Go Visit: Harpers Ferry

 

Harpers Ferry lies at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. The town is in West Virginia and the lower part of the town is within the US Park Service run Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. 

 

You have probably heard of Harpers Ferry when you learned history in school.  It is the site of the abolitionist John Brown's raid on the US arsenal there. Brown attacked and captured several buildings; hoping to secure the weapons depot and arm the slaves, starting a revolt across the South. The raid ultimately failed when the US army sent an expedition commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee (who would later become a general in the Confederate army) stormed the fire house where Brown and his men had taken refuge.

In addition to the downtown area, there are a number of hiking trails and beautiul sights to see.  There are two railroad bridges that cross the Potomac here as well as the piers of a couple of older bridges.  This one was built in 1894 and carries the CSX Shenandoah Subdivision line toward Winchester Virginia. The other bridge is just upstream was built in 1930 and caries the CSX Cumberland Subdivision line to Martinsburg, WV.

The bridge also carries the Appalachian Trail across the Potomac River.  This crossing was closed in late 2019 because of a train derailment, but the damage was fixed and the trail reopened in early July of this year.

A popular hike is to start in downtowm Harpers Ferry, cross the Potomac on the Appalachian Trail, travel north on the C & O canal a short distance, then take the Maryland Heights trail up to an overlook with a stunning view of Harpers Ferry and the rivers.

Here's the view of Harpers Ferry, the two railroad bridges, and the confluence of the Shenendoah River (top) and the Potomac River (bottom).  You can see piers from older bridges crossing the Potomac just to the left of the railroad bridges, and piers from a bridge that crossed the Shenandoah just before the confluence.

The C & O canal also runs along the Maryland side of the Potomac River.  The canal doesn't have water in it but the tow path is well maintained and is a popular place for hiking and biking. Here we are looking down at the bright ribbon of the C & O canal towpath and the Potomac River.  As seen from Maryland Heights, a large rock outcropping that overlooks Harpers Ferry, WV.

 Another hike you can do is to cross the Shenandoah River on the US Route 340 bridge (which is also used by the Appalachian Trail, so there is a separated walkway), follow the trail up the mountain then take a left on the Loudoun Heights overlook trail.  This takes you to an overlook where you can see Harpers Ferry from just below the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.

Go visit Luray Caverns

 If you have never been to Luray Caverns (in Luray Virginia), you should go.  Especially if you have kids (bring them along of course).  Luray Caverns is one of the most impressive underground cave systems in the country, and certainly the best one within a days drive of Maryland. It is less than two hours away from Bethesda so you can easily make it a day trip.

 It isn't the biggest cave system, actually, it is fairly small.  It's claim to fame is the plethora of impressive stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone.  They have guided tours that go through the cave following a paved path that is suitable for both wheel chairs and strollers.  The tour itself takes about an hour, but there are other things to do on the property such as seeing the Luray valley museum or the antique car museum.  The car exhibit is surprisingly good, the pack a large number of examples of early automobiles in the exhibit and it is well worth the time to walk through it.

One of the more unusual formations is called "fried eggs" because it resembles two sunny-side up eggs.  They say that the centers used to be yellow like egg yolks but the color wore off from people rubbing them.

This isn't a place you go back to year after year.  It doesn't change much.  However, going there every 20 years or so is well worth the effort.  If you have already been there, you should consider going to Skyline Caverns too.  I don't think it is quite as awe inspiring, however, it does have some types of rock formations that Luray doesn't have, so if you like Luray, you'll probably like skyline too.  I have some more pictures of Luray Caverns if you want to see them.

Watching the races

Today I went to watch a horse race. No, not the Kentucky Derby, a different horse race that happens to be on the same day and is much closer to were I live.


I went to the Virginia Gold Cup a four mile long steeplechase run on a large grass field with timber jumps the horses go over. It is held the first Saturday of May every year in The Plains, VA. This years winner was Salmo and last year's winner, Bubble Economy came in second. In the photos, Salmo is the one with the green-shirted rider.

It is actually a whole afternoon of races, they hold 6 races, but the gold cup is the main draw.

I have a photo album from the fourth race, the Starter Allowance Hurdle as well as one from the main event, the VA Gold Cup.