Zero Day in Harpers Ferry

So we're back in the ATC center in Harpers Ferry, WV about to get our photos taken for the class of 2009 thru- hikers' register. Last night we stayed at the Northgate Inn in Charlestown WV, and plan on staying there again tonight so that we can get some decent sleep for our hiker tommorow. It looks like the Maryland Challenge, or 4 state challenge (crossing through four states in a day) is going to be about 44-47 miles depending on whether we decide to push to the first shelter in PA, or just crash on the border. Either way I think we're going to be on trail at about 5am and getting in to camp maybe around 8pm (that's a total guess, I have no clue how long 44 miles takes to hike). Oh yeah, in the register we are the 694,695 and 695th thru-hikers to reach Harpers Ferry this year, although that includes section hikers and a few folks that we know yellow-blazed from Damascus where we last passed them (shame). Apparently we still have some hurdles to climb though since about 337 northbounders made it all the way yesterday. Still, I'm pretty psyched to have 50% odds against us at this point and not 80% against us when we started in Georgia. Surprisingly, the time has flown by, and the miles have gone even quicker.

The Shanandoahs were a very different experience for us since it included about 100 miles of trail with several wayside food kiosks, gas stations and day tourists. The trail also interesects with the road 23 times and follows alongside it for several miles. Actually aside from being satiated all time from the fresh wayside burgers, the Shanandoahs were not our favorite hiking. Most of the best views are actually roadside and not on the trail (which is normally 20 feet to one side of the road). However we did get to see 11 bear in the Shanandoahs and a crazy amount of very people friendly deer (or at least not people phobic). Actually one deer near camp our third night in was trying to pick a fight with stew, but realized it was probably a bad choice (we're often hungry). We also had our first 30 mile day in the range and we were actually able to celebrate with some nice cold beer hiked in from the Skyline drive parkway at the end of the day. Our last night in the Shanandoahs after the 30 mile day was possibly our oddest yet. When coming into camp for the evening we discovered we had a cute shelter cat (Mufasa) to drive away the mice. The cat looked well fed (probably from hikers) and clean, so we all thought it was great, until the cat died later that night next to stewy's head. We have not idea why, possibly a snake bite. Either way, it made for an odd breakfast the next day when I had to dispose of it, but we honored the cat by changing the shelter's name from Gravel Springs Hut to Mufasa Springs Hut. RIP mufasa.

Right after the Shanandoahs we met up with Stews parents Mr. and Mrs. Stewy at Front Royal where we were able to resupply mostly off of the extra food we brought with us to Stews relatives house in Georgia (Thanks for bringing it up to NC!)

Apparently, Virginia is not only for lovers, but also for TONS of black berries and raspberries. The last 150 miles of the state (especially the last 50) had enough berries to pick them on the fly while hiking. Snacks hav never been better.



Currently we are headed off to the outfitter for some new shoes for Stew since the ones he has right now are the bane of his existance and to try out my new superfeet insoles which hopefully I won't have to duct tape every day to keep from wearing through. Thanks for the package mom! Also, that spam is going to be the cats pajamas after a month of noodles.