.August 28, 2006
The parking lot at Ashby Gap isn't right on the AT so I had to take a short blue blazed trail to get to the AT this morning. It might have been a tenth of a mile. Almost immediately after reaching the AT, I came across the slowest thru hiker I had ever seen. I don't know how he expects to every reach Katahdin. But being in Northern Virginia, I guess he is almost halfway there.
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After moving the turtle off the trail for his own safety, I had the feeling I was being watched.
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The trail cuts through an old stone wall. Like a lot of areas on the AT, this was probably farmland once upon a time.
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Up some stairs.
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I took the short side trail to the Rod Hollow Shelter.
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Rod Hollow Shelter
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I stopped at the shelter to take a break and read the trail register. Most entries in the trail register spoke of the upcoming Roller Coaster, a series of about a dozen small mountains up and down, up and down. I actually hiked the end of the Roller Coaster yesterday when I went from Snickers Gap and hiked north, but today I would get the brunt of it. This shelter also came with a covered picnic table although the covering is starting to lean quite a bit.
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I got back on the trail to come across a fairly long section of bog bridging.
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Knowing I was about to go on the Roller Coaster, the bog bridging reminded me of the long conveyor belt type things that bring the coaster to the top of the first drop. Sure enough the Roller Coaster started just after this.
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One of only 2 bridges I crossed today. This was the larger of the two.
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Heading up another hill in the Roller Coaster only to have another drop
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About 11 miles into my hike, I met my only hiker of the day.
"You're the first one I have seen today," I said.
"Not too many want to hike today. It's too muggy."
He sure was right. Being from Maine, I was expecting warming weather, but the last two days had been brutal. I've been guzzling down the water which makes up about 90% of the weight in my pack. The good news is by the end of the day I have a very light pack.
I made it to the top of the last hill of the day and decided to take the .1 mile side trail to Bears Den Hostel.
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What a surprise I was in for. I saw a fairly impressive stone wall around the premises and then large stone pillars at the entrance. After being in the woods most the day and not seeing anything man made bigger than a wooden shelter, finding this was quite a surprise.
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Pretty nice, huh? I went to check out the inside but it was locked. There was a note stating that the caretaker would be back shortly and that hikers could come around and enter through the back. I decided to head back to the AT and check out the view from a rocky area where the name Bears Den must come from.
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About halfway down the last hill of the day I met Lynn. She left her hiking boots back at the motel. She wanted to come in to meet me anyway so she hiked in her slippers. Crazy girl.
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The AT goes briefly down the highway.
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This sign is located just before crossing the highway.
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After getting to our car I checked the map and there is a road that goes to the Bear Den Hostel, so I decided to drive Lynn up to show her. She was quite impressed to.
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This bunks 26. Lodging here starts as low as $12 a night. Had I to do over again I probably would have planned to stay here 2 nights. It would have saved us some money and it would have allowed Lynn to just drop me off two days and I could have just hiked back without here having to pick me up. She does so much for me: drop offs, pick ups, cold drinks, laundry, studying maps. And she hates maps. She does it just for me. She says she is directional challenged.
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