TRAIL DAY 96
Thu, May 26, 2016 I had breakfast nearby with a fellow hiker, then packed to return to the trail. I remember thinking my pack very heavy with my resupply. I hoisted it to my back and wondered how I was going to haul this monster through the woods. I would wonder this many times and always I would become accustomed to the load and simply carry on, somewhat amazed at how much the pack became a part of me, no matter its weight.
I got a ride back to the trail and headed into the woods, leaving Rockfish Gap behind.
I saw a pretty, spotted yellow leaf, my first snake, first rabbit and a neat gate that used to keep someone out of somewhere (now resembling the AT symbol).
A gate I’m not sure how Theo got through offered some advice for life:
GO EVERYWHERE
STUDY EVERYTHING
FEAR NOTHING
Google tells me this gate was at McCormick Gap where Royal Orchard Drive meets the Skyline Drive.
We were on our way into the Shenandoah National Park (SNP) which boasts the largest black bear population in the United States. We’d see our 5th bear before the day was done.
There was a one-mile climb into the Shenandoah from Rockfish Gap where I had exited the woods two nights before. At the start of the SNP there was an “Entrance station and self-registration” for overnight permits. We were required to fill out a form and then put part in a box at the station and tie the remaining long, slender permit to the outside of our backpack with thin wires attached. I saw Pop Tart here filling out his form and was instantly reminded – in a vague way – of school and tests and wondering if he understood the form better than I did and whether he’d finish before me – all that garbage from our competitive youth growing up in a competitive society. Give it up dude and hike your own hike!
This advice is for countless situations in life. It helps maintain focus and keep you in your own skin. “Carry on, my good man.”
Pop Tart started and finished before me and was on his way as I finished answering the numerous questions on the form and fixing the white and yellow permit to the back of my pack. It would remain there until I got to Front Royal and my family for birthday number 75.
The trail basically followed Skyline Drive for the next 10 miles but at a pretty good distance. We’d cross it twice.
I saw Pop Tart again as I climbed up to some radio towers at two different locations. Google tells me the first tower belonged to Wanv-FM Staunton and the second group of several towers to Wvtu-FM Charlottesville.
At 5.5 miles in, we came to Beagle Gap where some construction was going on. We hiked through it, up a field and back into the woods. It was a sunny afternoon and when we came into a clearing with a 360̊ view, we stopped for a snack. I could see the radio towers we had passed. Pop Tart showed up as did a group of youthful hikers.
I was the first to arrive and the last to leave – my own hike.
Back in the woods, I saw my second rabbit and, in time, came to a power line whose over terrain that was fenced off and cultivated in perhaps some communal effort to improve stewardship of the land. As I crossed this open area, I noted the first of several Nation Park Service directives to LNT.
In late afternoon, I stopped by a stream just off the trail to the right with the idea that this was a good spot to stop for the night. I took off my pack and was about to fill my 2-liter Platypus bag with water to filter when I saw a bear in the woods. He was at a fair distance and was taking his time traveling from my left to right.
The potential campsite was very nice, private and just off the quiet trail with water right there. I was tempted to stay but thought better of it. There would be no excuse if, following his extraordinary sense of smell, a bear came into my camp that night for food. A bear in the woods knew where I was and I wasn’t about to cook there. No excuse. Move on. I did.
The trail continued to follow the skyline Drive until, once again, we crossed it. As I got to the far side, I saw several hikers in shade just north of a parking area and I stopped to chat. They were waiting for a ride back into Waynesboro for the night and were relaxing until their shuttle arrived. There were two guys and two gals. As we chatted, I noted a German accent on one of the guys and remembered meeting him many miles south. We both recalled the occasion. I had met one of the gals as well.
It was late afternoon and there was no campsite nearby. The next shelter – or hut as they’re called them in the Shenandoah (and the Whites in New Hampshire) – was 10.2 miles away. I’d stay in the woods down a steep bank from my fellow hikers. A nice spot was easily accessed from the trail which continued west before an abrupt turn northward. My comrades offered me their water which they would not need. I declined with thanks thinking I didn’t want to haul out the trash but I changed my mind and received two large unopened plastic bottles. If I used it all, they’d scrunch up fine for hauling.
Soon, the hikers’ ride came and they were off with shouted good-byes. My very minor jealous thoughts of good food and drink quickly vanished as I settled into my lonely night joined by my faithful friend.
As I looked around the area, I found some old bottles and rusted cans care-less tourists had pitched over the bank and I pitched them up to the area where my friends had been relaxing, hoping someone would get them to a trash can. There was none about at the time.
Supper up against a log closer to the trail and bed.
Day #96 Waynesboro, Virginia > Skyline Drive mile 95.3 10.5 miles