July 5 Mile 1009

Crossed the 1000 mile mark today! Into 4 digits. Also, finally got to a new state, West Virginia, for a few minutes  anyway. My phone GPS still spots us in Virginia, as we camp, but just over the line. That's probably why they say Virginia is 550 miles.
After our wonderful stay at Bear Den Rocks, we were off by about 9:00. This hostel was fantastic, I definitely want to return with my Sweety someday. I recommend it highly.
The hike today was not bad terrain wise. We finished the " rollercoaster" after about 4 miles, but the day was filled with lots of rocks! They even had an area we hiked thru called the Devil's Racecourse, due to all the boulders. But the key today was the HEAT. Hottest day yet- our thermometer got up to about 95! Yuck. Writing in my tent right now and it is  still hot.
Cause this was a holiday for lots of folks, saw day hikers early in the day. When they found out we were thru hikers, they had lots of questions. How heavy is your pack? How do you get food? What do you eat? Do you get breaks? It was fun talking to them.
Drank lots of water today. Not much water on the trail, luckily at the 14 mile point there was a road with a gas station very close by. We got to the road about 5 PM and we took off our packs at a little rest area and Cisco walked down to the store and brought back Gatorade  and ice cream Snickers and chips and most importantly, about 6 liters of water for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. This is a big deal, as these types of amenities have not been available this close to the trail. As we are entering more populated places, this could be interesting. Our map told us we had to go at least 1.5 miles before we were allowed to tent camp. So we followed the rules and hiked on in the heat. About 2 miles up Cisco found us a great spot. Wanted to build a fire, but it's too danged hot! Put up out tents, made dinner and settled in. First night tent camping in a week.
Now we are only about 4 miles or less from Harpers Ferry, where we will zero til Thursday. Could have gone all the way tonight I suppose, but free camping is more appealing. Also, we want to go by the Appalachian Trail National Office and it's on the way into to town, and they closed at 5 PM. It's a big deal to go there, as this is the ceremonial halfway point. We have to go another 75 miles to this year's real halfway point. They are always changing the trail, adding miles and moving the trail around.
But they take your picture and you sign the register. It will be fun to see who is ahead of us, as we lost track of a bunch of folks . Heady stuff for thru hikers.


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