Psychologically Half-Way! Physically, not so much...

This is Luke blogging from Kevin McGowan's basement in Owings, MD. Kevin picked Caleb and I up in Harper's Ferry, WV, which is 1,013.8 miles up the A.T. from Springer Mountain, GA, where the hike began.

The last time I updated the blog, we were in Waynesboro, VA, which was about 160 miles ago. Waynesboro was great. Blakeley, my girlfriend who I hadn't seen since January when she left to study abroad in Prague, came to visit me. Man, was it nice. I got to hear her stories about visiting exotic places like Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam live and in person. We spent most of our time together just trading stories, looking at pictures from trips, eating junk food, and laughing. I had been looking forward to seeing her for so long and during the break in Waynesboro I was reminded of why I love her so much.

Caleb's friend, Laura, who works with the same family as Caleb does in Raleigh, also came to visit us in Waynesboro and put Caleb up for a couple of nights. The four of us had a great time at Wayne's Lanes (the local bowling alley), several restaurants, and loafing around the Comfort Inn. I also bought new shoes and a camera in Waynesboro. I spent more money in Waynesboro than I did during all of the trail up to that point, but I sure did enjoy every second of it. I saved up this money to be spent on the trail, so it doesn't feel bad to do it.

After three days in Waynesboro, we left town and headed into the 107-mile section of the A.T. that passes through the Shenandoah National Park. We were told that the SNP was relatively flat and wouldn't be much of a challenge for our thru-hiker legs. We set an ambitious goal that had us hike 30+ mile days and finishing the park in three days to resupply in Front Royal, VA. This was before we discovered how much we loved the park. The weather was gorgeous, the wildlife was active, and our spirits were well. We realized that we shouldn't be rushing through such a great part of the A.T. We ended up taking five days in the park, but it was the happiest I've been on the trail.

One reason for my elation was the wonderful "Wayside" that exists along the A.T. in the SNP. The A.T. parallels Skyline Drive, which is a beautiful road that runs through the SNP. Waysides are built every 15 miles or so along Skyline Drive and gives the opportunity to those driving the Skyline Drive to take a break from the scenery and stop to fill up on gas and food. This gives thru-hikers a chance to pig out! We passed about six waysides coming through the SNP, but had the self-control only to stop at two for burgers and ice cream (veggie for Caleb, of course).

A lady (who reminded me of my Grandma Peggy) saw us huddled over the ice cream freezer pointing at the different varieties of ice cream which appealed to us (all of them). We must of looked pretty gross and desperate because she came over to us and asked if we were thru-hikers and we told her that we were. She said,"Take this. I hiked on the A.T. for about twenty minutes today and I don't know how you guys can do it." She handed us a twenty-dollar bill. It was enough to pay for our ice cream and our lunch in the restaurant. Another wonderful trail angel.

We saw tons of animals in the SNP--deer, birds, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, coyotes, snakes, and Caleb even saw a black bear cub. The mother never made an appearance which is probably a good thing. It definitely felt like spring had arrived and the animals were out to enjoy it. It was fun messing around with my new camera with all the wildlife that was around.

As we were exiting the SNP, I called my friend Justin Hoover who had e-mailed me and said he would like to meet us along the trail so he could take us into town and fatten us up a bit. He said sometime between the 15^th and 22^nd would be good, so I called him on the 14^th to see when would be best. I told him we were three miles from Front Royal, VA at the moment and, ironically, his brother had a baseball game there that night. Hoover picked us up 30 minutes after the phone call and we were suddenly being treated to a great Mexican meal in Front Royal. He offered to put us up for the night and we weren’t about to turn it down. We got to enjoy his brother’s baseball game, some delicious food at his house, and the company of his amazing family. I also got to hear about his first year of law school at William & Mary, which has sort of clued me into what I will be experiencing in a few short months from now. Catching up with him was great as he is one of my favorite people.

We showed some self discipline in getting back on the trail the next day – a Friday. The Hoovers showed us such great hospitality that it was hard to go back into the woods. The only thing that motivated us was knowing that Kevin, another good friend from Emory, was picking us up in Harpers Ferry, WV, Sunday at 2 PM, which was 52 miles down the trail. Justin dropped us off late in the day on Friday with full stomachs and we managed to make it to the next shelter past Front Royal – a five mile trek.

On the walk that day we found eight ticks between us. They have been terrible in northern Virginia and it is now habitual to look for and find ticks on your body. In the last two weeks, I have had to pick off more ticks than in the previous 21 years of my life combined.

On Saturday, we were planning to hike 30+ miles, but ended up doing only 25 as we were caught by a terrible thunderstorm late in the day. We also had to deal with the infamous “Roller Coaster,” a 13.5 mile stretch where there are ten significant ascents and descents. That made Sunday tough as we needed to walk out of VA, cross the 1000 mile marker, finish the last 6 miles of the Roller Coaster, and cap off a 22-mile-day all before 2 PM. We’ve been sore for a few days, but we managed to do it.

In Harper’s Ferry we signed in at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy where they take a photo and officially register you as a member of the thru-hiker class of 2009. We were the 80^th hikers to do so this season. It will be interesting to see how that number changes when we register in Baxter Park before climbing Mt. Katahdin in Maine.

But, Kevin met us at the ATC and has taken us back to his home in Owings, MD which is a couple of hours away. He has asked me to write about our time here in a new post, because he is sure everyone has given up on this long post by now.

We are planning to get back on the trail tomorrow and are looking forward to crossing the physical half-way point of the trail in a couple of days.

For those of you that have stuck with this post, thanks! It’s frustrating because I really do leave a ton out and still manage to write way too much. I’m going to figure out pictures now…

NoseHose