Date: 2014-05-29
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Powerlines Outside of Washington Memorial Park
Miles today: 19.7

Today was one of those days where it might have been better to stay in bed - we made good decisions to avoid unfavorable situations but it still did not quite go well for us.Woke up to dreary weather outside - talked about staying another but I decided to press on. After crossing the footbridge we walked along the C&O Canal Towpath for several miles - very nice hiking and a very nice trail from Pittsburgh to Washington DC that is utilized by cyclists. A return trip to this trail is probably in order.After that we climbed away from the towpath up to Weverton Cliffs - unfortunately the cloudy foggy weather prevented us from having any views. Rested at the Ed Garvey shelter - our first shelter in Maryland and it was a very nice shelter! Two levels with a back stairs to the upper level and a little porch - the PATC keeps the shelters looking good.Decided to stop for lunch at Gathland State Park - home to the famous War Correspondents Memorial. I could not get a picture of it because of the rainy weather but it was very cool! Right as we arrived at a picnic pavilion in the park the rain intensified for two and a half hours - we decided to eat our lunch and wait out the heavy rain.While we were in the pavilion Grasshopper and her husband arrived to meet one of their friends who brought them their lunch - a great treat for them and nice to catch up with familiar faces. We also were given a little bit of their food as well even though we had just finished our lunch - something like trail magic!Headed out for the Dahlgren Backpackers Camp in slightly drizzly rain - luckily the cheap Walmart ponchos we bought kept us dry! Not many sights and we took a quick rest at the Rocky Run Shelter - another beautiful Maryland shelter! I also discovered the old Rocky Run Shelter and a hanging chair while looking for the privy - let's say the other shelter is much much smaller! Before arriving at the camp we passed the Reno Monument and two odd fellows off in the distance looking at the monument. They disappeared off into a field and we thought nothing of it. Arrived at the camp and were looking around for sites when we saw a tent with no rainfly and an oddly serrated knife laying out in the open on the table. Those two guys showed up at the camp a little bit later and both Big Dawg and I were getting a weird vibe so we decided to head further up to camp.Ate dinner at the Old South Mountain Inn right by the trail on US Alt 40 - a very nice restaurant to eat at! We had a great meal while getting out of the rain for a bit - the meals are about $25 each but very delicious and not freeze-dried!At the restaurant we called a number for the Washington Monument State Park to reserve a campsite and they said it was no problem - if only that were the case! We arrived at the camping area in the park and the camp host told us we were not allowed to camp there - it was a youth group campground only. We told him that we talked to the office and everything but he was not very helpful.Put us in a bit of a predicament - it was getting dark and it was still raining and we had hiked a little more than expected. This led to our first night hiking experience - not so bad but the fog made it hard to see and Big Dawg really did not want to hike anymore. We passed the Washington Monument in the dark and finally found a camp in the forest near the powerlines. Took longer to set up than normal because of the rain but we finally turned in around ten that evening - going to be a cold rainy night for us.