Date: 2017-05-13
From: Campsite near end of Roller Coaster

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 16.6

Despite the forecast of heavy rain today, it was a delight to wake up, after the torrential rain during the night, to find only tree-rain falling. I was able to pack the wet fly and damp tent without dealing with rain also. A big mercy. I hit the trail at 7:21. (I'm very particular about noting the exact time. Some might call it something else.) I wanted to get to Harpers Ferry, 16.6 miles away, as soon as possible so that I could go to the ATC HQ there, check in at the hotel, shower, do laundry, and resupply at the outfitters. So I planned on minimal stopping, and packed my camera away. Much of the early part of the hike was in open woods, on level paths. A noise behind me at one point startled me; a deer had crossed the path just after I'd gone by. Either it hadn't seen me, or, more likely, it wasn't fussed by seeing another of those odd two-legged things. The deer would bite a few leaves from a low-hanging branch, and turn to look at me as it went munch, munch. Bite, look, munch. Bite, look, munch. This went on for some time. I moved closer and the routine stopped. We just looked at each other. I decided to move on and leave the animal in peace. Soon the trail became rocky and my pace slowed. Then came the mud, and the trail masquerading as a stream. My shoes squelched. I began to meet weekend hikers coming towards me. A slack-packing young woman, Clever Girl, caught up with me as I perused my AT guide. I'd met her yesterday also. Damn slack-packers. She went to the shelter nearby to check the register, and I told her I'd make it my mission not to let her catch me again (she didn't). And so it went, no big climbs or descents. My previously sensitive ankle bone, unprotected today by the New Yorker, didn't trouble me. I arrived in Harpers Ferry a full hour ahead of what I'd usually expect. Then things went wrong. I misread the map, thinking I was coming into the town from the north when I was doing so from the south. I got terribly confused. At one point I spoke to a shuttle driver and she said "Hop on. I'm going to the Visitors' Center, but the ATC is right beside it." The ride took us out of town and up a hill. 'Right beside' turned out to be a half-mile trek, and the building was not the ATC but a Tourist Information center. I was fit to be tied. My wet feet were beginning to blister, and the hour I'd saved was disappearing. I took the shuttle back down, glaring at the driver as I got on board. I eventually got to the ATC, where they took my photo for their album and gave me a thru-hiker badge to affix to my backpack, or anywhere that took my fancy. I trudged to the hotel, where Kathy the receptionist couldn't have been more friendly; she recalled the conversation she'd had with Gayle when she was making the reservation. After the delight of a shower, I bandaged up my fresh blisters with - what else? - Leukotape, and was just about presentable when Mark pulled into the car park. He was followed soon after by Ed and Peter. We all ride the Pan-Mass Challenge every August. It's a charity event that last year raised $47 million in one weekend of cycling for cancer research and treatment. (See http://pmc.org/RG0191 for more details.) We are part of a team called PHAT Tuesday. We have a lot of fun doing something with a serious purpose and seriously challenging - biking 192 miles in two days. Mark, Ed and Peter are in the D.C. area and came to resupply me, take me to the outfitters for other supplies, and treat me to dinner. I had to borrow Ed's jacket in the restaurant as lately I feel the cold more (less fat protecting me). Now I'm back in the hotel, have done my laundry and organized my food stocks (too much, as usual)...Tipperary