AT Hike: 27 July 2000

The following has been transcribed directly from the journal that I kept while hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT).

Thursday, July 27th, 2000
10:58 am. I am at Todd's house in Manassas and we are packing up and seems like we are getting into a mental battle with how much weight we have. I dump everything out of my pack and weigh it piece by piece...ah ha...the problem is that my pack weighs about 7 or 8 pounds EMPTY! I will have to remedy that someday!

We depart with some newly changed plans in mind...we have decided to hike through parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. We chose this new plan while looking through maps in a huge outdoor equipment store last night. Sound nice that we would be able to hike 3 different states over the course of a weekend.

2:00pm we arrive in our planned destination: Burkittsville, Maryland. After bypassing a few detours we decide to leave my car in a church parking lot. If something happens to it there then we have some serious problems. Ironically, as I am stepping into Todd's truck (which is parked right in front of the church) I notice a dead bat. Is this a bad omen?

3:14pm we arrive at our start point and see the trail crossing Highway 7, which is a 4-lane highway. No luck finding a parking spot yet so we are going to get on the other side of the highway and look.

3:28pm Parked the truck in a Park-n-ride lot...hike on!

3:47pm 82 degrees. Light breeze from the north under partly cloudy skies.

Note to self: Mentholated foot powder creates an interesting sensation when applied to your genital area.

So far, the walk has been very pleasant-got on the trail at 3:45 and started across Hwy 7. The trail quickly disappears up a slow climb into the woods. Final packed weight was 47 pounds-have to find ways to shed some of those! As we climb the first hill, I can feel gravity kicking in and pulling the pack firmly down into my shoulders.

4:45pm 75 degrees. We take our first break after an hour. We just crossed a trickling stream and then a rock bed with a stream flowing under it. The gurgling of the water was very loud when you stood on the rocks but became muffled as you walked away.

We are sweating as much as the days when we walked Tray Mountain. Here, in the woods there is much more of a canopy to provide shade. We see a few deer and fawns, a rabbit that I almost stepped on, a lizard, and some caterpillars.

We stopped atop Crescent Rock and found a rock climber had just ascended the rocky face. He called this Raven Rock (later we discovered that Raven Rock is actually just a small rocky outcropping that we passed earlier). In the distance, across the fire scorched valley, there are some huge houses standing in clearings that allow a beautiful view of the rock that we are standing on and the surrounding hills. I suppose these hills are really mountains, and although I have respect for them, they are nothing compared to the mountains that we encountered in Georgia (which I am sure are nothing compared to the ones we have yet to encounter in North Carolina!).

We continue the hike and find a nice spot to camp. Up on a knoll, out of the muggy low-lying wetlands. It is 6:30pm. We both decide that we will keep going and pick the first site that we find after 7:30pm. On we march.

The trail widened out so we could walk side by side for a while. We stayed together and had a pretty easy time as far as walking goes.

7:47pm. Wow. Can't believe how far we have gone. Well, not all that far in 4 hours, but much farther than we really anticipated. We found a side trail which, up to this point has been the ONLY confirmed location we have seen since we do not have the detailed maps and trail descriptions that we had in Georgia. It has been 7.3 miles since Hwy 7!

Sign says: Trail to Blackburn Trail Center. Hikers Hostel-Hikers Welcome .27 miles! We decide to go check it out. We have never slept in a shelter, mostly out of concern for mice, but we decide to go to the Hostel and see what it is all about.

Straight downhill! That's what it's about! These are the awful switchbacks we remember from Georgia. We even stop half way down and joke about turning around. We continue on down the hill and devise a codeword plan on how to leave if we have to pay...

As the trees open up and make way to a beautiful mountainside clearing we can see a huge lodge which is apparently still under construction, but beautiful none-the-less. We spot a sign that points us to the hikers hostel and we head towards it. The hostel is a small house complete with a front porch, 2 night stands, a wood burning stove, a bookshelf complete with books, and 2 bunk frames. Yep! We will definitely stay!

Bob, the caretaker comes to welcome us and we share stories for an hour so while relaxing on our front porch.

Bob thru-hiked in 1998 and is named Yukon. While he hiked he left his name for any jobs that were available. Immediately after finishing his thru-hike he was chosen to be the caretaker of this awesome mountain retreat. It is a 2-year maximum stay. He gets paid a meager wage, but doesn't have much to worry about. His job is to walk a 40 to 50 miles stretch of the trail and keep it maintained and assist hikers and groups as necessary. Great job opportunity-something to look into when retirement comes. He also told us of American Youth Hostels which have buildings all over the world which provide low-cost lodging.

Todd and I decided to eat our dinner (Mac-n-cheese for me and stove top-n-rice for him) on a hilltop over looking the flat terrain of the east coast. We are still high on the mountain and it is totally dark. We identify the city lights of a town 15 miles from where Todd lives and in the distance we can faintly see the Washington D.C. city lights on the horizon. Just then, in the middle of our dinner, a jet screamed by on it's descent to land...you can't escape life by being out here but it sure is beautiful!

Goodnight.

Today’s total: 7.6 miles
Trip Total: 7.6 miles

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