Mikerfixit
11-16-2016, 12:01
I use to backpack a lot when I was in the BSA and loved hiking along the Appalachian Trail on our once a year trip every March. Towards the end of my time with the BSA I had discovered that it was easier to sleep in a hammock covered by a tarp if needed as I had more space to move around and combination was lighter than the canvas tents our troop used, not to mention easier to setup and take down.
This past spring I was reminiscing about my plans for a through hike of the trail and decided that I could eventually have time to do the hike after I retired but in the meantime I had to get back into backpacking. So with my wife’s permission I began researching and replacing all the gear that I had gotten rid of over the past thirty some years.
I figured six months was enough time to prepare and invited some of my co-workers to join me. I laid down the section I wanted to tackle deciding to start at Washington Monument State Park and ending in Harpers Ferry. I remembered my Troop stopping at the tower on Lambs Knoll for lunch and camping for the night at Gathland State Park. Later on I thought that maybe if I wasn’t feeling to bad I could continue to the Ed Garvey Shelter and then only have a six mile hike into the Harpers Ferry the following morning. I if a scrawny eleven year old carrying a fifty pound backpack could do that then so could an out of shape late forty something carrying a thirty pound pack.
I had enlisted the help of my sister to provide transport to and from the trail with my parents as backup should she not be able to help. By the time the date for the trip came by all of my coworkers had bailed out on me and my trip had turned into a solo trip which worried my family despite my attempts to reassure them.
The day of the trip I started out early in the morning heading to meet my sister. The weather reports called for light rain and drizzle until 10:00am with temperatures in the mid to upper sixties and the cloudy for the rest of the day. Not ideal but I had my synthetic clothes I had scrounged from what I had and from the Goodwill Store so they would dry quickly enough once the rain stopped or I could throw on my rain poncho if I thought I might get too cold at the start of the trip.
On the way out of the Baltimore area someone wrecked their car causing the beltway to be closed. After a twenty minute detour I was back on route and arrived at my sisters within a reasonable time. We loaded up into her car and headed off to Washington Monument State Park. Along the way there the GPS dropped its signal and wouldn’t reconnect, too many clouds I guess, but I had read ahead far enough that I could remember most of the directions and after some crazy driving by my sister we arrived.
I reassured my sister that I could always stab someone with my trekking pole should I get attacked and I that I promised I would send her and my wife text messages and call when I could at various points along the trail. I finally was able to start at about 8:50am.
Within thirty seconds I lost the trail at a road crossing because I couldn’t see the white blaze due to the overcast sky and light rain that was coming down but a few hundred feet of backtracking put me back on course. I continued on and after another road crossing noticed a dead animal laying across the trail. Even if I had taken it as a bad omen my sister had already left the parking area and I was on my own.
Twenty minutes later the light rain changed into a heavy downpour and trail turned into a small stream. Having already gotten wet by the earlier ran I continued on as is keeping what I thought was a good pace. A short time later the rain lightened up and I entered a clearing near a road crossing with a church. I believe this area was called Turners Gap but at the time I didn’t know. I only had a vague memory of this portion of the trail from thirty some years ago. I took a short break and sipped some water while standing as I didn’t want to sit in the wet from the rain.
I continued on passing the Dalgren Backing area continuing to take small sips of water as needed and marveled at how much the trail had changed. I had no memories of a bath house so close to the trail nor the camping area with bear poles. The backpackers seemed to be still asleep in their tents or at least were waiting for the rain to stop. It was about 9:30 at this time and I knew I was making good time as I remember this area being about 3 miles from where I started.
The next road crossing brought me to the bottom of Lambs Knoll. I remembered this section better as my scout troop would often stop at the watch tower at the top for lunch. The paved service road I remembered as being a dirt and gravel road that would lead up the mountain to the run down looking tower. I found the trail again and continued into the woods as the grade started to get steeper.
I soon passed the sign for Rocky Run shelter at about 10:30 am and debated taking the blue trail to check out the shelter but decided against it as I didn’t want to disturb anyone that might be getting ready to head out. I also began to wonder if I would reach the top of Lambs Knoll way before I had planned on stopping for lunch.
The rain continued as I followed the trail as the grade grew steeper turning into a rocky flight of stairs with large puddles of water trapped behind the logs put down to help with the erosion. I was making heavy use of the trekking poles at this point and eventually got to the point where I had to stop at every blaze marking to catch my breath. I wasn’t able to sip at my water as well because I was so out of breath at each stop and trying to drink while moving was difficult as I was spending so much attention to not slipping or landing in a mud puddle.
It was about 11:00am by the time I hit where the trail was split by the Lambs Knoll service road paused while I pondered whether to take the service road up to the top or stay on the trail. I decided to stick to the trail as I figured I was near the top of the knoll as best as I could tell. The trail continued up its steep grade and it round around towards the top of the knoll and I huffed and puffed my way on still stopping at every blaze marking to rest.
At one point I found and flat enough rock on the edge of the trail and decided to sit and take a break to rest myself and drink some water. The rain continued and it didn’t matter which rock I sat on as everything was sopping wet including me. Soon I heard some voices and glanced up the trail to see two young ladies making their way down. These were the first people I saw since starting and I was kind of glad that I had not seen anyone for so long.
My “Good Morning” to them startled the first hiker as I guess she didn’t expect to find a dripping wet hiker dressed in neutral colors sitting on the edge of the trail huff and puffing while trying to sip at some water. After talking to them for a short time, they explained that they had spent the night at the Crampton Gap Shelter and they had hiked about four miles since they had left.
At this point I was wondering if I would be able to make it to the Ed Garvey shelter or if I should stop at Crampton Gap. It was almost 11:40 at this point and I knew my pace had suffered a lot as I still had not reached the top of the knoll. After wishing the ladies a good hike I stood up to continue up the trail.
My legs immediately cramped up starting at my thighs and working down to me feet. I shook my legs out the best I could and continued slowly up the trail hoping the cramps would work their way out while I used the trekking poles to keep my balance.
A short time later I met another older hiker coming down the trail and I stepped to the side to let him by. He waved towards me letting me know that I could continue up but I croaked out a “I’m outta gas.” As I shook my head. As he came by I offered him a good morning as asked him how far to the park, meaning Gathland State park.
He seemed confused by this so I mentioned the shelter and he explained that he too had spent the night there with the two ladies that had passed me earlier. He had apparently left several minutes behind the ladies and was wondering how they were doing as one apparently have been give bad gear advice and was suffering. He said that he wasn’t sure how far it was to Crampton Gap as he wasn’t really paying that much attention. He mentioned that he had just passed White Rock and the Bear Creek Cabin trail about ten minutes earlier but I didn’t know where they were located. He said that he had a map that he could show me but it was in his pack. I thanked him for the offer but said that I didn’t want him opening his pack up in the rain just because I didn’t know where I was.
He asked where I had started from and at what time then suggested that was I seemed to be making good time. I thanked him and wished him a good hike before continuing.
Encouraged by this I continued my struggle up the trail with my legs getting stiffer and sorer with each step. I eventually made it to White Rock at about 12:45pm. I would have stopped for lunch but it was still raining and I didn’t want to open my pack in the rain. Not that I was terribly hungry as I was in more pain than anything else.
I got to the top of the ridge and should have been making good time but my legs were still cramped up and I was exhausted. I just wanted to reach Campton Gap where I thought I could stop for the day and give my legs a chance to relax. I was so sore that I just stopped walking at times to try and gather the energy to take the next step.
At some point some older day hikers came by me and asked how far it was to Turners Gap. I countered with my own question about how far it was to the park, once again meaning Gathland State park where they would have been coming from and when she didn’t seem to understand what I meant I asked about the shelter. The woman frowned at me and said. “Well it isn’t like they put signs up telling you how far it is.” I took this as rude but was too sore to care and replied that I didn’t know where Turners Gap was. She then told me that it was the road crossing near the church. Once I realized where that was I told her that I wasn’t sure but that I had passed that at 9:30 this past morning. She said “Thank you, that’s helpful” and continued on her way. Whether or not this was sarcasm I couldn’t tell.
My stomach grumbled soon after and I decided that I needed to eat something despite the rain so I found the nearest flat rock and took my pack off. I fished out some trail mix and pulled out my bottle of Gatorade. After munching on some dried fruit and sucking down over half the Gatorade I pulled out my phone to try and get a GPS reading but the sky was still too cloudy and the overhead tree branches blocked out much of the sky.
Defeated, I chanced a call to my sister and managed to get a poor cell connection to ask her to pick me up at Gathland State park. I had to explain to her that I had no idea how far along the trail I was but that I was heading there and she might have to wait for me to get there. I told her my situation and that I was hiking as fast as I could but each step was agony. I then called my wife and told her that I had to quit my hike.
After getting my pack back on the rain stopped but the gnats came out as I continued on. I had a head net and some bug repellent but I didn’t want to take my pack off again. About five minutes later I passed a sign for the Crampton Gap Shelter, but it was too late for me. I was in too much pain. The descent down into Gathland was incredibly difficult and I wouldn’t not had been able to make it without the trekking poles, which I was now using like canes.
Once in the park, I found my bug repellent and only had to wait ten minutes before my sister and brother-in-law arrived to rescue me.
**I hope to try again this coming spring.**
This past spring I was reminiscing about my plans for a through hike of the trail and decided that I could eventually have time to do the hike after I retired but in the meantime I had to get back into backpacking. So with my wife’s permission I began researching and replacing all the gear that I had gotten rid of over the past thirty some years.
I figured six months was enough time to prepare and invited some of my co-workers to join me. I laid down the section I wanted to tackle deciding to start at Washington Monument State Park and ending in Harpers Ferry. I remembered my Troop stopping at the tower on Lambs Knoll for lunch and camping for the night at Gathland State Park. Later on I thought that maybe if I wasn’t feeling to bad I could continue to the Ed Garvey Shelter and then only have a six mile hike into the Harpers Ferry the following morning. I if a scrawny eleven year old carrying a fifty pound backpack could do that then so could an out of shape late forty something carrying a thirty pound pack.
I had enlisted the help of my sister to provide transport to and from the trail with my parents as backup should she not be able to help. By the time the date for the trip came by all of my coworkers had bailed out on me and my trip had turned into a solo trip which worried my family despite my attempts to reassure them.
The day of the trip I started out early in the morning heading to meet my sister. The weather reports called for light rain and drizzle until 10:00am with temperatures in the mid to upper sixties and the cloudy for the rest of the day. Not ideal but I had my synthetic clothes I had scrounged from what I had and from the Goodwill Store so they would dry quickly enough once the rain stopped or I could throw on my rain poncho if I thought I might get too cold at the start of the trip.
On the way out of the Baltimore area someone wrecked their car causing the beltway to be closed. After a twenty minute detour I was back on route and arrived at my sisters within a reasonable time. We loaded up into her car and headed off to Washington Monument State Park. Along the way there the GPS dropped its signal and wouldn’t reconnect, too many clouds I guess, but I had read ahead far enough that I could remember most of the directions and after some crazy driving by my sister we arrived.
I reassured my sister that I could always stab someone with my trekking pole should I get attacked and I that I promised I would send her and my wife text messages and call when I could at various points along the trail. I finally was able to start at about 8:50am.
Within thirty seconds I lost the trail at a road crossing because I couldn’t see the white blaze due to the overcast sky and light rain that was coming down but a few hundred feet of backtracking put me back on course. I continued on and after another road crossing noticed a dead animal laying across the trail. Even if I had taken it as a bad omen my sister had already left the parking area and I was on my own.
Twenty minutes later the light rain changed into a heavy downpour and trail turned into a small stream. Having already gotten wet by the earlier ran I continued on as is keeping what I thought was a good pace. A short time later the rain lightened up and I entered a clearing near a road crossing with a church. I believe this area was called Turners Gap but at the time I didn’t know. I only had a vague memory of this portion of the trail from thirty some years ago. I took a short break and sipped some water while standing as I didn’t want to sit in the wet from the rain.
I continued on passing the Dalgren Backing area continuing to take small sips of water as needed and marveled at how much the trail had changed. I had no memories of a bath house so close to the trail nor the camping area with bear poles. The backpackers seemed to be still asleep in their tents or at least were waiting for the rain to stop. It was about 9:30 at this time and I knew I was making good time as I remember this area being about 3 miles from where I started.
The next road crossing brought me to the bottom of Lambs Knoll. I remembered this section better as my scout troop would often stop at the watch tower at the top for lunch. The paved service road I remembered as being a dirt and gravel road that would lead up the mountain to the run down looking tower. I found the trail again and continued into the woods as the grade started to get steeper.
I soon passed the sign for Rocky Run shelter at about 10:30 am and debated taking the blue trail to check out the shelter but decided against it as I didn’t want to disturb anyone that might be getting ready to head out. I also began to wonder if I would reach the top of Lambs Knoll way before I had planned on stopping for lunch.
The rain continued as I followed the trail as the grade grew steeper turning into a rocky flight of stairs with large puddles of water trapped behind the logs put down to help with the erosion. I was making heavy use of the trekking poles at this point and eventually got to the point where I had to stop at every blaze marking to catch my breath. I wasn’t able to sip at my water as well because I was so out of breath at each stop and trying to drink while moving was difficult as I was spending so much attention to not slipping or landing in a mud puddle.
It was about 11:00am by the time I hit where the trail was split by the Lambs Knoll service road paused while I pondered whether to take the service road up to the top or stay on the trail. I decided to stick to the trail as I figured I was near the top of the knoll as best as I could tell. The trail continued up its steep grade and it round around towards the top of the knoll and I huffed and puffed my way on still stopping at every blaze marking to rest.
At one point I found and flat enough rock on the edge of the trail and decided to sit and take a break to rest myself and drink some water. The rain continued and it didn’t matter which rock I sat on as everything was sopping wet including me. Soon I heard some voices and glanced up the trail to see two young ladies making their way down. These were the first people I saw since starting and I was kind of glad that I had not seen anyone for so long.
My “Good Morning” to them startled the first hiker as I guess she didn’t expect to find a dripping wet hiker dressed in neutral colors sitting on the edge of the trail huff and puffing while trying to sip at some water. After talking to them for a short time, they explained that they had spent the night at the Crampton Gap Shelter and they had hiked about four miles since they had left.
At this point I was wondering if I would be able to make it to the Ed Garvey shelter or if I should stop at Crampton Gap. It was almost 11:40 at this point and I knew my pace had suffered a lot as I still had not reached the top of the knoll. After wishing the ladies a good hike I stood up to continue up the trail.
My legs immediately cramped up starting at my thighs and working down to me feet. I shook my legs out the best I could and continued slowly up the trail hoping the cramps would work their way out while I used the trekking poles to keep my balance.
A short time later I met another older hiker coming down the trail and I stepped to the side to let him by. He waved towards me letting me know that I could continue up but I croaked out a “I’m outta gas.” As I shook my head. As he came by I offered him a good morning as asked him how far to the park, meaning Gathland State park.
He seemed confused by this so I mentioned the shelter and he explained that he too had spent the night there with the two ladies that had passed me earlier. He had apparently left several minutes behind the ladies and was wondering how they were doing as one apparently have been give bad gear advice and was suffering. He said that he wasn’t sure how far it was to Crampton Gap as he wasn’t really paying that much attention. He mentioned that he had just passed White Rock and the Bear Creek Cabin trail about ten minutes earlier but I didn’t know where they were located. He said that he had a map that he could show me but it was in his pack. I thanked him for the offer but said that I didn’t want him opening his pack up in the rain just because I didn’t know where I was.
He asked where I had started from and at what time then suggested that was I seemed to be making good time. I thanked him and wished him a good hike before continuing.
Encouraged by this I continued my struggle up the trail with my legs getting stiffer and sorer with each step. I eventually made it to White Rock at about 12:45pm. I would have stopped for lunch but it was still raining and I didn’t want to open my pack in the rain. Not that I was terribly hungry as I was in more pain than anything else.
I got to the top of the ridge and should have been making good time but my legs were still cramped up and I was exhausted. I just wanted to reach Campton Gap where I thought I could stop for the day and give my legs a chance to relax. I was so sore that I just stopped walking at times to try and gather the energy to take the next step.
At some point some older day hikers came by me and asked how far it was to Turners Gap. I countered with my own question about how far it was to the park, once again meaning Gathland State park where they would have been coming from and when she didn’t seem to understand what I meant I asked about the shelter. The woman frowned at me and said. “Well it isn’t like they put signs up telling you how far it is.” I took this as rude but was too sore to care and replied that I didn’t know where Turners Gap was. She then told me that it was the road crossing near the church. Once I realized where that was I told her that I wasn’t sure but that I had passed that at 9:30 this past morning. She said “Thank you, that’s helpful” and continued on her way. Whether or not this was sarcasm I couldn’t tell.
My stomach grumbled soon after and I decided that I needed to eat something despite the rain so I found the nearest flat rock and took my pack off. I fished out some trail mix and pulled out my bottle of Gatorade. After munching on some dried fruit and sucking down over half the Gatorade I pulled out my phone to try and get a GPS reading but the sky was still too cloudy and the overhead tree branches blocked out much of the sky.
Defeated, I chanced a call to my sister and managed to get a poor cell connection to ask her to pick me up at Gathland State park. I had to explain to her that I had no idea how far along the trail I was but that I was heading there and she might have to wait for me to get there. I told her my situation and that I was hiking as fast as I could but each step was agony. I then called my wife and told her that I had to quit my hike.
After getting my pack back on the rain stopped but the gnats came out as I continued on. I had a head net and some bug repellent but I didn’t want to take my pack off again. About five minutes later I passed a sign for the Crampton Gap Shelter, but it was too late for me. I was in too much pain. The descent down into Gathland was incredibly difficult and I wouldn’t not had been able to make it without the trekking poles, which I was now using like canes.
Once in the park, I found my bug repellent and only had to wait ten minutes before my sister and brother-in-law arrived to rescue me.
**I hope to try again this coming spring.**