Date: 2017-05-17
From: Teahorse Hostel, Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Dahlgren Backpacker's Campground
Miles today: 17.8

5/17/17 Dahlgren Backpackers Campground, MDMiles hiked: 724.0 Miles to go: 1466.8Another great day on the trail. I know I say that a lot; however, it's true. I have had very few bad days on the trail. We woke up around 5:30 AM and got ready to go. The hostel price included a waffle breakfast, so we went into the kitchen to fix ourselves some waffles. The only problem was, although there were waffle makers, there was no waffle mix. Luckily, we had cinnamon rolls. The evening before, on our way to dinner, we passed a bakery that sold pepperoni rolls. Pepperoni rolls are a WV food that I've never seen anywhere else. I love pepperoni rolls. 1st Sgt had never heard of pepperoni rolls. So, obviously, we had to buy pepperoni rolls. We ended up buying a half dozen pepperoni rolls to share with our friends. Since she was getting ready to close for the night, lady who owned the bakery was very sweet and threw in five cinnamon rolls for free. They ended up being our breakfast. 1st Sgt did call the guy managing the hostel to say there were no supplies for making the waffles and got the answering machine. He showed up just as we were leaving. Bummer. We got back on the AT and followed it down through downtown Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry is one of my favorite towns in WV. It is located at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and is the site of John Brown's Raid, a failed attempt to seize guns for a slave uprising prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Most of the historic section of town is owned by the National Park Service. As a result, it has been preserved and is a great place for a history buff.We ended up lingering in town for awhile and 1st Sgt even found two nearby geocaches. Eventually, we found our way across the bridge over the Potomac River and into Maryland. The trail through WV was only four miles long, so we finished off another state. After crossing the river, the AT runs along the C&O Canal Bikepath for a few miles, providing other opportunities to check out cool historical things. If you aren't familiar with the C&O Canal, you should Google it. It had a fascinating history. After a couple of miles, we left the bikepath and started climbing out of the valley, stopping to take in the views at Weverton Cliffs. I had received a message on my guest page from trail angel Vickie (aka "Real Deal") saying she wanted to meet up with us and bring us lunch. Cool! She had suggested we meet at Gathland State Park around 11:45 AM. Gathland was just a few miles up the trail, so that should have been perfect timing. The only problem was that we had lingered a bit too long looking at cool historical things. When we realized we were running late, we had to put it in high gear and move it down the trail. We ended up being a little late; but, she was quite gracious about it. Vickie had brought us Italian subs, cold sodas, ice, homemade brownies, and fruit. What a feast! We asked what we had done to deserve all this and she said that she enjoyed reading people's blogs on TrailJournals and bringing them lunch. I am constantly amazed at how many nice people there are out here on the trail. After lunch, we felt quite lazy and were ready to just hang out or maybe take a nap under the cool pavilion, especially since temperatures had risen into the 90s. Unfortunately, we had another seven miles to hike. So, we shouldered our packs and headed out. The afternoon passed slowly; but, we eventually made it into camp. We are staying at the Dahlgren Backpackers's Campground. A free facility provided by the state of Maryland for us by backpackers. It had tent pads, a bear pole, and, best of all, toilets and hot showers. Score! Another great day on the trail!