[at-l] I'm back from the Canal

[krk@speakeasy.org (kenneth knight)]

I've been back now for a couple of days.

I hiked about half of the C&O Canal over the course of a week. Not
counting side trips to Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown, Antietam National
Battlefield, and the like, I think I covered about 93 canal towpath
miles. Actual total mileage is somewhat higher than that when you figure
in side trips and etours though I'm not really sure what the grand total
would be. Probably closer to 110 or 115 miles.

I could have gone all the way to Cumberland, MD but decided that I had
been out long enough. If I'd been hiking with someone else I'm sure I
would have continued. However, this way I get to do more of it later in
the year (maybe after Wyoming as the leaves are turning colorful).

There is a lot of history to soak in surrounding the canal. I learned
things I had not known before though it remians to be seen if I retain
what I learned. In some ways it was hard to get a handle on the history.
It is hard to see a river ford where thousands of Union or Confederate
soldiers would cross the Potomac river. But, when you see the remains of
a store on the canal you realize how much more than a simple means of
transportation the canal was.

I really did have a good time on the trip. I even had a couple amusing,
at least in hindsight, mishaps along the way. I kept a journal and I
will share that soon enough. I also took quite a few pictures, but since
my website is out of room and I am not in a position to really edit it
from here I am not sure how I'll share those with people.

If anyone wants to join me when I do the western half of the canal I
will eagerly await the company. I very well may do it the first or
second week of October. Perhaps COlumbus Day weekend if I can't figure
out how to get to ALDHA (anyone in the DC metro area going?).

  ** Ken **