{"id":433,"date":"2023-05-26T19:33:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T02:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2023\/?p=433"},"modified":"2023-05-26T19:42:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T02:42:22","slug":"trail-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2023\/trail-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Trail Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m dedicating this post to my Trail Family, those hikers I’ve met and befriended on the AT, CDT, PCT, and back on the AT again. It means the world to a thru-hiker to meet someone you recognize as being from your own tribe, a hiker who has not only walked the same miles, but lifts your spirit on lousy days, shares your joy on the days when you overcome an obstacle, and generally transforms thru-hiking into a collective adventure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cloudsplitter, me and Spice near Glasgow, VA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Us again in their home in Boonsboro, MD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My tent, courtesy of Cloudsplitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cloudsplitter and Spice’s kitchen table, original exposed beams in background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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That’s a lot of prayers over the years <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Even the police in Boonsboro have cool digs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some of my SOBO AT trail family from the ATC’s old hiker albums<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In front of ATC HQ in Harpers Ferry, WV 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dark morning entering Harpers Ferry <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lots of colonial architecture in Harpers Ferry <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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290 years and counting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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More great buildings in Harpers Ferry <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bridge over the Shenandoah river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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L Dee’s Pancake House<\/a> for the win, Front Royal, VA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pecan pie bread pudding? Um, yes please.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I slept on this porch as a SOBO with my trail family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’m worried I’ll miss some names here, but from my first AT hike there are the Dukes (Birdie, MAV, Hero, Swish, Slimjim and Herc) and the Brown Blazers (Hydro, Stringbean, Toastface, Ducky and Dirtybird). Then on the CDT I added Impala, Hammer, Cougar, OB, Chickenfat and T-Pain. And on the PCT I added Northstar, York, Muggle, Little Mouse and Pololo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unicorn trail segment: both flat and straight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Me chilling on the screen porch of a Potomac Appalachian Trail Club property<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The first thousand miles always seem the hardest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On this hike so far, I’ve counted hikers like Sunshine, Jukebox (2\u00d7) Chattahoochee, Shower, Perfect Timing and others as potential new trail family but in most cases we haven’t seen each other in a month and generally speaking I haven’t spent enough time with any others hikers this time around to make that connection, until recently meeting Cloudsplitter and Spice. Spice NOBOed the AT a year or two ago and Cloudsplitter is currently about halfway through his section hike of the AT, interleaving his hiking time with career obligations. We hiked together only a couple of days but we ended up pulling similar miles (25ish for consecutive days) which led to camping together, friendship and finally to an incredible zero at their home in Boonsboro, Maryland. They’re not currently on the trail full-time but with any luck I may get to hike with them again in Maine when they head up there later this year to finish some of Cloudsplitter’s remaining miles. It’d be my honor as they are two of the best hikers I’ve met out here this time around and absolutely part of my trail family. I’d also like to mention Wedge, another member of my tribe who’s also a fellow Deadhead so he gets bonus points for that. We met and chatted long into the evening at a hostel and that may be our only meet-up, but there was that connection, for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other news, I’m about 1200 miles into the hike now with about 1000 left to go, writing this from two days north of Duncannon<\/a>, PA.
I’m tired and want to be on the trail early so I’ll end it a bit abruptly here, but I hope you enjoy the latest pictures and videos from my YouTube channel<\/a> (73-85 are all new).
All the best from your weary (but healthy) trail correspondent, Max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another state park right on the trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cool ruins in the state park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not the one in DC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Named for its location on the border of PA and MD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Leaving the South, entering the North<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“The woods are lovely, dark and deep…”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The tunnel effect<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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1100 (actually, now 1185)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The halfway sign, though actual halfway mileage changes every year due to new switchbacks, reroutes, etc.,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The ATC Museum<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Definitely stopped here as a SOBO too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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They look tired and hunched over<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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New wrinkle: farms fields<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cow stopper in PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“Just exactly perfect”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Infinity pool optical illusion <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Love these shades of blue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m dedicating this post to my Trail Family, those hikers I’ve met and befriended on the AT, CDT, PCT, and back on the AT again. It means the world to a thru-hiker to meet someone you recognize as being from your own tribe, a hiker who has not only walked the same miles, but lifts
+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-maryland","category-pennsylvania","category-virginia","category-west-virginia"],"yoast_head":"\nTrail Family - 2023 AT Nobo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2023\/trail-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trail Family - 2023 AT Nobo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m dedicating this post to my Trail Family, those hikers I’ve met and befriended on the AT, CDT, PCT, and back on the AT again. It means the world to a thru-hiker to meet someone you recognize as being from your own tribe, a hiker who has not only walked the same miles, but lifts+ Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2023\/trail-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"2023 AT Nobo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-27T02:33:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-27T02:42:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/at2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_6739-1-edited.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maxheap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maxheap\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Maxheap\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6dab1a8d242fa73d0ae7098ba54f07ae\"},\"headline\":\"Trail Family\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-27T02:33:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-27T02:42:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":717,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6dab1a8d242fa73d0ae7098ba54f07ae\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/05\\\/IMG_6739-1-edited.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"maryland\",\"pennsylvania\",\"virginia\",\"west virginia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/maxheap.net\\\/at2023\\\/trail-family\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trail Family - 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