Sparky!
06-30-2003, 08:25
Devils RaceCourse to ATC in Harpers Ferry. Approx 36 miles, 9 Miles 1st day, 9 miles 2nd day, 16 miles 3rd day and 2 miles 4th day.
Weather: Sunny and Warm all 4 days of hiking 90+ degree in the open and about 80 degrees under the forest canopy.
Water: Plentiful through out the entire route
Shelters:
Devils Race Course Shelter. This has not changed from my last time I was there about two months ago. This is a very old shelter. The floor is not even close to level, the roof leaks and it is .3 tenths of a mile down the mountain. It is easily accessible by the road and a popular teenage party spot. Good points of the shelter are the Devils Race Course. It looks like a river of boulders and when you get in the middle of it you can hear the underground river... that was pretty neat. There is a tent site at the top of the mountain on the right hand side of the trail with a fire pit already established.
Pogo Memorial Campground - This is a bunch on tent sites (15 at least) that are on the side of the AT. Most are pretty level and have fire rings. Water is literally 2 feet from the AT in a spring box. Very cold, very clean. There is a privy up on a hill. Many Thru hikers stopped there for the night. No problem finding a spot to pitch our tent. We found a spot with rockchairs. We called it Flintstone furniture and it was nice to have. Pros: Lots of room, good water,Privy Cons: Privy was a bit ripe, trash scattered in certain areas.
Dahlgren Backpackers Campground. If you miss this, you will kick yourself until you get a chance to go back. It has about 5 established sites,no shelters. Each site comes with a picnic table and a fire pit. It has running water (hot and cold), flushing toilets and SHOWERS!! They even have a deep sink in the back of the restrooms to do your laundry. Best of all it is 30 feet from the AT and it is absolutely FREE! Pros: I think I covered them Cons: not very big and fills up fast and you will need a tent, tarp or sleep in the open since there is no shelter.
AYH (American Youth Hostel) off of C&O towpath. This was an opportunity for us to do big miles one day and reward ourselves with a stay at the hostel. The hostel is very clean, well maintained and the overseers are super nice. The cost is $18 per person and this includes bed, linen, towels and “privileges” If you opt for tenting in the yard it is $9 and you get “privileges”. It has a small store there that has a little bit of everything and not very expensive. It was nice to see fair prices but if you met the overseers you would know why.. good people. Beds are clean and comfortable as well as all the facilities. The kitchen is large and has a free food fridge with soda. Additional services that they provide is a shuttle service AND a $5 AYCE pancake, cereal, fruit breakfast. A nice spread! Quiet time is at 10pm and lights out at 11 pm. Pros: A good deal for the money, nice facilities Cons: They only take cash but will take you to the ATM to use your credit card for a cash advance. And the blue blaze trail is not very well marked so you will have to keep an eye out for it. I mentioned it to Skipper and he was going to make some improvements.
Gear reports:
Asolo GTX 95 boots. Love them boots but they were a source of problems on this trip. While dancing across a swollen stream I slipped into the water and water poured into my boots. It took 36 hours for them to fully dry and three blisters later they were back to normal. I scraped one of my eye lets on the top boot, which made it sharp, and it cut my bootlace twice. My son suggested I try another lace technique and tie a knot where it was cutting for the 3rd time..Good advice and that was the end of the boot ordeal.
Cobra Peak1: I love this tent but my son and I just outgrew it. It was a great fit for when he was smaller. Too tight now and we were rolling onto each other. The breaking point was when Stickdawg sneezed while he was sleeping (he has allergies but still goes out there.. what a trooper!) and I was at point blank… I need not say more but that was when I decided it was just too small a tent. I am still going to keep it for solo trips but my son and I are looking for a bigger tent.
People I met: We meet so many out on the trail….. Hippie ( 60 y/oretired banker), A principle and his son a teacher in New Jersey, a retired Chief PettyOfficer (fellow Navy Man) Two medical students, and the Thru hikers at the AYH - Hot Rod, CC, Loser and T-Bird… All played guitar for us at the Hostel and sang many songs… Great time, lots of laughs. It was lots of fun that night… Like a mini PA Ruck. We met 2/3 and 3/3 who are parents of 1/3 who is doing a thru hike. They sprinkled us with some trail magic of fruit , cookies and soda near the Dahlgren Chapel. THANKS!
Sites Seen:
Black Rocks view… A must see and a few yards off the trail. It was a clear day when we were there and we could see for a distance. There is a devils race course at the bottom, which is very cool. A good photo opportunity.
AnnapolisRocks, A walk down a blue blaze trail down a hill. I took my pack and StickDawg left his…. Smart kid. There are restricted areas so be prepared to camp where they tell you if you plan to spend the night... there is no water there that I saw. There is a caretaker there and you will pass their camp on the right. View is great and another opportunity for photos
Washington Monument - A very interesting monument shaped like a milk bottle. Water is available at the visitor center along with restrooms and a little museum. Soda machines are near the rest rooms. The rangers are super friendly and will be happy to help out.. There is hiker parking there so if you are doing a section hike you sign into the log book and park... The view and the history make this a must stop. You can go up into the monument and look onto Boonsboro.
Gath House and Civil War Correspondence Memorial. Gath was a famous newspaper writer of his time. The curator of the museum equaled him to the Oprah of our time. He lived a lavish lifestyle, commissioned the Correspondence memorial, and when his wife died he became melancholy and died a pauper in NYC. The house is a museum with many interesting artifacts. Worth a few minutes to stop in and look around. There are restrooms, water access and soda machines available. Nice place to rest and soak up a little bit of bygone times.
Harpers Ferry, Too much to see and too much to write about… but if you have the time it is Bper friendly, and LOTS to see and DO!
Wildlife Siting: We spotted numerous chipmunks and gray squirrels, a turkey vulture, 3 rabbits, 2 black snakes, 1 box turtle, numerous turtles in the C&O cannel, an otter, a Crane and three white tail deer.
Medical Stuff: This trip was not without its moments. I had three blisters, which is new for me, If I get one that is rare but when I got three I was floored! All due to my wet boots. I used antibiotic, band-aids, and moleskin and it kept me hiking with no further problem. I also took time to change socks often and I took my feet out of the damp boots to dry during our rest times. I also had a killer migraine… 800mg of IB, a cool cloth and 1 hour later I was all right. Good thing it struck at 9 pm when I was in my tent. The light from my Aurora headlamp was a killer to use to get the meds… but worth it… All medical issues were handled well within my and Stickdawgs means and we carried the right stuff in our kit.
Food:
Dehydrated Chicken Stew. If you like Chicken stew with dumplings... you will love what we had. The vegetables that I dehydrated came back like I never dehydrated them ... the tomatoes were just the same.. A good meal with LOTS to eat.
Dehydrated beef stew, very very salty for our tastes so we are looking at ways to modify the recipe. But it was filling and there was a lot of it. Consisted of Knorr’s soup mix,dried beef, and dried vegetables. Next time we are going to try just dehydrated hamburger or we are going to boil the salt off the dried beef. Good and filling!
Stick Dawg’s Mocha Magic A breakfast concoction which Stick Dawg Created. We found it got us up and kicking in the morning. Consisted of 16 ounces of chocolate milk from dehydrated milk mixed with 16 ounces of strong coffee and 4 TBS of sugar. This will get you going and up over the hills…
Tough moments: Getting my boots wet and unable to get them dry… that was bad,
Forgetting the instructions for the food and having to guess at how much water to add to the food… we did well though..
The kicker was thinking I lost my cell phone at devils racecource and hoping a hiker would find it before a teenage partygoer. I did find my cellphone at the very bottom of my pack when we unpacked at Pogo Whew!
Best memories of the trip: A picture of me and Stick Dawg with VA, MD and WV in the background.
Seeing Stick Dawg come into his own and using his skill to backpack and even teaching me a few things while I was out there…… He easily out hiked, outsmarted and remained positive one when things were a little rough going. One could not ask for a better hiking partner!
Special Thanks to:
2/3’s for the trail magic… The coke hit the spot on that hot day.
To Skipper and his wife at the AYH for their hospitality and hard work to make us hikers feel welcome.
To my Hiking Partner, Stick Dawg for being so positive all the time and being a great hiking partner… It is great to know I can count on you ….
Last and surely not least, without her this trip would not have been possible… Thanks to my wife for her scrambled home from work after a long day and driving 3 hours round trip and then turn around do it again Saturday morning and then having to drive 4 hours round trip on later on Saturday afternoon to drop off my daughters friend in Philly…. What a woman….Thanks!
Weather: Sunny and Warm all 4 days of hiking 90+ degree in the open and about 80 degrees under the forest canopy.
Water: Plentiful through out the entire route
Shelters:
Devils Race Course Shelter. This has not changed from my last time I was there about two months ago. This is a very old shelter. The floor is not even close to level, the roof leaks and it is .3 tenths of a mile down the mountain. It is easily accessible by the road and a popular teenage party spot. Good points of the shelter are the Devils Race Course. It looks like a river of boulders and when you get in the middle of it you can hear the underground river... that was pretty neat. There is a tent site at the top of the mountain on the right hand side of the trail with a fire pit already established.
Pogo Memorial Campground - This is a bunch on tent sites (15 at least) that are on the side of the AT. Most are pretty level and have fire rings. Water is literally 2 feet from the AT in a spring box. Very cold, very clean. There is a privy up on a hill. Many Thru hikers stopped there for the night. No problem finding a spot to pitch our tent. We found a spot with rockchairs. We called it Flintstone furniture and it was nice to have. Pros: Lots of room, good water,Privy Cons: Privy was a bit ripe, trash scattered in certain areas.
Dahlgren Backpackers Campground. If you miss this, you will kick yourself until you get a chance to go back. It has about 5 established sites,no shelters. Each site comes with a picnic table and a fire pit. It has running water (hot and cold), flushing toilets and SHOWERS!! They even have a deep sink in the back of the restrooms to do your laundry. Best of all it is 30 feet from the AT and it is absolutely FREE! Pros: I think I covered them Cons: not very big and fills up fast and you will need a tent, tarp or sleep in the open since there is no shelter.
AYH (American Youth Hostel) off of C&O towpath. This was an opportunity for us to do big miles one day and reward ourselves with a stay at the hostel. The hostel is very clean, well maintained and the overseers are super nice. The cost is $18 per person and this includes bed, linen, towels and “privileges” If you opt for tenting in the yard it is $9 and you get “privileges”. It has a small store there that has a little bit of everything and not very expensive. It was nice to see fair prices but if you met the overseers you would know why.. good people. Beds are clean and comfortable as well as all the facilities. The kitchen is large and has a free food fridge with soda. Additional services that they provide is a shuttle service AND a $5 AYCE pancake, cereal, fruit breakfast. A nice spread! Quiet time is at 10pm and lights out at 11 pm. Pros: A good deal for the money, nice facilities Cons: They only take cash but will take you to the ATM to use your credit card for a cash advance. And the blue blaze trail is not very well marked so you will have to keep an eye out for it. I mentioned it to Skipper and he was going to make some improvements.
Gear reports:
Asolo GTX 95 boots. Love them boots but they were a source of problems on this trip. While dancing across a swollen stream I slipped into the water and water poured into my boots. It took 36 hours for them to fully dry and three blisters later they were back to normal. I scraped one of my eye lets on the top boot, which made it sharp, and it cut my bootlace twice. My son suggested I try another lace technique and tie a knot where it was cutting for the 3rd time..Good advice and that was the end of the boot ordeal.
Cobra Peak1: I love this tent but my son and I just outgrew it. It was a great fit for when he was smaller. Too tight now and we were rolling onto each other. The breaking point was when Stickdawg sneezed while he was sleeping (he has allergies but still goes out there.. what a trooper!) and I was at point blank… I need not say more but that was when I decided it was just too small a tent. I am still going to keep it for solo trips but my son and I are looking for a bigger tent.
People I met: We meet so many out on the trail….. Hippie ( 60 y/oretired banker), A principle and his son a teacher in New Jersey, a retired Chief PettyOfficer (fellow Navy Man) Two medical students, and the Thru hikers at the AYH - Hot Rod, CC, Loser and T-Bird… All played guitar for us at the Hostel and sang many songs… Great time, lots of laughs. It was lots of fun that night… Like a mini PA Ruck. We met 2/3 and 3/3 who are parents of 1/3 who is doing a thru hike. They sprinkled us with some trail magic of fruit , cookies and soda near the Dahlgren Chapel. THANKS!
Sites Seen:
Black Rocks view… A must see and a few yards off the trail. It was a clear day when we were there and we could see for a distance. There is a devils race course at the bottom, which is very cool. A good photo opportunity.
AnnapolisRocks, A walk down a blue blaze trail down a hill. I took my pack and StickDawg left his…. Smart kid. There are restricted areas so be prepared to camp where they tell you if you plan to spend the night... there is no water there that I saw. There is a caretaker there and you will pass their camp on the right. View is great and another opportunity for photos
Washington Monument - A very interesting monument shaped like a milk bottle. Water is available at the visitor center along with restrooms and a little museum. Soda machines are near the rest rooms. The rangers are super friendly and will be happy to help out.. There is hiker parking there so if you are doing a section hike you sign into the log book and park... The view and the history make this a must stop. You can go up into the monument and look onto Boonsboro.
Gath House and Civil War Correspondence Memorial. Gath was a famous newspaper writer of his time. The curator of the museum equaled him to the Oprah of our time. He lived a lavish lifestyle, commissioned the Correspondence memorial, and when his wife died he became melancholy and died a pauper in NYC. The house is a museum with many interesting artifacts. Worth a few minutes to stop in and look around. There are restrooms, water access and soda machines available. Nice place to rest and soak up a little bit of bygone times.
Harpers Ferry, Too much to see and too much to write about… but if you have the time it is Bper friendly, and LOTS to see and DO!
Wildlife Siting: We spotted numerous chipmunks and gray squirrels, a turkey vulture, 3 rabbits, 2 black snakes, 1 box turtle, numerous turtles in the C&O cannel, an otter, a Crane and three white tail deer.
Medical Stuff: This trip was not without its moments. I had three blisters, which is new for me, If I get one that is rare but when I got three I was floored! All due to my wet boots. I used antibiotic, band-aids, and moleskin and it kept me hiking with no further problem. I also took time to change socks often and I took my feet out of the damp boots to dry during our rest times. I also had a killer migraine… 800mg of IB, a cool cloth and 1 hour later I was all right. Good thing it struck at 9 pm when I was in my tent. The light from my Aurora headlamp was a killer to use to get the meds… but worth it… All medical issues were handled well within my and Stickdawgs means and we carried the right stuff in our kit.
Food:
Dehydrated Chicken Stew. If you like Chicken stew with dumplings... you will love what we had. The vegetables that I dehydrated came back like I never dehydrated them ... the tomatoes were just the same.. A good meal with LOTS to eat.
Dehydrated beef stew, very very salty for our tastes so we are looking at ways to modify the recipe. But it was filling and there was a lot of it. Consisted of Knorr’s soup mix,dried beef, and dried vegetables. Next time we are going to try just dehydrated hamburger or we are going to boil the salt off the dried beef. Good and filling!
Stick Dawg’s Mocha Magic A breakfast concoction which Stick Dawg Created. We found it got us up and kicking in the morning. Consisted of 16 ounces of chocolate milk from dehydrated milk mixed with 16 ounces of strong coffee and 4 TBS of sugar. This will get you going and up over the hills…
Tough moments: Getting my boots wet and unable to get them dry… that was bad,
Forgetting the instructions for the food and having to guess at how much water to add to the food… we did well though..
The kicker was thinking I lost my cell phone at devils racecource and hoping a hiker would find it before a teenage partygoer. I did find my cellphone at the very bottom of my pack when we unpacked at Pogo Whew!
Best memories of the trip: A picture of me and Stick Dawg with VA, MD and WV in the background.
Seeing Stick Dawg come into his own and using his skill to backpack and even teaching me a few things while I was out there…… He easily out hiked, outsmarted and remained positive one when things were a little rough going. One could not ask for a better hiking partner!
Special Thanks to:
2/3’s for the trail magic… The coke hit the spot on that hot day.
To Skipper and his wife at the AYH for their hospitality and hard work to make us hikers feel welcome.
To my Hiking Partner, Stick Dawg for being so positive all the time and being a great hiking partner… It is great to know I can count on you ….
Last and surely not least, without her this trip would not have been possible… Thanks to my wife for her scrambled home from work after a long day and driving 3 hours round trip and then turn around do it again Saturday morning and then having to drive 4 hours round trip on later on Saturday afternoon to drop off my daughters friend in Philly…. What a woman….Thanks!