Date: 2014-07-08
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: I-70 Footbridge
Miles today: 16.0

I woke up a little after 6:00, I was sore from yesterday's long hike so I was moving slow this morning. At least I wasn't hungover from the Trail Magic! I made a shopping list for tonight and checked my guidebook for anything interesting to see today and where I need to get water. I headed out about 8:00 and stopped and checked on Scout and Boo to see how their morning was going so far. I took pictures of the shelter it was a nice one. It has two stories and had a staircase and door on the back side. I probably would have stayed in it but it was pretty full last night and had a dog there. I talked to Chef and signed the shelter book and moved on. I was really walking slow this morning, the bottoms of my feet were feeling everything. I ran into a large Boy Scout troop from Virginia. Aaron was in charge and he stopped and asked me questions about my hike. He wants to hike it someday and said that he and the scouts would be following me on my journal. Onward went flying past me, he was slackpacking and was trying to do the 4 state challenge. That is where you start in Virginia and hike through West Virginia, Maryland, and into Pennsylvania in 24 hours. I stopped at Gathland State Park, it once belonged to a famous newspaper columnist. He wrote about the Civil War and was the Ernie Pyle of his time. Newspaper columnist and writers were treated like hollywood stars back then and he became very wealthy. After the war he purchased 100 acres where an actual battle took place, they had to finish taking bodies off of the property before he started building on it. He built a stone arch for a war coorespondents monument, a large house, lodge, barn, and orchards and gardens. It was a neat place and later the property was aquired by the state of Maryland and turned into a park. I was able to get water there and hiked by another area where a battle took place. Two commanding officers were killed there, one from each side. The next stop was the Dahlgren Backpack Campsite where you could tent, take showers, and get water. There was a large church group just past there taking a break under a large tree. I talked to them for a bit and said that I would take the biggest troublemaker with me. They all quickly pointed to one kid and laughed. I met lots of hikers again today mostly headed south for a short hike. I hiked to Washington Monument State Park, the monument was built by the residents of Boonesboro, Md. and you could go up in it. I talked to some older couples under a pavillion that asked lots of questions about my trip so far. I was coming out to a powerline clearing and a 3 foot rat snake slithered by. I haven't seen a snake in a few days. But I'm not complaining. When I finally got to the footbridge I was walking across the south end just as my Brother-in-law Todd Payton was walking from the north end. Pretty good timing. I remember driving under the bridge several times and thinking how neat it would be to someday hike the AT. Todd took me back to the now named Payton Hiker Hostel where I showered, changed clothes, and we went to a nice AYCE buffet. They actually had two buffets in one strip mall. A pretty good storm blew in while we were eating and it looked like I had made a good choice for the night. We visited back at the house during the evening and I made phone calls to family.