5/5 Day 63 Hightop Hut to Rock Spring Hut - 23.9 miles
Not much to report today. We hiked and then took a lunch break at Lewis Mountain Camp store where we supplemented our normal lunch with some snacks. We hiked on crossing Skyline Drive dozens of times and never really having any views.
We arrived at Rock Spring Hut to find the shelter mostly full so we decided to tent which turned out later to be a mistake. The designated tent sites here are terrible. They dug out tent sites from the hill side but made them all narrow rectangular shapes fitting only single man tents. They are also slopped at what seems to be a 30 degree angle. I'm not sure why no one thought to level these spots. I did the best I could with what I had hoping the weather would cooperate.
After eating dinner we headed to the tent. The wind was picking up and it had me worried about the structural integrity of my pitch. Just as I said to Cassandra, "Our tent is probably going to blow over tonight," a stake pulled out and one wall collapsed. I go out trying to stake down the tent as the cold wind is trying to blow it away and the rain is beginning. I was really not a happy camper at this point. I managed to tie the tent down to some tree roots and hoped it would hold out for the night. I think I see why people aquablaze.
5/6 Day 64 Rock Spring Hut to Pass Mountain Hut - 15.3 miles
Last night was not a good night. We spent all night sliding down our sloped tent site and trying to stay warm. We didn't really sleep much so we were ready to get moving this morning even though it was raining. Blue Moon had told us of a restaurant at Skyland Resort lodge about five miles into the day and invited us to join him for breakfast. He and Ayce left before us but we caught them there and Giuseppe joined us minutes later. Blue Moon joked that there was trail magic and all thru hikers ate for free this morning but what he meant was that he wanted to buy us breakfast. We always appreciate trail magic but there's something special about hiker to hiker trail magic. We had a fantastic breakfast buffet. I ate way more bacon than any one person should ever eat. The food was great and we were hungry making it way too easy to over eat and that's exactly what we did. Feeling it wasn't safe to hike on such full stomaches we relocated to the comfortable lobby where we relaxed letting our food digest. As we sat there we just kept putting off our departure. We didn't really see any reason to leave and be miserable in the cold rain when we had a warm, dry, couch to sit on.
After five hours of relaxing we finally motivated for the last ten miles. The rain never stopped but the hiking was easy. We arrived at the shelter to find several sectioners but luckily there was just enough room for us. We ate and changed into dry clothes and that was it. Despite the rain, that breakfast made today the best day in Shenandoah yet.
5/7 Day 65 Pass Mountain Hut to Front Royal, VA - 26.5 miles
It rained hard all night but we managed to stay warm and dry in the shelter. The rain continued through the morning. We hiked in a downpour for about seven miles before taking a short detour into the Wayside to meet Ayce and get a break from the rain. We met a couple section hikers there who were planning to go to the same shelter we had planned. At this point we knew of about ten people who were aiming for a six person shelter to escape the rain. We don't mind to tent but in a downpour it's nice to stay in a shelter. We discussed our options with Ayce and decided we may hike on and hitch to Front Royal today since we have to go to resupply anyway. We knew that would make for a longer day but it's been raining nonstop for two days now.
The remaining miles were easy terrain but the trail was transformed into a flowing river. Our shoes were already soaked so we splashed through the ankle high water like kids playing in puddles. Shoes can only get so wet, right? We had made our decision to skip the shelter and go to town. We left Shenandoah National Park and we weren't sad to say goodbye. We arrived at the road crossing and put Cassandra to work hitching. Within a couple minutes we were on our way to town in the back on a truck.
The driver of the truck dropped us off at the first hotel we saw, the Super 8. The interesting thing about many of the hotels we've stayed is that it seems the hotel employees just make up the price and we can negotiate from there. We were given a price of 74.56 plus tax as "Best I can do!" After inquiring about AAA discount or thru hiker discount the price remained the same as the "best
he could do" but after asking about other hotels in town the best he could do suddenly dropped about ten dollars. So we had a warm, dry place to stay for the night the next step is food. We ordered pizza and decided to just stay in and relax that evening. We were happy to hang out there for the evening and didn't regret out decision to come to town. We'll resupply in the morning and get back on the trail.
Thanks for reading,
Moose
