On Monday we got up and on the road early, because we needed to complete a particular mission before the heat of the day descended upon us. That mission: to cross off the longest-standing item on my personal bucket list – hike the Appalachian Trail.
Now let’s not get too excited yet. The hike was a modest one at best. A total of two miles, half of it on the A.T., and the other along the Shenandoah River. But if you know me, then you know. You know I’m old and fat and out of shape. You know that I have bad knees. You know that I have been battling rheumatoid arthritis for a while now. You know that upon looking at me, I am the absolute last person you would pick as a hiker. And that’s why this particular trek had been on my list for so long; I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t be able to do it. But my fifties have turned into my fuckit-ies. We had Harpers Ferry National Historic Park on our list for this trip, and oh look at that! Guess what runs right through that little piece of beautiful West Virginia? It was fate.
Now, I probably could have/should have selected a more beginner-friendly section of the A.T. to start off with, because the beginning of this particular part ascended a couple hundred feet – quickly. These are a couple of screen grabs from the AllTrails app. The first is the whole trail, showing the elevation profile. The second is more of a 3-D rendering of the ascent.
I’m kicking myself for not taking more pics as we were climbing the first bit to show how steep it was, but I was mostly just focused on not dying. 😂
More scenes from along the trail…
The highlight of the hike was a stop at Jefferson Rock.
From the NPS website:
Several large masses of Harpers shale, piled one upon the other, comprise Jefferson Rock. The name of this landmark derives from Thomas Jefferson, who stood here on October 25, 1783. His description of the view first appeared in the Notes on the State of Virginia, published in 1785:
“The passage of the Patowmac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Patowmac in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that this earth has been created in time, that the mountains were formed first, that the rivers began to flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they have been so dammed up by the Blue Ridge of mountains as to have formed an ocean which filled the whole valley; that, continuing to rise, they have at last broken over at this spot and have torn the mountain down from its summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disruptions and avulsions from their beds by the most powerful agents in nature, corroborate the impression.
But the distant finishing which nature has given the picture is of a very different character. It is a true contrast to the former. It is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountains being cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth blue horizon, at an infinite distance in that plain country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around to pass through the breach and participate in the calm below. Here the eye ultimately composes itself; and that way, too, the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Patowmac above the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three miles, the terrible precipice hanging in fragments over you, and within about 20 miles reach Frederictown and the fine country around that. This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.“
The uppermost slab of Jefferson Rock originally rested on a natural stone foundation so narrow that one was able to sway the rock back and forth with a gentle push. Because this natural foundation had “dwindled to very unsafe dimensions by the action of the weather, and still more, by the devastations of tourists and curiosity-hunters,” four stone pillars were placed under each corner of the uppermost slab sometime between 1855 and 1860.
We were fortunate enough to be alone on the trail, especially at this point. Jefferson Rock is a wonderful sight, and the views of the river valley below are just breathtaking.
Jefferson Rock is pretty close to the end of this particular section of the A.T., so we were soon on our way back down the ridge. Along the way we came across the ruins of the St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was one of Harpers Ferry’s earliest churches, and saw use as a hospital and barracks during the Civil War.
The exit of that section of the Appalachian Trail dropped us directly into the quaint little town of Harpers Ferry. We didn’t spend as much time here as we may have on another day, because we were frankly exhausted and still had a mile walk back to the car ahead of us. But we did stop in the bookstore, of course, because that’s where the park store is and we had to get our stamps! Here’s a look at how adorable this place is…
As I mentioned, we were only halfway through our hike – we had to get back to our car. The second half took us along the shores of the Shenandoah River. It was a nice walk, mostly in the shade, and any other time we would have stopped to check out the informational markers along the way, but we just buzzed past the ruins of various things, which were cool to look at but could not override our exhaustion for more than just a quick glance and a picture.
Our final stop in Harpers Ferry was the Visitor’s Center. This one is unique in that there really is nothing there. It consists of an information desk with your friendly Rangers, and bathroom facilities. Oh, and a really cool topographic map of the town and the ridge.
On the left is the ridge we climbed and walked along. The little colored cylinders represent various places around the town, and you can see the white one representing Jefferson Rock on the ridge.
The entrance fee to Harpers Ferry is $20.00 per car, and it had me confused a little bit when we actually got to the Visitor’s Center and saw its lack of displays, educational materials, short films, all the stuff we had come to associate with Visitor’s Centers. But then I figured it out. What you’re really paying for is a parking spot and a shuttle ride. Because there is zero parking in the Lower Town area. And I mean zero. Due to the lack of space in general in the town area, the Visitor Center is about 3/4 of a mile up the hill, and you can take the shuttle to Lower Town to explore, and then back up to your car.
But if you are doing what we did, and are hiking the ridge or are willing to park a mile away and walk to Lower Town and don’t care about going up to the Visitor’s Center, you can use the parking lot here for free:
And that’s the end of our visit to Harpers Ferry & the Appalachian Trail, but believe it or not it was not our last hike of the day. Stay tuned!
Info for other National Park geeks:
Cancellations available:
- Harpers Ferry NHP
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
- Journey Through Hallowed Ground NHA
- Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
- Harpers Ferry NHP 75th Anniversary Commemoration
- Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Junior Ranger: yes
B.A.R.K. Ranger: no
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