Spoon writes:
Rusty took us back to the trail head and the hike into Waynesboro began. At the shelter we ran into Iceman and Cattywampus again. Hazard ate lunch but I wasn’t hungry. The shelter was nice with a small brook winding around the front which made a small Jacuzzi in the water. We made surprising time out to Rockfish Gap.
While taking pictures of BRP mile marker “zero” a van came by and offered us a lift. The Trail Angels shuttled us into town and gave us a tour of Waynesboro. The very nice couple dropped us off at the YMCA to get showers. At the Y, we were handed a half bar of soap which got the job about half done. My hair still felt knotted and greasy, but my body was clean and from what I could tell, didn’t stink as much. On to the public library where I wrote a few emails and tried to write a post, but the computer kicked me off when 5:00pm closing time came about. Iceman came in just before the buzzer and did some work. When all was done, we told Iceman we’d see him at the church hostel which was supposed to be pretty nice.
We were barely outside the library when Iceman came down the road motioning for us to turn around. I became dispirited thinking the hostel was full or closed until he said, “What’s the best trail magic you’ve had?” He then informed us that Catty’s parents had got us a hotel room at the Marriot Residence Inn. They wanted to meet some of the hikers keeping their daughter company on the trail, and why not do it in style?
Catty pulled up in a car and drove us out. The Residence Inn was beautiful. I laughed at the cost of candy bars in the lobby and we checked in. Iceman hopped in the shower and we watched the plasma television. I called down to the lobby to see if they had a spare clean shirt for me to wear as I was washing clothes. They did not, but they did offer us more clean towels, which I anxiously accepted. Catty’s father popped his head in and gave us a snack of some potato chips to tide us over until dinner. Soon, Catty took us to the Chinese buffet which was filling but mediocre. She went to Outback Steakhouse with her family.
Once done with dinner we went grocery shopping. Both Catty and Iceman were surprised by how little food we’d purchased. Each of them had two bags of groceries, but Hazard and I shared a single bag. We’re weight conscious and plan every meal and snack to keep our packs light. After our showers we all went to Catty’s parents room to celebrate Catty’s 23rd birthday and had a good long conversation and ate delicious homemade ice cream and pound cake. Long night stayed up way too late…
“How did you sleep?” Catty chirped in the morning. “Horrible” was my sarcastic reply. Breakfast was waiting in the lobby and I was as anxious to get to the food as Iceman and Cattywampus wanted to have a moment or two alone. The Continental breakfast was wonderful and I went up for multiple plates. After a while, Catty came down when Iceman was in the shower. Breakfast was soon done and we packed up. The comforts were wonderful and we thanked Catty’s parents for their hospitality. Catty then drove us back to the trail head and we entered the Shenandoah National Forest.
The trail began uphill and rocky, quite the opposite of what we’d been told about the SNF. We filled out the registry card and moved on. High voltage wires strewn across the trail giving us no illusion of wilderness until we came to the radio tower station. The views were obscured by a veil of short trees and strawberries littered the peak. Downhill we scared a bear off the trail, it moved too fast to get pictures.
Resting my bones and waiting for Hazard I heard him calling up to me on the trail. “SPOON!” “What?” “BEAR!” I trudged up the way and he pointed out a large bear scratching at a tree, presumably to get grubs. It ignored us as we got closer to try to get pictures. We moved on going faster than ever. Across an overlook on Skyline Dr. we met Magma Orphan who had been on the trail since March 16th. He was biding his time to aqua blaze through the Shenandoahs.
Dusk fell as we hiked and we mused on the idea of getting out of the Shenni’s in 3 days by pulling a 35 mile tomorrow and a 40 mile the following day. As we pondered this thought in high spirits another bear shuffled off the trail into the dark.
Tired, we saw the lights to the privy at Loft Mountain Campground and passing RVs and others taking a more simple form of ‘roughing it’ than us. I struck up a conversation with some folks while waiting for Hazard to get out of the bathroom. They invited us to sit at their fire and just as we were leaving they offered us hot dogs. We were unable to refuse as they pulled out all the stops. Chocolate cake, soft drinks, chips, and roasted potatoes. We asked if we could camp in their lot to avoid the park rangers and the fee for a new site and they agreed. We set up and the wind blew the bugs away as we went to sleep.
Ugh! Up at 6:00am to avoid the rangers. The sun was up as usual and we packed up and hiked. Just down the way we unpacked at a particularly cold overlook for breakfast. The morning went on slowly and we felt the cold of the night melt away. On an overpass we watched two vans unload what seemed to be more boy scouts than they could hold.
We walked through them and struck up some good conversation. They were from Maryland and weren’t going far. At the next hut we filled up on water and decided to go to Hightop Hut for lunch. It was a good decision; the sun warmed us and we ate our peanut butter on a ledge with a great view. A couple came and ate their lunch with us. Then the sleepiness hit us. Both of us wanted to take a nap, being so warm and so tired from having woken up early in the morning. I had written our exciting itinerary at the previous shelter which we abandoned on the cliff at lunch.
The day seemed to take forever. We trudged on with a fairly uneventful day. Nearing Hightop Hut, a mother deer and her two new fawns led me up the trail. A SOBO was at the turn off and we got water at the Hut. We stopped at Lewis Mountain Campground to cook our dinner. There was water out of spigots and the picnic tables offered us a good place to sit. As we ate, deer filtered through the camp, unafraid of the tourists taking close-up pictures of them. I attempted to ‘Yogi’ some British folks camping next to us. The man observed what we were cooking, but he was preparing a surf and turf. Obviously he did not want to share.
We finished up and it was a short distance to the Bearfence Mountain Hut where we spent the night. A steep but short downhill led to the stone structure. The camp was filled with thru and section hikers, but all of them were in their tents to ward off the bugs.
We woke up the next morning to three large owls screeching right outside the shelter. Apparently they had been screaming all night and the other person in the shelter threw rocks into the dark to try to scare them off. We got water and ate our breakfast just before leaving. We were mostly excited about getting to Big Meadows, a large picnic area with a restaurant. We hiked fast and with tunnel vision. We arrived early and I kept asking the tourists where the restaurant was. One informed me that it wasn’t open until noon. This upset me because I walked into the Meadow at 11am. Hazard caught up and we waited in the grand room of the lodge and caught up on journals. The restaurant finally opened and we were the first to be seated. A three course meal topped off with the park’s signature blackberry ice cream. Mine was ice cream pie with meringue and blackberry syrup.
The long lunch had to end and we finally packed up and left. The trail was flat for what seemed to be the first time. Being so late, we couldn’t go far. We hiked uphill until the Skyland horse stables. We took the opportunity to use the privy and eat a candy bar. Skyland was similar to Big Meadow and the smell of fresh food wafted out onto the trail. Using all of our will power, we pushed on. In a parking lot a bit later we ran into two Angels, one of whom hiked the trail in ‘04. They gave us some useful information about the trail ahead and what to expect. “I wish we had seen you before. We would have had some cold drinks for you.” We said goodbye. Just before we got to Byrds Nest #3 Hut, two bear cubs shot up a tree right beside me. My first thought was “Where is mama bear?” But I heard her down the way and wished Hazard was up here to see the cubs. They were the youngest bears we’ve seen thus far and were cute as could be. They shuffled down the tree and disappeared just as Hazard came up the trail.
At the Pinnacle was a beautiful picnic area and we got a kick out of a sign encouraging us to take a ’short stroll’ down the historic AT. We were upset we couldn’t camp there. We ’strolled’ into Byrds Nest #3 about dusk. The shelter was large and only meant for ‘day use’. I wondered what it would be like to have the massive fireplace in full blaze and we ate dinner and dark came over us. Deer wandered outside the campgrounds, unafraid of our presence, as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning we woke up to the sound of my alarm at 6am. We had to hike 30+ miles out today and we both were more than excited to get to the wayside for a good meal. Quietly we left and rushed down the mountain. Pushing ourselves to the limit and blinded by the idea of the wayside, we were nearly running. I arrived at the wayside at about 10:30am, long before my prediction. I walked inside and looked around. The cooks were ready for me, but I decided to wait and I grabbed some of the small fudge bricks while I waited for Hazard. I sat down outside on the bench in the shade when I heard someone shout my name. It was the couple from the previous day. Apparently they had been hunting us down through the rest of the trail to try to find us and give us Magic. “You guys are fast, we stopped about 3 times, but you had passed us.” “Hazard is still coming” I responded. They unloaded a full box of good magic; Cliff bars, mashed potatoes, and plastic bags. It was enough to fully resupply us until Harper’s Ferry, WV. Hazard came down and we ordered our lunch.
A Philly cheese steak for me and a blackberry milkshake. We filled up and I got a second one. Soon Nick from the Yukon boys strolled down the mountain. It was good to see him again and we caught up. Another thru-hiker came down and asked if we were the guys who were blasting through the Shenandoahs . Apparently we have made a reputation for ourselves. We asked Nick to join us in hoofing it out to Front Royal. The motivating factor was the split cost in the hotel room and he was excited to hear about seeing Transformers 2. When we were done with food, a bear and her three cubs walked through the wayside. A crowd gathered around to take pictures. We did it from a safe distance and got some okay shots.
We packed up and thanked the couple once again. Boy did we move. The only time we stopped was to pee at the top of a cliff. Along the trail, the clouds gathered. I heard some rustling in the woods and around a bend was another bear. He fumbled around for a bit until a woodpecker scared him off. Soon the rain began to fall; at first it was light then came down in sheets. It slowed our progress but not our moral. Our boots became intolerably heavy but we pushed forward, we came out of the park into an almost cliff decline as the rain lightened. We fumbled over the rocks and we stopped at the Tom Floyd wayside, a beautiful shelter with benches and a front deck. A family was already there and I was sad we couldn’t stay, but excited to get into town.
The trail went down until our last hill before Front Royal, VA. The decent was beside a grassy, hilly fenced off area with a No Trespassing sign posted. It led us on to the road where a car was parked. We tried hitching for a bit, without success. The owner of the car walked down the hill and we begged her for a ride. She had been waiting to give a hitch to other thru-hikers coming the other way, so she gave us a lift in the meantime. She took us to the cheapest motel in town, the Scottish Inn. We thanked her and moved our stuff in. Hazard and I shared a bed and Nick had his own. We changed clothes and took the insoles out of our boots. Hazard took a shower followed by me. We saw a laundry next to the pizza place and we decided to knock out two birds with one stone. Sadly, after the walk, we found that it was more of a dry cleaners and they were closed. Still we at a good dinner. Next we went to the movie theater, where a long line waited outside. Nick and Hazard went to the coin laundry a block or two down, while I made small talk with the concessions stand people waiting for them to return. The movie began and we sat in contentment until it was over and well past hikers midnight. We went straight back to the motel, turned on the TV and I fell asleep in its incandescent glow.
We woke up at 8am the next morning. I got up and out of the motel first looking for the post office. My new poles were waiting for me and I couldn’t have been more excited to get them. I mailed my broken poles back. As I left, a man in a truck let me know I had forgotten my ID and money back at the post office. He gave me a lift and I thanked him. I walked the rest of the way back to the coin laundry to see Hazard waiting for me with the clothes going. He let me know that Nick was at a diner down the road. We strolled over and ordered ourselves a big breakfast. Nick and I got chocolate milkshakes, but the waitress left before Hazard could order one for himself. Back to the laundromat, then back to the motel. We missed the checkout, but the guy at the desk let us have 5 minutes to get our stuff out of the room. Nick left to try to get a hitch for a mail drop in another town.
We headed out of town and as Hazard was getting water a ride pulled up. A cute girl and her mother offered me a ride, but could barely accommodate the both of us. We squeezed in and they took us back up to the top. Out of town, we ran across the fence for the local zoo, but we didn’t see any of the animals. Along the road was a bag of doughnuts and Tastee Kakes, we of course took some and went on our way. The trail followed some small roads for a bit then went along some well built boardwalks into the woods. The first shelter we came across was the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter which was huge. It had brick paths and a solar shower which was broken, but also a detached picnic table. We found more magic at that shelter and were sad we couldn’t stay. We had to move on and powered through the next sections. We finished a bit late, and didn’t see Nick as we had hoped. The night turned black and just before we made it into the shelter a bear ran full speed in front of me. It was very dark by the time we were in the shelter and I warned two campers outside about the bears. Gaia and her hiking partner were in the shelter getting settled down after dinner. We cooked our dinner up fast and we bummed a bear hang off Gaia. Small millipedes were everywhere and the other two debated putting up a tent. As we ate, we heard a rustling in the woods right beside the bear bags. Hazard shined a light and revealed a raccoon fumbling in the grass below. We set up and went to sleep, not worried about the bugs or the raccoon.
We woke up early, 6:00am. We ate our breakfast and pumped our water as fast as possible. Today was the roller coaster, 11 peaks in 13.5 miles. To our surprise, it was actually quite gradual. The mountains weren’t nearly as high as the others we’d encountered and they were buffered by gentle downhill. Up and down all day, there were many day hikers and we mused on why someone would want to do this on a day hike. We decided to eat lunch at the Bear’s Den Hostel.
Bear’s den was a house built by the Washingtonians a long time ago and it has been converted into a B&B and hostel for hikers and visitors. Many tourist dotted the area and some were interested in hearing that we were on the trail. We decided to have lunch here and we ate outside. Hazard soon found a computer and the phone. Someone reminded us about going into DC for the 4th and we took the opportunity to call and make reservations. It was a struggle, but eventually we had our itinerary paid for and planned. We left late and we still had about 20 miles to go and 3 more peaks on the roller coaster. They weren’t all that terrible but the trail was long. Gradually we made our way to the Blackburn Trail Center cut off trail. This intersection marked our 1001 mile mark and on the ground was “1000 MI heck yeah!” written in pebbles. Three section SOBOs came up from the center and sat down complaining about the climb. They were friendly and lit up a bowl. I declined when they offered as I don’t smoke. Hazard came through the woods and we took pictures and ate victory Snickers.
On the way into Harper’s Ferry, Hazard and I told each other thanks for this milestone and said we couldn’t have done it without each other. The trail got rocky and we were anxious to get into town. At a road crossing which was on the WV/VA border, wild cherries and raspberries grew near a house. We gobbled them up and spoke with a volunteer who was maintaining the trail via weed whacking. Onward down we kept hearing the road and the Shenandoah River below. Eventually we made it to the bridge and up a flight of stairs. Across the bridge, the sun was setting on the river crossing. The scenery was gorgeous as it framed the town. At the end of the bridge, we called the hostel we booked back at Bear’s Den. Lucky for us, they had a man who was willing to pick us up. At first, they wanted us to hike more of the trail but it was pitch black and we convinced them to pick us up from where we were.
Leonard picked us up and brought us up the road. Oddly enough the Harper’s Ferry Hostel is in Maryland and a different city. We stopped outside the hostel at Cindy Dee’s restaurant to grab some food just before they closed. I also drank a milkshake and ate some red velvet cake. They shut the lights off as we left and we walked the short distance up the road to the hostel. Inside we were greeted at the desk. We could hear voices from the common room. We went in and were surprised to see that many of those people staying were not hiking the AT. Many were biking or visiting the area. Hazard took a shower and I had some small conversation before bed. I took a shower after him and found a small bottle of shampoo. It felt great to be clean and off our feet. I crawled into the bed that night warm and cozy. I was ready for our long break.
-Spoon
From Hazard’s notes:
