After we left camp we were talking about how we didn't get much sleep the night before and how cold it was. That's when I said, "Yeah, but it is 9AM and we are not in the office." I didn't know it at the time, but it set the tone for the day to be about appreciation. Later on we can to our fist stream crossing. Due to heavy rains the day before the water was higher than normal with pretty good flow. We could see where the crossing was supposed to be, but it was completely submerged. There were two other hikers at the crossing with us and after scouting upstream and downstream it still seemed the best place to cross. We all started taking off our shoes and socks and I rolled up the pants to above the knee. As we were putting our socks and shoes back on on the other side, Kelly said "This is a good way to start off the day." It wasn't sarcastic at all, we appreciate a good challenge.
Further down the trail we came across another stream. A group of overnight hikers had given us a heads up that this crossing was out, but there was a bridge up the road that crosses the stream. We would have to bushwhack to get back onto the trail though. Luckily, we had light packs which made it easier work for us. We were able to follow the tracks of the hikers that gave us the heads up, but a point came when we lost the trail so we headed straight up to the ridge where we connected with the trail.
It was pretty obvious we were up for anything after starting the trip with a visit to Slam Man, but adding a few obstacles to the mix made the trip all the better.
This was a great little site we stumbled upon. We will have to keep this in mind when we come back.
They still had the sign up that the Canal Path was closed, but it had been reopened earlier in the morning.
An angry Potomac River.
View of the river from the bridge.
View of the river from the lookout.
By Sunday we had only a third of the way to go to Harpers Ferry. We had arranged to be picked up by Kelly's wife in town. I had also texted my wife to let her know we were on our way to Harpers Ferry and she responded "Me too!" Apparently the wives had conspired to come out together. It was awesome to see them on the trail at the bridge to Harpers Ferry, although mine didn't want a hug. I don't know why as I was feeling fantastic, looking fantastic and smelling fantastic. Still it was a pretty awesome surprise.
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