WASHINGTON MONUMENT
AT Day 064: Saturday June 10, 2023
Mile 1036.5 + 24.5 miles /39.4 km
Total Distance Hiked: 1061 miles/ 1707 km
Crampton Gap Shelter – Rocky Run Shelter – Fox Gap/Reno Monument Road – Turners Gap – Washington Monument Road – Washington Monument State Park – Washington Monument – Boonsboro Mountain Rd – Interstate 70 – US Route 40 – Pine Knob Shelter – Black Rock Cliffs – Wolfsville Rd – Ensign Cowal Shelter – Foxville Rd – Warner Hollow Rd – Raven Rock Rd – Raven Rock Shelter
A: 4633 ft / 1413 m D:4155 ft /1267 m
A lesson from last night, don’t camp close to a trailhead carpark if you can help it, especially on a Friday night. We should have expected this but were still surprise to hear a group of hikers arrive very late last night and all with outdoor voices in full swing. They were excited to reach the shelter, we could hear them from way back descending towards the campground.
And they proceeded to continue making noise for quite some time while setting up well past hiker midnight. We we were a little bit removed from where they decided to camp but not removed enough from the noise. We felt sorry for Moose a hiker whom we met earlier in town, they were setting up right alongside him. I guess it’s bound to happen on weekends.
I was up early this morning and finished updating the blog as we had great phone service at the shelter. Although we are camped up on a ridge we are still relatively close to town. We could hear a police car siren last night somewhere in the distance.
We broke camp and were on our way by 6:30 this morning, long before anyone stired. The air was cool, the smoke from yesterday had cleared and the sun was shining. We were off to a good start.
Quite a pleasant morning hiking towards the Washington Monument. The forest was dominated by very tall trees but they were somehow sparsely spaced so that allowed the sunlight to penetrate into the forest floor illuminating the ground cover. Everything was shining and wet from last night’s rain. It was really quite beautiful. It was especially nice to see that Mountain Laurel was still in flower here. It feels like it’s been days since we’ve any blooms.
We reached the Washington Monument around 10. An impressive structure originally built and dedicated to Washington by residents of a nearby village Boonesboro and later repaired and altered by the Civilian Conservation Corps. To my mind it resembles a very big beehive. The monument offered fabulous views of the valley below.
From the Monument to Black Rock overlook we passed dozens of day hikers. The trail was nicely groomed and wide. It was a pleasant couple of hours and so nice to share the trail with so many people out enjoying a nice day. The view from Back Rock was quite spectacular and similar to that at the Washington Monument. It was great to watch the big raptors riding the thermals at almost eye level.
After leaving Black Rock we saw fewer day hikers and at one point the nicely groomed trail became a nasty rock strewn minefield which just went on and on. It was so slow going especially as we started the countdown to getting to the shelter. We were running out of water and it was a warm afternoon. Everytime I checked the map the distance to the shelter seem to increase, we were just not getting close quick enough. Hammer was getting frustrated. We were both tired and wanted the day to end. It felt like a time warp, it was a weird afternoon. As we were descending towards Wolfswille Rd we heard a dog like howl behind us. It was loud and was repeated a few times. We agreed it was a human and sure enough about 10 minutes later a strange looking fellow came bouncing down the trail behind us. Smiling and looking a bit manic he ran down the trail in front of us and we could hear the howling until he got to the road and then disappeared. Not sure what that was about.
Quite a few of the creeks we passed had dried up so it was a relief to reach Little Antietam Creek which was flowing. The water was lovely and cool. We drank liters of water each and finally ascended a mile from the Creek to the shelter. It was a tough way to finish the day. The shelter was very busy with quite a few campsites already taken. We found a spot and were horizontal within half an hour. Our feet are feeling smashed.
