Harpers Ferry was a cool little historical town. I would like to go back and sightsee.
We crossed the Virginia/ West Virginia state line! This was one of our major goals! I wanted to get into West Virginia and play John Denver’s Country Roads. However, I was watching the rocks because I didn’t want to twist my ankle and missed the sign. What a let down!
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| The VA/ WV State Line. Poppa Lip was happy to see we made it into WV!!! |
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| 1.9 miles to Harpers Ferry |
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| Entering the National Historical Park |
When we walked into Harpers Ferry it was cool to see the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers conflux with the mountains in the background. Words cannot express how beautiful it is. It is also crazy how clear the water is. Back home, the Cuyahoga looks like a mud puddle (and the lakes, ponds, and creeks) but you can see the bottom of everything here.
While walking through Harpers Ferry National Historical Park we passed Storer College. The college was established after the Civil War so that former slaves had a place to learn how to read, write, and learn marketable skills. There were pictures of where they played football and we walked right beside their field! It’s an incredible feeling to walk through an area that has such a rich history.
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| Walking over the Shenandoah river into Harpers Ferry |
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| Look at how clear the water is |
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| Shenandoah River |
It felt great to get to the ATC. We had our picture taken so that we could be in the record book. We also got to see Ox’s picture!! We took a picture of his picture and sent it to him. We are flip flop hikers numbers 25, 26, and 27 for the year 2016! We also got to see Mayhem. He said he was working upstairs when Smudgy Cheeks walked in. He said, “I know that smell” and came downstairs and saw Smudgy Cheeks! I thought that was pretty funny. It was cool to meet him in the real world. He took our picture and bought us our first round of pops! Even though he had things to do he waited at the ATC for Bubbles, walked to meet her on the trail, and then walked back to the ATC with her! He is a great guy!
One of the cool things about the ATC is that they keep a record of the thru hikers. When we were there at the ATC there was a lady looking for her grandma (who thru hiked in the 80s or 90s). They searched for her picture and trail name and when they couldn’t find it they told her they would keep searching and get back to her. It’s so cool that they do that for the hikers.
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| Post card to send home |
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| Our official Harper's Ferry ATC photo card |
We left the ATC and realized, after getting five minutes down the road, that we forgot our food drop! I went back to get it and it was super heavy.
We stayed at the The Econo Lodge, which was gross. It smelled like a dirty foot and cigarettes. Luckily, we are used to smelling ourselves and we got used to it in about five minutes.
It was sweet to put all of our food out on the bed and see what we had to eat!
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| Food drop!! Time to organize |
We pounded some pizza, which was good. I tried to go to the library to print something up and I think they are still on dial up! It was crazy!
I forgot, we walked past this crazy looking web of bugs. Check it out!
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| What???? |
Day: 16
Miles hiked: 8.7
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 161.2
Bears: 0
Butterfly: 7
Chipmunk: 1
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Really Big Dog: 1
Mouse: 1
Nest of Bugs: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Squirrels: 11
Turkeys: 4
Woodpecker: 1
