Writing from Mountain Home B&B in Front Royal, Virginia. An easygoing, somewhat quaint, vaguely progressive town, ironically where Stonewall Jackson won a significant battle in 1862.
Just exited Shenandoah National Park and only a few days from a new state (West Virginia) and historic town of Harpers Ferry, which is the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conference (THE governing body of the trail). I look forward to meeting those responsible for turning me into a Sisyphus and carrying me over a sea of jagged rocks. And look forward to revisiting where John Brown became a martyr, albeit a shortsighted one.
I’m at mile 972 of 2,190 miles…almost at the halfway point and nearly back “home,” in the North, where the Union won a war to end slavery and keep the states glued together. Gettysburg and Antietam are in my sights. I’ve visited these battlefield locations many times, but this time I’m marching by foot. Thank God I don’t have to trudge barefoot or eat maggot-riddled hardtack. How did those soldiers do it?
Can you tell I’m excited about these links with U.S. history? These kinds of milestones help keep me going. Later, I plan to revisit Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where the author of “Omoo” later wrote “Moby-Dick.” Also, Williams College, where my great-grandfather graduated Magna Cum Laude, and the small village of Stamford, Vermont, settled by my g-g-g-g-g-grandfather Josiah “Rock” Raymond when he camped against a boulder (damn those rocks) in the mid-18th century.
And it will also be interesting to train into Manhattan, subway to the Upper East Side, and walk down Lexington Avenue, full backpack and greasy beard, and ring the buzzer of my uncle’s eighth-floor apartment, where he’s lived since…wait for it…1960.
The word “surreal” is an understatement.
Thanks for traveling with me…
Omoo
longitudes 
Peter you look alive and well! I was getting worried due to radio silence. Carry on!
Gracias, Phil. Silence due to cell reception difficulties and finding occasion to write. BTW, one of the records in the Jenkins’ collection (Mtn. Home B&B) is Tom Rush’s “Wrong End of the Rainbow.” I was impressed.
Tom Rush overcame the concert lockdown by offering a weekly song in podcast every week. The podcast is called Rockport Sunday, named after his tune. $10 a month. You should let the Jenkins know. BTW stepping on Copperheads is a caution. Lucky you stepped on his head and not his tail!
Good to get an update from you, Pete! Yikes about the copperhead! Thanks for the lovely Virginia pictures! I miss views like that.
Glad to share, Leah. Shenandoah was pretty, and the hiking much easier.
Great to see your post, Pete!
Thanks for reading, Anne!
Very cool stuff Pete. About to crack ‘Cloudsplittter’ a Russel Banks take on Brown.
Just read the Wikipedia article on this book, and it sounds fascinating. Thanks for the tip, CB.
You take care buddy. Thinking of you and telling folks about your hike.
Omg can’t believe you stepped on the snake and didn’t get bitten! Luck was on your side!
Hi, thanks for commenting. Yes, I was very lucky. Anywhere other than the snake’s head, and there could have been a hospital visit. (Although, unlike a lot of hikers today, I still wear boots that protect my lower ankles.)