Here is the journal of Jim's next four days:
Thurs., Mar. 17
- HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Jim's voice:
After breakfast we bade goodbye to our hosts, Gene, Elizabeth &
Merlin, who have treated us so well these last two days. My hike today
took me along the James Monroe Highway directly into the historic town
of Leesburg. Within a couple of miles I passed the entrance to
Oatlands, an 1803 plantation that for 50 years now has been a National
Trust for Historic Preservation property. We had heard about Oatlands
from Gene & Elizabeth who are active on its board and she was
interim executive director for six months. By noon I was passing
through the old section of Leesburg and shortly thereafter Jane and I
met up for lunch. We had a relaxing lunch before returning to the road.
There, near the point of departure was a gigantic Catholic church, St.
John the Apostle (dedicated in August, 2012). We decided that we
wanted to see the inside, hoping it was unlocked - and it was! We
admired the interior of this beautiful edifice (see picture), said a few
prayers and departed.
I
had now just three miles to walk to finish the day's hike, the
destination being the White's Ferry terminal. Tomorrow we will take the
ferry across the Potomac River to Maryland. My "Uber Jane" was waiting
for me at the ferry. We then drove to our next hosts, Beth & Chuck
- she is the daughter of a NJ friend. We were entertained by their
five year old twins, Benjamin and Allyson and their dog, Molson, another
lovable dog.
Miles Today - 13.5..... Total Cumulative Miles - 298.5
Fri., Mar. 18 - Jane's voice:
We drove to the ferry and boarded fairly quickly. This ferry is the
oldest privately operated ferry in the country dating back several
hundreds of years. It crosses the Potomac River on a single cable
and the ride takes all of about 5 minutes and costs $5. Today's route
was sufficiently complicated that Jim wanted to drive the route before
walking it. It turned out to be a series of hilly country roads with
little traffic - just what he wanted - no trucks spewing fumes, no noisy
vehicles passing too close for comfort. We bought him a Subway tuna
sandwich in a nearby town and returned to the ferry parking lot. Jim
insisted on walking from the car down to the river to make sure that his
hike started in the right spot - NO GAPS PERMITTED! Jim enjoyed a
cool and very breezy sunny day walking up and down
the hills of this part of Maryland. At 1pm he came upon a county park
and sat at a picnic table enjoying his sandwich and banana lunch. That
took 23 minutes and that would be his only rest stop for the day. A
little over 5 hours after starting today Jim walked into the town of
Clarksburg. I tooted the horn as I passed him and found the left turn
that he had earlier told me would be there, another successful pickup.
At
this point Jim is almost exactly on schedule but is concerned about the
weather forecast for the next two days - cold rain for tomorrow and
snow or freezing rain on Sunday. This will definitely put a crimp in
his hike schedule.
Meanwhile,
my day was not quite as good as Jim's since I damaged my car entering a
parking garage in Frederick, MD. It was a tight turn and there was
another car coming toward me and I guess I cut it too sharply to avoid
the other car as I scraped a barrier of some kind - UGH! Jim is so
understanding as he reassures me that it is only a car - "this is why we
don't buy expensive cars, my dear". 
Miles Today - 17..... Total Cumulative Miles - 315.5
Sat., Mar. 19
- Jim's voice:
HELLO TO THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING! And what a day it was! We got up to
a forecast of rain and possibly snow beginning late morning. So Jane
and I hustled back to yesterday's finish point right after breakfast.
There were two alternative routes for today's hike - one involving far
more turns onto small country roads than the other. So we drove both
and I decided to stay on the larger roads longer. Back at the starting
point at 9:30 I donned all my best rain gear. At this point the
temperature was 39⁰ and
the rain was light and intermittent. For the next two and a half hours
I stayed dry and was so warm that I had to unzip my rain jacket, fleece
jacket and shirt to stay cool enough. Today's roadside treasures were
golf balls even though I passed no golf courses along the way! I picked
up two and left four for others. At six miles I was in the town of
Damascus and made quick use of a Burger King restroom. At noon I
stopped for the only lunch I would have today - a banana and a half
dozen M&M's. By now it was getting quite chilly - obviously the
temperature was dropping and I was all zipped up again. Just a few
minutes after "lunch" it started to rain - first light then more
seriously. But my heavy duty rain gear held up well - thanks to Princeton classmate Bruce
DeBolt, who delivered them to me when I needed them badly in a cold
storm in Washington state in 2013. A few miles later the rain had
turned to a wintry mix including wet snow. A couple of miles later it
was all snow. Now I was enjoying myself as if back in NH. I was warm
and dry except for my sandal-clad feet which were soaked and cold. Obviously the
temperature had dropped and I would learn later that it was down to 32⁰. On
the route this afternoon I was walking past many attractive farms of
various types. A number of them indicated that this farm had been
preserved forever as farmland, thanks to a conservation easement with
the local county. How happy I am that this beautiful area will not be
turned into new housing developments like many I have passed in recent
days. By telephone contact I knew that Jane would be waiting
for me at my finish point at the end of 16 miles. By the time I got
there my hands were cold as well as my feet, but I was happy to have
finished a challenging day's hike. Jane's reaction upon picking me up
was "and this is fun???" After showering and relaxing we went to Palm
Sunday Mass at the beautiful St. John the Evangelist church in downtown
Frederick, MD.
Miles Today - 16..... Total Cumulative Miles - 331.5
Sun., Mar. 20 - Jane's voice:
We woke up to an extremely cold morning and neither Jim nor I was
anxious to leave the warm hotel. Jim rationalized that today's 16 mile
target would still give him a mid afternoon finish even if we started
late. So we dawdled over breakfast and packing up but were finally on
the road by 9:30. The trip back to yesterday's finish was quite pretty
with yesterday's dusting of snow making the fields look like they were
pancakes sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Arriving at today's
starting point Jim loaded on all of his cold weather clothing including
an extra pair of socks - five layers on his torso! As is our custom I
kissed him goodbye, told him to be safe and may God be with you. Jim
was soon walking through many miles of farmland like yesterday - this is
truly beautiful country here with rolling hills that are pretty to look
at but a bit challenging to hike. Today's elevation varied over 200
feet from high to low according to Jim's altimeter watch. But he
figures he walked up and down several thousand feet over the course of
the day. This is putting extra pressure on Jim's tired body as we near
the completion of this hike. He seems to be holding up fine. Around
12:15 I called Jim from the quaint town of Sykesville where we will be
spending the night at a lovely B&B. Coincidentally Jim was probably
less than a mile away walking through this town. The main street is
populated with several lovely shops and restaurants and an old railroad
station and many beautifully restored Victorian homes. The bookstore
that I went into after lunch was actually serving complimentary mimosas -
how civilized! Jim spent much of the afternoon walking through
residential neighborhoods as he approached the major road that would be
the last four miles of today's walk. Although traffic was heavy on this
road he enjoyed a very wide shoulder all the way to the end. In this
stretch he walked across two bridges over a reservoir - each of them at
least a quarter mile long. Jim finds it interesting that the counties
both here in Maryland and in Virginia have big signs letting you know
when you are entering or leaving them. Near the end of the day Jim
entered Baltimore County and a sign indicated he was just 12 miles away
from the city of Baltimore. Tomorrow the hike will take us well north
of Baltimore into the Hunt Valley section of Maryland.
Miles Today - 16..... Total Cumulative Miles - 347.5
Pictures:
1 - St. John the Apostle Church altar - Leesburg, VA
2 - Benjamin and Allyson
3 - White's Ferry Sign
4 - Cars on the Ferry to Maryland
5 - Jim at Day's End on March 18
6 - Waiting for Jim on Stormy Day
7 - Jim's Triumphant Arrival
8 - Jim's Drive Back to Hotel
9 - Daffodils in the Snow
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