Maryland Appalachian Trail Solo Backpack, October 2005

This was a 3-4 day solo backpacking trip to explore the Appalachian Trail in Maryland.  My favorite places to backpack are actually in Virginia and West Virginia.  However, with a minimum drive of 3 hours, I was looking for something a bit closer.  It turns out that I can get to any section of the Maryland AT from my house within 90 minutes.  I still don't like the fact that there are really no circuit hikes that you can do with this trail.  But the road trip time makes up for that, since it's easier to work out a shuttle with a backpacking companion, or even just arrange for drop-off and pickup.

My other purpose was to find something suitable for introductory Boy Scout backpacking trips.  Places like Dolly Sods in West Virginia are great, but the four hour drive and remoteness of the wilderness area make it difficult when you have boys who may decide after a few miles that they can't physically go any further or that they forgot something vital.  For these guys, the Maryland AT is perfect with its numerous access points, shelters, clean running water, and privies.   Based on what I've seen, we'll be able to do some great trips of just a mile or two to start and have plenty of options to bail out if necessary.  It also helps to not have to deal with cat holes for the first couple of trips.

The Maryland section is about 40 miles long, but I chose to skip the lower 3 miles to keep my mileage on the first day low.  Most of it follows the C&O Canal Towpath anyway, so I didn't think that it was worthwhile.  I also wanted to avoid driving into Harpers Ferry.

I started out from the south at Weverton on Monday and hiked about 7-8 miles/day for the first 3 days.  This is actually a relatively slow pace, but there was a lot of motivation to take it slow.  The southern section is rich in Civil War history, the weather was great (sunny, 70 degrees), and I enjoyed just being out alone for the first time this year.  All my other trips this year were with the Scouts, so I welcomed the opportunity to have only myself to worry about.  The only thing missing was better fall color, which was late this year because of the warm weather in September.  On the last day (Thursday), I decided to finish up the last 16 miles and go home Thursday night so as to give myself time for other weekend activities before going back to work on Monday.  The rain that was starting to move into the area on Thursday was also a strong motivator.  This last stretch turned out to be a real killer, mostly on my feet.  I've had problems recently with my boots feeling too tight, so I decided to try a lighter weight sock.  The pain in my ankles went away, but at the expense of the soles of my feet, which took a beating from the rocks due to less cushioning.

So overall, it was a great trip.  I got to rest my mind, see a lot of stuff, take lots of photos, and push my body to the extreme.  I covered 37 miles of the AT in 3-1/2 days, with 40 miles total hiking when you include side trails.  I wonder when I'll get to finish the other 2000+ miles?

Page last updated: