Julie and I are hiking the Appalachian Trail in the US from Springer Mt, Georgia, to Mt Katahdin, Maine, in the north, a distance of almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km). Our journey will start in early May 2023 and is expected to take about five months. We will be mostly camping, carrying 3-5 days of supplies to get us between resupply points, where we will be staying in hostels/hotels/motels where we can. I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail back in 1986 so it will be interesting to see how much has changed and how much it has stayed the same.

Appalachian Trail - Day 066 - Sandy Hook to Pogo Memorial Campsite

Day: 066

Date: Thursday, 29 June 2023

Start:  Sandy Hook (AT Mile 1027.3)

Finish:  Pogo Memorial Campsite (AT Mile 1052.4)

Daily Kilometres:  40.6 (Ascent 4534', Descent 3261')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  1774.5

Weather:  Hazy, warm and humid.

Accommodation:  Tent 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Muffins

  Lunch:  Cheese & berry Danish/Cliff Bar & Snickers 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - tired feet; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  Smoke from the Canadian wildfires meant views were non-existent and the air was smokey (apparently 22 times higher than the recommended maximum).

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left our motel soon after 6:00am and road walked about a mile back to the trail as a very red sun rose through the Canadian wildfire smoke haze which was to be a feature of our day.

Once on the trail, we climbed steeply up onto a ridge, detouring to the Weverton Cliffs along the way for a spectacular, but smokey, view over the Potomac River and back towards Harpers Ferry.  That turned out to be the best view we had all day as the haze thickened.

We are now in Maryland, our next US state, and for all of the day followed a long ridge northwards, dipping down to various gaps with road crossings and climbing to hilltops with views on better days.

We were never far from civilisation and often saw houses and heard vehicles not far from the trail.

The area was also of great historical significance with a number of Civil War action sites with explanatory signs.  And, there was the Washington Monument atop one of the hills, memorializing the first President and War of Independence hero.  There were also some nice State Parks with picnic tables, water and toilets.  Luxury!

Although there were some long rocky technical sections, generally the trail quality was good, passing through pleasant forest, and we made good time.

Around 6:30pm we reached one of the designated camping areas and found ourselves a site on a lovely evening.

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