Date: 2007-06-27
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Crampton Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

I slept in later than usual, had a great breakfast at the hotel restaurant, then finished getting my pack ready to go. After checking out I headed down into town and found it was quickly developing into a very hot and humid day. So, I did what any hot thru hiker would do, went looking for ice cream. After eating 2 large double-scoops in the park, it was lunch time so I went looking for lunch and a cold beer. By 3 PM I had to either hike out or go find the AYH hostel a few miles out of town. Since both required heading north on the AT and the C & O Canal Towpath, I made the big break and hit the trail. As I began to cross the Potomac River bridge I made the mistake of looking at my thermometer; 92 F and probably 90¢s humidity. No wonder I don¢t feel much like hiking!The walk along the C & O Canal towpath was actually quite pleasant because of the nearly continual overhead canopy of trees. There were lots a people passing in both directions, families on bikes, joggers, and a few folks out for a quick walk. It was envious of the numerous groups of rafters and kayakers I saw floating down the Potomac River; what a great day to be on the river!As I began the quick steep climb up to the Weverton Cliff overlook, I realized I had been going through a lot of water, in spite of having had a leisurely stroll along the perfectly flat C & O Canal towpath since leaving Harpers Ferry. The high temp and equally high humidity was wringing the water out of me and the 2.5 liters I had been carrying with me wasn¢t lasting very long. The next water source would be at Ed Garvey Shelter, 3 mile up the ridge.The view from the Weverton Cliffs overlook was very nice, in spite of the haze from the humidity. The view back up the Potomac River towards Harpers Ferry was excellent and well worth the short side trip out to the cliff. There was a day hiker there, a man in his early 60¢s who quickly struck me as a bit odd so I did not stay long before heading on up the trail. It was a nice gradual ridgeline walk to Ed Garvey Shelter, a very nice and relatively new shelter. Unfortunately, the spring was .5 mile down a steep side trail, nearly to the bottom of the ridge. I had no choice but to go down, filter another 2.5 liters of water, and lug back up to the shelter on the top of the ridge. I thought about staying since the humidity had pretty well sapped my energy, but it was still early and the trail looked to be just gentle ridge walking to the next shelter, about 4.5 miles north.When I got to Crampton Gap and the Gathland State Park, I wandered around a bit reading some of the signs about the Civil War battle fought here and the memorial to Civil War newspaper correspondents. Not far beyond was Crampton Gap Shelter where I arrived about 8 PM, and decided to stay. My ankle is bothering me a bit, but I am pleased with how the new ankle brace is working. It has a metal stay that goes down along the inside of the ankle, flattens and passes under the heal, then goes back up along the outside of the ankle where it is velcroed in place by a wide padded strap. The metal stay is hinged so that it swivels front to back to allow the foot to flex normally as you walk, but provides strong lateral support. I have to lace my right boot differently to account for the additional mass of the brace inside, but it seems to be working well. Thanks Brenda!