!Today¢s Guthook app overlook had me going 2,600ft ascent and 2,600ft descent - a roller coaster.  Ran into some folks coming down the South Mountain - couldn¢t figure out from where to where.  Maybe they were going shelter to shelter in the opposite direction?Definitely the best view I¢d seen since starting a few days back at Harper¢s Ferry.  And the side trail was short and flat!  Great!Finally made my way down after that - I thought it was the last decent of the day, so the hardest part behind me (how wrong I was).  Made it down super rocky terrain doing some boulder hopping going downhill, so slow progress.  The white blazes sometimes seem to be positioned to lead hikers astray somehow.  I had to be vigilant to keep looking for the next white blaze.  And in some cases in this area they were 90 degrees from where I had expected to see it!Finally arrived in Pen Mar park, where I was planning to go off trail to hike into town, where I booked a hotel for two nights.  Thought about booking just one night, but I really want to rest.  And after today¢s walk to the hotel, I will definitely need more rest!I hiked over the famous Mason-Dixon Line and crossed into Pennsylvania (which means I have completed the entire Maryland stretch of the AT!).  From there I hiked into Rouserville, where I aimed to pick up a package of mostly Trader Joe¢s goodies I mailed myself from D.C.  I finally made it to the post office and picked up the package, but it felt a bit dangerous walking on the shoulder of the road.  In some cases the shoulder disappeared entirely, and I had to really put my faith in the drivers, who luckily were all with it enough to move over a little and leave space.Tried two beers, but they were just ok.  One which is more local - Yuengling - based in Pennsylvania and incidentally the oldest operating brewery in the U.S.  And the other which was New Belgium¢s Voodoo Ranger IPA.  The latter was more to my taste but was just ok.  The food hit the spot better.It did feel weird because that bar was obviously for locals - but before leaving some of the guys asked me which direction I was headed.  That¢s the right sort of AT question to ask - and they ought to know, living so close to the AT.  A second guy cheered me on - I saw him get on his motorcycle outside as I was leaving, and he smiled at me and said ¢get ¢er done!¢, which I wasn¢t expecting.  No one in the liberal Bay Area would ever say that nonironically, but it¢s great to be free of the Bay Area.  I know exactly what the man was saying to me, and how he was encouraging me.  Still, these two sides of America still seem so alien to me.  I don¢t feel at home in either political extreme (I feel more at home in the woods to be honest).After that was the challenge I had created for myself due to lack of research.  The hotel was 3.5 miles away, and I decided to walk it.  This was a bad idea.  There were actually Lyft rides available with a small wait, as well as volunteer AT shuttle drivers, which also expected payment.  But I was stubborn and cheap, so with my backpack and large USPS box, I walked dangerously on the side of the road from Rouserville - which evidently doesn¢t believe in sidewalks - into Waynesboro, which thankfully does!Picked up some supplies at a marker and ended up holding onto even more stuff - add two plastic bags to the load!Finally made it to the hotel with burning and aching feet.  Because of my poor planning with picking such a far-out option (there were definitely closer, more pricey options), today actually ended up being the longest stretch so far, according to Fitbit.  I could feel areas of my feet that have listed before... I could feel them burning, so I expected the worst.I pulled off my shoes and peeled off my socks to find - again, no significant blisters.  I was as shocked as yesterday, when I put in a similar mileage.  What the heck!  This Hiker Goo stuff I¢ve been messily applying each day must really work!  So thankful, but I know I can¢t ward off blisters forever... they will come soon enough.