Date: 2016-06-30
From: Blackburn AT Center

To: Harper's Ferry, WVA
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

It was another great night for sleeping. Even though the days have been hot and humid this week, the nights have been breezy and cool, perfect for sleeping. I was up by 6 am again, packed up and made breakfast. TrailBoss came out and gave me a couple of his special tea bags, so of course, I had to have another cup, or it would have been rude! Last night I had made arrangements with him to shuttle my backpack forward to the ATC headquarters in Harper¢s Ferry so I could slackpack again today. This next mileage is renowned for being very dry, that is, 6 miles without a water source. I filled up my containers and put them in my loaner daypack with my lunch and headed out by 7:15.I took the northern loop trail out of the Center, a steeper, but shorter trail joining back up with the AT. It certainly was steep, but also had a lot of stone steps to help. This area is so well maintained; the grass is cut back away from the trail at least 4 feet on each side. Markers and signs are plentiful too, letting the hiker know exactly where you are and how far you have to go. Thank you trail maintainers!! Once I got to the top of the ridge, there was a side trail to a viewpoint, so I took it and got a nice picture of the valley in the distance. The many wood thrushes kept me company, singing as I moved along. It was so peaceful and pretty. I descended down into a glen, crossing a boardwalk in the Laurel Springs area, as it zigged and zagged. On either side were masses of ferns. A fellow hiker caught up to me as I was sitting having a snack. Other than nodding hello, we didn¢t talk, as we are all making tracks to get to the ATC headquarters in Harper¢s Ferry. This is where you have your picture taken for the 2016 yearbook, and they tell you what number hiker you are to come through northbound this year. You can also register at the beginning at Springer Mtn. and get a starting number if you want. I didn¢t do that, but know that I was in the 900 group based on the people I started with that did have numbers. (This means that by my start date March 22, 2016, some 900 hikers had started before me!!)Today¢s hike was not too strenuous. There were some small ups and downs, but mostly it was ridge walking the entire way. I did come down into Keys Gap, WVA Rt.9 and had to cross this busy road, but since it was still early, the traffic was not too bad. This is the only spot you can find water, and that is by going to a convenience store down this road one-half mile. I was well prepared so I didn¢t need to worry about that. It was a climb uphill in a rocky area past a power line and back into the woods on a ridge again. Before I knew it, I was in the Loudon Heights region, once more crossing the Va/WVa state line. Now I am in WVa for good! The trail wound its way downhill and I could begin to hear traffic noise. Ahh, civilization was at hand! I passed clumps of day hikers making their way cautiously down over the rocks at various points. It was an organized group of Road Scholars out hiking. The trail comes out onto Rt 340, a busy 4 lane highway, taking you across the Shenandoah River on a bridge. It was most unpleasant walking the bridge, with traffic whizzing by at what seemed like great speeds!I followed the blazes around the corner, across another road, and then uphill. I was pretty certain I had followed the trail correctly, but as I climbed the hill, the trail was all overgrown with weeds and there were no blazes to be found. I couldn¢t believe I was in the right place, with such overgrowth. After all, I am not the first hiker through here, there have been at least a thousand! So why is the trail such a mess? I got so concerned, as it is now very hot and humid again, and I didn¢t want to waste one single step. I stopped and pulled out my phone, brought up my Guthook map app and my gps to see exactly where I was relative to the trail. Sure enough, I am on the correct route, in fact; I am almost to the side trail to the ATC HQ. Whew. I pack my phone away, look up and hah, there is a white blaze on a tree staring right at me! Oh well, it is good to be reassured. Continuing on, I make the turn and soon find myself on the streets of Harper¢s Ferry and at the front steps of the ATC HQ. Arriving at Harper¢s Ferry is a big moment in many ways. It is known as the ¢half-way¢ point for a thru hike, even though at mile 1022.5, it is not exactly. It is surely a mental half way point. It is a point at which many northbound hikes convert into flip-flops, jumping up to Katadhin and returning southbound. It is a point that long distance section hikers aim for. It is a starting point for hikers travelling southbound to do a long section. It is a point where hikers make major decisions: to continue on, to flip flop, to end their hike¢¦¢¦.it is a revolving doorway to the great Appalachian Trail.I have made my decision, difficult as it was. I am getting off the trail here, returning home to Florida for 3 weeks to, again, work on weight gain. Then I will resume hiking. I will first do a section in Virginia that I missed when I had food poisoning. Following that, I will head for the southern half of the Smokies, which I jumped in order to hike the northern half with my pal Crumpet. When that is completed, if I am still feeling strong, I am going to head to Maine and tackle the 100 mile Wilderness, which intrigues me the most, out of all the parts of the trail. My thru hike has been ¢redesigned¢ to suit my endurance level, and my interest. It may just be a whole lot more fun!