On July 2nd, 2016, I embarked on my first overnight hiking adventure since I was a boy scout in the 1990’s.
Holly was encouraging me to go on a long weekend adventure while she watched our children. With 4 small kids under the age of 7, I was looking for a good cheap weekend adventure to take a break from my day to day responsibilities. I’ve driven under the Appalachian trail bridge in Middletown, MD at I-70 no less than 500 times in the ten years since living in Maryland. I had always been curious about it. I heard you could hike the 40 mile Maryland section in a couple of days. I thought I’d go for that. I had some cheap work boots, a high end REI mountaineering pack that was a gift from Holly 10 years before. I had literally never used it. Not even once.
July 1st was a Friday night and it was just earlier that day when I decided to hike the Maryland section beginning at the Pennsylvania border heading south to the West Virginia border. Friday evening I headed to Walmart for a few more essentials I thought I’d need. I purchased a mattress pad, a tiny backpacking stove and some food for the trip.
Saturday morning I hit the trail starting at Pen Mar County Park. I walked less than 100 yards when I realized the aching in my feet would only get worse. My feet were sloshing around in my worn out Costco boots, with smashed down sole cushion from working in a repair shop. I headed back to Walmart and picked a $29 pair of tennis shoes. This was a great decision. It set me back about an hour, but it was worth it.
Back on the trail, I merrily started hiking southward without a map and no real game plan except make it 40 miles to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
It wasn’t long before I was being passed by a young hiker that was more or less trail running and heading toward the 500 foot climb to High Rock. I bravely pushed along with my overweight pack, dripping in sweat and panting for breath. It turns out this was one of the more difficult parts of the MD section of the trail. Also as it turns out, the Maryland section is considered the easiest section of the entire AT. I can’t imagine what it’s like climbing to the 6,612 foot peak to Clingman’s Dome in Virginia.
Arriving at High Rock was satisfying. After hiking 3 miles, it’s a great little spot for a break. At an elevation of about 1,700 feet, you get a pretty nice view of the valley as well as a steady breeze. I don’t mind the colorful graffiti covered rocks, but I do mind the broken glass everywhere.
Pushing on from here, I hiked 6 more miles to the Ensign Cowall Shelter. I sat at the bench at the shelter getting to know some section hikers and thru hikers. I ate some food, refilled my 3 liter bladder and rested. My feet/legs/hips/back were aching so bad. I desperately needed to lay down. I found a flat spot next to a little fire pit and spread out my new mattress pad. I laid down and used my orange survival tarp as a blanket because I was too tired to get out my sleeping bag. Once I laid down, I could BARELY move because I was so sore. I had hiked about 9 miles so far and I still had to hike 31 more! Here’s a video update I made for Holly. It’s me just being ridiculously wiped out and drunk from pain.
I eventually was able to get get up, make some dinner and start a fire. I didn’t bring a tent, so I just slept on the ground and pitched the tarp like an a-frame shelter in case of rain. This would have been fine, except the second night, I had bugs crawling all over me. I had envisioned, falling asleep watching the stars, but doing it from the ground was a fail due to the ants and mysterious insects crawling everywhere.
While at the shelter I asked what the advantage was to the hiking poles that I saw everyone using. I was told that they can reduce the strain on your legs by 20% and that sounded great so I found a couple of branches and made two walking sticks.
The second day was exciting because my family was going to meet me at the halfway point so I had something to strive for. It was an additional 9 miles from the Ensign Cowall Shelter to the I-70 foot bridge which is where I was meeting the family.
Unbeknownst to me, I had poison ivy oils all over me and when I met my family it rubbed off my clothes onto them. Unfortunately, Holly is extremely allergic and 3 days later ended up with horrible, blistery outbreaks all over her skin. That was a lesson learned for sure and a warning to those reading this thinking about hiking the trail. Oddly, the rest of the family didn’t seem to be affected.
The next nice milestone from the I-70 footpath is the Washington Monument. Not the one your thinking of, but the other one that you’ve never heard of. It was a monument erected by citizens in honor of George Washington in 1827. It was constructed with stones that were along the hillside.
It was at this monument that I was feeling particularly proud of myself for hiking this far (21.5 miles). I felt pretty confident at this point that I would definitely make it to Harper’s Ferry the next day. Just as my confidence was at it’s peak I ran into a guy who was visiting the monument with his girlfriend. He was was asking me about my adventure and I eagerly explained what I was doing and how far I’d come so far. He mocked me for having an overweight pack and generally had a condescending tone. His girlfriend jumped in and explained that he had attempted the trek a couple years before, but due to chafing issues was unable to complete the hike. I guess he was just bitter.
Just a couple more miles and I arrived at the Dahlgren Campground. It has showers, power outlets and a huge flat field for pitching tents. I chilled here for a solid 45 minutes to charge my cell phone.
I hike a couple more miles into Rocky Run shelter and hunkered down for the night in a regrettable spot. It seemed nice at first, but soon I was overwhelmed by ants and other miscellaneous creepy crawlies. I put my bed atop a bench but it didn’t help much. This was when I knew I’d have to come up with better sleeping arrangements the next time.
After getting a rough nights sleep, I woke up, had breakfast and hit the trail hiking at a good pace. Soon that good pace went to just a pace. Then it started to rain and rain and rain. It rained for a few hours but it felt like forever. I found shelter at historic Gathland State Park and cooked some rice for lunch. I still had 9 more miles to go and I was tired, but excited to make it to the end. At my current rate of speed, I was going to finish the trail at about 8 pm.
After lunch and while it was still raining, I hit the trail again to make my final push to the finish line. It was foggy and so I didn’t make any additional stops at the lookouts. I just put my head down and painfully moved forward. Ironically, the most challenging section of the whole trail was definitely the last three miles on the flat C&O tow path. It was just absolute torture. My feet and knees were in the most severe pain I’d ever experienced. I considered leaving my pack on the ground and coming back for it another time. I thought about taking off my shoes and walking barefoot. Mentally and physically I was completely spent. I wanted to cry. I thought how crazy it was that people like my sister run 23 miles in just a few hours and here I am whining about 15 miles that I had all day to do with as many stops as I wanted.
All I wanted to do was get to the end. I kept looking for that final bridge over the Potomac but after every step it seemed like it would never appear. Finally as the sun was setting I made it to the bridge. My cell phone had died hours before and I asked a couple if they would take my picture at the base of the bridge and text it to me.
I climbed the steps onto the footpath and finally made it into Harper’s Ferry, WV. My journey was complete. My mission was accomplished. My weekend to myself to recharge left me physically and mentally exhausted. But for some reason I felt more alive than ever. I pushed myself to accomplish something that was way beyond my abilities. I didn’t care about the hardships along the way. I felt immensely proud and satisfied.
I arrived home after all the kids were asleep and Holly was wrapping up the evening duties before going to bed. I hobbled step by step up the stairs to take a shower. The next three weeks I struggled to bend my knees. I had severely injured the inside of my knee caps. I had what is known as “runners knee”. I moved like an 80 year old man. I had to keep my legs straight when I sat down.
Once my knees healed, I hit the trail and streets to build up my knees and legs for the next summer so I could do it all over again!