Date: 2015-06-01
From: ATC Headquarters Harper's Ferry West Virginia

To: Dahlgren Backpacker Campground 
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: overcast clouds

So I'm a bloody moron. I put my boots on the porch of the hostel last night to air them out and forgot to bring them in before I went to bed. And it rained pretty freaking hard. Thunder and lightening too. The whole nine yards. Aside from that I had a lovely waffle breakfast. All you can eat with orange juice (which I drink like crazy since I've been out here), and bananas. She even had a jar of Nutella on the table. You better believe i spread that all over my second waffle. Amazing. After breakfast I packed up my crap, put my sopping wet boots on and hit the trail. It was a bit humid but not as bad as its been. I was moving a bit slow mainly because I was super annoyed about my boots. Maybe it was a sign from the universe to stay in town again.Oh well. I had a great walk through the historic district of Harper's Ferry, got some awesome pictures. I crossed into Maryland!! Whoot! My 6th state!The trail today was great. Flat along the river for a few miles. A short up and then mainly flat the rest of the way. Rocky but manageable. I stopped for lunch at Gathland Park. It was pretty awesome and not just because there was running water and a flush toilet. They had some civil war exhibits and stuff. I love when the trail goes through things like that. It breaks up the monotony of the green tunnel. Plus I love civil war stuff. After lunch I had about 7 miles left to my planned stop.I couldn't wait there. Again it was a fairly easy hike after lunch. Just one short steep up. By the time I made it to the campground my feet were killing me. All day in wet boots sucks. I couldn't wait to take them off. I was hoping it would be sunny so I could dry them out a bit more. No such luck. It was sunny on and off during the day. Rained a little bit after lunch. And based on the thunder rumbling in the distance it was going to rain again.I made it to camp about 430. I whipped off my boots and set up my tent. I planned to stop at this place because it has running water, flush toilets and showers!! I really wanted the shower. A person from the park service was actually cleaning the bathroom when I went over. Such luck! While I waited for her to finish I met Karyoke and we chatted for a bit.After my shower Wharton called me over. He was staying here the night too. He said he was going to the Italian place for dinner if I wanted to go too. I said sure. It was only a quick .1 mile walk to the road. Well, turns out the book lied and it wasnt on the road. So we called them and they delivered eggplant parm and garlic bread to us. As we were waiting for the food to arrive it started to rain   A bit. Wharton waited for the food and I went back down to the campsite. We ended up eating dinner on the benches in front of the bathroom which was better than eating in the bathroom...our original plan. The skies have opened up and it's been pouring for over an hour. I haven't seen rain like this since the smokies. Karyoke showed back up. He had gone into town. Wharton, Karyoke and I were pretty much trapped outside the bathroom. Any venture out would be disasterous. Karyoke hadn't set up his tent before he went to town and was contemplating sleeping in the bathroom. Wharton and I made a run for our tents. I hope the tent holds under the deluge. Lol. A few drops are leaking in here and there. If the wind gets really crazy I may end up sleeping in the bathroom too. Lol. However, if I need to spend time drying everything out tomorrow, there is a town crossing in 20 miles with 2 hostels. They do pick ups and laundry. So I could still get in my miles and dry out my stuff.The hope for my boots being dried out in the morning is dead. I washed my socks and undies in the shower and those aren't going to be dry either. They'll have to hang on the outside of my pack...if the rain stops.