Date: 2005-05-29
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: broken clouds

Bear's Den Hostel to Harper's FerryAnother exhilarating day!  Woke up to a beautiful day, feeling good after a fabulous evening last night.  The wondrousness of Lori and the hostel continued when I went to the kitchen to fill my water bladder and she asked if we wanted breakfast.  She prepared homemade biscuits and gravy, something we could never eat at home, but what a treat out here!  Lori told us the inspiring story of how she came to be the Bear's Den caretaker over breakfast, then sent us off with full tummies and smiles after we were finished.With the hearty meal the morning miles came easily.  We met the hiker Blur for the first time as he passed us.  A nice guy.  Took our first break at the trail to the Blackburn Center where we enjoyed the left over grilled chicken Lori sent us off with.The original plan was to camp just past Keyes Gap, then go the last 6 miles into Harper's Ferry in the morning to meet my mom.  We made great time to Keyes Gap where we went down the road .3 to the little grill to have a couple of sandwiches for dinner.  We enjoyed our subs, but still felt strong, not quite ready to call it a day.  The waitress' husband who happened to be at the grill, gave us a ride back to the trailhead.  We decided that we might as well push the rest of the way into Harper's Ferry today and try to meet up with my mom early since she flew in this afternoon.  I called and left a voice mail from the grill, hoping we'd be able to connect when we got to town.We were really booking it, excited to get in to H.F. a day early, when we came upon a somewhat portly gentleman setting up camp.  We stopped to make some polite small talk before moving on.  The guy asked where we were headed.  When we told him Harper's Ferry he said Portly man "You know there's not a room to be found there since it's Memorial Day weekend and this is the last campsite between here and there."  We thanked him and told him we were meeting my mom who already made lodging arrangements.  His response "You must be rich people."  Me "no, not rich, just have generous relatives."  He "Oh, so you're a coupla slugs then, you need to do a little more roughing it, get toughened up."  Gravity "we've come a thousand miles now, I think we're pretty tough by now."  Portly man "Grunt Humph.  Well it's all steep uphill and super rocky the rest of the way into town, so good luck."  We just walked away shaking our heads, marveling at the humor and irony of being called slugs on a 20 mile day in which we've crossed the 1000 mile mark by a 400 lb weekender.  Wow.The miles to the edge of town came easy.  It was so exciting seeing the signs to the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) Headquarters.  We also officially left Virginia and entered West Virginia - a new state!  We were high on excitement when we came to the Shenandoah River and bridge underpass.  The river and gap through the mountains was an inspiring vision with the evening.  Sun playing off the water and illuminating the mountain sides.We finally reached the ATC, where we'd hoped my mom would be waiting for us.  Unfortunately she wasn't there, so off to find a phone we went.  We were ecstatic to find the outfitter still open, and she let us use her phone.  Voice mail again.  Now we were beginning to worry.  What would we do tonight if we were unable to connect with my mom?  We were contemplating stealth camping in the bushes in the park when the outfitters phone rang.  It was mom!  The outfitter owner patiently gave mom directions to get her there, and she arrived in a few minutes later.  What a relief!We enjoyed the reunion with hugs and kisses, and were soon whisked off to a hotel with hot showers, cotton clothes care of mom and a yummy salad bar for dinner.What an exciting day for us, to get to the (psychological) halfway point, to know that from here forth is all new territory.  To feel so strong and good, to have conquered the demons of having to leave the trail in 2001.  This is an amazing feeling, I am thrilled, overjoyed, truly ecstatic.Danger