Stephanie's Trail Journal

July 19th

Beginning Point: Harpers Ferry, WV
Ending Point: Crampton Gap Shelter
Daily Mileage: 11.1 Miles
Total Miles: 1019.5 Miles
Weather: hot and humid

I love waking up in a hotel, waking up at 8:00 am, taking a long hot shower and then stumbling to the dining room for coffee and eggs! I think I'm spoiled for good. The hotel, the Hilltop Inn, is a historic hotel, so despite being in operation since 1888, we were still shocked that TVs were not part of the hotel room decor. The bathroom appeared to once have been a closet or something- I don't think I've ever seen one so narrow before. I am not complaining, I'm just relating to you my experience. The dining area in which we were seated looked out onto a part of the Potomac River called the Devils Staircase. The whole area was very scenic and I bet autumn is killer.

After checking out it was time to visit the Appalachian Trail Conference. This is the place where you sign a register and get your photo taken for posterity. They also tell you where you are as far as hikers that have stopped in before you. Stephan is hiker #624, I'm 625, and Dan is 626. I think about 1650 people began in Springer so about 38% of hikers who began in GA made it 1000 miles. Thats a long way. And another statistic I've heard is only half of the hikers who reach Harpers Ferry will make it to Katahdin.

We were distracted by the shops in town this afternoon... we had lunch and some beer at a tavern called the Secret Six (after the financial backers of John Brown, an abolitionist), then topped that off with ice cream. We paid a second visit to the Outfitters (hard to resist these places now) and Stephan bought a new sleep mat like mine. Dan picked up some food items which were surprisingly difficult to find. Then we went to a sandwich shop to have some sandwiches ready for dinner in a few hours and a few miles down the trail. We finally left town around 4 pm. Harpers Ferry NP looked cool, but we didn't see too much.

Part of the AT follows the C&O Canal and towpath for about 2.6 miles. These weren't marked well - to the point that we had to ask someone whether or not we were still on the trail - apparently because the people who maintain/own the towpath don't want the AT blazes. Strange. The American Discovery Trail also follows this towpath from Cheasapeake Bay to Ohio and we also didn't see blazes for that. The towpath trail is cool, but I think I would bike it rather than hike it.

We took the side trail to Weverton Cliffs which looked back on Harpers Ferry and the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. It was a beautiful sight but I'm not sure my photos will do it justice since there was a lot of haze in the sky.

A few miles north of the cliffs is the Ed Garvey Shelter - one of the nicest on the trail. We ate our subs there and just before we began packing up, a summer camp group of 16 kids aged 14-16 and their counselors showed up. These kids were bouncing off the walls with energy despite it being 7 pm and no dinner yet. One of the counselors said they planned on hiking 27 miles back to the main camp the following day. I think we've done that once and it wore me out - we had 2 zero days afterwards. Kids.

The last 4 miles of the hike, all I could think about was coca cola. My addiction to this tasty beverage has grown and grown and I now have a monkey on my back! Not really, but they sure taste good. I told Stephan and Dan that a Coke would make me happier than a pig in $h!t. And I was in luck too because there were soda machines at the war correspondents memorial just a half mile from our final destination. As I type, I'm enjoying a tasty coca cola beverage. mmmmmmmmmm! I might not sleep well tonight.

I'm pretty excited - Stacy and Jay (my sister and brother-in-law) are joining us on the trail for a night. I hope we have good weather for them.

Nite!
Steph

Posted by steph at July 29, 2004 02:58 AM