Date: 2003-06-17
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: light rain

Happy Anniversary to us! Three months ago we started on our journey from Springer Mountain. Harpers Ferry is the psychological half way point on the Trail. We thought it would be cool to get there on our anniversary...but we'd have to do over 20 miles to do it. Could we make it? If not, there was a hostel and a shelter along the way.   Not being fully committed to the idea, we slept in a bit. Our legs and feet hurt from doing 18.9 miles yesterday. It was raining again, too. Pippi and Baby Steps were opting for a short day. Sean-O left early assuming we wouldn't be going long. We finally hit the Trail at 9:45 saying we'd see how we were doing when we got to the shelter. But...we knew. Twenty miles at two miles per hour...IF we did it, it would be a long and late day. According to the profile map and what we'd heard from other hikers, it was easy hiking.    The Trail was beautiful. It seems like it's been a long time since it was so pretty. Even in the rain we enjoyed the hills, streams, and varying terrain. There were several rock outcroppings with nice views. It wasn't raining hard.   Soul Train caught up with us at one of our breaks. We'd heard he wasn't far behind. He's an interesting and nice kid. It was good to see him. Any more, it's good to see any thru hikers. The ranks have thinned. Those of us who are left are so spread out. It's strange.    Soon we reached the West Virginia border. One more state! Today we'd travel along the border between Virginia and West Virginia.   The David Lesser Memorial Shelter was a welcomed sight. It was still raining and cold. The weather was just as it was when we started three months earlier. It was a nice shelter with deck furniture and a swing at the picnic pavilion. As usual though, the water source was a quarter mile downhill. We decided to have dinner and then move on. Pippi and her son, Matt, showed up. They were staying at the shelter. Baby Steps stayed at the Blackburn AT Center hostel.    We were back to hiking at 5:00. We still had nearly 10 miles to go, but they were supposed to be easy miles.      Shortly after leaving the shelter we paused to celebrate a major milestone: 1000 miles!!! How cool is that? We made a big "1000" out of rocks, did the 1000-mile dance and took pictures. With a loud yahoo and yeehaw we giggled about our accomplishment.   We kept waiting for the "easy" part of the Trail. Although it was fairly flat, we discovered that West Virginia is a VERY rocky state also. How were we ever going to pick up the pace? At this rate we'd never get in before dark. We pulled out the headlamps.   We finally saw the mighty Shenandoah River. And mighty it is. With all the rain, the river is swollen and muddy. We were glad we didn't have to cross it on rocks! Harpers Ferry was in sight at long last.    With daylight quickly fading, we thought we'd walk across the Potomac River into Maryland to "claim" one more state. We followed the AT into the woods toward the Harpers Ferry visitors center. It's amazing that where the Trail passes by the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conference that it is so poorly marked. We got to a point where there were stairs going in three directions. Even using our two guidebooks, we couldn't figure out which way to go. There were no blazes in sight. Now it was pitch dark. Perhaps it was obvious in the daylight, but in the dark and rain we were defeated. We turned back down the Trail and headed to the hotel and checked in at 9:45. A twelve-hour day.