We awoke to the smells of Rob Lamar’s gourmet breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, watermelon – why the list just goes on and on. Even by the Troverts’ high “roughing it deluxe” standards, it’s going to be tough going back to regular camp fare after living in the lap of luxury for three days with Rob and Rebecca!

Back at the Blackburn Center, we run into Honest Abe who tells us that Mange and Cheetah, the core members of Team Chick-fil-A last seen in Damascus before the start of Trail Days, are asleep on the other side of the Center’s wrap-around porch. Eager to speak after all these miles, we walk around to see them, but find they are sleeping in. We don’t worry as we fully expect them to pass us before noon today…

We climb back up to the Trail and turn north. Fueled by a great breakfast, without the record heat of yesterday and with a slightly downhill, level Trail, we feel like we’re flying towards Keys Gap and Highway 9.

We stop at the picnic table there for snacks and the sodas Rob has thoughtfully frozen for our 10 o’clock treat. We think we may be hallucinating when the same person walks by twice but discover it is fast moving twin brothers who left Springer Mt. on May 1st and need to get back to college by mid August. We warn them about the rocks ahead on this final six mile leg into town. We email Rebecca and the BCM a photograph when we reach the Harpers Ferry Park entrance sign.

The first views of the Shenandoah River from the trail and the approach to the 340 bridge are emotional for both of us. Our journey feels like it is half done, and that the remaining half may in fact now be possible. We climb the hill and detour around construction at the NPS interpretive design center on the top.

There is quite a crowd of hikers gathered at the ATC – over a dozen have signed in today by noon. We are touched when a delegation of NPS friends gathers to welcome us to Harpers Ferry. There is great conversation all around, frequently interrupted by the greeting of hikers we’ve met along the trail also coming around the corner. [X is blown away when Seeks It, the older brother of X’s older brother’s best friend in high school walks up to offer greetings and congratulations. We met him through his electronic trail journal back in the beginning of the year and we have been corresponding off and on ever since. He had to take a break from his unique no camping daily yo-yo thru hike (currently in VT) to come home; and decided to swing through HF on the off chance of seeing us. Wow!] However, a real downer for us is seeing Retread and learning that after a terrible time with this week’s heat, he is leaving the trail. We have thoroughly enjoyed his and Greenhorn’s company and are saddened for it to be coming to an end as Greenhorn is heading home, too. As wonderful as the AT can be, she can also be tough and unforgiving…

We stay the night with Mike Watson, an NPS friend since 1977. Mike for many years ran the Service’s Mather Training Center which hikers pass on the way to the ATC. N has looked forward to this visit ever since hearing Mike tell about the late Pete Hart (Old Buffalo, GA>ME 2001), also a retired Park Service superintendent, stopping in at the Center unannounced. Mike tells the Troverts that Pete’s Hiker Stink still holds the record, but we realize he rushes us to a shower as soon as Mary Mallen (another longtime NPS friend) has treated us to lunch (where we are also joined by colleague Dennis Frye, NPS expert on all things Civil War). We’ve looked forward to Harpers Ferry for 73 days, and today it does not disappoint us…