Harpers Ferry!

Sorry for the long break between posts! A lot has happened since our long day into Waynesboro. After the forty mile day, we spent the night in a motel in Waynesboro with several other hiker friends. We attempted to sleep in the next morning, but were up by 8:30 am. The same trail angel who shuttled us into town at 9:30 PM the night before had offered to take us back to the trail at around 1:00 PM the next day, so we had some time to relax. We had a leisurely breakfast at a local diner, and watched TV at the motel until our ride arrived. I had my eye on Harpers Ferry, so I decided to push a 20 mile day even though I didn't get started until almost 2:00. Worse, the temperature that day was in the low 80s and I was not acclimatized to heat yet. I pushed myself to maintain an almost 4 mph pace to get into a shelter just after sunset, and felt completely spent for the effort. The next day, my second in Shenandoah National Park, I had planned to do another big mile day, but 80 degree temperatures and a lack of recovery from the forty mile marathon a few days before had me crashing early and pulling into a shelter after only 13 miles. I went to sleep at 7:00 that evening and slept 13 hours. I finally felt recovered the next day and was able to put in some good miles and struck camp on top of Bearfence Mountain with a great view. The next morning I woke up to rain and cold temperatures, and neither let up for the entire 26 miles I needed to hike that day. I was soaked to the bone and freezing from sunup to sundown. It was only my second day of rain in over 50 days of hiking, but it was still one of the toughest days on the trail yet. The next day was thankfully clear and dry for a long 32 mile day out of the Shenandoah and just past Front Royal, VA. The next day, Friday the 20th, I was meeting Mckenzie, my girlfriend, about 20 miles south of Harpers Ferry at a place called the Bears Den Hostel. I was up at 4:45 am on Friday morning and on the trail by sunrise to get an early start on a 28 mile day. After some rocky ups and downs late in the hike, I rolled into Bears Den at around 5 pm to meet Mckenzie. We made the short drive into Harpers Ferry, where we would be staying in a B&B Friday and Saturday nights. Harpers Ferry surprised us both! It was a charming little town with lots of history, overlooking a magnificent vista where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers converge. We had a wonderful time and my legs very much enjoyed the time off the trail. Mckenzie dropped me off back at the Bears Den on Sunday afternoon and I stayed for the night. When I woke up to snow the next morning, I decided to take a third zero instead of hiking in the cold and rain/snow. I spent the entire day reading by a roaring fire - much better! Tomorrow I will hike into Harpers Ferry, sign the register at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters there, and probably move on to the next shelter. My next goal: get to New York City by May 12. 440 miles!