[at-l] Terry is now more than half-way!

[pmags@yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

Terry Norton is now in Harper's Ferry.

Here is the update:

Hello from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  This is the
home of
the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) which is
charged with the
care of the 2168 miles of the trail.

Since my last email from Vernon, New Jersey, I have
crossed
Pennsylvania and Maryland.  The Pennsylvania rocks
were as bad
as I remembered.  Although there is no specific skills
required
to cross the rocks, fast paced miles will not be had
with these
pointy, sharp ankle twisters.  For those of use
southbound, we
start with the worst and the severity tapers off. 

I arrived in Harpers Ferry on Tuesday evening after
averaging 23
miles per day across Pennsylvania and Maryland.  I was
the 9th
SOBO to check in at the ATC Center for 2001.  Over the
past 24
hours I have met over 10 fellow southbound AT hikers. 
 I have
not seen this number since the first week in the 100
Mile
Wilderness in Maine (and most of those have probably
gone home
by now).  

I did an unplanned 30 mile day.  Through one section
of
Pennsylvania, I arrived at my intended destination
around noon. 
I rarely ever stop hiking before 4 pm, so I headed on
to the
next shelter.  When I arrived at Peters Mtn Shelter, I
thought I
had covered about 26 miles.  Upon checking the AT
Databook, I
found I had covered 30.8 miles.  Dumbfound, I quickly
fixed
dinner and went to sleep.   

With about 1000 miles to go, I will head out tomorrow
into the
Shenandoahs for Labor Day weekend.  Although we are
past the
crowds of NorthBound AT Thruhikers, the remaining Boy
Scout and
camp groups should be disappearing after this weekend
as school
starts.

My hiking pace has significantly picked up.  I am
planning to
meet my family in northern Tennessee over Columbus Day
weekend,
5 weeks from now.  If I continue at that pace, I will
probably
finish my trip around the first of November.

Thank you all again for your cards and care packages. 

Cheers,
Terry (aka: Cheers)




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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau

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