Sleeping in the Bear's Den

I am currently at the Harper's Ferry Hostel. It is not actually in Harper's Ferry, but 2 miles north on the trail in Maryland. I got off the AT at the side trail to the ATC headquarters 1,009 miles from Springer Mtn. But then I skipped about a quarter mile and hiked out to the hostel. So the question on my mind is whether we can get a ride back into town and run our errands and hike our missing 1/4 mile and then get a ride back out here. That would avoid most of the backtracking. We will see. I do not feel like doing the section between town and the hostel three times.
Back in Front Royal we took a zero to recover from the Wendy's and went out to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It was entertaing, but I was sitting with Daddy-O and we both had trouble sitting in one place for over two hours. The next morning we (Shadow, Peacock and Daddy-O and myself) had breakfast with my parents. They were in DC for the weekend visiting my mom's aunt and uncle and were able to come and see me. We feasted on pancakes and french toast and then went back on the trail. We had some extra beer which we took out to the trailhead to leave as trail magic. While my parents and I were waiting for everyone else to get to the trailhead, two hikers came out. My parents were able to experience the absolute joy on a thru hiker's face when they recieve beer trail magic.
We were joined on this section of trail by Bigfoot. Bigfoot is our personal trail angel who lent us his Suburban for Trail Days. We took 3 nice chill days, 9, 13 and 10 miles to give Bigfoot a chance to get his trail legs and to rest Shadow's ankle. This meant late starts, ~8am, and long lunch time naps. Now that it is getting hot out it is very nice to take a long break in the middle of the day when it get hot. We are still waiting for the warm days to coincide with the nice swimming holes.
Those three days put us at the Bear's Den Hostel. Bear's Den is actually a converted castle. For $25 you get a bed, a shower with towel, laundry, a pizza, a soda and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I had been craving Mint Oreo for about 200 miles and they had it. We got there early, played frisbee, relaxed, ate and then watched Carz. We enjoyed the hospitality of Redwing, Hopeful and Hikelet, and had a salad fresh from the garden.
At Bear's Den we were also joined by Jen, Daddy-O's niece (or Peacock's cousin). She examined Shadow's cankle, pronounced it a high ankle strain, and wrapped it for him. Since it would need 5-6 weeks to heal on the trail or one full week of rest, we went on the next day. It was 20 miles to Harper's Ferry and we pushed on through the heat and made it. So Jen's one and only day on the trail was a twenty miler. Her hiking average of 20 puts my 12.6 to shame. Although mine does include zeros. I am down to a 14 average on my hiking days. I was at 15 when I hit Damascus.
A while back I had an idea. It was one of those ideas that usually occurs while drinking or after hiking for long distances. It was one of those ideas that you kind of regret afterwards, but it will not leave you alone. It was one of thise ideas that once voiced will not go away and that you have to follow through on. It was an idea that ended up with me hiking a $2.72 toilet plunger 10 miles into the woods to place inside the privy. So from now on if anyone needs a toilet plunger in the Manassas Gap shelter privy it is available for their use.
We are now 40 miles from Pennsylvania and the Mason-Dixon line. This is where the Appalatchin trail becomes the Appalaishun trail. So now we say goodbye to sweet tea and hello to vegetarian options.