Friday, 13 June

Destination: Harpers Ferry – Quality Inn (1026.2)
David Lesser Memorial Shelter (1017.0)
Today’s Miles: 9.2
Trip Miles: 94.9

After not sleeping well the night before, I had a good night’s sleep even though it stayed warm. Bob and I were up early in anticipation of finishing up today. While we were having breakfast and coffee, the hiker who was reading the Bible to us last evening came over and we had a nice conversation. Hiking by seven and it was not too warm yet. The first miles rolled by pretty quickly. We came across our first turtle, an Eastern Box Turtle.

After about three miles, Bob and I found our first Trail Magic near the road crossing at Keys Gap. A couple times during our hike we had passed coolers with trail magic signs but they were empty and full of trash. Today’s magic was provided by a Baptist Church group. While we only enjoyed some ice cold Hawaiian Punch, they were also making breakfast, bacon and eggs, and lunch, hot dogs and hamburgers. The group also had all kinds of snacks and some supplies. Since we had just finished breakfast and our hike was almost complete, we did not partake. I did offer to leave Bob there for breakfast and lunch and when I got back to the truck, return to pick him up! He decided to hike to Harpers Ferry with me…

The trail was not too challenging until the last mile or so down to Harpers Ferry. We met a hiker, Dog Tag, who was part of a group hiking for first responders and soldiers who had committed suicide. He was hiking south while two other members of his group were hiking north, that way they were able to support their hike using one vehicle. After finishing the climb down it was over the 340 bridge over the Potomac with traffic whizzing by and back to the Quality Inn where the truck was parked. Bob and I wiped off as best we could and changed into clean clothes.

Our breakfast stop when we started was Bonnie’s At the Red Byrd on the way to Pen Mar Park. That seemed like a good place to have lunch on the way to Bob’s car. The club sandwiches were excellent, especially compared to my regular protein bar lunch. At Pen Mar we transferred gear and headed home to hot showers and family ending another trek. Bob knocked off two more states, Maryland and West Virginia on this trip. This only leaves about 400 miles for him to complete Virginia. Will that be his next goal?