Trax on Wax, Frederick Road, Catonsville. Support your local record store. Good people in there.

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.

I packed the camping gear and the canoe and spent a long weekend in Trap Pond State Park, Delaware. The weather was unseasonably warm for mid-November, low 60’s. The park was lively with lots of folks out on the water and enjoying the foot path. Saturday night things were relatively calm and the temperature dropped to 38°. The mild weather made for a nice campfire and exceptional sleeping. Day two was more canoeing and exploring the shores of the pond. Sunday afternoon the wind was noticeable as was the cirrus clouds that were now streaking the sky. The pond was quiet, most folks were heading back home to face the work week, I was prepared to enjoy one more day. The Canadian Geese as well as turtles were in abundance Sunday, unfortunately the fish were not. Sunday night the temperature dropped to 49° with a passing shower. Below is a pic of me preparing fried pork chops and wild rice on the second night.

I forgot how much fun it is to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. It’s been a very long time.

Thought it was time to pass along a drink recommendation. This is the “Trailer Park Sunrise.”

One part Tequila
Two Parts Sunny Delight
Splash of Robitussin cough syrup or NyQuil

Serve in a tall tumbler, or simply add the tequila and cough syrup to the Sunny D jug. Enjoy.

This years pepper crop is looking quite nice. I have 9 plants which are Caribbean Red Bonnet and Cayenne Peppers. The Scoville Units are nearly 100,000 for both, which is quite hot. I have big plans for another round of homemade hot sauce this fall. Much hotter than last years batch. Taste tester’s welcome.

Sunday morning I ran in the Pikes Peak 10k. The weather was perfectly awful, rain, cold, breezy. I’m happy to report I did my best 10k time, 1 hour – 4 minutes.

So I have not been hiking since the last weekend in January. The trail remains covered in 18 inches of snow. No chance of wandering through the woods for a few more weeks.