Thought some of you folks might enjoy an out of town trip report, so here goes:
I work for the National Park Service and was lucky enough to go to a week long training program in Harpers Ferry WV. After the class I took and extra three days to hike the A.T. out of W.V. into MD (up through Crampton Gap). I started out a short distance behind the Appalachian Trail Conference Center, and after a short fifteen minute descent found myself at Jefferson Rock. Thomas Jefferson claimed it was worth crossing the sea to get a look at this view (ever America's Salesman
), and while that may be a stretch it really is a sweet view. Looking north you see historic Lower Town framed by the Shenandoah, and this old church rises up thorugh a series of tree line. Very nice. In fact, the entire way down to Lower Town you have the Shenandoah rushing to meet the Potomac right below you.
Before you can get onto the A.T. you have to take the C&O Canal Towpath for aprox. 3-4 miles. The Canal was an easy bit of flat gravelly hiking with nice views of the Potomac. Some Level I-II rafting run through the area. Coming back Sunday afternoon the path was crowded with runners, people strolling, and bikers. I must have heard 10 "On Your Right's!". Only shortcoming of this path was the lack of signage. Right at a break point in the towpath I came thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to getting lost, but I somehow sniffed out the right way. If you are not careful its really easy to miss the A.T., and then you'll carry on down the Towpath that runs for hundreds of miles!
The toughest part of the entire hike comes four miles in up the Weverton Cliffs climb. It really isn't that bad though, just enough to get your blood pumping. The trail switchbacks up a quarter mile, and while it would have been easy to forget the trail and blaze straight up I knew it would have been hell on the terrain if everybody did that. I practice Leave No Trace wherever I go. So I stayed on the trail with its zigs and zags.
The view is usually fantastic, but it was humid on my way out and back, so I never got a clear look down over the cliffs.Both in and out were near dawn and the fog obscured mostly all of the view.
The hike on to Crampton Gap was mostly all at ridgeline, so it was a nice ramble through the woods. Terrain changed from slightly rocky to flat. It made for a nice change of pace. If anybody repeats this hiking remember one thing: BRING YOUR OWN WATER!!!!! Between Harpers Ferry, past the Ed Garvey Shelter, onto the Crampton Gap Shelter there is no H2O source.
Crampton Gap, filled with Civil War history, has a feel of all the thousands of Union and Confederate troops that wandered this cliffline in the woods. Nicest view of the hike. Since the Gap Shelter had a party of seven or eight in there I moved on and found a clearing just off the ridgeline, and since the weather was so fine, I just slept out under the stars. This is a great trip that I reccommend to everybody. Pretty country with real nice West Virginia atmosphere, everybody I ran into was just brimming with down home hospitality. Can't wait to check it out again.
I work for the National Park Service and was lucky enough to go to a week long training program in Harpers Ferry WV. After the class I took and extra three days to hike the A.T. out of W.V. into MD (up through Crampton Gap). I started out a short distance behind the Appalachian Trail Conference Center, and after a short fifteen minute descent found myself at Jefferson Rock. Thomas Jefferson claimed it was worth crossing the sea to get a look at this view (ever America's Salesman
), and while that may be a stretch it really is a sweet view. Looking north you see historic Lower Town framed by the Shenandoah, and this old church rises up thorugh a series of tree line. Very nice. In fact, the entire way down to Lower Town you have the Shenandoah rushing to meet the Potomac right below you. Before you can get onto the A.T. you have to take the C&O Canal Towpath for aprox. 3-4 miles. The Canal was an easy bit of flat gravelly hiking with nice views of the Potomac. Some Level I-II rafting run through the area. Coming back Sunday afternoon the path was crowded with runners, people strolling, and bikers. I must have heard 10 "On Your Right's!". Only shortcoming of this path was the lack of signage. Right at a break point in the towpath I came thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to getting lost, but I somehow sniffed out the right way. If you are not careful its really easy to miss the A.T., and then you'll carry on down the Towpath that runs for hundreds of miles!
The toughest part of the entire hike comes four miles in up the Weverton Cliffs climb. It really isn't that bad though, just enough to get your blood pumping. The trail switchbacks up a quarter mile, and while it would have been easy to forget the trail and blaze straight up I knew it would have been hell on the terrain if everybody did that. I practice Leave No Trace wherever I go. So I stayed on the trail with its zigs and zags.
The view is usually fantastic, but it was humid on my way out and back, so I never got a clear look down over the cliffs.Both in and out were near dawn and the fog obscured mostly all of the view. The hike on to Crampton Gap was mostly all at ridgeline, so it was a nice ramble through the woods. Terrain changed from slightly rocky to flat. It made for a nice change of pace. If anybody repeats this hiking remember one thing: BRING YOUR OWN WATER!!!!! Between Harpers Ferry, past the Ed Garvey Shelter, onto the Crampton Gap Shelter there is no H2O source.
Crampton Gap, filled with Civil War history, has a feel of all the thousands of Union and Confederate troops that wandered this cliffline in the woods. Nicest view of the hike. Since the Gap Shelter had a party of seven or eight in there I moved on and found a clearing just off the ridgeline, and since the weather was so fine, I just slept out under the stars. This is a great trip that I reccommend to everybody. Pretty country with real nice West Virginia atmosphere, everybody I ran into was just brimming with down home hospitality. Can't wait to check it out again.
