Day 57- June 17, 2026

Day 57- June 17, 2026

I woke up at 5:30 this morning with a few drops of rain hitting me in the face. The weather had said that it wasn’t going to start raining until later in the morning, but I guess it decided to start early. I got up quickly and packed up before it really started to rain. Luckily it only continued to sprinkle and barely any water made it through the tree cover. Since I was already up, I got back on the trail before 6 am.

Today was going to be an easy day. I only planned on going to a shelter about 13 miles up the trail, which puts me at the beginning of the Roller Coaster. I’ll get to that tomorrow. Once again, the morning was an easy walk. The climbs were short and easy and most of the trail was flat. If the whole trail was like this, I could average 25 mile days easily. 

Five miles into the morning I run into a bunch of Boy Scouts out doing a week-long trip on the A.T. They started at Harpers Ferry and were going to Front Royal. I always love coming across Boy Scouts out backpacking because that is where I started backpacking oh so many years ago.

It continued to rain all morning, but I spent most of the day in the green tunnel, so I was more wet from sweat than from rain. The only time I really got wet was when I entered Sky Meadows Part. I had to go through a couple of clearings. Of course, as I entered these clearing it decided to get windy and the rain picked up. I hurried across these open spaces so that I didn’t get soaked.

By 10 am I made it to Route 50 and took a break at the Mountain Gap Market. At the market they make sandwiches and donuts as well as a lot of specialty foods. I walked in, grabbed a drink and went to get a donut where they gave me a free donut. They give one free donut to all thru hikers. I went back onto the porch, plugged my phone into the outlet and relaxed. I ended up sitting here through lunch, I had a sandwich and another drink from the market. It was nice because I met several thru hikers.

One of the problems I have with getting back on the trail now is that I don’t know anyone. Everyone I had hiked around is at least a couple of weeks ahead of me. This is one of the reasons I enjoyed sitting around for a couple of hours. I met five different thru hikers. I don’t know if I’ll hike around any of them anymore, but I’m starting to meet people again and it is the people that have made this trip so much fun.

With my phone fully charged and lunch consumed I decided to get going again. I only had another three or so miles left for the day. I’m only planning on doing 10-13 miles a day until I get to Harpers Ferry. I figure I’ll have to work my way back into shape. After crossing Route 50 I had a nice long climb before heading down into Rod Hollow and the shelter. I made it there by 1:30 and set up my hammock. I spent the rest of the day relaxing. It was nice to have all my hiking done before it started to get hot.

At the end of the day, I did 12.9 miles with a little over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Outside of a little soreness at the end of the day, I felt good.

Ending Mile 996.5