The C&O Canal started in the mid-nineteenth century as a towpath along the Potomac River, using a series of 74 locks to shepherd boats over difficult stretches. Now a trail shepherds hikers and bicyclists over the same route, through a National Historical Park that features the locks and other historical structures. Civil War signage at a few spots educates the recreationist along the way.
Frequent campsites with toilets and water made camping as easy as the gentle grade of the trail. The height of spring greeted us along this particular stretch, with frequent photo opportunities for birds, flowers and butterflies. As an added treat we hiked through the longest of all tunnels along the ADT, the 3,118 foot long Paw Paw Tunnel.
My blog posts from ten years ago revealed we took a rest day in the trail town of Hancock, but I have no photos taken of that day. I know we stayed at the United Methodist Church, where I caught up with the Internet and chatted with the staff, but I neither gave a talk nor interviewed anyone. Ky returning to us again after her longest time away was the one thing memorable about Hancock.
After Hancock the traffic along the C&O canal picked up. Most were bicyclists, which made us stand out as targets for conversation. Kathy stopped to give us snacks. Tom & Dave delighted in telling us about their fishing trip. We discussed humanitarian issues with Morey and his dog, though the dog was not interested. We got tips from the two brothers and lawyers, Eric and Jack, about our upcoming meeting in Washington, DC with our Congress representative.
I set up the meeting in Washington after my talk to the Lions Club in Dodge City, Kansas. In response to my information about declining community involvement, some of the members declared: “You need to tell them fellas in Washington.” As that meeting drew near I spent many a mile thinking over what information needed to be conveyed.
A six mile detour took us away from the bike trail and by the house of Sam and Dana Wright. Sam hailed us to chat as we were walking by, subsequently inviting us inside for water, snacks and meeting the family. Dana was a judge who through the court system witnessed the problems of housing and hunger our mission advocated addressing through community involvement. I took mental notes to work this into the conversation with my Congress representative.
Ky picked us up for a speaking engagement at the Christian Community Church of St. Paul’s, seven miles south of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, at the request of Pastor Roland England. Four former denominations merged together to form the UCC: Reformed, Evangelical, Christian and Congregational. Pastor Roland’s church joined the UCC as a grassroots, community church. They purchased a defunct Lutheran Church for one dollar, while start up money from the UCC enabled them to build from there.
Every Sunday morning at 8:30 am Roland, his wife Nancy and parishioner Shawn gather to cook pancakes, bacon, eggs, home fries and scrabble. A handful of parishioners come every Sunday morning at 9:30 to eat and a handful more join in for the service at 10:00.
The church service was the most informal I encountered, with everybody including the pastor dressed in jeans and flannels. I believe technically I gave a lay sermon, but felt more like a talk I would give at a school or Lions Club. As was often the case, questions I received were more about hiking than kindness and community. I was asked the two most common questions, one being about how many shoes were worn out, the other being about bears.
I gave my standard answer about bears, they are nothing to worry about in the wilderness if you know what you are doing. I even had the recent bear encounter in Dolly Sods to use as an example. One parishioner asked if I carried a gun. I reiterated that no, instead I knew what I was doing. He somewhat dismissed my answer and claimed that we ought to be carrying guns to protect us from bears and other dangers, pitting his handful of wilderness miles against my 20,000+ miles.
I agree wholeheartedly with the NRA slogan that “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” Unfortunately, prior to the seventies people cited hunting as their number one reason for owning guns, now they cite protection. This shift occurred even as crime rates went down; occurred because the NRA and their sponsored politicians scared the bejeebers out of the public for the sake of gun sales. Unfortunately, an apprehensive and at times angry person near a trigger is more dangerous than a calm person. Our journey across the country, from Green Mountain Falls, CO to Harpers Ferry, WV, provided testimony as to the growing apprehensions of gun owners, fueled by NRA rhetoric prioritizing gun corporations over members … or lives.
Harpers Ferry lies at the crossroads of the ADT and Appalachian Trail, with the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy located there. As a former AT thru-hiker I stopped in at headquarters to see how they were getting along without the famous Jean Cashen, former ATC secretary and friend to hundreds of AT hikers. The new folks, Dave and Wendell, greeted me with the same enthusiasm. Prior to this year they kept a photo album of long distance hikers that contained only AT hikers. This year we became the second pair of ADT hikers added to that photo album, “Boston” and “Cubby” having been the first.
While at ATC Headquarters we met Cassie Meador and Matt Mahaney, who were hiking 500 miles along the AT and collecting 500 stories about community, energy and dance. Cassie’s background in dance led to a friendship with Heather Doyle, also a dancer who happens to be the daughter of Warren Doyle, arguably the most recognized name among AT hikers and the person who organized the Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 1980 that brought Cindy and me together. With similar missions in mind, Cassie and I interviewed each other about our different community experiences.
We continued to encounter steady traffic on the C&O Canal after Harpers Ferry. We met thru-hiker Renaud, heading in our direction where the American Discovery and Appalachian Trails overlapped, who told us about the kindness he experienced as a cyclist from Belgium to Jerusalem. Then we met cyclist Tom, who told us about the kindness received in every book about thru-hikers he read. While we chatted with Tom, Phil stopped by while on bike patrol, relating to us that he was involved in the wounded warrior project and alleviating southern poverty.
We met Phil Wilkes at a campground the same day we visited ATC Headquarters. We mentioned to Dave and Wendell that we were the first ADT thru-hikers to continuously hike from west to east. Dave added: “that people know about.” I protested that, unlike the AT, very few people hiked the ADT and easily fell in the radar of folks like Sharon Weekly, Marcia Powers and Dick Bratton. Then meeting Phil caused me to rethink that boast.
Phil had recently lost his job and was down to no resources and no prospects, prompting him to hike the ADT until he either figured out what to do with his life or there was no more trail to hike. He was only vaguely aware of the ADT resources out there and I knew for a fact that, as of the day we met, none of the usual ADT “scouts” knew about him. He could have, in theory, hiked the entire ADT without anyone knowing … or he could have figured out what to do with his life, which is often a result of long distance hiking.
By the way, the answer to the shoe question was 8 pairs for me, only 3 pairs for Cindy. I pronate, while Cindy has one of the most beautiful, efficient strides I have ever seen.
