Date: 2016-07-22
From: Dahlgren Backpack Campground

To: Warner Gap Hollow
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I can't believe it's my last night on the AT! So sad! Straw has said several times that it makes her sad too. Awww....Let me capture what happened today....Straw and I were excited about the free hot showers at Dahlgren (side note: anyone else remember the book Dhalgren??? not a good place!). She especially needed one because she took a tumble on the rocks (Seriously, Maryland is trying to kill her) and cut up her leg. Atlas didn't care about the shower at all. :-)There was a lot of Washington stuff around today - again, made me think of Hamilton. "Here comes the general! Rise up!" I really appreciated the badass Washington cartoon Magic Man drew in a log.I climbed the original Washington monument which I thought would remind me of the Wellington monument in Dublin / Finnegans Wake, but which actually looked more like the Martello tower from Ulysses.It was incredibly humid today, with a decent amount of going over rocks. Is this what PA is like?Atlas was way ahead as usual today and I was back with Straw. We were making our way down a steep path of boulders when I saw a snake blocking the way. "Straw? What's a greenish snake with brown stripes and a wedge-shaped head?"She named a snake.Then I saw the tail of this snake."Um...does the snake you mentioned have a rattle?" I asked.She came up."That snake is NOT green!"So yes, another rattlesnake.And yet again, the sucker would NOT budge. We threw rocks, bark...Straw even accidentally beaned him on the head with a piece of bark. Still wouldn't move. Finally she tossed a rock that landed close enough to rouse him and trekking piles offered the rest of the encouragement.We hung out at the Ensign Cowall shelter (If Simon Cowell was on Star Trek?) for a while, ate, rested up. Atlas found a sparkler left over from the 4th of July and lit it. We met Stumbleweed. And we decided to press on.When we got to this stream area, Atlas thought it was too pretty to leave. Straw taught me how to hand a hammock. Atlas reviewed the PCT hang with me. We all waded in the stream. A section hiker from New Jersey joined us. Atlas made pineapple spring Jello with the wine berries and blackberries Id collected throughout the day. We killed time by exploring the area, talking and walking down the nearby gravel road, eating all the wine berries we could see.It was a perfect last night.Atlas and I watched the lightning bugs for a while tonight. The color of them reminded me of the pineapple Jello.same night, 3:00 am - The moon is so incredibly bright! It's turning the roof of my tent into leaf scherenschnitte...beautiful, softly shifting profiles. Two southbound night hikers with headlamps passed just now - it's surprising how many night hikers there have been. Atlas called out earlier to one group, "Why are you hiking at night?" They responded, "It's cooler."Straw said earlier that she doesn't think the trail changes you so much as lets what you already are come out even more. I guess I agree. Although I didn't realize I really was this tough, this adaptable. Which is a wonderful discovery, even rediscovery (from last year). (I'll finish last entry in a few days!)