Pushing from Maryland towards Pennsylvania.
Around 8 am, I wriggled out of my sweaty sleeping bag and opened my tent flap. Everyone at the campground was packing up their gear, so Seth and I did the same. We hoisted our packs on our shoulders and walked to the road connected to the campground. Freight Train had been visiting family and was supposed to meet us at the road at 9:15 am. She was late, but I didn’t mind. It was relaxing just to sit and enjoy a Spring morning without thinking about mileage and constantly pushing forward. While looking over my trail guide, I realized we had crossed from West Virginia into Maryland, the previous day. In a few more days I would be crossing into Pennsylvania, unless I fell off a cliff, got eaten by a bear, froze to death, starved to death, or got carried off by a giant hawk. Around 10 am Freight Train arrived, and the three of us continued up the trail. As usual, Freight Train blasted ahead, while Seth and I followed about a quarter mile behind.
The trail was even, and well kept for the most part, but there were some super rocky sections. One area in particular was essentially just a huge pile of 200 pound boulders with white blazes leading up to the top. It took a long time, with a few slips to navigate the rocky sections without falling and smashing my head open.
A quick break at a lookout tower, so I can enjoy the scenery and bask in the glow of my mustache.
We pushed pretty hard toward the end of the day to get to the Raven Rock Shelter. After hours of hiking, I usually slowed down a bit, but we had the afterburners on to make sure we secured tent sights. The shelter was very impressive. It was brand new, with two levels, actual windows, some nice picnic tables out front and the best part is that there were plenty of good tentsites. After setting up our gear, I went to find the water source and fill up my bottles. The spring was almost half a mile down a steep and rocky hill, so I made sure I filled enough bottles so I would not have to go back for more. With my tent set up and my water collected, I plopped down at one of the picnic tables to prepare my dinner. I decided to try a cooking technique I saw another hiker do a few days earlier. Instead of boiling water and making my rice sides in my pot, I poured the water into the bag and sealed it. Based on what the other hiker had told, me, five minutes later, the rice would be ready to eat. This seemed like a good time to try it out, because I didn’t want to walk a mile to wash my cooking pot. Everything seemed to be working great until someone bumped the table and spilled boiling water all over my leg and right hand. I had to stop the burning, so I immediately dumped a whole bottle of water on my leg. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t eat, so skipped dinner all together. While stumbling back to my camp site, the pain was so intense, I had tunnel vision. I crawled inside my tent and called Courtney for advice. Courtney said to take a bunch of Ibuprophen, so I did, and I passed out shortly afterward. The burns seemed pretty bad. Before falling asleep I was thinking that in the morning, I would have to hitch to a hospital and take time off the trail.
Smooth's Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike 