--> Campsite, 49.7 miles
It's been done. A 50 mile day. I left at midnight and headed down the trail by headlamp. Around 1:30 I got to Maryland. I missed the Mason-Dixon sign, but it was pretty dark so I'm not surprised. Maryland had a few rocky sections, but was generally good walking. At the Ensign Cowall Shelter I missed a turn and when I got back tho the trail I went the wrong way. Easy to do at night. After 0.2 I realized my mistake and turned around. It was light enough to see by the time I got to the Pogo Memorial Campsite. I stopped at Washington Monument State Park for a break and second breakfast. I stopped again at Gathland State Park, which is an interesting place. The war correspondents arch is there. It was then relatively flat, then down to the C&O canal towpath. Unlike the Erie Canal, the C&O is not maintained for boats and it looked pretty disgusting. I crossed the Potomac River and was in Harpers Ferry, WV. I made my way to the ATC headquaters and had my picture taken. I'm SOBO #40 this year. Globe was there, I haven't seen him since Rutland. After hanging out for an hour I went to the store to get a few more supplies then headed out. At the top of Loudoun Heights I crossed into Virginia. I was planning to go to the next shelter, but when I got herer I decided I had had enough. Overall it only took me 19 hours, and my average pace was about 2.6 mph.
I think the hardest part was from ~3-5 am. I was tired and just felt like quitting. The last descent to the towpath was also rough, but by that point my legs were on automatic. I'm also surprised I only saw 1 biker on the towpath. At least the Potomac river was interesting to look at.
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