Date: 2007-10-21
From: Boonsboro, MD

To: Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I'm not sure if I can put words to the awesomeness of the time I had in Frederick. After taking my first shower in 11 days, I was treated to a huge meal of crab cakes, steak and about everything else you can think of. About an hour later it was time for ice cream sundaes, and then a dip in the hot tub! I was livin' the life at the Ashbaugh's house, to say the least. All of these good times were accompanied by some nice, cold Budweiser, and I passed out in front of the TV watching South Park. I awoke nice and late on the 19th and ate breakfast, which consisted of a brownie with about 2 servings worth of ice cream on top of it, then just lazed around for the morning. I had access to a car (how awesome is that), and went to Dunkin' Donuts and Food Lion for lunch and resupply with Dan. Somehow Dan arranged for one of his friends to bring over a game console (can't remember the name of it) that had James Bond 007 on it, which I used to play when I worked at scout camp (we had TV in our tent). We shot each other up, and then headed to the Baker's house for more crab cakes (I ate like a king!), polish sausages straight from Buffalo, NY and a bunch of other stuff, accompanied by yet more beer. Spent close to an hour in the hot tub, letting my feet relax and soak, and then passed out in front of the TV watching South Park. Yesterday I ate a pint of Hagen Daz coffee ice cream for breakfast, along with 2 Budweisers, and hit the trail at noon. I came across hordes of day hikers at the Washington Monument, which was an interesting structure. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of raptor spotters who were monopolizing the top of the tower. They didn't seem to have any problem filling the place up and then shooting angry looks at anyone who accidently bumped their binoculars or anything. Why can't they just stand on the ground; is it really necessary to literally take up the whole top of the tower to the point where only two people who aren't bragging about the strength of their binoculars can fit? The walk to the shelter where I planned on staying was pretty laid back. There were lots of signs about events from the Civil War, which were interesting to read; there was even a big memorial sign that was property of the State of Michigan, which seemed odd. I made it to the shelter last night, Ed Garvey, and it was super, super amazing. It was open to the east on the lower floor, but there was also a balcony that had a deck on the back side and was pretty much totally enclosed. There were some weekenders who had taken the balcony, but the view of the sunrise from the lower level was great this morning.I have made it into Harper's Ferry, and am the 76th Southbounder to pass through here so far this year. It was pretty cool to look through the book of people from this year; I recognized quite a few of them. It's time to grab some food, and then it's off to Virginia. I have an extra day to kill somewhere between here and Luray, VA, where my cousin is meeting me to hike for next weekend, which should be fun. I'm excited about arriving in the homeland this afternoon...Virginia, here I come!!! Also, even more exciting news; I will have fewer than 1,000 miles left to go after this afternoon!My tentative finish date for the trail is December 8th, which gives me a bit under 50 days to go 1000 miles, which I shouldn't have any trouble doing. I have lost 6 pounds since I really started to pick up my pace, which I did when I got back on the trail at the Hudson in New York after taking the 10 day break. I might shorten my break at home in November, which should make the 8th even more attainable. Finishing the trail on the 8th will have put me on the trail for about 4 1/2 months total, a good 20 days of which were zeros, so we'll see what happens. The trail is remarkably more deserted lately, but I think that there will be some big crowds in Shennandoah National Park next weekend because of the leaves. The weather is supposed to be nice, with the highest chance for rain in the 10 days being only 70% for Tuesday, and dropping down to 30% by Thursday. It's been pretty dry lately; many water sources are dry, which makes things a bit tougher, but I picked up an updated water availability sheet here at the ATC office, and it should help me plan my way southward. Still havin' the time of my life; time to go hike some mountains!