June 13, 2004
Maryland and West Virginia go by in a blink!!
17 miles back to Harper's Ferry today, and tomorrow they should be done with Maryland!! GAH!
THEY ALSO BROKE 1000 miles! ![[crack that whip!]](../../../images/smilies/whip.gif)
| Day | Miles | |
|---|---|---|
| June 11 | 72 | 17.1 miles2 -- 1000 miles down.. |
| 73 | 17 miles3 | |
| 74 | 17.4 miles4 | |
| 75 | 23.1 mile slack5 |
June 11
It rained, and they got soaked.
Just north of Ashby gap is a section called "TheRollerCoaster", a "13.5-mile section with 10 consecutive ascents and decents. The Virginia corridor is narrow here, leaving the Trail crews very little choice other than to route the path up and over each of these ridges." [AT Companion, 2002]
Really nice and dry, some better views (especially sans rain). They hiked into Snickers Gap1, and stopped in town for a cheeseburger and a beer. Ruth said the place reminded her of an old man's bar...
They'd planned on staying at the Blackburn AT Center2, which is a old house/hostel, that has a bunk room and showers and stuff. When they got there, it was full up, so they spent the night on the screened porch, at it was COLD! Had a big spaghetti dinner with salad and dessert and all the fixens!
June 12
Hiked into Harpers Ferry3. A motivating factor was another trail angel, "Bag o' tricks" was having a Barbeque.. They saw Baltimore Joe there, too. And more food than Aunt Ruth could list in 5 minutes. They also notably had an abundance of bottled dark beers (both imported and not). YUM!
They stayed at the The Harpers Ferry AYH Hostel in Harpers Ferry which is basically in Maryland (they crossed the Potomac). When they arrived, there were 2 boyscout troops camped out in the yard, and another church group - so they camped in the yard..
June 13
From the hostel they're staying at, they were dropped off 17 miles north at Dahlgren Back Pack Campground4, and they slacked their way back to the AYH hostel.
June 14
They'll be dropped off at Pen Mar County Park5, in MD - and they'll slack their way back to Dahlgren Campground. For those familiar with the Maryland area, they'll be passing Rocks State Park (Black Rock and Annapolis Rock) already!! Holy cow!!
Mail Drop
Next Maildrop is Boiling Springs, PA.
* We have a letter to send (from Jan), and maybe a film card.
Hiker update
- Homeboy is still about 7 days ahead
- Joe Flamingo is 1 1/2 to 2 days behind
Dad and Ruth signed in today at the unofficial halfway point (which is Harpers Ferry) - Dad and Ruth are hikers 300 and 301 in this year's class.
References
- Fat Man Walking - This has succinct descriptions of trail sections with trail maps.
1 VA7-Snickers Gap, VA is 989.3 miles.
2 Blackburn Trail Center, 992.3 miles
3 Harpers Ferry, Maryland-West Virginia Line is 1,009.3 miles.
4 US Alt. 40-Turners Gap, MD is 1,026.7 miles, Dahlgren's Campground is .2 mile south of that.
5 Pen Mar County Park is very near the Mason-Dixon line (otherwise known as the Pennsylvania-Maryland border), 1,049.8 miles.
Comments
Wow! You guys really picked up speed!
We were going to catch you in MD -- instead we were knocking down our house. We weren't expecting you for another week.
Great Job!
Maybe we will catch you somewhere in NY.
Hey-heard you were going to be in Michigan for the 4th of July weekend. Is this true? Gotta know as plans have been already made.