The Great Wander of 2026
Day 13: June 5th, 2026
States Hiked: Virginia (14 total so far)
Trails Hiked: Third Winchester Battlefield Red Bud Run Trail, Confederate Flank Trail
Distance Hiked: 4.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 233 ft. elev. gain
Cumulative Wander: 90.9 miles
Duration: 1h 31m
The difficulties of travel nearly led me to taking a zero day for this one. Getting from Mystic to Martinsburg, West Virginia (the location of the only hotel within a reasonable distance of Laurel, Maryland in my network with even a remotely reasonable price) was such an epic disaster of traffic stoppage that I lost count after nine different times (they write as the principal and mother from Ferris Bueller's Day Off repeat "nine times" with varying levels of snark.)
Weirdly enough, once I actually ate for the first time that day, I had this odd sensation called "energy to human again," and I noticed just how close I was to multiple Civil War battlefields, including Winchester and Antietam. I knew what I'd be doing for two of my state counts!
Antietam had an admission fee to go along with its surprisingly extended network of hiking trails, and with the hour already entering dusk proximity, I opted to pop down to the Third Winchester Battlefield, as it was the closest.
Most people who look at me or know me longer than eight seconds are surprised to hear about my interest in the Civil War. It doesn't really make sense to me either, but growing up near Gettysburg gave me an appreciation for studying the time period specifically, but I hadn't gotten much of a chance to see other preserved battlefields for varying reasons. Gettysburg also casts a long shadow in terms of grandeur and commitment to the aforementioned preservation, so I was curious to see what a lesser-known location would be like.
Third Winchester Battlefield Park felt a lot more rustic and simple than Gettysburg, but that's to be expected on some level. But that's not inherently a bad thing, and in this case, it was combined with a gorgeous sunset over the hills which minimized the godsawful intrusion of ugly industrial buildings along the horizon.
Although upon first entrance I got a staredown from a couple that implied I'd offended their sensibilities by existing in the same place as they did without asking them first, I slowly settled into a stroll throughout fenceposts and cannons with the unique addition of hiking late in the day as opposed to my norm of the "early to start, early to end" method of avoiding as many trail tourists as possible.
Once I was alone, following a path with multiple complete ovals that AllTrails somehow managed to make into a single trail (was I supposed to figure-8 it?), I was joined by hundreds of lightning bugs dotting the landscape with yellow beacons I hadn't seen in quite a long time. I forgot how common they were back east, and maybe that Owl City was onto something back in the day.
Thank the gods for headlamps, because I definitely didn't make it back to the trailhead in time, and preserved battlefields are notorious for their lack of artificial light. It almost made the idea of returning to West Virginia slightly less intolerable.
Emphasis: Almost.
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