Date: 2009-06-05
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Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,Let me pick up where I left off on my last entry. Harper's Ferry! WOOT WOOT! So exciting. This is by far, the biggest milestone yet. I was there in February a few weeks before my hike, daydreaming about the day I'd hopefully be walking up as a thru-hiker, and that day had finally arrived. I don't think any of us slept well because we were too excited. It was still just Gangsta, WindUp, and myself, but the boys were one shelter back and had plans to meet us at the ATC that afternoon.We did a quick 9 miles into Harper's Ferry, crossing the Shenandoah River, which was beautiful that morning, as well as many historical sights dating back to the civil war. Upon arriving at the ATC, we all got our picture taken for their official photo album then took a group shot. What are the odds that the people who I met on Springer were who I'd be standing with at Harper's Ferry? I wonder the same thing about Katahdin. I never thought we'd make it this far as a group. Maybe we'll have a Goonies photo atop the Big K? I'm not counting on it, but ya never know... Then, I weighed myself in the bathroom. Down 4 lbs. from when I started. Harper's Ferry was really exciting, a high for sure, but it also comes with a flip side. All that we've been through, and we're not even technically half way.... I've backpacked 1,000 miles but I have more than 1,000 left. Yes, it's looking at the glass "half empty", I know, but I think it crossed everyone's mind at some point that day. That day was as much of a high as it was a reality check. After that, the girls went to the nearby KOA for showers and laundry. Of course the boys didn't bother. They always seem to seek out food or television instead of clean clothes and hair. I'm glad to say I had never been to a KOA before, and this is why:It was Wallyworld meets the outdoors. Better yet, Gatlinburg turned campground! We passed on the putt-putt, swimming pool, and life-size chess board. We contemplated a golf-cart rental when we saw "all-terrain" on them. We asked if we could rent them until September but decided they'd have a hard time making it up Katahdin. Instead, we paid a ridiculous $5 to shower and headed to the laundry mat. I did my best to try to score a loads worth of detergent off of any of the unsuspecting RVers occupying the laundromat, but without any luck. I think they all thought we were homeless and did our best to ignore us. After laundry was in, we made the most of our $5 and took the longest showers ever. When all was said and done, it was 5:00 and we still had to go to the outfitter at the opposite end of town by 6 to buy fuel. Believe it or not, three girls standing on the street had a difficult time getting a hitch in Harper's Ferry! You think they'd be accustom to hikers, but apparently not. We finally got a ride from a nice lady (Interesting fact: only women have picked us up when we hitch since it's been just us girls hiking together.) We got to the Outfitter with ten minutes to spare and there were two older women running the place, and they knew their stuff! (and were, of course, excited to see three women thru-hikers enter). They were extremely helpful and knowledgeable... more helpful than any other outfitter we've been to. They called MSR and gave WindUp a replacement cartridge for her filter for free and sent her defected one back. They stayed past closing to help her out. It was by far my favorite outfitter thus far on the trail.By 7 we were ready to hit the trail. We hadn't seen the boys since the ATC earlier in the day but assumed they had headed to the shelter 6 miles outta town, which was everyone's tentative plan. I had plans to meet my parents for lunch the next day at noon (they were driving to Washington DC that day and would be driving right past us on I-70), and by staying at the shelter it would mean an early morning with 12 miles to hike before then. As we hiked out of Harper's Ferry as the sun was setting, we came up with the brilliant idea to night hike as far as we could, so we'd have less to do the next day. As we crossed the river leaving Harper's Ferry we officially entered Maryland! Woohoo! And with the start of the new state came the start of something else, MOSQUITOES! We followed the towpath for a couple miles right at dusk and mosquitoes were eating us alive. Up 'til then, it'd been nothing but no-see-ums. We immediately stopped and doused ourselves in DEET, which helped drastically. After an hour or so, it was dark enough to need headlamps and by hiker midnight (9pm) we reached the first shelter. We assumed that's where the rest of the Goonies were but we figured everyone would be asleep so we stopped for a snack without walking up the trail to the shelter. We continued on another couple miles, but were getting really tired. It had been a long, emotional day with the arrival at Harper's Ferry. At 11 we found a flat spot to pitch our tents. Exhausted, we set up camp as fast as possible and climbed into our tents for some much needed sleep. It was an 18 mile day with a 7 hour town stop, and a really fun nighttime adventure!The next morning I awoke SO EXCITED to see my parents. I didn't even sleep that great I was so excited. I invited Gangsta and WindUp to come to lunch so we packed up and busted out the remaining 9 miles to meet my parents. The boys, of course, assumed we had stayed at the hostel in town when we never showed up at the shelter. They did not realize we had passed them in the night! We left a note for them on the trail though and told them where we planned to camp that night and eventually met them there at the end of the day.The timing worked out perfectly with my parents, too! My dad tried to hide in the woods and was planning on jumping out trying to scare me but I was anxiously looking ahead down the trail as I hiked and saw him jump behind a tree as we came around a bend. He can't fool me... It was so great to see my parents. They took us out to a delicious lunch, ice cream and to the grocery store, before dropping us back off at the trail and continuing on their way. It was a short visit, but I'd be seeing them again 4 days later, for real, when it was time my double zero.And then came my crash. My parents drove off, leaving me with 7 more miles to hike that afternoon. All of a sudden, I didn't want to be on the trail. I wanted to be with them, zeroing. I did not want to be: outside, hiking, eating crappy food. I was physically exhausted. I hadn't slept well in a couple days (due to excitement and our late night hiking the prior night), the day before was a rollercoaster of emotions being at Harper's Ferry- I felt drained, I hadn't taken a zero day since Bland, VA... 500 miles ago. We have been doing a lot of really big mile days lately. It was all catching up to me. I thought I could go "all out" and keep myself together until my zero days - I was only 50 miles away from them, but apparently seeing my parents was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a tease... a curveball of emotions that I didn't see coming. I was flooded with homesickness. All I had been thinking about earlier was how great it would be to see them a few days early for lunch, but not how difficult it would be to see them drive away a short two hours later. I felt as though I'd been burning the candle at both ends. My tank ran outta gas a few days too soon. I could go on and on with the analogies of how I was feeling, but I'll stop. You get the picture. It SUCKED. It was the hardest 7 miles of the entire trail for me. The 50 miles before me felt like 5,000. Friday couldn't come soon enough. I held back tears for the first 4 miles, completely ignoring the trucks honking at us as we walked over the I-70 overpass, and getting beyond pissed when we turned the wrong way on the other side of it. Shortly thereafter, noticing my quietness and lagging behind, Gangsta asked if I was doing okay... *cue the waterworks*I was one big emotional trainwreck, but was thankful to have WindUp and Gangsta there to listen and give me kleenex, after some very unsuccessful snot rockets. We took a 45 minute pack off break and talked about the emotions of the past few days... and the trials of the trail, in general. We have all had very difficult times out here, each of us at different times and for different reasons. I knew my time would come when the trail would break me down, and it took over 1,000 miles, but it finally happened. In the grand scheme of things, I guess having a really horrible day every 1,000 miles isn't that bad.After finally getting it all out of my system, I felt much better and ready to hike the last 2 miles to Annapolis Rocks campsite, where we told them boys we'd meet them. I figured I just needed a really good night of sleep and would wake up feeling like a new person. I planned on sleeping away from the group that night... I also didn't feel up for the Dicky V voices and Seinfeld quotes I knew I'd get bombarded with if I camped around the boys. Not in the mood. I found a nice tent site as soon as we arrived, I said a brief hello to the boys and told them I'd had an emotional day and was sleeping away, but would enjoy their company the next day and climbed in my tent, emotionally and physically exhausted. I didn't even bother staking my rainfly well... skies were clear and it was warm, and I was feeling lazy. All was well, until I woke up at midnight to a horrible thunderstorm and lightening every two seconds. Lesson learned: always pitch your tent as if it's going to rain. The thunder was loud... and then I realized I still had earplugs in! I didn't take them out, thinking how loud it must really be, and how scared it'd probably make me. Why does it storm like no other on nights I tent by myself?! It got really windy, but luckily, my rainfly never came unstaked... the rain didn't last long. Just like my emotions the day before, I made it through the storm, the worst was over, and I was able to fall back into a deep slumber.I slept 12 hours that night, waking up after 9 - my latest wakeup on the trail yet. It's amazing what a good night of sleep can do for one's body, soul, and mind. I felt like a new person. All of the Goonies were long gone and I had a 21 mile day ahead of me. Not ideal when you don't get outta camp til 10am. Wanna hear how that day went for me? Read my next entry. Is the suspense killing you?Happy Trails,Wags