My Trails

6/17/12 – 910 miles
Today I hit the 900 mile mark. It sometimes doesn’t seem real to me that I’ve walled almost 1000 miles. In some ways it feels like I’ve been out here a long time, and then again, it seem like I’ve just started.

The AT crosses Skyline Drive many times as it weaves it’s way through the park. Every time you cross a road there are signs saying you are entering the backcountry along with a list of regulations of what’s allow and prohibited. It seems kind of funny to call it backcountry when the highway is 50 yards away for much of the time.

Everyone has seen bears but me. Blue Sky has seen 5. The Shenandoah park has a lot of bears and they are not to afraid of people. I would like to see one but I don’t want him to be to interested in me.

6/16/12 – 889 miles
Day two in SNP brought more beautiful weather and smooth trail. It’s so nice to have rock-free paths and gentle climbs. I walked most of the day with Lucky10 – we seem to have a similar pace – and before long it turned into a twenty mile day. The thing about Shenandoah is that the shelters (called huts here) are either 10 or 20 miles apart, and because so much of the park is high on the ridge, camp spots and water are hard to find.

Shenandoah NP is also famous with thruhikers because of camp stores and waysides. Camp stores have things like ice cream and snacks and the waysides make cheeseburgers and blackberry milkshakes. The thruhiker doesn’t need to carry a lot of food just a lot of money.

At Loft Mountain campground we met up with Robo and Tink, Comma-Kaze, Blue Sky and Funnybone, and after eating many snacks at the store, decided to all go down to the wayside for cheeseburgers and shakes. We had quite a group that marched down the trail and invaded the little restaurant.

6/15/12 – 868 miles
I called a shuttle about 9:00 this morning and was picked up by a real nice lady and taken to the boundary of Shenandoah National Park. I’m the first to leave town. Comma-Kaze and Blue Sky were still doing errands – going to the post office and library – and would hike out later.

I forced myself to hike slowly at first, but eventually I got onto my natural rhythms of walking and made good time to the first shelter. I ate lunch with Kentucky, Yeti, and Pesky, all of whom were planning on staying at the shelter. It was only 2:00 pm when I finished eating, way to early.to call it a day, so I pushed on for a few more miles.

Not long after I left the shelter, I met with Funnybone and Lucky10 and hiked with them for the rest of the day. We are now camped near Turk Gap for the night. They told me they already saw a bear that didn’t seem the least bit scared of them. There are a lot of bears in the Shenandoahs, I hope we don’t see one in our camp tonight.

6/14/12 – Waynesboro
Bill Bryson was right, don’t try to go anywhere in Waynesboro without the aid of metal.

With plenty of time, nothing to do, and good weather, I decided to walk a couple of miles to a cinema outside of town and see the new movie Prometheus. I only got about a mile out when I decided the risk wasn’t worth the effort. They have no sidewalks here and there is no place besides in the road to walk. A couple of time I almost dove into the weeds beside the road to dodge some monster truck. I guess I will have to catch it on DVD.

To Waynesboro’s credit, however, there are many shuttle angels here and they will provide you transportation for free. I wonder if Bryson’s book had anything to do with that.

Tonight, Comma-Kaze, Blue Sky, Kleenex, Allison, and I are all meeting at the Chinese buffet for dinner. Blue Sky can really put food away and it will be interesting to see how much he will eat. I don’t like to eat until I’m in pain so I usually stop early.

Tomorrow I will get back on the trail. Karen and I are looking to hike together near Harpers Ferry, sometime around the end of the month. It gives me plenty of time to get through the Shenandoah NP and the rest of Virginia. I’m pretty sure this will be the last time I will see my constant friends. While I slow down, Comma-Kaze and Blue Sky will move ahead, and Kleenex is spending several days here with her sister. I’ve told them all about my daughter and how I wished for them to meet her. Trail magic please

6/13/12 – 856 miles
Everyone at the shelter was up early. I packed my tent in the predawn darkness and made my way to the shelter to find Sicilian Gypsy and Kleenex both up and packing their things. It was 21 miles into Waynesboro and we knew it would be a long day.

I hiked out of camp first and about an hour later Kleenex caught me by the trash barrel on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We always dump our trash and lighten our load by an ounce or two every chance we get.

The trail passed across several cliff overlooks, many that were shrouded with fog and mist from the morning rain, but gradually the sky cleared and we could see Waynesboro many miles in the distance.

Along about 10:00 am we met another thruhiker. It was Honest Abe, whom I hadn’t seen since… well, in a long time. Then there were three of us all being pulled toward the comfort of civilization. We made excellent time and enjoyed each others company as the miles slid by effortlessly.

It was only 4:00 pm when we arrived at Rockfish Gap, the trail exit to Waynesboro. We were almost an hour earlier than Kleenex had arrainged for her sister to meet us. Honest Abe got a ride into town with some friends and Kleenex and I sat down in the shade of an abandoned building, eating kettlecorn Kleenex bought from a nearby vender. It was a nice relaxing wait and in no time a car pulled up. It was great to meet Allison, Kleenex’s sister, and I can’t thank her enough for the ride.