Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Overcast, 62 degrees going up to 75, and increasing rain all day.
Woke at 6:30. Charger at 62%. No rain last night!! Fairly decent sleep for the trail.
Up at 7:00. Got human by 7:30. Packed up and eating breakfast at 8:00. Cold breakfast today. Bagels and nut butter.
I woke up all antsy and stressed. It’s 19 miles to Pen Mar Park and one massive uphill in last 6 miles. Gonna rain all afternoon. Given my foot and pack issues yesterday, I am calling it early. Also, heavy rain all day tomorrow. Going to go 8 miles to Ensign Carroll shelter and Pitcrew will pick me up about 12:30 to 1:00. I cancelled the hostel in Pen Mar.
Tried to poop, but no luck. Put on all my slightly drier clothes from yesterday and treated the chafing in crotch. Will see how today goes.
Very tough hike. Feet hurt a lot. Hurt left leg about mile 5. Pack hurt my shoulders…big issues. This was a death march, not a hike. Made it to Pitcrew about 2:00 in a lot of pain.
Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Up at 6:20. Extremely humid, 64 degrees going up to 78. Cloudy with chance of showers on and off.
I might have gotten 90 minutes sleep.
Tent a little damp by the doors. Mainly splash water bounced through doors. Not sure what to do about that. Shirt from yesterday damp.
Heard back from Zerodayhostile in Pen Mar. Room reserved for Wednesday night!
Started packing while breakfast cooked. Boiled water for 4:40. Had a dehydrated breakfast skillet (510) plus dehydrated sausage (240) and tea. Good! Ate at 7:25, finished at 7:50.
Great trail magic at Reno Road. Nice family with drinks and watermelon. Chatted a while and they prayed for me and my foot. Nice!
Lunch at Dahlgren campground and a 30 minute rest. Just a stinger waffle and nut butter packet.
Dahlgren Campground Maryland on the Appalachian Trail in 2023
Rested at Washington monument park shelter for 30 minutes and got water. My pack fighting me.
Fought with pack all day. Lots of tweaking. Expanded torso on pack today at 4:00. Makes load lifters better but it may be too big as it slides down my hips and I get lots of weight on shoulders. Also my back and shoulders hurt today. I had a lot of weight on shoulders instead of hips. Need a professional pack fitting.
Got to shelter at 5:30. Chilled and had recovery drink. Found a tent site and made camp. Took about 50 minutes to fully set camp. I’m trying my quilt tonight. Set tent up better today…lots of tension on all stakes is key. Charged headlamp while chilling at camp.
Pine Knob Shelter Maryland on the Appalachian Trail in 2023
My Apple Watch died as I forgot to put it in airplane mode. Charging now so I can get my hike data of it!
Fully changed clothes including underwear. Got chafing down there:( hiking clothes are all wet from sweat and humidity. It’s gonna rain tonight so I can’t rig a clothes line. Trying to dry them a bit on a rock.
Im beat and not very hungry. Eating a bag of Fritos. Not sure I will eat anything else. Got tomorrow’s food ready. Cold breakfast.
Got chafing due to humidity. Will try wet wipes and squirrel nut butter later. Should I have kept gold bond powder?
Tried to sleep about 9:15. Dozed off till 11:30. Eventually got back to sleep.
Issues and Lessons Learned:
add back second pair of underwear
need a second sweat band
second pair of socks needs to be just like primary socks
too much food
Need a better system for storing and organizing food
Protein shakes good, using camp cup and stirring bad
how to prevent crotch chafing when wet, humid, raining
foot pain – talk to doctor – balls of feet, heels, Achilles
Monday, June 19, 2023. Overcast, 85 degrees and humid.
Day 1 of my first shakedown. Carrying my Six Moons Designs Swift X pack with the Vest Harness.
Ate a big lunch with Pitcrew at 2:00 at the diner in Frederick then drove to trail head. Pitcrew dropped me off for the start of a 4 day hike on the AT.
Started hiking at 14:40. The climb up to Weaverton was a lot harder with 33lbs! Lots of day hikers.
From top of Weaverton to Ed Garvey shelter I only saw one day hiker. There were 2 section hikers at the shelter. Took a 30 minute break and had a nice chat with an 81 year old section hiker. Doing same as me, but SOBO from Pen Mar.
Oops…I left my reading glasses at Ed Garvey but figured it out in only .25 miles. Went back and got them.
Headed to Gathland park for water and rest. Passed one thru hiker and what seemed to be a scout group on a day hike SOBO. Loaded up on water including 3 liters in CNOC.
Gathland park, Maryland and water. First shakedown hike, 2023.Gathland park, Maryland hauling extra water. First shakedown hike, 2023.
Hiked .4 miles to Crampton Gap shelter. There were 2 guys in shelter and 2 tents by shelter. Hiked about 200 yards uphill to the real camp sites. About 6-8 prepared sites with a bench, fire pit, and tent site each. Finished hiking at 19:00.
Right heel hurting again and both feet on the balls of feet. I’m wearing my Salomon hiking boots. I think the heel just had too much movement, but if I tie down a lot that hurts my feet worse. Surgery spot is a little uncomfortable but not bad. Almost no swelling!
Got camp all set up in 30 min. Sent Pitcrew a video of the camp setup. Brought everything inside due to rain.
Crampton Gap MD campsite on first shakedown hike in 2023
Decided to not eat dinner. Just had my recovery drink mix. Just not hungry and it’s getting dark and raining at 8:30. I did have a very big lunch intentionally. Finished cleaning dishes just before rain started! Got my food and other stuff hung on bear pole. Used tent dry bag as second bear hang bag. I have too much food. Will see how wet things are in the morning.
Rigged up a clothes line in tent for shirt and socks and hand towel. So far it is dry in here, just humid. I won’t need my quilt with this temp and humidity. Should stay above 60 all night. Just using the liner.
The camp slippers are working surprisingly well. Probably not as good tomorrow after rain, but will see.
Lightning and heavy rain at 10:30pm. Read until 11:30. Pulled on socks and long sleeve shirt around 3:00am.
