On to Harpers Ferry

6/19/15 - Mike dropped me off this morning at 8:30 and I hiked the 16 miles to Rod Hollow shelter by 3pm.  The sky was overcast and the temp moderate, but the humidity!  I may as well have been rained on!   And there's no way my clothes will dry overnight.  Oh well, I'm for Bears Den hostel tomorrow.

The ridge runner Kite is here, he's cool.  Right Click, Rock Steady, Finn, Tumbles and Scout, Leviticus, Mockingbird and Dr. Pickles are here.  I passed Dora, she was 'coming out of Front Royal today, and Blackout showed up late today.

The tropical storm is due to blow through tomorrow night, confirming my plan for a ten Mike day to Bears Den hostel tomorrow.  Hopefully it will clear before Sunday daybreak; I'll decide whether to do a stop at Blackburn Center it a full day to Harpers Ferry at that time.

Seven o'clock and finally it starts raining, dropping the temp and some of the humidity.  I am already finished eating and am relaxing in the shelter.  A good evening and hopefully a good sleeping night.

6/20/15 - It took until 1:30 to make the 10 miles from Rod Hollow to Bears Den hostel.  The humidity is awful and I'd forgotten how rocky the trail is through the Roller Coaster. But I've now had a shower, I'm in a cool room, and my pack is drying in the sunshine.  

The hostel ended up full tonight.  Javier (Clean Shave), Doppleganger, Rua, Finn, Scout and Tumbles, a bunch of section hikers, and Blackout are here.  I was surprised to see Blackout, he's a very strong hiker, but he admitted the humidity was brutal today.  And the rain from TS Bill has been intense tonight.  The trail is going to be really sloppy mud tomorrow.  My plan is to hike out 10 mikes to the AT Blackburn Center and decide then if I can make Harpers Ferry before dark.  I'll need to call ahead for a hotel if I decide to push through.

6/21/15 - I thought I didn't sleep at all last night but Doppleganger says she heard me snore a couple times.  Either way it's gonna be a long day to AT Blackburn.

I slipped out of Bears Den shortly before eight.  Tumbles was eating breakfast and waves goodbye as I walked past the front.  The trail was more sandy, so very little mud, fortunately.  The Roller Coaster is not as bad north of Bears Den and the temp was cooler so I made good time.  I got to AT Blackburn around noon and went down for water.  After eating lunch I decided to press on and make the day a 21 miler to Harpers Ferry.

I'd hiked the 12 miles between Blackburn and Harper Ferry in 2007, with an injured left leg, which may be why I didn't remember all the rocks.  The trail, especially across Loudoun Heights, is almost all rocks.  There's no flat place to put your foot. The last couple miles, my feet were screaming. Then I got to the river bridge; the hotel is about 300ft up the highway from the bridge, while the trail turns right and runs along the Potomac River.  Unfortunately, there's no shoulder on the freeway, so I had to take the trail about a half mile, then go uphill about a quarter mile to the ATC HQ, then back down hill to the hotel. Arg!  All told, I walked about 22 miles.