June 20^th Saturday

 

          I was up at 6:00. I took my cooking pot to the dining area, filled it up with cereal, grabbed some coffee and went back to my room.  GI Jane and Frenchy had been in the dining room eating breakfast. I nodded off watching TV before getting up. Then I packed away the trail food and prepared my backpack. We called a taxi at 10:30, and for $7.00 the taxi driver took the three of us back to Rockfish Gap by 11:20. First we headed for the registration office to sign in to the Shenandoah National Park. Our cards were filled out and attached to our packs. The warden, a pretty blonde gal named Sarah, had Storm Cloud captivated. When we left to climb back up to the trail, we met Ringbearer. He said that he and Caterpillar had stayed at a motel by the highway, instead of going into Waynesboro. We took off, knowing that we would see him down the trail. On the way up Bear Den Mountain, we passed a Boy Scout troop and three other hikers,

Music Man, Llama and Doc. 

Compliments of Storm Cloud Rob

 

 

Near the top of the mountain, we stopped and sat in some seats that had been installed by a hiking club in the area so one could take in the view. The boy scouts caught up to us and so did Caterpillar. He was still a bit standoffish, but did take part in our conversation. I told him about Dawn Treader and other trail news.

 

After an hour we headed out to the Calf Mt. Shelter, 2-miles away. I ate some of the leftover chicken from Kroger’s and an apple. I had left town with too much weight and was now trying to get it eaten. Ringbearer caught up at the shelter and told us that we had missed Bump by ten minutes at the registration center. He had arrived in Rusty’s van, looking for hikers. Rusty was somewhat of a trail legend. He used to be a park warden but was laid off or dismissed with a few years compensation. He had purchased a piece of ground in the park that had a house with no power or running water. Rusty took in hikers, fed them, and then carted them around when needed. He did all this for donations and also sold T-shirts. I had noticed Bump’s T-shirt and that is how I learned about Rusty. Our little group figured that Rusty’s place was just another trap to way lay hikers from achieving their goal. Many disputed this but that was just the way some of us felt about a lot of hostels, motels and slack packing. The living was too good!  One could get used to the easy way.  It was too much of an incentive to quit when times got tough. We liked too think that we were traditional thru-hikers…not purists…but traditional! We believed in carrying the pack all the way; no blue blazing or yellow blazing…just hiking. On Rusty’s T-shirt was a scripture, Hebrews 13:2, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares”. I regretted not going to stay at Rusty’s, but I never was a big hostel fan. 

 

We packed up at 4:30 and headed off to a spring, 4-miles down the trail. The weather had been hot and sunny this day and we were bagged after ten miles of hiking. We spied a couple deer nearby and found a spot off the trail, where we could camp. I had more chicken, another apple, and some of Gram’s cookies for supper. I was in bed at 8:30, nursing my sore feet. I thought it should have been worse, breaking in the new boots, but the terrain was not as steep as in Georgia and North Carolina.  Even though I felt a little sluggish, all was well. This was probably because I had just come out of a town stint. Towns were always hard to leave and it took a day or so to get back to the grind.

  

June 21^st Sunday

 

          Happy Birthday Adam! I was up at 6:00. The night air had been pretty warm. The deer hung around the tent in the night making a little noise. After cold cereal and coffee, I packed and was ready to go by 7:30. We took off down the trail and I was in the lead, forcing myself to shake off the town blues. We passed four tents that were scattered in the woods along the way, before we reached the Black Rock Shelter. We crossed the Skyline Drive, a road that runs through Shenandoah Park. The trail ran practically parallel to the road and we could hear the traffic quite often. We met Hiwater, Kiva and Black Widow. Hiwater told us that he skipped the Smokies and would probably skip the Shenandoahs as well, because his dog Kiva wasn’t allowed in the park, except on a leash. At Black Rock shelter there was a gusher of a spring.  We enjoyed the cool water on this hot, hot day. Lots of people showed up. Music man, Llama, Doc, Simple, Kevin and the Massachusetts Honeymooners had their lunch here. Kevin was around 45.  He carried a very light pack and wore running shoes. It was his third thru hike and he averaged 20+ miles per day. As we got up to go, an exmarine came in and told us that after the climb up and out of the shelter area, the trail would be great.

 

He wasn’t wrong! We finished the first 3.5 miles in just over an hour and that was including time to stop and talk to day hikers. We made Loft Mt. Camping area by 5:00 and met up with Wombat, the Australian. The four of us shared a tenting site for $3.50 each, and went down to the store for ice cream. We saw Evergreen and Ringbearer there.  They were both moving on. We went back to our spot and got water for supper at the washroom. I made spaghetti and had good conversation with everybody over supper. Wombat had one year of study remaining before he would become a lawyer in Australia. He told us that he probably wouldn’t finish the hike this year. He would leave the trail at Harper’s Ferry, and go home from Washington. It had been a nice evening but when the sun dropped down, it cooled off quickly. I had hiked seventeen miles in the heat today.  We planned to be in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, before the end of June.

  

June 22^nd Monday

 

          I was up at 6:30 and felt I had my best sleep yet. I had cereal and coffee for breakfast, packed up and was on the trail by 8:30. The trail was nice all the way to the Pinefield Shelter, 6-miles away. There were ascents and descents, but more level walking than usual. This was a welcome change for a weary hiker. Also, there were deer everywhere. Some of them look pretty ragged and scarred from battle.  I had spied two does and their spotted fawns so far. I also saw a black snake and two box turtles before getting to the High Top Shelter. We met Gaiterbait, his dog, Abby, and Farther. Abby was the only dog that appeared to be happy on the trail. She played a bit when she reached a shelter and was extremely good-natured. Farther, a man in his 50’s wore Vasque Sundowners like me. He was raised in the Midwest but moved to Orono, Maine, to work on some environmental project. He had been known to yellow blaze a bit. His daughter, Lemmondrop, was ahead of him, as was indicated by the shelter registers. Sunburn wanted to stay here but we convinced him to move on.

 

We hiked slowly and were exhausted by the time we got to the South River picnic area. There was no camping allowed here and there were about ten hikers.  Everybody was too tired to move on. We sat at the picnic tables, cooked supper and then went to the washroom to clean up.  I met two new hikers, Wild Gess and Mountain Laurel. Wild Gess was a lawyer from New York and his wife Mt. Laurel was a veterinarian, originally from Charleston, South Carolina. She fit the bill of a true southern belle except that she was strong willed and seemed very much in control of her own affairs. Ringbearer was here and also a southbound section hiker called Avocado. I took a stroll to the top of the knoll towards the highway and discovered just how beautiful the spot was. There was a flat plain of mowed grass and about thirty beautiful tall oak trees, symmetrically growing into the expanse. It was one of the most beautiful vistas I had ever looked upon. Near dusk we set up our tents nearby, as inconspicuously as possible before calling it a night. We had completed over twenty miles this day under partly cloudy skies.

  

June 23^rd Tuesday

 

          Only one car passed by in the night and whoever they were, they didn’t throw us out. I couldn’t sleep well, so I got up to write letters. I wrote one to Tony Smith before having cereal, a bagel sandwich and coffee. We broke camp by 8:00. We hiked five miles and then stopped at a campground store for a pop, ice cream and fudge. They had cheap orange creamcicles!   I ate about four of them over the two hours we were there. We hiked off again and saw a lot more deer and turtles before we got to Milam Gap. We took a break to rest the feet and snack. We then journeyed to the Big Meadows campground, reaching it by 2:30. A storm threatened to let loose so we set up our tents immediately. With the decision of staying out of the way, Storm Cloud went to do his laundry and Sunburn took a shower. I stayed in my tent to write a letter to my sister, Joene, and started another for Steve Whitehead.

 

Around 5:00, after the downpour, we all went to the Tap Room for a beer and then ordered some food upstairs. It was a swanky joint. We saw Teaberry and Double Cup for the first time in about 700 miles. I was amazed that they were still on the trail and had caught up to us. I couldn’t help but think something fishy was going on, but I didn’t say anything. For supper, I had “the special,” beef soup, ham, fries and veggies. It was topped off with apple pie and ice cream for dessert. I had eaten a good portion and so I went back to my tent instead of going for another beer.  I was very tired for only having done fourteen miles and was in bed by 9:00.

 

The Wanted Poster that was tacked up in the shelters.

Bump actually found a couple of them.

A good joke on the jokester, himself.

 

June 24^th Wednesday

 

          Although I had a small bend in the back, I slept OK in the night.  I woke up early enough and started a letter to Jim Phillips. After breaking camp, we went to the restaurant for the Shenandoah Sampler breakfast, which consisted of two eggs, bacon, pan-fries, toast, biscuits and gravy with coffee. It certainly hit the spot. Before we left the restaurant, a gentleman in his 50’s came to our table and introduced himself as Walking Eagle. He had started at Springer Mt. this summer but the weather had forced him to stop. He had thru hiked before, so it was no big deal. He went to Alaska instead. Outside the restaurant I met a gentleman, Mr. Bob Moss. I think he was in his 60’s.  We talked a bit about the trail. I told him I was from Alberta.  He said that the he had met Earnest Manning back in the 40’s. Mr. Manning would go to Augusta, Georgia to speak in the local churches on prophecy. This must be the beginning of a very special day! We packed and left at 8:00 and hiked on to the Skyland Lodge and Restaurant, seven miles away. Here we stopped for a cheeseburger, fries and a Pepsi, as it was another nine miles to the Thorton Gap restaurant. Supper was pizza, a beef and philly sandwich, and a milkshake. I washed up a bit in the rest room and hiked another mile to the Pass Mt. Shelter. 

 

We had completed what was called the Triple Crown… eating at all three restaurants along the way. At the shelter, there was a big group and little room for our tents. I set up near the trail coming in.  The group consisted of Wild Gess, Mt. Laurel, Teaberry, Doublecup, Ringbearer, Stormy, Wombat, Sunburn and two section hikers, Irish and the Old Goat. We hung our food on the bear hang and were in our tents by dusk. I could hear the deer grazing right beside my tent.  They ran off scared when I farted.

  

June 25^th Thursday

 

          I slept great in the night and had the desire to sleep in. I was the last one up and rushed around to get my breakfast. I had cereal and coffee, packed up and hiked seven miles to the Elk Wallow Gap camp store. There, I had a couple hotdogs, two orange bars and a Pepsi. The group was back together again, in front of the store in the shade. I stayed there almost two hours before taking off for Gravel Springs. Teaberry had a problem with her feet and boots so she and Doublecup hitched a ride to Front Royal. For the last couple days, I had been hearing and seeing large planes overhead. The planes, so I was told, were coming in and out of Washington, D.C. It must be one busy airport! After an hour and a half we hiked to Hog Wallow Spring where Wild Gess found a spot to set up a couple tents. Stormy, Sunburn and Ringbearer moved on, but I stayed with Gess and Laurel.  There were deer at the site as we cooked supper. My stove was starting to act up. It burnt with a very yellow flame and no amount of bottle pressurizing helped. I planned to have it tended to, when I got to Harper’s Ferry.  Storm Cloud had a spare part called a generator, but I could wait until we got to town. The generator, made from brass, moved the gas through the flame and vaporized it by heat transfer. I suspected that my stove had carboned up and was not getting enough heat to vaporize the gas. I made spaghetti and ate supper with Gess and Laurel. Gess was a Ranger fan and so we talked the evening away with hockey. I was in the tent by 10:00 to work on my journal.  The deer were at the vestibule looking for anything with salt on it. I had traveled sixteen miles this day.  The wind started to pick up as I went to sleep.

  

June 26^th Friday

 

          My sleep was sweet except for when an ant crawled in my ear and got stuck in the wax. He drove me nuts and I couldn’t reach him with my finger. Every time I tried, he would squirm. Finally I got a fingernail in far enough to grab half of him. There was no more squirming after I hauled the first half out. I didn’t get up until 6:45. I had a quick breakfast of cereal before taking my tent down. It looked like it would be another hot day. I started walking just before 8:00 and caught up to Stormy and Sunburn at the Tom Floyd Shelter, which was on the northern boundary of the Shenandoahs. Lobo was there and told us that Pacemaker, his hiking partner, had gone to a wedding. Consequently, Lobo would be hiking alone for a week. I had hummus on crackers with beef jerky and drank a liter of water. I didn’t make the hummus nearly as well as Selky would have. It tasted much too strong and had the consistency of putty. When Ringbearer came along, we left with him to go down to the highway into Front Royal. The sun was beating mercilessly on us as we hiked. There was no tree cover for about three miles. At the highway, Ringbearer tried to hitch a ride to town but had no luck.

 

I carried on to a stream where I had to treat the water before having my fill. I washed up and tried to cool off in the stream. I started to feel a headache and nausea from the heat. I hiked on to the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter. Just before the shelter, I spooked a bear that ran off into the woods. This was the first time ever in seventeen years of backpacking that I had seen a bear. When I stopped at the spring, I found two beers, cooling off. A note said to “help yourself,” so I packed them away and went to the shelter. I shared the beers with Sunburn, Stormy and Ringbearer and made some lunch. I had a full-blown headache now and didn’t feel well at all! I tried lying down in the shade on my Thermo-rest but just couldn’t get comfortable. The no-see-ums were bad which added to my woes. I took two Tylenol and started hiking again. After walking slowly, I felt a little better. I thought perhaps that my bean (head) had been uncovered too long in the sun. We passed a sign near Linden that indicated that the land was Col. Mosesby’s area of patrol in the Civil War. Sunburn and I decided to hitch a ride to the store because we were out of snacks and still were three days journey from Harper’s Ferry.  We caught a ride in on the back of a truck, and went to the edge of town, about three miles from the trail. There was a very nice convenience store there. The Deli had good prices and everything a man would want to eat. We each ordered a submarine that was over a foot long and had three inches of meat. I could only eat half of it along with drinking a quart of milk. I bought some other snacks and then went outside to eat ice cream. I asked a young guy for a ride back to the trail and he obliged. We passed a troop of scouts on the last two miles to Manassas Gap Shelter. It was a bit of a climb but we made it in good time. We saw a few snakes along the way.

 

Storm Cloud and L’il Mack were at the shelter when we arrived. My headache had disappeared completely by then and so I snacked on cookies before going to bed. L’il Mack was a truck driver from Indiana. He used to be an accountant but didn’t like working inside. He didn’t exactly appear to be a truck driver… but what should they look like anyway. He was a very good-natured fellow and I enjoyed talking to him. He said Flutterby was hiking for a short while with her boyfriend and that they would all hook-up again, later. I drank another liter of water and was in the tent by 9:30. I had hiked twenty-one miles in heat like I hadn’t seen before. I wanted a bath real bad!!! It was warm so I left the fly on the tent undone. I didn’t even have to cover up with my blanket.

  

June 27^th Saturday

 

          I slept well again and didn’t crawl out of the tent until 6:45. I had cereal and coffee for breakfast before the four of us left the shelter by 9:00. I walked and talked with L’il Mack for a ways. We exchanged work stories. As a truck driver, he had been into a lot of different plant sites and had always admired the operations crews. How little we know! We stopped in at Dick’s Dome Shelter, snacked and got water. The shelter was not the pleasure dome the guidebook suggested, and the area was equally comparable. We hiked on five miles and just before we reached the highway, we met Skiddah, Got Milk, Wild Gess and Mt. Laurel. They were all slacking, south from Harper’s Ferry. We also met Lucky, our first honest to goodness south bounder. He was a big German!  He had started in Nova Scotia and walked through New Brunswick to Maine. He didn’t get to climb Mt. Katahdin to start, but had left Abol Bridge, only fifteen miles away, in the beginning of April.

 

We walked up the highway to a store that had a lot of Civil War memorabilia and snacks. I bought the last Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream and a pop. We stayed for almost two hours enjoying the rest. There were three section hikers there, getting off the trail. We took off for Rod Hollow Shelter and arrived there in a little over an hour. Karen and her older dog Hannah were there. Karen, a teacher, in the inner city of Washington, wanted to do the AT, but was only practicing now. We found a spot for our tents and set up for the night. I started to cook supper when Second Nature and Mirage showed up. They had done a lot of miles to get here. I hadn’t seen them for over a month. We had a great time laughing and swapping stories all evening long. They planned to take three or four days off at Harper’s to go partying at Old Moose’s place in upstate New York. They told us that Shutterbug and Kozmo would be flip-flopping from Harpers to the Katahdin. We should meet them in a month or so, somewhere in Vermont. The skies were overcast, but the temperature warm and humid. I had only done a short stint of fourteen miles this day.  The rain started to fall, as we got ready for bed.

Left to right:

Shutterbug, Thirsty Boots, Old Moose, Mirage,

Second Nature, Kozmo. Partying it up in upstate N.Y.

Compliments of Shutterbug

 

June 28^th Sunday

 

          The rain that fell through the night cooled everything off a bit. I slept well again and didn’t crawl out of bed until 7:15.  Breakfast was cereal, a salami bagel sandwich and coffee. We left at 9:00 and made it to the Sam Moore Shelter by 11:30. I arrived about twenty minutes before the rest and so I got to talk to Doppler and Deepa. They were two young fellows from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Doppler was a recent mechanical engineer graduate who was section hiking between Delaware Water Gap and Damascus. He made some coffee for us and he became my friend forever! When the rest showed up, we had lunch until 12:45.

 

We took off from there to go to the Horseshoe Restaurant in Snickers Gap. Wombat, Storm Cloud, Sunburn and myself went in to eat. It was a homey sort of tavern establishment. I had a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. I enjoyed the rest here! The guidebook had said that the trail from Rod Hollow to Blackburn was an accumulated 5000’ elevation gain. That didn’t seem to bother Sunburn or Stormy because when we got back on the trail, they wanted to do the extra twelve miles and get into Harper’s Ferry as soon as possible. Even though I wanted a bath so terribly bad, I hardly had the energy to get to Blackburn, let alone Harper’s. On the way, Stormy took a tumble and bent his walking stick. I thought that he would consider staying at Blackburn now. When we arrived, it was around 6:30. There was no question about staying. There was a house and two large buildings where hikers were allowed to reside. The first one I visited housed Japhy, Indy and a few other young lads. I guess because of my age they sent me to the old folk’s home where Old Man River, L’il Mack, Nomad and the rest of our crew were. The place had a stove and was nice and warm.  This was comforting after being in the rain for most of the day. There were clothes hung everywhere, drying in the warmth, and the place smelled a bit rank. Old Man River checked out all the abrasions, sores, fungi, cuts and rashes that everyone dared to show him. He was quick in his prognosis and recommended the ointments to buy for the cure. His experience of being a doctor’s aid was paying off for the rest of us. I had one spot on my back that had been bothering me for most of the trip. It felt like a big bad ingrown pimple and it was just below my right shoulder blade. I had Sunburn and Storm Cloud check it before, but they didn’t find anything. Old Man River didn’t either.  The spot felt numb a lot of the time. I chalked it up to the backpack rubbing constantly in that one spot. I had done eighteen miles in light rain and got to bed by 10:00.

 

June 29^th Monday

         

I slept pretty well considering I was in a bed with a soft mattress.  I got up at 7:00 after being up once before in the pitch-black night, looking for a door so I could relieve myself.  I knocked over a broom and discovered that I was trying to get into a closet. Someone turned on his or his flashlight to help me out. In the morning we moved over to the big house and made breakfast on the veranda. Every one was in a good mood as it was a town day. I cooked a packet of rice and had a bagel salami sandwich for breakfast. We were away by 8:45.

 

After we made it to the David Lesser Memorial Shelter, we carried on down towards Harper’s Ferry. We saw ditches that were used as bunkers in the Civil War and took the time to climb in and pretend to shoot Yankees or Confederates depending on the side we chose to be on.  The area was very rocky but there was an opening through the trees and it was easy to pretend fight. We were just one big happy troop by the time we made it to the road and bridge crossing of the Shenandoah River. Harper’s Ferry was considered the psychological halfway point of the Appalachian Trail, even though it was only 995 miles from Springer Mountain. We took the trail into town and then the blue blaze up to the Appalachian Trail Headquarters.  This also made Harper’s Ferry a significant trail town. Frank Ivy was at the office and so all six of us, Storm Cloud, Sunburn, Wombat, L’il Mack, Frank Ivy and myself had our picture taken together. I bought a Polaroid snapshot for a buck.  We all got our pictures taken for the official thru-hiker picture book. I believe that one of us was the 315^th thru-hiker to pass through Harpers this year.

 

Sunburn, Canuckelhead, Storm Cloud, Frank Ivy, Wombat, L’il Mack

at the Appalachian Trail Headquarters, Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.

 

We all then headed to the Hilltop Inn, a turn of the century hotel that burnt down and was rebuilt in 1912. There were no televisions in 1912 and apparently no televisions in the rooms now.  There was no air conditioning in 1912 and there still wasn’t air conditioning in Sunburns and my room, because it didn’t work. Sunburn went to the front desk and got us another room. In this room, the door didn’t lock, but we didn’t care as long as we had an air conditioner. I finally got to have my long awaited shower. After showering, we dressed and walked down to the post office. My mail drop, or pictures from Waynesboro, hadn’t arrived yet. Sunburn, Stormy and I went to the Mudfort pub for some supper. I had the club sandwich and fries. We met one of the locals there, Paul Druzs; He offered his services to us while we were in town. Paul was a lawyer that worked on right away for communication towers. He had a small company, which contracted out to larger companies, to move large conspicuous towers to equally efficient but less conspicuous areas. We walked back to the hotel and readied our laundry bags and then sat out front for a while before phoning a cab.

L to R; Wild Gess, Mountain Laurel, Gretal, Hansel

Compliments of Fanny Pack

 

We met Hansel and Gretal, while we were waiting. We had met Hansel’s mom in Waynesboro, unknowingly. I had remembered talking to a woman who said that her son and daughter-in-law were hiking the trail but I never realized that it was Hansel and Gretal. Gretal told me that her mother-in-law thought I was the most optimistic person on the trail. I had to really question where she got that idea. Maybe it was because I was so happy to be at the hotel and in town, for a bath and some food. Sunburn told me I could be the PR man for the group, because I was always talking to the new folks we met and smoothing over the harsh things said about slack packing and blue blazing. I agreed with that, excluding the incident with Topsy Turvy.

 

The taxi showed up and all five of us jumped in. He took us to a convenience store where we bought detergent and ice cream, then to the KOA campground on the outskirts of town. We then went to do the laundry and ate the ice cream while we waited for it to finish. We met Happy Feet (guy), at the campground. He was waiting for his girlfriend to show up with a car. Back in Pearisburg, unbeknownst to us, there was a fracas involving Happy Feet (guy), Doc and Music Man against an ex Navy Seal, by the name of Gladstone. The way we heard the story was that because the youngsters were partying and making noise at the Rendezvous Motel, Gladstone went out to quiet them down. One thing led to another. Gladstone threw a punch and then Happy and Doc kicked the daylights out of Gladstone. It put him in the hospital and off the trail. We had heard all of this through the trail grapevine and hadn’t really drawn any conclusions as to what had really happened. There was a little tension when we met Happy, but it quickly blew over. This was due to the fact that he was such a happy go lucky fellow and we had never met Gladstone.

 

There were a couple of problems at the laundry. The dryers ran extremely hot and melted the polypropylene socks and shirts. L’il Mack, Wombat, Stormy and I all had clothes to replace. It was nothing serious, a minor inconvenience, and so with our laundry done like burnt toast, we walked back into town and met Hiwater and his dog Kiva. We all went to the Mudfort Pub and shot some pool. The place was pretty busy for a Monday night, but we had the pool table pretty much to ourselves. We stayed until about 1:00 in the morning then left as a group to walk back to the hotel. The five of us walking down the street after 1:00 in the morning caused the local cop to stop and check us out. As soon as he heard we were doing laundry and hiking the trail, he seemed contented. We carried on to the hotel and were in bed and sleeping by 1:30.

 

June 30^th Tuesday

 

          I got up at 8:00, dressed and went down to the hotel restaurant. I sat with Sunburn and Stormy and ordered French toast, bacon and coffee. After breakfast, we went back to the room and packed. We decided to move to a motel with a TV, and get a little larger room. We hiked down to the ATC office again and went in to browse around.  There were gifts, maps and the photo book. Also, we registered for the year. We weighed ourselves on the medical scales and I turned in at 162 pounds. I had lost sixteen pounds over the first thousand miles. I bought a few T-shirts, mugs and a book to send home to the folks. We met some hikers there, TBA, Cool Rabbit and Pirate and also saw Caterpillar and his daughter walk by.

 

I walked down to the post office with Sunburn to mail some letters. My packages still hadn’t arrived, so we hiked to the Comfort Inn and checked in. Sunburn and I shared a room and Stormy got a single. From the hotel we walked to downtown Harpers where all the museums and tourist spots were. I checked out the outfitter and found a stove generator for $12.00. I didn’t buy it, because I was going to Washington first. I had planned to go in with Wombat, who would head back to Australia. I wandered around town checking out some stores and then took in the museums. At one store I found some old National Geographic magazines and bought one each for Adam and Tara. They were published in the month and year that the kids were born. The museums had a lot of old artifacts on display and the one I preferred was the Civil War site. It had old uniforms, weapons and ammunition. The story about the war in the Harpers area was printed on the wall.  One could read it as they walked around the room. Harper’s Ferry was a strategic site, as it had the railroad and the C and O canal running nearby. It had changed hands three times during the war, at a great cost to the population. I toured through a Negro museum and also a manufacturing and business museum. The latter museum had an old printing press and wood working tools on display. Sunburn, Stormy, L’il Mack and I met at a restaurant for a lunch and then went back to the motel. We watched Britain and Argentina play for the World cup and ribbed Sunburn when Argentina won. From there we went back to the Mudfort Pub and had chicken wings and fries. At 7:00 we went to the 7/11 for ice cream and ordered a pizza to take back to the motel. Wombat and I planned our trip to Washington.  We found out that Storm Cloud was headed out the next day.  He would make Pennsylvania ahead of us and take some time off at home. Sunburn and I phoned home to talk to the folks and then went to bed around midnight.

  

July 1^st Wednesday

 

          I had a wake-up call from the front desk at 5:00 in the morning. I got up, showered and headed off to the Amtrak station and arrived fifteen minutes early. Wombat was there. We hopped on the train and bought our tickets enroute.  It was $12.00 for the ride into Union Station. The train followed the canal for a ways, and made stops at several towns before arriving in Washington, almost an hour and a half later. Wombat and I went to a concession and picked up a muffin, a coffee and a disposable camera. Wombat was going to find the hostel and check in. We would meet again at 1:00, at the Lincoln Memorial. 

 

I headed out to Delaware Avenue. I had purchased a city map in Harpers, which was fairly easy to follow. I passed the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, where later that day, Monica Lewinsky would be questioned. I passed the Library of Congress and moved up Independence Avenue. There were lots of tourists like me, gawking at all the buildings. It was early yet but I headed for the Lincoln Memorial anyway so I could find it easily later in the afternoon. I walked past the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Memorial and checked out the monument of Mr. Lincoln. I went into the bookshop and bought a Civil War history book before heading back in the direction of Union Station.

  

The White House

Bill wasn’t home, he was in China, and Monica was in court.

 

 

 

 

The Vietnam Memorial

 

 

Mister Lincoln

Washington Monument

 

I went past the White House, stopped at the Sherman Memorial and sat on the grass to take off my boots.  Lots of tour groups passed by.  After an hour, I put my boots back on and made my way over to the Canadian Embassy, but it was closed. Somebody forgot to tell them that I would be in town today! I went back to the Lincoln Memorial to meet up with Wombat. We walked across the Arlington Bridge to see the Hiker Memorial. It was not a memorial dedicated to hikers but to the Spanish American war. We took each others picture then moved on to the subway station nearby. It was easy to figure out the subway system, as it was color coded, and had ticket-dispensing machines. We traveled to Northwest Washington, near George Washington University, which had a lot of shops and a couple of malls. We cruised up the street to a mall and went into shop. I bought a camera from the Sharper Image store and then we went to eat. After a hotdog and pop, it was off to Barnes and Noble, a store where Wombat would pick up a book for his bus ride to Seattle. There were three floors there, so it was easy to lose one another. I told him I would meet him on the bottom floor in an hour. I picked up the Stanley Cup commemorative edition of the Detroit Redwings, in Sports Illustrated, and also a basketball coaches book that looked like it would be beneficial. We met again later and walked down the street to a Ben and Jerry’s store for ice cream. I had a pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Wombat then walked me to the subway. 

 

We parted ways, as he would walk to the hostel. I would go to Union Station on the subway. I caught the 5:35 Amtrak to Harpers, and arrived around 7:00. On the way to the motel, I stopped at King’s Pizzeria and picked up a calzone and some pop. Sunburn was writing letters and watching Mr. Holland’s Opus when I arrived. We watched Jerry McGuire later, and while doing so, I phoned my kids. We were in bed and asleep by 1:00.

 

July 2^nd Thursday

 

          We were out of bed by 8:00 and went to the Continental breakfast. After cereal, coffee and muffins, we headed for the post office. My parcel from home was in today and I took it back to the motel. My photos hadn’t arrived yet so I phoned King Photo in Waynesboro and requested that they be sent to Duncannon in Pennsylvania. I packed a box to mail home all the presents I had bought. Sunburn planned to leave for the trail, so I checked out of our room and booked a single for the night. I transferred my pack and things to the new room and then said goodbye to Sunburn. Later, I headed up to the ATC office to catch a ride back into Washington with Paul Druz. The drive into Washington was nice.  He dropped me off down town. My first stop was at the Canadian embassy, of which I took a picture with my new camera. I went inside to check out the artwork downstairs and then headed out and down the street to the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space. The place was packed with tourists so I moved through it rather quickly.  Then, I walked down to the Holocaust museum and stayed for over an hour. There was a show that you could buy tickets for but I didn’t take the time for it. I took the subway back up to NW Washington and went to the outfitters. The generator for the stove cost $14.00 here so I planned to wait and pick it up in Harper’s Ferry. I bought an apple to munch on and headed back to Union Station on the subway. I bought my ticket for the 5:30 train and found my seat. Ringbearer walked down the aisle, and I said hello. He had been visiting friends and was going back to the trail. When, I told him I had a room, he decided to stay the night with me. Once back in Harpers we phoned a cab and drove to Charles Town to do some grocery shopping. We stopped at Wendy’s first to eat and then headed for the Food Lion store.  I love to shop for food and still used the trick of carrying a basket, to keep the amount of weight I would carry on the trail. We taxied back to Harper’s, picked up some ice cream and then went to the motel and watched TV the rest of the evening. We were in bed at 1:00.

  

July 3^rd Friday

 

          I got up at 8:30 in the morning and showered. I packed up the groceries and the backpack, and headed to the post office to mail things home. I saw Off Duty, Cuppa Joe, and her dad, Jellybean. I walked up to the outfitter and bought the generator and a sweat towel. The owner/operator, Trail Cootie, was interested in how the stove repair would be done so I borrowed a wrench and replaced the part right there. The stove was taken outside and then lit up to see if my maintenance procedure worked. It worked fine! I bought a couple hotdogs and a pop for lunch, ate them outside the outfitters and talked to the owner. I also met Pirate, a trail bum, who had hiked part of the new “Across America Trail.” Around 1:30, I decided to hit the trail, so I crossed the bridge over the C&O canal and headed off. The trail started with a 3-mile walk down the canal.  I met Mitch at the end of this walk. We had a snack and a little rest and then both took off for Crampton Gap Shelter. I met Too Obtuse, Plush and Simple at Gathland Park rest area, and stopped for a pop.

Mitch at the end of the C&O canal

Gathland, a monument to war correspondents

 

 

L to R; Plush, Simple, Too Obtuse & Jim

I cooked supper at the picnic area there and talked to Too Obtuse. Obtuse was from New Hampshire, a college grad in social work, but was working as a carpenter now. He was a very nice fellow! We headed on to the shelter and I set up my tent. Plush and “Simple” followed and we all stayed the night there. We talked the evening away and crawled into the tent by 9:30.  It felt good to be back on the trail, away from the hustle and bustle of town.

 

July 4^th Saturday

 

          I was up at 6:00, had a quick breakfast and was on the trail by 7:00. I followed a girl for a ways and later found out that it was Two Showers. We stopped into Rocky Run Shelter for a snack. There were three hikers inside, still sleeping. We found out that they were doing the 42 mile, 24 hour run, through four states. It started in Virginia, and then went through West Virginia, Maryland and then into Pennsylvania. I couldn’t imagine doing it myself, I would probably wreck myself and not be able to finish what I’d set out to do. Two Showers and I hiked on to the George Washington Memorial in Maryland, and stopped at the picnic area for lunch. I met Mt. Roamer and Outta Chocolate there, also Caterpillar’s daughter.  She was waiting for her dad. Caterpillar was slack packing today.  I encountered him at the site of the memorial, just before I left.

Outta Chocolate and Mountain Roamer

The Mennonite cousins

 

I was at Pine Knob Shelter by 2:30 but it was too early to stop for the night. As I journeyed, I passed Otis and Lightweight, who were doing the four-state 42-mile marathon. They looked beat and were asleep when I left. I made the Pogo campsite by 5:00 and set up my tent. After a big pot of spaghetti for supper, I rested for the evening. It gave me the chance to read the Financial Post that had been sent from home. Ringbearer passed me to camp further down the trail. He told me he camped a mile outside of Harpers last night and did a 28-mile day today. I was in the tent and sleeping by 8:00. I had done sixteen miles myself. The weather had been great for almost a week now.  It was too hot to hike in the afternoon so I planned to be up early to hike the big miles in the cool of the morning.

  

July 5^th Sunday

 

          So much for getting up early! I crawled out of the tent around 7:30 and had breakfast.  Shortly after I packed up and left, I met Ringbearer, who had camped in the middle of the trail. Tony had changed his trail name.  This confused most of the hikers and probably most of the readers of this journal. He had started at Springer Mountain with the name “Plaqueman the Ringbearer” because he had slept on the plaque at Springer his first night and was wearing a ring puzzle around his neck, a gift from his girlfriend. He got tired of explaining the name Plaqueman, because people were presuming him to be a dentist. So, now he introduced himself as Ringbearer, whenever he met someone new.  I told him, I would run into him later and started off again.

 

 

I missed the first shelter but stopped at a spring along the way to refresh myself. I snacked on some jerky, chips and water.  It was nice to soak my feet in water before taking off again.  The trail was getting very rocky and the feet were finding it tough. There were smaller ups and downs, than in Virginia, but the incessant pounding on the rocks made my feet feel worse. I met a widow who rode around on a moped to pick up cans and then I met Off Duty hiking south with a couple friends. He told me he was going to flip flop to Katahdin because of the heat.  I told him that I would miss him.

 

Mileage sign at Penn/Mar Park

 

In about an hour I made the Penn/Mar park area. It was full of about 200 seniors dancing to music from the big band era. I saw L’il Mack there and he bought me a pop. We sat on the grass, listened to the music, and he described his visit with his mom and brother while in Harper’s. He said that he should be able to travel with me for a ways until that pretty redhead, Flutterby, caught up and then he would dump me for her. We moved over to the other side of the park and found Mitch, Two Showers, Lightweight, Otis, Too Obtuse, Indy, Skitz and Nite Eyes. These guys had been Yogi-ing food from the seniors. We did the necessary introductions before Two Showers and I went to the mileage sign to get our pictures taken. Then, Too Obtuse, L’il Mack, Two Showers and I headed down the trail to the Mason Dixon line.

 

Canuckelhead, Too Obtuse and Two Showers posing at the Mason/Dixon Line

Imaginary or not, the northerners were glad to be home and the

Southerners were apprehensive about going on

Notice Two Showers is wearing sandals

 

We took some more pictures before carrying on to Deerlick Shelter. I had done nineteen miles and so celebrated with a big supper, potatoes, cheese and gravy and salami. I was in bed at 10:00.