This is our final day in WV before we drop Holden back off at his place and we begin our trip home.

We started the morning with a walk up the hill in front of us in the picture above.. it’s part of the Appalachian Trail.  The Trail is some 2200 miles in length.  We walked about 1.2 miles in one direction and then returned home sweaty and tired. 
Walking some 1/1000th of the length gives you a pretty good feel for what the rest of it is like.

We did encounter a few other more hardy hikers along the way… but only every 15 or 20 minutes which gave us plenty of time to let the dog run free.

After that, we drove 15 miles north to visit the Antietam National Battlefield.  This is the site of the single bloodiest day in US history.. over 22000 solders were killed, injured or went missing in 1862.  I’ll spare you the full history lesson.  You can be sure I was texting Arge pictures of our walk just to get him green with envy.

Above is the well known “Bloody Lane”.  Over just a few hours over 5500 soldiers were killed or injured fighting right across from each other over and in this ditch.

Another landmark of the battle – Burnside Bridge.  About 500 Georgia boys held off thousands of Union solders trying to cross the bridge and Antietam creek in this location.

The park is huge – much like Gettysburg, you can drive from location to location and get out at each stop to read the boards and then walk around and get a feel for what occurred.  There are countless other signs and monuments over 3300 acres of property. 

Late in the afternoon, at the hottest part of the day, Holden and I walked back into Harper’s Ferry to get some strawberry lemonades and candy-to-go from a store that specializes in period-correct confectionary delights.
We stayed in the woods as much as possible to avoid the sun.

Final shots below are from a final walk through of the HF village buildings that were open to tourists this afternoon.

General supply store.

Tavern, with layout much like the 1830s house where we are staying.

Belt driven lates to rifle gun barrels and make wood stocks.

B&O railroad which runs through the town.. Apart from HF being a major US armory during the 19th century, it was the railroad link and access to the Chesapeake & Ohio canal that made this such a strategic location worth fighting over by both sides.

Extended Latino family taking in the shallows of the Shenandoah.