The roller coaster just never seemed to end
If I had known what was to come today, I would have said you were joking. It was a day to remember, and not in a good way.
It was raining all night, and it was a pretty heavy rain. It was still raining when I woke up, so I took my time packing up. I was on trail with Cookie at 7:15AM.
The .2 mile shelter trail was a river. Between that and a deep stream crossing my boots and socks were completely soaked. And I had not walked single foot on the AT. This was shaping up to be a great day.
About half a mile into my day there was a sign warning me I was about to enter "the roller coaster". Apparently this section of trail is maintained by "the trail boss and his merry crew of trail maintainers". This section was anything but merry.
What made it difficult was the combination of an over abundance of rocks and rain. Going up and down slippery rocks for 13.5 miles made me one miserable hiker. There were no views either, just you and the trees and the rocks.
Due to all the rain, there were plenty of streams, rivers, and rapids along the trail. There were plenty of times where I had no choice but to walk right though and proceed to soak my boots even more. There was one crossing where the water was up to my knees and I was holding onto a log so the fast moving current would not wash me down stream.
The roller coaster just never seemed to end. It just kept going up and down, up and down.
However, there was one bit of good news today. I crossed into West Virginia. This brought to a close the 535 mile march through Virginia. WV welcomed me with rocks and more rocks. WV only has 17 miles though, so I will be crossing into Maryland very soon.
I rolled into the Blackburn AT center around 3:30PM. There is a hostel here run by donations, and this is where I shall sleep tonight. I was going to try to make it to the next shelter, but I was exhausted when I hit the trail junctions, so I called it a day early.
The hostel is heated my a wood stove, which is good for drying things out. Everything seems to be soaked, but I have hopes that it will dry by morning.
At 6:30PM I walked over to the AT center for dinner, which consisted of burritos, and brownies with whipped cream and ice cream. The AT center caretakers are Tina and Eric, both of whom went SOBO in 2007.
Tomorrow I shall march to Harper's Ferry(HF), and on the way I will cross the 1,000 mile mark. Harper's has a lot of civil war history, so it will be interesting to wander around a bit.
The Appalachian Trail Conservatory(ATC) has their headquarters in HF, I think I shall pay them a visit.
Until then, good night, and good luck.
Kirby
Ga>ME 2008.
