Day 89 - 28th June - Harpers Ferry to Rocky Run Shelter - 15.5 miles

Sandy drives us, Stickbuilt and Scatters back to Harpers Ferry to resume the trail. We start at the ATC where we had our official photo taken. It is quite early in the morning so we decide to do the 'unofficial' version and whip off our tops so that we can show our torsoes, and how much weight we have lost in the last 3 months.

Tripper starting to shed the fat and Wizard looks like a famine victim

From left - Stickbuilt, Scatters, Tripper and Wizard ready to start the second part of the journey

We are quite excited - we are at the 'official' halfway mark and we are halfway through our 6 month visa - completing the whole thru hike is still a good possibility for us. It is within our grasp and we can only get fitter as we go further north. A lean and mean machine could make up the extra time we need.

Stickbuilt is going to walk with us for 5 days. He has had nearly a month at home to recover from the pinched nerves caused by his weight loss. Scatters starts with us too - she is wearing sandals not boots - and she just keeps walking a little bit faster than us and is soon disappearing ahead in the distance. The weight of her pack is huge - a fit young woman with amazing stamina.

The forecast is for 95 degF, and we follow the trail along the river. The area is steeped in the history of the civil war. We walk past the armory which John Brown (as in 'John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave, while his truth is marching on'. ) tried to capture as a way he thought to stop the practice of slavery.

We climb a long ridge and emerge at Gathland State Park which is an old estate with a memorial to reporters who reported the civil war. We are standing on a battle field, with the plaques explaining which army group did what to whom, and went where. It is a hot sunny day. We have found a soft drink machine and we treat ourselves to icy cold coke. It is hard to imagine the place and how bloody it must have been 150 years ago.

We turn off the trail late in the afternoon to find a campsite at the Rocky Run Shelter - this place actually has two shelters - the old original and the trendy upgraded one with a mezzanine floor. We camp in between them on the flat by the river.