6-27-2009 Sat - D.C.

So I got up pretty early and packed up then had breakfast there on the river bank. It was probably ONE of the best spots I've camped out at on the AT.


Sand was nice and soft to sleep on, not too many bugs, and a huge river view to wake up with. Hung out at the ATC Visitors Center for awhile, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters are in Harpers Ferry. I got my picture taken for the album of 2009 hikers, they have photo albums of hikers from every year. Caught the Amtrak to Washington D.C., I'd been pretty excited about going since I've never been before.
Just arrived at Union Station, D.C.


My friend Jacques who I had met in Houston a few years ago is now living in Southern Maryland so he came up to meet me and hangout. This is our political handshake pose.
There was a Smithsonian Folklife Festival taking place on the grounds of the Mall in-between all the Smithsonian mueseum buildings so we wandered around that for abit
Sunset from the Mall
We went and hung out with one of Jacques' friends, Calvin, and we met some of Calvin's friends that he went to AU with.
We went to a get-together later and I met alot of cool locals
Me and Jacques took the metro back to the hotel, is was quite the adventure



Thought I'd get a shot of this guy throwing up in the metro station, really pissed his buddy off, but it was hilarious

6-26-2009 Fri

Start point: near Va. 7, Va. 679, Snickers Gap

End point: Harpers Ferry, WV

miles hiked: 13.5

total miles hiked: 1007.2

Finally got out of VA!

Made it 1000 miles!

I apologize in advance for this picture, but Virginia really pissed me off this morning.

Harpers Ferry is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet


The AT goes across the Potomac right here and continues down next to the C & O Canal and Potomac River for a few miles before climbing back up into the mountains
This is the view from where I set up camp just outside of town on the bank of the Potomac River

6-25-2009 Thur

Start point: near turnoff to Dicks Dome Shelter

End point: near Va. 7, Va. 679, Snickers Gap

miles hiked: 18.9

Hiked with Antrack for awhile this morning, he was coming up the trail right as I was getting on, then ran into One-Step. At U.S. 50 I walked .8mi down to a restaurant called the Blue Skillet. Had a great meal: 2 pieces of texas toast smothered in made-to-order sausage gravy, homefries, 2 fried eggs and 2 pieces of bacon. Got an order of hand-cut fries which I used to soak up any remaining gravy. Had to walk he .8mi back to the trail which sucked, but when I got there and started up the trail there was some trail magic someone had just left:

I then started "the rollercoaster" which is a series of 10 ups and downs, all mountains under 2000ft elev. but still rather tough.

..with my mind on my money and my money on my mind

Got to Snickers Gap and went to the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant, where they had some live music. Pretty cool to stumble upon something like that, just a bunch of locals there but everyone was very friendly.

6-24-2009 Wed

Start point: Front Royal, VA

End point: near turnoff to Dicks Dome Shelter

miles hiked: 15.3

Woke up pretty early and went to the supermarket, got a big breakfast of fruit, trail mix, O.J., chocolate milk and honey buns. Decided to stick around till the library opened at 10am, so till then I went to the park. Had a rare chance to do pull-ups on an actual pull-up bar:

Decided I'm gonna go get my beard trimmed, so figured I'd take a picture beforehand, this is the biggest my beard has ever been in my life. I was gonna see how big it would get if I didn't cut it once on the whole trip, but I don't like how it looks anymore (basically I think I'm more handsome with a trimmed beard).

After a stop by the barbershop:

I got a ride back to the trail from a sweet old lady, on the way we hit a goose that was crossing the road. Its 5 buddies survived but we hit the brakes and still couldn't avoid hitting the last one. All I could think was "thats dinner tonight, just stop and throw it in the trunk" but I didn't say anything. When I got to the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter for a break, Bubbles and Birdie were there and they told me there were some leftover trail magic beers in the spring, so that was a nice suprise.

I ended up hiking in the dark for a little over an hour, it was not fun. Too many bugs, they all fly right in your face going for your headlamp.

6-23-2009 Tues

Start point: Gravel Springs Hut
End point: Front Royal, VA
miles hiked: 13.4

Got up and talked to Bluegrass, Dragonbreath and Antrack awhile this morning. I was the last one to leave, I like to do push-ups while I'm alone after everyone is gone because everyone kinda gives me a hard time about doing em', they are probably just jealous. Made it to U.S. 522 where I hitched a ride into Front Royal, VA. Now I'm out of the Shenahdoah's and just have about 30somethin more miles of Virginia, so I'm almost done with this state. Feels like I've been in VA for ages! Got some Taco Bell, hit up the library, saw Land of the Lost AND caught a midnight premiere of the new Transformers movie (sweet!). I thought Land of the Lost was pretty funny. The insect bite scene had me nearly rolling in the aisles. Found a spot to tent out in some woods near town.

6-22-2009 Mon

Start point: Bryds Nest #3 Hut
End point: Gravel Springs Hut
miles hiked: 17.5

Nice, cool, almost nippy morning. Climbed Mary's Rock which was only a mile away from the hut. Really windy up there, felt great. Soon after that saw another bear, this one was right on the trail. When it hear me coming it started climbing the rocks going up the mountain.



Caught up to Dragonbreath and we hiked together to the Wayside and got burgers, fries and beers.

Since this was gonna be our last night in the Shenandoah National Park we packed out some beers with us and had a few on the way to the Hut.

Everyone there was tenting around the shelter (Bluegrass, Bubbles&Birdie, Nature, Dragonbreath), so I took this as another good time to set up my tent inside the shelter again. (Its nice to be able to have a little bug-free zone inside your tent, but under the cover of the shelter so you don't have to put on your rainfly.)

6-21-2009 Sun

Start: Big Meadows Campground

End: Bryds Nest Hut #3

miles hiked: 14.4

We all went to the Wayside for breakfast. Wanted to hike naked today, its a tradition on the summer solstice, but too many families and day hikers in the park, they probably just wouldn't get it, and I definitley don't want a public exposure ticket. I did hike slightly naked for about 5min, but I think I'll leave those pics on my camera. After breakfast I started hiking, but just had no energy. Stopped at Rock Spring Hut and called some friends, took a nap, ate some snacks.

Climbed up

to the Stony Man Summit. Nice trails for most of the day, hiking along cliffs with good view spots

and its been really windy for the last couple days, so its been feeling great outside. Those breezes really cool you off. Me, Antrack, Nature, and Dragonbreath were the only ones at the Hut, so that was kinda neat, had it all to ourselves. Nature and I set out tents up in the hut, hadn't had a chance to do that since that 2nd shelter in Georgia.

Got a pretty good sunset even though it was partially obstructed by trees.

6-20-2009 Sat

Start point: Hightop Mtn

End point: Big Meadows Campground

miles hiked: 20

The spot I had set up my tent last night was nice, but this morning I got swarmed by the bugs. Packed up as fast as I could and left. Not 20ft away there was a little overlook, so thats where I ate breakfast. It was too windy for the bugs to get me there. Was hiking by 7:15am so by 10am I had made some good miles. Around that time there was a huge rainstorm that blew in and I got drenched. Stopped at one to the PATC cabins are dried off under the porch.

It sucks when your shoes and socks get so wet you can literally squeeze the water out of them. Made it to the Bearfence Hut right as another rainstorm was passing by. Nature was there, and Dragonbreath got there right after me. We waited that one out, it passed by pretty quickly. After another 8mi I stopped at Big Meadows Lodge and got a burger and fries at the bar. Its kinda cool that the Shenandoah National Park has some Waysides and Lodge's that you can get food at, but it is kinda pricey. Found Dragonbreath and Nature again, they had decided to stay at one of the pay campgrounds, they had already bought a tent site before I got there. I was planning on hiking farther, but decided to stay, having hiked in wet shoes most of the day kinda took its toll. Had some beers with Dragonbreath, the first time I've had alcohol since May 28th.