Duncannon, Pennsylvania

You know you're a thru-hiker when... people cheer when you walk into the pub.

That brings us up to date. We tried to post some photos in the main body of our blog, but due to technical difficulties (in other words 'it didn't work') we had to instead put in links to the photos. We've added links to a few previous posts as far back as trail days, so be sure to check them out. We hope you enjoy them and we hope we won't get that far behind in posting again. We enjoy seeing your comments, so keep them up.

We arrived in Duncannon on Friday afternoon and headed to the pub (The Doyle) where Mark was due to pick us up for the weekend. Mark and Karen are family friends of Mike's family and we'd been looking forward to meeting them since we flew into the states. As we walked in the door of the pub, everybody looked up from their beers and cheered. We felt special.

The two of us with Mark and Karen

When we were organizing a pickup location with Mark, he'd given us specific instructions not to eat before we met him. We were not disappointed. All weekend we were spoilt with wonderfully delicious food made by Karen (lamb, steaks, apple pie...) We saw the Brandywine River Museum which houses the paintings of N.C. and Andrew Wyeth. Fantastic painters. Check out a sample at the website: http://www.brandywinemuseum.org/. We also drove through Amish farms on the way back to the trail. It was interesting to see horse buggies driving down the main street in town.

Mark and Karen dropped us back in Duncannon two days ago and sadly we're still in town due to heavy rains. It seems that half of Pennsylvania is flooded and the other half has flash-flood warnings. One of the bridges a few miles out of town is impassable, which is unfortunate as it's the only way back to the Appalachian Trail (AT). We hope to get back on the trail in the next few days when it's not so soggy.

The Shenandoah National Park

You know you're a thru-hiker when... you can walk 25 miles in a day and still have 3 cooked meals.

We went through the Shenandoahas on the 6th of June so this post is still a little behind (this happened before Harper's Ferry). The Shenandoahas is a 80 mile stretch of National Park through Virginia. A road runs its entire length and it is dotted with campsites with restaurants.

On our first night in the park, we decided to hit the Loft Mountain campground for dinner before heading another 5 miles to the next shelter. Unfortunately for us, we arrived just as the camp store was closing (5 mins early!!!) and were unable to buy anything. We were sitting in the car park despondently contemplating the next 5 miles on an empty stomach when we saw two families pull up and start unloading eskies (coolers for all American readers) of food. On the way past they said, "We see you sitting there, we see a tent site, but we don't see a car. Where did you leave it??" Still bitter about the store closing early, we said cheekily, "We parked it in Georgia." They seemed amused by this and asked us a few more questions before heading down to the campsite.

We had to walk past their campsite on the way back to the trail. As we walked past, they hollered out, "Have you guys got hot food for tonight?" We couldn't lie, "We have noodles and rice." He smiled, "How about hotdogs and hamburgers?" 5 minutes later we were sipping wine, eating stuffed olives and could smell meat cooking on the barbecue. We even had live entertainment with an interesting interpretation of The Wiggles by one of their kids. It turned out that one of the party was a chef and we were definitely well fed. Thanks for the food and the hospitality if you're reading.

Barbecue Party!!

We ate our way through the rest of the Shenandoahas and saw some wonderful views and tame wildlife.

Sunset from our campsite
A creepy but tame deer

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

You know you are a thru-hiker when... you only know people by their trail names.

(This post is out of order. We arrived in Harpers Ferry on the 15th of June and the half way point on the 21st of June. We are slowly getting around to catching up.)

Ten miles outside Harper's Ferry we passed the 1000 mile mark. A spot that is marked by an unbelievable shelter and by an arrangement of temporary stones. We arrived just as the sun was setting and a thunder storm was rolling in and were surprised to hear the sounds of Banjoman playing his hiker guitar. We have been treated quite a few times to concerts from him as well as other hikers who carry instruments but it is always a special treat and was a great way to celebrate the 1000 mile mark.

1000 Miles

On arrival in Harper's Ferry we checked into the Hilltop House Hotel, cleaned up and went to visit the ATC. As soon as we walked in the door one of the volunteers asked us "where are you from?" Not sure exactly what he was asking we replied the same way we always do, "from Springer Mountain but we live in Australia." People generally get very excited when they hear that you are thru- hiking. At the ATC they took our picture for their records and gave us a number. We where the 337th and 338th northbound thru-hikers for the year so far. (as of the 15/06/06)

Outside the ATC office

Harpers Ferry is about an hour train ride from Washington D.C. so we decided to catch the commuter train into the capitol for a day. We awoke at 5:30am and amid much grumbling we made it to the station just in time to catch the 5:56am train. Arriving at Union Station at 7:30 we wandered the streets waiting for all the tourist attractions to open. We took a tour of the Capitol building and then headed over to check out the White House. Standing with our noses pressed to the fence to get a better view we notice several snipers standing with their rifles to their shoulders. Suddenly we were not so eager to get that fantastic fence free photograph and went off to visit some of the other D.C. sites.

The White House - We left the photo large so that you can see the sniper on the roof

These vests are sold to hikers before visiting the White House

After being in the woods and small towns for the last 3 months we both felt like fishes out of water in the busy streets of D.C. On our way back to Harpers Ferry we had to ask for directions to the platform, our slow, conversational way of speaking that we have been using on the trail seemed to annoy the information attendant. We enjoyed D.C. but is was definitely good to get back on the trail.

1086.8 miles 'til Maine

You know you are a thru-hiker when... you can eat half a gallon of ice-cream.


As of 21st of June we officially have fewer miles left to walk than we have already done. We have finished 6 states and have 8 to go. We have gone through 2 pairs of shoes / boots each and eaten 504 fun size snickers bars in 3 months. It is customary for all thru-hikers to buy half a gallon (about 2 litres) of ice cream at the store closest to the halfway point and eat it as quickly as possible without throwing up. The record is 2 minutes and 37 seconds.

The Halfway Marker

The 21st of June is the Summer solstice, it is the longest day of the year, the begining of summer and also the annual 'hike naked day.' A lot of hikers mark this day by hiking naked...

We appologise for the lack of photos. We're still having technical difficulties but are trying to post them at every opportunity.

Daleville

You know you are a thru-hiker when... you can walk 90 miles in four days to meet your Dad.

After Jose dropped us back in Pearisberg on Saturday night we realised that we had to walk 90 miles (144 kms) by friday morning in order to meet Zan's Dad in Daleville. On Friday morning as we were sitting on top of the mountain looking down on Daleville having a healthy snack of snickers we decided to look at our watch. It was 1:20pm and we were supposed to meet at 2:00pm and we still had 3 miles to go. Needless to say we set a new personal best down that mountain and arrived only 5 minutes late.

We met Dad on the trail and introduced him to a trail tradition. Food before shower. Heading to the 'Three Little Pigs BBQ' we got a table outside and proceed to astound him with the amount of food we consumed. By the time we were finished we were both ready for a shower before eating second lunch (another hiker tradition). Eager to see what care packages had arrived from home with Dad we were disapointed to hear that he had lost his luggage, although it did explain why he smelt almost as bad as we did. (We hear you were complaining about how bad we smelt).

We stayed in the Holiday Inn in Roanoake, Virginia. It was luxurious, there was a bath, a bar and a resturant, all the hiker essentials in one spot. Several showers later we were ready for dinner. All week long we had been hearing about a homestyle resturant in Catawaba and it turns out that on the flight over so had Dad. Wanting to show Dad as much of the hiker culture as possible we agreed it was the best place to eat. The resturant was an old homestead surrounded by paddocks of cows. Inside there were several other hikers, we introduced Dad to Cash, Rusch Hour and Goldfish who proceed to put on a very enlightening show for him.

After a fantastic feast we waddled outside to the car to find Cash, Rusch Hour and Goldfish sitting outside contemplating how they were going to get there 3 cases of beer, their packs and themselves the 3 miles back up the hill to the trail. They had strategically placed themselves in our path in the hope of a lift. Without even consulting Dad we waved them over to the car and before Dad knew what was happening the 6 of us were driving back to the trail head.

Things really began to get interesting once we arrived back at the trail head. Deciding that a case of beer was too much to carry the mile the next shelter Rusch Hour and Goldfish proceed to drink a few. Sometime after the first beer Cash brought out a rusty hunting knife he had found earlier that day and demonstrated how he had tried to hitch-hike down to the resturant by wielding it at passing motorists.

After a few days of relaxing, shopping and eating we made plans to show Dad some of the trail. We picked a fairly 'easy' 4 mile stretch that ended at a spectacular rock formation, Dragon's Tooth, and instructed Dad to bring his new hiking poles. Along the way we introduced him to the other hikers we passed as we gave out some soft drinks.

Dragon's Tooth

Trail Days, Damascus, Virginia

You know you're a thru-hiker when... You'll hitch a ride 150 miles in the wrong direction for the possibility of free gear.

We arrived safely at Trail Days to a free dinner and a dry tent site. Despite local liquor laws prohibiting the sale of spirits and the consumption of any alcoholic beverage, upon arrival we were invited to Jessie's tent. "BYO 'vessel,'" he said in his tennessee twang as he held up a full bottle of "Elmer T. Lee" bourbon. It's the "Passion Pop" of bourbons. We finally mannaged to pry ourselves away from the tent as it started pouring with rain and went to bed. About ten minutes later we began to hear the sound of bongo drums comming from the 'drum circle' by the river. It was quite rhythmic and southing to begin, but after the first half hour it began to feel like a tribal sacrifice was about to be made. They never stopped...

We awoke early and decided to see if we could find some free breakfast. As we emerged from our tent, we were plesantly surprised by three Australian flags flying next to our tent. It was the Three Sisters; Waltzing matilda, Vegimite on Toast and Bluey. We had met the three of them a few weeks before when we walked through Damascus and had hiked with them between Damascus and Pearisberg. About half way through the day we were back at our tent stashing away some of the free and cheap gear we had 'aquired' when we both heard another unmistakeable familar Australian accent, it was Kaptain Kangaroo. All together this year there are 8 Australians hiking the trail.

The Aussies

Every year at Trail Days there is a 'Hiker Parade' which is just an excuse for a huge water fight between hikers and the town. It seems that everyone else knew what was going to happen during the parade except us so we were a bit suprised when people started throwing water bombs at the local sheriff.

Hiker Parade

We have a saying, 'The trail always looks after you.' With this in mind we were not too worried about how we were going to get back to Pearisburg, but as Saturday was drawing to an end and a ride had still not materialised we decided to try a more direct approach. Another hiker eariler that day had jokingly suggested that we walk around town with a sign. Armed with some paper towel and a black permanent marker we made a sign, 'Thru-hiker looking for a ride to PEARISBERG' and stuck it to Zan's back with her earrings. We strategically walked through the crowded streets of Damscus, eventually we decided to go hang out in the outfitter. After ten minutes of Zan generally making a nusicance of herself to draw attention to the sign we made our way outside. About 5 meters down the street one of the people from the outfitters came running after us. "My name is Jose, I live near Pearisberg and i will be leaving in about an hour if you want a ride." We ran back to our tent site, packed up and headed back to the outfitters to wait.

On the ride home Jose told us that he was the local rep for Marmot, Jetboil and a few other equipment brands. He promised to load us up with free gear before he dropped us off and offered to get our broken tent pole fixed for us.

Pearisburg

You know you are a thru-hiker when... You approach a man in a skirt to ask him for a ride.

In the interests of getting our blog up-to-date, we've decided to skip a few weeks and continue from Trail Days. A few weeks after crossing the Tennessee/Virginia state border we arrived in Pearisburg. Coming down a mountain into town, we were debating whether to make reservations at a local motel. We decided against it. After all, how busy could a small country town with three motels get?

Trail Days is an annual hiker festival held in Damascus, Virginia and for weeks on the trail it had been the only thing talked about. Every hiker within about 200 miles of Damascus generally hops off the trail for a few days to attend. It's famous for free gear, food and lots of beer. Our plan was to stay in Pearisburg for a few days until it started and then hitch the 150 miles back to Damascus. Unfortunately it seemed that everyone else had the same idea.

After checking out two motels and finding them full, we moved onto the third. We saw a "No Vacancy" sign in the window and decided to go inside anyway to ask if there was other accommodation nearby. As soon as we walked in the door, the receptionist asked, "Are you guys hikers?" From previous experience we knew that this line generally preceded something nice. "We have to look after our hikers. We don't have any real rooms left but we can move a couple of mattresses into the gym if you want. It has a bathroom and it's yours for $17 a night." Before he could change his mind, we said, "Done," and put the money on the table. Our next problem was finding a ride back south.

Problems always look better when you're clean. After a quick shower we headed to the Laundromat. Half way through the spin cycle we overheard a guy in a skirt talking on his phone, "So you'll take us all the way to Damascus? Great. See you tomorrow." We went over to ask him how he went about organizing his ride and were pleasantly surprised when he (Lush) offered us two spare seats. We were set for Trail Days. We thanked him, sat down and waited for the spin cycle to finish.

Just as we were putting our clothes in the dryer, another hiker entered. He could best be described as looking like a cross between Louie the Fly and Franklin the Turtle. He was a large man who wore thick glasses and walked with a hunched back. He introduced himself as Minnesota Smith. For the first 20 mins of conversation he had us in stitches as he related his trail journey so far. Then halfway through our drying cycle, he asked us the loaded question, "What do you guys do?" We explained that we'd finished university and were avoiding getting a real job. Then he focused on Zan, "So what are you planning to do with your degree? Become a housewife?" Thinking he was joking, we both laughed as Zan replied, "Maybe a school teacher." Then he launched into his well rehearsed monologue, "The only true profession that a woman needs to fulfill is to have babies. The Muslims are outbreeding us and the only way to keep this country pure is to have more babies than them." We prayed that our washing would dry quickly as he kept speaking, "Married women should not get the vote because they are going to vote for whoever their husband tells them to anyway. I'm not saying that women can't have a career. Once they're done having babies... Say when they're 40 or so, their husband can support them if they choose to go to college or do something else." We took our still damp clothes, said our goodbyes and were glad that he wasn't going back for trail days.