The REAL halfway point!

Made it to the official halfway point!

The last few days out of Harpers Ferry have been awesome. I've caught up with a couple friends who I hiked with early on and it has been so good to be surrounded by good company. 

At Pine Furnace State Park general store there is the Half Gallon Challenge. It's a half gallon of ice cream. Of course it's the first chilly day in weeks. I didn't even attempt it, but these crazy folks did. 

Harpers Ferry

Stoneybrook Farm <3

I spent 3 nights there working during the day and the afternoons feasting and learning about the community. 

My friend's dog Coda squeezed among our bags. Not only was it AWESOME to visit with friends, I loved having a dog to snuggle for the weekend. 

Look how cute these two are!

At ATC Headquarters in Harpers Ferry. 

Let me tell you a story

On Wednesday I was slack packing the 20 miles into Harpers Ferry with a friend, Sisyfus, I've made on the Trail. She had read in a guidebook that one of the shelters we would be passing was a "feat of engineering". So of course we had to see it. We walked down the trail and it was a very nice shelter but initially it was hard to tell what was so impressive about it. Upon closer inspection we realized that it was built without nails! The timber they used to build it was cut at the ends so they fit together like lock and key. Pretty neat. 

At the shelter was a pack and some gear and on the picnic table was a bunch of half eaten food. There was a pot of rice with a fork still in it and a fuel canister. And as a creepy side note, there was also a machete and hammer. It looked like someone was halfway through their meal and just vanished. Sisyfus and I both had the same thought. "What the heck happened to this person?!" Afraid that someone might have either had a heart attack or been murdered we decided we probably should check around to make sure.

Both armed with a trekking pole we bravely sauntered over to the privy to check it out. Sisyfus goes in front and I follow close behind. When we arrive at the privy she opens the door and peeks inside. The next moment she screams and jumps back. I am now convinced that there is a body in the privy and my heart starts pounding. I slowly open the door and peek inside. 

This is what I find:

Yes friends, that is a black rat snake in the privy. I was thankful it was just a snake. 

We didn't end up finding anyone, thank goddess. We called the nearby trail conservancy office and letting them know. A day or so later we learned that it had been there for 4 or so days. Apparently someone had planned on sound a week long hike, but on his first day out he decided he hated it and quit and didn't want to carry his gear the 12 miles back to town. Why he decided this halfway through his dinner or how he expected his gear to get packed out I'm not sure. 

Struggle

I had to keep myself from laughing out loud the other day while talking to an older couple at one of the waysides in the Shenandoahs. They were asking me about what I was doing and a whole bunch of related questions. The thing that made me laugh is when she said, "Oh my goodness, you must be having so much fun!" I laughed because I have had fun on the Trail, but that is certainly not the overwhelming feeling day to day or moment to moment. I constantly am glad to be doing this and realize it's something not a lot of people are able to do and I'm so thankful for all the support from so many people, but that doesn't mean it's "fun". The last couple weeks have been hard. 

The terrain and the trail through the Shenandoahs wasn't bad compared to what I've already done, but I found myself completely exhausted and feeling overwhelmed regardless. A lot of thru hikers call the wall that people hit on this part of the trail the "Virginia Blues", but I called mine the 900 Mile Fatigue. It wasn't only a physical struggle, but mentally I was wondering how the heck I was going to get to Maine if I was that exhausted before I even reached the halfway point. 

But I've been letting my body rest the last week or so. After I was out of the Shenandoahs I spent a night at Terrapin Station Hostel then slackpacked (hiked without my pack) 24 miles south in order to still get miles but get to sleep at the hostel a second night. The next day the hostel owner dropped me where I had started the day before and took my pack up the trail 14 miles north to Bears Den Hostel so I could slackpack there and spend the night. From there I slackpacked to Harpers Ferry with a trail buddy, Sisyphus, courtesy of her father. I arrived at Harpers Ferry, the so called psychological halfway point, on Wednesday. I was the 180th Northbound hiker this year. 

Since Wednesday I've been doing a work for stay at a farm near HF, in order to kill time and let my body rest from hiking, before my friends arrive on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with them. By the time Monday rolls around I'll have spent 8 consecutive nights sleeping indoors and 7 days without having carried a pack on the Trail. It is absolutely what I need. I'm already feeling excited about hiking again on Monday. I just needed a physical and mental break. 

How could I not want to see sunsets like this for another 2 1/2 months?!

Fear

I feel like most fear comes from not knowing. When people talk to me about The Trail they assume it must be scary for me, especially because I'm a woman hiking alone. They assume I'm worried about the people out here, or the bears, or the dark. And they assume that because they're so unfamiliar with the trail. It's such a novel thing that they don't have a box to neatly tuck it into and so it's scary. 

But it hasn't been scary at all, or at least not in the ways most people assume. People have been nothing short of amazing out here. Both other hikers and town folks have been overwhelmingly kind and generous. Black bears are goofy, relatively timid animals. There's not much reason to fear them honestly. Just hang your food and respect their space. And the dark? Nah, it's just darker than during the day, that's all. 

When I got in Harpers Ferry I was planning on doing a work for stay at an organic farm. Turns out the farm is on a commune run by Twelve Tribes, a religious sect. One lady told me all sorts of horror stories and told me to avoid it at all costs. And me being me, went anyways. If you know me well at all you know that religion isn't my thing. And they certainly do things differently here, but different doesn't need to be feared or villainized. 

I wish more people would get out of the little boxes they've created for themselves. We live in a big beautiful messy diverse world and it's a shame to miss out on its glory simply because it is unfamiliar. 

Be brave and live. 

And draw your own conclusions. 

SNP Fatty Tour

I've been hiking through Shenandoah National Park the last four or five days. It's been good, and a bit different than the rest of my hike. Since it's a huge tourist attraction there are Waysides with food and lodges with restaurants throughout the park. I essentially hiked from one food spot to the next. I was thankful for the motivation, because I've been feeling exhausted lately and uninterested in trail food. 

Another really cool thing about the Park was the people I met and their generosity. My second day in the park the older gentleman working the Wayside hooked me up with way more food than I ordered and a free coffee. The third day I got another free coffee at the camp store and then got invited to stay in a cabin with some awesome section hikers. I got to sleep in a warm dry cabin (it rained 4+ inches that night) and they bought dinner and drinks. So generous! 

The next morning I stopped at another Wayside and I chatted with a cyclists for a while and he bought me breakfast! That evening I went to Skyland Restaurant and ordered a quesadilla, a drink, and dessert and got the drink and dessert for free!

Yesterday I got a free beer and some bananas from some trail maintainers. 

So much food!

 

Shenandoah Creatures!

Hehe... horses at the park stable. 

Thru hiker on Skyline Drive

Baby Ringneck snake.  Found it sunning itself on the road. 

Bobcat!!! The second I've seen on the trail!

You can't really see it well, but it's a baby peregrine falcon. 

Black bear! 

I've never met this person, but I love this post. I've never been so dirty and goofy looking, but I've never felt as strong and beautiful as I do out here. 

http://walkingwomad.blogspot.de/2014/05/loveletter-to-thruhiker.html?m=1

The good and bad of Spring having sprung

Spring has finally arrived! 

At the lower elevations the leaves are out and flowers are in bloom. It's absolutely beautiful. I've seen a lot more animals lately too! Snakes, lizards, bats, tons of dear- pretty awesome. Still no bears however. 

Along with the warmer weather comes a few things that make the trek a bit harder. I've had several days on the trail lately where it's been almost 90 degrees! I know it'll only get hotter, but I wasn't quite expecting the heat and humidity this early. But far more challenging to me than the heat (I did in fact grow up playing and working outside in Indiana Summers) are the bugs. Ugh. SO MANY BUGS. I counted my bug bites one night out of boredom and counted 76, and that was just on my arms and legs. Try going to sleep covered in bug bites in the heat- it is hard to do. I had several itchy sleepless nights. I've had some challenging days on the trail previously, but the bugs take the cake for making for my hardest day thus far. 

The good news is my mom met me to visit in Waynesboro, so I've gotten to sleep inside and eat really good food and visit with one of my favorite people in the entire world. And get some bug repellant and itch solutions. 

After leaving here I'm headed to Harpers Ferry to meet some friends and former coworkers for Memorial Day weekend. I'm so excited!

Life is good again and I'm well ( :

More pics, because sometimes words just don't do it justice.

First rhodedendron I've seen in bloom!

The longest footbridge on the Trail

Psshhh...only 1400 miles. Easy peasy ( ;

Is this real life?!

Damn World, why you so beautiful?!

Alternate title options:

Virginia #3

Or why I love my life

Or one third done

Dragons tooth

Tinker Cliffs

Vegetarian on the Trail

I've been a vegetarian for a handful of years now, and off and on for several years before that. On the Trail I knew it would be harder, so I told myself that I'd be more flexible and if I thought I needed to eat meat I would. Everyone on the trail told story after story of veggies chowing down on a burger in the first town they arrived at. That hasn't been my experience at all. 

I feel healthy and strong and haven't consumed any animals since I've been out here. I have been maintaining my weight out here too. I don't think I've lost any weight, but it's definitely distributed differently (less in my gut, more in my butt and calves). 

I eat lots of peanut butter, and nuts, and cheese in addition to the "normal" trail food like noodles and instant mashed potatoes and trail bars. Not only do I feel good, but it really hasn't made my shopping or enjoying trail magic any harder than anyone else's. I know vegan would be hard out here, but I think even that could be done with a good bit more planning. 

I know everyone is different and their food philosophy is too, but so far this seems to be working for me.