We're in the South!We've come a long way since our last entry at the PA/MD border. We did not do the 4-state challenge (hike in one day from PA to VA, 43 miles) but we did pull some large days getting into Harpers Ferry, WV. In Harpers Ferry my brother, Christopher, decided to leave the hike for a variety of reasons. While he was with us there were a number of milestones: our half-way point and the subsequent half-gallons of icecream each, the legendary Doyle Hotel in Duncannon PA, the ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry where we each had our pictures taken. Buster and I were numbers 37 and 38 for southbound thru-hikers, a number that is pretty low for this time of the year.
In Harpers Ferry Buster got new shoes in the mail from Campmor and we had to buy a new tent because the Kelty we had been using had two poles that snapped. Kelty, unlike other more thru-hiker-friendly companies, was not willing to replace the poles for free even though they should have lasted the whole trip. After much conversation, we opted to go out on a limb and buy a Golite Hut II, a tent that is basically a tarp that you pitch using your trekking poles. It's total weight is 1 lb 7 oz. This was a pretty significant change for us but is a lot less bulky and heavy as a tent. We ran into Bonzo, a friendly local guy who does a lot of hiking. He offered us a piece of Tyvek that we use as a floor for the tent. He also drove us around to the library.
After Harpers Ferry we headed south into Virginia!
We had a great stay at Bears Den hostel and celebrated Buster's birthday with half a day off and an omlet breakfast courtesey a kind section hiker named Marcia, also staying at the hostel. On Buster's actual birthday we hiked a big 26 miles over the "roller-coaster" (a secton of no. VA where the trail goes over several steep climbs and descents over 10 miles) getting into Linden that evening. We were picked up in Linden by some old friends, Doug and Syd, who gave us a delicious hot meal, showers, a movie and a comfortable place to sleep.
Since our resupply in Linden we have hiked through the Shenandoah National Park in 5 days. We did our biggest day of 28 miles mid-way through and felt pretty good afterwards. Because of our bigger days we were able to catch up with a pack of southbounders in front of us including Stretch, someone we hiked with a lot in PA and NJ. It's pretty unusual to have a pack of 6 southbounders all together so we decided to have a party! We packed in a lot of goodies from the camp store to the next shelter and had a good old time.
We were greeted in Waynesboro by my dear friends Denise and Pat from Richmond. They are treating us like royalty with hotel rooms, errands, food food food (Buster ate 12 pancakes at the diner last night...), and great company.
Our next resupply is in Glasgow and then we'll be heading to my home in Martinsville for a zero day around Oct. 6th.
The weather is getting much cooler and the leaves are starting become bright. We are starting to get into the bigger mountains that the south has to offer. These will be the first real (big) mountians we've seen since Vermont. We're trying to average 15 miles a day to finish on Springer by the 20th of Nov. (or close to it).
take care everyone!
bluebird and buster
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