I was excited. Not only were we going to reach the unofficial halfway point, but I would also get new shoes. Ever since reaching mile 500, I had been counting down the miles to Harper’s Ferry, a town in West Virginia. And reaching it was a major steppingstone – because if you make it halfway, you can make it all the way.

Tang and I had spent the night at the Bear’s Den, a hiker hostel in northern Virginia. We had 22 miles before we would get into Harper’s Ferry. After spending some time in town, we would continue another 10 miles or so before calling it a day.

At least, that was the plan.

After a DIY-pancake breakfast (standard hostel-breakfast for the AT) and our ten cups of coffee (our signature drink for the AT) we were on our way. In comparison to the day before when we had hiked over “The Ride”, a section famous for being like a rollercoaster with its ups and downs, the day started off nice and flat.

We’d heard rumors about rain (there’s always fearmongering about rain on the AT) but so far, the sun was shining. And even if it did rain, I wouldn’t mind. I’d picked up a $10 rain poncho in Shenandoah National Park and was – as sad as it may sound – eager to try it out.

First pouring rain…

Turned out that the rumors were true. A few hours after we hiked out of Bear’s Den the rain came crashing down and forced us to seek shelter at a small hiker cabin just off trail.

I don’t know a lot about the Appalachian Mountains, but I do know that when it rains, it pours. And it doesn’t just pour for a few minutes – it can go on for hours. Luckily, this time, it only lasted about an hour before it eased off and we could keep going.

Still, it was an hour where we didn’t get any miles in. (But I did get to try out my poncho, which held up surprisingly good for $10 worth of plastic.)

….then trail magic

Not long after we had another unplanned stop.

“You want some trail magic?”

Like so many other times before on this trail, one of the churches blessed us with trail magic offering a buffet of everything a hiker could possibly need and want.

– We traveled three hours to get here. Every season we try and figure out where the hiker bubble is going to be and then we set up our tent for a few days before packing it up to go home. There’s a few of us that travel along the trail to try and catch you guys.

This time we were offered everything from hotdogs to Q-tips.

– Every year we bring pen and paper so that you can write down if there was anything missing or anything that you’d wished we’d brought. We then make sure to bring it next season.

As always, I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of strangers.

No matter what trail I’ve been on, people have helped me in whatever way they can. They’ve given me rides, paid for meals and handed me drinks, food and money. Only to help me reach a goal that I’ve set for myself for very selfish reasons.

Only days before, we had gotten trail magic by a couple who had also driven three hours just to hand out homemade sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and cookies to hikers with an insatiable hiker hunger. It was their first trail magic, and I was the very first hiker to stop and spend some time with them. I felt honored. They told me that this was something they always wanted to do and that they dream of hiking the AT one day.

I was reminded, again, of how lucky I was to be able to take the time off to do this kind of adventure and have a body that had carried me through this many miles.

And that trail has an amazing and unique way of bringing people together.

When things don’t go according to plan

But even though it’s hard to break away from trail magic (especially when there’s chairs), all good things eventually come to an end.

We grabbed a few packets of ramen, said thank you and hiked on.

It was late afternoon when we reached Harper’s Ferry. After stopping at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) headquarters for the mandatory picture, our next stop was the general store in town. Our plan was to do a quick resupply and I would pick up my new shoes (with almost 700 miles on the ones I was currently wearing, this was a moment that I had been looking forward to for quite a while).  

As we were sitting outside the shop, packing out bags of food, a woman approached us.

– Are you hiking the AT? You want some cookies and a pizza bagel? I got some drinks too.

After bringing us the cookies, pizza bagel and drinks, the woman continued to tell her stories about her encounters with other AT-hikers. All while asking us questions about the hike.

– You started in May?! Wow, you guys are flying!

We told her that we were planning on doing another ten miles that day, although at this point it was getting late. And while trail magic is one of the perks about being on trail, taking the time to socialize can also add stress to a day when you’re already behind schedule.

At this point, we felt the stress creeping up on us. We had also had more social encounters than we’d probably had so far on trail.

Hiking another 10 miles suddenly felt too overwhelming.

So, what does one do on the AT when things don’t go according to plan? And when everything feels overwhelming and one is almost halfway?

One finds a nice patio and has a beer.

Then, within the next couple of days, one hikes almost 40 miles in one day only to get to a small country store before they close to eat ice cream. Because when you’re halfway, you got to eat half a gallon of ice cream.