Four State Challenge

I've not heard any talk about the four state challenge in a while. In order to break up the monotany of walking every day, hikers camp near the West Virginia boarder. They get up at about 3:00 AM, and try to walk the 40 or more miles through West Virginia and Maryland into Pennsylvania. The goal is to hike in four states in one day.

Does anyone want to join me for this challenge? I should be in Harpers Ferry on Satuday. We could do the four state challenge on Sunday. Andre, Anton, how about it? Sonic, do you still have your trail legs? The terrain shoud be the easiest of the trail so far.

Ridge Runners

A ridge runner is a volunteer with the local AT hiking club. They walk the trails looking for problems. Problems they can not resolve are relayed to the rangers who are law inforcement officers.

No one has the authority to remove someone for being potentially dangerous. They can only be removed for doing something illegal. I don't know what Maple Cheese did. It sounded like he had a mental illness. I hear he talked to himself a lot.

The rangers and ridge runners can only watch Torch. They can do nothing until he does something.

Happiness and Satisfaction (June 8)

I met a couple section hikers out for a couple days this morning. They were surpised by how small my pack was for being on the trail as long as I've been.

I explained that I have my tent and sleeping bag, cooking pot and stove, rain gear, some extra clothes, and a few other things like a tooth brush. I have all of the things I physically need. I resupply my food and fuel every few days.

I feel pretty good. I was worried when I started that I would not be able to get by on what I could carry. It turned out that I could get by with even less than I had at the beginning. I miss none of the physical things I have at home. I only miss family, friends, and my cat. This is another good lesson learned from the trail.

Day 62 - Big Meadows (June 9)

I was up early and did 30 miles before 5:00 PM. The terrain was a little more difficult today than yesterday. I'm at the Big Meadows area about half way through the park.

I met a ridge runner this morning, and relayed my concerns about Torch. What's really sad is Torch needs a friend. He may start to work through his issues if he had a friend. The problem is any potential friend risks having his skull cracked open for the slightest perceived insult. I don't think Torch has hurt anyone yet, but he really wants to hurt those that insult him. I don't know how long his self control will last.

The ridge runner said they just kicked Maple Cheese out of the park yesterday. He said they get two or three like Torch every year. He said the AT community is good about watching these people, which I think is true.

Its been hot, but it doesn't seem overly hot. We are about 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the valley, which means it will be about 5 to 10 degrees cooler.

I hear a lot of people are leaving the trail in Harpers Ferry due to the heat and bugs. I have no idea who is on or off the trail. I'm hoping to be in Harpers Ferry by the end of the week.

Drunken Dragon, a section hiker I met at Calf Mountain shelter, bought me a six pack of really good beers this afternoon. I really did not want him to buy me beers, but he insisted. Being a thru hiker, many people really admire us, most ignore us, and some hate us. I think its similar to being a professional athlete. Those that understand what we are doing and what we have done, really respect us.

The trail has changed us all. I can tell the thru hikers just by sight now. I don't know what it is, but we are different than other people. We have learned to travel with confidence. Most of us are traveling alone. We can recognize each other even in crowds of non thru hikers.

I crossed the 900 mile mark today. This still does not seem like a great distance. Two months ago, I would have thought that this distance was great. Harpers Ferry is just over 1,000 miles. That will be the first 1,000 miles. I think that will feel like a milestone.

I'm camping with South Paw, Bear Puncher (a section hiker), and Bilge Rat at the Big Meadows campground. It is costing me 5 dollars. I met South Paw at the Dutch Haus. I experienced Bilge Rat's trail magic a few days ago. I just met Bear Puncher. She told me she was diagnosed with MS about a year ago. She said she weighed 240 pounds and smoked 1.5 packs of cigarettes per day. She gave up the smokes and started exercising. She seems to be in good shape. The MS is not progressing very fast.

I'm in with folks that started the trail in mid March. I'm earning the name Rabbit. Che is the only one I know in front of me, and he has to finish the first week in August. He is hiking with Fred and Closeline. Fred is supposed to be super fast, but they have stayed just two days ahead even after my 7 miles in two days. I am not pushing myself. I just like to get up early and walk.

Day 61 - Pine Field Hut (June 8)

I did a 26 mile day today to get to Pine Field shelter. Torch is here really creeping out a couple of young ladies (Tex and L.I.). I waited over an hour for someone else to come in, but no one showed up so I decided to stay.

Torch got a ride from a ranger this morning. He said they ran his ID so I don't think he is wanted on anything. He's been telling people about wanting to hurt people, but he says he hurts himself instead. His left arm has dozens of scars from what looks like a razor or knife. Torch is the only person on the trail that makes me nervous.

Torch seems to have a problem with planning and impulse control. He left most of his gear a couple hundred miles back, and had to buy new gear so he is completely broke. He also bought a small cooler and ice for his pepsi. Now he has no money until Friday. This morning, he apparently forgot to take water. It was a good thing the rangers stopped by and gave him a ride.

We built a fire and had an interesting and disturbing conversation with Torch. He said his mother died when he was 7, and he was in foster care for years after. He also said he was homeless for 10 years, and only recently started getting a government mental disability check. His disability seems to be impulse control. He is really struggling not to hurt people who make him angry. What is even more disturbing is that he likes to watch movies where college kids are tortured and killed. He is hypersensitive so just about anything could make him angry. My guess is he is a real danger.

I went by a couple overlooks along Skyline drive. People would take a quick look without getting out of their car. I'm so glad I'm walking. I'm fully experiencing my surroundings.

The terrain is very easy here. It was easy to do 26 miles. I started at 5:40 AM. I'm going to try for 30 miles tomorrow to get to Big Meadows campground and cold beers. I think I will be in Harpers Ferry by the end of the week.

Day 60 - Nearoing in the Shanandoah (June 7)

I've been with CC Rider, Hare, Neon, and Buckeye all day. They were camping at the YMCA last night. I first met them at lunch at the Dutch Haus. They rented a car to see Indiana Jones last night, which they said was OK at best.

They were only going to do a 7 mile day today. I thought it might be best not to push the miles yet so I decided to hike with them. My foot is still hurting, but its much better now.

We had breakfast at Weissy's Kitchen, and met a few other hikers there. Then I mailed home a copy of today's newspaper with my brief interview.

We strarted the Shanandoah at about 1:30 PM, and just went to the first shelter. I decided not to aqua blaze with Canabal. After looking at the river, I'm not sure they will be able to paddle it in Walmart rafts.

Torch

Torch is a really creepy guy I met last night at the camp site.

Torch got his name because he was using a propane torch to cook his food. He was walking around last night with a club, which he could be using as a walking stick. I did not like having him behind me. He showed me scars on his leg he got from kicking a window. He told Neon that he often gets angry and wants to hurt people, but usually ends up just hurting himself. He also said he left most of his gear a hundred miles back n the trail because he did nt want to carry it anymore. Canable is the only one who will go near him.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Torch on the trail. I think he is probably mostly harmless, but I'm not entirely sure of that.

14.5 Mintes of Fame

I had something less than 15 minutes of fame tday. I made the "The News Virginian" today. I was interviewed by Cleve Wiese yesterday. There were two or three lines of my interview in the paper, but nothing about the trail.

Day 59 - Zeroing in Waynesboro (June 6)

I decided to zero today to rest my foot, and check out canoeing options. The pain level in my foot seems to alternate between moderate and low. I'm guessing that I may have a slight sprain. I think that I just need to walk slow, and it will be ok.

I could not find any good information on aqua blazing. I might be able to rent a canoe on Monday to go to Front Royal, but I would need transportation to the canoe outfitter. I'm most likely going to be walking tomorrow. Although, I hear Canibal has a trip arranged, and I see that he is staying at the YMCA campsite. I too am staying at the YMCA tonight. I will probably find him later tonight.

I may be in the Waynesboro newspaper tomorrow. Cleve, a reporter for the local newspaper, stopped to interview me while I was walking in town. He wanted to know how I'm dealing with the heat. I told him that I'm drinking lots of water, but I'm not changing my plans. We talked a little about the trail, and he took my picture. I should have told him more information about the trail, but I waited for him to ask me questions. I will let you know tomorrow if I'm going to have my 15 minutes of fame.

Trail News

I read that there are over 2 million people on the trail every year, and there are only 3 incidents of violent crime every decade. I'm guessing most public parks have significantly more crime with much less use. What intrigued me before starting the trail was how fast killers were caught on the trail. Police often had a description of the perpetrator and his car by the end of the first day. As far as I know, all have been caught within hours of the crime. With over 2,175 miles of trail not including all of the side trails, I could not imagine how these people were all getting caught.

I think I have some answers. As I posted earlier, I lost my tent yesterday. My foot was really hurting, my tent came off my pack, and I did not notice it was gone until I was off the trail and about to get a ride. It took only a matter of a few hours for my tent to come back to me. I was miles from the trail in the middle of a moderately sized town when my tent found me.

As near as I can determine, someone found my tent on the trail. Auntie Mame and V8 recognized it as mine. I have no idea how they knew it was mine because we have never camped together. They met Conan who was heading into Waynesboro, and gave him my tent. Conan was camping at the YMCA. He stopped by the hostile before I got there, and left me a note that he had my tent. Later, Conan ran into Beracus who was staying at the hostile. He gave my tent to Beracus, who returned it to me last night in time for me to use it as my pillow on a very uncomfortable and noisy sleeping cot.

I'm surprised at the level of detail people know about each other on the trail. We know no one's real name, but a whole lot of other seemingly insignificant details. We also know who belongs on the trail and who doesn't. It would be extremely difficult to commit a crime on the trail, and not have everyone know who did it. The few murders that have occurred on the trail were all solved in a matter of days. Killers have only one chance to kill unless they are released from jail by parole boards, which is exactly what happened with the shooting in April 2008. Then they have two chances.

Trail Angels

Trail Angels are the most wonderful people you will ever meet. There are many on the trail. Lois and Earl who run the Dutch Haus are good examples. They have a free shuttle at 11:00 AM every morning from the trail to their hostile. They do a free lunch for all hikers, and have a free shuttle back to the trail. They do this every day with no strings attached.

Mutt, who I met at the top of Fish Hatchery Road, is another good example. He was on a four wheel ATV, which is the only vehicle that can travel that road. He lived in the area. He stopped to talk to Auntie Mame, V8, and me. He was a genuinly warm and nice person. He had a cooler of beer and sodas that he freely offered. He also told us about how he got his name. His older brother is Jeff. He said that his mother was convinced he would be a girl before he was born, but his grandmother knew he would be a boy and she named him Mutt to go with his older brother's name.

The guy who picked me up at the visitor center yesterday to drive me to town is a trail angel. He shuttles people at no cost. All you have to do is call him.

The hostile I'm staying is completely free. While they may be doing this partly to save souls, they are not pushing the religion so they too may be considered to be trail Angels.

The trail is full of trail angels. Many maintain coolers filled with cold drinks. They refill the cooler with ice and sodas and beer every day expecting nothing in return. These are the people that really make the trail an unusual experience.
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Day 58 - Waynesboro Church Hostile (June 5)

I did about 19 miles from Reeds Gap to Waynesboro today. I spent the night at the Dutch Haus. My ankle is really hurting. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 5 being normal trail pain and 10 being disabling pain, my ankle was mainly at a 6 or 7 today. I can easily walk with this pain. I'm just concerned about what might have happened. The good news is that the pain level decreased to about a 3 or 4 by the end of the day.

We are all living with significant pain. Most people have lost a lot of feeling in their toes and feet. Most people's feet hurt especially when they wake up and walk for the first time.

Thought Foot is back on the trail, and left a message that he is in Daleville today. He said he is doing well, and walking up to 18 miles per day. He told me last week that he met Red Eyes at the hostile, but Red Eyes was not talking to anyone.

I temporarily lost my tent today. The pain was distracting me, and my tent fell off my pack. I did not realize that I lost it until I was at the visitor center and my ride to town was waiting for me. I was thinking that I would make it back to the trail today to look for it, but Conan showed up at the hostile last night with a message that he had my tent at the YMCA. I have no idea how he knew it was my tent. Later, Barracus arrived with my tent. I used it as my pillow last night night.

I have some phone numbers for canoe outfitters I will call today. The pain in my ankle is giving me more incentive to aqua blaze.

Aquablazeing

Here is a summary of what I know: If Rock Fish Gap Outfitters does not do this ("aquablazeing"), then I think you should try Shenandoah River Outfitters (in Lury, VA) at #540 743 4159. On their example trip page, they list a trip from Port Republic to Font Royal (port Republic is about 25 miles downstream of Waynesborough, where a major trib enters the Shen.) They seem to indicate that they are willing to do "customized" trips...thus you may be able to talk them into a trip from Port Republic all the way to Harpers Ferry, which is ~ 150 miles via river; or Port Republic to Font Royal which is approx. 70 river miles. There are several other outfitters in Lury VA as well; this seems to be the main "canoe town" (along with Font Royal); thus if these guys don't do this kind of trip, maybe they may know who will.
Searching varrious Aquablaze blogs, I have found many examples of people who talk of this or did this, but all I could find talked about leaving from Lury or Font Royal, and going as far as Harpers Ferry. The River at Waynesborough may be very shallow and difficult to float most of the time. That is likley why Shen. River Outfitters lists Port Republic as the furthest upstream entry point (where the trip nearly doubles the river flow).
Anyone else found other info on this?
Paul

Day 57 - Slack Packing the Priest (June 4)

I woke to thunderstorms. There were tornado warnings listed until 10:00 AM. I decided to slack pack 21 miles with V8 and Auntie Mame. I really enjoyed their company. They are twins who just turned 57. They said their dad died suddenly of a heart attack at that age. One of their husbands did a thru hike last year. They said the thru hike sounded fun so they gave it a try. One is a psychologist who does a lot of work with drug addictions. We had plenty of good conversations in the morning.

It was a very hot and humid day. There was not rain or tornadoes, just lots of heat.

The Priest Wilderness was one of the areas that we went through. It was a very well graded climb of over 3,000 feet. I did the climb super fast. It was nice being able to climb with so little effort. I felt absolutely no strain in my legs. However, one of my ankles is hurting now. I hope it is a muscle strain rather than a tendon problem.

I will be in Waynesboro tomorrow. That will be 850 miles. I wish I could think of that distance as a lot, but I don't. I might start feeling like I've gone a long way when I reach 1,000 miles.

I called Rockfish Gap Outfitter today to try to find out information on aqua blazing. They said the guy that did it no longer does it. However, I met several people on the trail who said someone was at Trail Days advertising for aqua blazing. Paul, I would appreciate your insight on this. What can you find?

Trail Legs

I'm slack packing today heading back to the Dutch Haus. There were tornado warnings today. I thought it might be a good day to slack pack so I can move fast. I just climbed 3,000 foot plus Priest Mountain at a rate of about 3 mph or faster. I feel no strain or pain in my legs. I just felt a little winded and hot from the 90 degree day and high humitity. I will miss my trail legs when I leave the trail.

Day 56 - Nearoing at Dutch Haus (June 3)

I've been hiking with Jet Ski the last few days. Jet Ski is a section hikers from New Orleans. We did about 11 miles today from Hog Pen Gap to the Fish Hatchery Road. Then it was a mile down to the pick up point.

Dutch Haus has a well deserved reputation for hospitality on the trail. It is run by Lois and Earl. They made a wonderful lunch and dinner. Their lunches bring thru hikers off the trail. Five thru hikers came in just for lunch. Jet Ski, Red, V8, Auntie Mame, South Paw, and South Paw's girl friend are here tonight.

V8 and Auntie Mame are twin sisters in their late 50s or early 60s. One of their husbands did a through hike last year.

It felt good to get a shower tonight and do laundary. I'm sitting on the front porch of the Dutch Haus in a bathrobe as I write waiting for my clothes to dry.

I talked to Thought Foot a couple days ago when I had phone service He said his leg is feeling better and he was going to try to be back on the trail this week. He also said Red Eyes is staying at the same hostile, but is no talking to anyone.

Two more days to Waynesboro. I will try to rent a canoe to get med through the Shanandoh Valley. It should be an interesting trip.

It feels strange walking in bare feet. I lost a lot of feeling in my toes. This is a very common problem that lots of people on the trail have.

Day 55 - Hog Pen Gap (June 2)

I was hiking with Jet Ski again today. We started at Punch Bowl shelter and hiked about 17 miles to Hog Pen Gap. Hog Pen Gap is a beautiful field. There are many people here tonight. I was surprised by some old acquaintances who are here.

Crutch who ran Cloud Nine hostile is here. He started his third thru hike a couple days after Sonic and I left Cloud Nine. The last time I saw him was in Franklin the day after Sonic left the trail. He is doing trail magic this year. He took orders for pizza and beer, and went to town. He said that he did not get paid for his work at Cloud Nine, and he is not taking any money to drive to town for pizzas and beer. There are a few people on the trail without an obvious source of income.

The biggest surprise is that Landfill is with Crutch. I met Landfill in the Smokies. He is about a hundred pounds over weight. I've been wondering what ever happened to him. I really admired him for doing the trail. He had nearly 200 miles done when I met him. I can not imagine how hard it must be for him to do the trail. We are all struggling with 30 to 40 pound packs. Landfill has much more to deal with than that. He met up with Crutch some where, and have been doing trail magic and trail maintenance projects together ever since.

Hanna aka Bandana aka Blue Tongue is here too. She was at Cloud Nine with us, and spent a lot of time talking to Sonic. Her boyfriend, Beaker, had to go back to work. She yellow blazed here to meet someone in Waynesburg. She said that she will go back to where she started her yellow blaze next week.

It was a relatively easy day today. We only hiked about 17 miles, but we had a 3,000 foot incline followed by a 1,000 decline and incline.

I would love to know what the Federal Government's guidelines are for building trails. Much of the today's inclines did not use switchbacks. It was steep, and unlikely to be used by non thru hikers. Crutch was also telling use about the roller coaster, which is coming up. The roller coaster is a series of about eleven peaks in a row. However, the peaks might go up the same mountain three times. Trail terminology for this is PUDS (pointless ups and downs). The trail has a surprising number of PUDS.

I was talking with other people who met the 3 kids last night. None of us believe their story. They just showed up on the trail in the middle of nowhere. It will be interesting if anyone finds out more about them.

Day 54 - James River & Trail Magic (June 1)

This was a good day for trail magic. Someone left oranges near a road about 5 miles from Thunder Hill shelter. Jet Ski and I stopped to snack never seeing the cooler filled with coke and beers. As soon as I had my pack on, I saw the cooler. The coke tasted great. I drank no beers. I knew beers would only make me nap

I'm at Punch Bowl shelter tonight. Someone drove in on an ATV along an old forest service road with 2 twelve packs of beer. After walking 25 miles today with a 2,000 and a 1,000 foot inclines at the end, the beers tasted great.

There was a monument to Ottie Cline Powel at the top of the last mountain. Ottie was not quite 5 years old in 1891 when he got lost from his school 7 miles away. His body was found at the top of a very steep mountain. He apparently was lost while the class was out looking for firewood.

I saw the James River for the very first time today. It was bigger than I imagined. We walked over a foot bridge over the river.

There are three kids who might be about 20 years old at the shelter tonight. They are Brian, Mitch, and Chuck. Chuck is a girl with long blue hair with the sides shaved. They said they were going to start the trail sooner, but Mitch got ticketed for sitting on a sidewalk in New Orleans, and he had to wait for his court date to pay his fine. They started the trail in Daleville. Something is not right about their story. Slightly was questioning them further because he too did not believe their story.

Also here is Slightly who I met at the murder shelter and Baracus who I met for the first time tonight. He had some Jim Beam he was sharing.

There is a pond near the shelter. The spring peepers are singing tonight. I love sleeping to the song of the peepers.

I have no phone or internet service tonight. I will post when I can.