My regular exposure to Harpers Ferry over the years has primarily been because of my weekend runs along the C&O Canal towpath. It has been mainly about the connection between the town, the Potomac river, and the railroad line that crosses the river and passes through the town. I run past the town on the other side of the river, under the railroad tracks that cross over the Potomac into Harpers Ferry in West Virginia after emerging from the Harpers Ferry tunnel on the Maryland side of the river. Often I even experience the rush of the trains while running in this area – trains that are crossing the river with their horns blaring, or those on the tracks on my side of the river south of Harpers Ferry, and those on the tracks on the far shore of the Potomac north of Harpers Ferry.
There are the pictures taken from the tip of Harpers Ferry where the Potomac and the Shenandoah meet.
Then there are the pictures taken from across the Potomac river, from Maryland Heights.
When we have guests visiting, a view of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac is a must.
Here is picture of the river flowing in the direction of Washington, DC, taken from high up on a hill in the Harpers Ferry cemetery .
This picture was taken in 2005.
It has been a while since I ran on the C&O canal across from Harpers Ferry, and this is primarily because the weekend exercise routine has changed in recent times. But I do miss the experience, and the connection still remains. I still hold a hope that I will be able to return to the activities of my past years.
