Harpers Ferry WV

Leaving the high elevation on the Shenandoah mountains (3500') and entering the Shenandoah valley (300'?) was quite a shock.  When we arrived at Harper's Ferry, at the confluence of the Shenandoah River and the Potomac River the temperature was over 90 degrees.  That left us with a dilemma.  There is essentially no parking in the lower town.  Visitors must park at the Visitor's Center and take a shuttle bus to the lower town.  We have a dog.  No dogs are allowed on the bus.  It is a 2 mile walk to town.  Matilda says "What am I going to do?"  Luckily we found a shady place at the Visitor Center where we could park.  We opened all the vents and windows for maximum ventilation.  It seldom gets hot enough in a shaded ventilated motor home to reach dangerous temperatures.  We left Matilda in the coach and headed for the bus.  Spoiler alert:  Matilda was fine.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is very, ... well... historic. The confluence of the rivers and the railroads made it very important for commerce and military strategy.  There was an arms production plant here and much civil war history was here.

The obligatory Visitor Center

Our first stop was Bolivar Heights a ridge outside town where cannons protected the town.

Dorcas at Bolivar Heights

Cannon at Bolivar Heights

In the lower town there were many period-styled shops that served as mini-museums.

The Quartermaster's office

The General Store

Lock 33 on the C&O Canal

A view from High Street

We stopped into one gift shop on High Street that had some beverages in their cooler, including some beers from a West Virginia craft brewery.  It wasn't a bar; there was no seating, but you could sip some suds while browsing their items.  As you might expect, I had a cool one.

John Brown's Fort

View downstream on the Potomac

The Appalachian Trail passes through HF and also follows the C&O Canal for a while

Crossing the Potomac the easy way

We caught the shuttle back to the coach, were we found Matilda in fine shape, as reported earlier.  We departed Harper's Ferry sometime after 6:00 headed to Frederick MD where we had reservations at the Walmart Supercenter RV Resort.  All is good as we continue our trek northward.