Date: 2006-11-15
From: Bear's Den Hostel, Va

To: 2 miles N of Washington Monument, Md
Miles today: 13.9

I woke up about 5am and finished writing my journal entry, then sent it in. Chief woke me up earlier with his snoring, then when he knew I was awake and listening, he started making noises out of the other end. Poor Carlene...no wonder she lets Chief go hiking. Chief saw me at the computer with my headlamp on and said to go ahead and turn on the lights. He said Carlene wakes him up ever morning when she gets up to get ready for work, so he's used to it. :-))) I got packed up, made a pot of Starbuck's, then the Chief and I went upstairs. Queen Diva was up and making us French toast and some of the link sausage that Chief brought for breakfast. The Queen even has a way of making the French toast better than normal. Rooster and Planner had come into the hostel last night. They were walking into Harper's Ferry, but Planner had twisted his ankle and they decided to get a ride with us back to their truck. I paid Queen Diva, thanked her and got a nice hug, then Chief and I drove the other two hikers up to Harper's Ferry and dropped them off. Chief drove me back up to the trailhead in Maryland where I got off Trail last week when I fell. I thanked Chief for coming up and helping me out. He said that nobody could insult him any better than I do and nobody else takes an insult better than I do. I'll take that as a compliment!! :-))) Chief knew the weather called for rain tonight and heavy rain tomorrow, but he didn't care about me out there in that nasty weather...so instead of staying around and helping his good friend, he dumped me off and headed to NC to caulk a couple holes in his house. I started walking at 10:40am. It was overcast and foggy and very mild out...maybe 55 degrees or so. Within the first .1 miles, I had to ford a stream that normally would be a rock hop, but the ground is still very wet and the streams are running high. I climbed a 300 foot bump, then descended to Warner Gap before crossing Foxville Rd. There was a rotting deer carcass right in the Trail on the south side of that road crossing. I stopped at Ensign Cowall Shelter and signed the register. I also ate the last few pieces of that pan fried chicken that Queen Diva made last night and had given me to pack out this morning. It was still delicious even though it was cold. I climbed up to a rocky ridge and walked on that for a while, then descended to Pogo Campsite and got water from a stream there before walking on. I climbed back up the next bump and walked by Black Rock Cliffs, then about a mile later, I walked by the side trail to Annapolis Rocks without stopping. I looked to my right as I was walking walking near Annapolis Rocks and saw a deer about 30 yards away, just standing there, staring at me. I kept walking and passed by the side trail to Pine Knob Shelter without stopping. I crossed over I-70 on the foot bridge. I had four people in the cars below honk at me as I was crossing that foot bridge. I crossed Boonesville Mtn Rd, climbed a hill, then crossed that same road again. I saw two deer take off running about 60 yards away just before the second crossing of that road. When I did cross it, I saw three white ducks sitting in a front yard and thought they were ornaments, until they moved their heads to look at me. :-))) I started looking for a flat spot to set up my tent for the night and found one about half a mile later. I set up on a small mound because of the forecasted overnight rain. It was starting to rain lightly while I was setting up the tent. This makes the third day in a row of walking and not seeing another person on the Trail. I've decided to end The Leaf Catching Game, but I'm going to give everyone a chance to tell me how many leaves they've caught. You can keep on catching leaves through the 20th, but then you have to make sure you either email me or sign my guestbook with the number you would like me to accept. :-))) There just isn't hardly any leaves left in the trees, so I'm going to occupy my mind with something else after the 20th.