Date: 2006-11-16
From: 2 miles N of Washington Monument, Md

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 22.1

When I set up my tent last night, it had started raining, but never amounted to much. A couple brief, lite showers overnight was all, but the winds were up and by morning my tent was dry. That was one of two reasons why I got started walking about an hour before the daylight. It was a nice thought to carry a dry tent, and I had it in the back of my mind that I might walk all the way into Harper's Ferry. I had a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and I didn't realize until tonight that I didn't have any caffeine...hummm, I never got a caffeine headache all day either. I hurried up, packed up before the rains came back and was walking by about 5:30am. The rain did come back...slowly at first, then a good steady rain most of the rest of the day. It was mild out, so it felt pretty good. I did wear my rain coat because the high winds made me feel on the cool side. I think the temperature was about 60 degrees. I haven't walked too much in the dark lately, but I do enjoy it when I get to walk along and watch morning come. I got to Washington Monument just about daylight, stopped and sent in a journal entry and checked my email on the payphone there. The wind was really whipping through that area, so I didn't stay any longer than I had to. I got to Rt 40 in a couple miles. I really had wanted to time my walk through this area to be on a Sunday morning, so I could see if Moosie was right about how good the Sunday Brunch at South Mtn Inn was, but I don't seem to be able to plan when I'm going to get anywhere right now. :-))) I needed water and figured Dahlgren Back Pack Campground would be closed this time of year, but was happy to see the lights were on. I walked up and filled my water bottle, then walked on. I walked by the side trail to Rocky Run Shelter without stopping. then climbed about 800 feet up South Mountain. It was an easy few miles to Gathland State Park where I stopped and tried to put a wet dollar bill into the Coke machine. It wouldn't take it and there wasn't anyone around to help. Sometimes life on the Trail can be really tough!! :-((( I ate a snack while I was there. The building gave me a place to get out of the rain. I walked on and was surprised when I saw the side trail to Ed Garvey Shelter. It was almost 4 miles from Gathland and it seemed like I got there really quick...I must have been zoning out or something. :-))) It was raining hard all afternoon and I was walking in mostly fog with the winds still blowing pretty good. I realized I was really enjoying myself out there, even though my knee was hurting and my plantar fasciitis was painful. (Chief would never be caught on the Trail in this kind of weather I kept walking and got to Weverton Cliff, then started to descend to the C&O Canal Towpath which is only 3 miles from Harper's Ferry. The rain was starting to let up some, but every time I took my hood off, the rain would start back again. The water of the Potomac River was flowing pretty fast. I watched 7 geese watch me walk by, then they started squawking and took off flying low over the river. When I got to the ATC Office, I walked in and got to talk to Laurie for a while. I got my photo taken and I was the 47th flip-flopper to walk through there this year. I also met Greybeard and his wife who volunteer there one day a week. Greybeard had been working an statistics about people who do multiple thru hikes and the numbers were neat to see. I even made the list!! :-))) I made arrangements with Laurie and Dick Potteiger for dinner, then went and got a room at a motel. I laid all my stuff out to dry, took a shower and washed my clothes in the shower with me. I don't have the luxury of having Yolanda along anymore. She loves doing laundry at a laundromat, so I haven't had to wash my own clothes all summer. I'm back to washing them in the shower with me now. :-))) Laurie and Dick picked me up at 6:30pm and we went to Anvil's for dinner. It was great to finally get to sit and talk to them. It's always so good to talk to other hikers. We were at the restaurant for well over 2 hours. I had a very good NY strip steak that was cooked just right...medium rare along with a baked potato, steamed vegetables and a salad. I also had a flowering onion for an appetizer and ordered some chicken wings to carry out for later. :-)) Dick and Laurie dropped me back at the motel and I took some coffee up to my room and started snacking on the chicken wings. Clyde has me scared because he's sure his grandson is way ahead of me in The Leaf Catching Game. (I thought they lived on the beach) It's so easy to take leaves away from my hiking friends that I know report false leaf catches, but how can I take leaves away from a young boy?? I don't have his final count yet, so maybe I'm still in the lead. :-))) Remember....final counts have to be into me by the 20th for me to make the grand announcement before Thanksgiving. (I'm still feeling pretty confident though) I'm in WV now!!!