Hi Everyone
Since I last posted from Harpers Ferry we have crossed the 40+ miles the state of Maryland had to offer the A.T. It has been a tough week of hiking with temps in the 90's and humidity at 100% for most days. We finally got a break today when the humidity dropped. I will try to give a recap of the past week.
June 9 was our planned day off in Harpers Ferry and it was a good one to be off on with temps at 95+. We walked around the old town a little and then just tried to stay cool and do a little reading at the hotel. We did stop in the the ATC Headquarters to have our picture taken for this years class of thru hikers. We were the 252nd and 253rd thru hikers that stopped into the office this year. They also told us that the latest report only had 1100 people starting from GA this year. Since almost half of the people drop out by this point we feel very lucky to still be on the trail and hope to be part of the 10% who finish the entire trail in one year.
June 10 we left the hotel after breakfast and hiked 18.2 miles in very hot humid weaher with thunderstorms in the late PM. We stopped at Garthland State Park for some gatoraid and a short break and took a look at a Civil War museum there. A volunteer guide told us that the valley just below where we were was the scene of a batte where 1000 Confederate soldiers were killed in less than 10 minutes while being overrun by over 12,000 Union soldiers. We camped at a hiker campgound that had hot showers free of charge, thank Maryland Parks. We had a mad dash to get the tent set up before the t storms hit, but we made it.
June 11 started hiking early to try and beat the heat. We ran into an old friend from early on the trail named Pack Animal. He is on trail journals. We hiked with him all day and kept the pace slow. We saw the original Washington Monument and had a great view from the top. I will post a picture. We quit by 2 pm and I just hit the wall. Too much humidity and heat. I could not do much more than crawl into the tent. It is a good thing Patty is tough as nails.
June 12, more of the same heat and humdity. We started by 0630 and did 17 miles with the heat wearing on both of us. We had lunch at the Pen Mar State Park and then crossed the Mason Dixon line into PA
June 13, more hot weather and it got me again. We stopped after 14 miles at 2 pm and I just crawled into a shelter.
June 14, Happy Flag Day. We left at 5:30 am and did an 18 mile hike to get to Pine Grove Furnace State Park at 1:30pm. It was a very beautiful area. The heat was just as bad, but we both survived and our first stop was the Pine Grove Store. We had lunch and some ice cream, but Patty decided against the "half gallons ice cream challenge". It was probably best as we watched a couple of guys almost get sick trying to finish their choice of ice cream. We did have some more great trail magic however. A thru hiker from 1997 had left a note for people to stop by the cabin he was at for supper. It turned out to be a great evening as the cabin was the only one on this small quarry lake in the park. It was a beautiful cabin and close to a nice swimming beach. There were only 6 or 7 other hikers who were there along with some friends of the thru hiker and the owner of the cabin. We had a great evening with good food, a few beers and some great music. All of the friends of the hiker who invited us were musicians and we had some good banjo music.
June 15, After a great breakfast, patty and I left around 8 am for the 20 mile hike to Boiling Springs. The Thru hiker whose trail name was Ismial and real name is Bruce has also hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. He told us that he lived in Boiling Springs and he would be glad to put us up again tonight. So that is where I am typing this from. The hike today was of interest because the Cykadia (sp) were so thick and noisy that it was almost dangerous. This was supposed to be group 15 in the 17 year cycle. The other forrest danger was all the falling gypsy moth droppings. If you have not heard of gypsy moths, lets hope they are not in MN soon. They defoliate the tree leaves and drop little specs of black poo as they eat in the catipiller stage. We thought it was raining one night it was so heavy. I will try to post a picture at some point. I was going to post pictures now, but just looked and can not find the usb port on the computer I am using. Sory
I am goint to sign off for now. I have to call and wish our AT Support Staff a happy Fathers Day.
Thanks Dad for all you are doing.
Until next time.
Red Dog and Lucky Dog
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1 comment:
Dear Jeff and Patty,
Just wanted to say Hi. I am sending an e-mail to your normal e-mail address. I recently returned home from flying ashore at Wilmington, Deleware. While I was there, I was wondering how you folks were dealing with the heat. It has certainly been hot there and I hope it has cooled a bit!
Michelle and I have taken advantage of the cool spring time temps and rain to do some tree planting a little late in the season.
My mom is doing well and was asking how you were doing. I put up a few bird feeders and planted a couple flowers pots for her. Her balcony faces a pretty good sized forest and swampy area so she already has a few regular feathered guests.
You folks are certainly laying down the miles and your pictures are nice to see. Good to hear you are doing so well. You will be well north of me when I return to Deleware about 17 Jul. I doubt I could keep up with you two anyways. Michelle is swamped with work so any chance of her flying east is slim. We will just have to have a big feed and toss down a couple cool ones when you get back.
If there is something you need me to check up on for you let me know.
Grey
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