Ridgerunner Gathering at Blackburn Trail Center

Appalachian Trail, Maryland, June 25, 2022 — The day after our monthly ridgerunner meeting at the Blackburn Trail Center, we headed for the hills with a crew from Maryland Public Television for their second trip to document the Appalachian Trail in Maryland.

They are shooting a segment for “Outdoors Maryland” ( https://www.mpt.org/programs/outdoors-maryland/ ) a program “…produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. This award-winning series delights viewers each week with thought-provoking stories depicting the region’s diverse collection of ecosystems, people, and places…”

We started at the Appalachian Trail Conservancey in Harpers Ferry, WV where they found a family with a two-year-old thru hiking the trail this year.  So far they’ve covered more than 1,000 miles.  They have a large backpack and a child carrier which the parents switch off.  Yes, they are packing out the diapers.

We found two thru hikers hiding from the mid-day heat at Gathland State Park.  One just finished nursing school; the other is on her way to medical school.  Each is hiking from Georgia to Maine as part of their transition to the next step of their lives.

Next up was an unusually crowded Dahlgren campground for just after mid-day.  Dahlgren offers hot showers and porcelain plumbing making it a Cadillac stop in between towns.

Kasey did a long interview to supplement the one she did two weeks ago.

We finished up with a campfire at Raven Rock Shelter.  There’s one more shoot scheduled in the fall once the leaves have started to turn.  The program will be eight to 10 minutes long.  To produce that much air time, literally hundreds of hours of video needs to be shot.  The program will air over the winter and ultimately be available at the Maryland Public Television website.

Sisu