Date: 2009-06-11
From: Rocky Run Shelter, MARYLAND!

To: Wolfsville Rd
Miles today: 15.5

Cell goodOG notesToday is one of those days where being flexible really paid off. We're in a hostel tonight that we decided to come to at the last minute. C6 will explain it.The hiking through Maryland is relatively easy and quick. We only have about 40 miles of hiking here and the terrrain doesn't have any major mountains. We did have a few climbs, but overall the climbing was gradual uphill walks. We stopped for lunch at the first shelter we ever stayed at on the AT. Our first AT hiking was here in Maryland in 2003. We had hoped to talk to thru-hikers as we hiked southbound back to Harpers Ferry. By the way, we were here around July 4th...that was the time I thought they went through here. We did meet a few but didn't realize the major pack was already farther north.I've wondered which 2006 AT fellow hikers I might meet on the trail this year and finally met one today. When we reached the last road crossing of the day we met Fred. We just stepped out of the woods when I heard him call out my name. I have to admit I didn't recognize him at first but he quickly described how I knew him and where we met. I remember meeting him in the 100 mile wilderness, or maybe Shaws in Monson. We hiked together for a few days until he stopped at Whitehouse Landing and Energizer Bunny and I went on. His son was going to meet him and summit Katahdin quite a few days later than we summited, so he was slowing down. He brought me up to date with what he did after we left him. He spent the night at Whitehouse landing and then hiked to Abol Bridge where he got a ride into Millinockit. He stayed in a motel a few days until his son arrived and then they summited Katahdin to complete his thru-hike. Congratulations Fred.I mentioned that we'll pass through Maryland quickly, well we'll enter Pennsylvania tomorrow. That will be 6 states completed and 8 to go.C6 notes What a nice day today was. It was supposed to rain a lot today, but all we saw were a couple periods of drizzle. When we were coming down the last mountain before we were going to stop for the night, we decided to look in the book to see how close we were to the shelter. OG saw a note in the book about a hostel that was .3 mi down the road. We knew it was supposed to rain tonight as well, so we made a last minute decision to go to the hostel. The shelter we were heading for was only .2 mi from the road, so we didn't lose much ground by not going there tonight. Plus, we knew a crowd of about 10 to 14 folks were heading to that shelter, and the shelter says it sleeps 8, so many folks will have to tent tonight. It was an easy decision to go to the hostel. By the way, about 90 minutes after we got to the hostel it poured outside. We're happy to be inside tonight!Are we ever glad we made that choice! This hostel is amazing!!! 17 bunk beds in an air conditioned, clean room with sheets, pillows, blankets, and mattresses (many hostel are bunk beds with just the board to sleep on...and in your own sleeping bag without a pillow). A very nice bathroom to take a bath or shower. A game room with a couple table games, lots of boxed games, and music. And a room with a refrigerator, microwave, a washer and dryer to wash our clothes, plus a high speed computer just for our use. They also have a supply of snacks and cold non-alcoholic beverages to buy and a pizza place nearby that delivers. This place is a fabulous hostel! I HIGHLY recommend it! It's the Free State Hiker, LLC, 11626 Wolfsville Road, Smithsburg, MD 21783 (301-824-2407). It's owned and run by Ken and Jennel Berry. Ken thru-hiked the AT in 2006 in 117 days! (OG didn't meet him in 2006.) Thank you so much, Ken and Jennel, for sharing your home with us by way of your hostel!A highlight of the day was when we reached the road and began to turn to walk down to the hostel, a man sitting across the street called out "Old Goat!" Turns out Fred and Old Goat hiked some of the 100 mile wilderness in Maine together in 2006. Fred said he's been following our Trail Journal and knew we'd be somewhere in this vicinity around now. He and a friend are doing some hiking South on the AT, and Fred hoped to see OG. Fred was waiting for his friend to catch up, and for a ride to the hostel to get their gear and have the shuttle take them to Harper's Ferry. If we hadn't come along at that time, we would have missed each other. I'm so glad the timing worked out so well. (They let us share their ride to the hostel, too! Thanks, guys!!!)There are only 4 of us here right now - OG, me, Tord (the artist we met a while back), and "Walking Man." We haven't met Walking Man before. It's been nice and quiet since we got here. We're clean, our clothes are clean again, our stomachs are full, and now we can just relax.An update on a couple folks. Bison told us last evening that he had gotten an e-mail from Rusty (an older gentleman we met in GA). He is no longer on the trail. Someone else told us Floater is still on the trail. We've been wondering about those guys. We also heard that Sassafrass is off the trail as well. We want everyone to succeed, so it's sad to hear when folks get off the trail.Well, I'm going to take advantage of the quiet and read my book. Good night!Old Goat & Check Six