Date: 2012-09-19
From: Harpers Ferry Hostel, Knoxville, Maryland

To: Bears Den Trail Center
Miles today: 23.3

I woke-up around 6:45 AM after not having slept all that well. I can't blame snoring, my favorite culprit, this time since I had the bunk room to myself, but I figured out that the problem was that I had too much coffee yesterday. The hostel had free coffee, so I probably had about eight cups throughout the course of the afternoon and evening. Going from no caffeine to caffeine overload probably wasn't my brightest idea. I intended to make a quick get-away this morning, but the lure of pancakes was just too strong. I didn't roll out of the hostel until 8:30 AM.Being a purist came back to bite me this morning. The hostel is within sight of the C&O Canal Towpath, but, since I had broken from the AT at Keep Tryst Road, I had to go all the way back there just to walk in front of the hostel again. When I saw the path to the hostel from the C&O, I realized that I had walked about three miles that morning to gain a grand total of about 100 yards. At least the terrain was as easy as it gets. And, the C&O was a nice way to stroll into Harpers Ferry. For some reason, I thought the AT went over Maryland Heights, so I was surprised when the AT simply made a left and crossed the Potomac.The historic town was even smaller than I remembered it being. It's hard to imagine that Harpers Ferry was considered a pretty major town back in the days of John Brown and US Colonel Robert E. Lee. The ATC Headquarters are located a substantial distance from the historic area in the Bolivar Heights section. I spent more time at the ATC Headquarters than I intended as it took a while to print out all of the postcards of my trail picture, but I put the time to good use online and the workers gave me a sandwich. I was Southbounder # 85.The hike out of Harpers Ferry climbed to Loudoun Heights then went along the Virginia / West Virginia for about 14 miles. The ridge was about the same as experienced in Maryland. I crossed into the Virginia-only section around 4:00 PM. I was still recovering as I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen on the trail at Raven Rocks, and I don't think my through-hiker goggles were clouding my judgement too much. Not realizing I had officially entered the Roller Coaster, I got frustrated with the trail between the border and Virginia Rte. 7 as I kept thinking the trail would simply dive into Snickers Gap but instead kept going up, down, and around. It was a very quick hike from Snickers Gap to the viewpoint here at Bears Den Rocks, which feature a nice view of the upper valley. This hostel is amazing. It's a stone, small castle that served as the summer home of a doctor and his concert pianist wife back in the day. I don't think the property was bequeathed [I just made myself and my Wills, Trusts, and Estates professor look bad as real property is devised in a will, and only personal property is bequeathed] to the ATC, but somehow they got it, and thank goodness for that. The place is very plush, especially the dining room and the lounge. The deal for a drink, pizza, ice cream, laundry, shower, and a bunk with sheets for a flat rate is a good value. I am here tonight with several section hikers including a statistician from Louisiana who is an absolute riot.