By the Numbers: Status to Date

2: Sections of the trail that we've completed (Northern Virginia/Maryland and Shenandoah National Park)
4: States in which we've hiked (Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania [so it's a 1/10 of a mile?])
4: Dayhikes it took to complete Maryland
5: Years that we've been doing this
7: Maps that we've completed (Maryland, 2 Northern Virginia, 3 Shenandoah National Park, 1 Central Virginia)
12.8: Percentage of the entire trail that we've completed
234: Miles that we've hiked in Virginia
279: Total miles that we've hiked -- From the Mason-Dixon Line to the James River
316: Miles left in Virginia
1900: Miles remaining of the entire Trail
2,179: The entire AT, our one goal

Bullfrog: A hike without Rhino...

is like a day without sunshine.

Seriously, Rhino had to be out of town and two other guests bailed on me. So, Robert and I went instead on June 19-21. We hiked from Snicker's Gap (Route 7, Bear's Den) to Chester Gap (Route 522) just southeast of Front Royal. It was the same section Rhino and I had done in hikes #2 and 3. Rob and I did about 11 miles the first day, about 17 miles the second day, and coasted to my car on Sunday around 11 am with about 6 miles for a grand total of a little over 34 miles. Not bad. Then I went to the farm and fished all afternoon and got a sunburn on my legs.

Highlights:

• It rained Saturday morning, but then cleared up. Not nearly as much water through there as Hike #3.
• Sunday was Father's Day and also the First Day of Summer, also known on the AT as Naked Hiking Day. We saw only one naked hiker, a dude with bandana strategically placed on the waist-strap of his backpack, so we didn't see any of his junk.
• We camped at the top of the hill just south of I-66. There was a wonderful meadow at the top ... laced with poison ivy.