7-3-2009 Fri

Start point: Horsepen Branch
End point: Pine Knob Shelter
miles hiked: 10

My feet are killing me. I can't believe how much harder this is on your feet than the AT. Met some guys at the next campsite (Chisel Branch) and talked to them for awhile. They had come out to camp and relax during the 4th of July weekend. I got to Whites Ferry, which is the last ferry to still operate on the Potomac, getting vehicles across from Maryland to Virgina. I decided I was gonna try and get a ride across and then up to Point of Rocks, to skip about 15 miles ahead. The guys I rode with took me about a mile up to Hwy 15, then I got a ride from a really nice guy named Luke who ended up taking me to where the AT crosses over I-70. Thanks Luke! I decided that hiking all the way to Harpers Ferry on the C&O would be too painful on my feet and every day I'm on it my friends are getting farther and farther ahead of me. I hiked 35 miles of it and that was enough for me. It was a cool experience though, hiking from the Whitehouse to the woods. A 1/2 mile from where I got dropped off there was a restaurant called the Dogpatch Tavern, so I walked over there and got a sandwich and some nachos, met a hiker named Cleats. We both stopped at the Pine Knob Shelter for the night.