BIG WRITE UP PART 2 - NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Back for a second post. So, naked hiking day completed, we had a nice stayover in Luray, VA with Elizabeth, Johnny Thunder and his girlfriend Theresa. The next day, I got my Virginia keychain, said goodbye to the ladies at Skyland Lodge. As Johnny and I entered the woods to get back on the trail, we came across Orion, and then the skies opened up. Luckily, Skyland's tap room was not far and we had a place to wait out a huge thunderstorm with marble-sized hail - while enjoying a few beers! By the way, those of you who are sick of Yeungling might find it curious that it's sold all over the South as a premium domestic beer. Finally got back on the trail and ended up stealth camping near a troop of boy scouts at a picnic pavilion. The next few days were more of the same, with easy trails, afternoon storms, and Skyline Drive becoming more and more annoying. Most of the thruhikers by this point were over Shenandoah NP - it is amazingly crowded on weekends, and having Skyline Drive so close to the trail really ruins any attempt at a quiet wilderness experience. In fact, the original creator of the trail severed his relationship with the Appalachian Trail Conference when they agreed in the 1930s to move the trail to make room for Skyline Drive (yes, the AT is older). He felt having a big tourist road right next to the trail would ruin the AT, while the ATC leadership felt it would give more people access to the trail. Both were right. If you are really interested in what happens when roads are brought through are National Parks, I suggest reading Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" which is about his time in Arches NP in Utah in the 60's when a road was brought thru, completely changing how visitors experience the park. Anyway, most of us were glad to be out of the park simply because it means only 40 miles until West Virginia. As a buddy Wavepool says, "she's a moody lady, Virginia, tough to get along with. And despite trying a long term relationship with her, I'm ready for a brief fling with her sister." And what a last 40 miles. Very boring trail, lots of rocks, no views, completely overgrown and seemingly forgotten in parts, no good swimming holes. And to top it off, the "rollercoaster" - a 13 mile section where the trail climbs up and down over 13 viewless and rocky ridges. I had gotten only 10 miles into it and was in a foul mood when I came across Orion, sitting with a big smile on his face and playing his mandolin. "Keychain, so glad to see you - get ready to change your journey." Orion had been to Linden, VA to pick up a mail drop, and there he met a party of guys celebrating a friend's release from jail. A guy named Tom called Orion over, and in short time offered him the use of his canoe to paddle down 15 miles of the Shenandoah River. He just wanted gas money to come pick it up. So Orion went looking for me, and several hitches later, we had beer and a camping spot on the river where Tom would drop the canoe the next morning. True to his word, at 7:30am the next day there was Tom and his canoe, and there we were, "aqua-blazing" past the Roller Coaster, skipping over rapids, getting tan, drinking beers, and enjoying the fun the river provided. And the river kept on providing. Two hours into the journey, we found a dented aluminum canoe, abandoned on a mud island. It floated well, with only a slow leak, and so we commandeered her and gave her the trail name "Proud Mary." We caught up with Tom at the end of the 15 miles, returned him his canoe, and told him we were heading on towards Harpers Ferry in our own. So, Orion and I set off in Proud Mary for another 15 miles, stopping overnight at a hidden riverside camping spot that had a picnic table and clean-running stream for water and cleaning up. The only hitch was that our map showed five "falls" on the river below where we gave Tom his canoe back, and no one we talked to could tell us anything about those falls. So on the second day, we strapped everything tightly to the Proud Mary, and headed into the unknown. Luckily, the "falls" turned out to be minor Class 2 rapids, but they caused excitement and were fun to run. We ened up at Route 9 in West Virginia, unable to get around a power plant dam. One call to Tom, and he came to return us to the trail, taking the Proud Mary as payment. What a guy! What a way to leave Virginia! What an addition to this journey! So Orion and I did end up walking the last 6 miles into Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - our 5th state, our 1,000th mile, our halfway point in time, our near-halfway point in mileage. When we arrived this morning, we promptly got our photos taken at the Appalachian Trail Conference's headquarters for their record books. We are the 460th and 461st thru-hiker to pass through this year, out of an estimated 1,200 that started in Georgia. A proud moment indeed! I plan on staying overnight, but accomodations are tight since the major hiker hotel is closed for renovations. There is talk of doing all of Maryland's 40 miles in one day tomorrow, but I'm not sure I want to push that hard - plus I need to find a town in Maryland that sells keychains. We shall see. However, I can say that the next time I am able to blog, I will be in my homestate of Pennsylvania!