Bama➡️Baxter Day 101&102

Day 101: 10 miles

This morning all of us slept in for a while because we were up so late last night. The guys weren’t moving at all so I wound up popping my pad and starting to pack up. They followed suit and by 9:30am we were walking. We only had 10 miles to go to get to Harpers Ferry! Which is basically the halfway point on the AT. It is the spot along trail where hikers get this iconic Polaroid photos taken and receive their new hiker number.

We wound up walking for about 3.5 miles and then doing a short detour over to a gas station. There I got some chicken fingers, potato wedges, and a coffee drink. All of us hung around there for a while and then continued on to do the last 5.5 miles of the day. The time flew by and before we knew it we got to the spur trail to the conservatory.

I can’t believe that we’re here. Harpers ferry is a major milestone for AT hikers. I’ve seen so many photos over the years of hikers getting to this point and now here we are. We got our classic Polaroid photos taken there. After that we signed the photos and got our new numbers! I was #516 at Harpers ferry and #1910 at Amicolola falls. I thought that was pretty wild too. To be nearly in the 2000s when I started the hike and only the 500 + person to get to Harpers.

Then we headed out and wound up booking a room at the Quality Inn for the night. We saw a few other hikers in the lobby who we’ve been leapfrogging with on and off. Once we checked in all of us showered and we got our laundry together to do a load. Then all of us walked a mile or so over to a restaurant for early dinner. Everything in Harpers Ferry is super spread out which is definitely not ideal for hikers. We had to go over a mile for food but it was well worth it.

We went to The Rabbit Hole and I got a yummy salad and some sweet potato fries. Then after we ate we walked around and wound up getting ice cream. I got a key lime pie flavor which was unbelievably delicious. Then we walked back to the hotel to chill out.

While we were chilling Stakes and Gummy Bear came over to say hi. We hadn’t seen them since before trail days! We finally caught up to them which is cool. But they’re going into DC for the day tomorrow so we’ll be getting ahead of them.

Sweet Pea, Boosted, and I wound up ordering papa Johns for a late night snack. Then we laid in the room and watched TV for a while before heading off to bed.

Day 102: 17.5 miles

This morning we all slept in pretty late in the hotel. Sometimes it hard to resist. Especially considering the fact that our sleep schedule has been so messed up lately. Eventually got up and headed over to the continental breakfast at the hotel. There is no grocery store in Harpers ferry so I wound up taking a bunch of muffins from the continental breakfast to tide me over until the next town.

We wound up checking out at 11am and then walking over to the downtown area in Harpers ferry. I got a delicious BLT with avocado and pesto Mayo on sourdough bread. Then we walked over to the gear shop in town before heading back to the trail.

By 12:30pm we were back to walking. The trail was incredibly flat for the first few miles of the day. We crossed over a bridge and then walked along a flat dirt bike path for ages. Though the funny thing is that the flat section actually irritated my IT bands more than the uphill ever does.

Eventually we got back normal trail and did another few miles. Once we had gone 6 miles in total we stopped off at a shelter to take a break. I ate some of my muffins from the continental breakfast. Then after a while we continued along.

We walked for another 4 miles and then passed through a picnic and camping area. And low and behold, a lady had just arrived to set up trail magic! She had fancy loaded bagels from a nearby place and offered them to us. I wound up eating a super good spinach cream cheese bagel. Getting such “real” food for trail magic was amazing. She also had soda and other goodies. Her trail name was “Real Deal” and she really was.

After we had been there too a little while she asked all of us if we were 420 friendly. She said she could sense our vibe which I thought was really funny. Then she lit up a joint to share with all of us. Before we left she brought me over to her car and pulled out a bag with a bunch of goodies. She had flower, edibles, and preroll packs. Then she told me that I could pick out whatever I wanted! Now that was some serious trail magic. She wound up giving me a pack with 3 little prerolls in it which was awesome.

Shortly after that we wound up continuing on. There was a campsite about 7 miles away that apparently had bathrooms, showers, and was close enough to a road that you could even order pizza! We decided to push all the way there if we could so that we didn’t arrive too late. We did about 6 miles and then took a quick breather to let Boosted catch up. Then we continued along arrived at the backpacker camp site around 8pm.

Every single site in the campground was completely full. So we wound up walking down the road a bit and stealth camping nearby. It actually worked out great because we were closer to the road where we had to walk to meet the pizza delivery driver. All of us cleared out space to set up our tents and then got situated. Then we called in an order for delivery. I got stuffed shells with garlic bread, salad, and a tiramisu for dessert.

The food wound up coming super fast which was great. We walked the short distance down the road to meet the driver. Then back at our tent site we all devoured the food. The stuff shells were pretty good, but I’ve personally made better. I haven’t been blown away by Italian food in a while on trail. That’s definitely something I’ve been missing the most.

After we ate we all called it a night. I slept pretty good but wound up waking up around 4am to yelling. Roxy had apparently gotten her leash free and bolted after a bear! But after he called her over she came right back thankfully. I just woke up for the tail end of the whole encounter. Then I managed to fall back asleep.