Month: October 2021

It’s starting to feel like autumn in Virginia and the cooler, crisp days are also getting shorter as sunset becomes a little later every day. This makes it difficult for me to write on the blog every day. Satisfying my need for calories and sleep are taking over the days! But that means I am hiking strong and continue to be healthy. You will notice a change in the content of the blog. My posts written in my tent will be very brief. When I am staying overnight in towns with better bandwidth I will add more color.

The Shenandoah National Park is one of my favorite places along the AT. I say this despite the rain and clouds that obscured most the views of distance ridges and valleys. I continue to make good progress on the trail largely because of excellent trail and cool weather. The only problem I had involves my feet, which have grown larger beyond the shoe size 13-wide. Both big toes were bleeding. I will soon switch to size 14-wide. Yikes! Growing feet is common among long distance hikers. The temperature has been mild and only slightly chilly in the evening, night and early mornings even when it rained. On October 13 the weather changed and it became warmer especially in the afternoon as I hiked 20.7 miles to Rockfish Gap.  This was the end of the section through Shenandoah National Park.  I was sad to leave it because the mountains and forest were such a pleasure to walk through. 

The AT in Shenandoah National Park is known for great trail conditions, amazing views of the mountains and valleys, waysides and lodges along the Skyline Drive where hikers can indulge in treats such as black raspberry milkshakes. Late in the afternoon on the third day of my hike through Shenandoah the forest was foggy and misty. Light rain had fallen much of the day making the trail a muddy and slick. I had already slipped on a wet rock that afternoon with a bruise on my right thigh to show for it. It was 5pm and time to look for a campsite scanning the leafy forest floor for flat, clear areas sufficient to set up the tent. Before crossing the Skyline Drive one more time I noticed a large area on the left side of the trail looked promising. My forage for a tent site did not take long, and just before I lowered my backpack to the soft, moist, leafy ground I spotted a deer slowly moving away from the vicinity of my home for the night.

On October 5 I woke up in West Virginia at the David Lesser Shelter, which is about eight trail miles from the Virginia border. I looked forward to entering Virginia because it is the only Appalachian Trail state I once lived it (1962 in Lynchburg). But the border crossing was not the first thing I considered when getting a pre-dawn start with my headlamp beam pointed down toward my footsteps. Before entering Virginia the AT becomes a so-called “roller coaster” with numerous ups and downs which could be steep. I did not know if the 14-mile segment of roller coaster would be challenging or slow my progress toward my goal for the day 21 miles ahead. Yes, that is 21 miles, including 14 on a roller coaster!

The area near the border with Pennsylvania and Maryland is called Penn-Mar. The border is also considered the Mason-Dixon line. It is one of many historically significant points of interest along the AT. Because I camped only one mile from the Penn-Mar border the previous night I reached it very early in the morning. Thus, my short journey through Maryland began on October 1.

Several transitional events are worth describing. First, my father-in-law Bill took me back to the AT after two nights in Gettysburg. One thing is certain when I am in the company of Bill: there is excellent food and great wine to be enjoyed! We also explored the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum. The AT traverses places that are important to the history of the U.S., and for me understanding the history of Gettysburg reinforced the importance of the historical context of the AT.