Tom and Alexandra put the ‘everything you need’ in hospitality! My breakfast was happily eggy and cheesy, I enjoyed the rare luxury of using a laptop instead of my phone, and Alexandra would not let me leave until she could feed me some of her excellent cooking for lunch! Man, it was nice to meet her, and to see tmac again after like 20 years!
But eventually, I did have to go, in order to catch my train at Union Station at 4:05. Given yesterday’s events, I held my breath practically the whole way, but there were no glitches, aside from me turning blue. Really. Yeah.
So, Union Station, then an hour and ten minutes later, Harper’s Ferry. A brief visit to the outfitters did not yield the kind of tent stakes I wanted, but a brief visit to the ice cream shop did yield a mint chocolate chip cone, so I was happy. I climbed the steep hill to the Teahorse Hostel where this all began five months ago. Memory crash! There are a fair number of southbound hikers here, and two bicyclists doing the C&O canal trails. I will have company on the hike out tomorrow!
Pancake breakfast at 7 am, then I will visit the ATC headquarters when they open at 9. I am eager to have them take my picture again, so I can compare it with the one they took at the start. I suspect there will be considerable difference. Tomorrow will either be a 11.7 mile day, or a 17, depending on time and terrain.
I hike on!
TRAILS, TRIALS, AND TRAVAILS 