Date: 2004-06-15
From: Blackburn Center

To: Harpers Ferry (Hilltop House Hotel)
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: clear sky

Harpers FerryHarpers Ferry at last. The ATC headquarters are here, so it is known as the 'psychological' midpoint of the Trail, even though the real midpoint is nearly 80 miles further along.I have been trailing some of the Trail 'family' I was with in SNP by just a few hours since I left Front Royal. (Some of the others have blasted on ahead, some zeroed in FR and are a bit behind me. I know this from shelter registers and the very efficient Trail grapevine.) I thought I could catch this remnant if I left early, so was on the Trail by 5:45. When I got to the next shelter I found that they had all stayed there (Gaiter Woman, Palm Tree, Fire Marshall and Boonie) the previous night. They must have been as anxious to get to HF as I, since they had all left before 7AM. I soon learned that Boonie was only about 5 min ahead of me, so hustled to catch up. But I didn't overtake him until nearly 7 mi later, shortly before we began the descent into Harpers Ferry. We walked together until we started across the Shenandoah River bridge. At that point my excitement and long distance running experience took over, and my legs began to move faster as if of their own accord, even though the route to the ATC HQ was mostly up hill.Poor Boonie. By the time I reached the cutoff trail to the ATC he was 50 yds back. By the time I got to the ATC itself, he was nowhere in sight. At the ATC I registered as a thru-hiker and got my picture taken. I am the 320th NoBo thru-hiker to come through HF this year. Some statistics: Only about 1500 thru-hikers left Springer this year, down considerably from more than 3000 in 2000. Less than 25% usually make it to HF, so the survival rate this year is probably better than usual, since there are still lots behind me. This is probably because of the more amenable weather this year compared to the last few. The survival rate from HF to Katahdin is usually around 50%, usually because of family issues, sickness or injury, time constraints, or running out of money. So there are still challenges ahead.In fact, I suffered a minor injury myself yesterday. As we came down the hill into HF, Boonie and I were chatting away. The trail was no longer so steep, and there were no rocks or roots in the way, so the 'dangerous' part of the descent seemed behind us. My attention wandered to focus on the conversation, when all of a sudden I found myself flat on my back on the trail. I had encountered a slightly steeper section of the trail, had slipped on the gravel and ended up turtling. My left foot ended up underneath me. That has been my weaker knee throughout the hike, and it ended up being strained. I iced the knee a couple of times during the day, and walked slowly around town in the evening. It is a bit sore, but should hold up OK back on the Trail. I will just slow down some for the next couple of days.And by the way, I ended up having lunch with Palm Tree, Fire Marshall and Gaiter Woman. And with Boonie who came in later.Milestones today:I entered my 5th state, West Virginia. I travelled along the WV border as long ago as the day before entering Pearisburg, and again yesterday, but today is the first day that I have been fully in the state. And I will leave it with my first steps on the Trail tomorrow.I also crossed the 1000 mi point yesterday. Gaiter Woman said that that milestone had been painted on a rock in the trail yesterday, but I missed it.Finally, I reached the 'psychological' halfway point on the Trail. That was the most important milestone for me.Hobbling into my home state of Maryland -