Days 38-45

Waynesboro, through the Shenandoahs, to Sky Meadows State Park 

Day 38

Cathrine and I were once again checking out of the motel at 11AM on the dot to savor every minute of the comfy bed. We had finished off a tub of grapefruit slices and I had a half gallon of chocolate milk the night before and were feeling great.

Before hitting the trail, we hit up the post office so I could send some stuff home, every little bit of weight counts so when there is something that I dont absolutely need or use everyday it usually ends up in a box to send home. We ran into Derrick at the post office and spoke with him for a minute. Cathrine and I went and got lunch at the Greenleaf, a pretty fancy retaurant. We must have been craving seafood, she got fish tacos and I got an oyster po'boy. We agree that it was the best meal we've had since the start of the hike.

After lunch we didnt have a ride to take us the 4 miles back to the trailhead so we started walking. Within 5 minutes, a "trail angel" named Miss Lady stopped and picked us up. Trail angels are people who are (usually) retired that spend alot of their time helping out hikers mostly free of charge. We were on the trail by 12:30 to begin out journey through Shenandoah National Park. 

We hiked 8 miles in to the first shelter, got here at about 4pm, our earliest day in a while. We set up outr tent, I made a fire, and we cooked dinner.

Cathrine and I saw about 6 new flowers we hadnt seen yet. We have about 30 flowers now that we are pretty familiar with  and can point out and name.

Also Thomas' friend Aaron drove up to Waynesboro last night. He'll be hiking with Thomas and Bruiser until they get off the trail probably at Harpers Ferry, but maybe sooner. Cathrine and I are counting down the miles until Harpers Ferry so we can chill with Chris and Mallory and hopefully spend a few days there.

Day 39 

We saw out 4th bear today, surprised we havent seen more. It was a mama who was on her hind legs looking over the brush at Cathrine and I. Still no bear pics but I'm working on it.

It was a very flat 13 miles to the first shelter, crossing over Skyline Drive many times today- the trail essentially runs along Skyline Drive through the Shenandoahs. Cathrine and I felt good and it was only 4:30 so we had plenty of daylight so we went another 6 miles to the Loft Mountain Campground where we paid $15 for a campsite, much like the kind of plots of dirt we find in the woods for free. It was a 19.7 mile day, .3 from our first 20 mile day.

We got herer at 7:30 and had plenty of daylight to relax and eat our spaghetti. We're hoping to get some sleep and do another big day tomorrow.

Day 40

We were on the trail by 10 and knocked out 6 miles before lunch. We stopped at a ranger station and refilled on water there. There was no one around so we got to enjoy an uninterrupted lunch, it was nice.

We ended up at Hightop Hut (Huts are what they call shelters here in the Shenandoahs, just a fancy name for the same 'ol 3 sided lean to's) at 4:30 having done 15.3 miles. We debated doing more, but felt that we could get to bed earlier and go for a 20+ mile day tomorrow. 

We will probably stop at the Lewis Mountain Wayside and grab some burgers and probably presupply on food for our's is getting low and we'd rather no waste time in towns. We are determined to get to Harpers Ferry by the 4th of July.

Day 41

We were up and on th trail by 9AM today to take on a 20.8 mile day. On the way out we passed by Derrick fast asleep in the shelter, it felt good to get an early start.

We stopped for first lunch at about 11AM, having done a little over 5 miles. We ate at a pretty picnic spot right off the trail. Back at it by 12 and on our way to resupply on some food and hopefully get another lunch at Lewis Mountain Wayside. We got there at about 2 where we found our friend Sam already set up for the night.

We got some premade sandwhiches out of the fridge at the store and enough ramen for the next few days and set out for another 9 miles before we'd cal it a day.

We got to the Big Meadows Wayside, which basically has everything you could ever need- a gas station, restaurant, campstore, and souvenir shop- we went straight for the restaurant and got some sandwiches. They wernt that great, even by our standards. We chilled and got snacks then got back on the trail to do 2 more miles to the campground.

We got a campsite (the last one they had) and set up our tent just before it began to pour. We completed our first 20 mile day by 7:30 and are hurting, I think we will sleep good tonight this rainstorm is a perfect way to end the day.

Day 42

This morning Cathrine and I were waken up at about 7AM by a screaming kid at the campground. He screamed for probably half an hour until one of our many neighbors told them to shut their baby up. 

The size of this campground was kind of disturbing and not really our cup of tea or idea of fun, but to each their own. Our tiny 2 person tent was overshadowed by dozens of tent palaces. We just didnt see the fun in sharing close quarters with hundred of other people we dont know. We were ready to leave when we did around 10am. The families around us looked amazed at how quickly we packed out tent away, made breakfast, and had our packs ready to sling on our backs. At this point we've had plenty of preactice and have our system of loading/unloading our crap every morning and night.

We had first lunch at the nearst shelter, about 3 miles. Cathrine finally had cell service so she clled Mallory to work out plans for when we arrived in Harpers Ferry. Back on the trail by 12 to shoot for the Skyland Restaurant where we would have 2nd lunch. 

On the way we passed by some horse stables where they offer rides along another trail. We check out the horses and I was tempted to get a couple of horses but we agreed that we'd put it on our list of things to do antoher time.

We made it to the Skyland lodge/restaurant around 2:30 and had an overpriced, touristy lunch.

We decided what to eat based on the way we plan all of our meals- the more calories the better. It's impossible, no matter how much you stuff your face to eat the amount of calories you're burning each day out here. So when we go shopping, the amount of calories in a food is a huge determining factor in if it is worth carrying. Alot of people go as far as pouring a packet of mayonaise in every meal just to add and extra 100 calories. Anyways, Cathrine got the fish and chips and I got some loaded chicken quesaillas- they were definately overpriced but still none the less delicious.

While we ate we wrote some postcards to family and were back on the trail by 3:30 to take on another 6 miles to the Byrds Nest #3 Hut.

We got here by 6:30 and were surprised to find our old friend Grizzly Bear just hanging out. He was a day or 2 ahead of us so I think the high mileage we've been doing is starting to pay off. It's a nice quiet evening.

It's just Cathrine, me, and Grizzly Bear, he's staying in the shelter and we're in our tent. We may try to keep up with him the next few days because he plans to be in Harpers Ferry on the 3rd, a day before us. And that'd be sweet if we could make it there earlier. By our schedule we've made up we're planning to be in Harpers Ferry by 6pm on the 4th, just in time to watch some fireworks.

Day 43

Today was an eventful one. Cathrine and I got an early start, hitting the trail by 8:40 to make our way to the Elkton Wayside where we planned to have lunch nd resupply enough food to get us to Harpers Ferry. The wayside was an easy 8 miles away.

About 2 miles from the wayside we crossed a highway where we were completely surprised to find Thomas and Bruiser standing, trying to hitch a ride into Luray, VA. Turns out Aaron ended up only hiking for a few days with Thomas and Bruiser and decided to get picked up at one of the previous waysides by a family member. Thomas attempted to catch up to Cathrine and I, but injured his leg in the process. He hitched a ride from Skyline Drive further north up the trail and was bored and ready to get back home to enjoy the rest of his summer not pulling 20 ticks a day off of Bruiser.

He was happy to take things off my hands that I was planning to ship home, like my bulky fleece blanke I originally brought to make up for lack of a sleeping bag, but had been using solely as a pillow for the past 3 weeks. I bought his inflatable pillow off of him and he offered me his hiking poles that he got for free out of a hiker box. The difference hiking poles makes on the body is amazing, I'm a believer now. But I still wouldnt pay money for sticks.

It was good to see Thomas and was sad to see him getting off the trail. We didnt even get to hike together that much, thing just didnt seem to work out right. We are going to try and hike to Front Royal tomorrow to see Thomas and my mom for a moment when she comes to pick him up.

We made it to the Wayside about an hour later and decided to take out time to let our phones  charge- ever since we started listening to "Education of Little Tree" at night my battery has been dwindiling,. We ate chicken tenders on the front steps while we joined the other tourists in an environmental education program on black bears being taught by one of the rangers. It was pretty cool, alot of questions that Cathrine and I have previously discussed were answered. 

Shortly after the program was over, Cathrine and I were hanging out, eating a pack of Reeces when we saw our old friend Dan AKA Nepal who we met our first day on the trail and hiked with for a week or so.

It was totally unexpected. Cathrine and I had talked before and made our guesses on multiple occassions on how many days ahead or beind he might be. Turns out he had gotten off he trail due to a leg injury and rented a car so he could drive through the Shenandoahs and visit some family further north before he heads back to California. It was a nice surprise to see him but was unfortunate it had to be under those circumstances. Cathrine and I agree that it was magic that we sw him at the wayside. Dan had no idea that I was practically out of fuel for my stove and the wayside was sold out, he also didnt know that a mouse chewed holes in my food bag just the night before, but he offered us both of these things. The generosity is greatly appreciated, we hope he has a safe journey on his way back home.

After we left the wayside, about 100 yards into the woods, I spotted a bear in a patch of berries right next to the trail. I whispered for Cathrine to stop, it stopped on the trail and stared right at us. Naturally, I snapped a few good photos right off, then we yelled at it to try and scare it away. It was odd, this bear didnt run like all the other ones we've seen. Eventually it slowly walked away taking his time.

We had a fairly easy hike to Gravel Springs Hut to end with a 17.5 miles day by 6pm. 1/4 mile before the shelter we were trotting down the trail and Cathrine must have been in the zone becasue she didnt see the bear standing 10 feet away from us, on a log, just watchinging us walk by him. We briefly had a moment, made eye contact and Cathrine turned around to see why I had stopped and immediately started barking like a dog at it. He was gone in seconds, apparently black bears are terrified of dogs.

We're in bed early again tonight to get another early start tomorrow we're enjoying waking up earlier, it allows for more flexibility in what you can accomplish in a day.

Day 44

Today we hiked 13.4 miles before 1pm, a full day of hiking before lunch time. We met up with my mom and Thomas at a road crossing and they too us out to lunch at Wendy's.

We originally planned to get back on the trail and hike 5 more miles but we had a rough time the first half of the day and decided to partake in the luxuries of town and got a motel room for the night. After a short visit, we said our goodbyes and Mama, Teat, and Bruise were on their way back to NC.

Cathrine and I went hard the past few days and did some big miles so we didnt feel guilty spending $20 on junk food at the gas station and laying in bed watching the world cup. We went swimming for about an hour at the motel pool which seemed to help with our sore muscles.

We got some Pad Thai for dinner, it was so nice to wind down and relax.

Day 45

We originally planned to do an easy 15 miles today to the Dicks Dome Shelter, but we got there at about 6pm and felt we could do another 2 miles to Sky Meadows State Park. Oh boy, were we wrong.

The extra 2 miles to the state park wern't what got us, it was the exra 2 miles we didnt know about that we had to hike to the campsites. These 2 miles were all downhill, one of the biggest, steepest downhills we had walked down in weeks. On top of all this, we had already walked 17 miles on the A.T. and were racing daylight. We were worn out and frustrated.

We must have gotten sloppy coming down the mountain, Cathrine tripped and banged her left knee on a jagged rock. The full weight of her body and pack went straight to her knee, I was sure her knee was cracked or broken and she wouldnt be able to walk.

We sat down and immediately tried to stop the bleeding, it looked bad. Eventually we got up and found that she could hobble. And I helped her limp the last quarter mile we had to the campsite. I've got a tough wife.

We finally made it and we slept horribly going over the days events and trying to find a solution to our accident. We both knew hiking wouldnt be in our near future