06-08-13 Together with Mom and Dad

Started early on the trail and saw three deer. Today we walked along the ridge line between Virginia and West Virginia and made excellent time.

We reached the sign for the final two miles into Harper's Ferry at 11 a.m. Unfortunately, I was also expecting a "Welcome to West Virginia" or some sort of sign, but none was present. Regardless, I was still excited.

We continued our decent, now fully in West Virginia, and shortly after saw some familiar faces in the woods-- my parents! Definitely NOT dressing the part nor smelling the part, they had hiked in to meet us. After a heartfelt hug, we turned around and hiked the final length into town.

We crossed over the Shenandoah River and into the outskirts of town. A small side trail lead us to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy where we signed in and got our hiker numbers.

We walked back to the Appalachian Trail and hiked to old town Harper's Ferry for a late lunch. With full bellies, we made our way to the Harper's Ferry KOA to reunite with our long-lost cat and settle in for the night. Our hiking buddy, Shaman joined us later in the evening.