Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 75, Monday, 5/30 – Half Time wanted to wake up at 4:30 this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up naturally at 5:15. I slept like a rock, and I needed it. We hiked the 7 miles into Front Royal (mile 972) and checked in at the Mountain Home B&B where we’ll be staying for the next 2 nights. I thought I would be sore from all the miles yesterday, but I didn’t feel any worse than I do after a typical day of hiking.

I showered quick and changed into some loaner clothes. I was too grungy to enjoy town without cleaning myself up a bit. Lisa then gave us a ride into Front Royal.

We first stopped at a coffee house and got breakfast sandwiches and coffee. We then headed over to the outfitter where I got another new pair of shoes. I’m on my 4th pair already. I decided to go with a more substantial shoe because the trail gets rockier in Pennsylvania.

After the outfitter, we wandered through some stores and hung out in the park. Front Royal is a nice little town. Plenty of places to eat and fun shops to poke your head into. We stopped at a BBQ joint for a late lunch, and then hitched back to the B&B. We were guessing how long it would take to get a hitch. I said 6 minutes. It ended up being only 3 minutes.

At the B&B, I found a few packages that had been sent! Thank you Ross family, Middendorf family, and mom & dad!

On another note, theres a lot of thru hikers who have served in the military. This was a surprise to me, I expected more of the crunchy-granola type hikers. This has been the first time in my life that I have interacted with so many veterans, and I’ve enjoyed being exposed to another facet of society.

Half Time served as a Marine and was telling me that people honor fallen service members by completing the Murph challenge on Memorial Day. The Murph challenge is a workout named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy who died serving in Afghanistan in 2005. I decided to partake, so I ended my day with a 1 mile run, 100 burpees, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and a 1 mile run. I was happy that I did it, but I was wiped out. I was too tired to eat, so went to sleep without dinner. Here I am struggling.

Happy Memorial Day!