Harpers Ferry

What a wonderful town!  I'm on my THIRD zero day (hehe...) and will be hitting the Trail again tomorrow, but stopped back by the ATC headquarters in order to use the computer.  I purchased new boots and a new pack online (both of which I badly need) and should be getting them in a few days.  I can NOT wait!  The tread on my boots has worn nearly away after 1015 miles and it makes rock-hopping a little dangerous as it gets really slippery.  My pack is and always has been way too big for me and it's too heavy and smelly and all around just a pain.  Ugh.  I will let you know how the new gear works out. 

Dad, Becky and mom came to visit me in town, which is a beautiful historic village.  Look it up online.  Lots of Civil War/early US history here.  We walked around and ate and looked at the beautiful buildings and rivers.  It was a very memorable visit.

So how does it feel to get half-way?  Amazing.  :)  Yet then I look back on the time I've spent on the Trail and realize that although it seems like my life is totally different and March is a million years distant, in actuality these three months have flown by and it will all be over in another three.  Pretty soon this will all just be a time to look back on- a distant memory.  I'm not sad about it yet, as it really hasn't sunken in... but I can start to understand the tinges of what I might be feeling when I step up to that sign at Katahdin.

Virginia claimed a lot of thru-hikers this year, as far as them quitting the Trail.  It was just too hot.  So our ranks continue to thin.  I was hiker 506 to reach Harpers Ferry this year, and the guys here at the headquarters say that 50% will not reach Katahdin.  I still feel as confident as the day I set out... time will only tell.  :)

I got sick again in the Shenandoahs- something in the water I drank I guess.  I haven't been treating the spring water I drink (it just tastes too fresh) and I think there was some privy run-off at the first shelter I got to.  Without saying too much, let me just tell you that I couldn't keep any food in my body, nor water, and so actually really wondered aloud if I was going to die as I rolled around in agony all evening on the forest floor.  BC actually said "I don't know", which wasn't the most reassuring comment from a friend.  I sent him on ahead of me the next morning, as I didn't want to hold him back or gross him out with my constant retching/bathroom usage.  He ended up doing 20 miles that day, and I BARELY crawled 8.  That day ranks among one of my worst not only on the Trail, but in life, and the only day on the Trail that I've contemplated hitch-hiking to avoid doing miles and (only for a moment) quitting it altogether.  It took me 8 full hours to do 8 miles.  I didn't eat anything, and actually felt my body using muscle as fuel.  I can't tell you what that felt like, but I understood where I was getting the energy to hike up mountains and it didn't feel right. 

But, as you know, I DID NOT die or quit... !!!  I recovered the next day and, luckily for me, had multiple restaurants to look forward to as the Shenandoah National Park is full of them.  So I hiked by myself (always a day behind BC, reading his entries in the shelter logs every night) and ate all I wanted for a few days until I was back to full health (but 5 pounds lighter).

While BC and I were hiking alone through the Park he was lucky enough to have multiple bear sightings... even watching for 30 minutes a female rip apart a tree for grubs as her 2 cubs wrestled and climbed trees nearby.  I was SO jealous to read of that in the register.  I lamented to some friends that I would NEVER see a bear, not even one of the hundreds in the Shenandoah, and tried to get it in my head to accept the fact.  I sulked down a grassy path near the shelter in search of the spring to fill my water bottles, and had FINALLY come to terms with having seen no bears, when (hahah!) I turned a blind corner to the spring and saw a fuzzy black mass in front of me, not 15 feet.  It was huge, head down and drinking noisily from the spring.  :)  My heart leaped not with fear but with joy!  I silently and slowly backed away about ten feet, coughed lightly to alert it to my presence, and watched as it quietly ran away up the mountain, stopping once to scope me out before heading on.  I later saw another (younger and more curious) bear on the Trail, but my first sighting was wonderful and at the most coincidental moment.  I loved it.

So, BC and I finally met back up our last night in the Park.  We both enjoyed hiking solo so much that we continued to do so, but still seeing each other throughout the day on breaks at at night at the campsites.  When you hike alone you don't have to rely on anyone, have anyone rely on you, and can take breaks whenever you please.  When I walk alone I am filled with happy thoughts on life in general/life after the Trail and often dream of things to come (jobs/things I'll do in my free time).  Of course, hiking with someone has its benefits as well, but after 800 miles of hiking behind someone it was refreshing to find my own pace, realize my own strength, and see the Trail as if I were the only one on it. 

I've been taking many pictures and will upload them when possible, but it has been very hard the last month or two to find a place that will allow that or to even find the time in my day.  Most places allow only 15 minutes of computer time, which probably wouldn't even be enough to let me upload ONE picture, let alone multiple.  I will post them to facebook when I can (and if you haven't seen them, there were some I put on there from central VA a few weeks ago). 

Speaking of 15 minute limits... I've been here at the AT headquarters now for 3 hours and probably should leave (though I'm having fun trading one-liners with the staff and volunteers).  This is a GREAT place and if you're ever around the Harpers Ferry area I'd recommend stopping by.

Till next time!  Pennsylvania, here I come...