June 3 - 24.8 / 1,045.2

I think have the knees of an 80 year old man. If I don't now, then I will soon after this hike is over.

The first night out was a little rough. I remembered why I don't like to sleep in shelters. The bugs ate at my skin all night. After not getting a good amount of sleep, I started to roll around by 5:30. The good thing was it allowed me to get hiking by 7. I did take my time getting out of there. Not 30 minutes after I was hiking, I heard my phone ringing in my pack. Strange things is that is was off when I put it in there. Somehow it got turned on, but that was good because DS was the one calling. I had to call him back as I could answer quick enough. He told me he was about 10 miles ahead. We discussed plans and decided that I would hike roughly 25 miles and he would do 15 in order for us to get back together since Demascus. That was probably some 600 miles ago.

The cool thing about this area of the country is the Civil War history. There are even signs and camp grounds that tell us about the area and what battles were fought. The morning took me through Garland State Park and past the Reno Monument. GSP has history about the war and a monument to war correspondents. The monument is the only one of its kind. There is also the remnants of an old barn used during the war. The Reno Monument is where Maj. Gen Jesse Lee Reno was killed. This battle was the antecedent to Antietam.

I ate lunch at the Dahlgren Backpack Campground. Also there were Turkey, Thrasher, Maple, Long Shanks, and two others who's names have slipped me. After lunch I got to see the Washington Monument. It is the original one built for GW in 1827. The top offered a good view of WV, MD, and PA. As I was hiking down, I met Mellow Yellow and Turtle, two brothers from Atlanta. I spoke to them for awhile and then headed on.

The afternoon brought showers. I could hear the thunder getting closer and didn't want to get caught in the lightning. So I jogged for about a mile in order to make it to a campsite. I set up my tent quickly (does nothing against lightning, but does against rain) and jumped in just in time before the downpour. Not sure how long it was going to last, I didn't unpack anything else. I took a 20 minute nap and woke up to sunshine. LS, Maple, and the two forgotten names had rolled in and were talking nearby. I decided to pack up my tent, spoke to them for a little bit, and hiked the last 5 miles to where DS and I were to meet up.

I stopped to get water just shy of the tentsites for the shelter to get some water. As I was walking back to my pack, I saw DS hiding behind it. I got there just in time as he was going to grab my stuff and hide it. We embraced each other, ok not really. We did act like little girls when we saw each other. I joined him for dinner after setting up my tent. LS joined us and Maple showed up as we were finishing.

As DS and I were catching up on the last few weeks he told me he was planning to meet his parents in two days. He also mentioned that he was going to take a zero and go to Gettysburg. He extended the offer which I accepted. I haven't even been on the trail for a week, and I will already be taking a zero.

We parted ways for the evening. I about killed myself as I was putting up my bear bag. I had thrown the rope over two limbs. Note that both of them were dead. As I was pulling up my bag one of them broke thus falling about a foot in front of me. It got my heart rate going. I managed to pull it up though.

Before bed I called my friend Drew B. for his birthday. He better read this to see his shout out.

After a long day, I was ready for some sleep.