#150 Harpers Ferry to Edward Garvey Shelter - Day 75: ATMM1026.1 - ATMM1032.4
Tonight’s only genuine concern, other than having a heart attack climbing this mountain, involves the high wind and falling limbs, which I occasionally hear crashing to the ground.
4-1-23
I step off the train at 6:00 p.m. The sun, a white glowing ball hiding behind a fast moving grey sky, is a little low in the sky for a six mile hike up an unknown mountain.
The cold wind blows hard along the river. Trees sway in every direction. I look towards the town. People are sitting on porches, either hanging out or eating dinner. Others are walking or biking around. No one seems to be concerned with the weather - none of them seem to be going where I’m going.
After officiating the beginning of my hike with a commemorative selfie, I head over to The Winchester and Potomac Railroad Bridge, walk out of West Virginia into Maryland, and cross the Potomac River.
The Appalachian Trail (A.T.) merges with The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Trail and US Bicycle Rout 50 , a multi-named, multi-use, ten-foot-wide paved trail.
Not seeing a state border sign anywhere, I take a selfie at the same spot I ended last year’s hike. It’s the first thing I see with Maryland written on it.
A huge gust of wind kicks up a dust storm. Crushed gravel and dust from the trail become airborne, pummeling a group of Hispanic bicyclists and myself. Bikes are abandoned as we all seek the protection of bridge’s abutment.
The unexpected gust dies as quickly as it was birthed. Everyone regains their composure and gets back to business.
The A.T. runs along the Potomac River, below Sandy Hook US340, through neighborhoods and across a few lawns, then up the mountain, where limbs continue cracking and falling around me all the way.
I did almost nothing to mentally or physically prepare for this hike. I’ve spent so much time work at my job and so much time after work writing and scheduling posts for the next two months, that I failed to prepare.
It’s been ten and one half months since I’ve last climbed a mountain. Any edge gained last year has now dulled.
The first day on an unfamiliar trail is like walking into a party all by yourself.