[at-l] Trip Report - Sparky & Stick Dawg

[Adkhiker2003 at wmconnect.com (Adkhiker2003@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)]

Devils RaceCourse to ATC in Harpers Ferry.     Approx 36 miles,  9 Miles 1st 
day, 9 miles 2nd day, 16 miles 3rd day and 2 miles 4th day.   
Weather: Rain Sunny and Warm all 4 days of hiking  90+ degree in the open and 
about 80 degrees under the forest canopy.  
Water: Plentiful through out the entire route

Shelters: 
Devils Race Course Shelter. This has not changed from my last time I was 
there about two months ago.    This is a very old shelter. The floor is not even 
close to level, the roof leaks and it is .3 tenths of a mile down the mountain. 
It is easily accessible by the road and a popular teenage party spot.  Good 
points of the shelter are the Devils Race Course.   It looks like a river of 
boulders and when you get in the middle of it you can hear the underground 
river... that was pretty neat. There is a tent site at the top of the mountain on 
the right hand side of the trail with a fire pit already established.           
  
Pogo Memorial Campground -  This is a bunch on tent sites (15 at least) that 
are on the side of the AT.  Most are pretty level and have fire rings. Water 
is literally 2 feet from the AT in a spring box.  Very cold, very clean.  There 
is a privy there up on a hill.  Many Thru hikers stayed stopped there for the 
night.  No problem finding a spot.  We found a spot with rockchairs.  We 
called it Flintstone furniture and it was nice to have. Pros:  Lots of room, good 
water,Privy  Cons:  Privy was a bit ripe, trash scattered in certain areas.
Dahlgren Backpackers Campground. If you miss this, you will kick yourself 
until you get a chance to go back.  It has about 5 established sites,no shelters. 
 Each site comes with a picnic table and a fire pit.  It comes with running 
water (hot and cold),  flushing toilets and SHOWERS!!  They even have a deep 
sink in the back of the restrooms to do your laundry.   Best of  all it is 30 
feet from the AT and it is absolutely FREE!  Pros: I think I covered them  Cons: 
 not very big and fills up fast and you will need a tent, tarp or sleep in 
the open since there is no shelter.
AYH (American Youth Hostel) off of C&O towpath.  This was an opportunity for 
us to do big miles one day and reward ourselves with a stay at the hostel. The 
hostel is very clean, well maintained and the overseers are super nice.  The 
cost is $18 per person and this includes bed, linen, towels and ?privileges? 
If you opt for tenting in the yard it is $9 and you get ?privileges?. It has 
a small store there that has a little bit of everything and not very 
expensive.  It was nice to see fair prices but if you met the overseers you would know 
why.. good people.   Beds are clean and comfortable as well as all the 
facilities.  The kitchen is large and has a free food fridge with soda.  Additional 
services that they provide is a shuttle service AND a $5 AYCE pancake, cereal, 
fruit breakfast.  A nice spread!    Quiet time is at 10pm and lights out at 11 
pm.   Pros:  A good deal for the money, nice facilities  Cons: They only take 
cash but will take you to the ATM to use your credit card for a cash advance. 
 And the blue blaze trail is not very well marked so you will have to keep an 
eye out for it.  I mentioned it to Skipper and he was going to make some 
improvements.  

Gear reports: 
Asolo GTX 95 boots. Love them boots but they were a source of problems on 
this trip.  While dancing across a swollen stream I slipped into the water and 
water poured into my boots. It took 36 hours for them to fully dry and three 
blisters later they were back to normal.  I scraped one of my eye lets on the top 
boot, which made it sharp, and it cut my bootlace twice.  My son suggested I 
try another lace technique and tie a knot where it was cutting for the 3rd 
time..Good advice and that was the end of the boot ordeal. 
Cobra Peak1:  I love this tent but my son and I just outgrew it.  It was a 
great fit for when he was smaller.  Too tight now and we were rolling onto each 
other.  The breaking point was when Stickdawg sneezed while he was sleeping 
(he has allergies but still goes out there.. what a trooper!) and I was at point 
blank?  I need not say more but that was when I decided it was just too small 
a tent.   I am still going to keep it for solo trips but my son and I are 
looking for a bigger tent.        
People I met: We  meet so many out on the trail?..  Hippie ( 60 y/oretired 
banker), A principle and his son a teacher in New Jersey, a retired Chief 
PettyOfficer (fellow Navy Man)  Two medical students, and the Thru hikers at the AYH 
 - Hot Rod, CC, Loser and T-Bird? All played guitar for us at the Hostel and 
sang many songs?  Great time, lots of laughs.     It was lots of fun that 
night?  Like a mini PA Ruck.  We met 2/3 and 3/3 who are parents of 1/3 who is 
doing a thru hike.  They sprinkled us with some trail magic of fruit , cookies 
and soda near the Dahlgren Chapel.   THANKS!
Sites Seen: 
Black Rocks view? A must see and a few yards off the trail.  It was a clear 
day when we were there and we could see for a distance.  There is a devils race 
course at the bottom, which is very cool.  A good photo opportunity.         
AnnapolisRocks,   A walk down a blue  blaze trail down  a hill.  I took my 
pack and StickDawg left his?. Smart kid.   There are restricted areas so be 
prepared to camp where they tell you if you plan to spend the night... there is no 
water there that I saw.    There is a caretaker there and you will pass their 
camp on the right.  View is great and another opportunity for photos          
Washington Monument -  A very interesting monument shaped like a milk bottle. 
   Water is available at the visitor center along with restrooms and a little 
museum.   Soda machines are near the rest rooms.   The rangers are super 
friendly and will be happy to help out..  There is hiker parking there so if you 
are doing a section hike you sign into the log book and park...  The view and 
the history make this a must stop.  You can go up into the monument and look 
onto Boonsboro.           
Gath House and Civil War Correspondence Memorial.  Gath was a famous 
newspaper writer of his time.   The curator of the museum equaled him to the Oprah of 
our time.  He lived  a lavish lifestyle, commissioned the Correspondence 
memorial, and when his wife died he became  melancholy and died a pauper in NYC. 
The house is a museum with many interesting artifacts.    Worth a few minutes to 
stop in and look around.  There are restrooms, water access and soda machines 
available.  Nice place to rest and soak up a little bit of bygone times.      
     
Harpers Ferry,   Too much to see and too much to write about? but if you have 
the time it is Bper friendly, and LOTS to see and DO!             
Wildlife Siting:   We spotted numerous chipmunks and gray squirrels, a turkey 
vulture, 3 rabbits, 2 black snakes, 1 box turtle, numerous turtles in the C&O 
cannel, an otter, a Crane and three white tail deer.   
 
Medical Stuff:  This trip was not without its moments.  I had three blisters, 
which is new for me, If I get one that is rare but when I got three I was 
floored!  All due to my wet boots.    I used antibiotic, band-aids, and moleskin 
and it kept me hiking with no further problem.   I also took time to change 
socks often and I took my feet out of the damp boots to dry during our rest 
times.   I also had a killer migraine? 800mg of IB, a cool cloth and 1 hour later 
I was all right.  Good thing it struck at 9 pm when I was in my tent.  The 
light from my Aurora headlamp was a killer to use to get the meds? but worth it? 
 All medical issues were handled well within my and Stickdawgs means and we 
carried the right stuff in our kit.     

Food: 
Dehydrated Chicken Stew. If you like Chicken stew with dumplings... you will 
love what we had. The vegetables that I dehydrated came back like I never 
dehydrated them ... the tomatoes were just the same.. A good meal with LOTS to 
eat.           Dehydrated beef stew,  very very salty for our tastes so we are 
looking at ways to modify the recipe.    But it was filling and there was a lot 
of it.    Consisted of Knorr?s soup mix,dried beef, and dried vegetables.    
Next time we are going to try just dehydrated hamburger or we are going to boil 
the salt off the dried beef.   Good and filling!    
Stick Dawg?s Mocha Magic    A breakfast concoction which Stick Dawg Created.  
We found it  got us up and  kicking in the morning.   Consisted of 16 ounces 
of chocolate milk from dehydrated milk mixed with 16 ounces of strong coffee 
and 4 TBS of sugar.  This will get you going and up over the hills?   

Tough moments:  Getting my boots wet and unable to get them dry? that was 
bad, 

Forgetting the instructions for the  food and having to guess at how much 
water to add to the food? we did well though..  
The kicker was thinking I lost my cell phone at devils racecource and hoping 
a hiker would find it before a teenage partygoer.  I did find my cellphone at 
the very bottom of my pack when we unpacked at Pogo Whew!  
Best memories of the trip:  A picture of me and Stick Dawg with VA, MD and WV 
in the background.   

Seeing Stick Dawg come into his own and using his skill to backpack and even 
teaching me a few things while I was out there??  He easily out hiked, 
outsmarted and remained positive one when things were a little rough going.  One 
could not ask for a better hiking partner!     
Special Thanks to:   
2/3?s for the trail magic? The coke hit the spot on that hot day.   
To Skipper and his wife at the AYH for their hospitality and hard work to 
make us hikers feel welcome.  
To my Hiking Partner, Stick Dawg for being so positive all the time and being 
a great hiking partner?   It is great to know I can count on you ?. 

Last and surely not least, without her this trip would not have been 
possible? Thanks to my wife  for her scrambled home from work after a long day and 
driving  3 hours round trip and then turn around do it again Saturday morning  
and then having to drive 4 hours round trip on later on Saturday afternoon to 
drop off my daughters friend in Philly?.   What a woman?.Thanks!    

Sparky!



























































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