The Appalachian Trail- (D.79) (ha, 0 day)

(Harpers Ferry, Wv --> Washington, D.C. (Alex Large's house))

Ha, so I wanted to have a post in which I just showed some before pictures and some pictures taken in D.C.  More will surely come but I had the time so I felt obliged.  It is now Tuesday (09/11) (Moment of Silence) and I have been working on the blog for about 3 hours ha....almost done.  Utilizing my downtime I managed to calculate how many miles I would be travelling when I take my flight tomorrow.  Ha, so a flight from D.C. to Atlanta (637 mi) and a flight from Atlanta to Memphis (383 mi) total's out at 1020 miles...... so I came to the conclusion that tomorrow I will travel in 5 hours more miles than I did in 2.5 months of walking.  (1020 miles - 1016 miles = 4 miles)....... ridiculous.  Thought that a funny bit of info.... I will most likely just be updating this same post with more photos as time goes on so stay posted!
Thanks for reading,
Bert.

The madre trying on the pack....she says she would like hiking.  I believe her, their isn't much she isn't good at but I think Gracie and Laynie separation anxiety might take a toll eventually ha.

My amazing/beautiful momma.  She takes care of me even while on crazy adventures such as this!  In my back yard in Germantown the day before I left.

The boo and I the day I hit the trail.  Somehow she shows nothing but support for these ideas I have.  Not too many girlfriends are cool with the b/f living in the woods for a couple months.  Mucho love for this one!

And you hoped only one Abby Normal could exist.......My older brother and I before I left!  My hiking/fishing/camping partner since the beginning!

Hey, this guy had no idea what he was getting into.  Myself, before my Abby Normal days.  

Abby Normal, finally standing in front of the ATC.  Logged my miles and I'm done biatches!!!

Josh doing his thing in front of the ATC!  Great guy and a new found friend....hopefully we will hike again soon!

John Brown (Choo Choo), love this guy!  I roused him from his sleep to take this photo!

Yep, I'm a boss!

Beautiful skies for a beautiful place.

Josh doesn't know what to do..... he can't hike on top of water.

The Appalachian Trail- (D.78, 11.5 mi)

(Blackburn Trail Center --> Harper's Ferry, WV) (1016.3 mi total)

Abby Normal (06/24/12 --> 09/10/12) (Springer Mtn, Ga --> Harpers Ferry, Wv) (1016.3 logged miles)

Hey Hey! So, today I finished my hike!!!  Honestly, their was a good portion of the trip where it felt like I was walking no where.  It's hard to make a goal so far away seem realistic (especially when you don't really know what you got yourself into ha) but just going through it day by day and trying to keep a positive head (very hard for me sometimes) above all else helped me to achieve it.  Throughout the last 2.5 months I have received so much help and motivation from so many different people even if they didn't realize it at the time.  The people I met and the experiences I had have left me with such a sense of appreciation and gratitude.  I look back now and realize that I will most likely never be able to do something like this again, and I feel so fortunate to have a family and girlfriend and friends that have done nothing but show support and love for my adventure.  Enough with the sentimental statements though.  Today was an amazing day... the weather was perfect and the breeze was cooling.  We had so much excitement that our walk almost seemed too short and the terrain too perfect.  We had originally planned to stop about .5 mile away from Harpers Ferry to avoid any hotel/hostel costs but another option revealed itself.  John Brown (Choo Choo) is a friend and fraternity brother who is Sobo'n the AT currently.  As fortune would have it he was already in Harpers Ferry and had just purchased a 2nd room for the expanse of Sobo hikers in town and was nice enough to offer Josh and I a spot on the floor!!!  So, we headed in to town and said our goodbye's to the trail for the time being.  We spent the night sharing stories of the trail (reminiscing for us) and having celebratory cocktails.  Finally, around midnight (extremely late for me ha) we hit the hay and had dreams of walking.    

Blackburn Trail Center shelter.  Great place for us in a time of need.  Hiking in soaking wet clothes on our last day would have been miserable.

Hey, Josh is smiling....and why not.  It is officially the last day of being a professional walker.  For now ha

Cool bit of trail......

Your damn right.... ha walked here.

Couldn't let us get there without having to earn it.  Had a solid mile or so of just jagged rocks for trail!   The anger I would have had if I rolled an ankle this close ha.

I, I, I made it!  Rafters in the distance.

The Appalachian Trail- (D.77, 10.9 mi)

(Sam Moore Shelter --> Blackburn Trail Center) (1004.8 mi total) !!!!!!!!!

So, today we made a 1000 miles!!!!  We hit the Bears Den Hostel early in the morning.... it was extremely tempting to stay the day there especially since upon arrival we were told of a terrible storm coming through later that day.  We spent as much time as we could relaxing and charging our phones and buying a Amtrak tickets but then finally we were off and back on the trail. Of course, as if to test our will power we got caught in one of the most intense rain storms I have been in yet.  I certainly was re-thinking my decision making but instead of sulking I took the other route....lunacy.  A couple of triumphant yells in the face of the storm seemed to calm me, but unfortunately it didn't warm me up any.  We finally made it to the trail center.....a really cool free hostel and lucky for us it had a wood stove heater for the little shelter.  We loaded it down with wood and by morning our stuff was finally dry if not a little warm ha.  It did take me the better part of the evening to stop shivering and finally get a hold of my body warmth...pretty intense.

Bears Den Hostel....super cool and super old.  They have a hiker special $27.50 and you get (bunk, laundry, tombstone pizza, pint o' ben n jerrys, soda, and internet).  It was pretty cool, but we didn't have the time nor money for it.  We did meet a lot of older hikers sheltering from the storm and had some really cool conversations!

The approach to Bears Den Hostel

The approaching storm....muah ha ha.

Josh almost smiling.....1,000 miles!

Finally made it to a 1,000!  Despite the rain/chill, I felt amazing!!

Beautiful post rain sunset through the trees at Blackburn Trail Center.  Off in the distance is the caretakers home, they weren't present though unfortunately.  We heard sometimes they randomly cook the guest dinner :(

The Appalachian Trail- (D.76, 14.3 mi)

(Dick's Dome Shelter --> Sam Moore Shelter) (993.9 mi total)

So, we had spent a little time on "The Roller Coaster" yesterday... I didn't remember to mention it because I tried to forget it ha.  The Roller Coaster is basically a series of 10 ascents in 13.5 miles.....the last bit of miserable in our trip so we were eager to conquer it.  It sucked....but we decided to split it into 2 days so we could better manage it and not hurt ourselves this close to the end of the trip!  We finally hit a really nice meadow in the trail....it was nice to see a little different bit or terrain.  We made it to the Shelter and hit the hay with dreams of hitting a 1000 miles the next day.

What my companion book has to say about the ol' Roller Coaster.....  :(

Finally one with nature....I have been trying to become one with the universe ha.  I decided long ago that if I could ever get a butterfly to land on my hand then I was getting close.  The last couple of weeks they have been getting close, and then today I felt it....it was destiny.

Whoop Whoop! Harpers Ferry on a sign.... finally feels like we are making it somewhere.

Beautiful spot we got to walk along.....loved it.

Bout to get this shit done son.

Ha, a little warning from the Trail Club!

Whiteblaze art...its been a while.

The Appalachian Trail- (D.75, 14.4 mi)

(Campsite/Spring --> Dick's Dome Shelter) (978.6 mi total)

We finally made it out of the SNP!  It was sad to see it go but we were ready to get moving and finish up our trip.  We didn't pass much for pictures today, but we did still have our hotdog dinner to look forward to.  Dick's Dome Shelter wasn't as nice as we had hoped......but we set up camp around it and enjoyed clear skies without having to set up our tarps!

Hot Dog time..... finally something besides Ramen and Tuna.

Made a great fire....took a little effort.

And worth it.....4 hot dogs a piece! Made some Mac N' Cheese to add to the top and grabbed some condiments for a loaded dog.

The Appalachian Trail- (D.74, 14.2 mi)

(Gravel Springs Hut --> Campsite/Spring) (964.2 mi total)

So, we had the idea today to hike quickly so we could get into Front Royal, Va and do a quick re-supply and laundry session.  Luckily we made it with little issues.  We hit the road to Front Royal and within 10 minutes of throwing up the thumb a nice girl stopped and picked us up!  She said she was running extremely late for a dinner date with a friend but saw us puttin' on a smile and thought that no one would pick us up.  She was driving a 5 speed.....even though she didn't really seem to know how ha.  We had just made it into the grocery store when a employee getting off was nice enough to say, "hey, you guys hiking? I just got off let me give you a ride!"  We were dumbfounded and felt truly lucky......it was a sham.  We rushed through our shopping only to find that our "ride" was a crude joke ha and he had already left.  Josh, did manage to buy some hotdogs for us.....a little celebratory dinner for the end of a long trip.  We started walking back (4 miles) in the dark, thinking no way anyone sees our thumbs....but someone did.  A small toyota pulled over and let us in.  We did a little night hiking and before we knew it we were setting up camp about a mile off the trail!

The PATC did a great job and left us thoroughly impressed with the trails!

Abby is sideways!

Another section of just great trail....it always a relief to catch some trail like this!

The last section of Virginia is really old and has plenty to offer for history enthusiast.

The Appalachian Trail- (D.73, 13.1 mi)

(Pass Mtn Hut --> Gravel Springs Hut) (950 mi total)

Another day walking....ha it was a pretty nice day with some interesting activities for sure.  We awoke to see a bear washing in the spring (water source) for the shelter....we felt pretty connected with nature to say the least.  I did manage to get some shots so that was cool.  We met two Sobo's (Old Bay and Trevor (?)) and they stayed night with us at the shelter.  Unfortunately my walking stick that I found in North Carolina broke today (not me breaking it either surprisingly) so it was a bitter moment...still got Timone (my wood stick) though.  Luckily, Josh spotted a good stick and managed to do some climbing and grab it for me!

Silver eyes....we have been seeing so  many deer everyday.  Crazy!

My walking stick.... it is off to a better place now.  The trash.

Did you think you were the only ones thirsty?

Fine, I'll leave.....but not quickly.

We didn't necessarily want to walk through Browntown.....

The Appalachian Trail- (D.72, 15.3 mi)

(Rock Spring Hut --> Pass Mtn Hut) (936.9 mi total)

Had a rather gloomy day today, but still managed to get decent miles done.  We hit some really low elevation's today and it kind of took a toll on me.  The humidity was intense and it left us drenched in sweat.  We were anxious to get to the shelter and put on some cleaner clothes.  Unfortunately the shelter we stayed in was pretty intense.....ha Josh managed to chop the head off of one (of two) snakes living in the shelter and I had to kill numerous spiders that found their way in my shirt ha.  Not to mention the ever present shelter mice.....ha getting pretty tired of these sleeping conditions.

Natural pool, usually a great view....as you can see the fog didn't allow that though.

Whats that in the distance?  Night hikes are already scary....don't need bears to make it more so.

Halls throat drops wrapper..... Ha, its like they knew I was struggling today.

I think my feet are giving up on me.....disgusting and bruised ha.

Ha, first sign that says "Your getting closer"

The Appalachian Trail- (D.71, 17.mi)

(South River Picnic Grounds --> Rock Spring Hut and (locked) Cabin) (921.6 mi total)

Another beautiful day in SNP.  We did have a little bit of rain in the morning, but it did manage to blow over in the end and left us with some breath-taking views of the Shenandoah Valley.  Ran into some folks climbing...surprisingly the first I had seen the entire trip.  I was very jealous.....cannot wait to start climbing again in Memphis.  We also got to stop by the Big Meadows Lodge today.  It is a restaurant in the middle of the SNP and a tourist trap if I have ever seen one....it did have some damn good coffee though.  We went to the hostess inquiring a seat.  She replied, "I take it you boys are hiking, we actually have a spot for hikers..."  This spot was in the corner of the restaurant and at least 30 ft away from anyone within a nose distance ha.

Shenandoah Valley, so beautiful.

Panoramic View of the valley..... it was so hard to move from this spot ha.

And I thought Charlotte's Web was fiction.....

....Jealous.

Conquered......great feeling.