The Trip

Here is the photo of our group just before heading south towards Harper's Ferry.  I know, I look like I'm pooping, but I was really just making sure you could see my mother's face.
Anyway, we never made it to our destination.  For those of you considering starting out at Pen Mar Park and heading south, that stretch is the worst part of the MD Appalachian Trail.  It's rocky and up.  Really, there is no other way to describe it except up and rocky.  We got through it, but not without some injury and pain.  So when we reached the Raven Rock Shelter, we stopped for the day. 6.4 miles from the start.  That night, the Nor'easter blew in and no one really got much sleep.  Branches banged the tin roof, the temperature dropped and the wind blew in under the eaves.  It was a long miserable night.  In the early morning, we decided we needed to call the "extraction team" and call it a day.  We needed to hike a 14 mile day to make it far enough to stay on track to be in Harper's Ferry on time.  Injury prevented some from being able to do that distance in a day.  The wind was also pretty wild.  There was a large tree that had been uprooted in the night and would have landed on a campsite if it hadn't caught in the crook of a nearby tree.  So, between safety and injury, we ended our journey.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't massively disappointed.  You can't plan something for over a year and not be disappointed when something prevents you from fulfilling your journey.  But it's not the end, merely a delay until the weather is better.
Live to hike another day as they say