Deep Thoughts when Sitting Alone in the Woods

I wrote this when I did a quick overnight out to Toms Run Shelter area a couple weeks ago.

I enjoy the solitude and revel in being "Outside".

I sit here at the table. Waiting for darkness to encroach. The rushing waters of Toms Run whisper their passing and there is a stillness that pervades the forest. The shelter is about 30 meters away. My hammock is behind me, awaiting my arrival. The air is cooling and I look to my merino, ready to dress for slumber. The sun dipped below yon mountain a while ago. Camp is set, dinner is et. I sit here in appreciation of where I'm lucky enough to be. The woods. The trail.

The overnight was pleasant. I was alone in the woods. The next day, when I was talking to some other hikers I came across down at the "Furnace", they said that Birch Run Shelter had about 20 or more people there. I was the lucky one that night.

Keep on Hiking
EarthTone

Some Cabins in the Woods

Ok, back to the story I promised a couple weeks ago.

So after finishing up at The Gathering, I headed to the bar in Shippensburg where Turk, Tom, Ed and Dave were waiting.  We watched the rest of the Steeler game then headed out of town, over the ridge and up to Big Flat where our first night's cabin was at Gypsy Springs.

We got to the cabin and unlocked the gate.  The day was pretty nice, with decent temperatures and no rain in the forecast.  We unpacked, claimed our beds and got a fire started out at the fire ring.

We were having a good time outside and we saw someone walking up the driveway.  Turk and I went down to talk to the couple and we had a nice conversation.  They were an older couple and the guy had had kin just up the road.  He mentioned an old ruins that just had the chimney from a small house up by where the AT crosses the road and I knew exactly where he was talking about.  He said his grandfather used to live in the house.  They also told us that if you drink the water of Gypsy Springs, all that ails you will be better.  With all the rain of the last few days, the whole hillside was sprouting water, but later Tom and I went down and filled up a bunch of bottles of the magical fluid.

This was a modern cabin with electricity and running water and we had a nice dinner of spaghetti and sauce.  After a nice hike up the hillside to a power line and along that trail for a while, we spent the night sitting by the fire.  We all eventually hit the sack to prepare for the next day's adventure.

Gypsy Spring Cabin

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast and then we headed over to the AT Museum to return some retail stuff I had from The Gathering and we explored Pine Grove Furnace State Park a little.

Fuller Lake

After that, we went to a nearby general store, bought some supplies and lunch and then headed back to the cabin and got ready to move to the next cabin.  We only reserved this cabin for one night because the other cabin wasn't available until Monday and Tuesday nights.  This cabin would be more rustic.  No electricity or running water, but there was a good spring nearby and when we arrived we found the creek that goes by the cabin running nicely.  When I had checked out the cabin the week before, the creek was all but dried up.  It was nice to have the sound of the water next to the cabin.

We unpacked once again and started preparing the outside fire ring for the night's fire.  The cabin was cool, but very dark inside.  Even when we had opened every shutter and even some of the windows, it stayed quite dismal inside.  It was still cozy though.

Milesburn Cabin

Hanging around the cabin

Shortly after we got to the cabin, two hikers came by.  We invited them over, but the seemed reluctant to bother us no matter how much we assured them we liked their company.  They filled their water and we asked them about their hike.  They were Rooster and Chicken and they were on an extended section hike through the area.  They were headed for a campsite nearby and after some pleasant conversation, they headed out and we had a nice dinner and hung out around the fire all night.  We had noticed how the fire pit looked in need of some work, so we made a plan to rebuild it on Tuesday.

I set up my hammock next to the cabin and Turk took on the challenge of sleeping in the "canopy" as he kept call calling it.  We took bets on how long he would last.

Turk's "Canopy"

Well, the night went well.  Turk lasted until sometime after midnight, but he had to get out to pee and couldn't remember how to work the bottom door of the Hennessey and had a small panic attack.  After that he came into the cabin and found an empty rack to finish the night.  

The next day was another decent one.  We rebuilt the fire pit, getting rid of a lot of the small stones and recycling the multitude of ash into the forest.  We incorporated a keyhole style grill device into the ring and it turned out very nice.

Rebuilt Fire Ring

We planned a hike to the nearby Birch Run Shelter about 2.4 miles away.  The trail was nice once you got up the hillside and we hung out at the shelter and explored the area.  We found a really cool campsite across the creek that someone had put a lot of time into.  I will remember this site for future visits.

Smooth, flat trail

Secret campsite of Yetimen

We found a lot of firewood up at a campsite next to the trail and we "collected" all said wood for our night's fire.  

After another nice meal of fire grilled venison, we settled around the camp fire and told stories all night.  The guys were also trying to plan the next part of their vacation and lots of map reading and gps testing ensued.  

Sometime during the day, Turk acquired the Trail Name Kangaroo Joe.  He had on a hoodie and would fill the front pocket with as many beers and other things as he could to carry across the bridge to the cabin area.  He seemed to like it.

Turks Kitchen - These boys eat good on their trips.  Dave in background chopping wood

Group Photo

camp fire

Bros - No, we weren't hunting, as everyone who passed by would ask...

Ed and Kangaroo Joe

The next day we headed our separate ways.  I headed home, as did Tom and the rest headed up to Northwestern PA to continue their adventure.  

I haven't been car camping in a while and this was a fun experience.  It is kinda nice having a 2000 lb backpack parked 30 feet away and spending time with friends from my old home town.

 

I Want to Ride My Bicycle - Day 4

Day 4:

The C & O Canal Trail was done.  It was now time to tackle the Greater Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the beginning of it would be the hardest.

I was up and out of the hotel at 7ish.  I hit the nearby McDonalds for a quick breakfast sandwich and went down the streets to the bike shop and mile zero of the GAP.

Mile Zero

I lubed up the chain and other mechanics and hit the trail at 7:25am.  The plan for the day was to get this uphill out of the way, then have lunch in Meyersdale and then make Confluence to camp at the outflow campsite.  This would once again be a little over 60 miles, so I thought a little about maybe pressing on to Ohiopyle at 72 miles.  We would see how the day went.

Now the trail guides make mention of the grade the first 23 miles of the GAP and say it isn't too bad, and looking back, it really wasn't too terrible.  It was just slow and the day was going to be hot.  I just pushed along as people flew past me going down grade and passed a couple leisurely bikers on my way up to Savage Tunnel and then the Eastern Continental Divide. I would also be entering PA today.

As I made my way up the trail I came to Brush Tunnel.  At 914' long, I figured this wasn't a big deal, so I didn't rig any lights.  Besides it was paved and I could see the exit clearly.  It was a really weird feeling as the light from the entrance faded and I found myself in the pitch black middle.  I could feel myself moving, but had no other sensory input other than seeing the exit getting larger in small increments.  It was quite an experience and I'm thankful it was a totally smooth surface as I rode through.  I'm sure one bump would have sent me careening into the wall.

Exit to Borden Tunnel

Eventually I reached Frostburg, MD.  The trailhead was quite nice.  There was actually some little electronic kiosk thing that you could look up lodging, food, camping information for the nearby towns and print out the info.  Pretty cool.  I walked up a needless switchback to get some water at the top of the hill where a campground was.  It was still pretty early and no one was stirring in the area, but I found a bike wash station and filled up my liter bottle and walked down the road which went straight to the trailhead.  Much easier.

I continued on, climbing as I went.  Just going steady and not worrying about how much time it was taking to get the first 23 miles done.  I would stop when I felt like it and take a short break.  I would also stop at every information board I would see, just to rest and also to read the interesting facts about the area.

Looking into PA from MD

One of the places I stopped was Bone Cave.  This cave was discovered in 1912 when they were putting in the railroad and it contained a whole bunch of bones from prehistoric and extinct animals.  It seemed pretty interesting, but as you can see, wasn't something that was open to the public.

Bone Cave

When I came to the next tunnel, the Borden Tunnel which was 957' long, I took the time to rig my lights.  It was a little less disorienting, but still a little spooky in the middle of the tunnel.  I'm really glad they took the time to pave the surface though.

I was about 20 miles in and it was time to leave Maryland.  I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and took a little break, ate a snack and then moved on.

Mason-Dixon Line

 Shortly after that is Savage Tunnel.  This is a pretty long one at 3294', but it has lights.  Well, mostly has lights.  It is closed in the winter to avoid deterioration that the railroad had to deal with over the years, but was wide open today.  Every once and awhile a light would be out and the darkness would gather around your for a few seconds until the next light's glow would help you along.  It was a nice ride and was pretty cool inside.  I pleasant relief from the hot day.

Savage Tunnel Entrance

 After the tunnel, you round a bend and you can see it.  The Eastern Continental Divide.  Your uphill battle is almost done.  I got to the tunnel that marks the divide and stopped to take a break.  There was a family of three out for a day ride and we had a nice conversation about our rides.  From there I started down hill.

Eastern Continental Divide

 I noticed right away that the going was easier.  My speed crept up to a high for the day.  I was able to keep a constant 13 to 15 mph as I moved along.  It had taken me almost four hours to climb that 23 miles, but I was moving now.

As I was riding along, a guy came up on me from behind.  I thought he was going to buzz on past and leave me behind, but he matched my speed and we started a nice conversation.  It turns out his name was Steve and he said he was one of the people responsible for the trail.  He said he is friends with Mary Shaw and Roy Weil, two very active supporters of the trail and told a lot of how the trail was made as we sped along towards Meyersdale, PA, my lunch stop for the day.

Before I knew it, we were crossing the road that marked Meyersdale.  After doing 23 miles in almost four hours, I had just done another 10 in 40 minutes.  I liked going "down hill".  Steve told me that a Sheetz was just down the hill, so I single mindedly just started down instead of looking around.  It was quite a downhill, that I had to walk back up.  If I would have stopped at the refurbished train station/visitor center for a bit, I would have seen that everything I needed was within a few hundred feet of the trail, but it wasn't a big deal.

After my lunch, I moved on down the trail.  At Rockwood, I picked up the Casselman River and started following along.  Every so often a spring or stream would come cascading down the hillside to meet the river.  This was a pretty cool waterfall that was right next to the trail.

Cascade

 Also, as I approached Rockwood, I passed the Husky Haven Campground.  It was right next to the trail and each campsite had a little A-Frame to keep wood in, which was provided.  It seemed like a nice place to stop on another trip, but not today.  Onward I rolled.
After Rockwood, I came to the Pinkerton Tunnel, which was closed.  Instead the trail followed the river around the hillside and back again.  There was something weird going on on the hillside.  It kinda looked like a landfill or maybe a strip mine reclamation.

I arrived in Confluence before 4pm and knew I was good to go another 10 miles.  I filled up on water and kept riding down stream, but now I was following the Youghiogheny River and would follow it all the way to Pittsburgh.

I arrived in Ohiopyle and stopped at an information booth.  There was an older gent on a recumbent bike also taking a break.  We talked a while and discussed the merits of the strange bike he rode.  I'm sure my ass and hands would be feeling  a might different if I had one of those, even though they look weird.

Onward I continued across the river twice as it does a horseshoe bend around the town.  I eventually came to a sign point up a path to the campground.  And I do mean up.  I had to climb the ridge along this path.  I saw two others start up just ahead of me and we walked up together pushing our heavy bikes.  They were part of a boy scout group that had biked here a couple days, were going to raft tomorrow and then bike back to their starting point outside Pittsburgh.  They proudly stated that they had ridden 40 miles today and looked at me like I was either crazy or lying when I said I had done 72.

Eventually we got to the top of the trail.  After talking to their road support guy, I found I had to continue on to the contact station and register for a site.  It wasn't as bad as the path and I eventually got there paid my resident fee (using my Dad's address) and ordered some firewood to be delivered by the Camp Host.

I checked out the site and found two suitable trees to hang my hammock and was all settled in and headed to the shower by about 6:30pm.  I had a nice dinner, a nice fire and hit the hammock just as the woods were getting dark.

Hammock set up

Campfire

It had been a tough, but productive day as my bike computer said I had gone 77.25 miles. (It is never quite right, even though I it set up as per the directions.  I know I didn't ride that much more than the posted mileage).  I was at milepost 72 and had chalked up 7 hours 56 minutes of ride time and a total of 9 hours and 35 minutes travel time for the day.  I had about 78 miles to go to hit The Point and then a few more after that to reach the home of my childhood.  I was riding home...

A Dog, A Trail and Some Snow - Day 2

We tossed and turned a lot during the night.  The temperature dipped into the 20s and Ginger kept tossing and turning all night (me too).  I tired to get her into my bag, but she couldn't figure out what I was doing.  I ended  up covering her with her own blanket and around 0700 the woods began to lighten with the dawn. 

Ginger greeting the day

Since today's hike wasn't going to be very far, I leisurely went about the morning camp chores.  I got the fire going again and started getting ready to heat some water for coffee.  The thermometer said about 25 degrees and the water in my bottle was a little slushy. 

It was so cold, my alcohol stove didn't want to light. Luckily the fire was going nice and there was a spot to set the pot, so I used the fire to heat my water.  The problem with alcohol stoves at cold temperatures is the alcohol needs to vaporize and that is what catches aflame.  It was so cold that the alcohol wouldn't evaporate and therefore I couldn't get it lit with my ferro rod. 

The fire did its job and I had some hot coffee and cold cereal for breakfast.  Ginger had a nice helping of dry dog food and I slowly got everything packed and ready to go. 

We set out on the trail at around 0900.  The trail quickly heads up Lamb's Knoll, named after a family by the name of Lamb who farmed the summit in the 1830s.  It is the second tallest peak on South Mountain in Maryland.  Shortly after crossing the road that leads to the peak, I searched for and found my last geocache of the trip.  The hint was right on and I quickly saw a place to look for the cache after bushwhacking for a while and there it was.  We ambled along the trail, neither one of us in a hurry.  Pileated woodpeckers would belt out their laugh like call and their pounding would echo deeply throughout the forest.  Ginger would stop and wonder what the bass like rapping was every once and a while.

Deer skull

I knew we would be coming to the White Rocks overlook soon and just before we arrived we came across this cool deer skull up in a tree.  As we came down the trail to the overlook we saw two hikers hanging out at the view.  We dropped packs and had some water. We talked a little and I learned of a campsite down in the valley near the cabin but far enough away to avoid disturbing the current residents if they were still in occupancy.  I knew that someone had rented out the cabin for the weekend and technically I wasn't supposed to check in until 1500, but if they were gone, I was moving in.  The guys said that a couple had been at the cabin when they checked it out. 

What a view

As we were checking out the view and taking pictures, three other hikers came down the trail from the south.  We had another nice talk about the things all hikers talk about and before long the five guys were heading north and Ginger and I continued south.

I know you have a snack in your hand

It was just another .6 of a mile until our blue blaze trail down to the cabin and not even 1030 yet, so slow going was the rule of the day.  Before long we came to the sign that told us to now follow the blazes colored blue instead of white, and they headed down hill.  We would move to almost the bottom of this valley before our hike was done for the day.  About 560 feet in elevation.

After about a half mile or so, we came to Bear Spring.  The water looked delicious coming out of the hillside and of course we filled up and cameled up at the same time.  Within about 100 yards of the spring was the campsite that the guys had mentioned.  I figured it was time to take another break as it was only around 1100.  I went over to the fire pit and felt that there was still quite a bit of heat coming from the coals.  Before long I had another nice fire going to help warm us as we sat still and killed some time.  There was plenty of wood nearby. 

We ate some snacks and explored around a little.  As we were hanging out a couple with a german shepherd came by and said hello as they passed down the trail towards the cabin.  Ginger got a little possessive (and she doesn't like german shepherds much for some reason) and she had to give a little aggressive display as they passed.  Before long I figured it was time to check out the cabin.  If the occupants were still there, we could continue down to the parking area and just so some more hiking.  As we were heading down, the couple with the dog were coming back up and we talked a while.  They had mistakenly thought that all the blue blazes connect together.  They had started near Gathland State Park and had thought they could get back there by following the blue blaze down the hillside.  Unfortunately they had a nice uphill climb to get back to the AT and eventually back to their starting point.  The one thing they did was confirm that the cabin was empty. 

Bear Spring

Down the trail we went and before long we could see the cabin and its summer kitchen pavilion.  It was a cool looking sight.  One of the rules of staying in the cabin was to leave at least enough dry wood in the cabin to run the stove the first night.  After checking that there was a large amount of wood in the cabin, I started doing some gathering.  I wanted to make sure I had gathered enough wood (and then some) for my needs this night as I was pretty sure the ground was going to be covered with that cold white stuff in the morning and I certainly didn't want to be trying to find good wood and cutting it in the cold snowy morning.  So that was my priority.  We made about three trips out into the level forest and I had a nice pile of uncut wood going.  It was now time to break for lunch.  We had a nice lunch in the cabin and then it was time to bring in some more wood. 

Just as we headed into the forest, I looked back and saw a hiker by the cabin.  I headed back and there was a family of three checking out the site.  We started talking some more and they conveyed that they were thinking of renting the cabin some day.  I immediately invited them in to check out the cabin and we talked for a while.  They were heading for Rocky Run shelter tonight and continuing north in the morning to where we had parked at the Rt 40/70 trail head.  Before long they were on their way up the trail with the excitement of one day renting the cabin and I was back into the forest looking for some bigger sized dead logs to cut up.  I found a very nice tree that looked like it had fallen fairly recently.  It was long dead and perfectly dry.  I broke some pieces off and lugged a very long piece back to the cutting area and my wood gathering was complete.  It was now time to make wood burner sized pieces out of them. 

That chore didn't take too long and it really got the blood flowing.  Once I had most of the wood cut and stacked, I took a large bundle into the cabin and it was now time to get the placed heated up some.

Bear Spring cabin

Once we got the fire going and the cabin warmed up, it was time for a nap.  We rested for an hour or two and then we just played around the cabin site and explored some.  The creek runs right behind the cabin so I filled a water jug for some cooking water and soon it was time for dinner.  I had tried to warm water on the stove, but it didn't get real hot and when I put my can of chicken into the mixture, it was so cold that it lowered the temperature of the whole meal.  I warmed it up some on the stove, but it just wasn't doing the trick, so Ginger got a second dinner of my left overs. 

Wood burner

The sun went behind the mountain a little earlier this day since we were so far down the side of the ridge and I saw a flake or two falling around 1900.  We went inside and I lit some candles and we just laid around and read for a while.  I finally rolled over to sleep near 2100.  It was time for our second night on the trail.  The cabin had warmed up nicely, but I knew it wouldn't last the whole night.  I had my trusty sleeping bag and Ginger had her blanket.  Bring on the snow...

Summer Kitchen

To be continued... Day 3 - The snow arrives and we find a trail angel. 

A Dog, A Trail and Some Snow - Day 1

My obsession with the AT continues.  I look for ways to hike on it and sleep on it whenever I can.  Last weekend, was another of those chances to do some hiking and some sleeping on the trail.  Three days of hiking with two overnights.  My hiking partner for this trip would be my faithful companion Ginger.  She loves going for walks and when she is in the woods, she is even happier.

Since my Friday nights are still occupied with Wallyball, the plan was to head out Saturday morning and stay out until Monday afternoon.  I had taken a day of leave on Monday.  One of my last days of leave before my final chunk as I head into retirement.  The first night we planned on staying at the Rocky Run Shelter, about 6.9 miles south of the Rt 70/40 trail head.  For the second night I had reserved the PATC Bear Spring Cabin.  I had also looked up a few Geocaches as something I might do to break up the hiking day.  I was very excited to get on the trail again and even though the weather forecast called for possible snow on Sunday night, so it was sure to make things interesting as we hiked back to the truck on Monday morning.

I left the club a little earlier than usual as I wanted to try and get some sleep before we hit the trail.  I got up just before 0700 and after some coffee and gear load out we were on the road at about 0850.  We stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast and were at the trailhead at about 1015 or so.  Now, this is a Saturday with a bright blue sky and the temperatures near 50.  Everyone and their doggie brother were at the trail head and after a ride through, there were no real spaces to park.  I found a place to put the Subaru while I waited for a space to open up.  I hoped it wouldn't be too long, but I knew I had some time before things would get dicey.  I let Ginger out and we were going to walk to the end of the lot where a guard rail cache was supposed to be hidden, but before I got 30 feet I saw two guys getting into their car.  I asked them if they were heading out and when they replied in the affirmative, I ran back to the SUV and got a pretty primo spot in the lot.  We were on the trail by 1037. 

The start of our hike. Crossing over Interstate 70

I have done this hike to Rocky Run before,  It is a real nice and pretty easy going, but I was in no hurry.  After we cleared the two road crossings, I let Ginger have her lead and we meandered on to our first waypoint.  The Washington Monument is about three miles down the trail.  This monument dates back to 1827 and was initially built by the citizens of Boonsboro, MD and was refurbished by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936.  Just before the path veers off towards the monument, there is a large boulder field.  Within this boulder field is the next Geocache that we were going to find.  I headed into the field using the hint and Ginger bounced along behind me.  She seemed to enjoy the boulders and she explored while I quickly found the cache on the cold stone and signed the log, then re-hid the cache.

Ginger hopping boulders

Ready to head out

We continued up to the monument for our first break, where Ginger had a little snack and some water.  The breeze was cold moving over the ridge, so we shouldered our packs and continued on down the hill.  After refilling our water bottle with some nice rusty water at the pump near the visitor center, we continued on our hike.

Before long we were approaching the old Route 40 where the Dahlgren Chapel has stood since 1881. 

Dahlgren Chapel

View to the east

Here I found another cache after enjoying a nice view to the east.

A short few minutes later we were at Dahlgren campground, which is a free campground with a shower house and rest rooms.  Of course the building was closed for the season, but there was a porta potty there and water was 150 yards back up the road.  We filled up on water took a little pack off break and then headed on after eating some more snacks.  We were getting pretty close to the end of our first days hike, but we had one more cache to find before we arrived at the shelter. 

Dahlgren Campground

Fife and Drum Family

 As we came upon the road crossing at Fox Gap where Major General Reno's monument was, I saw an interesting sight.  Next to the monument dedicated to the general who was killed here in 1862 by friendly fire in the darkness after a battle were three union soldiers all equipped with fife and drum.  I had to see what they were doing, so Ginger and I headed over.  They were practicing and I asked if I could take a picture.  They obliged and as I headed back down the trail I could hear their music flowing across the field.

We found the last cache of the day on the edge of a power line about a mile or so from the shelter and before long we were walking down the blue blaze trail to the shelter.  Rocky Run shelter is actually two shelters.  The older one is further down the trail near the nice spring and the new one is a really nice shelter.  There was no one else around and after checking out the area for good tent sites, I decided to set up the tent inside the shelter.  I wanted to use the tent to corral Ginger since she can get a little skittish at night, growing and barking at imagined noises in the dark.  I figured if anyone else showed up I could always move to one of the other sites I scouted, but we ended up being the only occupants of the shelter for the night.

The last time I was here I was also all alone.  That night was quite different back in July of last year, I suffered through the night as the local tree frogs peeped a cacophony throughout the night.  I cursed myself for forgetting my earplugs.  This night would be filled with a deafening silence as the woods continued their sleep not realizing that Spring had arrived a few days ago.

Just chillin

As I hung out by the shelter, doing the chores one does while preparing for the night, I had three sets of visitors.  First a couple who were were looking for the shelter that had a swing.  I told them that the swing was at the old shelter down the trail a little by the spring and I pointed it out through the bare woods.  The second was a group of three that were just out checking the area in preparation of bringing some boy scouts out later in the year.  The third was a man and his son. The man was a two time thru hiker by the name of Han Solo.  He was introducing his younger son to the trail.  The boy's older brother was on the trail now, down south, attempting his own thru hike.

I made a nice fire and was getting ready to get inside the tent as the sun dropped behind the ridge and the temperature started to plummet.  I enjoyed talking to each of the other hikers and it would have been nice to share the large shelter with other hikers, but tonight Ginger and I would be alone together. 

It ain't camp unless there is a fire

Ginger was in a playful mood and would keep grabbing her blanket in her mouth and taking it down by the fire pit to play with.  She seemed to be really enjoying herself and already had a hiker's appetite. 

Playful puppy

The night would grow even colder, but we both survived it and were ready for a new day as the forest grew lighter and the new day arrived. 

To be Continued...  Next - Day 2 - Hiking to the cabin

A Weekend on the Trail and The Warrior Hike

The First Washington Monument

With Lisa in Florida, I made plans for Ginger and I to hit the trail here in Maryland and head south for a 20 mile or so two night three day hike.

Here is the plan:
Today: (Friday Mar 22) Make sure everything is ready to go.  I have my and Ginger's backpacks all ready to go with a few exceptions.  I will probably be digging out some cold weather gear as it is around 28 degrees now and should be about the same tomorrow morning when we head out.  Tonight is Wallyball, so when that is done, I will try to not stay too late and get home for some sleep.

Saturday: We will get up when we do (I rarely sleep late) and head out after some coffee and treats.  I think we will hit the McDonald's for breakfast a few miles from the trail head.  We will park near Rt 70 and head south.  I have marked a couple geocaches on my phone and we may search for some of them if the mood strikes me.  There is one (most likely a guardrail) near the trail head by a sign.  If Ginger is ok, we will take a quick look for it.

Heading south we will pass through a neighborhood and up towards the Washington Monument.  That is about three miles in.  There is a cache in pile of rocks next to the trail that we have failed to find in the past.  Maybe I will try again with the hint.  Down the hill is a water faucet, so no treatment needed yet as we camel up.  From there we move along the ridge.  We pass the Dahlgren Chapel where the next cache lies  and will continue on until we come to a power line right away where another cache awaits.  Shortly after that we will be at Rocky Run Shelter where we will spend the night.  This is about a 6.9 mile hike.  Since Ginger is a little skittish in the woods at night, I will be bringing the tent and going to ground for this night.  There should be plenty of places to set up even though this is the last weekend of spring break for the area schools.

Sunday: We will slowly make our way up the nearby mountain of Lamb's Knoll.  Today is a short hike because I have reservations at the Bear Spring Cabin which is down a blue blaze trail from atop the knoll.  We aren't supposed to show up there until 3:00 pm, so there will be no hurry to break camp and get down the trail.  There is one more cache up near the top of the knoll that we will search for using the hints.  This day's hike is only about 3 miles or so.  It looks like someone is using the cabin for the weekend, so I probably shouldn't show up too early, but I can always get close and start gathering some fire wood.

Sunday night the weather is due to arrive.  It won't be very warm and right now it looks like a wintry mix.  It will be good having a roof over our heads and I plan on using that wood stove to its fullest.

Monday: The cold, snowy weather is predicted to remain throughout this day, so it will be a fun 10 mile hike back to the car.  There are numerous places where we will be able to get out of the weather if need be, but I think we will do just fine.  This will be a good test of the meager cold weather gear I have as well as some practice in late winter (actually early spring) hiking.

Warrior Hike

I have a few more hikers to follow.  Last year two Marine Captains who were finishing their military careers hiked the trail for a great charity.  They made it all the way of course and ended up raising over $50K for specially equipped vehicles for wounded warriors.  This year they are sponsoring (along with the ATC) 14 veteran hikers as they "Walk Off the War".  They will also be visiting VFWs and raising funds but have had their hike virtually paid for by sponsors.  I good bit of healing and doing good as they hike the trail.  Check out their website at http://warriorhike.com/

Lean To Project

When ever those meddling kids mess up my stuff, I just move on to something else. Since they cut my cordage and toppled my wikkiup I had going, I decided to build a lean-to next. I found a good crock in a tree and cut down a standing dead oak that had widow-maker potential to use as a support for the other end and started building. I build slow, bringing a branch or two each time we go into the woods, so it takes a while. After lots of branches I will maybe shingle it with bark and throw some debris on it. Let's see how long it stays around. Here are some pictures.