June 18th - Washington, DC, to Harper's Ferry, WV

We stopped on the way for a short hike along the Potomac River at Great Falls. These wide, beautiful falls drop 75 feet over about an eighth of a mile. We were lucky to catch a lone kayaker descend the falls over drops as high as 15-20 feet at a time. Angie got great video. On the last drop he got slammed sideways against a wall and had to roll the kayak.

There were also some rock climbers playing on the steep walls of the canyon. Turkey buzzards soared overhead. The two-mile hike was dog friendly. They scrambled over rocks at the overlooks and were rewarded with a swim in a back eddy at the bottom. We walked back along an old carriage road that looked like the ambush scene from the Mel Gibson movie "Patriot".

We camped at a large KOA campground above the town of Harper's Ferry. We coasted two miles down the hill to town and explored the old streets and buildings. During his surveying years, George Washington discovered this spot at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and decided that it was perfect for industrial water power. After the Revolutionary War, he commissioned the armory to be built there.

It was this armory that was the target of John Brown's attack in 1859.  He and his sons had fought in Bleeding Kansas, where he had liberated some slaves and helped them get to Canada. He felt that he was an instrument of God in the crusade to end slavery and the time for attempts to achieve this peacefully were over. His capture and execution helped galvanize the North in opposition to slavery and bring the country one step closer to the Civil War.

The timing of our visit, just after Juneteenth, added weight to our reflections. Frederick Douglass believed that Brown's "zeal in the cause of my race was far greater than mine – it was as the burning sun to my taper light – mine was bounded by time, his stretched away to the boundless shores of eternity. I could live for the slave, but he could die for him." Harriet Tubman—also knew and respected Brown. Tubman thought Brown was "the greatest white man who ever lived,". And she said later that he did more for American blacks than Lincoln did.
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Being strategically located along the railroads and the C&O Canal, there was a lot of action here during the Civil War. The city changed hands 8 times. It was here that Lee's Army crossed the Potomac on the way to Gettysburg. A Union detachment spotted them and the report led to Meade's pursuit with the Army of the Potomac.