Bunny was ready to go before 10, but since we had paid for a hotel, I wanted my full money’s worth. Checkout was at 11; I turned in the keycards at 10:59. We had almost a mile of trail skirting the edge of town over the Shenandoah River to get to the historic district.
I had ulterior motives for leaving late. I wanted one last town meal and some iced tea. I convinced Bunny to go for a drink at a place we had seen a couple days ago. Why here? They sell gyros and I’ve been craving one ever since I saw the sign. Bunny claimed to be full but managed to eat half of one.
Crossing the Potomac on a railroad bridge brought us out of our fifth state (West Virginia) and into our sixth state (Maryland). WV has been our slowest state. It took us 70 hours to go 4 miles. If we were to maintain this rate the entire trail, it would take 4 years and 5 months to finish the AT. However, if we were to average 20 miles a day, it would only take us 3 months and two weeks to finish. These two sample points represent the outer limits of our trip. Everyone asks us when we’re going to be finished. I’m going to start saying “Sometime between 3.5 months and 4.5 years.”
Maryland gave us our first, truly level section of trail. We walked along the old C & O canal path for about 2.5 miles. Parts of this path had been under water just last week. Debris was on the edge of the path. We saw on the news that the flood is pushing down river and should be making it to DC in a few days. It’s kind of hard to drain the swamp when the river next to it is at flood stage.
Alas, the trail turned off the canal and we had to climb up. It was only 1000’ elevation gain, but to a couple of hotel dwellers, it felt like a lot. We have managed to spend the last 5 nights sleeping inside on beds. We’ve become soft. We’ve lost cardio. We’ve put on weight. We’ve aged. We’ve gotten used to AC. We felt the climb. We were rewarded with views of the Potomac River valley from the top.
Bunny has tried a new folly. She has set an itinerary for us for the next 10 days. She’s about to find out what it’s like to plan for someone else that doesn’t buy into the plan. I’ve just gotten to the point that I am willing to hike without a daily plan. I know I’ve always been pretty laid back about details and going with the flow, but now I’m not even looking ahead. If we make Bunny’s plan today, we won’t stay on the plan more than two days.
We stopped at the first shelter we came to for a break. The Ed Garvey Shelter is a two story one with an actual stairway leading up to the loft. It was filled with a Boy Scout Troop from Ohio on a training hike for Philmont. We stopped and talked with them before pushing on. Bunny saw a baby owl on the side of the trail to the privy that was less than 3” tall.
When we left the shelter, Bunny let me in on her plan for the day. She wants to make it to Dahlgren Back Pack Campground which is another 11 miles past where we just stopped meaning we have to hike 18 miles today. This is not an unreasonable amount in a day, but we didn’t leave town until noon. Sadly, Bunny’s itinerary is not even going to survive day 1.
I didn’t do it intentionally, but about 1/2 mile past the shelter, I reached down for my bandanna and it wasn’t there. I have not left anything behind on this trip or lost anything and I, sure as hell, was not going to start with my $1 bandanna that I’ve carried over 1000 miles (that I plan to retire in another 60 miles when we make it to the half way point). I dropped my pack and ran back to get it. We’ve been through a lot together—we both suffered mouse damage the first night on the trail (I had a mouse on my head while the bandanna got holes chewed in it), we’ve hung many a bear bag together (my bandanna wrapped around a rock, tied to the rope, and thrown over a limb). I was not ready to abandon my trusted friend to a bunch of Boy Scouts from Ohio. I didn’t want it to feel unloved, unwanted, and left behind. I know how bad Kirk Cameron felt when he was left behind and my blue friend was not going to experience that loss. In short, screw Bunny’s itinerary.
After we were reunited, my bandanna was so thankful, that it became super absorbent and kept my brow extra dry all the way to the next shelter where we decided to call it a day. Truth of the matter, all three of us were dragging. Bunny’s hips and feet were hurting, and I had no energy left. I am carrying the most weight I have on this trip. I’ve easily got almost 20# of for making my pack almost 55# total. We have got to start carrying less food.
We walked all the way down to the shelter only to discover it was full. Bunny actually prefers tenting to the shelters, but I like the 10 minutes I save having to put up the tent. Also, I like seats. Tonight, we both won. We found a camping spot above the shelter that is close to water and has a bench in it. I’m not so worried about a privy because Dahlgren (Bunny’s first choice for tonight) has hot showers and flushing toilets. I know what I’m doing for lunch tomorrow.
EFG