June 16-17 in MD

June 16, 2005 | Day 81 | Miles: 17.3 | Total Miles: 1027.1
End: Dahlgren Backpack Campground, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny, breezy and not as warm
All summer hiking days should be like this. We were warm, but there was a breeze, so we weren't boiling and sweating buckets. Our 17.3m were relatively easy, especially the first 2.7m where we left Harper's Ferry and were on the C&O Towpath--read completely flat.
And now we're here at this great area where they've created a little campground. Tent pads, picnic tables, restrooms, hot showers and drinkable water, all free. How nice is that? I don't know why they did it; it is close to a road so perhaps they're trying to encourage people to get out in the woods, but whoever decided to put this up to the planning board, we thank you. It's great. Plus we were here by 5pm. Ahhhhh... All in all a good first day out of town. :-)
On another note, we are now in Maryland. 5 states down, 9 to go... :-)

Ryan:
mix of sun and clouds, breezy, warm
the heat finally gave us a break today. it was nice to not feel like i'd jumped in a 90 degree swimming pool with all my clothes on. but, best of all, welcome to maryland! we had .1 of west virginia to finish up this morning, then across the potomac river in maryland. we should hit pennsyltucky by saturday...not looking forward to it. if we survive pa, we'll be thrilled. so, we were a little bummed we didn't take in more of the history of harpers ferry, so it's on the list for next time. speaking of history, we learned that the hilltop house hotel is known not for its charm, service or decor, but for its discretion...if you live in dc apparently it's the place to go to have an affair. who knew? in other news, the spot we're camping tonight has showers...hot ones. ahhh...life on the trail.
today's song - don't go back to rockville, r.e.m. (i can't think of any other songs that so prominently feature maryland.

June 17, 2005 | Day 82 | Miles: 13.9 | Total Miles: 1041.0
End: Ensign Cowall Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny, breezy and almost cool
It was actually cool this morning--wow! Very nice. Great hiking weather and we won't complain. We didn't rush to get out of camp this morning as we knew we had a short day, and it was nice to stay in the sleeping bag for a bit longer than normal. We finally managed to get going around 9am, and meandered along all day.
The terrain was mostly mellow and we made good time, getting to the shelter about 3pm. PacMan was here when we arrived but he was moving on. I guess we're in a thru-hiker void right now, as we're the only ones here aside from a father and son out for a few days. Should be another nice night for sleeping; it's pretty cool already. Ahhhh. :-)

Ryan:
mix of sun & clouds, breezy, warm
nothing happened today. i can't even really make anything up. maryland is pretty nice...sort of...some rocky sections, but pretty mellow. no one ever mentions maryland. possibly because some people hike it as part of the 4 state challenge: start at the va/wv border and hike to the md/pa border. four states in about 45 miles in 24 hours. no thanks. we're on schedule to do it in 5 days...no rushing for us.
today's song - dreadlock holiday, 10CC "i don't like bacon...i love it..." (in homage to hormel ready to eat fully cooked bacon...so tasty. do you really need to refrigerate after opening? i think not. speaking of tasty did you know that a king size snickers has 510 calories? pure magic.)