Hike-along Mom...

5/23/08 - Got up... drank coffee... and hiked on out of Harpers Ferry. But first they had to...

• Clean up the raging mess they made in their hotel room.
• Walk a mile into historic downtown Harpers Ferry.
• Hit up the post office (mailed new shoes ahead to Duncannon).
• Use and abuse the ATC's hiker box and free Internet.
• Hike along the C&O Canal bike path (the one that goes from DC to da Burgh & meanders through Ohiopyle and the B&B along the way!).
• Leave Half-brew behind. He was caught up discussing mountain bike features with a local.
• They eventually found their way to the Ed Garvey Shelter for lunch. Amos said it was a really nice shelter - with a loft & porch area.
• Hiked 10.5 mi. Ended up cowboy camping (illegally) in a field in the middle of Gathland State Park. All except Tupperware, who snuck into his tent in the middle of the night to avoid the bugs... and he calls himself an Eagle Scout... (dude, I would have done the same thing).

5/24/08 - Supposed to meet Mom at 3:00 - still 21 miles away! So they hightailed it to I-70.

• Passed a bunch of Boy Scouts.
• Passed a large group of inner city kids.
• Breezed by the Washington Monument.
• Came across another inner city kid who must have strayed from the group because he was 2 miles away & obviously lost. Amos gave him directions back to the monument - hopefully he's not still in the woods somewhere...
• Arrived at the road to meet Mama Ludwig at about a quarter past 3 & had to scout around to find the parking lot (which wasn't on his map).
• Tupperware's parents were meeting him at the same place & they had been there since 10 am!! Hearts said Tupperware's mom was chock-full of energy & a million questions about her son, his stability, and his experiences thus far. She ensured that they had plenty of fruit, veggies & brownies for the road & even gave Amos her cell # in case of a Tupperware emergency!
• Half-brew, Mom, & Hearts drove into Smithsburg for resupply & Subway the back to the trail where Mama Ludwig revealed her stash of pineapple & banana pepper pizza and Butt Monkey Ale - Momma knows best!!
• Hiked 5 mi to Devils Racecourse Shelter only to find it was down another big hill so they decided to show-up Tupperware by cowboy camping at the top. Look, Ma no tarp!

5/25/08 - Morning climb over a lot of rocks.

• Down to Pen Mar County Park where there should have been a bunch of old people dancing around and a snack bar... but apparently that's not till next weekend... which left them a little bummed out. Despite their disappointment, they stuck around for about 2 hours and enjoyed lunch anyway.
• Hiked another 0.2 mile and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line!! Which was memorialized with a small wooden post. Just the post. Someone had stolen the sign off of & someone else had scribbled its importance on with a magic marker... Welcome to the North!
• Then on to a climb Amos said Mom simply loved...
• 2nd lunch/1st dinner at Deer Lick Shelter which was overrun with mosquitoes.
• Almost camped at the next shelter - Antietam - but it was also very buggy so they decided to move uphill to Tumbling Run Shelter to try & get away.
• Another night of cowboy camping and so concluded a 13.2 mile day with Mom!!

5/26/08 - Woke up, drank coffee & climbed to the top of Chimney Rocks - which had a terrific view but was a rather rough start to the day.

• Stopped just after Pa 233 for lunch - Mom was amazed at how much food she packed in these past few days - Amos said she could have put a small defensive end to shame!
• Came across a coiled rattlesnake as they were coming off of a rocky ridge. It didn't move or shake for them but they found out later that it was a little more active when Half-brew and Trinity strolled by.
• Dropped down to US-30 and attempted to hitchhike into Fayetteville. Amos snagged one from a lady he boldly went up to at a convenience store just down the road. She flat out turned him down until she noticed he was with his muja.
• 10 mi day. Capped off by sitting on the porch of the Scottish Inn, sharing a pint of ice cream with Mom. Did I also mention the case of PBR?? Yeah, that too... like I said before... Momma knows best!