Day 74, Zero, total miles- 1018.1

Today was mostly about resting. In the afternoon I walked around the Historical District. There are a lot of interesting buildings and exhibits here. I went to the outfitters to look at their hiking shoes. I have to get new shoes before I get back on trail. I took a picture of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

After looking around the Historical District I hitchhiked up to the Teahorse Hostel. I got a ride from a lady that works as a cook at a restaurant near the hostel. I was going there to see if there were any hikers there that I knew. There were many. I saw Wanderlust, Iceman, Dutch, Guard, Great Legs, King, Wiki,  Sunshine and Night Rider. I went to get something to eat with some of them. It was nice seeing so many familiar faces. Most of them are getting back on trail tomorrow.

I am going to take the train to Washington DC tomorrow at 10:55 am. I am going to visit with family there until Wednesday morning, when I will get back on trail. Taking five days off trail is longer than I had planned, but it works better for everyone. I'm sure my body will appreciate it.

Day 73, miles today- 8.4, total- 1018.1

David Lesser Memorial Shelter to Harper's Ferry, WV.

I left the shelter this morning at 7:00 am. It was an easy hike into town, mostly level or downhill. After about 6 miles I entered West Virginia. I had been in Virginia for at least one month. It felt great to move into another state. As I entered Harper's Ferry I crossed over the Shenandoah River.

My first stop was the Econo Lodge. I washed my clothes and took a shower.  I then headed towards the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I got two mail drops there. One was from Ms. Clancey. In it were several cards/ letters from her students. There were also cookies and a few treats. There was also a little something from the Board office. The other package was from Nikki. It had a variety of food items. Both were great! Thank you! At the Conservancy they take a picture of hikers passing through and place them in an album along with information about the hiker. I was the 254th thru hiker to sign in this year. I stayed there looking through the album at other hikers who had arrived ahead of me.

I then walked around the historical district of Harper's Ferry. It's a very interesting town. There is a lot of history here. John Brown's Fort is here along with many interesting shops and exhibits.

I hitch hiked three times today. The first time a couple on vacation picked me up. The second time was with a couple from Nova Scotia. Their son is thru hiking. He's 150 miles south of Harper's. His trail name is Novi. They gave me a Nova Scotia pin when I got out of their car. The third time was with a lady that owns a jewelry shop in the historical district. At one time she lived in Marietta, Ohio.

Tomorrow I'm going to zero here.

Day 72, miles today- 11.1, total- 1009.7

Bears Den Hostel to David Lesser Memorial Shelter.

Today was a great day. It started with more trail magic. The group of 2012 thru hikers spent the night here at Bears Den. This morning they cooked omelettes and sausage for all of the hikers that stayed there. I was the only thru hiker but there were 10 or more section hikers. It was a great meal. I was only doing about 11 miles today so I took my time leaving the hostel. After breakfast I took a nap, and watched two episodes of Seinfeld. During that time I ate two pepperoni sandwiches from my food bag. At 12:00 I started hiking. My shins bothered me the first mile or so.

After 1.4 miles I came to the 1,000 mile mark. It's amazing I've hiked that far. It was at a stream. I filled my water bottle while I was stopped. Someone had made 1,000 out of small rocks. I added to it to make it look nicer.

I saw two snakes today. One was a 5 ft black snake, the other I'm not sure about. It was about 2 ft long. One guy here at the shelter saw a rattlesnake on trail today. I wish I had seen him.

I passed Airborne and Hawkeye a couple miles before reaching the shelter.

I got to the shelter at 4:30 pm. I was the first person there. Airborne and Hawkeye soon followed. From the shelter I went down a steep hill 1/4 of a mile to get water at a spring. I had two pepperoni sandwiches, an apple pie, and two breakfast bars for dinner.

A little later four other hikers showed up. The three thru hikers were White Russian, Miles to Go and Flash. Tennessee Jones is a section hiker, he was at the hostel last night and at the shelter the night before that. He's a nice guy.

The David Lesser Memorial Shelter is very nice. It has a large attached deck with benches. There's a covered picnic table area with a swing. There's also a very nice tenting area with benches and it's own fire pit.

Tomorrow is a short day into Harper's Ferry.

It's a little after 9:00 pm, time to go to sleep.

Day 71, miles today- 22.8, total- 998.6

Manassas Gap Shelter to Bears Den Hostel.
 

It rained pretty hard overnight for a few hours. By morning it looked like it would be a clear day.
 

I started hiking at 7:15 am. Both of my shins were quite sore for the first hour or so. I took it slow and stopped for several breaks. A couple hours in I felt great. I had planned to stay at a shelter tonight, but I decided to go an extra 3 miles so that I could stay at Bears Den Hostel. It's one of the nicest hostels on the AT. It's going to give me a low mileage day tomorrow, but it's worth it. I could do the 20 miles to Harper's Ferry tomorrow, but I'd get there to late to get much done. I plan to go into town Thursday mid morning.
 

In the afternoon I came to a section of trail that's know as the Rollercoaster. It's a 13.5 mile stretch of tightly packed accents and descents. A few miles into it, at a gravel road crossing, was some really great trail magic. A group of 2012 thru hikers had a super setup at a great location. They had a pop up tent, table, chairs, and a gas grill. They were serving hot dogs, hamburgers, fruit, chips, candy, and drinks. It was amazing! I had one of everything.
 

When I got to the hostel I took a shower and did my laundry. The second time in three days! A lady that works at the hostel told me that there was a pot pie casserole on the stove if I wanted any. It was left over from last night. It was very good. I had two helpings. Just before sunset two guys, one hiker and one hostel worker were going out to a rock overlook to watch the sunset. They both took a guitar with them. They played great and both sang very good. I sat out there listening to them for at least one hour. I worked on my blog too.
 

The 2012 thru hikers, doing trail magic today, are staying at the hostel too. Which is great for me. They said they are going to be making omelettes for all hikers. That means I will get trail magic for the third day in a row!

Day 70, miles today- 14.5, total- 975.8

Front Royal Hostel to Manassas Gap Shelter.

At around 8:15 am Mike took three of us at the hostel into Front Royal to resupply. He dropped me off at the Food Lion. After picking up enough food for the next three days or so I went next door to the Front Royal Dinner to eat breakfast. Mike was to pick me up at 9:30. I had a waffle, two eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. I then went to the pick up location. Mike showed up within five minutes. Once back at the Hostel, I went through my food, discarding all of the cardboard packaging. There's no need carrying extra weight. I left the Hostel at 11:15. I had a 0.5 mile uphill hike to get back to the AT.

At 11:30 am I was back on the AT. Within ten minutes I was leaving the northern end of the Shenandoah National Park.

Four miles later at US 522 I received trail magic. Sunkist, a 2012 thru hiker was there with her mother. They had a table with a variety of food items. There were bananas, apples, home made brownies and blueberry muffins, several types of Little Debbie snacks, and soft drinks. I took a break there and talked to Sunkist about her hike.

I took a short break at the Jim & Molly Denton Shelter. It has a porch, chairs, covered picnic table and even a solar shower. Pretty cool shelter. While I was there I met Beth and David. They were day hiking through that area. They stopped to check out the shelter. They have both been involved with Scouting with their son and daughter. David went to Philmont with his son's troop. I went to Philmont went I was in scouts about 40 years ago. It's an area in New Mexico where scouts go to backpack. I believe I stayed out for ten days when I went. Beth has gone backpacking with her daughter.

A few miles later at a road crossing there was more trail magic.  There was a cooler full of drinks, apples, oranges, and some hard candy. In was put there by two past thru hikers. They had a sign asking for people to sign their cooler. I took a break there for several minutes. After a few minutes Beth and David stopped by. They took a break there also. Before they left they offered me a baggie full of beef jerky. My third trail magic, all in one day. Pretty sweet.

About a mile later I caught up with Beth and David, who had left the cooler before me. I walked with them for a short distance.

I passed a long section of a rock wall near the top of a ridge deep in the woods. Who, when, or why it was built I don't know. I know it was a lot of hard work for someone.

When I got to the Manassas Gap Shelter there were four guys there. They are all section hikers. Three were related. A father and son from Texas and the dad's brother from Florida. The other guy is from Virginia. They were all good guys. We sat around the campfire for a couple hours, talking about a variety of subjects.