Appalachian Trail Section hiking: Rocky Run Shelter to 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.