Educated Escape

I started the morning a little chilly but quickly warmed up once I got going on the Rollercoaster. While I packed up this morning I time lapsed camp and I'll be posting it later to instagram.  About a mile and a half down the trail I came across a wonderful couple that were doing trail magic. They had hotdogs, chips, and cookies. After the wonderful second breakfast I was off again, flying down the trail from the second breakfast.  Around lunchtime I came across Bears Den Rocks and I got a nice view to eat my lunch at, even if it was a little crowded from all the day hikers.   The afternoon had me playing frogger to cross 4 lanes of busy highway. Luckily I didn't get hit and I could continue that last stretch of the Rollercoaster. I was pretty energized this afternoon and when I quickly came around a rock scramble my mind was elsewhere and that's when I almost stepped on a 4 ft rat snake.    About a mile later I was through the Rollercoaster and overall I honest...

Well we're camped 4.5 miles from our final destination, Harpers Ferry.  We did another 21.6 miles today, and felt great... for the most part. I had a battle with my old friend, chafing. We decided to cut our day short so we can hike the 4.5 miles early, and start our drive home. We plan to stay in a hotel near Indianapolis tomorrow night. It's really weird saying that, because for the past month (yes a month) I never knew where I was going to end up the next day.  Being back in the real world is going to be a bit of a shock, and I'm torn between missing my friends and family, and wanting to continue this awesome adventure we're on.  Steve is 6, yes 6 miles behind me at the moment, he stopped to book a hotel and do whatever else he does. So, as of 7:30PM today, he has six more miles to do. It's very nearly dark as I'm writing this, at around 8:30PM. We'll see what time he shows up! All I know is he's bringing beer to celebrate, and we plan on having a fir...

I was lazy and didn't set up my hammock last night and I regretted it this morning. I woke up sore and cold from laying in the shelter. The day quickly got better though. The privy at the shelter had toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and didn't smell too bad! I have definitely learned to appreciate the little things in life since coming out here.  The morning was sunny and beautiful, nicely lending itself to give a beautiful scene at the one and only view of the day. The weather was perfect temperature for hiking today. I think the high was low 70s.      I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the weather. I stopped for lunch at the Manassas shelter and after 10 minutes of eating alone a couple girls showed up. They were on a week long section hike and headed south toward the national park. After a few minutes of talking one of the girls all of a sudden grew silent and very wide eyed. The horrified look on her face made me look toward where her gaze landed. Directly above me i...

21.6 today! Much better than yesterday, however we actually meant to do 25 today.  We found a sweet campsite along a creek with a great firepit. Naturally I started a fire and cooked over it! Tonight we'll fall asleep to the sound of running water.  The miles flew by today, and it's cool to see how far we can push ourselves now that we're in peak hiking shape. I think we're at the point where 20 mile days no longer phase us. We both felt good enough to continue on today.  Today we began the roller coaster, an accurately named section of trail with very, very steep ups and downs. We are camped towards the beginning of it, and will camp just shy of Harpers Ferry tomorrow!  Yes that means on Saturday WE'LL BE DONE! 29 days and 383 miles.  Wow. Just wow. What a journey it has been. It seems like literally yesterday we were camped at rice field shelter and it was our first night on trail. But we've been out in the woods just shy of a month. 1/12 of our year. It's...

We came close to doing another big mile day, we ended up doing 12.  The morning started cold but sunny. I was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't going to get the chance to sleep in, but being dry wasn't terrible. Once I got going the miles flew by and I was soon out of the national park. Clouds slowly drifted in as the morning passed but the rain kept away.  There was an Italian restaurant in Front Royal that had a great price on a huge stromboli so Doc and I made our way into town. I made it in the door just as rain drops started to fall. The food tasted great but let's be honest, at this point all food does.  Hiker hunger is hitting me for sure. After eating our fill we decided to try to get to a shelter further down the trail. The rain had let up and it was just overcast.  The first two miles out of town took us by an exotic animal park but I wasn't lucky enough to see anything. Then it began to rain. With the temperature being low already the rain quickly sapped...

I slept like a rock last night. The bed was nice and firm and the room warm enough that I only needed a small blanket, all after I had showered and was wearing clean clothes. I think as my head of the pillow last night I was perfectly content. I didn't even wake up for trains that came by in the night.  After a stop at the gas station for nicotine for Two Dawgs and corn dogs for myself (both are addicting kids, don't start them) we were off to the trail. The morning was pretty boring there weren't any views for the first stretch and overall the day was pretty flat.   For lunch I stopped for the first time at a wayside in the park. Yep, that means I could finally get Shenandoah blackberry ice cream! It was amazing and the chili cheese fries and grilled cheese that I followed it with were great as well. I surprisingly don't look too dumb in this picture despite the massive brain freeze I had at the time.    While I ate I listened to a presentation a park ranger was giv...

I think we both slept great in Luray! We woke up around 7:30 and had coffee and breakfast at the hostel. Allison (the owner) shuttled us back to the trail and we got hiking. To be honest, today was pretty uneventful. 8.5 miles to lunch at the last wayside in the Shenandoahs. The rest of the day was cold, and windy. I ended up doing 21.2 miles, and I'm unsure where Steve ended up today. He may be still walking as I write (8:00PM) or he may have made camp south of here. As of now, I am stealth camping alone towards the end of the park.  It's supposed to be in the 40s tonight, and it's a high of 54 degrees and rainy tomorrow! Yikes. We may run into Front Royal for food and to wait out the rain but currently have no plans.  We hoped to be in Harpers Ferry in four days, so on the 9th, or possibly finish on the morning of the 10th. We plan on pushing big miles to get there however.  Oh! And we're almost through the national park! I believe we only have a mile or two left to g...

Yea I didn't push my speed today like Doc. I might have stopped for coffee in the afternoon. 💁‍♂️ In my defense it was to get out of the rain.  Within minutes of waking up this morning in the campground I saw 2 cubs playing with their mother babysitting and slowly guiding them away from the road. Then about fifteen minutes later the biggest bear that either Doc or I had seen yet came lumbering across where the other bears had just been. I watched all of this from my hammock while I ate breakfast. They were too far away for me to get a picture though. I saw one more bear this afternoon but again I couldn't get a picture.  The day was kind of dreary with it drizzling and sprinkling in the morning, downpouring after lunch, and then it was overcast, warm, and humid in the afternoon. I got a couple good views in the breaks between the clouds but most of the views I couldn't see much.    After a couple hitches I eventually made it into Luray for a resupply. The nice girls...

Tonight we're staying at the Open Arms Hostel in Luray, VA. I thought since I'll have wifi I'd post some unseen photos of our trip! A quick summary of today was....  17 miles with no breaks. It was drizzling all day, but nothing too serious. No exciting views due to hiking in a cloud. I did 17 miles in about five and a half hours. Not bad pace! Anyways here's some photos starting from the begining of our trip.    Me on the train down to Blacksburg. Look how clean my gear was!   Panoramic view of our campsite on the very first night.  Took a quick snack break to enjoy the view on day 2.    Morning of day four I believe. The days started to blend together!     There were some awesome hikes through pastures!   The memorial of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in WWII.    I honestly can't remember when I took this photo. These exposed ridges were brutally hot to hike along!   Apple Orchard Mountain, one of our tougher c...

Yesterday I didn't feel the greatest and fell asleep before writing a post. Today was a great day though! It finally happened! I saw bears! I'll talk about that in a moment, I should start from the morning. We found a cool stealth site on top of high top mountain last night and for the second night in a row we were able to watch the sunset from a beautiful spot.  I slept in again this morning, my my excuse being that I was woken up by two owls last night and was wide awake for a few hours. I got on the trail by 9.15 though which isn't too bad. About an hour down the trail I came across some amazing folks doing trail magic! They had amazing sloppy joes, snacks, beer, chocolate milk, and they even gave me a new smart water bottle which was clutch because mine was starting to get a little tires on me. As I was saying my farewells and leaving camp they gave me a small sampler bottle of liquor and two more for Eagle and Sunshine who had just left without some. Thank you very muc...

We only have 118 miles left! While this may be alot of miles, it seems as if we're on the back end of the trip. Anyways, we stayed at an awesome camp last night and watched the sun set. Plan to do the same tonight. We hiked 13.1 today and found another site near a view. It's nice to take it slow and enjoy our day. We plan to follow this pattern for the rest of the trip. The days have begun to fly by and all the miles seem the same.  The Shenandoahs have been incredible thus far, and it's a great break from the miles we put behind us. Something about the park makes me want to do short days and lay around. We should be all done in about a week, which puts us essentially at one whole month in the woods! It's been an incredible experience thus far and we're not done yet.   

Last night there was a pair of Whiperwills that kept everyone up through the night. I used that and the cold this morning as an excuse to sleep in until 8.  The trail today wasn't bad, but we are definitely in the park. People were everywhere and it will only be worse tomorrow. There were a bunch of trail maintenance volunteers out today weed whacking the trail. The first one I came upon was using a gas weed wacker and I grew very confused because I could smell the gas exhaust before I got to the guy who was using it. They were working on most of the trail I covered today, which made my allergies go a little crazy.  Around lunchtime I came upon a campsite of trail angels that had made chilidogs for hikers. It was pure heaven. I had four chilidogs, chips, potato salad, a salad, a couple brownies, two beers, a coke, and then we went to the wayside and I got my first Shenandoah blackberry milkshake. I proceeded to place my sleeping bag on the ground and pass into a food coma for ...

We are finally in Shenandoah N.P.! Time for some glamping! We joke about it being glamping because we only have to plan for 2 day resupplys since there are waysides in the park which means we won't be carrying a lot of extra food (aka pounds). The terrain is not going to be difficult compared to what we have been doing.   We got a shuttle from town to trail head this morning and got started hiking around 11. We have to register before we hike in the park so all the hikers were lining up to fill out the form before contuing today.  I tried something new today, retroblazing. The major road that goes through the park is Skyline Drive and retroblazing is when you walk on the road instead of the trail. The reason why someone would do this is because the road offers more views than the trail, especially today. I walked on the road for about 5 miles today. There's a reason I didn't do more, I really didn't like it. The sights were cool (including the McLaren that drove) but wa...

Day 20 on the trail! Did 21.4 miles today and everything hurts. We finally began the Shenandoah National Park! It's been gorgeous so far. Tonight we are staying at Blackrock hut. The service isn't great, so I won't share any photos today.  The whipporwhils at this shelter are EXTREMELY loud and I do not anticipate sleeping much tonight.  Anyways, the trail gets significantly easier during this section so we hope to be able to push big miles. It was a great walk today and I was in very happy mood! Tomorrow we are stopping at one of the National Park's waysides to get a burger and a blackberry milkshake. There is also a couple giving out chili dogs to the hikers as trail magic! More on that tomorrow. Going to try to fall asleep despite the obnoxious noises I'm hearing. 

Yesterday was both a really cool and a really annoying hike. I twisted my knee sliding down a rock scramble which didn't hurt initially because I was still climbing for the morning but when we got afternoon the trail went downhill and I began to feel it. I ended up getting into town a couple hours behind everyone else because of my slow pace.  The trail itself was beautiful. There were several stream crossings, a couple waterfalls with swimming holes and some old ruins scattered about. I saw a bunch of deer but just missed the two bears that were on the trail.  The town of Waynesboro is really accommodating to hikers. The list of free shuttles from the trail is longer than the lists of paid shuttles in most towns. They have a nice hiker park that they let us stay in for free and the YMCA allows us to use their showers for free. One thing I really appreciate about the town is that while walking through the lower income neighborhoods I notice that people are still taking good ca...

We finally arrived! Waynesboro, Virginia.  This is definitely one of the coolest trail towns I've seen. It's one of the bigger ones, so there is a ton to do! Last night we got a ride into town and set up in their public park, where they allow hikers to camp. We got our much needed free shower at the local YMCA, and walked to a laundromat to clean our smelly clothes.  After laundry, we made a quick beer run and sat around chatting with other hikers until around 11:00.  We decided to take another zero day before we start the Shenandoahs, as there is alot to do in Waynesboro. We plan on playing pick up basketball with some hikers at the YMCA, maybe taking a swim, doing our resupply, eating at Ming's Chinese Buffet (Amazing place, by the way) for the second time, and getting some much needed relaxation time.    Ruins of an old home we came across yesterday.    They have these cool suspension bridges at different places on the trail!

Everything was damp when we woke up this morning. We stayed in the trees at the brewery in a spot for hikers. It was sheltered pretty well but it rained a lot so it couldn't offer a ton or protection. I went full hiker trash and spread all my gear out on the picnic tables at the brewery while I ate breakfast. It worked really well and my gear got mostly dried which is a huge morale boost.  The brewery, while expensive for supper, served an amazing hiker breakfast for 5$. It included: eggs, fruit, bacon, potatoes, toast, and coffee. I also order an extra 4 slices of toast and a beer. It was easily the top breakfast of the trip so far. The brewery also gave all of us hikers a free hat.  After breakfast my gear was dry so I changed just in time for us to head out with an awesome family who shuttled us back to the trail. Even better they had a truck so we could all sit in the back and "air out", there's a shower on the agenda for tomorrow night for sure. We made it back t...

We made it through the storm last night. I guess the next shelter past where we stayed last night had hail, more than the single piece that we got. I awoke this morning to a beautiful sunrise. I was one of the first awake to the peaceful morning, it started off a beautiful day. That changed.  We started off toward the next shelter on a mountain known as The Priest. The cool thing about the Priest is that in the log book at the shelter hikers confess their Trail sins. It's a great laugh and had us all in a good mood as we began the brutal descent. The morning had been cloudy and we were hiking through another cloud forest. At one point the sun came out and when I looked out at the view I saw clouds beneath us. I'm really kicking myself for not taking a picture. Countinuing on the trail we ran into the cloud again and we kept descending. Then it seemed that we all of a sudden broke to below the clouds and it started pouring down rain. I ran down the rest of the trail. I think it ...

Trail day 16 - May 28, 2017 Spy rock to Devils Backbone Brewery 8.6 miles Guess what! It rained again.  Hello darkness my old friend. Everything I own is once again wet! The morning started out great. We got a few miles under our belt and reached the Priest. It's a shelter name, however in the log book for the shelter the hikers have been using it to confess their sins on the trail! Stuff like peeing within 250 feet of a water source. (Gross)  Anyways, the priest shelter is followed by a 4 point something mile downhill that is steep and rocky. Midway thru our descent, it downpoured. Luckily Paul and Tyler, two day hikers we met offered us cold beer and a ride to Devils Backbone brewery! It is a hiker owned brewery and they let you camp in the woods next to the brewery. So we sat down and blew through way too much money on food and beer! It was a good day.  Tried to start a fire, but got rained on again. Going to try to hitch hike back to the trail tomorrow, and do our las...

Our campsite last night was amazing. There was a wonderful creak that went by giving a nice ambiance for a great night sleep. The creak was Brown Creak and there were some ruins of an old community along the creek at different places. I guess the community was made up of freed slaves that sharecropped in the area. I didn't get any pictures of the ruins but I thought I would share the campsite with everyone.    I started off the morning with a huge climb and I couldn't get in the groove. It was miserable this morning. By the time I reached the top I wanted to throw in the towel, but the view from Bald Knob and a Boston Creme honeybun quickly lifted my spirits. The rest of the day wasn't bad though. We had some pretty cool views this afternoon. We eventually made camp at Spy Rock, finding what might have been the last spots for miles. There are a ton of weekend hikers and Boy Scouts out, I guess it should be expected since it is a holiday weekend.  We finished off the day t...