West Virginia

Day 42, July 19

Nice dovetails on the The David Lesser Memorial Shelter.

Nail-less construction.

We set off at 5:45 am and hiked easier terrain. The morning was warmer and the humidity seemed higher. We stopped at the David Lesser Memorial Shelter Click on "trail segment"
select "terrain"
then zoom out , and marveled at its hand-hewn, nail-less and dove-tailed construction. Low on food, we debated one of us hiking packless half a mile along WV 9 at Key's Gap to a store; but the roadway was narrow and heavy with high-speed traffic, so we kept to the trail. The black flies were particularly numerous. At times I hiked in my netting jacket, but this greatly restricted ventilation, so eventually we sprayed ourselves thickly with repellent. The bugs were so numerous that many times we inhaled them into our lungs. Each time, a great deal of coughing would ensue, and the victim would redouble his efforts at waving a hand towel vigorously in front of his or her face. A fast hand clap in front of a face would kill several bugs. Once I smashed seven in one blow.

Here again the terrain was gentle, and afforded excellent progress. A few miles from the Shenandoah River we suddenly recognized the trail as that which we had hiked nearly two years previously during a short visit to the area. The first thing we recognized was a blaze pole standing in a treeless strip beneath a set of high-tension power lines. After crossing the unmarked state line between Virginia and West Virginia, we descended to the Shenandoah River Bridge Click on "trail segment"
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then zoom out , over which the trail crossed the river.

Approaching the bridge over the Shenandoah River.

The ATC Headquarters.

The trail climbed a ways, and we left it at the spur trail into Harper's Ferry, which we followed through the campus of a National Park Service training center, and thence to the ATC Headquarters Click on "trail segment"
select "terrain"
then zoom out .

Inside, we signed the register. We talked with the nice receptionist, Jean Cashin a while, but before long she became harried with other customers, so we did not have a chance to pose for the traditional photo. Instead, we walked to the post office, first stopping at a liquor store for a long overdue cold juice and round of food, in the form of a few microwaved pizzas. We sorted our resupply beneath a tree behind the post office. Even in the shade, the heat and humidity were so great that we sweated while we merely sitting still. We felt little urge to press on, so after Jenny had hiked far afield to a 7-11 store to cash a $50 Traveler's Check to pay postage on our box at the post office, we hiked to the Hilltop Hotel Click on "trail segment"
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then zoom out and rented a room. We reveled in the hot shower, and after dining in the hotel restaurant we napped, then showered again, then dined again, and tended to our correspondence and made a few phone calls.

Day's mileage: 13.3

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