Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trial (AT) is a trail that stretches from Georgia to Maine that can take up 6 months to a year to hike with over 2,100 miles. My dad and I picked to hike from Pine Glenn, Pennsylvania to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. In the beginning, the total mileage was only supposed to be around 70 miles, which totaled an average of about 13 to 17 miles a day, over the course of 9 days. Leading up to the "big" hike, we had to collect everything that we would need for the trip. Since this was my first backpacking trip I had nothing prepared. We started with fitting myself with a 45 liter backpack, a long spoon, an air mattress, a blanket, hiking clothes, and a tent. After that we started planning what we were going to eat for the next week. All the things we would normally eat would have to be dehydrated foods such as Mountain Houses, Ramen Noodles, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Now it's time for the big hike! We put on our heavy packs that ranged from 20-30lbs on our backs and off we went! During the trip there were many lean-tos(shelters) that were provided, which we used almost every night. On the trail we did not encounter very much wildlife, but we did meet a wide variety of people that have been on the trail for over three months. We learned a lot of new ways to pack and set up camp for just staying one night at each camp spot. At the end of the hike we made it to Harpers Ferry with having a total amount of 100 miles with our longest day being over 18 miles, up and over 2 or 3 mountains.

What was it like Hiking?

I would normally go on a day hike every other day on the trails near my house. Those hikes would range from 4-8 miles, but everything changed once I put my pack on. Knowing that anything I would need or want on a daily basis was on my back, with the exception of a few things that were unable to fit. When the hike began, things started rough, throwing a 35lb pack on after sitting in a car for 2 hours to get to the trail head. We planned for an easy hike towards our first campsite, which was only 5 miles from the trail head. Once we got settled in for the night and got our tents set up, we were ready to start cooking for dinner. The first night we carried in the "good stuff" a.k.a. Hot dogs. We had a campfire and played games until the sun went down. On the second day we packed up our camp and headed off on the trail. We met a lot of people that were watching the weather and told us there was a huge storm coming our way for the next few days, so it was in our best interest to push ourselves to go further.

We originally planned to only hike 6 miles, but we ended up doing 15 miles so we wouldn't have to hike in the pouring down rain the next day. Since we hiked the extra few miles, we wound up a day ahead of schedule. We stayed at Deer Lick Shelter, which was supposed to be our shelter on the fourth day. After the first few days, things started to become more and more consistent:

• Wake up
• Eat Breakfast
• Pack Up
• Fill Up Water
• Hike
• Eat Lunch
• Hike
• Unpack
• Eat Dinner
• Sleep
• Repeat

The more time I spent on the trail, the better I became at packing. It was amazing! The fourth day was definitely the hardest day for me. Eating the same food, a broken water filter, and body aches all over. I remember walking into camp for the nigh after a 10 mile hike with both shelters being occupied by 14 Boy Scouts, the outhouse was not cared for and was overflowing, and fresh water was half a mile up the trail. I set up camp for the night, fed myself along with my dog Tuxedo, and called it a night. Day 5 rolls around and when I woke up the Boy Scouts were already packed up and eating breakfast, while the other hikers were already on their sixth mile going through our campsite. My dad and I planned to add another 3.5 miles to the hike for the day to end in Pine Knob, this day was pretty much a blur to me as we went up and down several mountains for 15 miles. On the eighth day we had two options, hike 10 miles to Crampton Gap, or hike 17 miles to Ed Garvey.

Yes! We ended up hiking the 17 miles to Ed Garvey. We started our hike at 8 a.m. and did not get to camp until sunset, only to find there was was limited tenting and the shelter was full. The best part was the water was half a mile down a hill! Finally, day 9 is here, the last day! We packed up camp for the final time and left with two bottles of water for the hike into Harpers Ferry. Our packs had dropped 5lbs from eating everything. The last day was roughly 13 miles, with 3 miles being on a canal. The last three miles were the hardest for me because we had no shade, no more water, and didn't know who had the water filter. Once we crossed the bridge into town there was a group of hikers offering fresh food since they had been in town for a week and wanted to get back on the trail. Unfortunately we were unable to take everything. At the end of the day, we finally made it to our hotel room and had to shower at least three time to get off all the grease and bug spray!

Post by: Kya Gresh