AT Day 56

2014/5/26 Mile 999.1

Overnight a bear broke into the shed out back of the hostel and got into the garbage. It managed to break a wooden 2x2 braced across the door. Looks like Mike will need a stronger solution. I was surprised nobody woke up.

Long drive back to the trail and then started the short 14 mile hike to Bear's Den. A few miles in I encountered a sign reading: "Warning! You are about to enter the rollercoaster." According to my guide this is a 13.5 mile section with 10 ascents and descents. Fun.

Huge number of day hikers with their poorly behaved dogs and even worse children. To be fair they were usually courteous and I shouldn't be such a through hiker diva but I couldn't help being a little annoyed with them.

Very rocky hiking all day which I hear is going to be a trend. With the day pack rock hoping was super easy but with the full pack it will probably hurt my pace. Guess we will see.

Bear's Den is a really cool renovated stone building that the PATC operates as a hostel and campground. I got in around mid-afternoon and fiddled around on the internet until other hikers showed up. We got to use their big kitchen for prepping dinner and then hung around all evening watching movies and chatting. Had a big crowd with lots of hikers in for the night.

AT Day 55

2014/5/25 Mile 985.6

Made oatmeal in the microwave for breakfast. Wow. Forgot how fast boiling water could be.

Got on the first shuttle to Ashby Gap. Had a day's worth of food and my water filter in my daypack figuring it would be warm enough to skip the rain gear.

Saw 2 bears, a handful of rabbits, and some large vultures on the hike. I should probably stop counting bears, there are so many.

Ran into Ace and Mack again since I was hiking south. A few other familiar faces came through as well, but most of the activity was day hikers out for the holiday weekend.

Passed a neat shelter that had a front porch, picnic gazebo, and solar shower. Pretty fancy, but it makes sense for such a busy section of trail.

The last 4 or 5 miles passed along the National Zoological Park where endangered animals are bred. Apparently back in the day there would be rhinos and giraffes walking around in view of the trail.

Back at the hostel met Matterhorn and Jed who had come in while we were out. Cooked up some dinner and then kicked back and finished my book (Cyberstorm). Pretty good concept but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. It was cool that the last bit took place in the Shenandoah which I had just been hiking through.

Everyone rolled in later that night and Jed even drove some folks into town. I was fading fast so I ended up asleep before anyone got back. Figured someone would get me up if I slept in.

AT Day 53

2014/5/23 Mile 951.5

Cool morning but pleasant. Got to hiking and saw a bear about a mile in.

By 930 I was passing Skyland Lodge so I decided to pop in for a coffee. Ended up sitting down and having a second breakfast after checking out the menu and getting the WiFi password.

Back on the trail I met Walk Worthy at a road crossing. We hiked together just chatting about all sorts of things. Soon after we ran into Spiderman who WW knew.

I listened as they discussed some of the ins and outs of their faith. Both were well acquainted with the bible and quoted it continually in the discussion. Eventually we moved on to other topics and I learned WW ran a construction company and Spiderman was a newly graduated Physical Therapy Assistant.

We lost WW at a road crossing as he had to stop to call his friend who was coming to meet him. Spiderman and I continued on together and I found out he and his family live near Spartanburg, SC and he keeps bees. Looks like we a few things in common.

Had 3 more bear encounters over the hike and one was a mama and her cub bringing the total bear count for the day to 5. Also saw a non-coral snake (red meets black, you're OK Jack) and some deer.

Had a pre-dinner at Elkwallow Wayside and met Rugby, his dad Big Tex, and Sole Power. We were all heading to Gravel Springs Shelter so we didn't hang around too long.

At the shelter were tons of folks. Makes sense considering the fact that it was Friday of Memorial Day weekend. Lots of section hikers but good company and someone built a massive fire.

I hammocked in a little clear spot back in the woods instead of taking up space in the shelter.

AT Day 52

2014/5/22 Mile 924

Slept a little cold over night probably because I didn't put my pad in the hammock. Lesson learned.

Hike on my own to the Big Meadows Lodge. Wanted to get there early enough to shower and play around on the internet and it was about 20 miles out.

Uneventful hiking except for another bear encounter. He hung around a bit before scampering off. Also managed to startle some deer a little later.

Made it to the lodge by 1430 and walked the mile down to the wayside to have one of the highly acclaimed blackberry milkshakes. Pretty good but the price was a little steep.

Back at the lodge used the coin operated showers to get cleaned up and washed my socks and shirt while I was in there. Threw them in the dryer afterwards and it was almost like I had clean clothes!

The taproom at the lodge had internet and beer so I just hung out while I waited on the others. Eventually they showed up and we enjoyed a meal together before hiking the last 3 miles to the next shelter. Got to talk to Whiskey Bill about his engineering design project for school along the way which was neat.

Since we showed up late I just slept in the shelter. Not a big deal but there were lots of people in there which makes it noisy. Still managed to sleep just fine after a long day.

AT Day 54

2014/5/24 Mile 961.8

A short day of hiking but still managed to see 4 bears. 3 of them at once: a mother and two cubs.

Got to the Terrapin Station Hostel around 1100. Its basically a converted basement in a residential home that has a bunkroom, mini-kitchen, bathroom, and common area. The cool part is that it is less than half a mile from the trail right as it leaves Shenandoah National Park.

Took a shower and got some catch up blog posts written before others started showing up. People trickled in all afternoon.

Spiderman, Big Tex, Rugby, and I went into town for a grocery run and then dinner at Lucky Star (a British/American pub). Rugby and Spiderman went to see a movie while Big Tex and I hung out and talked.

Back at the hostel we organized our slack packing for the next two days. The plan is to do 23 miles tomorrow back to the hostel and then the change on up to Bears Den Hostel the day after. Yep, I'm definitely spoiling myself but having access to additional food is a huge incentive.

AT Day 50

2014/5/20 Mile 878

Breakfast at the hotel again and then Owl drove me up to the trail. Got walking by 850.

Had to register to enter the Shenandoah back country but there was no fee (in contrast to the Smokies). After entering the park all the signs changed from the carved wooden variety I had seen elsewhere on the trail to a cement post with a small metal bad around the top. The metal band had directions and distances for places of interest stamped on it. A picture will be taken at some point to explain this better.

Hiked all day with many small ups and downs but no large elevation changes. Got to Blackrock Shelter by 1600 so I had plenty of time to fiddle with the hammock before dinner.

Talked with some hikers doing a 50 mile section over dinner. Cools guys. They brought up that there might be a thunderstorm tonight so that will be a good test of the new gear. Retired early to catch up on writing posts and on my sleep. Hope this thing keeps me dry!

AT Day 51

2014/5/21 Mile 899.3

First one in camp awake. Looks like some folks came in after I had gone to bed. Packing up the hammock definitely took longer than the tent but that's probably because its the first time I've done it.

7 miles to the wayside went quick. Ran across a bear that didn't even budge when he saw me. Got some pictures and a video before heading on.

The wayside was only 0.6 miles off the trail so I decided to head down and get a second breakfast. Good choice. Got my grease, coffee, and phone charging fix all in one stop.

Got confused on the trail out and ended up retracing my steps for about a mile before running into another marker. Bad luck. However some good came of this: I met Mack and Ace and ended up hiking with them the rest of the day.

Their pace was around 2.5mph so it was comfortable and we could talk the whole time. Really interesting and good distraction from my shoes which are OK but the insoles awful. Need to buy new superfeet asap.

Ran into a stubborn rattlesnake that would not get out of the trail. Had to work our way around it off the trail through lots of brush. Definitely checked for ticks after that.

Got to our destination and met Whiskey Bill, Chamomile, and Collee (sp?). Everyone agreed we should check out the "taproom" at the lodge tomorrow so we will likely meet there for dinner.

Made dinner and got to try out the biscuits and gravy Backpackers Pantry meal that was left in the shelter. Most complicated prepacked meal ever and not all that great. A for effort though.

Back in the hammock tonight. No rain last night and probably none tonight but it got me out of the bugs. I could use some more practice with it anyway.