Date: 2014-05-27
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: Teahorse Hostel via US 340
Miles today: 11.6

We arrived at our psychological halfway point on the AT - Harper's Ferry, WV! We crossed into our fifth state and will shortly be in our sixth state!Great pancake breakfast at the AT Blackburn Center - much better than dehydrated eggs! After enjoying the meal with our fellow thru-hikers we thanked the caretaker and rolled out for West Virginia. Big Dawg was still a little tired from yesterday so we weren't hiking as fast but still making some good time. The trail was much nicer than yesterday but still a little rocky and steep in some places. We took the time that Big Dawg needed and rested - a hot and humid day because of impending rain this evening. Not much to see on the way into town - we crossed the road at Keys Gap and were in a space that was not claimed by Virginia or West Virginia - in between the two welcome signs on the road! As we neared the town we had our first close-up views of the Shenandoah River and we knew we were close! We passed Lynx on the way into town and rested after crossing the bridge. Big Dawg wanted to go straight to the hostel and change out of sweaty clothing so we walked up US 340 and Union Street to Washington Street to the hostel - a steep uphill where we rested at the top.The hostel is a great little place on the main road run by Laurel. She checked us in and gave us an entry code into the hostel - a neat set-up above her home! We settled into bunks and showered and cooled off. When I took the laundry downstairs to get washed I ran into Fritz downstairs in the office! Unfortunately his AT thru-hike was over since he developed a stress fracture in his foot - he hikes on it for two weeks before it was too much. He hitched into Harper's Ferry for the clinic and was waiting in town for Pyro and some other friends.We all went to lunch at Mena's Piazza near the ATC and had a great big piazza for lunch - just what we needed after the tough day yesterday! While eating lunch Big Tex came in and ate lunch with us as well. Delicious food and a great lunch group - also ran into Columbus and Queen!Visited the ATC headquarters after lunch and got our photo taken outside the building - thru-hikers 259 and 260 to reach Harper's Ferry this year! An amazing accomplishment and a huge step towards Katahdin. We poked around the center for a bit and looked at the photos of who came through before us - nice to see people still on the trail ahead!After the ATC we returned to the hostel and collected our laundry. Missed the bus to Walmart so we walked with Spice to 7 Eleven near the hostel for snacks - an electrical engineer from Georgia Tech working for NASA in Houston! Talked about aerospace stuff for a bit and then walked back to the hostel in a little rain. After that we just rested at the hostel and prepared for our zero tomorrow - full hostel tonight! Matterhorn stayed at the hostel as well as Molly and Mackenzie from Washington DC - doing a day trip to Maryland Heights tomorrow. Some cyclists stayed in the bunks as well as a couple from North Carolina doing the C&O Canal Towpath on bikes. Very entertaining in the hostel and I wrote some postcards.Excited to see my Uncle Dale tomorrow!