The Hike:

The weather for hike day was predicted to be clear skies with a high temperature in the low 60's.  Once again, Wendy drove me to the start point of the hike at the Thompson Boat Center parking area.   As I signed in for the hike I got a surprise - the MWROP volunteer checking me in remembered me from last year!     "Hi Curt! Trying it again this year?"   As it turns out he was trail boss this year and I would see him numerous times along the way.   Whether that was good or not is subject to debate as one of his duties was to check on the stragglers.   This year is the second year that the hike organizers have assigned event numbers (which I heard referred to as "banner numbers" - I don't know if that is an official term or not) and I received mine - 132.   I actually knew my number in advance as it was part of my registration acknowledgement e-mail message.

Georgetown to Old Angler's Inn:     Seventy six of us started from Thompson Boat Center.   This is more than a 60% increase over last year - a combined result of more registrants and a "better" weather forecast.   My hiking style is to put out a lot of energy and hike fast but take long rests.   But it does take me a mile or so to warm up so I started out near dead last.   I passed a few hikers after the first mile but the the towpath narrows in Georgetown and I found myself trapped behind the main group.   Shortly out of Georgetown the towpath widens and I started to slip by people.   At this time I got another surprise - some of the hikers knew me from my web page from last year.   The first two of these that I encountered were Rob and Mark.   Rob said that he was inspired to try the hike this year after reading my last year's web page.   Both Rob and Mark finished this year.

Old Angler's Inn to Seneca:     I was feeling slightly tired by the time I reached Old Angler's Inn but that was the case also last year so I didn't worry about it.   As I did last year, I had a cup of orange flavored "Gater Ade".  I followed it immediately with a half liter of water to kill the aftertaste.    One hiker arrived followed by a parade of six or seven young deer!   He said that they had been following him for about a hundred yards and we kidded him about being the "Pied Piper" of deer.   The deer didn't exactly spook at the sight of so many hikers but they did peel off the trail towards the river as they approached the checkpoint.  

Seneca to Edward's Ferry:     Along this section I talked briefly to a young woman who had been noting some of the spring flowers.   We had both noticed flox, garlic mustard, may apples, and red trillium (buds, but not yet open).   I mentioned mertensia but that was not a name familiar to her.   It has several local names and she did recognize "Virginia Bluebell".   A day hiker stopped me to take a couple of pictures.

Edward's Ferry to White's Ferry:     Another hiker came up quickly and kept pace with me.   It turns out that due to a miscommunication between him and his relatives who were to take him to the trailhead he had arrived something like a half an hour late at Georgetown.   But, still, he had caught up with and passed the main group before the halfway point.   

White's Ferry to Monocacy:     I passed Rob again just beyond White's Ferry.   I never got the name of the hiker who had accompanied me from Edward's Ferry to White's Ferry. I think he left White's Ferry ahead of me.   I saw few hikers between White's Ferry and Monocacy.   I was now beginning to get very tired and stopped a couple of times to take short rests using the C+O mile posts as chairs.

Monocacy to Point of Rocks:     Sometime earlier Rob had told me that he had heard barred owls during the early morning hours.   I had not heard them but, now, in the middle of the afternoon I heard two of them calling to (at?) one another near Monocacy aquaduct.   (Actually, contrary to popular view, owls are quite often active during daylight hours.)   Rob showed up about 10 minutes after I did but by that time they had stopped calling.   I heard Rob remark that he thought he heard a field sparrow and he was right.   I had heard it too but had made no conscience note of it until his comment.   I drank way too much lemonade (I think a quart or more) and then proceded.   Mark left Monocacy a couple of minutes before me but I caught up with him before Point of Rocks and we arrived there together.  

Point of Rocks to Brunswick:     I sat way too long at point of rocks. As often happens, I got talking to somebody (one of the volunteers) and lost track of time.   I had been telling Mark that none of my friends would pick me up at Brunswick so I had to decide now whether to quit or not.   "You can't quit now", he exclaimed, "I'm following you.   If you quit I'll have to follow you to the car."   I assured him that I had no real intention of quitting and he must have believed me because he left Point of Rocks ten minutes before me.   Now I was following him!

Brunswick to Harper's Ferry:     My former co-worker Jay was again a volunteer at the checkpoint and we chatted while I had some water and a snack.   I started the last six miles with over three hours of time left so I only needed an average pace of about two miles an hour.   I was very tired but not tired enough that I couldn't do that!   It was now quite dark and I once again walked with my headlamp out.   The trail here runs basically east-west and at this time of the evening and year that meant that I was walking straight towards the "ladle" of the Great Dipper.   There is a lock and lock house at Weverton and, as I did last year, I sat on the lock stonework and rested for a while.   I was hoping to make the remaining distance without another stop but just past the sixty one mile point I sat down at the side of the tow path for a short rest.   A few minutes after proceeding a member of the bike patrol encountered me and asked how I was doing.   Shortly behind her was the trail boss once again and I kidded him about being the bain of my existence.   As I approached the bridge over the Potomac River into Harper's Ferry I turned on my head lamp. I was hoping to avoid the problem that I had last year with the bright light marking the stairs to the bridge over the Potomac River.   The way this year was extra well marked with reflectors and blinking lights.   I avoided last year's problem but it still took me a moment to locate the bottom of the stairs.   There were more volunteers than last year leading the hikers through Harper's Ferry.   I guess I could have just waved them off as I knew the way but it seemed simpler to just let them direct me.   I took a short standing rest about halfway up the hill and, at the turn up to High Acre Hostel, I stopped for a moment to talk to one of the volunteers.   He was going up to get a snack at the hostel and so we walked together up the hill.   At about three quarters of the way a car came up behind us and followed.   (The final approach to High Acre is a narrow one lane road.)   After a few moments I suggested that we let it pass and as we did I recoginzed the license plate.   "Hey", I exclaimed, "That's my ride!"  

Harper's Ferry and home:     I held my walking stick above my head in trumph and recieved my second 100k patch.   Wendy agreed to take a couple of 50k hikers back to Gaithersburg.   (The MWROP has a convenint shuttle from the Gaithersburg Metro station to Edward's Ferry but, of course, there is the problem of getting back to Gaithersburg from Harper's Ferry.)   Food was again available and I filled a plate with the same kind of pasta salad that I had had last year.  I was going to sit on the porch but didn't get very far.   I was greeted at the door by a blast of cold air so I went back inside and settled in a chair.  Once I had eaten, Wendy gathered up our two 50k hitchhikers and we headed home.

Statistical Stuff:

The following table lists my arrival and exit times for each of the checkpoints.  (Old Angler's Inn and Edward's Ferry are not official checkpoints but water is available there.   Edward's Ferry is the starting point for the concurrent 50k hike and is approximately halfway in the 100k.)    I have included last year's "In" times for comparison.   There's not much of interest here.   I was hoping to beat my last year's time and, technically, I did (by a WHOLE MINUTE).   At times I had a seven minute advantage but in the end my mid-point and finishing times were virtually the same as last year.

DESCRIPTION
LOCATION DISTANCE (MILES)
DISTANCE TO NEXT LOCATION
MY 2005 ACTUALS
MY 2006 ACTUALS
IN
OUT
start
Thompson's Boat Center
0.0
13.1
3:00 a.m.
3:00 a.m.
3:00 a.m.
liquids
Old Angler's Inn
13.1
10.5
6:30 a.m.
6:26 a.m.
6:34 a.m.
breakfast
Seneca
23.6
8.0
9:30 a.m.
9:26 a.m.
9:51 a.m.
liquids
Edward's Ferry
31.6
4.7
12:06 p.m.
12:06 p.m.
12:11 p.m.
sandwich
White's Ferry
36.3
6.7
1:40 p.m.
1:31 p.m.
2:06 p.m.
liquids
Monocacy
43.0
6.0
3:55 p.m.
3:52 p.m.
4:19 p.m.
hot food
Point of Rocks
49.0
6.8
6:07 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
6:40 p.m.
snack
Brunswick
55.8
6.3
8:37 p.m.
8:27 p.m.
8:48 p.m.
done/dinner Highacre
62.1
---
10:53 p.m.
10:52 p.m.
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I have updated this table from my original numbers (sometimes just a guess when I didn't remember to check my watch) to the MWROP official numbers.  

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