OvermannymilesMiles 898.3-919.0 (20.2 mi.) Total ascent: 5344’; descent 4596’ With a car, or merely camping, Shenandoah would be a lot of fun. It’s a shame the park’s water resources and limited sites require bigger miles. The camp stores, laundry, and showers available every 25-ish miles make the experience less heavy and grungy. And while the […]
6/5 Miles 864.3-885.0 (20.7 mi.) Total ascent: 5646’; descent 4816’ 6/6 Miles 885.0-898.2 (13.2 mi.) Total ascent: 3074’; descent: 3330’ I’m writing for two days today because we hiked our first 20-mile day on the trail. We successfully combined two days of our plan into one to accomodate a zero we took in Daleville. But […]
Miles 852.0-864.3 (12.5 mi.) Total ascent: 2270’; descent 3885’ How pleasant it is to write this in a summer-weight sleeping bag. Until today, when a trail angel–a history teacher who also thru-hiked last year–shuttled us all over Waynesboro, I had been using my 15-degree mummy. Waynesboro and everything leading up to it has been a […]
Miles 837.1-852.0 (12.3 mi.) Total ascent: 4557’; descent: 2795’ Fog extends mornings just like hills extend miles. We didn’t make the time we needed for this morning, which made the rest of the day more difficult. Ultimately, we stopped four miles short of where we wanted to be. The time wasn’t our only challenge. A […]
Miles 824.2-837.1 (12.9 mi.) Total ascent: 3540’; descent: 5344’ How nice of the storm to wait until we were in the tent, food eaten and stored, to dump. We’re camped with another couple, Beetle and Ryan (who’s trying out the name “Salami Mami”), both of whom we ate lunch with at The Priest shelter. The […]
Miles 807.3-824.2 (16.9 mi.) Ascent: 4285’; descent: 2146’ I wrote yesterday about the perils of social life on the trail. Today, I erred in the opposite direction. Relatively late in the day, around 13 miles, we took a breather at a trailside site with a large sitting rock. Two minutes after we de-packed, an older […]
Miles: 797.8-807.3 (9.5 mi.) Total ascent: 860’; descent: 2037’ Nothing is more seductive than sitting beside the trail with friends. In the morning, it is easy to forget about all those miles, becoming more rushed and late with every minute you spend with all the cool, hardcore people in one of the most beautiful places […]
Miles 787.2-797.8 (10.6 mi.) Total ascent: 3638’; descent: 1152’ The breakfast after resupply day is always interesting. Today, it was shredded wheat, giardiniera vegetables, peanut butter, and ginger ale (give me bold or give me OJ). We ate while half-heartedly helping Mowgli and Drafty start a fire. But because Mowgli cared at least as much […]
Miles 779.6-787.2 (7.6 mi.) Total ascent: 1339’; descent: 3015’ We’re camping in a city park tonight, something that would never be allowed in any town where I’ve lived. Glasgow maintains not just space for tenting, but a shelter, a shower, some Porta-Potties, and a long bank of trash and recycling cans. Also within walking distance […]
Miles 767.2-779.6 (12.4 mi.) Total ascent: 2300’; descent: 3038’ We did the one thing every child knows not to do today, and it was awesome: We got into a stranger’s van for ice cream. While eating a Klondike bar, specifically, we hung out with someone known up and down the trail as “The Ice Cream […]