#appalachian trail

Appalachian Trail, Virginia

My Fujifilm X100-T was purchased brand new for this hike. It took a tickin’ and kept on lickin’, capturing about 11k photos between March 14 and July 28.

After a thorough cleaning It has since gone on quite a few more trips, Arizona among the most obvious.

We’ll see if it can handle the Pacific Crest Bike Trail in 2020.

yea, time to unload some trail magic in New Hampshire.

this was the final mission for my gregory pack.

Day 138: July 28th, just after noon.

Oh Thoreau, I’d spring for you.

we goin’ that way suckas

getting close to the appalachian trail southern terminus. i was half-starved and foraging for blueberries at this point. 21 miles to go…

6:30AM in the Maine mountains.

only the coolest hikers sleep under canoes.

katahdin

beach bivy

@ the top of White Cap Mountain w/ Katahdin in the background.

toppled tree roots

Back when I was first planning my AT hike, I outlined my completely rational fear of Ixodes scapularis - aka The Deer Tick, aka The Black Legged Tick - aka the most common vector for Lyme disease. I recently found one can send clothing to Insect Shield for permethrin treatment that lasts thru 70 washings. Imagine having your favorite hiking socks, shirts, trousers, skirts, tights and kilts treated. (They don’t do underwear).

I sent them two pairs of shorts, a merino wool tee shirt, two pairs of merino wool socks, and a pair of gaiters. I got them back in 7 days.

If you want to avail yourself of this service click [this link] to get to their order form in a fillable pdf format. Everything you need to know is on the form.

More details at www.laughingdog.com

I have no personal or financial interests in any company mentioned … I swear!

Bone scans and x-rays revealed the pain that sent me home from the AT to be a tibial stress fracture …  Maybe next year I’ll hike without pain.

Ran into “Wiffleball" in the Capitol Limited observation car, heading for Chicago. We started the AT the same day on Springer Mountain two years ago. 

“Ginga Ninja” waiting for the train at Harper’s Ferry.

This is where I ended my 2014 section.  I hadn’t intended to.  My plan was to hike to Vermont where I got off in 2012. 

I had developed some pain in my ankle, babied it, took lots of zeros in hostels all thru northern Virginia …  I had stayed several nights at Teahorse Hostel, and walked out of Harper’s Ferry on the ATC side trail to get back on the AT. As soon as I started down that rocky ridge overlooking the Shenandoah River, I knew I wasn’t going to Vermont. Not this year.

I limped down the trail back into town, The Amtrak station was right there. I took the train home …

The person pictured is not me, but the picture captured my mood.

Laurel runs the Teahorse Hostel in Harper’s Ferry, WV, getting up every morning to prepare breakfast for her hungry guests.  Teahorse is popular both with hikers doing the Appalachian Trail, and bicyclists doing the C&O Canal Trail.

“Shortcut” heading out from Teahorse Hostel in Harper’s ferry, WV to continue his northbound hike of the Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian rail Conservancy’s mission is the stewardship of the Appalachian Trail. Towards that end, they work with Congress, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, state and local governments, and a network of volunteer trail maintenance clubs. The headquarters in Harper’s Ferry operates a store, and hosts hikers, providing them with computer access, snacks, cold drinks and area information.

The side trail off the AT that leads to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harper’s Ferry, is a walk through history.

“Tumbles” whitling on the Blackburn AT Center’s porch.  On a clear day, one can see the Washington Monument from that porch.

Not just another border crossing.  Northbound AT thru-hikers get thru several states early in their hike. Then they hit Virginia. Over 538 miles. Just about one quarter of the trail. Someone coined the phrase “Virginia Blues” for the length of time one spends in the “long green tunnel,” with few of the panoramic views they got further south on the mountain tops of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

And for most, they hit the 1000 mile point on the same day!

“Miss America” on the northern leg of her flip-flop thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, at a stream crossing just south of the VA/WV border.

A Raspberry Slime Mold (Tubifera ferruginosa). I thought it looked like a cubist rendition of a foot.

When the AT was young many sections were still aligned with roads, and ran through private property. When the land around Bear’s Den Rocks became available, the AT was able to be routed through it. Bear’s Den Hostel was originally built in 1933 as a summer cottage by a doctor for him and his wife.  Today it is owned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. 

Heading out from Bear’s Den Hostel

The power company upstream of where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Kennebec River in Maine, can open their flood gates at anytime, sending a deluge of water downstream that can sweep fording hikers downstream. 

Alice Ferrence drowned in 1985 while attempting to ford the Kennebec. The above is her final shelter registry entry … The Appalachian Trail Conservancy started the ferry service in response. Don’t ford the Kennebeck.  Take the canoe with the white flash painted on the bottom!

The southern end of the infamous “Roller Coaster.” It’s a 13.5-mile section with ten ascents and descents, often referred to derisively as PUDs - Pointless Ups and Downs.  But a trail relocation to a very narrow corridor, left trail crews little choice but to route the path up and over each of these ridges. It really doesn’t live up to its awful reputation, and there are some great stealth camping sites all through it …