Day 79

Forecast shows a high of 95 today 😮‍💨 our first real hot day of hiking. We caught a 9:00am bus to Walmart and had 30 minutes to resupply before heading back to Harper's Ferry. 

We didn't start hiking till noon, but we had a pretty easy 12 miles to the shelter 

The Hideaway Hostel was great, and very clean. We saw how thorough they were in disinfecting everything before we left and I would absolutely stay here again. 

Right before we crossed the bridge, we ran into Moon Beam and Gobbles who were finishing up their section today. They have been hiking section by section for the last 5 years and recently did the Shenandoahs. We spent the night with them a few times at shelters and had a lot of fun conversations. It was awesome to see them one last time and exchange contact info for the future. Hopefully we can meet up again once they get up to New Hampshire! 

We crossed the Potomac and walked along the river on a rail trail for 3 miles. There were lots of people out today despite the heat. 

We had a 1000ft climb afterwards which was absolutely brutal in the heat. It's not too bad in the shade but we were all struggling today. We have 2 more days of 90+ weather then it looks like we will be soaked with rain for a bit. 

We walked through Gathland State Park, grabbed cold water and continued on. Didn't stay too long to read the plaques, it was too hot out. 

Sitting in my tent, sweating like crazy writing this. Hoping it'll cool down for sleeping, but overall a good day. We have some big days planned ahead of us, but we're excited to get some miles done. 

Happy Trails 🌲 



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