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Appalachian Trail – Maryland / Pennsyltucky

Maryland

“Deep down inside I’m really a nice girl. But, certainly, I can be a bitch. I’m a perfectionist, and I’m under lots of pressure. Sometimes you have to be a bitch to get things done.”

- Madonna

Journal Entry 5.24.00
“6:30pm at Dahlgren Campground. 17.5 miles out of Harper’s Ferry today. I had lunch at a state park with a soda machine – woo hoo! Better yet, there are HOT showers here – for free! What a treat. I’m camping here; hoping for no rain tonight. There are other hikers here but none of them are thru-hikers.”

Journal Entry 5.25.00
“In my tent just above Devil’s Racecourse Shelter. 18.1 miles today. Allergies bad, bad, bad. All morning – itchy, swollen, sneezy mess. Got a little better in the afternoon but I’m still stuffed up. There’s no escape from the pollen out here. Only section hikers here again – no thru-hikers to be found. Tomorrow I’m on to hit the Penn-Mar state line. Hoping to do 20+ miles tomorrow…”

Journal Entry 5.27.00
“Never did the 20+. I spent all day yesterday at the Penn Mar Park with Munch, Manhattan, Green Jeans, Booger, and No Whey. What a blast! We ordered pizza to be delivered and somehow we got the pizza man to deliver a 12-pack with our food. When the 12-pack was gone someone hitched into town for more beer and we wound up drinking all day in the park and taking turns hitching to get more and more beer. I got picked up by a school teacher (who had never picked up a hitch-hiker before in her life) and she was kind enough to drive me to the beer store and the convenience store to get ice cream, and then she even drove me back to the park. Finally around 6pm the little old park security man approached us and said “Y’all done drank enough beer now.” So we hiked for about 1/2 mile and then camped. During the day I was renamed. My trail name “Gimpy” just didn’t fit my style anymore. I wasn’t limping and was easily hiking strong and doing bigger miles and I wanted a name that represented the pain I had overcome and the strength I felt I had found. So we decided together to change my name to “Wondergimp.” I am here today at Quarry Gap Shelter with Makeshift. I did 20 miles and got here by 4pm, even in the rain. It’s VERY chilly here. Dad is meeting me tomorrow at Pine Grove Furnace State Park to celebrate the half-way point. 1080 miles to Maine!”

Gimpy and Wholesome about to feast after waiting all morning for the pizza place to open!

(from left) Manhattan, Munch, Greenjeans, Booger, Wondergimp, and No Whey

Journal Index

Georgia – Overview And the poop on the Trail Divorce

0 (miles from Georgia) – Springer Mountain, Georgia Whose idea was this again??
87.7 – Georgia / North Carolina Aint no all-inclusive package vacation story…
161.7 – Fontana Dam, North Carolina No Rain, No Pain, No Maine
204.6 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park I My deodorant gets the heave-ho!
268.7 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park II The Food Appreciation Trail
336.5 – North Carolina / Tennessee & Trail Names How the Gimp got her name
390.7 – North Carolina / Tennessee The famous Roan Mountain hitch
452.9 – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia 3 states down, 11 to go!
516.7 – Grayson Highlands State Park Roughin it at Partnership Shelter
573.3 – Bland, Virginia My wonderful trail angels!
665.3 – Pearisburg, Virginia The switch from boots to sandals
767.4 – Catawba / Troutville, Virginia Heat wave in Virginia
839.4 – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia ‘Hiking with Gimpy Sr.
920.0 – Shenandoah National Park Rattlesnakes, Jack Daniels, and bears – oh my!
988.3 – Front Royal, Virginia Invasion of the Boy Scouts
1001.1 – Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia The mental half-way point
1061.4 – Maryland / Pennsyltucky Y’all done drank enough beer!
1123.8 – Duncannon, Pennsylvania The Half-Gallon Challenge
1208.9 – Port Clinton, Pennsylvania $1 Yuengling drafts and the rocks of PA
1283.9 – Pennsylvania / New Jersey Friends and family visit WonderGimp
1334.2 – High Point, New Jersey Rain, rain, rain, trail magic, and more rain
1440.7 – Bear Mountain, New York Hike Naked Day!
1486.1 – Kent, Connecticut Gimpy Sr. and Barkeater hike with W.Gimp
1543.8 – Great Barrington, MassachusettsWelcome to Mosquito Hell
1618.0 – Massachusetts / VermontPhoton and strobe lights for the 4th of July
1687.3 – Killington, Vermont The Inn at the Long Trail
1738.1 – New Hampshire Live Free or Die!
1794.4 – North Woodstock, New Hampshire Gettin’ above treeline
1814.4 – AMC-land, New Hampshire Entering the White Mountains!
1854.0 – Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire Mooning the tourists on Mt. Washington
1869.2 – Gorham, New Hampshire My first Moose sighting!
1920.7 – Andover, Maine The way Life should be…
1979.3 – Rangeley, Maine Closing in on the end
2015.6 – Kennebec River, Maine Eye of the Tiger!
2095.7 – Monson, Maine 100-mile Wilderness
2152.0 – Abol Bridge, Maine Katahdin is in sight!
2167.1 – Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, Maine Goodbye Capilene – Hello Cotton!!

Other Pages:
Map – Yep, 14 states
Gear – What to Bring
FAQs – See for yourself
Glossary (learn the AT lingo)
Links to Additional Info
Trail Injuries Everything from blisters to swampfoot
Trail Privies Bring your own TP
Class of 2000 Katahdin Thru-Hiker Pictures