Mason-Dixon

I left the Harper's Ferry area on Tuesday morning, May 17th. Maryland is a restrictive state for Appalachian Trail hikers. It is prohibited to camp anywhere except in state designated campsites. The theory is that concentrating campers in designated areas reduces the impact to wilderness overall. There may be some truth to that, but having spent the last 14 years hiking and camping in wide open Wyoming it seemed severely restrictive.

To my great surprise, Maryland got it right with the Annapolis Rocks backpacker campsite. After passing the Dahlgren backpacker campsite earlier in the day I expected a bunch of tents on a small patch of ground near a busy road. Annapolis Rocks (cliffs overlooking the Cumberland Valley) had more than 60 sites, but they were broadly spread out in a large, densely wooded area. It was hard to tell that other backpackers were nearby. It was several miles from the nearest road and featured a caretaker who lived in a large tent for the duration of the camping season. Well done Maryland.

One highlight of the Maryland section of the trail was Gathland State Park, which hosts the War Correspondents Memorial. Built in 1896, it is dedicated to journalists who have died in combat. It's a stunning stone memorial.

Unchanged for over a century, the arch had four names added in 2003 (according to Wikipedia):
David Bloom, Michael Kelly, Elizabeth Neuffer, and Daniel Pearl.

Another highlight, for me, was the Edward Garvey shelter, about 10 miles north of Harper's Ferry. It's a very nice shelter, named after the man who wrote the book that originally inspired me back in the 1970's to want to hike the entire trail.

I met a 19 year old guy from Virginia at the Edward Garvey shelter who had just started hiking to Mt. Katahdin from Harper's Ferry. He weighed about 300 pounds and he was hiking the trail so he could meet Army or Marine Corps weight standards for entrance. His father was giving him a little tough love, telling him that if he didn't succeed he was out of the house. No pressure.  He was a nice, determined kid who really wanted to join the military. I walked with him for a while and I hope he succeeds. If he stays on the trail he will.

Maryland hosts only 41 miles of the Appalachian Trail, so by the next evening I was at the Mason-Dixon line, which marked the Pennsylvania border.

I passed through Pen-Mar Park just before the border. It is a beautiful park overlooking Waynesboro, Pennsylvania in the valley below. From 1877 to 1943 it was an amusement park, served by a trolly line from Waynesboro. 

I remembered Pen-Mar Park from when I was stationed at Fort Ritchie from 1983-1986. Fort Ritchie was only a mile away and I was tempted to camp at the border and hike over to it the next day to see what had become of it since it had been deactivated in 1998. It had been a beautiful little post, a gem. It was more like an Army country club than a military base. It had several lakes, a 9 hole golf course, a bowling alley, tennis courts, nice officer and NCO clubs, etc. We worked at an "undisclosed location" and after being bused back to the barracks each day we would grab our golf clubs (in the warmer months) and go play 9 holes. The 5th tee was about 30 feet from our barracks.

While I was tempted to see what had become of Fort Ritchie, I read that it had been having a very problematic transition to civilian life. Buildings were abandoned and falling apart, weeds were taking over, the golf course was closed, etc. I preferred to keep the country club memories, so I did not pay it a visit.

I'm 65 miles into Pennsylvania now. After five days on the trail and being soaked by rain on day five I bailed out to a motel in Carlisle, PA to take a "zero" day. It rained all day today again, but it should clear up a little before I hit the trail again tomorrow.

My feet needed the rest. I've had a nagging blister ever since I replaced my shoes a few hundred miles ago. The shoes felt fine at first, but over time they have found my weaknesses. Most blisters are short-term and eventually turn into protective calluses. I have one on the outside of my right heel that keeps getting bigger and more painful though. Piercing it with a sterile needle does nothing; very little liquid leaks out and the piercing quickly seals. It's a blister that refuses to become a callus. I recalled something from a book written by an Appalachian Trail thru hiker on how to deal with these stubborn blister-calluses. I put some thread on a needle and poked it through. I then left the thread in place. The thread supposedly wicks away the liquid being stored inside the blister/callus. It's been 24 hours now and it appears to be working. A few days on the trail will tell; hopefully it will become fully callused and I will then be fully inoculated against whatever pain these shoes can cause.

Feet take a beating on the trail. I thought about not including the details of how much of a beating they take, but felt that full disclosure was in order.

I expected Pennsylvania to be nothing but rocks. Trail lore says that PA has the rockiest footpath of any section of the trail, but it hasn't been much rocker than elsewhere yet. I'm not even a third of the way through though, so I'm sure the rocks are coming.

Oh, besides having very interesting old iron forges dating back to the 18th century at Pine Grove Furnace State Park and Boiling Springs, PA, southern PA has at least three AT halfway point markers. That's because the trail keeps getting longer due to land use agreements and rerouting. It's currently about 2,189 miles long and a "2016" halfway marker is the arbiter, for now.