Training Raven Rocks Hike

Raven Rocks Elevation Profile, 1500 foot elevation gain. 

We have done many training hikes, usually on the weekends with some hiking around our place on the weekdays. We have only added weight in our packs a couple of times on short hikes. I've been nervous about adding weight/carrying a backpacking pack because the hikes have been difficult enough. We finally added weight, and yesterday was difficult because of it. Most of our gear is in a storage unit in Colorado. The only "gear" we have here in D.C. is the stuff we have bought in the last three months: my new Osprey backpacking pack, David's Deuter day pack, hiking socks, platypus bladders, and frogg toggs. David added two 5-pound weights to his pack and I put a gallon sized ziplock bag full of rice in the bottom of my pack. Also included in my pack was food, headlights, first aid kit, Chaco sandals, three jackets, rain gear, bug spray, sunscreen, phones and about 4 liters of water. Since I don't have a scale, I have no idea what our weight was.

Rollercoaster begins here, Appalachian Trail sign. 

We decided to do the other side of Buzzard Hill to the north which lead to an overlook called Raven Rock. It was supposed to be a 5 mile round trip affair with 1500 or so feet of elevation gain. The 2 3/4 mile hike to Raven Rock went surprisingly well, so we decided to keep going. The overlook was awesome! We eventually saw a sign talking about how the roller coaster was over. Thank God! For the next mile, it was heavenly and flat. I figured if the rest of the AT is like that, I would consider doing the rest someday. During the hike we met several AT thru hikers, most notably Mark and Connie who had reached their 1000 mile mark earlier that day. Although clearly in a hurry to finish their 24 mile day, they patiently talked with us and answered some gear questions David had. (They have a blog at trailjournals.com). All in all, we hiked 9 miles with our packs on. The way back was way more challenging than out, but we still managed to hike 1.9 miles an hour on average.