Harper’s Ferry

A 2.5 mile in the south of Maryland that goes from Harper’s Ferry to the Ed Garvey shelter. This distance is so short that many Appalachian Trail thru-hikers just skip the shelter altogether, favouring the burgers and hot-showers that await them in Harper’s Ferry, which also happens to be the midway point of the AT.

Meanwhile, I knew so little about this hike that I prepared for it like my grand adventure. I wore my best white linen shirt for it, along with some choice polyester pants. I borrowed my mate’s ex-Swiss military backpack with a huge, rigid frame. I stuffed it with a towel, a huge sleeping bag, and god knows what else. In the 200% humidity of the Appalachians, this made heavy work of a short walk.

Then, we hadn’t thought to take a stove with us, thinking this was the back country so we would need to start a fire with fire wood. Never mind that the weather forecast on the AT in Maryland has approximately 365 days of rain per year. The thru-hikers at the shelter looked on bemusedly at us toiling to start a fire for half an hour before giving up.

Sleeping in the shelter was fun too. Rats scurrying about the whole night, and people tossing and turning and passing wind and so on. I think my love for ultralight, low-impact and solo hiking took root here.

Still, at least I can say I’ve done a bit of the AT.