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Harper’s Ferry was a little disappointing in the sense that it was on the wrong side of the river for those doing the C&O. I didn’t even see it, and Elaine only saw it from the vantage point of the tow path. There is a foot bridge across the river, but we were focused on getting from Brunswick to… wait! Where was that anyway? North of HF was a section that was not very well described. The roads were not labeled consistently, and neither were the access points to the tow path. Elaine told me where her goal was to be picked up, and I half listened. I was just about done congratulating myself on finding the road that goes up the east side of the river when I started to realize that the location of parking areas for the path were not all that clear. I realized that the names of the places on the signs I was finding did not match my vague memory of where Elaine said she wanted to be retrieved. No matter! I’ll find it. It doesn’t matter that there is no cell coverage in this area. Hmm… I’ll sit here and wait for her at one of the first places. That way we’ll connect even if she is going to walk further. No Elaine. It must be the next one up (a couple of miles). I’ll go there and wait some more. Nope. Maybe there was a place that she had identified, but that did not occur in the material I was using. I’ll drive around a bit and see if I can find anywhere else. Hmm… all the way to Antietam and I’m SURE she’s not going to walk that far. Let’s go back. Wow… there they are near the SECOND place I waited for them, standing at the intersection of Limekiln and Mount Lock Canal Rd, or was it Dargan and Harper’s Ferry Rd, looking pretty forlorn. (It was at three of the four roads.) It turns out that the right place was the FIRST place I waited. I guess I just missed them. Elaine waited there and then walked to the second point after I had moved on. She continued walking toward Antietam and decided to come back and start walking on the road, whichever one that may be. They were just deciding which direction to go when I arrived. (Footnote: the Antietam in this narrative IS the town after which the battle field was named. I’m sorry to say that we saw many signs with the name – of the battle field not the town – and were mispronouncing it until we heard some other Yankee say it correctly.)
…Here is as close as either one of us got to Harper’s Ferry.

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