June 3 – Harpers Ferry and the Return of "Triple T"

Post date: Jun 7, 2012 11:37:01 PM

Leaving the comforts of the Bear’s Den, the hike today would take "Five Pair" to many hikers’ psychological midway point and the home of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

"Five Pair" arrived into the Harpers Ferry area when entering Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and immediately was greeted by an increasingly rocky trail and more boulders to climb over. "Five Pair" has truly begun to question the sadistic intentions of those responsible for the path of the trail when the path chosen is directly over boulders and just a short distance away is a level, grassy route. Regardless, the climbing was accomplished and she began descending towards the Shenandoah River.

While unquestionably arriving in Harpers Ferry and the obligatory visit to the office of the ATC for her thru-hiker photo would be one of the highlights of the day, the big moment of the day arrived when Ground Control delivered "Triple T" to the crossover point on Chestnut Hill Road and the 10 year old hiker raced toward and jumped into a hug with his favorite hiker. After the embrace, the two hikers continued their way down towards the river and across the bridge to Harpers Ferry.

Upon reaching Harpers Ferry, the two hikers visited the ATC where they signed in at the office and the picture was taken for the records of the ATC ("Five Pair" was hiker #342). "Five Pair" looked at the hiker log and found "Bucket" and "Austin" and several other hikers just a day or two ahead.

"Five Pair" also confirmed that "Haus" had officially been tagged with a new trail name. The hiker formally known as "Haus" had greeted a dog he bumped into on his hike and apparently the dog mistakenly believed "Haus" to be nutrition and acted on this impulse and this act became the genesis for his new trail name: "Alpo"

Thereafter, a walk around Harpers Ferry resulted in more joy for "Triple T" when "Duke" was spotted and "Triple T" had the opportunity to meet his favorite canine hiker while "Duke’s Keeper" was securing some ice cream. After dinner and desert, "Five Pair" and "Triple T" were transported to Ground Control’s chosen shelter and some quick pack organization occurred as an early morning was on the agenda.

1017.6 miles complete/1,166.8 miles to go