961.2 miles in

On Thursday morning (June 16) my dad picked me up at the church hostel in Waynesboro and we went for breakfast then some quick grocery shopping to prep for our hiking in the Shenandoahs. Afterward we drove back to the AT at mile 854.0, just outside of Shenandoah National Park. I walked into the park via the AT around noon and filled out my backcountry permit, then continued hiking on to Calf Mountain Shelter about 6 miles in, where I stopped for water. While I was filling the platypus from the spring, Dad showed up as well, having hiked South 4.4 miles from Turk Gap. Dad was glad to have spring water, since he’d only brought that carbonated flavoured water stuff, which is good but doesn’t quench your thirst when you’re hiking. We visited the shelter and both of us signed the register, then we hiked to Turk Gap together. Along the way we spotted bears – a mother and three cubs. By the time we were back at Turk Gap it was about 4:00pm, so we called it a day. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s and stayed at Super 8 in Waynesboro.

We awoke Friday around 7:00 and headed back to Turk Gap, where I commenced hiking North, and Dad ran to town for some groceries, including oranges, bottled water, and sodas for trail magic.  When I had hiked 10 miles I was at Blackrock Mountain, and Dad parked 0.5 miles North of Blackrock and hiked up to meet me.  Blackrock is a mountain whose peak has shattered.  We took some pictures then returned to the car for refreshments.  I hiked on another 3 or 4 miles to another parking area where I met up with Dad again, and then continued another 8 miles to another parking area.  During my post-Blackrock hiking I was caught in two separate thunderstorms, one of which hailed.  I also passed a lot of hikers during the last few miles, and while Dad and I were resting at the Ivy Creek Overlook, they all caught up to us.  Dad brought out the cooler and distributed trail magic to all the hikers (Saunter, Croc, Julio, Polish, and Rolling Stone), and we enjoyed the cloudy mountain view while snacking on oranges.  To wrap up the day I ditched the pack and poles and jogged another 2 miles to Pinefield Gap.  We drove to Elkton afterwards and ate at Pizza Hut, and slept in a 1-room cabin at the Country View Motel.  It was very small and pretty fly-infested, but the A/C worked and it only cost $40.

On Saturday we headed back to Pinefield Gap and I started a 10-mile hike to Skyline 66.7.  The terrain was rougher than expected, and so Dad started hiking backward and we met up 1.4 miles from Skyline Drive, at the peak of Hightop Mountain.  We enjoyed the view and chatted with Rolling Stone for a bit, then returned to Skyline Drive and shared more trail magic with Rolling Stone and an Amish hiker named Chloe.  I tied on an easy and uneventful 11 miles, was done by 4:30, then we headed to Harrisonburg for Mexican food and a hotel.  We watched Mythbusters on Netflix before going to bed.

Sunday (June 19) was Father’s Day, so we decided to do something different.  Instead of heading back into SNP, we drove to Catawba, VA and hiked 3.5 miles to McAfee Knob.  Along the way I showed Dad the campground where Jackrabbit and I had dropped out packs during our race to catch the sunset, and also the campsite where I lacerated my finger.  We spent awhile on McAfee Knob and took a bunch of pictures.  I also met up with a thru-hiker I haven’t seen for a long time – Oatmeal.  I think the last time I saw him was in Georgia.  He was hiking with another guy named Chill.  Storm clouds started rolling in, we heard thunder, and the wind started picking up quite a bit, so we headed back.  Surprisingly, the storms fizzled and we actually had pretty decent weather the whole day.  When we got back to Harrisonburg we got a room at the Holiday Inn and then went to eat at Arby’s.  We returned to the hotel and put on our swim trunks to get in the hot tub, only to discover that the hot tub was actually a kiddy pool.  We got a refund and went across the street to Best Western, then soaked in the hot tub before going to bed.

We resumed our routine on Monday.  We drove back to Lewis Mountain Campground where we’d stopped on Saturday and I set off in the rain.  13 miles later I met up with Dad at Hawksbill Gap, then continued on another 8 miles to the Pinnacles Picnic Area.  We shared an orange with another thru-hiker there named Stretch, then we headed to Luray.  We ate at a diner and stayed at a Best Western again, though this one didn’t have a hot tub.  I phoned Holly and learned of her plans to visit me in 25 days and 192 miles.  After some compromising, we decided it’d work better if she visited in 192 miles and 11 days.  I’ll have to average 17.5 miles per day until July 1 to meet up with her in Carlisle, PA.  It should be doable, and I’m looking forward to it.

Tuesday, June 21 was the summer solstice.  It’s traditional for thru-hikers to hike at least part of the day stark naked on the solstice, but I didn’t, nor did I see any naked hikers.  I suspect that may have had something to do with the fact that we were in a national park.  I would have been a good day to hike naked, because it got up to about 90F.  I only did about 17 miles rather than the intended 20, because of the heat and an uneasy stomach and lack of energy (due to insufficient calories as a result of the aforementioned uneasy stomach).  I met Dad at Jeremys Run Overlook and Elkwallow Wayside, and we finished at the Hogback Overlook parking area.  At Elkwallow Wayside a bunch of thru-hikers had gathered including Rolling Stone, Saunter, Croc, Stealth and Stumbellina.  While I was hiking my initial stretch, Dad headed back to do a short hike I’d done the previous day, 0.6 miles up to Little Stony Man Cliffs and another 0.6 back.  While he was up on the cliffs he met Gumby and Whisper who I hadn’t seen since the church hostel in Waynesboro.  While he was hiking there, I was scrambling up Mary’s Rock.  It’s a series of many very large boulders at the top of a mountain.  I found a spot of level ground just barely big enough for one tent tucked in among the boulders.  If I ever camp in the Shenandoahs in the future, I’d like to tent there.  We ate Mexican and spent the night at the Front Royal Scottish Inn.

Wednesday (today) is my last day of slack-packing.  Dad dropped me off at Hogback parking area and then he headed to Harper’s Ferry and Antietam to check out some Civil War battlefields.  In the meantime I hiked 17 miles out of SNP and onward to US522, just 4 miles out of Front Royal.  Not much happened during the hike – I never even met another NoBo.  I’m pretty sure everyone got an earlier start than myself and stayed at the Front Royal Hostel 3 AT miles south of US522.  I did however see a very large timber rattler on the trail, so I took pictures and left a note on some toilet paper warning other hikers of its presence.  Dad picked me up at US522 and we got a room at the Quality Inn at Front Royal, picked up Domino’s and beer for dinner, and spent the night relaxing.

Tomorrow I don the full weight of my pack once again, and work on maintaining my 17.5-mile per day average so I can meet Holly in Carlisle on July 1.  It’s been a good week.