Today's miles 12.2. AT miles 1022.5
Today was a big milestone day - we reached Harpers Ferry, the spiritual half way point on the trail and it was also our 75th day on the trail - our halfway day in time if we accomplish our aim of finishing the trail in five months/150 days!
We were on the trail by 8am again today. Iron Man and Team Berlin had already left. As we had been unsuccessful in getting any more food supplies yesterday we had no oatmeal for breakfast. We had half a Cliff bar between us to keep us going but were not going to starve, we had a plan. Three miles/one hour down the trail at Keys Gap there was a convenience store/gas station. We stopped there for an egg and bacon muffin, coffee, orange juice and a cinnamon roll. It made a nice change from oatmeal.
Another four miles and we passed into West Virginia state, a further two miles and we reached Harpers Ferry town, the spiritual half way point on the trail. The actual half way mark is another 73.6 miles walk away. Harpers Ferry is home to the ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) and it is tradition on the trail to get ones photo taken outside the ATC building in front of their sign. The photo is then numbered and recorded in a photo album for this years/season of all the AT hikers, whether thru or section hikers, passing through. We were thru hikers numbers 56 & 57, our German friends 53, 54 & 55.
Harpers Ferry is a very popular tourist town too, it has a lot of American Civil War history and is also a short distance from Washington DC. Some hikers take a break and go in to Washington DC for a break, we decided not too. We'd rather keep going and do our sightseeing after we've finished the trail when we know how much spare time we will have before our Visa runs out. We followed the trail from the ATC another half a mile to the old lower town area of Harpers Ferry. A very pretty couple of streets with historic buildings and informative signs down by the Potomac river. We stopped for lunch at the Coach House Grill, sitting outside in the sun in their garden area. We managed to get some trail food resupply at last from the outfitters store, oatmeal, pasta sides etc and a few snacks. There were a handful of ice cream sellers on the street so we had to have an Ice cream, we chose the one with the biggest queue assuming it was the best ice cream, we had a cone each which were huge and delicious. We felt like we were on holiday today.
We left Harpers Ferry walking over the Byron Memorial Footbridge leaving West Virginia, a very short four mile state visit, and entered the state of Maryland. We walked three miles down an old canal towpath, now a trail/cycle way to Knoxville. Accommodation was expensive in Harpers Ferry so we chose to stay at the Knights Inn (motel) in Knoxville. It was a one mile road walk from the trail past somecreslly lovely houses to get there but we were pleasantly surprised at the standard of the accommodation. One of the nicest motels we've stayed in and it includes continental breakfast for $60. Next door was a liquor store and opposite a convenience store where we bought more trail snacks. The only downside it had no laundry facilities so I hand washed everything instead, we don't have a lot to wash!
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