Days 53-60: Waynesboro, VA to Harper’s Ferry, WV
Hello from the psychological half way point of the AT! Arriving in Harper’s Ferry means I’ve hiked more than 1000 miles, and I’m done with Virginia! Since my last post, I’ve hiked through the Shenandoahs, stayed at a destination shelter, and gotten to spend the weekend with my dad!
Milestones
It’s super exciting to get to Harper’s Ferry for the reasons I described above, but also because it is the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy! It’s a big tradition to stop by HQ to get your picture taken for the official thru hiker register.
The red number 91 at the top of the photo means that I am the 91st person this year to hike from Springer Mountain to Harper’s Ferry. For context, I was the 627th person to leave Springer Mountain this year, so I’ve been scooting along. It feels pretty wild to be in the first 100 people to make it this far!
I also crossed the 1000-mile mark! Brick, Blackbeard and I hiked the 5 miles from our shelter the night before together so we could take pictures, and on the way we were brainstorming topical songs. Maybe our musical repertoires are a little limited, but we sang “500 miles” by the proclaimers and “a thousand miles“ by Vanessa Carlton A LOT in the early hours of the morning on March 3rd.
Finally, I crossed the state line! I finished hiking all 550 miles of Virginia. As it turns out, the Virginia Blues were not a thing for me: I absolutely loved the state. Between the Grayson Highlands, the beautiful views like Dragon’s Tooth, and the famous geographic features like the James River and the Blue Ridge Parkway, there was always something to look forward to.
The Shenandoahs
Backing up a little, before I crossed thresholds and borders and state lines, I hiked 105 miles through Shenandoah National Park! In full honesty, the first two days in the park I was a bit underwhelmed: I expected big views, but I was mainly just walking through green forest. The northern half of the park, probably from Big Meadows Campground onward, was absolutely stunning.
The trail walked along ridges that looked out on waves of green, leafy mountains: I got to see how spring has been developing from the lower elevations upward, from lovely overlooks and cliffs.
Plus, the trail passes near three Waysides, which are little grills along Skyline Drive. I stopped by Loft Mountain Wayside in the southern end of the park on my second morning for some pancakes and eggs, and on my last full day in the park, I ate lunch at Elkwallow Wayside and was able to get one of the trail-famous blackberry milkshakes, which absolutely lived up to the hype.
Front Royal: A Town of Serendipity
Front Royal, the town at the northern edge of the Shenandoah, is about 4 miles off trail, supposedly a pretty easy hitch. So Blackbeard, Brick, and I hiked together to the road hoping to catch a ride together. But literally the second that we walked up to the road, an old-fashioned looking green and red trolley pulled up to the trailhead: a 50-cent shuttle into town. It happened so fast and so easily: one second I was hiking and the next second I was riding into town—it took a moment to even process what happened.
(There was also an entire pie purchased and consumed in the town square park)
But the luck didn’t end there: after eating lunch, Welcome and Committee decided to hitch to urgent care so that Committee could get a vaccine. The second they stood up to put on their packs, a woman walked up to us and asked if we were thru hikers. “Are there any favors I can do for you?” She asked, and happily drove them. Plus, several Front Royal businesses (the local brewery, the outfitter, etc.) joined together to offer a hiker base camp free laundry and showers.
So right now Front Royal is my pick for friendliest trail town.
Reunion and Relaxation in Harper’s Ferry
Besides being the site of the ATC, I had been looking forward to Harper’s Ferry because dad met me there.
We had such an amazing two days: we ate a lot of food (as I always do when I’m not hiking) and rested at a bed and breakfast that, let me tell you, has the fanciest bathroom I’ve seen in my life: it has a jacuzzi tub and a shower with 10 distinct nozzles. You’d better believe that this afternoon I took a shower immediately followed by a bath.
We also shared one of the more unique experiences I’ve had on trail. Yesterday we spent a few hours walking around the town of Harper’s Ferry, a historic town maintained by the NPS. We went into a candy store to find out that it didn’t sell snickers bars and m&m’s but historical candy dating back to biblical times and featuring treats from the 15th and 17th centuries. That would have been interesting on its own, but yesterday just happened to be their annual water testing: the owner of the store showed us to a room which was set up with about 20 different types of water. There was tap water, well water, distilled water, sparkling water, even crazy water, which was used back in the day to supposedly cure mental illness, as well as sarsaparilla and ginger beer (i don’t understand how they qualify as water but oh well). The whole set up was complete with oyster crackers to cleanse the taste buds between sips. I have to say I felt silly trying to appear to have a reaction to the different types of water I tasted, but during a thru hike I guess it’s good to have any excuse to stay hydrated!
Saturday night, we drove the hour into DC to have dinner with Anna and Spencer! It was so nice to get to meet up with friends and eat amazing food (shout-out to Spencer for choosing the perfect restaurant). We ate afghan food and it’s possible that I have never had a better meal in my life.
I will say though, that before I left for trail, past thru hikers mentioned to me that entering back into civilized life would be a change, and I definitely experienced some sensory overload in DC, particularly in the crowded Whole Foods in the heart of the city where I did my resupply. I realized that on the trail, because I move so slowly (relatively speaking, meaning that I’m walking everywhere I go), I have the opportunity to really take in everything I see: I can stop at every view, every waterfall, every shelter that I want. In the city, by contrast, there are so many sights and sounds and people rushing by. I guess we get used to being selective with our perception, so it was strange having to adjust back, albeit briefly, to having to pick and choose what I take in.
Coming Up
I’m almost to the Mason-Dixon Line, the halfway point, Rocksylvania, and a visit to the Iosue house!