Day 12 - Saturday, February 27, 2021

The morning temperature was 35° and it was overcast. It rained throughout the night. The forecast is 45% chance of showers in am; freezing rain in higher elevations but it is expected to clear in the afternoon and get into the high 50’s.

Today we are hiking from Route 340, bridge over Shenandoah River in Harpers Ferry, WV (1025.1 NoBo) to the Blackburn AT Center, VA  (1013.5 NoBo) for a total of 11.6 miles. 

We will complete this segment of the trail in West Virginia and enter Virginia at 1023.6 NoBo. The AT is in West Virginia for only 4.0 miles but crosses  the VA-WV state border twice.  

We began hiking at 9:51 am.  We had a late start due to parking. We had to hike a mile from below the Blackburn AT Center as there was 6”-8” of snow and we couldn’t access the upper parking lot. The AT Handbook neglected to mention that access is seasonal. 


 

I thought bears were in hibernation this time of the year? Just to give you an idea how big the bear is, the paw print was over 8” wide  This a big bear!


Stopped for lunch at 1:15; we’ve hiked a little more than halfway -we’re doing good!



Look who showed up... and I’m practicing Leave No Trace (LNT) as it will be gone by tomorrow with the higher temperatures and expected rain.


There were not any views today due to the fog...


Virginia-West Virginia state border.


It’s amazing how a little difference in elevation can effect snow cover.



And then I’m not sure what’s worse, the mud or the snow.

Route 340/AT intersection over the Shenandoah River.

We finished hiking at 4:25 pm. Skies were partly sunny and the temperature was 54°. Can’t believe it... the weather man was actually right today! 

Till next time.... Happy Hiking 🥾 

😋

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