Date: 2012-05-15
From: Harper's Ferry

To: Dalgrehn's Campground
Miles today: 17.0

Started the hike in a little bit of a drizzle. It rained all day yesterday and through the night so I was assuming the sky would open up as soon as I went outside. To my surprise, the clouds cleared and gave me a beautiful day. I started on the WV side of the bridge and crossed the Shenandoah River into Maryland. I brought Mack along for fun. We walked the first 3 miles on the canal towpath. It was a delight. There were wild strawberries growing, just about ready to eat. The wildflowers were all so different then the ones in the South. We saw frogs, turtles and a mama duck with her babies. Mack tried to eat everything. He even jumped into the canal, which was covered in a green foam, to try to eat the ducks. I saw a huge crane looking bird that he chased down the river. Finished the towpath in under 45 minutes so I was feeling good. We turned left at the end of the towpath and started our uphill trek. We walked through a residential area where I saw an abandoned house for sale right on the AT. I stopped and Mack and I sat on the front porch for a while relaxing. The noise from the highway was awful though so we moved along. Maryland was EASY!! I couldn't believe I used to struggle with this section. I was at the Ed Garvey shelter in no time and stopped in for lunch. Tried to use the privy but it was full of bees. I didn't want my butt to get stung! I had lunch with a weekender who has hiker the whole bottom half of the AT in small sections. He had taken a train from Raleigh at 2 AM and was hiking a full day. What a champ! And he gave me a Milkyway. I continued on and the trail stayed easy. It was really wide with hardly any grade. There were rocks in some parts but they didn't last for long. I made it down to Gathland State Park and had lots of great memories. I've bailed out of a few weekend trips right there. I had a second lunch with two guys on a trip through Maryland. They were taking 5 days and couldn't believe I was going for just 2 days. They were from Ohio and thought it was really hilly and mountainous! Continued on to White Rocks where I met TO IT, he hiked the bottom half of the AT a few years ago with his daughter and had just started the top half. He told me all of these horror stories about his section hike and about all of these people killed on the AT. I started to get pretty freaked out and then we passed a shelter where he turned off to sleep for the night. So then I was scared AND alone, playing over all the horror stories in my head. I cross over an open field and on the other side, about 200 feet away, a guy comes out of the woods holding a long gun over his shoulder. And did I mention there was a sign that used to say "Managed Hunting Area" that someone had changed to say "Man Hunting Area". Needless to say I was a little freaked out. But of course Mack ran up to him barking like crazy and I was forced to stop and talk to him. He was hunting turkey, not people so that's good. I continued on and made it to Dalgrehns. I considered going 2 more miles up to Mt Washington but knew there was a chance of me getting in trouble for sleeping there. I decided to stay at Dalgrehns to be safe and enjoy the running water and indoor plumbing. I camped with the 2AM train guy and another guy , Solar Eagle who had thru hiked a few years ago. Had a tasty meal of mac and cheese for dinner while Mack chased sticks. Mack finally ate, and he ate all of the dog food I brought, even chewed a hole in the bag to get to the last kibble.