I took two zero days in Harpers Ferry. The first one was intentional, and I thoroughly relished my day off in a tourist town. I window-shopped in all the little gift shops, I people-watched from the shaded deck of a pub at lunchtime, I swam in the Shenandoah River in my hiker underwear, (which almost looks like a bathing suit), and I sat by the riverside to enjoy a free performance by the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle band. It felt like a very patriotic way to celebrate July 4th. They played an excellent selection of American music, including Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," Brubeck's "Rondo a la Turk," the theme from a Western film that I forgot, and of course, a rousing rendition of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever." In the evening, I went to a hiker party at a house that someone's mother had rented in town, and they fed us lots of grilled things and snack foods while we all drank cold beers. Actually I just had a glass and a half of white wine (which sounds classier than it really was... It was out of a personal-sized box from 7 Eleven).
My second zero was unintentional. I planned on getting a late start and hiking half a day, because I had some last-minute town things to do, and then some hikers were planning to meet down by the river just north of town and chill all afternoon. I went down to hang out with them for a bit on my way out. A couple of guys who used to wrestle, Kamelback and
Tank Survivor, decided to wrestle each other in the grass, which didn't seem like a great idea to me anyway because on one side there was gravel and on the other side was poison ivy. But I was still interested in watching. All of the sudden, they went down and there was a noise like a branch snapping, but it came from Kamelback's leg. My stomach turned when I realized what happened, but then someone yelled to call 9-1-1, so I ran to my phone and called. Someone else cleared away some space so people wouldn't crowd around him, and once the emergency crew was on their way, I went to sit by him. I held his hand and talked to him to keep him conscious while we waited. We could see that his foot was turned the wrong way, and he was in a lot of pain. I spent the rest of the evening coordinating with the trauma center where they took him and getting him a ride back that night, since he didn't have a phone. In the morning, I checked in with him, but eventually I needed to get back on the trail. I haven't heard from him since then, but I know he was going to have to take a greyhound bus back to Phoenix, AZ and have surgery there. I felt really worried and sad about leaving him, but I did the best I could to help him out.
Just past Harpers Ferry, I entered into Maryland, where I walked past many Civil War battlefields and commemorative sites. I'd just like to mention that the Maryland portion of the trail is very beautiful, well-maintained, and not too difficult, and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone looking to spend a couple of days and nights walking in the woods. In this part if the country, the A.T. does not really have any wilderness to route through, and instead passes through pretty state parks and little towns. It crosses a lot of roads, too, and as a result, there are many day hikers, especially on the weekend. A couple of days ago, I found myself walking with 4 day hikers at Annapolis Rocks in the afternoon when a huge thundercloud suddenly rolled over us, and the nearest place to take cover was in a privy! We spent a fun (and kind of stinky) half an hour in there, and I answered all their questions about through-hiking and they showed me videos on their phones. It was fun :-)
For through-hikers, Maryland presents an opportunity to do the "Four State Challenge." It is possible, if you start at midnight, to hike in VA, WV, MD, and PA in a single day. It's a 44 mile hike, and it takes between 22-24 hours. You start just south of Harpers Ferry, in VA, and you finish in Waynesboro, PA. Rambo did it with another hiker named Jolly Green. Tails did her own version where she covered that distance over about a day and a half. I believe Ketchup did it too, but I saw him in the middle of it, and haven't heard whether he completed it in 24 hours. I had no desire to do it, and I thoroughly enjoyed my walk through Maryland over 3 days.
The terrain in this region is, overall, quite level. There aren't major elevation changes. The biggest challenges are the humidity, the scarce water, and the rocks. Already I'm starting to hobble by the end of each day from the hours of picking my way over boulder piles. Apparently, it just gets worse farther up in PA. For the first time, I'm starting to have real pain in my feet and ankles. On the positive side, though, the rocks seem to slow my pace enough to give some respite to my poor knees. Sigh.
Crossing the Mason-Dixon Line into PA felt like a big deal. Now I'm sort of in "home territory." I'll get in and out of PA in just a couple of weeks, and before too long I'll be in NJ and NY. Only a few weeks left of my 17 week, 1,600 mile hike. Soon I'll part ways with the through hikers, as they continue up into New England, and I'll take on the title of "LASHer" -- "Long-Ass Section Hiker."
In the meantime, though, there is plenty left to enjoy. Yesterday, for example, at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park general store, I watched four hikers participate in what's known as the "Half Gallon Challenge," which is where you have to eat half a gallon of ice cream. Of the four, one completed it in 20 minutes while the other three just looked sicker and sicker before forfeiting. I drank an iced coffee and took photos.
The one hiker challenge that I want to do is simply walking a marathon in one day. I know I can walk 26.2 miles, it's just a matter of waking up early enough to finish before dark. From here is Boiling Springs, it's about 26 miles into Duncannon...
:-)
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