Day 76 - By the Rollercoaster & on to Harper's Ferry

Thursday, June 18th - Up at 5:30. Despite the heavy rains overnight, we woke to partly cloudy skies, and 65 degrees - but extremely humid (soupy is the best way to describe it). Doc McCorkle and Fantasy Feet also got up, soon after Mark and I. Got out at 6:10, and continued the ups and downs of the Rollercoaster, again on sloppy and slippery trail. Breakfast after an hour, on some convenient "sitting" rocks.

The trail stayed rocky til we passed Bear's Den and Rt. 7, then became a bit more reasonable (we decided not to visit Bear's Den Hostel). The gaps were again flowing hard with water. This was very familiar territory for both Mark and I, from various Philmont and other Scouting outings through the years. The temperature rose a bit, but it was still very humid. Around 11:00 we started getting distant booms of thunder, and within 30 minutes we were in yet another torrential downpour. Mark and I both elected to walk through it without rain gear, thereby getting a free (and badly needed) shower; however, the rain also finished the job of completely soaking our boots and socks - so we ended up hiking soaking wet the rest of the way.

Because the creeks were running pretty brownish after all the rain, we held out on water, finally filling up at the Blackburn Trail Center (potable water; Mark went down and filled our canteens). The trail improved dramatically after the Blackburn Center. We pushed on to the David Lesser Shelter (another nice one), where I went down to sign the register. Fantasy Feet was already there (having passed us about 2 hours beforehand). The Register indicated that Happy had been there on the 9th, and Rusty on the 15th; I didn't know anyone else in the listings. After a short break for snacks, we pushed on for the last 8 miles, passing Rt. 9 on the way. The sun came out, and the air was distinctly drier.

We continued on to the Loudoun Heights area, then headed down the switchbacks towards Harper's Ferry. Much to our surprise, about halfway down we met John Kaluta and his friend Melissa, waiting for us to arrive. After greetings, we declined their offer for a ride to the Comfort Inn, and so they took off for the parking lot near the 340 bridge while we walked in (23 miles total for the day, nearly 70 miles over the past 3 days). We crossed the bridge (noisy and busy), threw our packs in the back of John's car, and he drove us the final hundred yards from the A.T. to the hotel. We shared a couple of beers and then checked in, getting Room 109.

After showers and fresh clothes (and some first aid for our feet), we headed to Charles Town for a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet there, closing the place down at 9:30 (pretty good food, but not as good as the Ming Dynasty at Waynesboro). Back to the hotel, where John and Melissa soon took off. Called Pete to finalize our pickup tomorrow morning; also called Marco to let him know when I'd be returning. We placed our most malodorous items in plastic bags, so the room wouldn't be too nasty, then watched a little TV (History Channel, then a Nationals/Yankees game re-run), then hit the Internet on the computer in the hotel lobby. Then bed. A good day, but we're both very weary.