The "Easy" Way

Sunday, May 24

Weather: sunny and hot

Miles travelled: 21.7

Total miles on AT: 973.0

I slept very well and didn't really wake up until morning, which was wonderful. We started walking early. I didn't want to feel pressured to get anywhere by a certain time, so I tried not to fall into the trap of rushing. We took a nice long break at an overlook, where I found a rock that had a backrest. We took lots of pictures and chatted and Andreas left before we did, planning to stop at a hostel and meet us later. We stayed for an hour before continuing our walk. South Pole realized she didn't have much water left but we still had 9 miles to the next water source, so we were hoping we both would have enough to get there, and I gave her some of my water. 

After about half a mile, we passed a huge car camping setup off the side of the trail, complete with mini propane grill, a large tent with an air mattress, a big cooler, and two camp chairs. A couple were sitting in the chairs and offered us water. It was very good timing and as we grinned and accepted our water, they offered us beer. It was only 9:30 in the morning but we'd been walking for three and and a half hours and it felt hot out so we didn't hesitate to say yes and drop our packs. We sat there for an hour talking. Sokie and Don were both in the Air Force and out for the weekend; they had toted all of their things up the hill 1/4 mile from the parking lot in their flip flops. South Pole was in heaven because Sokie was a vegetarian and they offered us grilled potato pancakes (delicious!), squash. portobello mushrooms, and chips. The previous day, Don had coerced Sokie up the hill in her flip flops, telling her he'd seen an owl, and she was staring up into the trees trying to find it when she turned around and found him on his knee, proposing to her. They hadn't even told their families yet because they didn't have phone service! 

They were really nice and it was hard to pull away, but we did eventually and when we got to the parking lot we thought we should've gotten contact information because they were thinking about hiking the AT when they get out of the Air Force in 7 years, and they're just the kind of people you want to be friends with. As a compromise, we searched through the 10 cars in the parking lot and figured our which one was theirs based on what we knew about them, and then we left a note.    

By then, we'd lost a lot of time. We didn't want to be too far behind Andreas so we stopped taking breaks and booked it to the hostel with images of ice cream and cold drinks floating in our minds (or my mind, anyway). At one point there was a day hiker going uphill as we came downhill and as we passed he called out "you took the easy way!" and I couldn't help but be a little taken aback. The lady behind him said "you look so happy!" Good lord, I didn't feel very happy. They had no idea.

The walk to the hostel was painfully fast and I was really happy to finally arrive. It was 1/2 mile off the trail but Andreas was still there, having arrived two hours earlier, reminiscing with the hostel owner. Andreas thru hiked in 1995 and so had the owner, and he had an old trail journal from a shelter that Andreas had signed. Thru hikers used to carry blank notebooks and when a journal was full, they would take the full journal and leave the new one. 

At the hostel, we shared half a gallon of ice cream and I had a small frozen pizza before we started walking again. It was difficult too leave all the bunks and soft pillows, and we still had so far to go. We'd been planning to hike another 9 miles, bypassing Front Royal (a town). In the first half hour I could feel the ice cream and pizza mixing badly in my stomach and had to sit down to let them settle. I told South Pole and Andreas to continue without me, but they insisted on staying. After that I felt fine and we continued. As we approached Front Royal, Andreas started to feel really tired and tried to talk us into going in to have beer and dinner and a bed. We could see the road when we crossed a creek and in the water were bottles of coke and one beer-- perfect timing for trail magic! Andreas had the beer and South Pole had a coke but I didn't want to risk another stomach upset. After that it was easy to keep Andreas going. We eventually decided to stop 2 miles short of the shelter so that we wouldn't have to night hike because it was getting late. The campground we stopped in was full of section hikers and weekenders. Andreas insisted on trading his sleeping bag for my blanket again (I think he likes my blanket better), and I slept very well.

Monday, May 25

Weather: sunny and hot

Miles travelled: 18.4 (+1.8, lost detour)

Total miles on AT: 991.4

We woke up at 5:30 and were walking by 6. Our grand excitement of the day was South Pole's husband, Rick, and his cousin, Lorine. He'd flown into Washington D.C. to drive to the trail and meet South Pole, and was going to bring a picnic to one of the road crossings and 1pm; 16.6 miles away. We walked fast and Andreas went ahead so we could be sure someone would be there at 1 when Rick showed up. I wasn't sure I would make it, so I told South Pole to just leave me if she got ahead and I'd see her there eventually. 

After a few miles, I needed water so we stopped at a shelter. We were walking again for 15 minutes when we heard loud clopping and breaking branches behind us, and turned to see two horses headed fast our way. We got off the trail and they sped past, ridden by women, one of which turned around to call "have a good day!" as she disappeared behind a bend. We were confused by that encounter, and even sort of annoyed that they were going so fast on a foot trail. Ten minutes later we reached an unexpected parking lot and couldn't find a white blaze anywhere. We looked around and at the map and then realize we'd taken a side trail .9 of a mile. I felt like a total idiot for not figuring it out sooner. We had to go all the way back to the shelter, and then it was a race to the end because we were now definitely not going to make it by 1. 

A few miles later, we crossed a bench. It's always funny to find a bench where it seems to not belong, so we sat there for a couple minutes while South Pole called her husband. I glanced at the back of my calf and saw a piece of dirt and tried to brush it off but realized it was actually a tick! I panicked and scraped to get it off, which I know you're not supposed to do, so now I'm worried I might get Lyme disease. I've already found three aphid ticks on me, though that was the only one clamped on and I don't think it could've been there very long. 

We walked and walked and walked and took a last ten minute break. After that I think South Pole finally registered that she would see her husband soon because she kicked it into high gear and I lost her. I walked through Sky Meadows State Park, which was beautiful. The meadows were made of tall grass, with scattered trees that were also very tall and made you feel teeny. Through the trees you could see sky and distant mountains and valley. I took lots of pictures and really enjoyed it, although there was no shade and the sun beat down on me.

At last, I made it to the parking lot, where Andreas had been waiting for an hour and a half and South Pole called her husband to discover he'd gotten her directions confused and went to the hostel we'd been at the day before. They had even walked up the side trail back to the AT for half a mile. 45 minutes later, he pulled up and he and Lorine pulled out a picnic to die for; grapes, chips, beer, soda, foot long subs, apples, oranges, and cookies. We sat there for four hours, chatting and laughing. Rick is a pilot and incredibly charming and funny. South Pole had warned us that he hated smelly dirty people but we thought she might've been exaggerating because he hugged her and shook our hands. Lorine is from Brazil and works for international affairs in Washington D.C. She said she could never thru hike, but was very interested in the trail and hostels and tried on all of our packs. We may convince her yet!

Somewhere among the eating and talking, someone in the parking lot found out they needed to jump their minivan but the cables were short and the owners of the cars on either side of her were not around. They decided the only thing to do was to push the van backwards up the slope so someone else could pull up to jump it. It took ten of us and lots of small rest breaks, but we finally managed to push it far enough back that Lorine could jump it with her car. 

We finally decided to go on, with 3.7 miles left to hike to the shelter. Rick and Lorine walked with us the .1 back to the trail just to see the white blazes and then we said goodbye and went on our way. After about two miles, we passed a really nice creek with some flat spots. We looked at each other and then backtracked and ended up stopping early. We had lots of time, so I set up camp and worked on my blog until I was too tired to keep my eyes open. Andreas and I traded sleeping bag for blanket once again, although it was really warm out. It was nice to listen to the creek that night, and I slept well.