Date: 2006-08-16
From: Fayetteville, PA

To: Harper's Ferry
Miles today: 59.5
Weather: clear sky

Jon's mother dropped us off at Caledonia State Park on sunday afternoon. We had gotten to spend the majority of the day with our families. She hiked a little ways thru the park with us and took our picture where we entered the trail again. It was great to see my whole family at one time. This doesn't get to happen very often these days and it has been years probably since we got to spend that much time together.    Now we are back on the trail and I am in the mood to do a good bit of hiking and put down some miles before the "Virginia Blues" have a chance to take hold. So sunday evening we hiked an easy 10 miles to the Tumbling Run Shelter where we found a great campsite. There was a nice spring and a great place to set up the tent which lead to my first really satisfying night of sleep since leaving the trail. For some reason the hotel beds made it more difficult to stay asleep. I was waking up very early and having a hard time getting to bed until late.    The next day we did 18 miles to the Ensign Corwall shelter. The day was a bit cloudy and my excitement wasn't running at a very high pitch. We stopped for lunch just south of the Mason Dixon Line. The Park was called Penn-Mar Park and it had a nice setup with a great view. We lazed around there for nearly 2 hours before moving on. The afternoon passed in one long stretch. I did nearly stepped on 2 huge black snakes. Passed one fellow headed our same direction, he seemed lost or confused. Waking up on our third day out of Gettysburg it looked like rain. We walked along dry ridges for 11 miles to Washington Monument Park. There were lots of weekend hikers out, but by now the pool of thru-hikers has run dry for the most part. The monument is the first monument George Washington. It was a very solidly built pillar of stone with a good view of the surrounding lowlands. After lunch the hiking passed quickly and I had some success rethinking topics that I had previously thought were already exhausted, which is one of my current challenges on the trail. As evening was commencing we stopped at yet another park where we cooked dinner before making a final push into darkness to the Ed Garvey Shelter.   I am typing this message from the Appalachian Trail Headquarters in Harpers Ferry. We made it here by early on the 16th after a nice bit of flat walking along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The canal has long since fallen into disrepair and is currently filled with brackish water good only for breeding West Nile Virus. The weather is again beautiful however and I look forward to hiking into Shenandoah. A local painter who also happens to be a thru-hiker has offered us a ride to the nearest Walmart where we will re-supply before tackling the 160 mile stretch of trail to Wayansboro. That should be an adventure and it will most certainly be the longest time we go without a re-supply. I couldn't tell you why we are doing it, but it shouldn't be difficult due to the surplus of snack vendors and real restaurants along the trail throughout Shenandoah and Skyline drive. The next time I write we should be deep into Virginia our 10th state, have eaten a good southern breakfast, and experienced that downhome hospitality. Till then.