Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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June 15, Harpers Creek Shelter - mile 815.3

What a breakfast we had to fuel up for the day's hiking! I felt like such a hog this morning but I think I wasn't the only one putting down the food like I hadn't seen it in weeks. We had huge plates full of french toast, muffins, sausage, potatoes and eggs, plus the platter of cantaloupe and strawberries made several rounds, too. It was all SO good! Later my stomach was a bit upset as I struggled up that steep road to get back to the trail, but I really enjoyed it while I was eating it!

Today I hiked "The Priest" over 4000 feet up - and then spent 5 miles going all the way back down! Then we started back up and got to the shelter about 2 miles into a 5 mile climb. Tomorrow we will have the biggest mahooga of all mahooga climbs to get to the Three Ridges. The elevation profile is enough to make a person weep. I've never seen the profile drawn nearly vertical - in one spot it looks like we will gain 500 feet of elevation in a quarter mile. I wish I had rope and rock climbing skills, because it looks like I may need them. As we sit here tonight studying the map and guidebooks, I feel both tremendous excitement to take on this challenge plus a little bit of dread about how hard it will be.

  It says in our guide books that hiking the whole AT is like climbing Mt. Everest from sea level to the peak sixteen times. Well, I think we bagged four or five of those climbs just in the past week! Just in the past few days we have climbed up (and down) Big Rocky Row, Bluff Mountain, Bald Knob, Cold Mountain, Spy Rock, The Priest and tomorrow is Three Ridges, all of which are over 3,000 feet and most closer to 4,000. I invite anyone who still believes the myth that the A.T.is all flat and easy in Virginia to hike to past 120 miles and then see what they think of that fairy tale.

Another grouse hen charged me today, but it didn't scare me this time. I also saw four deer and some lizards, salamanders and snakes. A couple here at the shelter tonight were telling me that they saw a fawn being born some time in the recent past. WOW! Now that would be some thing to write home about.