At this point in the year pandemic fatigue and cabin fever collided in a way that could only be resolved in one way: hiking. Over the Labor Day holiday weekend I drove to Harpers Ferry, WV and arranged for a shuttle to take me north to Pen-Mar Park at the PA/MD border. Then I started walking south.
The first day I hiked about 5 miles. I think I saw less than 5 other people before I arrived at the Raven Rock shelter. On the second day I I encountered many more people, especially when I passed a few very busy scenic overlooks. I also began to recognize a few of the other overnight backpackers as we leapfrogged each other taking breaks along the side of the trail. That day I hiked a little over 12 miles to the Pine Knob shelter dog tired. I was already sore from the previous day and even noted in my journal entry, “Today started off on the struggle bus and ended on the struggle bus.” Fortunately, I felt a bit better as I greeted the morning on day three.
I woke up the same as I had fallen asleep – listening to the not too distant rumble of highway traffic on I-70. I was looking forward to getting to the Washington Monument before too many other people arrived. Mission accomplished. For about 10 minutes I was able to enjoy the original monument to our nation’s first president all alone. I went about making a cup of coffee, a ritual I had skipped to get to the monument early, and eating peanut M&M’s for breakfast. Slowly a few other hikers appeared, all people I recognized from the day before. Two of them were younger guys from Virginia. The next hikers to show up were a family of three from Syracuse, NY. After my coffee and some pleasant conversation I was back on the trail.
I stopped for lunch at the Dahlgren camp site. Here I encountered a fellow hiker from Pennsylvania. While we were talking, the family from Syracuse showed up for lunch as well. I’m not normally the kind of person that goes out of my way to talk with strangers but it was nice to just sit around shooting the shit with people even if it was at a distance that required near shouting. As my new friend from PA headed off to the south, the father from the family came over to let me know that they were going to have to abandon their trip. He had been struggling with knee pain for much of the day and had made the difficult decision to call for an Uber ride back to their vehicle. I was pretty sad as I began south again.
Later on that day I caught up to the gentleman from PA and we actually spent the rest of the day hiking together, at a reasonable distance. It was one of the few times in my life that I truly enjoyed being in the company of a stranger. I didn’t even learn the guy’s name, but I’ll remember the day I spent hiking with him for years to come.
I wrapped up my hike the next day, alone, with a stop at Weaverton Cliffs where I bumped in to the Virginia guys once more. From there, it was all downhill to the B&O Towpath and then just 2 miles to cross the Potomac in to West Virginia. I made it back to my car and started heading home before noon. I was exhausted but feeling refreshed in a way that I hadn’t all year.
Washington Monument, Boonsboro, MD. September 6, 2020.