Waking up in a wet sleeping bag is like waking up soaked in sweat but imagine that instead of sweat it is cold water. Throughout the night I seemed to incoherently find the few warm pockets of the damp bag and sleep ok during the few hours I had allotted to sleep. When the alarm went off, I popped up and began readying my pack for the final ascent into Harpers Ferry. The miles flew by and were only interrupted by feasting on my last candy bar and last sleeve of ritz crackers. Since I was hoping to make it to town by mid afternoon I did not take the time to come up with a lunch plan. I would use the hunger as motivation! The sight of arriving in Harpers Ferry with giant rivers all around was glorious. Only surpassed by the signs pointing toward the Appalachian Trail Coalition headquarters. This is where every hiker gets their picture taken and they are then placed into that years album. I was able to find many people I knew who had thru hiked the trail in past years. It was overall a great experience and a can’t miss when passing through. For the first time in 600 miles I am staying in a hostel tonight. I figure I would stay in town, get a shower and also do laundry that was way overdue. Tomorrow I should hit Maryland and then in another day I will be on Northward and into Pennsylvania. With this being my first long distance hike that stretches more than 3 states, the celebration of a new one is not quite as pronounced; but I will say Virginia seemed to last forever. It was beautiful but also difficult in spots. I had temperatures ranging from the single digits up to the 70s. Elevations from the 1000s up to 6000. There were wild horses, great mountains and unique towns. But it’s time to leave yet another state behind and I am not mad.
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