The weather was unseasonably warm for this time of year. We crossed one of the rockiest parts of this section in the middle of the night in the pouring rain by headlamp....That was quite an adventure after hiking 16 miles and opting not to eat dinner and instead turn in early only we didn't get any sleep due to the torrential rains that followed and due to our poor site selection (from all the poor sites available) we were getting soaked. So instead of continuing to endure the floods we opted to move out and head for an AT shelter 5 miles away. 1 hour into our trek the rain let up and when we arrived at the shelter there were 12 people and 2 dogs in a shelter for 9. The skies cleared and we slept under the stars to let things dry out. Despite the rain and getting soaked the two biggest disappointments were the warm weather and the fact that the actual Mason Dixon line marker lies on private land.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67119626@N00/sets/72157603606579929/

I was surprised at how rocky certain short stretches were in that area. But Maryland was a very neat walk with the original Washington Monument and many Civil War historic sights. Even though I was thru-hiking, I took three days to enjoy it all. Some do the whole stretch in one titanic 41-mile day, but they usually then take a day or two off to recover, so I figure I got the better end of the deal.

Glad to hear the rain couldn't squash your hike.

- Bearpaw

Between the trees and turtles, it looks like you got some nice colors for the hike. I live close to the AT in NE PA, but haven't been on the section near the Mason-Dixon line, so it's nice to some photos from there.

Edited by TomClark on 02/16/2008 10:25:43 MST.

That MD section is really nice, especially being able to catch a sunset up at PenMar Park.

Tom, you should really get it done.

The hard part is deciding where to end - PenMar with the sunset, or Harpers Ferry with the microbrewery.

Joe,
When you're right...you're right. It's a matter of making time, but business travel is cutting into my family time already. I do want to do a 1-2 night trip in the next few months with some friends.

I know we had talked about getting together sometime. Maybe we need to put out an open invitation to ULer's in the eastern PA area to do a trip. Those UL Yosemite trip reports and the BPL Trekking class is giving me the itch for a hike.

Tom

Tom, let's see where this goes...

Eastern PA BPL Hikers

Summer is always best, but lets plan ahead!

Edited by joegeib on 02/20/2008 09:22:49 MST.