Legs and Borders

Today I was taking a ride on Appalachian Trails official rollercoaster. I didn't even realized but PATC, the group of volunteers taking care of stretch of the trail between Front Royal and Harper's Ferry made "The Rollercoaster" an official thing adding a fun twist to this otherwise quite boring stretch of the trail. Personally I thought it was quite entertaining but some other hikers disliked the concept of constantly going up and down for 14 miles. Halfway through this section we also passed the 1000 mile marker, which was a cool achievement for many thru hikers myself included, it was the third time I've ever completed this many miles in one continuous push. The rollercoaster itself wasn't too bad but it was definitely tougher than I anticipated, especially as the terrain was extremely rocky, hopping and skipping over rocks made this stretch that much harder and somewhat technical. I've also had two very interesting a...

"Our Tex Mex chicken burger is like a happy meal for adults" Waitress at the Mill Restaurant Town day is always a good day. In the morning I've had just few miles left before reaching the road leading to Front Royal and I only had to wait 10 minutes until someone stopped and gave me a 3 mile ride to town. Unfortunately I didn't remember my drivers name but he was a local guy, his family was forced to leave Shenandoah's region when government was creating the national park. Once in town I've resupplied in Martin's supermarket, then I had a walk to the outfitters located in the city centre. I had to wait for a while before they opened. They had a super cool place in here called Basecamp, it was located at the back of the shop and AT thru hikers could get their laundry done and have a shower for free! It was a perfect option for me as I was planning to leave the town in the afternoon and keep on hiking. I've got an access to the Basecamp and a...

Last day in Shenandoah National Park, I'll miss it's views and accessibility. First task in the morning was to climb the Mary's Rock, another very popular with tourists spot, I was there early enough to have it all to myself and I must say that it might have been my favourite place in Shenandoah, very charming place. From here I was heading towards last of the Wayside restaurants, this one was called Elkwallow, I've arrived there just before midday and had a good calorie boost of smash burger and fries. It was Saturday so many day hikers were scaling the variety of trails Shenandoah had to offer, I've met a couple of bird "nerds" (that's how they described themselves) sitting by the side of the trail trying to locate a bird they heard when they were here last time. They've guessed the names of the birds I've seen so far on the AT after a short description. I've updated my plans and...

Pleasant day with fireworks at the end. It was the first sunny day in 84 hours, I've started it early but decided to stop at the Loft Mountain Campground which had a store, I had to wait an hour before it opened but it was OK. I've got a chicken burger and a coffee and carried on. The special thing about Shenandoah National Park was that every 10 or so miles it had a chain of restaurants and shops called "Waysides". They weren't cheap but an option to have anything else rather than trail food was tempting! There was also few tourist campsites with showers and toilets opened to the public. It made hiking Shenandoah way more civilized than any other stretch of AT so far, it was an interesting change but I don't think I would enjoy it for more than 100 miles as the amount of people and car traffic was taking away from nature side of things. During last resupply in Waynesboro I've updated my trail men...

"If a black bear attacks, always fight back" National Park Service The threat of rain was looming above for the entire day, I was checking weather forecast frequently and it would always get different (slightly better) results It looks like in the end I managed to hike out of this wet spell. Breakfast at the Quality Inn was served from 6:30 AM. I've packed everything before going to bed last night, so it was all ready for a hitchhike back to trail. There was plenty of hikers at the Inn, including one section hiker who announced that he will be shuttling people back when they are ready. Breakfast as far as things included in price are, was quite good. Yogurts, fresh fruit, coffee, toasts or waffles, biscuits and gravy and scrambled egg which might have been made from powder. After eating a considerable amount I've went over to Dale, the gentleman offering the rides and said that I can be ready in 5 minutes. By the time I've got my things he was already waiting in h...

"Embrace the suck" hikers proverb It rained solidly for the entire night and after I woke up it was still going. In fact, there was so much rain in the last 48 hours that the state of Virginia has issued a flood warning. Even with the heavy weather, I had to get moving. I was only 20 miles away from Waynesboro and the food supply was running low. I've packed and headed out, my shelter companion said nothing but was looking at me with "this guy is nuts" expression. The trail for the entire day was a one big flowing stream. Whenever it would stop raining for few minutes the wind would shake the trees and "interval rain" would fall. After few hours I was completely drenched and so was most of the items inside my backpack. What was worse I started to feel hypothermic and with over ten miles away from town I started to consider setting up an emergency camp and calling it a day. Luckily it stopped raining for few hours in the afte...

Very rainy day, up to a point that I decided to spend my second night on AT inside the shelter. In the morning I've rollercoastered myself over Priest Wilderness, this section would have had some good views but unfortunately everything was covered in clouds and fog, I couldn't see more than few metres in front of me. Rain could not decide if it wants to start falling or not until the afternoon when the answer was resounding yes and it had not stopped until next morning. It looked like everyone stayed in towns and shelters today, I've only met two other hikers desperate enough to brave the weather. Priest Wilderness ended with the big downhill section, followed by yet another big climb to Three Ridges. The highlight of the day for me was seeing the Barred Owl! I don't think I've ever seen an owl in the wild before so it felt very special, here's what Merlin has to say about this particular bird: "Large owl, mottled brown a...

"My trailname is Skyscraper - Why because you are so tall? - No, because I'm afraid of heights" Skyscraper Another good day of walking in the woods. I've managed to complete two big climbs in one day, which should make it easier for me for  the rest of the section. First morning climb was up the Bluff Mountain and the afternoon climb was up the Bald Knob. Trail also went past the 800 mile marker, which many hikers commemorated by arranging the numbers on the forest floor. Really close to Bluff Mountain there was a chilling memorial site for 4 year old Ottie Powell, who strayed from school in the late XIXth century and was found dead 7 miles away, very close to the peak of the mountain. I can't imagine what was going through Ottie's mind while he was climbing up this steep mountain side, Appalachian Trail did not exist back then, so he must have been using another path. For the most of the day water was quite scarce but with ...

Another good, quite demanding day, I've climbed up to Apple Orchard Mountain and descended all the way down through a James River Bridge right in front another big climb for tomorrow. Weather was great, my energy levels fluctuated throughout the day but it was to be expected after what happened few days ago. Trail felt quite empty only few day hikers and one Northbound thru hiker called Burger King (not to be mistaken with Burger Man I've met a while ago), whom quickly disappeared in the distance and I haven't seen him for the rest of the day. Trail was running along one of the first burned sectiones I've seen on the AT, it wasn't even that badly burned, just few patches here and there. On top of the Apple Orchard Mountain there was a building with a big orb on top of it, it was built by US air force for long range aircraft detection and closed sometimes in the 1980s. After quite long and steep descent, trail was running along the James River until it re...

It's amazing how quickly the body can recover after a virus, yesterday I was a walking zombie, today my energy levels were reasonable, food started tasting good as well which was a big relief. Of course the weather and low elevation of the trail helped a lot, along with the electrolytes given to me by Persuasion. Half of the day the trail was running along the Blue Ridge Parkway and I must admit it was extremely difficult not to step out and just follow the road but I was being a purist so far on the AT and that's how I wanted to keep things going, so the forest path it was. I've seen another two black rat snakes along the trail, I got quite used to them at this point, I'm almost not jumping when I see one on the trail, they are harmless and kind of cute. I've also spotted another bog turtle, this one was much smaller than the ones I've seen before, it was still giving me a good hiss when I was lifting it off the trail! ...

"There is a setting on the water boiler called "scald your ass" so be careful because it will scald your ass" Yeeha "I got the trail name from my grandchildren, because when I play with them apparently I say it a lot" Yeeha  A near perfect day turned into near nightmare. I'm not the one for the drama but this is unfortunately how it worked out. I've walked the remaining 11 miles to Daleville, Virginia quite quickly. Visited Wendy's restaurant for the first time ever and had overpriced, fast food breakfast style meal. Then I went to Kroger's supermarket they had a good selection and I've resupplied for five days and got another meal consisting of fried chicken, potato wedges and green beans. All together I've spend about 60$. I've carried on one more mile until BeeCh Hill Hostel, where I was planning to take a shower. Beth, the owner was a lovely old lady. Place had very comfortable beds in their bunk houses and it co...