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| Our view of the Potomac from our campsite |
Our campsite was along the Potomac River downstream from Harper's Ferry, WV. We could see the river through the trees behind our site. We were concerned that the local trails would have much more traffic on the weekend with lots of bikers, hikers and walkers, so a walk into the town of Brunswick, MD was our plan for the 10th. As the campground is right on the edge of town, it was a simple matter to walk the short section of the C&O Towpath, then cross the railroad tracks into the small downtown area.
The post office was our initial destination to resolve our chores for the day, then we just wandered about to see what we might see. An interesting coffee shop called "Beans in the Belfry" caught our eye as the shop is located in a former church, but we didn't enter. There's a local brewery situated in a former firehouse called "Smoketown Brewing Station." We did step inside to look around, but it wasn't yet noon so we continued on our walk.
Other places of note include "Brunswick Heritage Museum," where we window-shopped their interesting displays and "Past and Present Antiques," which presented some unique items.
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| Our campsite, Brunswick Family Campground |
Eventually our hunger complained more loudly and we settled in at the "Potomac Street Grill." (Sorry there's no link to the PSG site. McAfee warned that malicious bugs have usurped their normal website.) It is a nice, simple, small town eatery with a short bar and good if limited selection of draught beer. Thankfully, they had a couple brews from Smoketown Brewing Station on tap, so we could enjoy the local craft. It proved to be enjoyable, refreshing and tasty.
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| Karen displays her scoop of chocolate ice cream |
We decided to forego desert at PSG in order to leave room for a taste at the "Towpath Creamery," a couple blocks away along our trek back to the campground. This little shop was quaint, clean and offered a nice couple tables for us to sit, relax and enjoy a couple scoops of ice cream.
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| Karen presents the photo of Rocket and Rockette (Roger and Gail) |
In an effort to avoid the weekend crowds, we didn't leave the campground until mid afternoon. Our mission for the day was to visit the "Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters and Visitor Center."
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| Rocket and Rockette (Roger and Gail) |
Our AT Through-hiking friends, Rocket and Rockette (Roger and Gail), had mentioned that they stopped here and had their picture taken and that the photo was recorded in an album by the ATC for posterity. We hiked up the street in Harper's Ferry, easily found the ATC and the folks there did the brief research to locate Roger and Gail's photograph. An impressive three dimensional scale map in the ATC Visitor Center was our backdrop for the photo of Karen with our friends' picture.
Sunday proved to be our biggest day of hiking for our entire summer trip. We drove into Harper's Ferry, then began our trek from downtown, across the Potomac on the AT, up the long traverse climbing over 1200 vertical feet to a former Civil War Cannon Battery. We trudged along the mountain ridge south and then downhill over 600 vertical feet only to struggle back uphill another 350 vertical feet to bring us out to the Maryland Heights Overlook of Harper's Ferry.
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| View of the Shenandoah (left), Harper's Ferry (center), and Potomac |
The view made all the hiking truly worthwhile. We were sweaty, tired and complaining of sore muscles, but we still enjoyed the view as we rested and looked forward to the shorter return trip back downhill into town.
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| The Maryland Heights Overlook and Civil War Battery are behind Murph |
Once back in town, Karen took this photo to show where we'd just been hiking. The mountain behind Murph is the one we just climbed, the Civil War Battery is near the peak of the mountain and the Maryland Heights Overlook is at the top of the rock cliffs above Murph's left shoulder.
The next day we left the area for Pittsburgh.
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