Date: 2003-06-03
From: Trail to Blackburn Center 

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: mist

Unbelievable! One THOUSAND miles! Virginia is done! I'm at the psychological halfway point, nearly to the actual halfway point. Wow! It is really cool to stop in at the ATC headquarters and have my picture taken, and also to look at my fellow hikers who've come through before me.When I got up this morning, all that was on my mind was to get these 12 miles to town out of the way. Town, at that point, wasn't Harpers Ferry. It was Anytown. Anytown that had food, shower, hotel. Hotdog and I hit the trail at 8:40, and covered the first three miles in an hour. When town is on my mind, I'm in "go" mode. It's not the healthiest way to be, because when in that mode, I don't drink as much water or snack as much as I should. The rain falling didn't help either, as it made stopping for a break less likely. I needed a privy break at that three mile mark, at David Lesser Shelter. Then we moved on.The rain was light but steady. I never did put on my rain jacket. The terrain was fairly easy, with just a few climbs, and they were not steep at all. The rocks however were not a lot of fun. And I was trying to hurry. It was like stumbling across them instead of hiking across them. I lean forward, that way, when I stumble, at least momentum carries me north. Usually. I sometimes stagger side to side, when my feet slide or fall off of the rocks. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to Town.Hotdog knew where the 999.9 mile mark was, and once there, we walked a few more minutes north, and declared the spot the 1000-mile mark. "Woo-hoo!" I yelled, throwing my arms in the air. For this event, we didn't tap knuckles. For this one, it was a hug. An awkward packs-still-on-the-backs, poles-on-the-wrists, you-smell-I-stink hug. Ahhh.... a thousand miles. I hadn't thought much about it. I thought I'd "woo-hoo" it and keep on truckin. Well, we didn't stop for long, but while hiking talked about it, and about other markers we'd passed, long ago, and some yet to encounter: Entering the Smokies was 2 1/2 months ago; how many miles was Damascus?; what will the Halfway Point be like?; tapping knuckles at every 10 miles....HA! We've passed a THOUSAND miles! And we're heading into Town.It was cool to cross the Shenandoah River. I like bridges over raging, churning, brown water. And when we reached the blue-blazed trail to ATC headquarters and climbed that steep hill into town, I felt good. At the ATC office, other hikers were there: Buddha, Hoser, Mr Ed, Siesta. And Lite Shoe! She got into Harpers Ferry and took a zero day today, and was there to talk to a group of kids about the AT and thruhiking. They seemed to enjoy it, and Hotdog, along with a few others got to answer some questions too. I looked at photos of those who'd passed through before me: Subman; A-train; Dimples; Red; Speck and the rest of 5-Alive. It was nice to see their faces again, even in just a polaroid. We spent about an hour there, getting our photos taken too, but hunger got us, so we went to King's Pizza for lunch. It was about 2:30pm. While waiting for the food, I walked to the Post Office to get my maildrop, and also a card from Uncle Kink and Aunt Rainey. Wonderful to! hear from them! The food arrived, and I ate good. Yummy ravioli, cheese sticks, garlic bread, cold soda!The rain had picked up, and was coming down pretty hard, but I was full, and headed for hotel and shower, so I didn't mind it too much. The shower was heavenly, despite having no shampoo! Just to have warm water falling over me was wonderful! And getting all that icky, sticky sweat and grime off... aaahhhhhh. Clean again!I made some calls, dug through my maildrop, checked and sent emails, and before I knew it, I was hungry again. It was 7:45! That explained it. It was time to be hungry. Since it was still raining, Hotdog and I decided to go to the restaurant here at Hilltop House Hotel. They were closing at 8, but because we were house guests, they let us in. A man at one of the tables was waving, but I didn't know who it was. Then it clicked. It was Happy Pappy, wearing "regular" clothes and clean-shaven! He and Dutch Tulip ended their section-hike here at Harpers Ferry today, and will head home tomorrow or Thursday. They were sitting at a table with 3 others. It's difficult to recognize hikers when they're not wearing their usual clothes... or smell.Dinner was pretty good, even if they were a little short of help. I had no trouble cleaning my plate, and was tempted to get dessert too, but decided I have tomorrow to eat as well. Or maybe I still have a candy bar in my pack...I hope the rain lets up tomorrow so I can check out the town some. I have to do laundry and resupply shopping, but want to get that out of the way and enjoy the time off. A cousin is coming to visit me in the morning, and I am looking forward to that, very much! It's nice to talk to people I know. Everone I've met has been friendly, but there's something special about family and long-time friends. I think it's just being around someone familiar, who already knows me, so the conversations don't always start with "What's your trail name?" or "Where are you from?" They can start with things like "Wow, you smell bad." It just means so much more!