Dicks Dome Shelter to campsite at mile 1,015.5 – 34.7 miles
I am out at 5:30 AM. It is a fairly uneventful day. I meet and hike with Mountain Mime for a few miles. He’s a high school graduate, farm boy from Lancaster, PA. He asks me if I am in college. That gives me a chuckle. After my “no”, he quickly follows up with a question about what I do. He hadn’t heard of a civil engineer, so he learned a little about civil engineering.
I traverse the “Roller Coaster.” I’m not sure what the big deal is or if people make a big deal about it. The 13.5 miles of ups and downs make no difference to me. I’ve been going up and down for 980+ miles.
I tent at a campsite about four miles south of Harper’s Ferry, WV. I had wanted to cowboy camp in order to make it easier and quicker to get out in the morning, but it starts raining as soon as I reach the site. I set up my tent and cook in the rain. It looks like it’s going to be a wet sleep and wet tent carrying tomorrow. I’m excited to get home, but I know I’ll have a long (late) day, so I am getting an early start: up at 3 AM.
I am hiking with Matt and Nate through Maryland and then meeting Linds and Ryder! Hopefully the weather will be nice. Ryder and I are finally hiking together. I hope I don’t have a late night tomorrow (but I probably will).