After walking off over 60 miles, I have now finished the Appalachian Trail in parts of Virginia & West Virginia. The continuation of the roller coaster in Virginia was covered in a few inches of snow and frozen leaves. This made for poor footing and slowed my time to over six hours. Next week I’ll be climbing the hill at Weaverton, Md and hiking 19 miles north to the I-70 pedestrian bridge. Below is a pic of me at Buzzard Point, WVa, behind me is the Shenandoah Valley & Massanutten Mountain. Maryland and Pennsylvania are all that remain. 61 miles hiked, 120 to go.

Saturday morning I set out to hike the roller coaster. Otherwise known as Virginia Section 3 of the Appalachian Trail. 14 miles in length along Virginia’s Blue Ridge. It’s the 6 hills, each 700 feet tall, that make this hike very difficult. The weather was clear and cool, the footing was good and very few hikers were on this section of the trail today. I finished 7 hours. Everything after the roller coaster will be relatively easy.

Sunday I hiked the Appalachian Trail through Harpers Ferry and down the C & O Canal. This is one of the easier hikes I do along the trail. I did 9.5 miles in just over 3 hours. The views of the Shenandoah River coming down the mountain and across the Rt 340 bridge are quite stunning. The cold temperatures matched with stiff winds made the crossing very uncomfortable. The views at Jefferson Rock and the walk through town are worth the trip alone.