Week 11

6/21 Dick's Dome shelter 987, Summer Solstice

6/22 Camped past Raven Rocks 1010, technically WV. 1000 miles, and the rollercoaster

6/23 4 mile campground 1022, just outside Harper's Ferry, cowboy camped

6/24 hotel near Harper's Ferry 1025

6/25 Rocky Run Shelter 1042, MD, had the shelter to myself

6/26 Annapolis Rocks 1051, Camped and hiked with a friend

6/27 camped just past the Mason-Dixon line 1067, about 230 miles of PA till NJ.

Plenty of wild berries have been ripening. This past week I got to eat black raspberries, blackberries, mulberries, blueberries, and wild cherrys. A nice way to complement dry hiker food, and fun to look out for. I've been watching the berries ripen for a while, and now they've finally made it. Next is to get an edible plant guide and see what else I can find.

I passed a lot of milestones this week. There were the 3 different state boundaries: Virginia -> West Virginia -> Maryland -> Pennsylvania. The distance boundary, passing 1000 miles. And the time boundary, spending 75 days on trail on 6/24. I think the sight of the Shenandoah river, and crossing the bridge over it to Harper's ferry affected me the most. I was already in West Virginia at that point, but the river crossing and seeing the Potomac river really made me feel a combination of home-coming and at the same time being far away from where I started. 

Doing the Maryland section was nostalgic. I had hiked part of it as a boy scout, and I got to see and recognize the same parts of the trail as I went by.