Not all who wander are lost

SALISBURY — Walking up Falls Mountain Road on Wednesday afternoon, July 22, two thru--hikers kept a brisk pace as they talked about the big Appalachian Trail news here in the Northwest Corner. The recent demolition of the Amesville bridge has left many hikers confused, as they struggle to divine the meaning of the orange detour signs that show them how the trail has been rerouted to bypass the bridge.

The hikers introduced themselves as Taco and Shell (all AT hikers take on trail names; it’s a thru-hike tradition).

“Word got out and spread fast,” Shell said of the shifting of the trail. “We had no idea what to expect.”

Shell noted that the detour signs were actually far easier to understand than the white blazes that mark the permanent trail. Several times during their walk both hikers stopped and glanced around, looking for the blazes painted on trees, indicating the path they were to follow.

“Oh, there it is,” they said, and continued onward.

Shell glanced at her partner’s watch and smiled. “We’re making good time.”

“We want to cover 20 miles today,” Taco explained. He paused for emphasis. “That’s a lot.”

Twenty miles isn’t typical, but the hikers were trying to make up for lost time. 

“We haven’t been doing that many miles recently,” Shell lamented. “The heat was just too much.”

Shell is familiar with heat. As a native Floridian, she has hiked many of her local trails, including a trek from the Everglades to Pensacola. Scoffing at the title of “expert hiker,” Shell encouraged everyone to walk a section of the AT.

“Just remember,” she warned.“If you’re going the whole way, don’t forget to bring some money for food.”

After reaching the top of the Great Falls, the hiking duo took a break.

“We can’t stop for long,” said Shell. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

The ground ahead was likely to be more pleasant than the ground behind: The detour to the Appalachian Trail caused by the demolition of the bridge takes hikers out of the woods and onto the paved Dugway Road, which is harder on their (already exhausted) feet.