Date: 2007-07-06
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: I-70 Crossing
Miles today: 16.0

One depressing thing, but many cool things. The downer was that there was a lot of gypsy moth devastation. Not as bad as what I saw in West Virginia. In the picture you can see that what should be a dense canopy of leaves is just buds and twigs. The trees are trying to grow new leaves after the moths ate all their original leaves. This constant regrowth of leaves weakens the trees over time, and if enough big gypsy moth years happen, trees begin to die. I actually noticed in an infested area of West Virginia that there were no old trees, as if they had all died. Now I understand why. Apparently the Maryland portion has not been as aggressively "farmed" by the moths, since the trees look older. Perhaps Maryland has been using insecticides or something to minimize the infestations.But, several cool things happened. I developed a much better opinion of the Maryland section of the trail. It is probably the only portion of the trail that offers a history lesson, because it takes you through the battle sites of the Battle of South Mountain, a precursor to the Antietam battle. I also met my first familiar hiker from before my break - Cahoda. I'd met her in the Shenandoahs, and she must have passed Harpers Ferry while I was on my break. I saw her at Dahlgren Campground, which was pleasantly familiar from a weekend hike with some friends in which we had been surprised the next morning when several hundred runners went by us while we were decamping. It turns out that the first 7 miles of the JFK 50 mile race takes place on the AT. Holy broken ankles, Batman! It also put things in perspective because that hike's goal was just to do those same first 7 miles. Really manly. Anyway, back to Cahoda.... It was a surprise to run into someone after I'd been off trail for 5 days, and we had lunch together. She explained her trail name - she is hiking for 3 people - herself (Carol), her father (Homer) and her brother (Dale). She updated me on her hike plans, which include jumping ahead and doing the northernmost portion shortly, then coming back and doing the PA-NY portion during the colder weather. Sounds smart, but since I am not smart I will probably not see her anymore on this trip. She promised to let me know via my journal guest list how it goes. Another highlight was finally walking across the bridge that takes the AT over I-70. I've seen it for years whenever I travel to Western Maryland, and I've hiked the Maryland portion of the AT plenty, but somehow I never crossed it. It seemed appropriate that this trip be when I did it.The big highlight of the day was meeting up with Walt Matthews and his wife Kazuko. Walt was a college friend, and is now my ski tutor. He met me on the trail and we hiked a bit of it together. At the trailhead, we saw parked there, among other vehicles, a University of Georgia truck. There was also a guy in a chair on the trail. Our initial plan was to ask him if the truck was his and, if not, we were going to torch it. As it turned out it was his truck, and he was there doing a research study on recreational uses of the trail. So it turned out we ended up helping the guy. Even though it was for a good cause, it really hurt to be nice to him.After that Walt took me home where I enjoyed chatting with him and his wife Kazuko, and then showering while they laundered my "relatively" clean clothes (admittedly filthier than anything I would wear any other time but far cleaner than they normally are when I wash them - other people could actually pick them up without wearing nitrile gloves). Kazuko served an awesome dinner including my favorite Okinawan dish, a mixture of eggs, tofu and bitter gourd, which I nicknamed Aspirin. Then a good nights sleep in a real bed and real air conditioning. Thanks for a great evening and a break from the rigors of the trail, Walt and Kazuko!