Date: 2016-07-01
From: Bluemount Virginia

To: Teahouse Hostel 
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this mornings at Tom's house and packed up and went downstairs. He was already up and making me breakfast which was a nice surprise. At 7:00 he said are you all ready to go and I was like yes I am. He drove me back to the trail and I thanked him for all his kindness and for putting me up. He drove off and I realized I was in the parking area for the AT on the opposite side of route 7 from yesterday. I had a dilemma now, do I get on trail from that parking area and go north or do I follow the trail back across route 7 to where I got off it yesterday. Of coarse I thought to myself it will make me nuts if I miss that .20 or .30 mile section of trail. So back I went and crossed over route 7 which was like a game of Frogger. It's a two lane divided road like a highway and people are cruising. I climbed up the small hill on the other side and made my way back to the side trail where we got off the AT to the parking area. I turned around and started heading my way back the way I came. I got back to route 7 and again held my breath as I dashed across the first two lanes and then the next two lanes. I finally was back to the original starting point and kept moving on. Oh boy back on the Rollercoaster again. Thank god I had such a nice rest at Toms and had energy for this. I had three climbs until I was out of the Rollercoaster. I made it up and down the first hill and was resting on the second when dragon head caught up to me. I had seen him at the last hut in Shanendoah and he had taken a zero in Front Royal. We chatted and started walking together. We got along well and had very similar hiking paces. We went several miles arriving at David Lesser Memorial Shelter where we filtered water, had lunch and took a nap. We were off for about an hour when hiker John showed up. I hadn't seen him since Fontana Dam and it was nice to see him again. He had cut his hair so I didn't recognize him at first. Alice showed up and so did leviathan, two hikers I hadn't met before. We all chatted a bit and dragon head and I moved on. We walked about 2 miles when we passed a ridge runner for the Potomac Apalachian Club and we chatted for a bit. Another mile we stopped for a drink and Dragon Head realized his water bottle with his sawyer had fallen out of his bag. He was like crap no biggie on bottle but that's my sawyer and I kinda need it. I said walk back up and leave your bag and hopefully it's a little ways up. Well the ridge runner came across it and brought it back to the shekter. So poor Dragon head had to walk all 3 miles back to shelter and then back to my location. He in theory added 6 more miles to his day. We continued on crossing WV 9 which was again a game of Frogger, a bit terrifying. The terrain was nice with a few small climbs. On the last climb I finally came to it. Now crossing over to West Virginia. I couldn't believe it Virginia the longest state on the trail was done. I felt amazing, dragon head took my picture and we moved on. We started the descent into Harper's Ferry and made it to the edge of town at 5:30. We came to the Shanendoah River and crossed over on the bridge. With the highway right there and cars zooming by it was loud and hot even at 6 at night. We took a side street arriving at the tea house and with luck they were not sold out. Yes!! We picked our bunks and Dragon Head paid for laundry and said throw some of your stuff in here so it's not a total waste. We both went to dinner at a restaurant right up the road. All in all it was a great day and I really enjoyed hiking with Dragon Head. I hope we get to do it again soon. I need to remember to get his cell number. Jeff is coming down tomorrow for the Fourth of July weekend. I'm so excited to see him as its only been once I have seen him since starting my thru hike. I will be hiking I think each day so technically no zero will happen.