Day 5

Harper’s Ferry Day! There was not much water on the route to town and the forecast was calling for thunderstorms, so I booked it 9 miles into town without taking much of a break. I stopped briefly to talk to Trouble and Deliberate and shared some of my water with them. I stopped again briefly when I caught up to Frog and Toad, but otherwise pushed on to town. Crossing the bridge over the Shenandoah River was epic, as I blared John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” over the roar of passing traffic. After the bridge, I continued on a short way until I got to the side trail for the iconic Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters.

The volunteer took my picture for the photo book, and I impressed the staff with my recitation of the 7 leave no trace principles to get my thru hiker tag. I also got to see Frog and Toad one last time as they finished their section hike. I continued on into town and had an amazing gyro and Greek salad for lunch before crossing the Potomac into Maryland.

I hiked the few flat miles the AT shares with the C&O Canal Towpath, and took the road to Cross Trails Hostel for the night. There were no other hikers there, and I wished I had tried to stay in Harper’s Ferry to hang out with the section hikers instead. Oh well.

Day 6

It started raining sometime in the night. Knowing I was going to be picked up in the afternoon to spend the weekend in Baltimore, I didn’t bother wearing my rain jacket. I hiked back to the trail and up the switchbacks to Weverton Cliffs, which unfortunately had no view today with the fog and clouds. The rest of the trail was an easy ridge walk through the woods. It felt good to be back in Maryland and out of the tree graveyard of the last 30 miles of Virginia. 

I made it to Gathland State Park where I was going to be picked up in a few hours. After using the bathroom and getting some water, I settled into a pavilion to escape the rain and change into some dryer layers. Just as I was getting cold, my ride arrived and took me off the mountain back into civilization. I got my laundry done right away (for everyone’s sake), and we all went to bed early after a few drinks.

Day 7

I had a good zero day in Baltimore. I followed my friends shuttling their kids around in the morning and got my resupply at the grocery store. We met up with some other friends at a brewery after lunch. Then my buddy and I stayed up drinking and laughing late into the night. It was really nice to visit my friends and former home town.

Day 8

We all had a slow morning, but we got on the road around noon. We had a nice lunch in Frederick, Maryland, at a place where the kids could run around. Then we finished the drive to Gathland State Park to start hiking north. My friends joined me for a few miles, and I showed them a shelter. After parting ways, I hustled to the Dahlgren Backpacker Campground to camp for the night, arriving a little before sunset. After I settled into my hammock and everyone else at camp went to bed, a fox started screaming off in the distance, which is not a pleasant sound to try to fall asleep with in the background.

Day 9

It was a beautiful day on trail today with pleasant sunny weather. I hit the Washington Monument early in the day. Aside from being a nice view, this is also the furthest north I’d previously hiked on the AT, so everything north of here will be all new to me. The next milestone for the day was crossing over I-70 on a bridge I’d driven under many times over the years. I met Trouble and Deliberate for the last time just on the other side of the bridge. It was great to see them again, but hard to have a conversation with all the traffic noise. 

I had a nice lunch with a beautiful view at Annapolis Rocks. After getting water at a nearby spring, I started walking up the campground trail and I think I saw a bear? I’m not positive, but it looked like a big black bear head up the hill from me before it moved off. When I got to where I thought I saw it, I couldn’t see any sign that it had been there, I couldn’t see it up the hill, and I never heard it. So I gaslit myself that I didn’t see it, but other hikers I’ve told the story to think it probably was a bear. I hope I see another one so that I can say for certain I saw one. 

The rest of the day remained easy and beautiful. I was a little worried about camping at a shelter near a road, but when I got there, there were only a few other long distance hikers. I had a nice evening with the other hikers and felt good after my longest day on trail yet (13.9 miles).

Day 10

I did not have a solid plan for the day leaving the shelter, but I was thinking of staying at the first campsite in Pennsylvania. I was very slow in the morning, likely a byproduct of the higher mileage the day before. The first stream I crossed in the day was beautiful with big rock walls on the cliffs and hemlocks by the stream, but I forgot to take a picture. I stopped for an early lunch just 4 miles into the day. 

The rain before lunch was not bad, but when I got to the shelter for lunch it really started to pour. I stayed there for about 2 hours trying to wait out the rain, during which time a few other hikers walked in to get out of the rain. I tried to see if I could stay at one of the hotels in PenMar to get out of the rain, but they were all full. Resigned to sleep outside, I marched on to PenMar. 

When I got there, I was feeling cold and really wanted to get out of the elements. I called the hotel in Waynesboro, PA, to see if they had any rooms open, and they did. I hiked the next three miles to the road very quickly, only stopping for a quick photo of the Mason-Dixon Line. When I got to the road, I half-heartedly tried to hitchhike into town, but gave up almost immediately and walked into town. I misjudged how far of a walk it was, and trudged another almost 3 miles on the side of a busy road to the hotel. My feet were killing me when I got there, but I made it.

After checking in, I quickly laid out my gear to dry and took one of the best showers of my life. I walked over to one of the restaurants for a hot meal and then went back to the hotel to pass out. I had the best night’s sleep since before trail.

Lack-of-Shower Thoughts 

Food has been a challenge so far during the hike. I have not had an appetite, and some of the foods I relied on during past hikes have not been appealing to me. I am eating every meal and likely getting enough calories for now, but I’m just not enjoying most meals and snacks. Talking to other hikers, it sounds like this is fairly common and something that will work itself out within a few weeks. For now, I’m just experimenting to see what foods go down well and ditching foods that aren’t.

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