Date: 2004-06-21
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: Harpers Ferry, WV - Holliday Inn
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: few clouds

Road-head fever strikes again. As a result there is honestly nothing I recall about Sam Moore Shelter. Today we are heading for not just any road-head. Today we hike into Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the conceptual midpoint of the trail. The actual midpoint being 78 miles north in Pennsylvania. Harpers Ferry is the home of the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conference, now the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC is the organization that coordinates all of the trail maintaining clubs for the entire trail. There was a lot of excitement and anticipation about today.The view from Bears Den Rocks was mighty nice and photos were taken. Just beyond there a woman and her young son greeted me on their way up. We had a pleasant chat about thru-hiking. Somehow the subject of Canada and Montreal came up. She had met another thru-hiker from there. Somehow my brain didn't make the connection that this must be Buick she spoke of. He must have gotten ahead of me while I was off trail digging a hole. Some times it seems the trail is like some sort of drug and just blurs the thought process. Not to worry. This was a happy day.It was less than a mile down to the highway in Snickers Gap. There was a fair amount of fast traffic. This made me quite uncomfortable. The trail crossed the road and reentered the forest about a hundred feet down hill. After crossing there was a strong urge to simply haul out of there but there was a snickers bar in my snack sack that just had to be eaten in Snickers Gap. It didn't take long.A couple of hours later landed me at a nice rock summit above a cliff called Crescent Rock. This made a great place for some lunch. There were voices down below. It turned out a summer camp group was having a day of top roped rock climbing here. The climbing instructor in me drew me to the top of the climb and forced me into the traditional role of encouragement as a couple of the kids sought the biners at the tops of their ropes. It felt a bit like the good old days at camp running the Valley Voyageurs program. The difference here was that the staff did all the belaying. It was more like a carnival ride with lots of folks just sitting around watching. They were all having a good time for sure but it's always better to be a part of it. Of course there is more risk with student belayers and it requires more instruction time. It requires a little differed gratification.Later that afternoon Buick and I caught up to each other. We came to a concrete pad in the middle of the trail that displayed the words ¢Congratulations 1000 miles¢. Wow. That was huge. There is a picture of our boots as we stood on this marker. The boots are hurting of course. Buick's are in worse shape than mine but mine are not long for this world. About a week ago holes developed where the fabric was pulling away from the rubber toe piece. It's been dry for a while and it just may be that the shrinking of the finally dry fabric is what actually did the deed. The holes have been growing day by day. Amazingly the soles were still passable. They just needed to make it to Harpers Ferry. The outfitter there was well reputed.We were less than two miles from Harpers Ferry when we encountered 3 or 4 guys making camp just off the trail. There was still plenty of light so it seemed odd to make camp this close to town. As it turned out they had already been to town even though they were northbound. They were preparing for the "4 state challenge". This camp is just on the Virginia side of the West Virginia boarder. It's just over 30 miles from here to Pennsylvania. That means hiking from Virginia through West Virginia and Maryland to Pennsylvania all in one day. It's pretty neat when you think about it. Neither of us gave this challenge any serious consideration. We covered nearly that distance most days. These guys had already spent a day in town getting ready and would likely suffer the days after. Best of luck to them none the less.Harpers Ferry is located at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. After crossing the Shenandoah River the trail goes right through town and the campus of Storer College. Both the town and the college have tremendous historical significance to the Civil War and civil rights. Walking the streets of this town was very reminiscent of Lexington Virginia, the town where my grandparents lived and where my brothers, uncle and grandfather went to college. This place brought back many happy memories.It was nearly 8pm by the time we reached the ATC headquarters. It was of course closed. We took some pictures and headed to King's Pizza. Words cannot describe our disappointment at finding this pizza joint closed. Well the book indicated a restaurant a bit further down the road but it was closed too. What's with this. We asked some folks on the street to no avail. Eventually we came to a 7-11 store where some other thru-hikers were hanging out. We got something to snack on there.Buick had arranged to meet his parents here at Harpers Ferry. They had reserved a room in the Quality Inn just outside of town. They were driving down from Connecticut but wouldn't be in till later. I figured to get a room there too and meet his folks. Now we just needed to get there. Navigator showed up at the 7-11. She was Ole Man's wife and we had met before back at Partnership Shelter. We asked her for a ride but she had already agreed to hang with a bunch of other hikers in the bar next door and then shuttle them somewhere. It had been a 25.3 mile day. We were hungry and tired and just wanted to get to the Inn. We started asking random folks leaving the 7-11 for rides. Surprisingly, a young woman with a small car said yes. It wasn't far as it turned out but we were ever so grateful.The grill at the Inn was of course closed. Grrr. Fortunately there was a pizza delivery place. We settled into our rooms. The room wasn't cheep so my intention was to make the most of it. A quick dip in the pool would certainly help. The washer and dryer down the hall came in handy too. The pizza arrived early while I was still in the pool but the staff came and got me. Buick came to my room and we scarfed it down. He had changed his room because something just wasn't going to work with the one he started with. His folks got in late so we didn't meet till morning.This was a fine and auspicious day at 23.5 miles.