Harper's Ferry!!

We have made it to the unofficial halfway point, historic Harper's Ferry, West Virginia! Here's some recap of our adventures over the past 300 miles or so....

This is Chuckles hugging the biggest tree on the AT (in the south)! It's so big! 

Blooms are soo pretty!! The mountain laurel and rhododendron have been out in full force.

Looking over the James River. 

This was on top of a very windy place called Spy Rock. 

On Memorial Day weekend we hiked a section called Three Ridges. While we were hiking, a fellow thru hiker said she counted 86 people passing us (hence the packed parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway)! It was REALLY busy. We didn't go much more than 10-15 minutes without seeing another group of backpackers, which made for a long day; seeing other people is great, but large groups are notorious for having poor trail etiquette. This was not the most enjoyable hike, however the views along the way were beautiful! 

In other news, the group we've been hiking with has become less solid. We'll see everyone again soon, but we're not all on the same schedule, so there have been many goodbyes. 

Shenandoah National Park comprised over 100 miles of the past couple weeks, and it was a rough, rough section. The trail was boring (though relatively easy terrain, when you weren't avoiding the bear scat), there were a lot of people, and when we had the opportunity for views, it was cloudy. Shenandoah is a beautiful place, but most of the beauty is meant to be seen via Skyline Drive and not while walking. Seeing the sign that meant we had only 0.2 miles left in the park may have been the best moment in the Shenandoah!

... And then we made it out! 

...out of the National Park, and into a terrible place called "the Roller Coaster." According to "AWOL," the author of our guide book, it's 13.5 miles of tightly packed ascents and descents. There weren't many switchbacks on the trial and it was rocky, so this was a difficult hike. We did the 13.5 mile roller coaster while we did a 25 mile day. Gnarly.

But somewhere on the bumpy ride, we made it past the 1,000 mile mark! ... And EmSklar continued the trend of taking many selfies. 

Goodbye Virginia! See you never... You were beautiful, but it's definitely time to see something new. 

And so we got to Harper's Ferry, and made it in the book! Most thru hikers stop at the ATC trail headquarters in Harpers Ferry, which is the celebrated halfway mark. All the hikers that stop are photographed and get their photo in the book! Our numbers mean we're the 379th and 380th people to pass through this year. 

On to cross the Mason-Dixon Line, gearing up for Rocksylvania!