Day 15 - Tuesday, March 2, 2021

The morning temperature was 38° and the skies are bright and sunny. Today we are hiking from Morgan Mill Road (999.4 NoBo) to Signal Knob- VA 638 - Fire Trail Road  (988.4 NoBo) which is 11.0 miles. 

We are finding out that some of the parking lots are not accessible as noted in the AT Handbook or the local roads are seasonal making access difficult at times resulting in wasting time parking. To help remedy this problem we left my car at the Fire Trail Road parking lot overnight so we do not have to drop it off tomorrow. 

We also learned to use the latitude and longitude coordinates listed rather than the name of a  road in the Handbook to find the directions in Google Maps - it’s more accurate.  

We didn’t begin hiking until 10:25 am as we lost over an hour parking cars. 

Welcome back to the “Roller Coaster”. We completed hiking the remaining 3.4 miles and I am glad that it’s done. I’ve noticed that I hike more like a mule. I’m stabile and steady and I climb faster than Jim. Jim on the other hand, is the goat as he is sure footed and can descend faster than me.  That’s okay, bears can’t run as fast downhill as their front legs are shorter than their back legs... and I’ve been told a goat taste better than a mule anyways 🤔. 



Southern terminus of the “Roller Coaster” at Fisher’s Hill Trail 996.0 NoBo.  


The final ascent of “Roller Coaster”.

I’m case you are wondering how we find our way along the Appalachian Trail without getting lost is because it’s marked or as it’s called “blazed” with white vertical stripes which are painted on trees, fence post, etc.  to mark its way. Some sections are blazed better than others. Sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish where the trail is due to the lack of blazes and there is no obvious path. In those cases we have found if you follow the more difficult path through the woods where there are more rocks, you are more than likely on the trail... lol. On occasion we have wandered off the trail temporarily due to the lack of blazes - then we may have to do some backtracking to realign ourselves back on the right path.

Here are some typical trail blazes:


A single blaze indicates that you are on the trail - you’re doing good!



This blaze configuration indicates a right hand turn or the trail is going to the right. 


And this blaze configuration indicates a left hand turn or the trail is going to the left. Not every turn has the AT sign,  it’s just a coincidence that it was in the picture. 



Crossing a pasture then exiting through its gate. 

We finished hiking at 4:25 pm. Skies were clear all day and the temperature was 47°. Tomorrow is forecasted to be in the sunny and in the 50’s. 

Till next time... Happy Hiking 🥾 

😋


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 163 - Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Image
Looks like we may get wet the next couple days but short of a hurricane we will be hiking to stay on track for an October 8th completion of our thru hike 🙏🏻.  Today was not quite a “Nero” but it was a coincidence that it was shorter aligning with our slack packing parking 😉. We hiked  from  PA 645 (1194.0 NoBo) to Pass Under PA 72 & Across PA 443 (1183.2 NoBo) for a total of 10.8 miles. We began hiking at 9:00 am under threatening skies. Pre-gaming thanks to some Trail Magic left in the parking lot. Since before I have been on the trail I can’t recall the last time I drank a real Coke or any soda for that matter; it’s nearly the norm now as you want to consume all the carbs you can 🤭. And it was too early for the PBR 😂. Crossing the old canal at Swatara Gap. Going underneath I-81. The trail wasn’t as rocky today… and I’m not complaining 🥵. Turtle Power is doing his part to save the environment as he has a new aversion of killing every Spotted Laternfly  he ...
Read more

Day 95 - Friday, June 25, 2021

Image
There are definitely pros and cons when you compare sleeping in a shelter vs sleeping in your tent. Some pros are:  you will stay drier in inclement weather in a shelter (notice I didn’t say “dry”,  just drier or not as wet 🙄) , you can break camp quicker in the am - not packing up a tent, you have more room (if shelter isn’t crowded) and a biggie is -  you can take a chance and hope to always use the shelters and not pack a tent optimizing base pack weight (this could also be the #1 con if you had to sleep outside in the rain w/o a tent 🤭) just to name a few.  Some cons are: sleeping on a hard floor - which I believe is the #1 con against shelters (getting a good nights sleep is key to rest and rejuvenate your weary body), could be noisy, the little varmints 🐁 sneaking around in the middle of the night,  some hikers don’t have a clue about maintaining their “personal” space or they just don’t care, on occasion you have to deal with some “personalities” (I ju...
Read more

The Final Chapter

Image
My favorite scene on the Appalachian Trail near Petites Gap/Highcock Knob, VA, March 26, 2021 (Day 31). Reaching Springer Mountain, the Southern Terminus, June 13, 2021 (Day 90). Summiting Mt. Katahdin, the Northern Terminus, August 25, 2021 (Day 131). Completing our thru hike at Harpers Ferry on October 9, 2021 (Day 174). In the Beginning … This adventure actually started about two years ago in the fall of 2019 when Jim asked me about how I’d like to hike the Appalachian Trail with him. I gave it a good 2 seconds of consideration before I wasn’t politically correct at all in my answer telling him NO…LOL. I was just getting over an injury with my right Achilles tendon as I ruptured it a couple years prior and long distance hiking was the farthest thing on my mind to do.  Now lets back up about 57 years when Jim and I first met. His dad owned and operated a local campground, Coldbrook Campsites in Port Leyden, New York. Port Leyden was also the home of my father and he knew Jim’s da...
Read more