Peppermint, B-12 and the Trooper

My pack weighing at least 40 lbs. with my little lizard companion courtesy of my five year old :)

     If anything other than doing a section hike on the AT made my feet this sore, I would be outraged. Since it was such an amazing time, all I can do is hope that my feet recover quickly so that I can do more hiking soon. Taking the ultralight Vivobarefoot trail shoes wasn't the best choice with my only other footwear option during the hike being Chacos. Both are great shoes, but each have drawbacks for lengthy hikes. The barefoot shoes are nice on dirt and large, mostly flat rock. It's the smaller rocks and pebbles that, after stepping on say, 1000 of them, become very painful. Every few hours, I changed shoes which really helped my feet survive the trek. Ultimately, my feet were so stiff that only rest would help them recover....they still haven't an entire day and a half later. Next time a tougher, light-weight shoe will be a priority.

Day 1 June 14 2012

We left NJ at 7:30 AM, Thursday, June 14th,  arriving in Harper's Ferry, WV around 10:30 AM. First we went to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC offers a place for hikers coming off-trail to refresh, ask questions, log their journey and hook up with hostels. As we approached our parking spot, we spotted several hikers, some solo, others in groups. They all looked tired and yet there was a peaceful vibe that seemed to just make sense to me. A member of one of the groups we saw even had a cast on one arm. I later found out he was injured on trail, got treated and kept on going! That's determination. I went in to get some trail info, a data book and a bandanna for Ethan to wear during our hike.

Ethan showing off his bandanna 

When we left there we went to the Harper's Ferry National Park, where we planned to leave the vehicle during our travels. Initially, we were to jump on a shuttle from the park back into town where we would pick up a reserved private shuttle which would take us to the trail head. Upon arriving at the gate, I told the keeper our plans. Everything was great except for finding out Ruby couldn't go on the free shuttle back into town. I paid the ten dollar fee to enter and park the car, signed in with the visitor office and called the private shuttle service so we could be picked up directly at the park.

The shuttle service is run by the Town's Inn, which also happens to be a B&B and hostel for hikers. They charge $30 a night, prepare meals, provide showers and comfortable sleeping for tired hikers coming out of PA and MD. We waited at the park for over two hours for the shuttle to arrive. I called after the first hour to find out why she didn't arrive when planned, and something had come up. She assured me that within 10 minutes, we would be picked up. An hour later, her husband and daughter showed up. I have to admit that I was concerned and slightly aggravated that we weren't on-trail yet, since the day and sunlight wasn't going to wait for us the way we waited for the shuttle. The shuttle fee is $1 per mile and even though we waited for so long, the owner only gave us a five dollar discount. When the driver opened the trunk for us to situate our packs, I was hit with a very unpleasant odor...like something dead had been in there. Ethan, Ruby and I piled into the (very hot) van and discovered that our driver was filling in for the normal shuttle driver, who was sick. He and his daughter came together to pick us up and transport us to our destination and had never driven there before. They pulled out a giant map and had some hand written directions. The driver insisted we take the scenic route and wanted to divert into every little town along the way, until finally, I insisted we just get there since it was already 3 pm and we had a five mile walk ahead. Ethan was a nervous wreck because he had never met anyone quite like the two individuals we were with, and I could tell by the look on his face, he needed my arm around him for comfort. The daughter was in her twenties, yet seemed experienced beyond her years, living a life on the go, as a permanent traveler, she keeps all that she owns and needs on her bicycle which gets her from place to place. She shared some interesting tidbits with me on the way to Penmar.

We were so happy to finally reach Penmar that I almost forgot to pay the driver, who pretty much did forget we hadn't paid. We walked directly to the back of the park where there were signs for the trail going north and south. We needed to head south and after we took a couple pics, that's what we did.

This sign was at the rear of Pen Mar Park which took all the guess work out of whether to go left or right.

Here is a single white blaze, which signifies going straight on the trail. Seeing a double white blaze means there is a turn immediately to follow.

The walk was pleasant with a nice little climb, leading us to our stopping point for the night, 4.9 miles in, called Raven Rocks Shelter. Previous to leaving for the trip, I researched the conditions of the shelters and camping spots along the trail, and there were a few reviews that some of the shelters were nicer than others. Every shelter we came to was very clean and well-built. At Raven Rocks we met Headin-Out and Taggin-Along, a husband and wife thru-hiking the entire trail. Taggin-Along, the wife was really nice and gave me a quick tutorial in hanging a bear bag if there were no poles or cables provided by the trail service. We talked about the kinds of foods thru-hikers typically eat and the mileage they put in per day. She told me that it was a slow day since her hubby wasn't feeling too hot  and that they only got twenty miles in....ummmm, twenty miles? A slow day?

Our little Ruby aka "Trooper" all decked out in her pack on day one. 

This was a photo op on the trail to High Rock

High Rock

At Raven Rocks Shelter and the first thing Ruby did was lay down.

Another nice, older hiker told us about his decision to hike the entire trail. He is a Kansas native and retiree who decided to hike the 2,184.2 miles instead of sitting home to do nothing. His wife sends him care packages every so often to refresh his supplies. He's in his sixties with a long white beard. All the thru-hikers we met after that asked us if we had met him. He gave Ethan a Snickers bar, a favorite treat of thru-hikers on the AT.

I noticed that Ruby was limping a little bit when she was walking around camp and I thought maybe she hurt her foot, so I examined her closely to discovered her pack had rubbed a raw spot under her front right leg. It was swollen, very red and already oozing. My poor puppy! What did I do to her? I put some antibiotic ointment on it and hoped for the best.

Setting up camp was pretty simple since I had been practicing with the tent and gear. For dinner, we had the Pad Thai by Backpackers Pantry which only requires adding boiling water to the metallic pouch, a stir and a few minutes to cook. We were pretty tired from our first day of driving 200+ miles, waiting hours in the heat, explaining Ruby's backpack to tourists over and over again, back country driving with strangers in a super stinky van and walking 5 miles up and down some rocky hills. We got our sleeping bags and pads set up, hung our bear bags on the provided cable and turned in for the night just before dark. The camping area and shelter were silent as every hiker was too tired to hang out. I laid awake with my head lamp on, reading the data book and planning the next days hike. Finally, I fell to sleep and even though I woke every hour or so, was getting some much needed rest.

Day 2 June 15 2012

I woke around 5:30 AM which is pretty much as soon as it begins to lighten up. I tossed and turned on the very thin closed cell foam pad and makeshift pillow, so waking up was kind of nice. I was the first one awake to my surprise, so I went to inspect the privy, which was in nice shape and had no foul odor, so I used it. Afterwards, I took down the bear bag and started to set up for our breakfast which consisted of instant organic plain oats with powdered goat milk and dehydrated fruits and nuts with a cup of instant coffee. I must admit being worried the taste would be unpleasant, but it was actually really yummy. Ruby was happy about all of our food choices too, since she got to lick our cups clean after we finished.

Thankfully, I brought a little hoodie for Ruby and decided to have her wear it under her pack as a barrier between her skin and the straps. I made sure the pack was fastened down and fit her snugly and that there was nothing near the wound she had acquired. I also cleaned, treated and dressed the spot. Sleeping seemed to really help her swelling go down too. She was ready for a new day and able to wear her pack.

Almost all of the shelters and camping areas are situated near natural springs that have had trails designed around them for easy access to water. We used quite a bit of water on breakfast and the previous days hike and dinner, so Ethan and I decided to take our empties and our filter to the spring located .3 miles down a steep hill with little Ruby following us merrily. It was a very cute little trail, full of beautiful trees, grasses, flowers and rocks. We were taking in the scenery and fresh air when, all of a sudden, Ethan began yelling and hopping around, then Ruby yelped and began flopping, twisting, jumping, running and rolling around. My babies were being swarmed by bees! I was standing there not getting stung whatsoever, thankfully, because one of us had to stay level. I had them move away and try to relax so the bees could too. It was amazing how clearly Ruby understood me. The bees were still in a frenzy, but the stinging had stopped. Ethan pointed out that he threw a water bottle very close to the bees location, which was in the ground where we had stepped, along with many others before us on the way to gather water. I told Ethan and Ruby to go back to the tent and as soon as I said that, Ruby high-tailed it out of there...too funny. I had to figure out a way to get the bottle and still needed to gather water for the day of hiking we had ahead. I kind of went around the hive/hole and retrieved the bottle then bypassed that part of the trail altogether and noticed others had too, by the wear pattern between switchbacks...I got the water, warned others and headed back to the tent.

When I got to the tent, I immediately had Ethan take Benadryl and a nice hiker gave us one of the ammonia things that you crack and rub on to stings and bites. A numbing agent in it really relieved his pain. In the future, those are a mandatory in my first aid pack. Ruby, on the other hand was traumatized beyond anything I had ever witnessed in her. She was hiding under the floor of another hikers tent, under logs in the forest and anywhere she thought the bees couldn't get her. Ethan had to drag her out and leash her so she wouldn't run away. I wanted to give her Benadryl too, but didn't know how to dose her, so that wasn't going to happen for her. We packed everything up and began heading south on the trail again. At first, Ruby was cautiously following, then all of a sudden, refused to follow us. She walked into a very large growth of beautiful green ferns, in which, she blended very easily. Every time I called to her, she got up and moved deeper. I decided to go in after her. The second step in, my left leg sunk into a hole to my knee. Not fun, at all. All I could picture was that I had invaded a snakes den or something. I quickly got my leg out and Ethan decided to go in after Ruby. He got her and when they emerged onto the trail, Ruby looked like a walking fern. It was so cute and funny, that I should have taken a picture, but in the moment, I just wanted to keep moving. We had to put a leash on her for the remainder of the day. She was not in her right mind at all.

After the stings

The ferns she hid in...unfortunately I didn't get a shot of her covered in them.

Raven Rock Hollow 

As far as the eye could see

It was so nice coming to clearings like this one. I think this part ran through someones private property, yet they are nice enough to allow hikers to pass through.

4.9 miles into the second day, we stopped for lunch at the Ensign Cowell Shelter where we met three thru-hikers and their Aussie Shepherd, Charlie, who was the same age as Ruby. Ethan and I ate PB&J on whole wheat burrito shells with a dried fruit, seed and nut mix. We also had the occasional snack bar along the way. Two of the hikers there were covered in poison ivy and said that crushing up plantain leaves, then applying them to the spots, helped in drying the infection. One of the guys warned us that we faced a lot of rocks in the trail ahead. I asked what kind of rocks, he said,  "boulders on top of boulders," and he wasn't exaggerating.

Just a small part of the boulders on top of boulders

Wolfsville Road Overlook- you can see by his expression, we just had a difficult section

We headed out to tackle the second half of our hike for the day. We had about five more miles to travel before we could relax. We went through some seriously rocky terrain, some pretty brooks and streams in between the peaks and a 1400 foot elevation gain.

We arrived at Pogo Memorial Campsite around 3:30 pm. Ruby, still not acting quite herself, decided to lay in the woods for most of the night, barely eating or drinking. Ethan and I built a fire and ate Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Rice for dinner with some astronaut ice cream for desert. Pogo didn't have a provided place to hang our food for the night, so I was happy that I decided to bring the bear bag kit I purchased not long before we departed from sheepleg.com. Luckily, I brought an over sized stuff sack that I didn't think I needed. We had been putting our food into it and wrapping it with a bungee to hang it. The kit had a 60 foot length of rope, two carbiners and a small sack to stuff it all into. I unraveled the rope, found a nice heavy fist-size rock to put into the small sack and began tossing the rock into the air toward the branch I wanted to hang it from. After about ten tries, the rock flew over the branch, I hung the bag from the carbiner, removed the rock, then pulled the other end of the rope down and around the trunk of the tree a few times. My first bear bag hanging was a total success!!

You can't really see this too well, but there is the bag I hung

Ethan was really feeling accomplished that evening as we discussed our 10 mile day and insisted we push ourselves the next day and try for a 16 mile day. After talking to so many thruhikers who typically walk 20 or more miles a day, Ethan and I decided we could try to get in a high mileage day. I intended to awake at 5:30 am the next morning and Ethan asked that I wake him at that time as well.

We turned in a little after dark, being serenaded by a choir of coyotes in the distance.

Day 3 June 16 2012

When we woke up smelling a horrid smell, we discovered some neighboring, very loud campers forgot to close the privy door over night. It was all we could do to pack up quickly, pull the bear bag down, make our oatmeal breakfast, and bug out. We were up earlier than everyone and gone way before them too. By 7:30 am we were well on our way to Washington Monument, the only problem was that neither one of us drank water before leaving. We did, however, make sure our water containers were full.  We walked about six miles and along the way, climbed an 1800 foot elevation to Black Rock Cliffs, followed a trail to Annapolis Rock, where we ran into a very strange caretaker who was a bit pushy (we all know how I react to those types), but it was a beautiful scenic spot. After climbing that mountain, we made our way to a foot bridge that crosses I-70, and anyone who has driven from NJ to KY, has probably passed under it. When we arrived to our lunch spot, we were both a little too exhausted for the six miles we had done. We were very hungry, hot and I really felt like my eyes wouldn't stay open. For the morning hike, I had worn my barefoot shoes and the bottoms of my feet were feeling swollen and bruised, very bruised. I had stepped on something very wrong and my left foot felt as if it were broken.

Headed toward I-70 foot bridge

Walking over I-70

Turner's Gap

On went the Chacos after a nice, extra long barefoot lunch overlooking just about the entirety of the path we had walked and a large part of it laying in wait. During our lunch break, we met a lot of families at the monument who were sight-seeing with their families. Ruby, looking all cute, seemed to be out-shining the monument. Almost every single tourist took photos of my dog with her pack on. I didn't mind and I was actually kind of proud to be the owner of such an adorable, and well behaved pooch. I swear it seemed like she was posing. Having the packs sitting there and my stove running was really drawing a lot of questions about what we were doing and how the dog was handling the trip. She was back to her normal self and wasn't forcing us to pull her on the leash. We had pb&j on burrito shells with fruit and nuts and added to that a side dish of Italian risotto with veggies. The problem with the freeze dried backpackers meals is that they are preserved in high amounts of sodium and we all know too much sodium can be detrimental. 

We were feeling somewhat refreshed and a lot stronger after having a larger lunch and decided we better get on the move to finish the final ten miles. The Chacos came as a major relief for the bottoms of my feet, I was just worried the straps would dig in on the downhills and that's exactly what they eventually did.

I was drinking an amount of water I thought would be suitable for hydration, but Ethan wasn't really drinking as much. He let his Camelback go dry without telling me and wasn't really hydrating enough. Had I known, I would have insisted on refilling the pouch. Kids sometimes just don't understand the value of drinking enough water. We planned on sleeping at the Crampton Gap Shelter and camping area for the evening that would put us about 11 miles out from Harper's Ferry, but before we could do that we had a distance to travel. We came back down to about 1000 feet elevation after the monument into Turners Gap in Boonsboro, MD then arrived at Dahlgren Back Pack Campground where I was so happy to use an actual clean bathroom with running water that even had showers inside. Ethan didn't want to stay...so on to Lambs Knoll at 1600 feet elevation we walked. The next two miles of our hike would be the most stressful two miles I have ever hiked....

Ethan began asking me questions about urine. I know, kind of strange for me to blog about, but it is all part of the story, so I want to include it.  We were making really great time that afternoon and feeling really good about getting in our 16 mile goal for the day. The pace still allowed us to check out some blue blazes and snap some pics along the way. When Ethan started asking questions, we were at about mile nine. He wanted to know what would happen if he had blood in his urine, what it could mean and what he should do if that were to happen. So, we discussed several possibilities and I asked him if he was experiencing bloody urine. He said, "I think." I had him drinking water as often as possible, but with his Camelback empty, he wasn't getting optimal hydration. He had no pain, but as we hiked on he became increasingly concerned. Finally, I made him pee in a location which allowed me to see the stream and sure enough, it was very dark. My stomach sunk. It wasn't slight, it was full on dark red urine. My mind was calculating the possibility of calling an ambulance at the next road crossing, but I wasn't really sure where we were. I assured him we would finish the hike just as soon as we knew he was okay. No hike is more important than our health, especially my boys health.

I handed him my Nalgene that was full with one liter of freshly filtered spring water and told him to keep it in his hand at all times and drink it until it was gone. He began doing that and along the way we would check the color for dilution. We weren't really seeing too much color change. At about five miles from our finish, we came to a road about 400 below the elevation we still had left to climb, all rock garden by the way. I looked right and saw a white pick up thinking it was a ranger or something, but as I approached, it was empty and unmarked. I turned around, and to the left of the trail there was a steep downhill slope of a road, which had no signs and could have lead to more unmarked roads for all I knew. I was kind of just standing there when a jogger approached from the direction we had just come from. I asked him where the closest doctor or hospital was. He explained that nothing was less than 40 miles in all directions, and began asking us what was going on. Normally, I wouldn't talk to strangers, but my son was nervous and having a problem. The man seemed to have knowledge in dehydration and medical issues in general, so we stood there brainstorming, he offered to drive us to the hospital or call an ambulance if need be. Ethan was not eager to jump into an ambulance and I wasn't eager to follow a stranger further into the middle of nowhere. We only had five more miles dammit! Then the man started asking about the foods we were eating and if we were consuming power bars. BINGO!! Ethan was heading toward dehydration with a B-12 overload which would explain the dark urine. The jogger went on his way, expertly, I might add, because I'll never know how anyone could run through all the rocks on that path. We weren't even fifty yards in before Ethan started peeing clear...the water worked. He finished the liter and everything was golden after that...haha.

Dahlgren Back Pack Campground- I was so happy to come up on this bathroom!

It was a beautiful walk after that but the final two miles were tiring. We were never so happy to see a campsite at the Crampton Gap Shelter. We walked a ways on a blue blaze to get there, but when we did, it was a nicely spread out camping area that was already hosting a very large Boyscout troop. The spring was situated even further down the blue trail near a very private shelter that was adorable. I went to filter water while Ethan set up the tent and got our kitchen set up. When I got to the spring, there was the prettiest little red bird in the stream taking a bath that didn't seem bothered even a little that I was there. I watched, and when it was finished, it gracefully flew away.

That night we ate double dinner, beef stroganoff and shepherds stew, then followed that with some ice cream. I got the fire going and another hiker made his way over to the site next to ours. His trail name was Big Booty. He was a young man from D.C. coming out for an overnight hike. He walked ten miles in to camp, and planned to hike ten miles back out to Harper's Ferry the next day. We all had a nice conversation over dinner then hung the bear bags and went to bed. That night we heard a bear in the distance which freaked us out a little but overall, it really added to the experience. I'm sure Ruby scared anything really close away with her random and unexpected barking in the middle of the night.

Crampton Gap Shelter/Camping Area

Day 4 June 17 2012

We slept in on the final hiking day until about 8 am, and planned on heading .5 miles south to Gathland State Park for breakfast and refills on our water. When we got there, we were greeted by some wonderful ruins and historical structures. Across a field was a bathroom building with benches sitting under some old oaks and immediately, we spotted some fellow hikers. There were two guys hiking together named Crown Royal and Pants McGee. They were section hikers, like us whose packs were weighing in at about 55 lbs a piece. We got the down-low on what we faced on the trail for the homestretch and filled them in on the terrain they were heading into. They would be fine since they were actually on a 10 day hike coming out of the roller coaster section of PA, some of the nastiest parts of the AT. They were eating tuna for breakfast and it smelled so damn good I could hardly contain myself. I will for sure be bringing tuna to my next excursion. After a little while another hiker approached, his name was Imagine. Imagine was in his sixties and dressed in all orange. We sat next to each other on the bench and I, of course, had plenty of questions for him. He was never a hiker and one day read about hiking the AT and the kind of experiences others have had on the trail. He wasn't married and had retired a while back. One year previous, he started in Georgia and got 500 miles in then had to stop. This time he started where he left off and was going to finish the entire trail. He was used to twenty mile days, so I am sure he has made quite a bit of progress since we left him. Meeting the older hikers really motivates me to plan for more backpacking. 

We passed Brownsville Gap and the Ed Garvey Shelter, making our way to Weverton Cliffs, where we met back up with Big Booty for a long lunch looking high over the Potomac River. We had Kathmandu Curry for lunch which was far from tasty. In fact, Ethan couldn't finish his and with only about six miles left to hike, he began to feel ill. He was drinking plenty of water, but for some reason couldn't shake the nausea. We knew that the last five miles of the hike would be primarily downhill and that the final three miles before Harper's Ferry was a flat bike trail. We were looking forward to it, but by the time we got there, Ethan was miserable and it was extremely difficult walking on a gravel path. My feet were hurting so bad, I could hardly stand each step. We got some energy renewal when we got to the foot bridge leading into the town that crosses the Potomac.

The town was incredible and there were still cobblestone roads. There were groups of people dressed in period clothing and performing reenactments. It was so cool, there were tons of people out and about with their families for fathers day.  We found an ice cream parlor and shared a cookies and cream flurry in a shady spot on top of a grassy hill. Ruby was still getting all kinds of attention and having her photo taken every few minutes. I found the AT Outfitters shop where everything hiking related can be purchased by all different types of hikers. I got a couple t-shirts and magnets. After the ice cream, Ethan started feeling bad again, but we still had at least two miles before we reached our car. I decided to go the conservancy for a shuttle to our car. Ethan was not looking good at all. I believe now that he was exhausted. We got to the conservancy where they came out to greet us. They lead us in, Ruby included, where we got refreshments and our pics taken for their website. I explained that my son was not feeling well enough to walk the 1.5 miles to the car and one of the volunteers kindly drove us.

Weverton Cliffs

I fell right after taking this picture and now have a massive bruise from the roots that almost impaled my thigh.

The beautiful Potomac River we looked at from way up in the mountains earlier that day.

This part of the hike was so exciting because we were about to reach our goal!!

Waiting for a cookies n' cream flurry

At the ATC

By the time we got to a gas station, I could barely walk, but I was so pumped that we finished, it didn't matter. In fact, I was embracing the pain. I took an Aleve and got Ethan a ginger ale. On the way home I found the cutest little restaurant in Mount Airy, MD called Brick Ridge Restaurant. They serve regional American cuisine and on the menu for that evening they featured food from Wyoming. Ethan was so sick he couldn't eat, so all I ordered was a small appetizer and beautiful spinach, brie and strawberry salad. Outback, they had a fresh garden and pens containing ducks and goats, serving food from the garden, but I don't think the animals were anything other than pets. We got home at almost midnight and I was so pumped, I couldn't sleep until the sun began to rise. I told my parents about some of the trip highlights and Ruby settled in. Poor baby girl was exhausted and wouldn't move for about two days. Her eyes were showing allergies from the trail and she was still tending to her sore spots. I finally figured out that she was stung on her legs by the bees...all around her knees. She was my little Trooper. Ethan decided my trail name is Peppermint because I used peppermint and oregano oil to ward the bugs off and of course, Ethan is B-12. 

I am already thinking of ways to lighten my pack for the next section or excursion. I'm thinking a trip back to Red River Gorge would be nice. There are a few trails in the Daniel Boone National Forest that   offer amazing scenic photo ops and the kind of mileage and terrain one would need to practice for the AT thru-hike experience. I wish the rest of the group wouldn't have cancelled before the hike, but I couldn't have been happier with the experience and bonding that Ruby, Ethan and I were blessed with!! Happy Trails.