Date: 2014-05-23
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Dahlgren Backpacker Campsite
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: broken clouds

Day 72- May 23, Harper's Ferry to Dahlgren Backpack Campground, 17.8 miles. The highlight of our day was that Corey hiked in to see us! We've seen him more in the last month or so than we would have if we had been in Rochester! It is great!We had a very restful night at the Laurel Lodge after spending a couple of hours working out the logistics of having friends and family visit and then making the phone calls to confirm those plans. We think we're all set. Breakfast was delicious this morning, infinitely better than granola bars! But because we were at a B&B, breakfast was later than usual and we didn't start hiking until just after 9 AM. We had to walk back past the ATC and there were a bunch of our thru-hiker friends waiting for the ATC to open so they could get their picture taken. Midnight Sparkle was there but he was hiking out right behind us because he got his picture taken yesterday when we did. Roshambo was there and we hadn't seen him since Daleville. He was taking the train into DC for Memorial Day weekend and he will probably catch up to us shortly after he returns to the trail because he is a fast hiker. Squirrel (young) and Tree Frog were there also but after they had their photos taken they were renting a car and going to Memphis for a wedding. We now notice more people have wonderful reasons for getting off the trail for a few days~vacations, weddings, graduations, etc. We look forward to our time off the trail when we go to camp for a couple of days in July. So we wished all the hikers well and returned to the white blazes which lead us out of Harper's Ferry and across the foot bridge over the Potomac River to the C&O Canal trail. Th AT followed this famous biking trail for almost 3 flat miles. We enjoyed having the Potomac flowing by us on the right and the trains screeching by us on left!We climbed away from the river to the Weverton Cliffs which gave us a wonderful overview of the rivers and their valleys. The rest of the day was fairly mellow walking except for some sections of rocks. We completed the West Virginia AT miles and are now working our way across the short state of Maryland. Around 1:30 we started to look ahead to see if we could spy Corey walking towards us and sure enough just before 2 he came into view! It was so good to see him. We had between 4 and 5 miles left to hike for the day and they went by quickly because we had so much to chat about with Corey! We planned to camp at this campsite which is quite close to a road so Corey parked in a lot off that road and we all hiked back to his car. We scoped out the campground for later and it looked quite nice. We were at the car before 4PM and we loaded our packs into the back and drove into Boonsboro, MD where we had an early dinner at Dan's Restaurant and Taproom. The food and service were excellent. On the return trip we made a stop at a farm market that advertised strawberries and picked up a couple of pints. Our pint was so tasty! Corey dropped us off by the trail and we said our goodbyes. Once again I have that sadness in my heart having to say goodbye to family. Corey has a busy weekend ahead with friends and has quite a bit of driving to do tomorrow to get with those friends. We're so glad he made time for us. This campsite is for backpackers but the parking lot is about 300 yards away. There are 6 tent pads so for the first night in a awhile our tent is pitched on a level surface! We also have a picnic table that we don't have to share and there are bathrooms with flush toilets. And it is all free! Tomorrow is a short day as we position ourselves to meet Terry on Sunday. All is well.