Day 102

I got up before 5:30 AM this morning and was on trail before 7 AM. Maryland has a constant flow of trail runners, the hikers and we can warriors. I can see why! The trail is easy and beautiful and the shelters are spectacular with wonderful Tent pads. By 7:40 AM I came across The side trail for high rock ledges. This is the place in my pictures is covered in spray paint. Everywhere! The ledges are covered in spray paint, the trees and little rocks all over. There’s a ton of garbage everywhere from water bottles to smashed beer cans to food wrappers. I’m going to make my stance very clear. I’m disgusted by it all. If you think spray painting trees and rocks is considered art then I personally think you are in disgusting individual. How’s that for being clear? The wilderness out here is a magnificent beautiful thing and should not be marred by peoples initials, graffiti and trash. That’s all it is! Pure trash! Hands-down the worst thing I’ve seen on trail yet. What a shame because the view from the ledges was spectacular. Don’t get me wrong. I do believe spray paint art can be Beautiful and artistic. It comes down to location and I don’t believe it belongs in the wilderness. OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

The last of Maryland, while not bad and elevation changes, is full of rocks. There’s everything from those little rocks that like to cause you to stub your foot and trip to the massive boulders you have to hop from. It’s like it is warming you up for what I hear Pennsylvania can be. It’s definitely more rocks than roots now where the south seem to be more roots than rocks.

I fell really hard today. It was just stupid. Not even a tough section. Just nasty small rocks that will trip you up on a downward slope. I caught my foot and couldn’t get my trekking poles out to stop me. It was like falling in slow motion and I rotated sideways as to not land on my face. I scraped up my left shin and hurt my left palm really badly. There’s a very sharp pain in my left palm. I hope I didn’t fracture anything. It isn’t swollen but we’ll see what it looks like in the morning. I started to notice a purplish spot forming. I think it’s just bruised.

Well, I finished a 20+ mile day and of course, the shelter I stopped at is .3 miles off trail all downhill and then further down to the tenting areas. I’ll have a 19-ish mile day tomorrow and I’ll be hitting the halfway mark. I have to take in all the fun milestones we can make. It keeps us fired up and going forward.

Oh, how can I not mention this! I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and into Pennsylvania! My 7th of 14 States! Woohoo!