1,000 Miles Hiked, 4 States Down! Front Royal to Harper's Ferry, WV

I woke up Saturday (June 2) relieved to have less than 10 miles to hike, and only a handful until I got out of the Shenandoahs. My body and mind were tired and in need of a rest. I had visitors coming and didn't want to be completely disgusting when they showed up so Sixlegs when into Front Royal to find a hotel room. When I got to the trail head at US 522 (AT mile 970.8), Sixlegs was waiting for me with a large coffee! The local trail club had set up a table with information and coupons to hand out to any hiker who could show them a photo of them on the AT with a white blaze. We were the first to earn coupons and they took a picture of us to put on their Facebook page - we're famous!

I had enough time to shower and change clothes at the hotel room in Front Royal before meeting my coworker friend Kent and his wife Jamie for lunch at a local diner. It was really nice catching up with friends and he filled me in on everything that I've missed back in DC (surprisingly, not much).

The next day (June 3rd) another work friend was driving to Front Royal to hike the next couple days with me. John and his friend Alonso had been planning to come out and hike for a few days, unfortunately they showed up Sunday morning in a downpour. We met at the Apple House Restaurant and went through our options. Sixlegs offered to slack pack us a few miles, hoping that it would stop raining later in the afternoon and we could possibly have dry gear to sleep in. The roads around Front Royal were flooding and there was literally a waterfall flowing down the trail when we got dropped off at US 522 to head north. It was almost 11am when we got started, the terrain was easy but the trail was a river.

After about 5 miles we got to Denton Shelter - a nice shelter with a pavilion, porch, and a solar shower. In the shelter MacGyver (who was our shuttle driver back in Glasgow) was there with Gray and a couple of other hikers. They had been there for over 24 hours waiting for the rain to stop, they all looked miserable. John had brought a container of cookies which we shared with the hikers, providing a little bit of trail magic.

We hiked on for another mile before we got to a road crossing where Sixlegs was waiting. He had already decided that he wanted to sleep in a hotel that night rather than hiking a few miles with us to camp. It was still raining on and off, the trail was a muddy mess, and the creeks had swollen to rivers. Our shoes had been wet from the very first steps on the trail. Sixlegs told us that there was a road crossing in another 2 miles that he would meet us at and we could decide then if we wanted to take our packs and hike to the next shelter to camp or return to town and sleep in a dry hotel room.

John, Alonso, and I discussed our options for about 30 seconds before deciding we all would prefer to sleep in a hotel room that night, keeping our gear dry, and continue our hike the next morning. So when we got to the next road crossing, after 8.2 miles of hiking, we piled into Sixlegs' car and drove back to Front Royal. The next day was supposed to be warm and sunny.

We slept in Monday morning (June 4th) - I had breakfast at the hotel and then again at Dunkin Donuts. Sixlegs went to pick up my next surprise - Amy! who decided to come out and hike the next two days with me. Amy left her car about 35 miles up the trail and Sixlegs gave her a ride into Front Royal, and then drove us all back to the trail.

When we arrived at the trail head a little before 10AM there was trail magic in the parking lot and a group of hikers (including MacGyver and Orange) enjoying snacks and beer. Since we had just left town and didn't to spend the previous night in the rain we passed on the trail magic and left it for hikers more in need. Unfortunately Sixlegs had to get back to DC - so we all had to say goodbye to our favorite Trail Angel.

The weather was beautiful but the trail was still a swamp and we couldn't avoid soaking our boots. We saw lots of bear tracks in the mud, but unfortunately (fortunately?) didn't see any bears. Alonso took the lead and walked quickly, waiting periodically for us to catch up. We passed two shelters during the day and stopped at both for snack breaks. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) does a really great job building and maintaining their shelters, they were some of the nicest I've seen on trail.

Since most of the trail kept us under tree cover in the woods there weren't many views, so we took the 0.4 mile side trail through a meadow to an overlook. It was a beautiful day and we were surrounded by the sweet smell of honeysuckle lining the trail.

About 4 miles from Rod Hollow Shelter (AT mile 994.4), our destination for that evening, we ran into a woman putting balloons next to the trail - she was a thru hiker named Pixie's mom and led the way back to her car for some trail magic! What perfect timing - she had beer, Gatorade, sandwiches, snacks. Handstand and MacGyver showed up shortly after us and enjoyed the treats as well. I assured John, Alonso, and Amy that they were deserving of the trail magic - they had been carrying full packs along the swampy trail all day, they certainly earned those calories!

The last 4 miles had multiple stream crossings and were extremely muddy so we all got to finish the day with wet boots. The shelter area was packed but we found spots to squeeze our tents near Pacer, Tumbleweed, and Chicago. We arrived at camp around 6:30PM after 15.4 miles and the other hikers had already eaten and were retreating into their tents. There was definitely a dead animal somewhere close, it smelled terrible and there were turkey vultures circling nearby.

Alonso sat on a stump, tired from a long day of hiking with soaking feet, sitting at a campsite that smelled of something rotting, and about to eat dinner out of a bag. He said, “do you know what I miss most?” I expected him to say his wife or a warm bed.

“Sixlegs”.

I'm pretty sure we all missed Sixlegs in that moment. I especially missed the jar of Nutella I had mistakenly left in his car.

At dinner John asked if it was ok to wash the cook pot in the stream - I told him you weren't supposed to wash anything with food in it in the water source, not even with biodegradable soap. He asked how hikers clean their pots, and I told him they add a little bit of water, swish it around with their finger and drink it. He said “what”..dryly and with a look of mild disgust. Leave no trace - it sounds easy until you actually have to do it! He decided that instead of splitting up their Mountain House dinner into their pots they would take turns eating from the bag to avoid having to drink the post-dinner-pot-cleaning-soup.

I was tired by 8PM but since I had guests visiting I figured I should at least try to stay up until 9.. I barely made it. Amy and I retreated into our tent while John and Alonso stayed up chatting and drinking mini-bottles until Pacer shouted to them “lights out!” from his tent.

The next morning (June 5th) I slept in until 6:30AM and the other thru hikers were already gone. The smell was still awful, Amy and I packed quickly - we got moving around 8:30 after John had finally finished packing. The trail was still flooded and muddy but not as bad as the previous day. After about half mile we reached the southern end of the dreaded “Rollercoaster”. The Rollercoaster is one of those AT experiences that hikers make a big deal of..it's a series of ups and downs that weren't really big climbs, mostly just annoyances, with nothing to see at the top. We looked at the elevation chart and counted 9 and a half ups for the day, each about ½ mile up and ½ mile down.

After about 4 miles into the day we came to a gravel road and were greeted with more trail magic! A thru hiker who had to leave the trail had returned to do trail magic with his wife. Cold drinks, candy, chips, snacks - it was a hot sunny day and the climbs were starting to take their toll so we all appreciated the break. MacGyver and Gray showed up.

We left the trail magic and walked the next 2 miles quickly - ‘1,000’ was written next to the trail in rocks. I had hiked 1,000 miles and I had 4 friends with me to help celebrate. John and Alonso had saved 2 mini-bottles, and Amy brought one for each of us to drink while I reflected on the hundreds of miles I had hiked to get there. Gray showed up as we were packing to leave. He had hiked 1,000 miles in his Teva sandals - he said that he had broken a toe or two, but he still thought it was worth it.
We had 4 miles to go to get to Snickers Gap, where Amy's car was parked. There were still a couple of climbs, and the rocks on the downhill sections made it slow. There was a chance of storms in the forecast but thankfully all it brought was cloud coverage and a nice breeze. Throughout the day we were reminded that we weren't too far from civilization - we heard planes, trains, and automobiles, someone should really do something about this transportation noise! We passed a southbound hiker named Just In Case, the first SOBO hiker I've seen, but he started in Massachusetts, so I think he's probably more of a flip-flopper (hiking half the trail then returning to your starting point and hiking the other half).

The last climb brought us to Bears Den Rocks, which gave us the best view we've had in this section. A half mile later, after hiking 10.5 miles that day, we arrived at VA 7 Snickers Gap (AT mile 1004.9), a busy divided highway. We had to scurry across between traffic to the parking lot on the other side. When we got there Amy's car was no where in sight, but we did find more trail magic! Pixie's mom, along with Handstands parents, were in the lot with more beer and treats, and this time had cupcakes with ‘1000’ written on them in icing. In the past two days we had received trail magic 3 times...I never thought I'd say this, and I'll probably never say it again out of this context, but I was starting to think that northern Virginia isn't so bad!

But now we had to find Amy's car...she realized that Sixlegs had sent her to another lot about ⅓ mile away on the other side of the highway. Pixie's mom was nice enough to give her a ride over so she wouldn't have to dodge traffic again. Once she returned with her car she handed me a birthday gift - a puzzle of the Appalachian Trail! She knows me so well..

We all piled into Amy's car and drove to the closest restaurant - it was 3:30 and the bar wasn't open yet. We ate a big meal at the Pine Grove Restaurant while we waited for Alonso's wife to pick up him and John to take them back to reality. We were still waiting at 5 so we decided to head over to the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant for a drink at the bar. We went back to Amy's car to drive there and when the 4 of us opened the car doors we all reeled back in unison at the smell of all of our gear - it was awful, but to be fair I think 90% of it was my boots.

While we waited for John and Alonso's ride Amy and I were still trying to decide where to sleep that night. She didn't have to be anywhere until Wednesday afternoon and was going to stay another night with me. I started going through our options: tent at a nearby campsite, stay at the Bears Den Hostel, find a nearby hotel...then I suggested what we apparently had both been thinking - Amy's house was only a little over an hour away... It was settled, she was going to put me up in her guest room and pamper me for the evening. When we got to her house there was pizza and root beer waiting! She washed my clothes while I went upstairs to take a shower when all of a sudden - I fell down the stairs. I had hiked over 1,000 miles and my first fall was on some carpeted stairs?! I weighed myself for the first time since I'd been in the trail. I'd lost 10-12 pounds depending on how honest I was being with myself about my starting weight..I needed to carry more food!

The next morning we took our time getting up and made a stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Amy dropped me off at Snickers Gap (the correct Snickers Gap) just before 9AM and I was so sad to see her go, it had been such a nice surprise and it was a lot of fun hiking with friends for the past couple of days.

I began racing up the trail because I was so excited to finally get out of Virginia! I had about 4 miles left of the Rollercoaster, which went by in a flash. 3 miles in I got to the VA/WV border - there was another hiker there so we took pictures for each other at the sign but I didn't stay long, I was ready to hero through Harper's Ferry. Then I realized I would need to get into town before 5 when the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) closed or I would have to stay there until the following day. The ATC headquarters office is just a quarter mile off trail before getting into Harper's Ferry and is the psychological half way point for most thru hikers. They take your photo there and add it to a binder of thru hikers who had passed through that calendar year. It wasn't mandatory, but I wanted to follow the tradition.

With about 6 miles to go I passed Gray who was not planning on leaving Harper's Ferry that afternoon and was not in as much of a rush as me. I also passed a school group that was out camping for a few days - they offered me food, which I actually declined since I would be in town in a couple of hours. I picked up my pace and was moving at 3+ miles an hour, concentrating on my foot placement as I hiked through a rock minefield when I looked up and saw blue blazes on the trees. Oh crap. The AT is marked with white blazes, blue blazes mark trails to shelters, water, spur trails - in summary, extra miles. I looked at my map and saw that I had missed the turn into Harper's Ferry and was on a different trail that hiked along the border of Virginia and West Virginia... Virginia wasn't going to let me go without a fight, it's definitely back on my shit list! I turned around and had to backtrack about 10-15 minutes to get back to the AT, but by this point I had plenty of time to get into the ATC HQ before 5. I re-passed Gray and had to admit to my mistake.

Finally I rounded a corner and the Shenandoah River came into view! Then all of a sudden, I fell down the trail. Of course I fell on the exact same spot as I had the night before. No blood or cuts, but a very bruised backside. Now I was worried that I was starting a pattern.

The river was flowing fast and was obviously still very swollen from all of the recent rain. I made it into the ATC HQ at 3:45 - the man behind the desk greeted me kindly and asked if I was ready to have my picture taken.