Hi My AT Friends,

This is not the AT. I am getting on a bus to get to the AT. The AT for this hike starts in Harpers Ferry National Park. Harpers Ferry is a very old town that was destroyed by floods.

I think each AT hike is a new adventure. Would you think that the AT goes though a National Park? 

I'm getting very excited about this hike. The bus driver played a recording about the National Park on our way down to Lower Town Harpers Ferry.

We got off the bus in Lower Town and then the AT crosses a river. We crossed the Potomac River on a train bridge. I am right next to where the train crosses the bridge too. 

This is another very different AT hike. I never thought that the AT would go where a train goes. We could look down, down, down at the river. It was a little scary. I felt safe with Mommy and Daddy. There were fences on the sides of the AT too.

We got to the other side of the train bridge. The train goes through a tunnel. We went down and down on metal stairs.

Do you see the metal fence that is next to the AT? It is on the right side of the picture. That is where the stairs went down.

Here we are. The stairs took us to this path. The path goes next to a canal and a river. The AT here is very flat and does not have large rocks. People ride their bikes on this path too. They are allowed to ride bikes here because it is the AT and it is the C & O Canal National Historical Park.

Here is the Potomac river that is next to the AT. We could see it when we hiked.

I could hear a lot of noise. Where was it coming from?

"Look up, up", Mommy said. The traffic is above us.

Wow, that is really high above us. The highway is going over the AT!

Do you see the AT? It is on the right. The canal is next to the AT. I am between the AT and the canal.

The canal was made by people before there were trucks. People dug the canal to move barges. Barges are flat boats. The barges carried all kinds of things just like trucks do today. A mule walked the towpath. The mule pulled a big rope attached to the barge.

The towpath was not the AT when there were barges. 

Which do you think is faster? The barge was very good before there were trucks. Trucks are much faster today.

Barges do not carry things for people any more. The canal here is not used. See how the water is green? There is not enough water in this canal for a barge any more.

On the other side of the canal is the train track. The train track is high here. 

Do you see the poison ivy on the trees? Mommy keeps saying, " Three leaves BEWARE!"

There is a lot of poison  all along the AT here. Do you know how find it? Poison Ivy has 3 leaves. Poison ivy can give you a VERY bad rash. It will make your skin VERY itchy. You do not want to have a poison ivy rash. When Mommy was little she had poison ivy rash a lot. She did NOT like it!

The AT crosses the canal and the train tracks. We could not cross the train tracks. Do you see why?

The train was on the tracks. We had to wait for the train to pass. When the train passed we could hike the rest of the AT.

The AT went under the big highway again. The highway was above us. The 3 big round pillars hold the highway.

Do you see the old bridge supports? They are below. They were too low. A flood washed the old bridge away.

A new trail was put in for the AT under the high bridge. The AT is very narrow here. The AT is high above the stream. We were careful here when we hiked. The builders made the new bridge high so it would not flood.

That's it for this trip. 

I'm still looking for you on the AT. Don't forget to send me your AT picture. My email address is stanley @ rohland.org. I just need to know your first name and where you hiked. I will put it on the Kids on the Appalachian Trail page.

I would like to hear about your AT adventures too. Send your story and picture to me and I will put them on my website. Don't forget to take me with you. You can get a picture of me to take along. Just go to http://www.flatstanley.com/template.htm.