Weekend hike out of Harpers Ferry

[K_Squared]

This is my first post although I have been lurking around the site for quite sometime just trying to learn as much as I can about hiking. There is a plethora of great information on here!

My husband and I are planning our first overnight hike on the AT in a few weeks. We have all of our gear and have done some day hikes in Shenandoah but we are really excited to backpack out there!

I need some opinions on whether we should park at Harpers Ferry, hike out to Crampton Gap to stay the night and then hike back. Or do we arrange to have a shuttle take us farther up the road so we can cover more trail. If we arranged to have a shuttle, where should we have them drop us off? We are new at this, however we are both in our early 20's and in fairly good shape. What kind of milage should we expect to do in a two days? Also, which map should we get for this section? I would appreciate any advice! :)

[CowHead]

you can do about 30 miles in two days in that area, northern Virginia, Maryland map is the one you want you can print it here for free.

http://www.backpacker.com/destinations/category/all/1462

The trail is well mark and map is usually not needed try posting in hooking up section here at whiteblaze allot of hikers day and weekend warriors do this section I going from harpers ferry to pen mar in July 2,3,4 its 42 miles

[Cookerhiker]

Whichever direction you hike, I recommend leaving your car in the Park Service lot in Harpers Ferry. This means you have 2 choices:

North of HF - get a shuttle to Wolfesville Rd./Rt. 17 and hike south. You'll have a 30 mile hike back to HF. Around the halfway point, you come to Rocky Run Shelter if you're into shelters. Otherwise, stealth camp. The mileage and description are in this section (http://www.aldha.org/companyn/wv-pa09.pdf) of the Companion.

South of HF - your shuttle is to Rt. 50/Ashby Gap for a 34 mile hike back to HF. This means you begin on the vaunted Virginia Roller Coaster but as others have said, its difficulty is overrated; you're young and in good shape. You can camp at the Blackburn Center. Here's the link (http://www.aldha.org/companyn/va09.pdf).

Welcome to WB and happy trails! Hope you have nice weather.

[Marta]

For your first backpacking trip, there's a lot to be said for an out-and-back hike in which you can leave the length of the trip undecided. Probably you'll be fine, and this time of year you have plenty of daylight to travel in.

But...if you get one thing horribly wrong, your daily speed and distance will be cut to a fraction of what it might be. Blisters...too much pack weight...misjudge food and/or water...there are lots of opportunities for creating a "learning experience" for yourselves.

If you start at your car and have a variety of overnight stops possible, you can hike almost any distance you want. If things go well, you can hike out 15 or 20 and back the same. If things go badly, you can go out three or four miles and back the same. It just makes it easier than if you get a shuttle and hike back to your car, which may be much too close, or much too far away, depending on what happens when theory and reality collide.

After that first exploratory trip, you'll have a much better basis for planning your daily distances on future trips.

[bullseye]

I'm with Marta, out and back for your first hike, just to get a feel for what you can handle. Nothing would suck worse than getting dropped off 30 miles from your car and finding out that 10 miles a day is all your up for. When it comes time to plan your next trip you'll have a better idea of what to expect. That being said, Maryland is one of the easier trail states, and a great place for a first hike.

[Marta]

And beyond your personal issues, there's always weather to contend with. Hot? Pouring rain? Or maybe it's a beautiful day and you'd like to keep walking forever.

Have a great hike!

[Mrs Baggins]

We did our first AT overnight using Harpers Ferry (and our 2nd AT overnight trip as well). Left a car at the Visitor's Center the afternoon before. Then early in the morning had a friend drop us at South Mt Inn (the first time) and we hiked back to HF, spending the night at the Garvey shelter. Got into town and hubby took the park shuttle back to the VC, got the car, and picked up me and our son back in town. We just decided imposing 3 stinking hikers on the tourists on the shuttle was not right. Second time we had a friend drop us at Snickers Gap, stayed at the Lesser shelter, and again went back to HF and again used the shuttle to go get the car. For us (and for our son who was a teen and went on each hike) having to hike to the car (as opposed to be able to turn around and go back to the car) is what kept us moving. As our son would say "It's pointless to say you're too tired and don't want to keep going. We have to keep going. We can't go back. We have to get to the car!" We also took one of his very much non-hiker friends along and our son used that to keep him moving. Each of those hikes was just 10 miles/day and perfect weekenders for our first couple of times out.

[Jack Tarlin]

I also think you'll have a better time if you leave your car in Harpers Ferry, get a ride North into Maryland, and then walk Southbound back to Harpers.

You'll cover and see more ground; you'll be going in the easier direction; and your car will be waiting for you when you get finished with your trip.

For information on parking or shuttling, contact the good folks at the ATC office in Harpers Ferry, or call the Outfitter at Harpers Ferry; they'll be happy to help you out.

[CowHead]

all of those are great being from Maryland that's my most common hiking grounds I tried to do Pen Mar to HF at least 5 times a year it's a great walk in the woods