• Home
• Intro
• About
• Planning
• Journal
• Contact

Appalachian Trail – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia

Virginia
The Priest, 4063 feet

“It isn’t pollution that is hurting the environment, it’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.”

- Dan Quayle

Journal Entry 5.8.00
“7pm at my campsite at Hog Camp Gap. I’m just waiting for the rice and beans to cool off before I chow. 23.7 miles today! A new record for me. I woke up at 5:45am, hit the trail by 6:30am, ate breakfast on the trail at 8am, and then just kept going. It was a clear day, hot, but not as hot as the past 2 days. OK, now I’m trying to get over this bad mood. There is NO water here, even though the data book says there is. I have just spent the last hour looking for it – NOT what I feel like doing at the end of a long day. I finally found some nasty stuff which I am now boiling. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Luckily I did run into some trail magic today at Brown Shelter. An older couple, Flash and Hot Flash (’87), was there having lunch and they gave me an ice-cold Pepsi and some vegan bran muffins! Oh, water’s ready – time to clean my feet…”

Journal Entry 5.9.00
“At the Priest Shelter with Dad! 15 miles for me today, 5 for Dad. He drove down from Pennsylvania to hike with me for a few days! (He got a speeding ticket coming down – I feel pretty bad about that.) I met him at the trailhead at noon and he gave me my resupplies then we started hiking in the hot, hot sun towards the shelter. Apparently he saw the M.O.B. squad (Mushroom, Orion, and Bombadil) in town and gave them and some other hikers a ride. Very nice of him to let smelly hikers in his brand new BMW!”

Journal Entry 5.10.00
“At Maupin Field Shelter with Dad and White Eagle. I did 13 miles over Three Ridges today. Dad decided to blue-blaze around the mountain so he did 9 miles and I think it was a good idea. The climb up the ridge was long and steep but I enjoyed it. I saw a deer peeing in the woods earlier today! Apparently Good Vibe, Pit and Koonacky are down at Rusty’s. We were offered a ride down there by a couple from Harper’s Ferry but we decided to stay here. I sent a note for Good Vibe back with the couple to let him know that I’m not far behind.”

Journal Entry 5.11.00
“7pm at the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter. I’m here with Dad (Gimpy Sr.), Red Forest, ‘Mo Miles, D-Low, and section hike Mid-Life Crisis. 15 miles today – an easy day for me but tough and long for Dad. He was a trooper though. The shelter here is really nice and right next to a creek. Looking forward to town tomorrow – food, shower, laundry, etc. Only 5 miles from here. I think Dad is glad the hiking is over.”

Journal Entry 5.12.00
“In the Laundromat in Waynesboro with Dad, waiting for my sleeping bag to dry. We hiked the 5 miles out early this morning, dropped our stuff off at the hotel, had breakfast at Weasies, hit the post office, and then went back to the hotel for showers. I got a care package from Geo – the guy whose register I carried out from a shelter – he sent me Chex Mix, M & M’s, Advil, and a bottle of Jack Daniels. Pretty funny combination, but most appropriate for a thru-hiker. I’ve switched to my Arc Tery’x Khamsin 50 pack. It’s much lighter than the Boro 80. I know I’ll be happier with less weight but I did like the way my stuff fit into the bigger pack. The temperature tomorrow is supposed to be 93F!”

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