Appalachian Trail Section hiking: Ensign Cowell Shelter

Day 3

Thursday March 31

Ensign Cowell Shelter to Highway 16 in Waynesboro

12.4 miles

We were up at 6:15 and leaving the Shelter by 7:45. The path got somewhat more rocky after leaving the shelter. We crossed a stream with a 2-board bridge then we rock-hopped across another stream where Wait-up got his boots wet.

There was about a mile of steep switch-back climb up to Raven Rock Shelter. Then it was a slow rocky descent from High Rocks Trail down to Pen Mar Park. It was about two miles of rocks with no ground to step on at all. Foot pain!

Then we reached the Mason-Dixon line! This site, marked by a stone monument and a crudely constructed sign, signifies the historical survey line that separates Maryland from Pennsylvania, surveyed by Mason and Dixon 1763-67.

Somewhere along here, it dawned on one of us that we had parked our car at a spot about 5 miles from where we had originally planned and that was going to add that distance to our hike today. We had our heart set on only 12.4, not 17 miles! The shuttle drivers we knew lived too far away to have them come to us for only a 5-mile drive, so we did some brainstorming. I am a member of a women’s Facebook hiking group so I decided to put up a post asking if anyone lived in the area who could give us a ride to our car from Highway 16. Luckily and surprisingly, someone does and she agreed to meet us! At 4 o'clock we made it to Highway 16 and had a short wait before Nancy and her husband arrived. She was a trail angel.

After three days and two nights in the woods, we were ready for a hotel bed and a shower and, of course, a good meal. We drove to Greencastle Comfort Inn where we spent the night.

Ensign Cowell Shelter

Day 2
Wednesday, March 30
Rocky Run Shelter to Ensign Cowell Shelter
15.7 miles

It was a cold night last night. We had our 40 degree sleeping bags, fleece liners and bivy sacks. Wait-up wore his thermals and stayed warm; I didn't wear my thermals and I stayed cold. Rocky Run Shelter, built in 2008, is a very pretty shelter with a pine wood floor and a sleeping loft so it will sleep up to 16. We enjoyed having it to ourselves.

Today’s trail showed us that Maryland has some rocks too (as well as Pennsylvania). Several sections of the trail were very rocky, making the walking hard especially by the end of the day when my feet are bothering me and blisters are appearing.

We saw lots of Civil War history today, including the Reno Monument, the spot where Union Major General Jesse Lee Reno and Confederate General Samuel Garland, Jr., were wounded mortally in the Battle of South Mountain, antecedent to Antietam, and the Stonewall Regiments Monument. We passed through the Washington Monument State Park and came to the first monument to George Washington, a bottle-shaped structure built in 1827. The observation deck on top of the monument reportedly provides magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter due to construction of some sort going on.

A pretty covered footbridge crosses I-70.

At 5 o'clock p.m. we reached Ensign Cowell Shelter. Phillip beat us there and already had his hammock hung, along with lots of other people. The shelter appeared to be quite full, so we sought out a tent pad on the hill in front of the shelter. Wait-up backtracked .2 miles to the water spring box, which we had bypassed on the way in. The water in the spring box was not flowing so he went back to the road to get water from the running spring.