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HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL MARYLAND SECTION

The entire Appalachian trail runs for 2000+ miles from GA to Maine. Looking to hike the 41+ miles of the MD section of the appalachian trail from Harpers Ferry WV. to Pen Mar PA. GREAT views: Annapolis rocks, High Rock, Wierton Cliffs 4 days of SPAM, aching knees, shelters, tents, interesting people...

PREPARATION oh yeah I have two batteries for the digital camera (gonna take the smaller lighter one) That should hold for the weekend. Gotta go plug them in now to charge. Thanks for the reminder... Got the pack out and most of the essentials are sitting on the table. Not sure what the rate will be but the short plan is 41 miles in 2.5 days and the long (shot in the dark) is to "yo-yo" the entire MD portion and do 82 miles. Pretty sure we will fall somewhere inbetween. Logic says approx 3 miles per hour. But the question is how long can one hold that pace over broken unfamiliar terrain? The MD section of the trail is "moderate" altitude goes from approx 200ft to 1800ft. "New" walking boots have been worn in so I hope with a frequent change of socks to have good feeling feet... Goin to charge the batteries

I am back! I have survived. However a busted up knee has cut into the overall miles. 100+ photos so I will be a while goin through them. Probably give the link for the whole "lot" of them but I'll cut down some size and duplicates and post them in order and the things I learned.
We Parked Near Brunswick and jumped on the path about 2 PM Friday May 30th 2008. Scramble up this rocky path :



Here's the pics from the top of the first peak looking back on the Potomac River. That's me standing in MD looking back over VA (to the left) W.Va (to the Right)

If you look straight down from the place I was standing on the cliff here's the strange view... Quite a drop really.


Here's another look down at the rapids. Really quite a climb but the view are worth it. It would be a great place to stay the night but tooo many miles still lay ahead


The trail is well marked infact many outdoorsmen would say that it looks more like an old logging road than a "wilderness trail" Here is a section showing the white "blazes" painted on the trees. It is marked soo well that many who are through hiking in the heat of summer hike at night and sleep during the day.


Every 3-5 miles on the MD section of the trail is a place to break or see something. Here's a typical camping spot. Usually a fire ring, some place to sit and a relatively flat spot to setup your gear.


Ok, That should give a general idea of the trail and some of it's sights. There are several parking lots along the Appalachian Trail. We picked one along the Potomac river which is the border for the VA MD only a 2 mile walk from W. Va. You can find about anyplace to get started on the trail. There are markers at most major stops and even though you probably don't need them. The WHITE blaze mark what is the App Trail and with arrows pointing North and South to get you started.
This is the trail out of the parking lot onto the trail. We started from at 200 ft :

From here we scrambled up about a mile of the rocky "S" turns to the first side trail which are marked in blue painted blazes. You arrive at the Weverton Cliff view :
Notice the "Turkey Buzzard" flying a little right of center

Here's the first view from the cliffs

These next three are the same view looking Left to right: (perhaps I'll try to paste them into one continuous pic sometime)


Take a short .5 mile walk up another 500 feet in elevation and you'll level off for another 1.5 miles. You'll come up on another split in the trail offering a set of blue blaze markers. If you follow them off to the right for a short 100 yard trek you'll end up at the "Ed Garvey" shelter. Here is a two story, three sided shelter free for use by anyone. There is an unwritten rule that these shelters are used by preference of Thru-hikers (these are the people attempting to long distance hike), then lone hikers, then small groups, then if no-one else is in need larger groups. Which makes a lot of sense, if a large group of people (say a pack of scouts) use the shelter on a short term hike little is gained while a lone hiker with less resources, time and energy is stuck setting up camp using precious resources.
Here's a look at the back of the Ed Garvey shelter, that ladder leads up to a loft area.

Here's a gander at the front "open" end with the large porch, table and seats.

The fire pit and grate:

Here's the loft, (my apologies for the poor photography work on choice of angle and lighting) Notice the railing has the symbol of the Appalachian Trail "AT" built into the rail:

Every shelter that I saw had a spring nearby. The spring is generally good drinking water but everyone I talked with uses a form of purification as a precaution. I have no real idea how safe any of it is as I always used the purification tablets. We had near full water bottles and with the sign showin .4 miles and "steep" We decided not to go check this spring out. (later I have some pics of other springs)

Not too far (but far enough) is the outhouse:

Wanna See inside?

Shelters in general are not this nice on the App Trail... They are older and smaller without lofts. There is always an unofficial shelter "cache" inside so it doesn't get wet. Caches are made up of usable items left behind by people who are willing to leave a small piece that others may need. Thru-hikers are always thankful as there are few stores close to the trail. A shelter log is an interesting read when the rain is pouring down. These are college ruled, bound notebooks hikers use to drop a note of thanks or a message for another hike who may be coming behind or just to leave one's mark. You get all kinds of notes from simple thanks and a name to some "trail name" and wild story about smokin this or "meeting" another hiker in a carnal sense... You meet all kinds, the people you meet makes up a big part of the fun on the trail. Some grumpy, hungry, tired, quiet... Others bouncing off the walls and never shut up... Next we head back to the AT and turn a few more miles..

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