Date: 2015-05-18
From: Unnamed campsite

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

HARPERS FUCKING FERRYYYY!!!!YES! We woke up relatively late, around 6 AM. We were around 4 miles from Harpers Ferry and we knew the ATC Visitor Center opened only at 9 AM so we had plenty of time. We hiked with a good pace and, as we reached the town's limit, we started recognizing the area. Harpers Ferry has not changed much since our last visit in 2013, when we began our section hike.The ATC took our picture and gave us our thru-hiker number - we are numbers 169 and 170. I remember that the people we met during our section hike had arrived at the ATC during the month of June and were given a number in the high 400s, low 500s; we are still in the northern end of the thru-hiker bubble. We stuck around the ATC then we went to the outfitter, which had a very, very limited supply of food choices and what was available was very expensive. Harpers Ferry is unfortunately a touristic town rather than a hiker town and there aren't many lodging or resupply options. We wandered a bit around the old town to see some of the historical sites, but we were somewhat discouraged by the huge crowds of tourists and hordes of children (I know that is to be expected, but crowds of people, when we are not used to them are somewhat unnerving - I feel almost claustrophobic and especially self-conscious as I am well below the minimal hygiene standards to be considered socially acceptable. There was also the fact that the heat was oppressive. It was in the high 80s in the shade and so humid; I felt as if we were wading in a thick vapour which clung to my skin. Thick drops of sweat were rolling down my face - I have not been so uncomfortably hot in a while. I guess summer is here...We ate lunch and decided to move on to the closest shelter, around 7 miles away. Short day, but we are trying to alternate between short days and long days - hopefully this schedule will help us reach a better balance.I was very excited to arrive at Harpers Ferry as this was our starting point for our 2013 section hike. I remember when we were about to cross the Potomac River, a couple of locals came over to talk to us. They talked about Pensylvannia in length - all these towns like "Boiling Springs" or "Duncannon" were so foreign to me and frankly, I didn't really care. My feet and shoulders were in absolute agony under the weight of my too heavy pack. The pain was exacerbated by the fact that we were standing still; those two would just not shut up. We finally left the couple and hiked on the flatest terrain ever. The almost 3 mile stretch out of Harpers Ferry is basically a neatly maintained gravel road where bikes and day hikers can stroll along, going along their merry way. At one point I saw an insect crawling on the Trail and feigned a great interest in it and took off my pack to fetch my camera. It was all a ruse to force us to take a break without admitting to Shrugs that I was exhausted and could not take it anymore. Now, today, we skipped through that same segment and even saw a family of Canada geese. It was great!Then, we arrived at the Weverton Cliffs. During our section, this had been the hardest challenge ever. All subsequent uphills were measured in reference to the Weverton. I had even forgotten how rocky and annoying the terrain was as, I suppose, these details were suppressed in my memeory. I only retained that feeling of complete exhaustion and despair I had. Today, those cliffs were a breeze, though we did have the added difficulty of having to hike in the heat. We are not as bad as before! Hooray!We arrived at the shelter quite early. It is supposed to rain and there is a high chance of thunder showers, so we are staying in the shelter tonight.- Axonp.s. It's now raining very heavily. It was the right decision.