Date: 2014-05-28
From: David Lesser Shelter

To: Camp Hill B&B, Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 14: It rained on and off all night. Glad we decided to stay in the shelter. We awoke at 6am and quietly started packing. Runaway and Grasshopper, being old-timers like us, were also up and packing. The other person in the shelter, Monkey, a twenty-something, was still sound asleep. We said our goodbyes to Runaway and Grasshopper since we are doing a zero-day at Harper's Ferry and they are continuing on. We were out first and hit the trail at 7:25am, under cloudy skies and 65 degrees.The trail, since finishing the Roller Coaster, has been much more gentle ups and downs. Unfortunately it has continued to be pretty rocky, so not much of an opportunity to stride out and make some good mph. Within the first 100 yards, Spider found a tree branch to act as is second trekking pole to replace his broken one and headed down the trail.Spider had researched Harper's Ferry before leaving California and had found it to be an expensive, tourist town. So he had made a list of possible places to stay. Given that we didn't want to stay in a bunkhouse-type hostel on our zero-day, the cheapest option was the most expensive hostel in town. It was situated in the middle of the historic district (you might remember that Harper's Ferry has quite a history because of it's strategic location at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers). The next option for lodging was an Econolodge about a mile from the historic district. The last option, and most expensive, was a B&B about 1/2 mile from the historic district. We had decided to try the hostel first, so yesterday, from the top of a mountain Spider called and made a reservation.The owner had asked when to expect us, so he could have everything ready..Spider said "1pm"..so we set our pace to be at the hostel then.The trail continued along the ridge before finally dropping into the gorge with the Shenandoah River at the bottom. Spider took the attached picture of ET as we crossed the Shenandoah River Bridge to the peninsula that is Harper's Ferry. We arrived at the hostel right at 1pm. When Spider introduced himself to the owner and said he had a reservation, the response was "Never heard of you"...Uh oh!! After some investigation Spider realized that he had called the wrong number on his pre-researched list...he had called the B&B!! Since he felt he had committed via the phone to the B&B, we sheepishly took our leave of the hostel and trudged the 1/2 mile, uphill, to the B&B. So I guess we are splurging in Harper's Ferry!The Camp Hill B&B consists of 2 buildings: one is the owner's house and the other is a old carriage house converted into two guest quarters. We are on the lower level of the carriage house. Our guest quarters consists of a bedroom, bathroom and a combined kitchette/dining area...a lot different than a tent in the woods!Once in our room, showers and laundry were the first order of business. Next ET went to the Post Office and picked up our box of food and supplies for the next week of hiking. Spider headed to the local outfitter to see if he could get his broken trekking pole repaired. Unfortunately, the oufitter did not have the parts for Spider's brand of poles) They phoned the manufacturer and let Spider talk to them. The manufacturer, MSR, said to email them a picture of the broken pole and they would send him a replacement pole...Wow!! So Spider sent them the picture and the address for the hotel of our next zZero-day. We hope it all works out. Unfortunately, that also means Spider will hike with a "trekking" stick for a week.After some relaxation on the B&Bs garden swing we headed to the historic town for dinner. We walked some back streets looking at the old houses, passing the old cemetary and marveling at the views of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. After checking out the various restaurants in the historic district, we ended up back at the restaurant associated with the hostel we had first stopped at. After a nice dinner on their back patio, we ambled, uphill, back to our B&B. Early lights out...we were pooped!!