So, for May 11th we have:
RT
Lucretia and the Bluesclan
TTO
A sleepy Theios
myself.
Could we meet wherever we plan to end, and pile in my van to go to the trail head?
The ending point woiuld be in or near Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and it costs $5 per car to drive in. I’m not sure what the availability of parking is like in the town, which is small. Theios may have a better idea of that. (And hopefully good ideas of where we can go for food and beer afterwards!) I’d been thinking it might be better to have one car waiting at the Harpers Ferry end.
There’s a possibility that norinew might be joining us as well.
Sorry I’ve been kinda scarce in this thread. Been busy, busy, busy.
RT… Yes, the trail is about 6 miles. The first 4 miles or so is very easy and somewhat level. The only problem is that many parts of it are very rocky. Sturdy shoes are a must. The downhill portion is pretty darn steep, but I don’t remember it being rocky. When you get to the bottom, it’s an easy walk along RT340 to Harpers Ferry (the shoulder is safe to walk on).
Parking may be challanging, but you might get lucky. There is a small parking lot at the trailhead on Rt 9. I don’t think you could cram more than 10 cars in there, and it gets more use on the weekend. But you might be alright.
Parking in Hapers Ferry on the weekend is a madhouse. There are three options. 1) Park in Hapers Ferry my the Amtrac station. - Very, Very difficult. 2) Park in the parking lot right off Rt 340. - Might be easier, I’ve never tried. 3) Park across the river along the Tow Path. You can walk over the railroad bridge to/from Harpers Ferry. - Parking is limited here as well.
There may be a forth option. I think there is another big parking lot and a bus that shuttles you to Harpers Ferry. I’m not sure though. Never looked into it.
The best thing to do would probably have folks meet somewhere near, maybe even that big lot. Then shuttle one car to HF and take the other to the trailhead. Less parking headache if there are lots of folks.
oops… forgot something…
I’m not sure if I can make it. I work 7pm-7am Fri/Sat/Sun. So I would be getting off work that morning, go for a longish hike, find time to sleep and get back to work that night for another 12 hours of joy. I’m not sure if I can pull this off. I’m still pondering.
I really want to go since I’m the obvious guide to the area. You’ll be hiking in my backyard. Hell, you’ll be walking so close to my neighborhood that you’ll have the option of detouring and toilet papering my house if I don’t show.
Oh… And food. Would you believe that the local Denny’s is cheap, easy and good. That’s where all the locals go. I’m not sure about some of the spots in Harpers Ferry itself. Since the tourists go there, it might be a bit pricey. I dunno. I’m also not much of a drinker, so I don’t know about bars. Gee, I suck! You’d think I’d know more about the area I live in.
This parking lot is huge, but it belongs to the National Park service and will cost you $5 unless you have a pass. Not that supporting the NPS is a bad thing. I have never taken the bus so I do not know how long the wait maybe for the bus. There used to be parking but it may have changed now because of the new bridge, but right after the bridge on 340 if you can turn right there is a place to park there. I think it’s closed though.
I will not be able to make it as I will be in Ireland that weekend and doing my own hiking.
Airman and I did the Harper’s Ferry bus thing.
It is five bucks to get into the parking lot. From there, you go to the visitor’s center to meet the bus. IIRC, the buses leave fairly frequently, and are free.
The food is standard tourist fare, but not bad.
Robin
I don’t know the solution to the car/parking/bus dilemma, but I do have a suggestion that might help Theios to attend. We haven’t agreed on a meeting time yet, and we all have a long drive to get there. If we make our hike start in the early afternoon, maybe you could get some sleep first.
That might be a good idea. Theios, what time you think would work best for you?
It’s not so much as what time we go on a hike. My problem is the limited amount of time I have. I get home in the morning at 8:20am. I leave for work at 5:40pm. This give me a little over 9 hours in which to sleep, eat, and shower. Not much room for a hike in there unless I seriously cut back on the sleep part.
My desire to hang out with you guys is overriding my desire to get sleep. Probably not a smart idea. What time in the afternoon is everyone planning on coming? What time do we think we’ll end?
Theios, if you leave for work at 5:40pm, and you’ll probably want to eat and shower between hiking and working, maybe we should start in the morning, so you don’t have to worry about getting to work late. Perhaps we should try to rendezvous around 9 or 9:30? That might even give you time for a short nap afterwards, too.
Or are other Doper hikers allergic to having morning that early? If you are, c’mon, do it for Theios, who’s apparently crazy enough to want to hike with us in the 9-hour window she’s got between 12-hour work shifts. And that’s plenty crazy. 
In the spirit of things, I will give it the good ol’ college try. Sundays are easier than Saturdays for me, thankfully, and I really want to go and hang out with everyone, and do some of that good-for-you communing with nature and getting exercise stuff I hear so much about.
Pick a time and place and I will drag my butt out of bed early enough to get there, or die trying.
BTW - does this stretch of trail suffer from the same lack of geocaches that great falls did?
For now, “somewhere near Harpers Ferry” will have to do for a place, since I’m in FL until Monday, and won’t have much time to devote to this until then.
Though I’m thinking that as an initial rendezvous location, IIRC there’s a couple of convenience stores/gas stations right by the first light after 340 crosses the Potomac from MD into VA. That might be the best place for an initial rendezvous, then we can figure out where to put the cars while we hike.
Theios, can you refresh my mental picture of what’s at that junction, and/or suggest one store in particular, if there’s more than one?
Right after you cross the bridge over the Potomac from Maryland, you will come to a stoplight with an Exxon station. Just a little bit up the road from that, there is a large-ish parking lot on the left. That’s a great place to meet up. You shouldn’t be able to miss the parking lot. If you cross the second bridge, then you’ve gone too far.
The other place that might work out, would be to actually cross the second bridge and take the road into Harpers Ferry that is right after the bridge on the right. It’s kind of a hairpin turn. Just a little ways on that road is a parking lot on the right. It’s free (as far as I know) and somewhat large-ish. It is also within easy walking distance from Harpers Ferry itself. I used to park there a lot when I couldn’t park along the towpath.
As far as what time to meet up? The closer to 8:30am, the better if it has to be in the morning. If you want to make it in the afternoon, 12:00 might work for me. I could catch a nap before the hike (I’ll probably need it). I might be able to get off an hour early that morning and maybe come in an hour late that night. My boss is pretty forgiving.
OK, let’s do the second parking lot. And I vote for the noon start. Any objections, fellow Doper-hikers?
A noon start sounds so humane!
TTO, you and I should definitely ride together, but I think everyone else is coming from different directions, right? Anyone else want to be a Bozo on my bus? RT, would you like to rendezvous in Annandale? I’m spittin’ distance from the beltway. I like the idea of driving together to reduce the chances of missing each other at HF and save gas, to boot!
Quoting Firesign - that’s your real motive for organizing a carpool.
Not that I have a problem with that.
California tumbles into the sea,
that’ll be the day I go back to Annandale 
Sure, let’s! If you and I and TTO all go in your van, then we’ve only got 3 vehicles to coordinate in HF, and that’s a big plus.
I sure hope the weather forecast changes. 
Me too. If the weather is crappy, you’ll have a hard time convincing me to go for a hike. I don’t mind hiking in the rain on a good day. But when I’m tired and cranky, I’m much less likely to go along.
Anywho…
I though I’d toss out the option of knocking a couple of three miles from the hike. I know a side side trail that we could take. You wouldn’t be missing anything interesting and it would bypass most of the knee killing rock-trails. The side trial starts near my house and goes gently (sorta) uphill to where it hits the AT. From there, it’s a very pleasent hike to the overlooks. After that, we tumble down the mountain and hike rt340 to Harpers Ferry.
Yes? No? Maybe?
Anita, I’m seeing a reasonably decent forecast:
Besides, that far ahead, what do they know, anyway? Sunday’s east-coast weather system is probably still over the Pacific at this point, give or take a flap of a butterfly’s wings.