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The silo and barn
The silo is where we stayed. The barn has been converted into a very luxurious home for the owners. In mid-May of 2019, Anne and I traveled to Pennsylvania by way of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland in order to complete a goal of hiking on the Appalachian Trail in all 14 states that it travels through. While we had already hiked the AT in VA, we needed a stopover spot to break up the trip, so we added a couple of nights there to allow us to stay in a pretty unique spot in the VA mountains.. As a result we were able to hike on the AT in all 4 states--Grayson-Highlands state park in VA, Harper's Ferry in WV, the C&O canal towpath in MD, and the Michaux State Forest in PA. Just to keep things simple, I’ll put all the pictures from the trip on this single page.
Anne found the perfect place for the first two nights of our trip. The Dream Rock Silo B&B just outside Independence, VA, was unique with a host and hostess who offered hospitality in the extreme. Part of an old barn that has been rebuilt by the owners into a luxurious home for them, the old silo has been converted into an equally luxurious B&B lodging accommodation
Silo
The silo from outside. Living area is up the stairs on the first level. Bedroom with a custom round king size bed is on the top floor with all the windows. for visitors. Independence is not far from Grayson-Highlands state park where we were able to access the AT and hike to the Mt. Rogers summit, the highest point in Virginia. A great hike with fantastic views from the trail if not from the wooded summit. Saw lots of “wild” but very tame ponies along the trail and since we did that hike on a Saturday, we also saw lots of people.
On Sunday, we drove on the tiny community of Knoxville, MD, just over the Potomac River from Harper’s Ferry, WV. We checked into our motel there, then drove back to Harper’s Ferry where we were able to catch the AT visitor center open just before it closed. The volunteer there gave us a bit of advice on where the AT passed through West Virginia as well as Maryland. Only about 20 or so miles of the AT are in WV, and Harper’s Ferry, where the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is located, has about 5 of those miles.
Monday we drove to the Weverton Cliffs parking lot near our motel where we accessed the AT just above the Potomac River. We hiked
silo
The interior of the silo. This is the lower level with TV & sitting area. Bath is through the doorway. down the hill and then along the C&O canal towpath which the AT follows for about 3 miles before crossing the river into Harper’s Ferry. We crossed the pedestrian bridge, which is shared by a railroad, into Harper’s Ferry where we followed the AT through the downtown area and up the Appalachian Trail staircase to St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. Backtracking, we walked around the historical downtown a bit before heading back across the river to our car. All in all probably did a bit over a half mile of the AT in West Virginia and 3 miles in Maryland, a total of abut 7+ miles, round trip.
Tuesday we drove about an hour north to the town of Waynesboro, PA, and then about 10 miles further to the Old Forge Picnic Area in Pennsylvania’s Michaux State Forest where we accessed the AT for our hike in PA. We hiked about a 6 mile loop up along the Hermitage Trail to the Chimney Rocks overlook where we had lunch before descending along the Appalachian Trail back to the trailhead. Drove back to our motel just outside Waynesboro.
Wednesday morning we got up, ate breakfast,
Silo, Barn, & grounds
The grounds around the silo are beautiful. then walked along a nice walking track from the motel for about 4 miles in the Pennsylvania countryside to get our daily miles in. After checking out, we drove to near Culpeper, VA, to visit with Anne’s brother and sister and their cat menagerie. Had a short visit with Jane and Bob after which we all went to dinner at a very nice restaurant in Culpeper called It's About Thyme. After dinner, we said good-bye to Jane and Bob and drove to our motel for the evening. We had planned to spend one more night on the road before going home just to keep from spending so much time in the car, but on Thursday when we got up we decided we really wanted to get on home. So we canceled the motel reservation for that night and drove a bit over 8 hours straight on back home where our cats were waiting for us.
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