At 5 am, GG and I are both up. I try to pack as quietly as possible, but it's kind of impossible to be absolutely quiet and there's nowhere else to pack because of the rain. A few more people wake up and start packing while we are doing so periods well. The woman that we met on the way up the trail yesterday is in her sleeping bag, as is her friend, but they lift their heads up and tell us happy trails before we leave. They are planning on only hiking four miles to the next shelter. I give her words of encouragement, telling her she will be fine as long as she takes it really easy. We say goodbye and I am out the door by 6:07 am.
The first section of today's hike is super easy. I've hiked this section so many times, I don't have to look at my map. Gathland State Park is a great stopping point for hikers . In season there are real bathrooms and there's a water pump next to the bathroom for refilling water. A big picnic pavilion is close to the bathroom that is reservation only, but serves as a great stopping area for hikers. GG and I plan on rendezvousing at the park.
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| Gathland State Park |
I make the 3.5 mile hike really quickly, the trail is so easy. The rain is not hard, but it's constant. The bathroom are locked, but there is a really stinky Portajohn at the upper parking lot I passed. I decide that anything I need to do can wait until I get back in the woods.
I take off my pack and wait under the cover of the bathroom roof that extends out from the behind the bathroom over a bench to wait for GG. I have a phone signal so I call home and check the weather and see the rain is forecast for the entire day. Thank goodness I brought this umbrella!
I'm not waiting long when GG comes around the corner and takes off her pack. A couple of gentlemen walk through from the other direction. They spent the night in the Crampton Gap shelter adjacent to the park. They're hiking to Harpers Ferry and out for a day and a night.
After a short break GG and I shoulder our packs and head up the hill towards White Rocks. The trail here is not very steep, but it is a steady climb off and on for the next hour. As we near White Rocks the rain seems to let off a little. At least the prolific mountain laurel is really pretty in bloom.
Due to the weather, the at White Rocks is limited. We meet a couple of women that are out for a shakedown hike. They are getting ready to hike Isle Royale this summer and are checking out their gear. I remark that they picked a heck of a day for a shakedown; the weather doesn't get much worse than this, and they chuckle in agreement. They ask us about our umbrellas and our rain gear and we chat for a few minutes, but GG is getting cold so she hikes on.
We hike over South Mountain and hike down towards Rocky Run Shelter, which will be our next stop. The best thing about hiking this section today is that all the shelters are close to the trail. We can stop frequently under the cover of the shelters and relax and eat out of the rain.
The rain slows down significantly to drops by the time we get to the shelter, but the next storm looks like it's threatening. So far we hiked nine miles today, but we have seven more to go to get to the next shelter.
GG says she'd like to stay at the Dahlgren Campground because there are showers and running water. I tell her that's fine with me, but it means that we will have to camp out in the pouring rain. I'll leave it up to her whether we stop at the campground or keep hiking to the next shelter.
We leave Rocky Run and hike 1.8 easy miles to Dahlgren. It's not currently raining but it's occasionally sprinkling. We are able to leave our packs on a bench under the overhang of the roof while we go inside and use the facilities. I eagerly wash my hands with lots of soap just because I can with the running water.
We've hiked 11 miles so far and we still have a fair amount to go to get to the next shelter. GG decides she wants to go to the next shelter, so we still have five miles to go. At least it's really early because we started early and the hiking is easy, even if the rain slows us down.
We cross Boonsboro Road a short hike from Dahlgren in front of the South Mountain Inn. We pass an old and beautiful church on the side of the road that is so picturesque, but GG doesn't stop for a second, she just keeps on trucking like a woman on a mission. I don't blame her because I want to keep on trucking to get to the next shelter, too.
Our next stop is Washington Monument State Park, less than two miles past the church. This park is cute and it's so named for a big beehive-shaped tower at the top of the hill above the park; a monument to the first president. We stop at a small picnic shelter in front of a water spigot near a parking lot just before the walk to the monument. We are stopping a lot today, but we are hiking a fair amount of miles and we still have a ton of daylight left.
We take off our packs and I get a little bit of water for some electrolytes. This will be our last stop of the day before the shelter. I am trying something I haven't before; the Nuun electrolytes with 40 milligrams of caffeine. As a rule I don't do any caffeine in the afternoon, but today I feel like I could use some so I pop a tab into my Talenti jar and drink it down.
I'm going to say it did the trick, because as we hike the four miles to their next shelter, I am super energized. I put on my music and I feel like dancing down the trail. I belt out songs most of the way. GG stays a distance behind me so she doesn't have to hear my singing, LOL.
I walk up behind a woman who, from behind, looks just like the flip-flopper who said she was dying yesterday. I'm confused for a second, but then realize it's not the same woman. There are so many of us middle-aged women on the trail sporting the same AT buff and an Osprey backpack that we look the same, haha.
We introduce ourselves and walk for about a mile together, chatting. Her name is Tigger and she started in Georgia, but due to some illness and injury she decided to flip up to Harpers Ferry. She has been hiking with a guy named Caspian, who may be waiting for her at the next shelter. She is really into wild edible plants and I show her a couple that she is unfamiliar with before I walk ahead to the shelter. She asks me to tell Caspian she is coming, if I see him, and I agree.
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| A cool little bench made of rocks and a log with the carved "AT" symbol |
I cross over I-70 on a pedestrian bridge and many cars are traveling in both directions underneath. I get a couple honks from semi trucks as I wave at the oncoming traffic. I wait for GG to catch up and get a picture of her crossing the bridge.
From here it is a really short walk to our destination. We are both excited to get there. It stopped raining for the moment, but there are more storms coming in. I arrive at the shelter first and there is a hiker sitting at the table. He doesn't hear me which is surprising, because I have my music playing on my phone speaker without earbuds. He is distracted and as I near the table he looks up and jumps, startled.
He says "you shouldn't scare people," in a scolding tone.
"I'm sorry, I thought you would hear me with my music playing," I say. I was literally walking straight down the trail toward him. I can't believe he didn't see me.
"Are you with Tigger?" I ask. He just looks at me, annoyed. Whatever.
"She said she will be here soon. I walked with her about a mile back." I continue, and introduce myself. He says nothing but just looks at me. Either he is a taco short of the combo platter or he is really annoyed. Unperturbed by his silence, I ask him his name.
"If you hiked with my friend, you should know my name," he responds. Okay, he is just being a dick. That's okay, I can play this game.
I search my memory. I am tired from hiking 16 miles in the rain. It takes me a few minutes and then I remember Narnia... The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe...Prince Caspian!
"Oh! You're Caspian." I say. He doesn't really say anything; he just packs up his stuff.
I ask him if he's staying here and he said "I was thinking about it, but I think I'm going to stay in my tent."
"You must not like me, maybe I smell really bad?" he packs up and takes off down the trail. That's okay. This is a really small shelter and I don't want to sleep near someone who is hateful just because he was scared senseless by a girl.
GG arrives and we set up inside the shelter. This shelter is really one of my least favorites and I was hoping not to have to camp here at all. As a matter of fact, when I came here for a day hike up to Annapolis Rocks recently, I mentioned to my husband that this is one shelter he would probably never catch me at, because of its proximity to the road.
Like many shelters near a road, it's a magnet for people looking to party. Additionally, recent FarOut comments reports someone has been living at the shelter as soon as two weeks ago; again, a common issue with shelters near the road. Then there's the Interstate noise, which is really loud because we are within a quarter-mile of I-70. Nothing like the sound of exhaust brakes all night long. Finally, the shelter is probably one of the oldest on the trail; I am sure the mice here are going to party at night, even if no locals are present.
From the outside it looks like a old log cabin with white chink between the dark brown logs. Like most other shelters on the trail, the front of the shelter is open. Inside is space for about six hikers.
GG and I each pick a spot on either side of the door outside out of the wind. I take the left, she takes the right, and when Tigger comes in a short time later, she takes the middle.
A beautiful water source is nearby, the water pouring from a big pipe. I scarf down my dinner and almost as soon as I finish, the sky opens up and it starts pouring hard. I am so thankful to be in this shelter right now, mice and all! I walk out in the rain briefly to throw my food in the bear box.
I call my husband right before I go to bed, as is my custom whenever I have service. He answers saying "You can't be going to bed this early!?" It's only 7 pm, and I said yep, there isn't anything else to do and I am really tired.
One nice thing about the shelter is that it is super dark inside. At least I won't be able to see the mice as they crawl all over me. There's very little ambient light because of the rain.
I am out before 7:30pm.
Today's Stats: 16 miles, 2,880 feet gain, 2,600 feet loss
Trail Stats: 1049 miles, 230K feet gain, 235K feet loss
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