Visiting Harpers Ferry
Posted By BrokenClaw on July 1, 1998
On a beautiful fall Tuesday, we jumped in the car and headed to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, the town played a major role in the history of the canal and railroad industries of the 19th century. During the Civil War years, the arsenal and the railroad bridges at Harpers Ferry were extremely important strategic centers. Today the historic town is maintained by the National Park Service. We drove into town and parked the car near the train station.
We strolled up and down the streets, through the shops, browsing among all the crafts, arts, jewelry, and souvenirs. We visited the museum run by the National Park Service and learned all about the John Brown raid on the Harpers Ferry Arsenal in the 1850′s. Then we walked across and back on the Potomac River railroad bridge, where the Appalachian Trail crosses into Maryland. As dusk approached, we headed home.
A year later we ended up in Harpers Ferry again. Although the weather in January had been bitterly cold, on this day the sun was shining, and it promised to be a beautiful day. After being cooped up inside for so many days, we were both anxious to get out and about. When we got to Harpers Ferry, we found out that the Park Service had completely closed the main street to tourist traffic. A new parking area had been constructed some distance away, with shuttle service to the old town. The temperature was around 40, but the sky was clear, and the wind was calm, so we decided to venture further out along the Appalachian Trail. Leaving town, the Trail north crosses the Potomac River on the B&O Railroad bridge and merges with the southern direction of the C&O Canal Trail for a short distance.
Somewhere along the way, Trailwalker lost her ski cap, which she had tucked inside her coat. We stopped to take a few pictures along the sandy, snowy edge of the Potomac. After a couple miles, the Appalachian Trail turns northward off the canal route. We followed the Trail a short distance where it crosses under US Route 340, but the trail was icy, and dusk was soon approaching, so we turned back. We were glad to find Trailwalker’s snowy white cap still lying undisturbed on the trail. We arrived back in Harpers Ferry just as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains.
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