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Category: Hiking Journal

On-trail journal entries from adaptiman

  • Day 13

    Back on the trail between PA 944 and cove Mountain shelter. Approach trail to Darlington shelter is magnificent. Long level switchbacks, soft trail well-maintained. The first half of the day was very very pleasant. The last half of the day was pretty rocky. Coming up to the shelter to get to the shelter, there’s almost a 500 foot dissent. The water here is not good. It is another 400 feet dissent down the mountain, it was adequate, but is not running very well.

    Tomorrow I plan to hike into Duncannon and resupply, but not stay there. I will hike up to either Clark’s Ferry Shelter, or Peter’s mountain shelter, I don’t know which. Overall, a pleasant day, I’ll be interested to see Duncannon tomorrow.

    Today’s mileage: 9.6

    Total trail miles: 120.2

  • Zero Day

    Today was spent at the hotel, cleaning, curating, consolidating, packing and repacking, until I was happy with the results. As the day wore on, two thoughts filled my mind. 

    Thought One: Less is More 

    The further north I go, the less I need or want. My pack is terribly heavy. I looked at every single piece of gear today, thinking of all the miles I’ve schlepped them, and realizing that I don’t really need some of them. Things like my flint/steel, compass, paper maps, the AT data book, extra bug wipes, extra food, extra clothes and socks. When I mail it, I’ll check the weight, but I bet I cut 5 pounds of gear that I simply don’t need. 

    The point is that doing with less is the path of getting older. My kids ask me what I want for Christmas, and I truly don’t want anything other than to be with them, to cook some family meals, and share time with them. I think not needing more also goes hand in hand with understanding that time is getting shorter as well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not despairing about death, and I don’t feel old yet, but I’m not a spring chicken anymore either. This hike has me hyper focused – HYPER FOCUSED – on making every moment count. 

    Though Two: Identity 

    I’ve spent most of my life cultivating different identities based upon roles. I’ve been a husband, father, student, professional, teacher, mentor, manager, etc. It seems that we move in life, whether from day to day or even moment to moment, between these identities. When the kids left yesterday, I was sad because I love them and knew I’d miss them, but I had a deeper insight. I also missed them because when they left, I had no object on which to exercise my “father” identity. You see, the trail doesn’t allow you to put on an identity. Hikers don’t care that I have a PhD, or that I was a CIO of a state agency – it doesn’t even come up. The trail forces you to live in the moment. When you’re out here, the thing that matters – the only thing that really matters – is that you’re a child of God finding your way. Maybe that’s the attraction. 

    The Canticle of Daniel comes up frequently in the morning Lauds and has this passage: 

    Sun and moon, bless the Lord;   
    Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;   
    Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;  
    All you winds, bless the Lord;  
    Fire and heat, bless the Lord;  
    Cold and chill, bless the Lord;  
    Dew and rain, bless the Lord;  
    Frost and chill, bless the Lord;  
    Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord;  
    Nights and days, bless the Lord;  
    Light and darkness, bless the Lord;  
    Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;  
    Let the earth bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.  

    Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;  
    Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;  
    You springs, bless the Lord;  
    Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;  
    You sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;  
    All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;  
    All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;  
    All you mortals, bless the Lord;  
    O Israel, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. 

    Sounds like Daniel was a hiker. 

    The plan for tomorrow is for Jim to drop me off at the northern ridge to make the ascent. I’m skipping all of the flat farmland between the lower and upper ranges. I should be in Duncannon, PA in two days. 

    Today’s mileage: 0 

    Total trail miles: 76.8 

  • Day 11 – 4th of July

    Another heavy storm last night at Tom’s Run Shelter left my gear even wetter and heavier than before. I’m planning on pulling off for a while to wash, rest and regroup. Today, the kids are getting picked up by a shuttle and taken back to Harper’s Ferry, then trains to DC, Baltimore, overnight stay, and then a flight Florida to see Seth’s cousin and her family. We had a short hike (1.2 miles) to the nearest pickup point. We made it there in record time, but I must confess that I wish we hadn’t. I knew that saying goodbye would be hard and it was. I asked the kids what kind of report they were going to give their mother – they asked, “What kind of report do you want us to give her?” Just tell her that I’m not going to die, I’m doing well, and I miss her. 

    I got dropped off at Pine Grove Furnace, a small crossroads with two interesting features. First, there is an Appalachian Trail Museum there with a pretty good history of the trail. I didn’t visit it because I spent most of my time at the second most interesting place, the General Store. Here you can get ice-cream, burgers, soda, and various resupplies. They have an “ice-cream” challenge for AT hikers – if you can eat ½ gallon of Hershey’s (of course) ice cream in less than 5 minutes, it’s free. As I was sitting on the porch enjoying my eggs and bacon, a hiker came out with a ½ gallon of some kind of fudge/chocolate combination. He wasn’t trying to break the record, only enjoy the ice cream on a warm summer morning. 

    My buddy, Jim Beegley picked me up about mid-morning and took me to this house in Harrisburg. Jim is an old acquaintance from my podcasting days. He has a doctorate in EdTech and his wife is a teacher. Most of his kids are grown or about to fly the nest, but his youngest, Katie, is a jewel that I took to right away. After letting me shower, do laundry, stuffing me to the gills with ribs, burgers, potato salad, pasta salad and more, Jim, Katie and I went to Bass Pro Shop so I could get some lighter shorts (my scout shorts are simply too heavy when wet and don’t dry quickly) and a dry sack for food. My old dry sack had completely disintegrated and spilled red specks of plastic over everything. I checked into a motel to rest before the fireworks. 

    Picking me up later, we ate again (MORE delicious ribs and burgers), and I overate. I’ve probably gained back all the weight I’ve lost up to this point. We then headed downtown to see the fireworks. The gathering at the Susquehanna River was wonderful, a throwback to the way the 4th of July should be. The colonnade along the river was filled with people strolling among the food vendors waiting for the fireworks to start. A myriad of pontoon boats began to gather out in the river to view the show. In the middle of river sits City Island where they fire off the rockets and on the opposite heights above is where the Confederates launched an attack on the city roughly 160 years ago but were unable to take it because of militia raised by the governor. After waiting in line to get Katie a funnel cake, we sat on the grass next to the river and waited. The fireworks show was gorgeous, and spending a beautiful evening with this beautiful family in this beautiful city was more than any wayward hiker deserved. Jim is truly blessed. 

    Today’s mileage: 1.2 

    Total trail miles: 76.8 

  • Day 10

    Last night, I had a little problem with the rain. My fly was not set correctly and so my bag and hammock got a little wet. It wasn’t a disaster, but it was inconvenient and made my bag heavier today with all the wetness. I had to pull another pair of clothes out and now I have two sets of wet clothes that need to be dried. 

    I got a late start this morning. We didn’t get out of camp until almost 10:30 because of all the rain and packing up. Wet gear makes it harder to pack, but we were happily on our way. We had a medium day today on soft trail mostly downhill to a shelter named Tom’s Run Shelter 

    We ran into Rambo again and his companion who were coming the opposite way on the trail. Apparently, they had left their car keys somewhere and had to get transported back to where they started at Caledonia State Park, a long hike. I told him the next time I saw him, it would be to give him a beer at the brewery. 

    The day was marked by blueberries. They were blueberries for almost the entire trail at our feet, most of them unripe, but some of them ready to eat. Seth really enjoyed picking blueberries and feeding them to John Robert who loves them. When we got to the shelter there was a slight shower again, but we were able to weather through that and now it’s clear and the birds are chirping as I lay in my hammock. We have to get an early start in the morning in order to catch the shuttle that will take Seth, Kathryn and John back to Harpers Ferry. Mike, the shuttle driver will also give me a ride to Pine Grove. I will get picked up there by my friend Jim and go into Harrisburg for the Fourth of July celebration. I intend on staying at a motel for a couple of days to rest, resupply and dry everything out. 

    Another stellar day. The blessings just keep coming with the kids being with me. I don’t know how I’m going to make it when they leave. 

    Today’s mileage: 6.2 

    Total trail miles: 75.7 

  • Day 9

    Last night at Quarry Gap Shelter there was a massive thunderstorm at about 2 AM. I can’t tell you how good it is to be in the shelter in your bag nice and toasty warm without getting wet. It’s one of the best things about hiking the AT-sleeping in a thunderstorm and staying dry.

    Starting from Quarry Gap Shelter, we hiked through some pretty soft trail to Birch Run Shelter which was our stop for today. Two things of note: we saw a bright orange salamander on the trail which was uncommon. We also saw unripe blueberries. We went under some big electrical hummers and I can tell you that in the middle of a rain storm those hammers hum more than they normally do. It’s a little scary and intimidating to walk under them thinking of all the electricity and power passing through them. Somewhere along the trail today, we will also pass the actual halfway point of the AT. There was supposed to be a plaque, but we didn’t see one. 

    When we got to our shelter, we found a beautiful campsite right next to a clear running stream. John was very dirty from playing in the dirt so he got to swim a little bit in the stream to clean off. We got some good video that including some underwater footage. 

    The collection of hikers at the shelter tonight was very eclectic. We had one hiker, Shades, who is hiking solo, vision impaired, and using a guide dog. We saw Rambo again today, but he and his partner decided to go to the next shelter. There was a group of about six or seven hikers around smoking fire, not really even a campfire, more a smoking pile of sticks. 

    We have no cell service today and so we were unable to call Mattie on her birthday which also happens to be the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, We just passed by Gettysburg yesterday. The kids had a lot of fun tonight. Seth is very impressed with this campsite and the beauty of the woods. I think that he’s happy that he came. 

    Overall, a soft day of hiking, beautiful trail, a mid-day, shower to cool us off, and a glorious evening to sleep under the stars. 

    Today’s mileage: 7.4 

    Total trail miles: 69.5 

  • Pics from Days 6-10

    https://gopro.com/v/5W7laQlo1On7R

  • Day 8

    Today was a glorious day. we spent some time in the morning taking our time packing up. We finally got out of Rocky Mountain shelter at about 915. We spent the morning mainly going down to Caledonia state park which was about 4.6 miles from the shelter.

    In the park we came across some extreme trail magic. Hiker named Rambo was serving up salads, sandwiches, beer, fruit to any hikers coming down off the mountain, it being Saturday morning. He had through-hiked  the trail some years earlier, and just wanted to do something nice for all of the travelers that were going on. We spent about an hour in the park eating wonderful sandwiches with tomatoes and lettuce and mushrooms. Got rid of all of our trash and filled up our water and then we started to hike up to Quarry gap shelter.

    Quarry, gap shelter is a fairytale. It looks like something straight out of Snow White. When you enter the shelter grounds, there is a picket fence with flowers planted on both sides. Just inside the compound is a stump with a gnome. The shelter itself is two, modest well kept rooms with a picnic table in the middle. Everything looks like it’s out of a fairytale. This is the finest shelter I’ve ever stayed in.

    For dinner we had our regular food dehydrated, but we also had crème brûlée, which was a treat. I think John ate half the package. The kid ate so much food I think he’s going to pop.

    Just a few minutes ago. A gentle rain shower started and we can hear the drops on the tin roof above us. We’re dry sleepy, and in the perfect place to spend the night in a summer shower. I think the kids had fun today. I know John did.

    I’m so thankful that they are with me on the trail. I have two nights with them left, and then they pull off and go home. It’ll be a lonely, two weeks after that, but I’m sure there are further ventures waiting me.

    Today’s mileage: 5.6

    Total trail miles 62.1

  • Day 7

    Today was a long but good day. Started off from tumbling run shelter which again is a very nice shelter with excellent water. There is a 1000 foot ascent out of tumbling run shelters which was very challenging for me. My target was South Mountain Pennsylvania where I picked up Kathryn, Seth and John Robert.

    John, so far is doing great. He likes to see everything in the woods and play with rocks. I think it’s good that he’s getting this kind of exposure to nature this early. He sleeps a lot while his mother carries him. We don’t have to worry much about food for him because his mother is his food, plus he eats whatever we happen to be eating as well.

    The only challenging part about the day was the hike into South Mountain along Pennsylvania Highway 233. It’s about a mile and a half very hot with the heat from the road coming up. Hiking along road is not very nice. But I was able to make it to the post office, resupply with food, drop some other food that I didn’t need and gear off and mail it back home to Allyson. Then we had to hike back up from the post office to get to the trail which was about another 1.5. That added 3 miles for the day, which, for me, was already starting to turn into a long day.

    We were able to get those chores done, and make it to the trail, which was an ascent, but not a very challenging one up to the ridge another 2 miles to the shelter. According to the notebook, the shelter has “the best smelling privy since Georgia.“ I don’t know if that’s true, but it is nice. I’ll talk about privies another day.

    Overall an excellent day. I’m glad to be with my kids and to hear about everything that’s going on at home. Having them here is a joy and blessing.  

    Today’s mileage: 8.6

    Total trail miles 56.5