Front Royal to Harpers Ferry

Day 91 – Tom Floyd Wayside to US Route 522: mile 969.2 to mile 972.1

I had a great day in Front Royale. I arrived about 10 o’clock and took a shower and did laundry at base camp. I ate a pastry at the bakery. Had lunch at the brewery. And walked across the street to the ice cream store and had a banana split for dessert. I checked into my hotel room around three in the afternoon and took inventory of my food. I then walk to the local grocery store and got what I needed for the next few days and settled in for the rest of the day.

Day 92 – US Route 522 to Tentsite: mile 972.1 to mile 988.4

I ate breakfast at a diner near the place where the trolley would pick me up. The first run of the trolley to the Appalachian Trail was at 9:30, getting me to the trail at 9:45. Even with the late start I made it to the shelter 15 miles in by 5 PM. The tent sites at the shelter are scarce and not very appealing. I used the privy, got some water, and continued on to a tent site 1 mile further up the trail. I was the only one to use the tenting area tonight.

Day 93 – Tentsite to Bears Den Hostel: mile 988.4 to mile 1005.5

Left my tent site before seven to get a start on my day. Within a mile or two I entered Sky Meadows State Park. The trails through the park were nice and my pace was pretty good. That would all change soon enough.

I soon entered the roller coaster. This is a fourteen mile section of the trail with several steep climbs and descents.  To make matters worse, the terrain through the section was very rocky.  I did pass mile 1,000 while on this ride.  The temperature was in the high 80’s and the humidity was higher. I had soaked my shorts just from sweat. Then the thunderstorms came. I hoped the air would be cooler after the storms passed but it really wasn’t.

My destination for the day was the Bears Den Hostel, a large hostel owned by the ATC and run by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. I had called ahead and booked their only private room. I arrived at around 4:00 and had to wait until 5:00 before we could get in. In the meantime, we were allowed to hangout in the hiker room that had a few bunks, a sofa, a TV, and access to a shower.

When I walked in I heard a voice say, “it’s my trail dad”. It was Martin, a fellow hiker that Amy helped out during our first several days on the trail.  She befriended to the point that he called her his trail mom. I guess I got my title by association.

Hearing Martin’ proclamation, another hiker, Liz (Fireball), did a double take and jumped up saying “Mooseboy!” and gave me a hug. She had heard about Craftygirl from Martin and asked for an update. We originally met Liz at the top of Springer Mountain at mile zero. It was nice to see her again.

Just down the road from the hostel is Bear Chase Brewery and several of us got a ride down for dinner and a beer or two. My friend,  CJ, met us at the brewery. After dinner she was kind enough to give us all a ride back in her Winnebago Van. My hiker friends were impressed.

Day 94 – Bears Den Hostel to ATC Headquarters: mile 1005.5 to 1025.4

I got up early and started hiking by 6:00 am. I had 20 miles to get to Harpers Ferry. My sister, Becky, and my niece, Julia, were meeting me there and I will take a zero the next day. Once I finished the 4.8 miles remaining of the roller coaster, the hike wasn’t too bad.

Along the way a came across my second turtle of the hike. This guys shell coloring was quite striking.

As I approached Harpers Ferry, I finally left Virginia behind for good as I entered West Virginia. The states will start to go by more quickly now. West Virginia is the fifth state I’ve hiked in and I’m almost half done. I will hit nine more states before it’s over. Virginia was almost a quarter of the entire hike. Having milestones to pass helps keep a hiker motivated. 100 mile markers and state borders are the big milestones we look forward to.

I met up with my family at the ATC headquarters for my official checkin and get my picture in the log book. After the ceremony was done and it was time to leave, I decided to call it a day and finish the last 0.7 miles of the town as a short hike on my zero, making it the shortest nero possible.

We went to the house we had rented so I could shower before we got dinner. Our first stop was Harpers Ferry Brewery for a beer.  The brewery is on a hill and had a view of the Potomac River. Very nice. You We then drove down into the historic part of the town and ate at the Rabbit Hole. After dinner we got an ice cream before returning to the house for the night.

Day 95 – ATC Headquarters to Harpers Ferry: mile 1025.4 to mile 1026.3

After a lazy morning and a yummy breakfast, we went into town to do the short hike I needed to finish the town. We ended up parking at the National Park visitor center and taking a shuttle into the town. I had to do an out and back hike, essentially doing my section SOBO and then turning around to hike it north. Becky and Julia hiked as far as Jefferson Rock and waited there while I went another 0.5 miles and turned around and came back. Only the return trip north counts toward my mileage along the trail.

It has become time for me to get a new pair of boots and the small outfitter in town did not have my brand. After a few calls, we found an REI 90 minutes away that had what I wanted.  My lovely niece and sister were more than happy to make the long drive to get me new shoes.

We got my boots and then got lunch nearby. In the same plaza as the REI and our lunch stop was a Wegmans grocery!  I went there to get my resupply for the next leg of my hike.

Craftygirl Update

Written by Amy

As many of you know, Dan and I are fulltime RVers. We have made many new friends since we hit the road but we also have longtime friends who RV while maintaining their homes here in Western New York. Some of them were getting together at a state park campground right on Lake Ontario and invited me to join them. We had a wonderful time watching the sunset over the lake, sharing meals, and swapping stories. We tried to do some hiking but had to abandon the trail due to intermittent thunderstorms and rain.

Some of us toured the Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse which was only about 30 yards or so from our campsites. The tour guide provided interesting history about the lighthouse and its keepers over the years. We did go up into the tower but it was raining so I declined to step out to the railing because I didn’t want to risk getting my cast wet.

As much as I am enjoying time with my grandchildren, it was nice to spend visit with old friends!

Daily Data

Day	Miles	Total Asc	Total Desc	Steps
91	2.9	498	1305	13027
92	16.3	3802	2910	46306
93	17.1	4071	4583	47196
94	19.9	3376	4209	55783