Points of Interest

It is interesting to observe the progression of this blog in retrospect. They show not only our experiences but moreover that which we deemed notable, the detours and people that we have met as opposed to our journey itself. As our trek continued over long months and through varied climates, many of the interesting places and things that we saw stood out less poignantly and simply wove themselves into the beautiful background tapestry of our journey of forgotten places. Moreover, these multitudinous moments of joy and wonder at our world defy all description. To truly appreciate our journey and the motivation behind it, I can only recommend a trip to a mountaintop or secluded monument, preferably one that requires walking at least 100 feet. You don't need to stray far to find hidden wild places, nor is lengthy exposure to the elements required to find peace of mind and a reverence for existence, but it certainly drives the point home. After the Aquablaze, I thanked Lenwood, a lifetime farmer who worked on the property of our friend's friend's cousin's family. He said that it was his pleasure, that we were, "Doing things that needed to be done and seeing things that need to be seen." And he is right, for if people stop appreciating the natural and historic beauty all around them, we surely risk their irreparable loss.

This post is a backtrack of the last two posts to fill in some blanks in the 3rd quarter of the trail. Maryland, my home state was sweet. First, the forest composition was different than when we had last been 'on trail' in Waynesboro. This was great for 2 reasons: it was different than the hundreds of miles we had done in Virginia, and it was the type of mid-Atlantic hardwood that I had roamed like a tyrant in my youth. After a few days we emerged into a clearing with an old mausoleum labeled GATH. We found ourselves in a park called Gathland, after the pen name of an eccentric but successful journalist and war correspondent. On site was a huge stone arch serving as a monument to all war correspondents. There was also a flush toilet and vending machine. Several days later we stumbled across a sign declaring the approach of the Washington Monument. We looked around and were indeed still on the AT. Either this was the most devious reroute ever, or I was about to learn something new. Fortunately it was the latter. Apparently the people of whatever town we were near decided back in the day (early 1800's) to build a sweet stone monument to ol' George. It looked like a three story stone thimble with a rough-hewn spiral staircase through its center to an observation platform that had been used during the Civil War. Understandable, as the view was incredible. The next point of interest was an isolated trailside campsite for backpackers, fully equipped with showers. Maryland, home of the clean hikers. We also got to cross the footbridge over I-70. I had frequently driven beneath it and had always wondered what it was like on either side. It was neat, but this is a mystery I will perpetuate. Sorry. I will say there is road access nearby, as that is where Jen picked us up. At the MD-PA border we met with my cousin Angela who hooked us up with Sheetz Sandwich and water, which we desperately needed at the time. Our meeting point was a place called High Rock. The view was excellent, and it was doubly cool because it was a hang-gliding site. No one was gliding, but there were signs about it and the rules, precautions, and certifications required. Unfortunately there was a direction snafu and the park closed soon after Angela arrived, so we were denied a longer visit.
As for Pennsylvania, yes, the midpoint didn't have quite the same impact for us as others. It was, however, next to a cool 2-story stone wall described as a WW II camp in our book. What kind of camp? No idea. Barracks? Internment camp? Resort-style camp for Generals? More mysteries.

I did in fact eat a half gallon of ice cream in PA. It was delicious and far too easy. Plus, we hiked on an additional 8 miles afterward, and I do believe they were the easiest miles of the trail. I guess 2,300 calories of chocolate-marshmallow goodness is the appropriate amount of food to eat for lunch if you are a hiker. I'll spare you the gastro-intestinal details of that evening, but I will say that there are always consequences of our actions.

We were also blessed from PA to New York with an abundance of blueberries and the odd raspberry bush. Delicious but distracting. True, we didn't need snack breaks, but our pace was cut in half to one mile per hour. The blueberries harbored many cute little woodland creatures and they would often scurry at our approach. As we gorged on fistfuls of berries, Julia called up to me, "Hey PHLO! Come check this out." I walked back and as she got to "I think its a..." A roar/buzz filled the air. I had never heard a Rattlesnake that I can remember, but this was unmistakable and deafening. It was hidden in the brush but i could see a good 3 feet of it, all tapering to the tail, so less than half of it. It was as wide as my calf, which by now equalled a huge snake. We moved on, having seen part of a snake of proportions outside the normal range for that species.

After a ride from the excellent Lynn, we were in Jersey. It was hot, but it was not the cespool of medical waste and burning tires that usually come to mind when one thinks of New Jersey. Supposedly that's only the Newark/Jersey City area, but I had always assumed this was disinformation on the part of the State Tourism Board. There was in fact more wildlife in that area than anywhere else. We did not see the mythic Jersey Devil, but it was a short state and we spent little time there. We did however see 5 bears in three days. First two youngsters who fled at our approach then turned and stood looking at us as we looked back. A non-threatening interaction at the top of the food chain by four creatures observing each other with curiosity and respect. Later we saw a large bear prowling around a SOBO's bear bag, but he also ran off as we closed in. That night we experienced more mosquitoes than I had in my life previous to that point, including the Everglades, huge painful suckers that were relentless in their pursuit of our blood. The next day we were hiking when we heard a loud crash in the tree canopy 40 ft. above our heads. A gigantic bird, we assumed, but when we looked up we saw two black bears in a tree about ten paces off trail. One of the bears forced the other out of the tree and we got some great pictures as he left the tree. To see this and more pics, check out

http://picasaweb.google.com/jkmuench

I'll continue to put that link at the beginning and end of all the upcoming posts, because I can never find it.
Julia already described the meeting with her friends, bona fide hikers now with trail dirt on their shoes to prove it. After they left, we continued up and down MUDS (mindless ups and downs) interspersed with rocky outcroppings. This includes 'The Lemon Squeezer' and the rock obstacle where Julia's second camera died. Things tend to fall out of ones pocket when technical climbing is involved. Ah well, we still had my camera, which was shipped to Long Island by our crack resupply team (aka Mom). We hiked on, running into SOBO's but no northbounders. We also encountered many snack stations in the numerous parks and towns of New York. Bear Mountain was cool, but a high litter area. I picked up 6 empty water bottles, several wrappers and a broken hoola-hoop in the 1/4 mile from the top of the mountain to the bottom. And what was at the bottom? A snack bar and a zoo. Thanks to the zoo, no one hikes the AT without seeing a bear. And there was a Rattlesnake. Much smaller than the first one, but about the same size as the one I narrowly avoided stepping on in New Jersey, which I forgot to mention. I saw it at the last minute and jumped over it. It was quite docile, but we still tried to keep our distance; difficult,as it was in the middle of the trail.

After Bear Mountain, we hiked on, destined to reach West Mt. shelter, purported to have fantastic view of the city. Unfortunately it was .6 miles off the trail and we were once again hiking at night. After a particularly steep uphill, we decided to just keep going uphill and find a stealth camp site. And lo and behold, a blue-blazed trail! And so the trail rewards those who go up. Next followed Julia's favorite part of the trail, which I will let her tell in her own words.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jkmuench