June 21, 2008 - Penn Mar to Harpers Ferry

Sorry about the delay in posting, I would like to say it was due to the fact of being busy, however it was more me just having a lazy summer.

Anyways, three of us set out from Penn Mar at 5:30 am to reach Harpers Ferry by dusk. We were not the only ones doing the hike, we met some hikers from DC who were camping out at the park and would hike the entire trail through Maryland as well.

In all we could not have asked for a better day to hike, the temps were in the 80s and the humidity was low. The first 10 miles offered the most difficult terrain as we had several up hill climbs. Luckily it was the beginning of the hike and our legs were fresh. We paced ourselves well and reached Ensign Cowall shelter by 9am as planned.

The next section took us by Annapolis Rock and the I-70 bridge really familar territory as this is were we trained the most. Although tired we were in good spirits and moving rather well. By the time we reached Washington Monument it was 1pm and we were making great time. At 1:30 we stopped at Dahlgreen Chapel were our wives met us and provided pizza and snacks.

It was not until after lunch, and the hike up Lambs Knoll that our legs began to feel it. I remember hiking Lambs Knoll in April, and it was much easier. Once again we suffered through and made it to a slow descent to Gathland State Park and our last resting stop. At this point we knew only 10 miles to Harpers Ferry, however it was now 6:30 and we had two hours to push to the Weaverton Cliffs and the final descent. This portion of the hike although flat was very strenuous, as we pushed ourselves to reach the Weaverton Cliffs by nightfall. At 8:45 we reached the bottom of the cliffs exhausted and with 3 miles of flat ground to walk along the C&O canal.

Although an easy portion of the hike the C&O canal was frustrating as the anticipation was building up, yet you could not see the lights of Harpers Ferry. Finally, at 9:30, the overgrowth gave way to the town, and the final bridge across the Potomac into the town of Harpers Ferry.