July 1, 2024 3 min to read

AT Blog: 69 and 70

The Coaster

Day 69:

Begin the day at Manassas Gap Shelter. It’s annoying to get my stuff down from the bear pole via a heavy metal rod. It’s unyielding and difficult to get the hook under my bag.

I get going, and there’s a few major milestones today. First and most importantly, I’m 1000 miles into the hike! It’s been a long journey to here but I feel great… other than the small splashes of rain starting to come down.

Secondly I am entering the Roller Coaster in Virginia. Long story short it’s called that due to the odd rapid up and down nature of the 17 miles of trail. The trail was forced into the area to prevent a road walk, and it goes up and down the ridges instead of up and onto them. Ultimately it feels a little overhyped as I’m going through it. It’s not that it’s difficult, just that it’s not so difficult that it’s note worthy. Plus it helps I stop at Sam Moore Shelter which is halfway in the zone.

I meet Bear Town Bob there who is doing another large section of the trail, and it’s just the two of us at the shelter. I opt to actually stay in the shelter because of rain chance.

Day 70:

Woke up later today. The mix of rain and the cool weather helped me sleep. Plus it was just me and Bear Town Bob so not a lot of noise. I’m relaxing today as I don’t have far to go, only 14 miles. I decided not to push closer to Harper’s Ferry as it’s expected to rain around 4 PM and any other site beyond Sam Lesser Shelter would just be a campsite or a hostel.

Bob and I chat foe a bit before I start packing up and head out around 8 AM, a late start for me. Today I’m finishing the Roller Coaster, while it certainly isn’t easy it definitely feels underwhelming considering people were worried about it for 2 weeks. I hike towards Bear Den Mountain where an old mansion turned hostel now lies. There’s a lot of day hikers in this section, all the way north to the end of the coaster.

I cross a highway, which was pretty dangerous as cars fly by a 4 lane road with no sidewalk. The other side has a completely full parking lot.

A few miles later I get to Blackburn Trail Center, a nice facility with a cabin for hikers and a faucet for water. The facility itself is an old lodge now used as base camp for the local trail maintainers. One of the maintainers, TNdefender, is there and gives me a diet coke and cookie and chats about maintenance on the trail. I tell him about me graduating and heading to get my masters after the trail.

Eventually I head off and finish my hike at David Lesser Shelter, only a 14.2 mile day. There is a lot of section hikers at camp, but only one other through hiker named Punishment. I suspect on weekends from here on out I’ll see more section hikers than through hikers.

Tomorrow is onto Harper’s Ferry the “Halfway point” of the AT.