Date: 2005-06-27
From: Dahlgren Back Pack Campgound

To: Larry's House (Cascade, MD)
Miles today: 23.4

8:40 pm - Hats off to LarryLast Friday Bruce dropped me off at the Bear's Den Hostel. As he was starting to drive off, I spied a familiar set of trekking poles leaning against a pillar. I flagged Bruce down and gave him the poles that Matt had apparently left behind Wednesday evening.The end of the roller coaster was a bit of a letdown - it was the easiest part and I didn't even get a 'thanks for riding' sign at the end. My only reward was an easy ridge walk for a long, long time. At lunch I briefly caught sight of the Hack Pack (Elf, Dirty Girl, and Walrus) along with Vogue and Mother. I also found a note left for me in the register - the rest of the Dream Team zeroed on Wednesday at the KOA and left town Thursday. My plan was to leave on Sunday; I'd be three days behind. Catching them by Duncannon was looking less and less likely.At Keys Gap I detoured to get a soda from a nearby convenience store. I passed Walrus coming out of the store. He had purchased a 2 liter. He drank half and put the other half in his platypus. A few miles later, I caught up to a dejected looking Walrus. His hiking had shaken up the soda, pressurizing it. When he bit down on the release valve, the bite valve shot off the drinking hose. Basically, his platypus had exploded.I kept moving at a good pace, stopping only to pick some blackberries. Berry season is officially open. I need to get a bucket of sorts to carry with me to take full advantage of it. I foresee many blackberry desserts in my future.When crossing the Shenandoah River, I spied a familiar figure walking towards me. Sure enough, it was Captain James T. Tsai, right on schedule to greet me. It was James who posted the first month and a half worth of journal entries for me. It was great to catch up with him as we walked the last mile into town together. We made a beeline for the train station. We arrived at 5:03 to meet Anna's 5:04 train. The train, however, didn't show up until 5:45.As we walked up to the Hilltop Hotel, a bluish Civic stopped next to us - Phoenix! She was wondering when I'd finally show up. I guess the others never listened to my mantra of "Harper's Ferry on a weekend." We ran into Phoenix again at the pizzeria and once more at a pub later that evening. I was glad Anna and James had a chance to meet at least one of the crew.We spent the evening at the Armory Pub along with several other hikers including Bassline and Indy. Indy was proudly showing off his 'pus gut,' a remnant of an ill chosen leaf on naked hiking day. I also met Baltimore Jack, a huge Springsteen fan who has hiked the trail seven or so times before. In 2000, he hiked with Professor for a while, who was known as Pastor that year. He gave me the scoop on a festival in July in Duncannon. Professor, as an original Bill, is apparently obligated to attend, which in turn greatly increases my odds for attendance.Finally, we enjoyed kicking back and listening to the house band, except for Anna who picked up a fiddle and joined right in.Anna and I started off Saturday with a trip to the ATC. I had my picture taken (hiker #431 this year) for their album and checked when the others had come through. We then participated in a favorite thru-hiker tradition, aimlessly lounging around town. Corey, a friend from work, was supposed to meet me that afternoon along with his wife Sara and their dog Carrot. 4pm came and went with no sign of them. I was becoming disheartened until Skywalker showed up with tales of two people and one dog looking for me at the ATC headquarters. I hustled up the hill, but they were gone when I arrived. We were walking back down when Phoenix drives up with an old coworker of mine riding shotgun. They recognized her from the web and she joined in the hunt for Papa.United at last, we hung out by the river for an hour or so, catching up on the times. Finally they had to leave to get to a theater performance in Baltimore. Anna and I filled the remainder of the evening with a jazz concert on the college's lawn. We wanted to attend a bluegrass festival, but it was just too far away.On Sunday, Anna was supposed to catch the 10:15 back to DC. However we harbored suspicions about its reliability when it hadn't arrived by 11:15. A call to Amtrak revealed that it was running 5 hours late. Rather than seeing her off, we switched roles. She walked with me for a ways along the C&O canal path before finally turning back. I, on the other hand, continued onwards for 17 miles to Dahlgren Back Pack Camp. En route, though, I did stumble across Phoenix just sitting in the parking lot of Gathland State Park with her trunk of goodies. I ate a mango I'd been carrying for two days instead, but realized that this was the first time I'd ever just stumbled across her. Every time I've seen her it's been planned.Dahlgren was nice for one reason: free showers. It was close to the road so Phoenix was there, too, with some corn and strawberries. Bassline, Too Obtuse, Quixote, Clearwater, Seeker, and I all enjoyed it.I was off to an early start this morning at 7:30. I knew it would be a long day, possibly to Devil's Racecourse (19 miles) or farther. Plus, it was supposed to be hot. For once, the weatherman was right. I sweated buckets, drinking liter upon liter of water. I was grateful that I never had to travel more than six miles to a water refill. More than once I arrived dry. Still, I pushed onward, determined. Today was my return to thru-hiking and I hit the ground running.I did see a few things of note, though. I went through Washington Monument State Park. Same Washington as you'd expect but a different monument. This one was a stone tower - but wait, isn't the other one, too? Oh, well. I also stumbled upon two fawns frolicking in a meadow, which provided a brief respite from hiking.I debated about travelling the 0.3 miles off the trail to Devil's Racecourse Shelter, but I was out of water. Grumbling, I hiked down the hill to the spring. Since I was at the shelter I flipped through the register but there weren't any notes from the others. I absentmindedly turned back a few more pages and some large print caught my eye: "Attn Son of Russ + Alice H..." My mom's cousin Larry had left me a note, inviting me over. He lives a mere 2 miles off the trail near Pen Mar. I bounded out of the shelter with an exuberance that should have been long gone after 19 miles. But I had a goal: call Larry.Call Larry I did, but Larry wasn't home. His wife Linda was, though. She picked me up at the trail, dropped me at the house and left for work shortly thereafter. Had I called a few minutes later I would have been out of luck. Somehow, though, the stars aligned. So now I'm showered, fed, and laundered, feeling content and grateful. Hats off to Larry, indeed.