Day 95
Start: Signal Knob
End: Sand Spring
Miles Hiked: 21.0
Miles on AT: 1009.7
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This morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise already in progress. The clouds were thrown across the sky and backlit colors played amongst them.
Today was going to be a big day for me. I had the whole rollercoaster to complete and I would cross the 1000 mile mark. Whew! For those of you who don’t know, the rollercoaster is a 13.5 mile section of trail full of relentless climbs and descents, one after another. It’s one of the more challenging sections in the AT.
For now, my day was easy. It was going to be a hot one, but I had the tree cover to protect me. By the time I left camp in the morning, Mosey had already packed up and left. On another note, my wasp sting looked to be fully healed and ready for the day of hiking ahead of it.
The trail leading up to the rollercoaster was flat and downhill. I came across Helen’s bench, a bench placed in memory of a local hiker, and took the time to rest and write a note in the logbook.
About a mile later, I had to cross a 4 lane road with traffic whizzing in every direction. It definitely felt dangerous dodging cars and trucks who were moving quickly without a care. A pedestrian bridge would be perfect in this area.
Today, I was moving a bit slowly. I didn’t really want to hike too much today, so I went easy on myself and took breaks when I wanted to. I would get the miles done, but it might take a little longer than most days.
Finally, I came to the start: the Rollercoaster! Someone had said it wasn’t that bad, but as I climbed the first ascent, I realized I was going to do some real climbing. I thought this would be more like climbing a series of hills, but no, these were 300-500 foot climbs, back to back.
Plus, I had a fatal shoe blow out on this section. My shoes were already holding on by a thread.
I wanted to get them to Harper’s Ferry so I could say they made it that far. Now, it was absolutely apparent that I would be getting a new pair of shoes when I reached town. The whole right toe of my shoe was ripped open!
At a road crossing near the middle of the rollercoaster, I took time to implement a temporary fix to my shoe situation that would hold for at least the next 30 miles. Duct tape was the answer!
After fixing my shoe and getting back on trail, I ran across it – the 1000 mile mark! What an accomplishment! I stood and stared at the sign, trying to feel some sort of emotion, but all I felt was hot and tired. Maybe it would sink in later.
About a mile after that sign, I took an extended break near a stream. It was the middle of the afternoon and near the height of the heat. I rested for about 45 minutes and hoped that the heat would abate for a while.
I still had the rest of the rollercoaster to finish, so I got up and tackled it (with many breaks in between climbs). When I stopped to fill up on water, I ran into a couple of guys that I’d met in Shenandoah. They were calling it quits for the day; it was too hot! Plus, they were planning on flipping up to Maine to hike south, so they weren’t concerned with making miles.
I said goodbye to them and continued on with only a few more climbs left. I hit the VA/WV border and, although there would be another VA/WV border sign tomorrow, crossed out another state on the AT.
When I finally reached the end of the rollercoaster, I was pooped! I got to my campsite and had to decompress for a few minutes with some Goldfish and water. Once I had regained my strength enough to move, I set up my tent, completed my camp chores, ate, and crawled right into my tent. I was going to sleep well tonight!
And that’s day 95.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.