Day 1 – And so it begins…

8.6 miles

David Lesser Shelter

I woke up this morning with a migraine, took some Tylenol at 4:30am. I was pretty comfortable at the Cherry Tree hostel, but having gone to bed around 9:30pm, I was up and repacking fairly early.

Laurel told me I could cook my own breakfast of eggs and toast after I asked where I could eat in town; apparently that was included in my stay. Laurel offered to slack pack me to Keys Gap, which would help me to get to the height of land without carrying my pack. It only took a couple of minutes to decide to take her up on the offer.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters wasn’t opening until after 9am, so cleaning up from breakfast, I had some time to relax and play the uke.

The registration at the Conservancy was a blast from the past: I got a chance to look at the 2017 photo book where I saw pictures of some of the people I hiked with. It was great to see Tilly and Hops in there, and Meeko, Half Blind, and a few others. Made me a wee bit teary.

Then it was time to hit the trail. I put my backpack in Laurel’s trunk, took a borrowed daypack and headed down into the Old Town. The trail there mounts a series of old steps, very uneven and steep, and I was SO grateful not to have to carry my full pack!!

The first mile or so crosses a steep slope above the Shenandoah River, with a precipitous drop to the left. Even with the daypack, I struggled at first with vertigo, but soon got the feel of the trail. Crossing the road bridge over the river, the wind tried to throw my hat into the water.

Then there was the climb up to height of land. Here I really found myself in gratitude for the slack pack; I started to get a bit concerned that I would be unable to get to the road at Keys Gap at our agreed time of 1pm.

So I talked earlier about entering into this new relationship with the trail in spaciousness. There are times when I will be unable to hold that attitude, and here, right off, in the first 6 miles, I had a deadline.

But, after climbing out of the valley to the ridge, the trail moderated nicely, and I was able truck along at a good pace.

It was a beautiful day today, blue skies without a cloud, cool enough to keep from overheating, with Spring springing. Also seeing lots of turkey vultures, both in the sky and their shadows when they fly over.

I got to Keys Gap with 15 minutes to spare, long enough to do some foot care and eat some snacks (I’d left my food bag in my main backpack).

Laurel showed right on time, we swapped packs, then she was off, with well-wishes and expressing the desire to meet again sometime. May it be so.

Then it was time become acquainted with my real pack. I had worked pretty hard to keep it below 30 lbs, but after adding some electronics (batteries, cables and chargers), I think I’ve snuck up above that somewhat.

After Keys Gap, the first shelter possibility was 3 more miles. There was a second possibility 2 more miles past that. Entering back into the attitude of openness, I was willing to go with the flow.

My plan was to get to the David Lesser shelter, get more water, eat a dehydrated meal, then see what I was up for. Well, after learning the water source was a quarter mile downhill, I decided I’d reached my day’s destination. I also decided to spend my first night on the trail in the shelter.

So now I’m one of six folks sharing the shelter, and I have the feeling it’s gonna be fairly noisy. They’re a great bunch of folks, all northbound, some sectioning, one who started in Georgia in February. I think they’ll be up and out before me. The snore concert has already begun (8:28pm).

Tomorrow, I start the part of the trail called the “rollercoaster”. It promises to be an experience…