Date: 2016-07-03
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Raven Rock Shelter
Miles today: 34.0
Weather: clear sky

Okay... Well tonight is July 3rd and I am stealth camping in Maryland with another hiker named Lord Bearclaw. Lord Bearclaw carries a Roman sword and wears a kilt... I could not make this shit up.But let me digress. I hiked out of Harper's Ferry on the 30th after stopping by the ATC and getting my picture taken. I was hiker 1,135 that registered, which is high....there are many hiking this year. After registering I hiked out of town and to Dahlgren Campground and into Maryland. The trail was quiet. The campground was 17 miles from Harper's Ferry and was the designated place to meet Kelly on the 1st. Along the way I hiked with Sidewinder and got to know him better.I awoke at 8am the 1st and Kelly texted me and said she will be there at 9 am. The campground had a shower (rare) and I took advantage to knock off some of my crud before seeing Kelly. When I walked up to the shower building much to my surprise I spotted Feather sleeping outside of the bathroom. Feather is s good guy who maintains odd hiking hours. He told me he stumbled in during the night.I showered and stuffed all my stuff into my backpack. The strap on my pack gave out as I walked down the C&O canal towpath (coming out of Harpers Ferry) so I figured it would be for the last time as I intend to get a new pack. (Will arrive by mail up trail in PA).I told Feather I planned to take alastair to Gettysburg with Kelly and I on the 2nd. He seemed down so I suggested he come with us. He said yes and he decided to get a ride back to Harper's Ferry with Kelly and I.Feather and I hiked out to the road and Kelly came by and picked us up. It was good to see her. We drove back to Harper's Ferry where we re-visited the ATC and then had lunch. I showed Kelly how the AT winds around Harper's Ferry including the parts through historic downtown.We spent Saturday the 2nd at Gettysburg watching battle reinactments, visiting the museum and eating. Sunday the 3rd Kelly and I had breakfast and quickly visited the Antienham battlefield where in 12 hours the two civil war armies beat the hell out of each other for 12 hours done 154 years ago resulting in 23,000 casualties. Here we also learned there was a firework show, the night before when we were in Gettysburg. Bummed we missed that.Kelly then took me to do a quick resupply and dropped me off where she picked me up back on the 1st. We had leftover beers from the weekend and we put them on a post for trail magic. Almost immediately a hiker named Three Times enjoyed a cold beer. I shared the trail with him most of the day... Along with what seemed like hundreds of day hikers. At dark I stopped at a shelter to sign the log. I advertised I was heading on to Raven Rock Shelter 4.9 miles away. Lord Bearclaw was Setting up camp but asked me if he could join me for the night hike. I said sure. It would end up we would tackle 6 miles together in the dark climbing at one point what was a significantly Steep hill up Raven Rock. The entire time Lord Bearclaw bestowed onto me his knowledge of ancient weapons and tactics and how to deploy them when confronting unruly neighbors or when playing sword fight with his friends from the Society of Creative Anachronism... a club that celebrates the lifestyles from the 600s to 1600s (think civil war reenactment but middle age). Since Bearclaw was toting a sword we decided I would go first... That way if a bear killed me he would have time to unsheath his saber and take revenge. We stumbled on through the dark. The trail was easy all day, but took a turn for the worse as we plodded on and rocks filled the trail. I was using my new headlamp that I recently scored from a hiker box which turns out to be a bit dim. In the confusion we passed the Raven Rock shelter despite a personal message scribbled in the dirt with what I now know was Feather's hiking pole. The message made reference to my sexual preference (and was dead inaccurate). Despite The personal calling card in the dirt we miss the blue blaze to the shelter and proceeded another mile down the trail where we are breaking camp now. Lord Bearclaw continues to educate me on midevil topics and other wacky facts. Happy 4th of July everyone. I will be stepping into Pennsylvania here in four short miles where I intend to celebrate the birthday of this great nation of ours in the state where it all began!!!