day 49 - 04/28

it was so nice waking up in a warm bed at the bears den hostel cuz it was frickin cold this morning. i finished the remaining four hills in the rollercoaster and then it started to hail. it amazes me how such a tiny little piece of ice can pack such a punch. just as my hands were starting to freeze again i made it to the blackburn trail center, which is the home of the potomac appalachian trail conservancy group. boy did i hit some trail magic. there was a cub scout troupe staying at the center with way too much food that they kept giving me and i got to teach the cubs about my long distance hike. they were so in awe it was very entertaining. i then hit the trail to make it to harper's ferry by 17:00 so i could visit the main office of the appalachian trail conservancy (atc). the pic below is of my recorded pic of the 2012 class album. it surprised me that i was number 35 to check in. there were over a hundred people that left from springer just on my weekend alone and probably 500 from the time before i left. harper's ferry is such an interesting place. it is like stepping back in time. it actually reminds me of some towns in rural england, like ludlow. there is a specific charm to floors and walls so old there is a pronounced slant that is noticed when walking down a hallway. i also met three great thru hikers. the pic is attached simply cuz the boy to the right of me is 12yo! 12yo and he is hiking the entire at with his father. i was humbled. such a cool young man. mentally he is way beyond 12yo. also, the woman all the way to the right has hiked over 16,000mi! i am staying at the towns inn hostel for the night and then will probably nearo out of town tomorrow. oh, and apparently harper's ferry, while not the half way point mileage wise, is the chronological half way point. meaning that it typically takes twice the time as it takes to get to harper's ferry to complete the entire trail. so, at 48 days if i kept up my current pace i would finish in 96 days, or 23 days ahead of schedule. ya, no thanx. i enjoy it too much to be done that quickly. so i basically have some banked zero days to play around with. it's always nice to have savings. i also passed mile 1000 today. 20.5mi from bears den hostel to harper's ferry. 1015 total.