TRAIL DAY 94

Tue, May 24, 2016 The day started in rain.  Surprise!  I ate breakfast in my tent and gradually the rain let up.  On my way back from my morning visit with Mother Nature I noticed a Jack-in-the-pulpit flower which I had not seen since I was a kid growing up in Connecticut and running free in the nearby woods.

By around 8:30 a.m. I was packed up and we were on our way.  The day soon turned sunny and bright – again, as if God was smiling on my year on the AT.  We were walking a ridge among ridges and valleys, mountain tops and farms, boulders and blue skies.  Soon I would see my first concrete trail marker with aluminum bands strapped to the top and stamped with information.

There was evidence of moles crawling underground such as I had seen many times before and after.

As I review my pictures for this day, I am remembering stopping for lunch at a rock formation that snugly cradled me and my gear and a small stuff sack getting lost.  I searched and searched and couldn’t find it and figured somehow the breeze we were experiencing must have blown it off the cliff over the rock ledge.  I found it – where I had unwittingly put it away.

I remember a late-middle-aged couple coming along as I had lunch and we talked about some large resort across the valley.  They knew the area and were regular hikers.

My next stop on the trail was Waynesboro, Virginia but I had lost my glasses and could not read AWOL sufficiently to consider where to stay much less to read a number and call.  But a kind of serendipity or “Trail Magic” occurred as three hikers came along.  There were two guys and a gal who helped me using her AWOL and telling me the number to call.  That’s why the note “glasses in tent.”  I had left them in the mesh pocket by my head and simply rolled them up and packed them away to be found this night.

The trail name of the red-haired fellow was “Love-Buns.”  I had met him at Woods Hole and learned that he was quite savvy about computers, cell phones, apps, etc.  We’d run into each other periodically throughout Virginia.  He and his companions were significant help to me reminding me, “Hey!  All we have up here is each other.

After lunch, we carried on up Humpback Mountain and started down the other side where, by more serendipity, I got off the trail.  Without realizing it, I was on a side trail noted in AWOL as “Trail 0.2W to view on The Rocks.”

I did not realize my error until I came to a group of very nice graduate students out for a day of good, healthy fun.  I would soon have my impression of them reinforced.

We took pictures where we met and many more on The Rocks which deserve the initial capital letters.  The views were amazing.  We could see the long ridge at the western edge of The George Washington and Jefferson National Forest to the south and The Shenandoah National Park to the north.  Waynesboro was visible in between off to the west.

Everybody took pictures.  Some of mine were of me and my hiking companion framed by the sky above us.

As I descended the steep rocks back to dirt level, I bid farewell to what seemed a group of the finest, fun-loving, clean-cut students you could meet.  It was my pleasure to make their acquaintance.  It was 4:15 p.m., we had 10.5 miles to go and in 25 minutes I would become acquainted with another character sharing the woods.

My first bear.

At least the first I saw.  Remember Watauga?

He was off the trail to my right just sauntering slowly through the woods paying me no mind.  I’m sure he knew I was there – and that Theo was there.

I have read that bears have a sense of smell 7 times that of a bloodhound.  The common wisdom around bears is:

1. Don’t surprise them – make noise so they know you’re coming – bear bell – sing – talk
2. Don’t look them in the eye
3. If they approach: make lots of noise; make yourself look big; stand your ground – don’t run

If you’re attached, “fight like hell.”

There is a motto to distinguish responses to brown grizzlies found out west from responses to back bears in the east:

If it’s brown, lie down
If it’s black, fight back

The point here is that grizzlies apparently won’t bother with you if they think you’re dead.  I guess black bears will.

I have recently heard that water moccasins and copper heads are territorial and aggressive.  Fortunately, I have not encountered either of these although the latter is supposed to be around on the AT.  Otherwise, I can say, in my experience, animals in the wild really don’t want to bother with you – at least not the ones I have encountered, including 13 black bears.  I saw one on the Black Forest Trail in northern PA where I also saw 6 rattlesnakes.

While I wouldn’t want to test it, I have heard that rattlesnakes have been known to give a dry warning strike – just headbutting you to help you wise up.  Apparently the older snakes will inject only as much venom as is necessary for their purpose while younger snakes will dump their whole load and can be more toxic.

My first bear was off the trail to my right about 50-60 yards and was paying no attention to me.  I took several pictures, of course.

By 7:00 p.m., we had gone 5.5 miles to the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter hiking at a rate of 2 miles per hour – super for me!  If I could continue that rate, I would arrive at US 250 and BRP by 9:30 p.m. where I would call for a shuttle ride into Waynesboro if anyone was up and still in business.  I looked forward to marking my progress by AWOL landmarks such as the chimney still standing long after the surrounding cabin had disintegrated.  The chimney was only 1½ miles from the shelter but it seemed like 7.

In 3½ hours after seeing my first bear, I came upon a momma bear and 2 cubs off on the right side of the trail.  I was very glad they were together on the same side.  If the trail went between them, I’d have been stuck.  The cubs instantly scurried up the nearest tree and I am forever grateful for momma’s wisdom in handling the situation.  It seemed she reasoned this way: My cubs are safe; neither dog nor human are going to get them; I have no worries and no need to mess with them; I’ll give them plenty of room so they feel free to carry on their way; I’ll go down the hill away from them and give them wide birth to pass.

And so it was with momma keeping a close eye on us as we continued on our way.  She faced us on all fours ready to do what she had to if necessary.  We moved on leaving the cubs in the tree and momma on guard.  It was 8:10 p.m.  By 8:40, it would be dark.  Precisely at 9:30 p.m., the trail led out of the dark woods and turned up a steep bank to a guardrail at the side of the road.  I took a picture of our location at 9:31 p.m.

I had taken a picture of a list of Waynesboro volunteer shuttle drivers posted at the last shelter.  It was late, so I wasn’t sure if anyone would come.  Some drivers had limitations or special requirements and some charged a fee – all important details were noted, one line per driver.

My first call was to a woman who said somewhat abruptly she was having a dinner party and could not come.  I went on to another:  a fellow who had given himself the trail name of “Yellow-Truck.”  He would come and get me – and the dog was no problem.  I described where I was and he said there was a motel not far from there.  I told him I’d walked around the dark roads noting an underpass and a merging loop and could not figure out exactly how to get there.  He said he’d be by in 15 minutes.  I had taken my pack and Theo’s saddlebags off and set them by the side of the road to wait.

Before long a big yellow pickup truck arrived with my driver at the wheel.  We chatted a moment and then he said, “Hurry up and get your gear.”  Just a tad testy – but, hey! who was I to complain?

He made the appropriate and somewhat complicated twists and turns to get me to the motel in about 10 minutes.  I, of course, thanked him profusely for his kindness.  When he said I woke him up, I said I was sorry to have done that and exclaimed at his kindness.

We pulled into the motel and I asked how much I owed him.

“It’s free,” he said.

I exclaimed again with sincere thanks.

He left.

I went into the office under the portico, got my key and headed to my room just around the corner from the office.  The door was a step up from the slanted sidewalk and opened into a narrow room that stretched back to the left where the bed was.  Opposite the door was a small desk with a bureau to the right.  To the left of the door was a small table and small refrigerator.  To the right of the bed was a narrow path to the bathroom.  On the wall to the right of the path was a metal rack for clothes which took up ¼ of the path.  This would be my home for a zero tomorrow.  I got a late pizza delivery, ate and turned in.

Day #94   Stealth Camp at mile 845 > Waynesboro, Virginia 16.3 miles