At 5:55a I woke up and looked at my watch. Dang it! I hate it when that happens. I woke up just five minutes before our alarm was supposed to go off. I hoped instead that I could have “gained” an extra hour of sleep. Turns out I did. We snoozed until about 6:45a before making moves. That’s a bit late. It was almost 8:30a by the time we had camp broken down, breakfast cleaned up, and water stocked up.
First thing, the trail led us next to the power plant and over the river. We saw a park on the other side that had a porta john. Score! Between our group, we took another half hour in the park. I include this because no one in “normal life” ever excited about coming across a porta john. Usually that’s the last place a person is willing to go. Usually people take advantage of them if it’s truly the only option (driving home being a viable option on that list). Out here on the trail, I’ve become so appreciative of these little buildings or structures that make it so I have one less thing to do during a day. Everything out here is work. Even digging a hole. Now that I’ve written that, I promise I’ll try to stop writing about privies so much.
After leaving the park, our morning went by pretty fast actually. We pushed up a few significant hills and did it with relative ease. Even though the day was muggy and hot, we moved quickly. Our steps were sure and consistent. I didn’t feel as dragged down as I had yesterday. It seemed to be the same all the way through the group.
We synced up a bit with a hiker named Dwight. He doesn’t have a trail name, at least not one he shared. He said something like telling everyone his trail name at the end. I thought about naming him “Schrute”, after the character from The Office, but it didn’t seem all that creative. Dwight is talkative, which takes our mind off of the trail. We carried a conversation with him for probably an hour and a half as we hiked. He retired from the Army Reserves as a colonel. He and Warthog talked shop for a bit. He seems like a kind man who has a sense of humor and I like that about him. We’ve seen him off and on for the last couple of days, but today we officially met. Tonight we are camped next to Dwight, which means we will probably continue to see him – at least for the next few days.
We reached a road crossing at the edge of town, Falls Village. Originally we planned on hiking by and stopping for a resupply tomorrow. Then hunger cravings won out and we thought, “Let’s just run in for lunch… it’s so close.” Lunch it was! When we arrived at the market there were backpacks lining the wall outside. Hikers laid in the lawn in between the market and other stores. This is a village with money in it. Amazingly, they seemed to welcome us all with open arms. We are stinky, tired, and take up a lot of space, but no one pushed us out. Everyone said hello with smiles on their faces.
Warthog and I spent $26- on lunch alone for just the two of us. It’s ridiculous how hungry we always are. I rarely feel full. I know I’m not alone either. Our food bags just keep getting heavier and we stay the same amount of hungry. It’s an equation that doesn’t seem to add up.
We were visiting on the lawn when the clouds started rolling in. It’s supposed to storm today and the clouds reminded us that we needed to get going. It’s easier to get going when the weather is still good. We still had a majority of the days worth of miles to hike.
The storm got closer as we pushed up the mountain. Luckily it held off until we were over the first peak. We had another couple to go. Bear Mountain came with a note in our Guthook’s Trail Guide App: treacherous when dry, do not try to cross when wet. It was raining already. We decided to take the bypass around peak to be safe. I started to regret it and then I heard thunder. The rain picked up again. I decided I was glad we erred on the side of caution. The bypass was longer, but it kept us a bit out of harms way.
We hit the 1,500 mile mark shortly after going back into the woods! It was incredibly exciting. Right now we’ve been averaging a pace of 100 miles per week. That includes a day off. We measure time in miles. It has been exactly 600 miles since we last saw rain like we did today. In Shenandoah National Park the trail turned into a river with water coming up to our ankles. It poured hard from the sky, soaking our rain gear in just minutes. Today was much like that day. Sloshing down the trail, our feet (and bodies) are drenched. Tomorrow I will inevitably put on soaked shoes, there’s no way they can dry out fast enough. It was fun though. Unlike Shenandoah, this time we wore our rain pants so our bodies stayed warm.
Shortly after we reconnected with the AT, we hit the Connecticut/Massachusetts border! The second big success of the day was met with dry weather! The weather stayed nice for a bit. The trail in Massachusetts met us with a breathtaking stream that would turn into big pools, gathering so it could drop down as a waterfall. It was beautiful. The greenery in the forest seemed extra vibrant after the rain. The orange salamanders were out, enjoying their wet weather. It was a peaceful time to walk. A time that heals any anxieties about being out in the storm.
We arrived at our campsite for the night at about 7:30p. We are about two miles short of our daily mileage goal. What we failed to cover today will get made up at some point in the future, I’m sure. For tonight, everyone’s bodies needed a break. We hope to rest well and get up early in the morning. The early start should let us make in into town to shower, do laundry, resupply and still get miles in after that. Fingers crossed.
-Ansel