Date: 2008-04-23
From: Rocky Run Shelter MD

To: The Free State Hostel, MD
Miles today: 15.5

Well, another incredible day out here. I ended up getting my headache to goaway and fell asleep soon after last nite. I woke up around 3:30 a.m. andcouldn't go back to sleep, but just layed there for an hour. I heard whatsounded like a large tree fall over..I always wonder if they do that by theirfree will or if it's a bear trying to knock it over to get to food. I finallyfell back to sleep and woke to my alarm @ 6:30, but decided to snooze till 7.It was 61 degrees in my hammock, but it still felt a bit cooler to me.I really hadn't decided how far I'd go, but I did see a business card for TheFree State hostel, and I remembered Persistent raving about this place. Ithought I'd play it by ear and see how I felt. I took my time getting goingand started hiking @ 8:15 a.m. First thing up...Dahlgren BackpackersCampground! Who knew? Tentsites (yuck!), picnic tables, AND FLUSH TOILETS andshowers!!! I stopped here and chilled for about an hour...made some phonecalls, etc. It was 11:00 before I started hiking again, and I'd only gone like1.8 miles! While there, I ran into a cool woman named Theresa who was testingthe water Ph. She is going to become a park ranger someday, and I believeher...she had that energy about her. I also encouraged her to hike the AT whenher kids grew up, and she said she'd love to.Lots of historical stuff to see today, this is Civil War Battelfield country, sothere's all sorts of markers where people died and fought in that war. I triedenvisioning the Confederate and Union soldiers shooting at each other, and itwas pretty powerful.At noon I was at a place I "thought" was supposed to have water, a state park,but I'm here before the parks open this year, so the bathrooms were closed. Iate lunch at a picnic table anyway, but couldn't stomach the thought of thatnasty beef jerkey, so I ate a bunch of chex mix. Then it was up a small climbwhere there were open bathrooms and water, so I took advantage of thefacilities.Next was the ORIGINAL Washington Monument, the first one ever dedicated to him.It was this cool stone tower with an incredible view. I loved that you couldwalk inside of it on its spiral staircase and go to the top. At the top was agentleman with binoculars, and he was writing stuff down. I asked him what hewas doing, and his name was Paul. He is the guy that every single day fromMarch through Mid-May, he comes to this tower and records the numbers of Hawksthat he sees in an effort to track them for the rangers. Hawks include theBald Eagle, Red Tail Hawk, and a few other birds of prey. He was a cool guyand when I was at the bottom of the hill, I was looking at a board wheresomeone had written in the info about the birds...well, Paul is the guy whoprovides that information!By this time, I'd decided to go for making it to The Free State, but due to mylolligaggig, I knew it was going to be a late arrival, but I didn't want to notsee anything today.Next stop was crossing over I-70, which I always think is cool. For drivers,there's a sign on the footbridge that states "Appalachian Trail." I alwayswonder what people think when they see backpackers crossing the road, if theyhave any idea where some of us are headed, or if it makes them think for amicro-second that perhaps they should spend some time outdoors if they normallydon't.Next climb wasa short but steep climb where I had the option of staying at PineKnob Shelter, but decided to go for it. A few miles later, I was at AnnapolisRocks, which is pretty amazing. I actually had a nice day for the view!! Whoohoo..my luck is changing folks!! I took pics, watched the birds ride the wind,and just took it all in. There's a caretaker that lives in a freakin tent upthere too. I'd hate to be there in a lightening storm though. By now it waslike 3:50 p.m., and I still had 6.4 miles to go, so I knew I'd better kick itinto gear.It was a gorgeous day in the 70's again, sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny, butthe gnats and flies are out full force. I swear there are Kamakazi Gnats outthere, they come flying in full speed ahead and BLAT..right into your eyeball ryour mouth!It was pretty much a ridge walk, one short up and 1/2 mile down to the road thatlead to the hostel, but even flat trail can hurt when you're not used to hiking15 miles. I wasy dying by around 5:15, my feet were absolutely killing me, butI popped some vitamin I and took breaks here and there. Then the trail got VERYrocky (Overture to Pennsylvania I think), and I was just getting tired, so Istarted yelling at the trail. I know I know..it does no good, but sure makesme feel better and then usually results in me laughing at myself. I hadestimated I'd be going up that last short climb around 6:45 p.m., and I wasright on the money, exactly 6:45 p.m. I knew I was close so that helped. Muchof the trail today was very muddy and/or literally a stream. I tried crossing adeeper part on a log just to have the log roll, I lost my balance and SPLASH..ingoes my right foot. Amazingly, my foot and shoe dried out pretty quickly.Finally at 7:05 p.m., I was at that glorious sign showing the way to The FreeState hostel. I walked the .3 miles (scared the crap out of a guy who wasputting a For Sale sign up in his driveway) and entered into heaven on Earth.WOW...THIS PLACE ROCKS!!!!I'm here all by myself, which is how I like it in my own anti-social way. Ilove the way it works. You help yourself in, everything is organized andself-explanatory, they don't come rushing you, but let you get settled, cleanedup, etc. There a bunk room w/17 bunks, game room with fuze ball/airhockey/board games/cd player and cd's/a bathroom/and the room w/a fridge, w/d,deep sink/computer/snacks you can purchase.You can always tell when a previous hiker runs a hostel, it's the littletouches, like the sign above the phone that states "No Hiker Hikes WithoutSupport: Call Your Support   FREE" Isn't that cool? Bonepac (thru'd in 2006)and his wife and 3 kids, bought this incredible place solely to run a hostel, sothe bottom floor is their home and the entire top floor is the hostel. Best ofall, you can have pizza (or chinese) delivered! Yup, Vince's New York Pizzagot a call from me..mmmmm. I'll admit it, my stomach was mostly responsiblefor today's hike, just chex mix and a small peanut butter container of JIFwasn't hacking it for lunch. Oh, one other touch I loved was one of thoseshampoo/soap dispensers in the shower. I mean, they thought of everything hereand I have to say that much like The Dutch Hause and the Bear's Den Hostel, thisplace should not be skipped. Remember, this is coming from someone who ingeneral does not like hostels.So I'm here, chillin, full tummy, clean clothes, clean body, and guess what, mynext two days are nero's...only going 5 miles each day, because I'm meeting myfriend Ann (owner of Opie the cat) @ PenMar Park on Friday and she's going totake me back to her place, feed me Chinese, let me stay the nite, and thenbring me back to the trail the next day! I'm also VERY excited about gettingsome Opie time...I miss my 2 boys SO MUCH!!! Her father wants to see myhammock, all he knows of is the hammock he used in WWII!!! Wow will he beimpressed!So I feel totally spoiled at this point. Showers and real food every few days,perfect weather, dodging the rain in Harper's Ferry, and probably next weekKaren is going to come up and possibly hike with me for a spell. All of thisand I'm not even stressed about time!Seriously, if you are the type of person that easily feels rushed (like me..IHATE rushing in anything I do) then you ought to consider splitting your hikeinto 2 years or flip flopping. It's unbelievable how much more I'm enjoyingthis, not being worried about running out of time.Well, gotta get some zzzz's. Gonna sleep in tomorrow and hang out here till theafternoon, then hike my whopping 5 miles to the shelter. Oh yeah...this IS thelife people.~Certain