Date: 2008-06-16
From: Bears Den Hostel, Bluemont, VA

To: Harpers Ferry, W. Va.
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: broken clouds

I slept great last night and woke up at 5:10am. I had a couple Poptarts and drank a Coke for breakfast. I could have stayed and had blueberry pancakes and coffee, but I had 20 miles to do today and I wanted to get into Harpers Ferry early.I was packed up and walking north on the Appalachian Trail at 5:40am.I took a picture of Bears Den as I was leaving and I took a few pictures from Bears Den Rocks.I have to say that if any section hikers or thru hikers are ever in this area, Bears Den is a great stop! You get a lot for your money and Redwing, Hopeful and Lydia are great hosts.For $25.00 you get a shower, laundry, bunk with clean linens, a soda, a pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry¢s ice cream. They also have internet. It's just a really good stop! :-)Hiker Dave came in looking very tired and hungry last night and he was in great spirits this morning. He said it was a rough day yesterday on the Trail and this stay helped him get ready to push on.I sent yesterday's journal in early. Hopeful made a very good salad and Redwing and I sat upstairs eating and talking. I only ate half my pizza because of the hamburger and hotdogs Hopeful made for me when I got there.I folded the half pizza over and packed it out for today's lunch.Thanks Redwing, Hopeful and Lydia for making it such a great stay! (I got an email from Phoenix Rising after I left asking me to say hello....so I'm saying hello now and hoping you'll read this entry)   :-)I walked down the hill and got to Va. 7 [Snickers Gap]. It was very busy with lots of people heading for work. I was careful crossing the road, then headed back into the woods.I climbed several small hills with about 500 foot elevation gain each, then passed by the sidetrail to Blackburn Center without stopping. It wasn't long after I passed Blackburn Center, I stopped and got the half pizza and some diced peaches out of my pack, then ate it while I was walking. I ate the pizza like a sandwich since it was folded over anyway. I was glad I saved it for today.I ate all that just after 9am. I was making pretty good time and wanted to keep moving. That's how I used to always eat when I was doing my higher mileage days.It was much nicer out today than yesterday. The humidity was noticeably lower and there was a breeze.Yesterday had so much moisture in the air that it was hard to breathe. I stayed soaking wet all day too, but today I only sweated a little on the climbs.I saw one deer that watched me walk by. I said something to it just so it knew that I saw it. :-)I passed by the sidetrail to David Lesser Memorial Shelter without stopping. I knew I could have used water, but it was .4 mile one way to the spring. I was moving fast enough today that I figured I'd be okay till I got to town.There were some very rocky parts to the Trail today. It's just a prelude to what I have coming later on in the walk. :-)I got to Keys Gap, crossed the road and started seeing a few more deer. One that I saw a couple miles past the gap was a young buck with two stubs just starting to show where his antlers will be.I ran out of water about four miles before I got to town. I was fine with that.I descended to the bridge over the Shenandoah River and walked across it taking a few pictures on my way.I had light rain a couple times later in today's walk, but I never had to stop to protect anything I was carrying because it didn't last long.I got a room at the Comfort Inn. I was done with my 20 mile day of walking at 1:30pm.I walked up to the ATC office and signed the register there, got my picture taken as the 329th nobo thru hiker to make it through Harpers Ferry this year.I picked up my two boxes that were there waiting on me...one from Mrs Gorp with my shoes, maps, goodies and long pants I wanted for bug season, and the other package was from my ol' buddy Chief. I was afraid to open that one. :-)I walked back to the room and got rained on pretty good along the way.It felt like Christmas with the goodie box Mrs Gorp sent! I needed the new shoes pretty bad because the heels were mostly worn off my old pair.I got some use out of the old pair though...a 3,000 mile bike ride and 600 miles on the AT.I looked at the package my ol' buddy Chief sent and saw where he wrote on the envelope; ¢Please hold for SLOW thru hiker".I may be SLOW, but I have to say I'm WAY ahead of Chief. ;-)I finally decided to open it. I tore an edge off and held the envelope away from me. Nothing smelled bad.I opened the top and peeked in. It still looked safe.I dumped the contents out on the floor and saw a pair of pink women's panties (size 3X Large) and a pink spork. :-)That's my ol' buddy Chief....always the thoughtful one. :-) Look Chief, that's mighty nice of you to repay my trail magic I did for you when I bought you beer and a seafood buffet with all the crablegs you could eat. Thanks! ;-)I called Rosie and she is meeting me tomorrow to slack me for about 16 miles. She has met me two other years and really saved my butt two years ago.I took a complete backward somersault off Quirauk Mtn and cut an artery in my leg. Rosie was meeting me about four miles later with plans of slacking me. I felt bad having her take me to an urgent care facility, but I was bleeding pretty bad. I don't know what I'd have done if she wasn't there.Hey Rosie, hopefully you won't have to worry tomorrow. I've still got that clean record going this year with over 1,000 miles walking from Springer and haven't fallen yet! My plans are to not fall for the whole thru hike. It hurts too much when I hit the ground at my age. Ha! :-)Harpers Ferry was pretty much closed up on this side of town. All three restaurants I normally choose were closed and I didn't feel like walking to the tourist district, so I munched on popcorn and Cheetos for dinner.I spent the evening going through my new maps and packing all my stuff....and planning the next few days.There's no data service in Harpers Ferry, so I'm hoping to get this entry sent in tomorrow morning from Weaverton Cliffs.I saw no other nobos on the Trail today. I feel like I'm in a void of hikers at the moment.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)