Date: 2015-06-26
From: David Lesser Memorial shelter

To: Harper Ferry's Hostel
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a day to remember.The first thing in the morning after I started hiking, As I cooked breakfast I though about all of the time and miles I had been hiking in Virginia. It seemed both like an eternity and a brief moment at the same time. I had finally left the beautiful, but not easy state. I loved the "green tunnel" on the hot, sunny days that provided such wonderful shade to keep us cool. The state was full of wildflowers, rose bushes and berries. On the trail early and saw two deer watching me warily from the woods about 50' away. I stuffed myself silly on Wineberries all day long, along with whatever other berries I could scavenge along the way. I took the blue blaze on my Guthook's to the Sweet Springs County Store for a second breakfast and coffee. I saw that they had cowtails which I hadn't seen for over a decade and bought a handful and went outside to eat and charge my devices. While there the couple from the shelter arrived and asked what I was eating. I told them "Cowtails" and they thought that, like Pig's feet, it was a type of meat snack! Well I puled out two and let them try and they instantly fell in love with the caramel sticks. Back at the trail there were a number of plaques as it was the border. Wineberries continued to line the trail all the way to the Shenandoah River Bridge that you had to walk under and then across. I saw so many deer on the way to the bridge, more than I had seen previously in total. Walking over the bridge I looked down and saw many river rafts, inner tubes and kayaks making their way serenely down the Shenandoah River. Walking through Harper's Ferry was incredible. It is an area drenched in history, so much that the whole town is a historical park. There was a plaque dedicated to John Brown which read "John Brown aimed at human slavery a blow that woke a guilty nation. With him fought seven slaves, and sons of slaves. Over his crushed corpse marched 200,000 black soldiers and 4,000,000 freedmen singing "John Brown's Body Lies A-Mouldering in the Grave but His soul Goes Marching On!" There were so many plaques that it took me some time reading them all. There was a yellow house with a picture of the house taken during the civil war and there was a cannon, manned by soldiers in the yard. The house looks exactly the same, with a similar cannon in the back yard, though without the soldiers! I stopped in at the AT main office and had my picture taken in front of the building and found that I was the 884th thru-hiker that had passed by so far - a record number. Hanging out at the HQ I saw many familiar faces while I drank sodas and snacks while resting. I kept stopping and reading and taking pictures of historical plaques and buildings, stopping in for lunch and some ice-cream. We enjoyed trail magic placed in the front yard of a house right in the middle of town. It was a competition with the ants who were also enjoying it and were furiously trying to hoard it all to their mound before the hikers could make off with it! We looked at the battle site where John Brown made his ill fated attempt at a slave rebellion. It was where "Stonewall" Jackson, who was the headmaster of the Virginia Military Institute, called the graduating class to arms and boarded a train to Harper's ferry where he was placed under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee who then squashed the rebellion. The original firehouse building is still there although it has been moved. (Quite a feat as it is a brick building!) I was shocked to find that the Lewis & Clark Expedition started from Harper's Ferry! We stopped in at a diner in the Historic Section where I had an excellent BBQ sandwich, potato salad, Chips and a Sam Adams Summer Ale, which was light and refreshing. Afterwards I walked with another hiker across the railroad bridge with a view of the cliff and an old advertisement painted high above on stone. The trail exited the bridge before the train track disappeared into a long dark tunnel, where I somehow missed the state line sign, and along an old canal along a tow path parallel to the river. The water in the canal was covered in algae and so were the turtles! It looked like they were sporting Mossy Oak Camo! At one point there was a huge turtle, about 2' diameter and there were 5 tiny turtles sunning on its back! At one point a large, about 7' snake was seen slithering across the water. It was too far away to see what kind it was but it must have been about 6" in diameter! At one point in the country back east the canal system competed with the Railroads to carry cargo and thousands of miles of canals and locks were build. Some, like this one remain, preserved for future generations to see a vital tool that helped build our nation. It was a beautiful and easy hike. I was with another hiker in my trek to the Harper's Ferry Hostel for the night. We were told that a big storm was on the way, which is one reason I had hit the hostel along with needing some resupply. I also had to get to Wal-Mart to exchange a pair of boots that were falling apart after only 5 days on the trail! The soles were falling apart and I pulled out the insoles and there was cardboard under the insole covering a waffleboard sole that was becoming way to flexible from the pounding of the rocks. I was very impressed with the Hostel and the way hikers are graciously received, fed and cared for. First thing there, I tried to call my wife and couldn't get through. I was exhausted and soon after putting my gear away I turned in for the night. I joined up with a few hikers for a beer and safety meeting out back and off of the property right before the storm hit. I realized later on that I had missed the WVA/MD state line sign/marker. Showering felt so good and I was soon in bed and off to sleep.