Date: 2009-07-12
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Pogo Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Today is my three-month anniversary of being out on the Appalachian Trail !!! I awoke rather early at the Ed Garvey Shelter and said goodbye to the other section hikers that were in the shelter. Just a few miles down the road was a great Civil War monument of the War Correspondents Memorial. There was also a more current one, representing journalists killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as they attempted to report live. The area of the current park includes Crampton's Gap, which saw fighting during the Battle of South Mountain, one of the first battles of the Maryland Campaign during the American Civil War.[1] In 1884, Townsend, now a successful journalist, purchased the land as a retreat and began work on what would become Gathland, his estate. His first project was Gapland Hall, an eleven room house built in 1885. This was followed that same year by Gapland Lodge, a stone servants' quarters. In 1890 a large building was erected to house a study, a library, and ten bedrooms.Townsend's most famous and longest-lasting project was completed in 1896: The War Correspondents Memorial Arch.[2] It is claimed that the arch is the only monument in the world dedicated to journalists killed in combat.[3][4] However, a tree in Arlington National Cemetery was also dedicated as a war correspondents' memorial in 1986.[5]The book George Alfred Townsend describes the monument:In appearance the monument is quite odd. It is fifty feet high and forty feet broad. Above a Moorish arch sixteen feet high built of Hummelstown purple stone are super-imposed three Roman arches. These are flanked on one side with a square crenellated tower, producing a bizarre and picturesque effect. Niches in different places shelter the carving of two horses' heads, and symbolic terra cotta statuettes of Mercury, Electricity and Poetry. Tables under the horses' heads bear the suggestive words "Speed" and "Heed"; the heads are over the Roman arches. The three Roman arches are made of limestone from Creek Battlefield, Virginia, and each is nine feet high and six feet wide. These arches represent Description, Depiction and Photography. The aforementioned tower contains a statue of Pan with the traditional pipes, and he is either half drawing or sheathing a Roman sword. Over a small turret on the opposite side of the tower is a gold vane of a pen bending a sword. At various places on the monument are quotations appropriate to the art of war correspondence. These are from a great variety of sources beginning with Old Testament verses. Perhaps the most striking feature of all are the tablets inscribed with the names of 157 correspondents and war artists who saw and described in narrative and picture almost all the events of the tour years of the war.[6]The plaque on the monument reads:SPEED - HEED Sept. 14 - 62 - 96 To the Army Correspondents and Artists 1861-65Whose toils cheered the firesideEducated provinces of rustics intoa bright nationofreadersand gave incentive to narratedistant wars and explore dark lands.Erected by subscriptions 1896O wondrous youthThrough this grand ruthRuns my boy's life, its threadThe General's fame, the battle's nameThe rolls of maimed and deadI bear with my thrilled soul astirAnd lonely thoughts and fearsAnd am but history's courierTo bind the conquering yearsA battle's ray, through ages grayTo light the deeds sublimeAnd flash the lustre of my dayDown all the aisles of timeWar Correspondent Ballad - 1865[7]I pushed on to the Dahlgren Back Pack Campground, where there were free showers for stinky, dirty backpackers like myself. Ahh, the warm shower just felt wonderful! I even washed my closed in the basin and then dried them out in the sun¢s hot rays. After eating a rather large lunch, stuffing down tuna and making myself a pretty decent Teriyaki noodles meal, I just laid down on the picnic bench and began to fall asleep. I was incredibly tired, but I think it was a combination of various factors ¢ not enough sleep, too much food, and a really hot day. As I crossed Monument Road, there was a Civil War reenactment going on. I was fortunate enough to get a few pictures with some of the warring soldiers, taken by a very nice chap, David, who is a professor at Hood College in Frederick, MD. We talked for a short bit and he was impressed that I had been hiking since Georgia. I suppose that it was quite a feat, considering that I had left three months prior today!Jungli had left her yellow hat behind and, due to some miscommunication, we were very close to each other, but didn¢t manage to connect so that I could transfer the hat to her. Around this time after crossing Monument Road, I met up with Gnarly, who I hadn¢t seen since the Smokies, and Blue Eyes, who I was meeting for the first time. We shared a multitude of stories about life and life out on the AT. They are two really good guys, but man do they like smokin¢ pot! We ended up climbing up the Washington Monument, the first one dedicated to Washington, and we were rewarded with another beautiful view of the Maryland and Pennsylvania countryside. We had been getting closer and closer to the Mason-Dixie PenMar line, but we were still moving relatively slowly. There was just so much to discuss. At the Pine Knob Shelter, we read in the journal (which had also been confirmed by Red Wing and Hopeful at the Bears Den) that The Phoenix had been bitten by a rabid raccoon while he was sleeping in a shelter. The damn thing literally just came up and sunk its fangs into his skull while he was dreaming about the Appalachian Trail. Poor bugger. Hope you get healed, my friend, and that you are out here soon! In the end, we cowboy camped at the Pogo Memorial Campsite. Gnarly is very knowledgeable about the ways of the world and he likes to learn and ask questions about things. Unfortunately, I was so damn tired that I was falling asleep while he was talking and asking me questions. Sleepy time!