Day 70 - Greetings from Maryland (June 17)

Its hard to believe I've been on the trail for 10 weeks. When I started, I did not know if I could make it past 10 days. Î had done week long trips that would have included both weekends, but not nothing longer than that. I did not know if anything longer would be too much.

I think taking the second zero was the right thing to do. I feel much better today than yesterday. My throat was still being irritated by breathing hard during climbs. I'm not feeling as much of the irritation today.

I loved Harpers Ferry. It was a beautiful little town with lots to see. This morning, I went past the building John Brown was captured. I also walked along several miles of a canal towpath. A sign said the canal was used to 1924, I believe. Is that possible? I though all of the canals were obsolete by the mid 1800s.

The trail went along some civil war battlefields today. I think all were associated with Antietam. It was quite interesting to read the roadside signs.

I also saw the first of all of the Washington monuments today. There was a great view from the top.

I took some cough medicine that made me want to nap this afternoon.

I did about 24 miles to get to Pine Knob shelter. I got here early with plenty of energy to go another 9 miles to the next shelter. I decided to stop because my left ankle was starting to hurt again. If this was a short week long or two week trip, I would not be so concerned about the little aches and pains. I've been doing long miles, and have avoided serious problems so far. I'm going to continue to stop early when ever something starts to hurt. By doing this, it makes walking the trail with anyone very difficult.

Its possible my ankle problem is shin splints. I'm going to start taking iburophin a few times a day, and making sure I stretch more often.

Brown Bag is at the shelter tonight along with two section hikes. I already forgot the names of the section hikers.

Kyanite and Sunkist are the two Ohio geologists. They have been hiking with Brown Bag, but they had to go to Charles Town because they could find no place in Harpers Ferry that would take their dogs.