6 hrs, 10 kms
Day Totals: 15 hrs, 24 .5 kms

Actual date: May 20, 2015

Right up the street is Bolivar, Harpers Ferry's sister town... I would've missed it completely if it weren't for my buddy Wikipedia who kindly lists all the boroughs in every county.

A couple decorative metal park benches here--nice for a pose with the guitar. After a very quick tour, we backtrack to the Appalachian trail which crosses the Shenadoah River to the wooded hills on the other side. Looking down to the river we spot a fisherman wading out in the middle of the river.

"That looks refreshing" Tim says.

The weather is a bit cool for swimming--but it's an opportunity we can't pass up: the Shenadoah looks like a river you've got to experience up close and personal... wide, lively, and with all these long, narrow boulder rising up in the middle.

"I'm going in" I tell Tim

"I am too" he responds .

I thought it would be so cold I'd only last a few seconds. But no, the water is just refreshingly cool and the current just right to give you a soothing massage as you lie on your back, propping your feet against the rocks. There are some spots where it's deep enough to swim--barely. I feel like I could just chill here for a long, long time.

Seeing folks pass by on rafts makes me a little jealous.... maybe another time...

Finally we reluctantly get out and continue on our way. It's almost 6 pm and we've still got a lot of miles to cover! We get back on the trail as it zigzags higher and higher up the hillside. I'm getting a bit worried... I calculated our distance to the car using the road, not a trail that after 30 minutes hasn't gotten us any closer to our destination.

Finally we reach the ridge and the trail is very rocky, but at least it goes in a fairly straight line. As day slowly fades, we trudge along in the still of the woods... reaching the car just as night falls... Ending a beautiful day.