Date: 2018-06-19
From: Spout Run Ravine

To: Mile 1019.2
Miles today: 16.6

It was such a long day today! There just seemed to be a lot of things that slowed us down.We woke up to fresh cool air. It seemed like it would be an excellent day for hiking. I had forgotten about the drop in temperature we had felt once we had come down by the water. As soon as we ventured away from the bubbling stream, hot muggy air enveloped us. Back out onto the rollercoaster I went ahead while Cole rolled out of bed. Within just a couple of miles I came out to a highway. I had to turn to Guthooks to find out which direction the AT was. It was down the road a ways and then across both sides of the divided highway. I wasn¢t certain that Cole would be able to find it on his own, so I waited. Forty-five minutes later Cole arrived. When I reached the Virginia/West Virginia state line, I encountered a couple of day hikers who had a lot of questions about our hike. I must have chatted with them for half an hour. Just as we parted ways, a familiar face came hiking up the trail. It was a hiker named Remedy. We had not seen him in over a month. We had to chat some more! Eventually we got moving once again, but shortly after we needed to stop for water. Other hikers were filling up there too, so more chatting ensued.As we started north again, I fell in behind Remedy and was able to match his pace. We had a good conversation as we hiked and time went by quickly. The next thing I knew, it was 2pm and we had not yet eaten lunch. After a rest, Remedy continued on and I waited for Cole to catch up so that we could have lunch.Before we could finish our lunch, drops of rain began to splatter on our laps, and our food. We finished eating quickly and then hurried on. Before we could get far, thunder boomed and lightening cracked. Not far ahead was a side trail to an ATC owned hiker cabin at The Blackburn AT Center. We decided that it would be wise to head for cover. It was a quarter of a mile down hill to the cabin. Nobody was there, but in the main house there was movement. Dripping wet and undoubtedly smelly, we stayed on the porch of the hiker cabin. Cole wanted to call it a day and stay the night. I was anxious to get closer to Harpers Ferry.¢There is a gas station with a deli that we can probably get to today¢,  I told him. He was in. When the rain let up, we returned to the trail and carried on.To reach the gas station with the deli we had to walk .3 of a mile up a busy road with no sidewalk and little shoulder. On Guthooks there was a word of caution about the road. Cars go fast, it warned. As we neared the road we heard a crash. Coming out onto the road we saw a car flipped over on its side just off the road. Two startled hikers were near by. The car had flipped just as it had passed them.Choosing the side of the road that had a ditch, we walked very quickly and cautiously up to the gas station. Cole ordered a cheeseburger and I ordered a steak and cheese sub. The food was delicious.By now it was 7pm. There was a Campsite two miles up the trail. We headed for that, but I wearied quickly. When we came to a stealth site a mile from the campsite, I called it quits. We set up the tent and went straight to bed.