Date: 2016-04-24
From: Bears Den Hostel; Northern VA

To: David Lesser Shelter; Northern VA
Miles today: 11.2

Day 1411.2 miles in 6.5 hours (plus another mile for a lunch break and water gathering)Bear¢s Den Hostel (1002.9) to David Lesser Memorial Shelter (1014.1)Clear, sunny, but slight chill to the air (50¢s?)Dinner: Two: Corn chowder mixed with balsamic mashed potatoes, also cup of miso soupWildlife: One deer, maybe a flying squirrel Hikers: lots of day hikers and scout troops returning from their weekend camping trip, NOBO Cosmo at the shelter, three new SOBO flipfloppers just staring out of Harper's Ferry (Tim and two women)Well, the cough is back¢¦exactly 24 hours after finishing up the 10-day prescription. I¢m one day away from Harper's Ferry and my emergency doxycycline prescription for Lyme disease. I have six capsules with me, so I started taking it again. From that supply. If my primary physician is reading this, I hope you aren't wringing your hands in dismay. And I hope I¢m not playing with fire with self-diagnosing.My cough was definitely gone the last few days, so this sucks if it is reoccurring. Made myself some pancakes with frozen mulberries for breakfast and joined Biscuit and Cosmo in the dining room. Cosmo is planning on taking a zero here. Biscuit is heading out after me with plans to reach Harpers Ferry, 20 miles from here. Everyone else is gone. About two miles into my hike, after passing about 20 scouts and the same number of hiking club hikers, Biscuit flies by me heading up a hill. That¢s the last I¢ll likely see of him.The last three miles of the roller coaster are either not as challenging or are much easier when there is only a few miles left and they are knocked off before 10 a.m. The rest of the trail was much flatter with far fewer gains or decreases in elevation. Hmmmm, maybe I could make it to Harper's Ferry today too. But, first, let¢s concentrate on stopping for lunch at the ATC Blackburn Trail Center. That¢s only .25 miles off trail. All downhill. I needed to get water and the center seemed like a nice destination, which it was, but sort of a distance just for lunch. I headed back up the hill back to the trail. Arrived at the David Lesser Memorial Shelter around 3:30 p.m. I could see an inviting deck from the trail¢¦and If I wanted to camp at the next campsite another 4 or 5 miles further, I¢d again need water. So, let's take a looksie. Oooh, nice patio swing, nice Adirondack bench, nice privy view. I sign the shelter journal saying it was nice, but too early to stop. Then head to the spring .25 miles downhill. Again. By the time that¢s done (nice spring by the way), it's now 4:15. Oh, what the heck! I¢m heading to Harper's Ferry to stay tomorrow regardless, so why not stay here? I spent the next hour and a half reading a book in the swing thinking I¢d have the place to myself. By the end of the night there were six of us, including Cosmo who decided to not take a zero after all and another flipflopper who started that day heading south. Another flipflopper showed up way after dark. Musings: I had quite a theological discussion going on inside my head today about the definition of Lord vs God. Do they mean the same thing to all people? I don¢t think so. Being Sunday and all, I guess this was an appropriate musing.